After several failed attempts three weeks of extra-duty engraving, the Sunder runeshape finally flares to life.
Tessa, why did I get a tech advancement for casting magic?
You have a combined track. Higher level runeshapes are essentially programs that enact spells according to those instructions. You get Symbiote advancement too, but not nearly as much. Just remember how much data this shape contained as apposed to how taxing it was Aetherically.
Magic programming sounds neat AF. Now for testing!! Instead of doing something simple I throw a crunched electrical panel on it. A light washes over the device, and then plane by plane, like the digitizer in “Tron” the controller disappears. Moments later I hear plunking and thumping in the gravity bin I set beneath it.
“So this is what you spent most of a month fiddling with?” Ivanka noticed my excitement and walked over.
“Yep! Lets see what an electrical panel looks like afterward.” I slide out the bin and see neat blocks of constituent materials. Colored plastic on one side, copper, steel, aluminum, brass, etc., on the other side; with a smattering of trace sugar-cube sized materials unknown to me.
“That used to be an electrical panel? Can we try something else?” a hint of excitement shines in her eyes.
“I’m pretty sure it has to fit on the bench to work, but go for it.”
She picks up a few chunks of thrust cone salvage and tosses them on. The scan and dissolution happen as before with the fancy light show and beneath it appears a truly massive block of tungsten carbide and some other smaller blocks of insulation related material.
“I mean, it’s a neat show, but it’ll be hard to break down that massive block of heat-resistant material.” She goes to touch the mirrored finish on the block and shifts something on the surface. “Oh, it just looks like a solid block.” She grabs the corner of the mass and shows me a handful of cubes about a half a centimeter a side. “This is much better. How often can we do this?”
“Uh, roughly 10 times before it needs an overnight re-charge? I can probably rig up a ‘battery pack’ that can extend that, but I’d have to play with it when you’ve expended the charges.”
She nods at my statement, not even looking at me, she picks up a handful of the colored plastic cubes and rubs them between her fingers. “This is good work little Merc. Keep it up.”
My chest starts warming up and maybe my eyes get misty at the compliment. I guess I’ve been searching for acknowledgment from her since the whole voyeur thing after we checked onboard. I’ve kind of missed having the two Russians as friends. Just a little. Bah, feelings.
We spend the rest of my extra duties feeding things to the bench and then when that gets tapped, feeding the small cubes to the fabricators to see how they like the format. Answer is just fine, with the grinders and sintering lasers, and various melting and forming bits, the machines barely blink.
Now that you’re not busy, there are decisions to make.
Choose one of the available modules for advancement: Introductory Rune Forms—shape your intent and Aether into various effects. Basic Enchanting—Imbue material with Aether. Effects may vary. Basic Aether Manipulation—introductory skills for bending Aether with your will Intermediate Aether Engraving—linking shapes, triggers, and so much more!
Hmm, enchanting and Aether manipulation sound the coolest, but I know that the rune forms module would have helped me immensely in understanding what I’m actually doing instead of fumbling in the dark. That analogy doesn’t work as well when I can see in the dark.
Is there anyway I can buy another module with imbalance?
Yes, but it’s usually a terrible waste of leveling potential until higher levels.
I get that, I really do. Especially since I would be two levels higher had I not spent that tech imbalance on the telepathy machine stuff. But,
Here it comes.
Don’t sass me. But, I feel that with my Aether Walker ability, I’ll need that manipulation skill to help prevent me from erupting in mutations.
Or you could have some impulse control and only . . . never mind, you’re going to do it anyway.
Yes, yes I am.
Two modules at once is not recommended. Aether Manipulation has been loaded into your buffer and will be processed overnight.
Yeah, this module would have been the place to start on the engraving. I wouldn’t have anything close to the Sundering bench if I hadn’t impulse bought Aether Insight though.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
***
The six months of my restriction were tedious. After that first thanks from the Chief’s mess, they made sure I really was on bread and water rations. I experimented with the sundering bench to extend the number of charges, and in the end I had to work on my basic engraving until I got to the sustainable runes and recharging old runes. Basically I had to add some squiggly lines that connected the table to an ampule of Aether I could jam in the side. Salvaging was as easy as pulling it in from space, cut it up into reasonable chunks and dropping it on the bench.
