Zenith received a reply that his application had been accepted. He was a little confused, "Don't they usually do tests first or something?" Tilting his head slightly to one side, he received a message saying they would arrive in his system and planet within 2 days. Until then, he was sent an information package, or more like a digital welcome brochure.
"Here at Allspace, we pride ourselves on finding the coolest relics left behind by our originators, the Human race. While we may have fallen from the ranks from A to F, we still have the heart and pride of A rank that no one can match! Allspace is more than an organization, it's a family!"
To Zenith, the introduction seemed a little corny, but it was understandable that all organizations had some sort of similar introduction. Given access to the Allspace database, he found that there were sections that showed every Relic site discovered that would contain a manifest of their finds. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to access anything above E level, most likely for security reasons to stop people from attempting to steal, after all, nothing was certain.
Zenith was certain that even at Allspace's peak, most likely only a select few had access to the A and B levels of manifest. He wondered why they still kept such security measures if they had fallen this low. What did they have to hide? "Unless they still have some Relics from those places," he thought, then shook off the idea. If this was the case, they wouldn't have fallen so low.
It was none of his business; to him, the organization was just a way for him to get his foot in the water and build experience. To his understanding, his relationship with any organization that he joined would always be give and take; benefits were the only thing that mattered.
Some time later, located at the far side of the colony city, a lab belonging to Veremont was located. Veremont was Kalen's family name, as well as the name of the company they used to control their assets such as mining, refining, and the like.
Looking at the pristine, nearly all-white room, on a table were several large gadgets and devices emitting holographic light, scanning back and forth over a large blue crystal chunk that emitted a cool air and feel. The researchers all looked nervous and confused as they hurried around, looking at reports and inputting commands into the device.
In another room, the man who had been with the foreman from the refinery was currently flustered, angry, and unsure. He suddenly yelled at what seemed to be the lead researcher. "What the hell do you mean this is a synthetic material? How the hell does that make sense?" slamming his fist onto the table.
The researcher jumped slightly and sighed. "Sir, we've been at it for some time now, even dropping other research to get this done, but no matter what we do or how we test it, the material is synthetic. Looking over the survey data we also received, there is no such trace of ore anywhere on this planet as far as we know. The material also seemed to be odd, please look." He suddenly pulled up several holographic images.
"If you look closely, you can see that the structure of the molecules is incredibly odd. Despite being mixed with other metals from the furnace, we found no trace of the metals fusing into this crystal structure as they were simply super-cooled and formed into metallic chunks, indented within. So we can rule out this was a process of chemical reaction between metals; we can judge that the reaction was caused by the extreme heat of the furnace."
The man from the Veremont family listened, after all, he was using this as his golden goose to up his rank in the family. He had already told people above about this metal, and now it seemed like all this effort was for nothing. He even gave the workers extra due to this, all from his own dime, which made him feel irritated.
"I don't care about that stuff, tell me why you think it's synthetic. It's like you're saying someone purposely threw this thing into our furnace to fuck it up; that doesn't make sense." He rubbed his forehead, speaking with a lowered tone.
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The researcher suddenly smiled, clearing his throat, then spoke. "Please look here." He then zoomed into the molecules towards the atoms that made them up and spoke again. "The atoms making up these molecules seemed to be inflated and twisted, mutated and restructured in certain patterns. With today's technology, this is impossible. I doubt even the leading factions can achieve this unless they have some secret ongoings. But we have a very interesting clue."
Listening, the Veremont man spoke further. "What?" Following this, the researcher zoomed in further onto the atoms. "Looking over material samples and information from our database, we can see that the structure bears similarities to Resonance abilities capable of altering the structures of objects. For instance, an ability that causes water to instantly freeze isn't a change in temperature but altering the existing structure. Or a better example, an ability to turn rock into wood or vice versa, copper into iron. The atomic structure bears similar mutations and effects."
The researcher continued, bringing up images of several examples. "If you look closer and use an Atomic Resonometer, we then get to see the light emitted by a frequency film of resonance energy from these atoms, no doubt the cause of this mutation. Science can't mimic this method, at least not yet."
The Veremont man was a little confused. "This material has so much value and useability that can make my family rise further, not just in this system, but the federation as a whole. I don't care about learning this useless science crap; what point are you trying to make?"
The researcher smiled, knowing this man would not appreciate the workings of science. "What I'm trying to say is, if this material is caused by resonance energy forming it synthetically, then what is the source of that?"
Putting two and two together, the man's eyes widened. He quivered with delight. "A resonance ability!! Are you saying there is a resonance ability that allows the person to materialize this crystal metal?!" The researcher soon nodded. "The only thing you need to do is get hold of the ability user who can make it, and you've got an infinite source of the material. I would argue that this is better than a mining operation because you would have the only source and it could be better kept secret."
The Veremont man was delighted. He suddenly stood up, clearing his throat. "Good work, I need to go make preparations." After leaving the lab, he lit a cigarette and thought hard. "A resonance user that can make that metal, is one of the refinery workers secretly hiding this ability? Or maybe the miners? Damn it, there are too many personnel to go through, not to mention the backlog of ore chunks that sit for days; too many people come and go."
Taking a heavy puff of the tobacco, he blew it out and looked at the sky. "Why would someone hide that ability? Unless they don't know about it, and it was an accident or something? I need to get the help of the higher-ups; we need to find this person and secure them."
Finishing his cigarette, he dropped it to the ground and sneered, seeing a large ant move towards the thrown cigarette to examine it. He would then step on it, crushing it and the cigarette butt. "If they don't accept, we'll just have to use other methods of convincing them..." speaking to himself with ill intent.
Two days had passed since then. Zenith was hanging out with Kalen as it would most likely be some time before they ever met again, unless it was via comms device. The two were walking down a market corridor of people peddling goods and food. This section of the colony was quite clean and pristine as opposed to some slum-like sections in the corner parts.
"I still can't believe you applied to be a Relic Hunter. It sounds so fun though; I want to join too." Kalen, walking beside Zenith, held a handful of food as he gobbled at it. Zenith beside him was eating a pie-like treat filled with mixed mince meat. He eyed Kalen as they walked after he spoke and replied, "We both know that's impossible; you're destined for bigger things."
Kalen, hearing his words, sighed. "Yeah, my family, more so dad, would ground me forever if I even brought it up. He wants me to replace him and then work towards competing for the family head from my grandfather. It's so tiring; I just want to do my own things." Zenith consoled him a bit. "Don't beat yourself up over it. Things could be much worse; you have people who care about you and would do their best for you."
Kalen nodded with a smile, looking ahead before mumbling "Uh oh..." The two then stopped, Zenith looking ahead, his brows twitching for a moment. In front of the two, a dozen meters or so, Clair was making her way, a proud smug look on her face, escorted by her friends and several young men hoping to talk her up by stroking her ego.
Clair suddenly turned her attention to her front, seeing Zenith and Kalen not too far away. She sneered inwardly and soon made her way towards them.