Dean sighed as he soldered the circuits, “Look, I’m telling you that the created stones will just never be as durable. Something about the circuits formed in natural crystals is more efficient for the power to run through.”
Katsi shot back, “That’s fine but we are dealing with a self aware and evolving energy source. It is like comparing grape juice to a fine vintage.” He nodded, “So why can’t we speed it up like we do there? It shouldn’t take years to get somewhere with it.”
“That’s easy. For the same reason you can’t download a lifetime of knowledge to an infant. You could, but the body would not have learned the same thing as the mind. The benefit here is that the user learns and defines how the power is used.” Katsi leaned in and soldered an odd gold material into the circuit board. “The only reason my plan might work with the Phoenixian Crystal at all is because my boss has been drawing power from it for these kinds of things for years and been pushing its energy output to unreasonable extremes for the entire time he has had it. It is probably the crystal we have the most information on.”
“Okay, but why that shape?”
“Same reason we give ourselves titles and heroic identities. This kind of power is enhanced by its unique impact on the world. We call it the Marvelous Dragonfly effect, after the first hero to codify it. It was a known factor before, they just happened to be the first one to write it down. The more striking or unique the ship the stronger the effect.”
Anisa stared blankly as they continued with their endless banter. “Really? The power weakens with the more people using it looking exactly the same? Is that why they only deploy a few elite officers per sector?”
He nodded, “Advantage I have is that the Major is just that. A Major in a police force. If they ever start going by some catchy name and getting a reputation they might become dangerous. But the Falos have probably already considered that so...”
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Anisa finally broke into this little bubble they had formed, “So you are telling me that you can get us off this planet, but that it is based on a lot of assumptions about what did and did not stay here after Shawn screwed up?” He nodded. “But if even half of this stuff is still around, you are entirely certain you can get us safely off planet and find his crystal as well?”
“His crystal is probably still in the cave he first found it and we were using it for the prototype. Best power supply we had. We just have to get to it without CPD finding us. Once we have it running, we can clear their blockade easy.” He threw his screwdriver down in frustration and exclaimed, “Except we are missing a crew. Doug had the speed and precision to run the entire bridge.”
Katsi laughed in disbelief, “You are telling me that you could do all the adjustments and repairs in the engine room yourself?”
He shrugged, “I mean, I have a mild amount of telekinesis and the Geo Stone was supposed to operate as an interface between me and the repair drones. So yeah.”
Anisa shouted to get their attention and clarified again, “I get it. You built it so that you three could use it in an emergency. But how many people would it take to run it at full force, you three included?”
He sighed and thought hard, “It would take four crew to run your typical Falos blockade.” He turned back to Katsi, elaborating, “They are arrogant to a fault. That’s how I took out a flagship once. I let the admiral throw me into the engine. Funniest head wound I’ve ever gotten. Totally worth it for the black box recording.”
Anisa shook her head and asked what she dreaded to ask, “Was it Shawn’s idea that you get thrown into an engine?”
Dean laughed at the suggestion, almost insultingly so. Eventually he collected himself, “No. He hated the idea. He wanted to destroy every foe on board and run it into a black hole, but Doug and I were told by an old friend of ours that the amount of radiation that would cause would wipe out a nearby solar system so we just jammed the engine, crashed the ship on a dead planet and dismantled it safely after.”
Anisa sighed with relief, given she didn’t like the idea that Shawn might have taken a life for granted. Still, she looked at the odd shape of their supposed escape craft and heard her sister and Dean bantering, prompting her to wonder what kind of weird life Shawn had survived trying to save her.