The fabricators and our engineers got the hull pressure safe again three months ahead of schedule. I would like to say that I took my demotion well and that I was a model team-mate, but that would be lying to myself. I got so used to being in charge of my own little space, that being at the bottom of the bucket again was maddening. Just goes to show how easy it is to slip into old habits of self importance and grandeur.
Once the salvage died down and the reclamators got put away, my extra duties focused on making gravity plates for various places in engineering, mostly keeping me out of the way I feel, but it’s nice to be able to walk around again in Propulsion, though sometimes it’s harder to move equipment. I get lent to the bridge to do the same with their watch station decking.
My personal projects suffer as one would expect with 12-16 hours committed to work and extra duty. I do manage to work on the elemental runes and attempting to combine them with some basic targets to limited effectiveness. Air and Fire have been working out pretty well as they rush to fill the shaping forms, where water and earth are much more stubborn with their creations. My favorite discoveries have been [Ice] and [Flame Jet].
Flame Jet ended up being a specific combination of air power, flow direction, and fire power. My initial tests with fire alone were disheartening as it is the only elemental rune that doesn’t create matter, it burns pure ether—a very expensive endeavor.
Ice was an exciting combination to learn due to the idea of anti-something in spell form. A fire rune adds heat? Reversed, it takes away heat. Combine that with various power and shapes of water runes and you get some pretty chill effects. Like a magical air-conditioner for a space suit. I’m solving world-changing problems here people. Melissa practically begged me for one too.
My list of possible next projects include: rigging a nozzle with Flame Jet, transmuting base elements to specific products, and spending more time with Aether Manipulation. I have plans to ask one of the science team if they can show me how the hydrocarbon fuel-making machine actually works. Because it might be more Aether efficient if I create a thing and then use that energy for thrust? Or is that me trying to meta-game the system?
Aether conservation is a highly studied topic. I obviously haven’t downloaded the specifics, but the amount of changes to a fundamental principle, like matter, energy, gravity, light, etc; takes more Aether to affect each change. You’ll likely not get into the math of it until an advanced engraving or Aether manipulation, but that’s the basics of the “Considerations for Study” section of the Aether Manipulation module. Which you have not been diligent about.
I’ve been busy, but also true. So, if that is true, then if I had mixed gas soup I could make volatile hydrocarbons better than if I created the components from scratch. That makes sense. But that is yet another step right? I mean if I have half a ton of CO2 to get rid of, transmuting makes sense, but using it to make fuel? If we’re going for energy density, we can’t beat Aether right? What if that instead of regular fire, we just went with heat, we need to rapidly heat up a matter quantity, air, or any gas really, and eject it via expansion. OH, but maybe like fuels if I aerosol it the flame front will move faster. I start typing furiously.
If this works, it could be big, so I should really not test it inside. I get permission from Ivanka to go on a short, tethered space walk. I spend an hour getting the connected runes into a shape I’m comfortable with, and wait to finish it until I get out side—I still don’t have trigger effects. I do have delay embellishments. I finish my magical engraving in space—fucking awesome—and chuck that disk of metal as hard as I can.
Ten seconds elapses and a vortex of mist puffs out of the disk before igniting in a blue then white jet of flame just less than 2m long as it blasts off into the distance. The thrust is chaotic, probably do to the unshrouded vortex, but bright and strong. I watch its light push into space, a majestic achievement in the face of the consuming emptiness around us. I sit there with my serene delight until an O2 alarm flashes in my face.
The reduction in Aether cost from your other attempts is surprisingly significant. It won’t get this ship home in a reasonable timeframe, but a small craft could easily break atmosphere with an array of those.
Heh, thanks for the encouragement, Tessa. For some reason, learning this feels like a more important use of my last six months than the Ice and Flame Jet shapes. And before you say it, I know, I wouldn’t have gotten here if I hadn’t taken the journey. Blah blah life coach garbage.
