Capítulo 3: Prologue - III
Five men and two women, equipped with 21st-century spacesuits, entered the two stories metallic building that was installed during the Black Mirror's construction.
Besides looking like it was sheets of metal plastered together with nails, there was nothing noteworthy in its appearance.
To these people, it was very rare to open a door manually with their hands. Yet, here they are forced to do so as high-end technology goes utterly bonkers in the zone.
After stepping inside, the floor that looked like metallic griddles was laid for them to step on. Peering down, they are able to see thick cables of various colors that ran across the entire hall.
To their sides are fluorescent bulbs installed in an array lightening the entire hallway.
The entire set-up gave a very steampunk vibe.
Reaching the end of the hall, they entered another door where massive coils of synthesized high-performance metal or HPM for short, were built in the middle of a large area. It goes on deep below the building for over four stories.
In one spot is an observatory where all the control panels and dated computers are laid on. In the glass walls, one could only see the top area of the core of the entire Black Mirror tech.
"This, right in front of us, is able to manipulate electromagnetic waves and turn it into usable energy. With an efficiency rating of 83%, one second is equal to a year's worth of energy sucked away from over 20,000 stars. Imagine that." Jack spoke.
The four men, who're actually Jack's lackey from their time of being a space pirate, gulped loudly. After plundering hundreds of planets in the name of riches and glory, their entire crew was imprisoned in one of the highest security prisons in the whole human civilization.
The two women had their mouths open wide.
The two women, namely Annie and Nina, were partners in crime that were caught during one of their heists to steal the contents of a planetary vault. Inside that vault contained 50 cubic meters of energy crystal. This was enough to power an Earth-sized planet for 200 years, with a population of 10 billion.
Batteries were now formed into crystals of dense electrodes. This is due to the countless years of innovation from the energy industry. If compared to the 21st century's double-a battery with a similarly sized energy crystal, it would be a ratio of 20,000,000 to 1.
In this age where everything is easily mobile, energy crystals became the universal currency for every civilization, especially for humans. Different planets with their government systems had their own currency.
Due to the fear of the greedy, the entire humanity failed to create a single universal currency, as the scope of even a single solar system proves to be impossible.
Once they had the technology to secure a truly universal currency, it was already too late. The new presidents of the colonized planets declined to give a single bank the power beyond a solar system's capabilities.
And that was to the era's standards of energy expenditure.
If it were used in the 21st century, even 10,000 years of continuous running would be easy as pie.
On that note, for 2018, global electricity usage reached up to 22 terawatts for the entire year. In USD, this would cost a staggering amount of $23,136,431,297,760.
Of course, advancement in technologies has made energy cheaper. Yet, with just a large house-sized battery, the numbers alone could choke anyone with astonishment.
Not to mention that mobile devices only required one cubic mm worth of energy crystal to use for five years.
Right in front of them, is a machine capable of creating 3,000 cubic meters worth of energy crystal each second.
Being able to buy dozens of solar systems in each second. There really is no reason for them not to be greedy, even for a moment.
Of course, with higher energy supply means cheaper energy.
This is why, with this single expedition, the fate of the entire human civilization would evolve at speed comparable to light.
This is the scope of a type-3 civilization where anything solvable with energy isn't a problem at all.
...
"Get in your stations!" Jack roared.
Everyone broke off from their stupor and went to their own consoles. Following the same arrangement they had from the ship, everyone began to work.
Jack sat at the center console, overlooking everyone's progress.
Annie sat at a console labeled as "Station."
Nina sat at a console labeled as "Black Mirror System."
Miko sat at a console labeled as "Scanners and Sensors."
Li Xuan sat at a console labeled as "EC Production."
Connor sat at a console labeled as "Anomaly Detection."
Carmen sat at a console labeled as "Time Warp Hyperdrive."
"Can the systems boot?" Jack asked.
"Mine on POST, system booting up. Success." one by one, all six replied.
"Begin diagnosis for possible errors," Annie spoke up.
"System all green, ready to go," Connor added.
"No problems here, cap!" Carmen continued.
"The system is clean, initiating comparison with the last state. Comparison complete, all files have not been modified." Annie spoke once again.
"How's the energy levels?" Jack questioned.
"Currently on the red, sir," Miko answered.
"Miko, install the new energy crystal," Jack ordered.
"Roger." Miko stood up and left the room.
As he left the room, a window opened in one of the monitors tracking Miko using echolocation sensors.
"Black Mirror program checked. Found no errors." Nina spoke.
Slowly, LEDs that were turned off began to glow red. Some began to blink, some turned to yellow, while some turned green.
After ten minutes, Miko came back. "Energy crystal is successfully installed, sir."
"Nina, scan the energy levels," Jack commanded.
"Currently in the green sir, estimated time of depletion: 32,000 years," Nina answered.
"Very good, one final check for each system." Jack directed, relief visible on his face.
"All clear." everyone shouted in unison.
"Engage project, codename Black Mirror," Jack stated.
At this point, everyone's face became solemn. For the first time in history, humanity would be able to extract energy from a black hole.
Right now, Annie's monitor began to change rapidly. A terminal opened displaying info.
Annie began to read out each sentence that appeared.
"First layer coils activating... Activation successful."
"Second layer coils activating... Activation successful."
"Third layer..."
"Fourth layer.."
"Black Mirror Core is activating. Phase one complete. Phase two complete."
"Electromagnetic waves are now detectable." Annie stopped here.
"First wave received. Black Mirror's capacity is currently at 3%." Nina spoke.
"Begin energy crystal production at 5%!" Jack ordered.
"Second wave received. Black Mirror's capacity is at 36%." Nina shouted, cold sweat building up in her forehead.
The jump from 3% to 36% scared everyone. What would happen if they absorb energy levels way higher than the capacity?
"Shit, start production now!" Jack roared. Three wrinkle lines formed in his forehead.
"Starting production, current production capacity is at 5% per second." Li Xuan stated.
"Another wave received. Black Mirror's capacity is at 80%. Critical zone reached." Nina shouted once again.
"Disengage absorption, let the energy crystal production finish first, once we dip 10%, re-engage absorption," Jack commanded.
"Roger," Nina answered as she turned a button.
Right there and then, red lights flashed the entire room in conjunction with the loud buzzing noise being played in the whole station.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
Xreth
Xreth This is the end of the prologue. Sorry for the late uploads, I fell asleep in the middle of the day haha. Starting tomorrow I'll be releasing in a more regular schedule.
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