That you recognize such moments of long-term investment is an excellent start on your journey to adulthood.
Fuck right off! Sassy tit. Which makes me feel more embarrassed because I’m a big girl, yes I am!
The AI turning Symbiote laughs in my brain. Jerk has been finding her identity quickly as I level. Speaking of which, my message alert is flashing.
Eight and not five?
You have binary-based computation on Earth.
Then I would say, but my human fantasy books do things by fives and tens, and you would say, why would human metrics matter to the Andromeda Matrix?
I would have used fewer generalities and larger words to make you feel worse.
Aww, bestie, you do care!
Before I could banter more with my burgeoning AI pal, or even check on my new options, I get summoned to the XO’s cabin. Now that I’ve recovered from my legal issues, maybe I can stop collecting drama?
I knock smartly on the XO’s cabin door and I hear her say enter. “MM3 Mercer reporting as ordered Ma’am.” The COB is seated on the side of the room as I walk in.
“Take a seat Mercer.” I take a seat and she stops reading the tablet on her desk. “The chiefs’ mess and my officers in engineering report that you’ve nearly been a model Sailor these last 6 months. Average amounts of complaining, easy to work with, and you didn’t seem to try to relapse into any supervisory roles.
“Because of this ‘good behavior’, you’re being promoted back to MM2 with an opportunity to advance to your old rank in six additional months. As for responsibilities, though you no longer have the authority to run Propulsion, you have the expertise and we’ll need you on workups for this newly built propulsion system similar to our testing schedule before getting under way for Saturn.”
I nod at that, makes sense, but where does the buck stop? It was easy when I had the authority and the expertise. These maneuvers and work-ups are going to feel like poop. I voice my concerns.
“For major tests, Senior Chief Baiul will be on station. During normal watches, one of the 1st classes from your previous team will be in charge. If you’ve no other issues, I’m taking you off of restriction and rations, congratulations on your promotion MM2.”
Plus side, I get to put down the barrels of poop I’ve been carrying. Down side, I still have to do all the work I was doing before getting busted down, but I’m not in control anymore. Could be way worse, but I was riding high and this is just Meh.
I snap to attention and thank her for the sentiment as I leave the cabin. I wonder why the Master Chief was there.
/I’m a free woman, Mel. Movie night tonight?/
/YESS! Oh man, I forgot what your chats looked like. And yes movie night!/
Her enthusiasm feels warm in my belly as the thought of putting my hand on her belly while I hold her spreads the warmth to the rest of my body. Mmm, cozy.
If you are not otherwise occupied, it would be a good time to eat something and take a look at your lvl. 8 upgrades.
Alright, let me grab a sando and cup of coffee and I promise I’ll listen. I Aether Walk into the Chief’s mess, not caring who sees me when I’ve been decently food starved for six months. Luckily it’s just Ivanka and Petra talking over our upcoming equipment trials. The both look at me with wide eyes and a bit of awe as I rush to the mini-fridge where the CSs stow some extra prepared food. Hurray gravity. I grab an arm full, plop it down on the table and go back for a mug of coffee. Someone was paying attention to when my restriction ended because my name is sharpied on a plain white ceramic mug. Aww, chiefs, so cute.
When I sit at the table I smile at the pile of grub then look up to see the Russians still staring at me.
“What? I just got off restriction.” And by some miracle, they leave it alone.
Hit me Tessa.
Starting at 8, Matrix users gain minor advancements at half counts and major advancements at full counts. In Human, that is 8 and 16 level groups.
Yes thanks. Base sixteen is so hard.
You are being offered a tier 0 beneficial mutation or augmentation that is deferrable to lvl 16; an additional module to select, and a tier 0 artifact that is deferrable to lvl 16.
Snap deferring the body change. Does that mean two modules this level? And what are the tiers?
Yes, you get to chose two modules this level. Though it may seem like modules are prolific, Master-level selections can cost up to four modules. Tiers are considered in multiples of 16. As you are below the first significant advancement, your tier is 0 and your rewards are offered at a similar level.