章節 115: Chapter 31: Torelamri's Day Off
Thanks to the surface area to volume ratio of spheres, there isn't exactly a shortage of space in...space. The Galactic Celebrations committee has expanded the previous infrastructure of space parking to accommodate all of the extra traffic that will be coming into the galactic capital by pushing back the radius of which the parking stations will orbit at, thus opening up many more spaces, one of which is gracefully taken by the medium sized cruiser that Ol has arranged for everyone.
The automatic transport shuttles linked with the ship's exit and picks up everyone and their luggage towards the recycled O'neil cylinder, which is now repurposed as one of the many space ports. O'Neil cylinders are rotating habitats in planet's orbit that utilizes spin to generate sensation of gravity before some measure of artifact gravity is used across all of the ships. They were gigantic constructs of a time before this time, and yet still sturdy enough to perform to roles of housing large quantity of people moving in and out of it.
Most of the O'neil Cylinders are orbiting around the high orbit, with orbital rings which are constructs that encircle the entire planet taking the lower orbits. Their accommodation was generously booked by Ol, but allegedly he used one of his connections in the Galactic bank, due to his frequent investment deals with them. The hotel features fast private transport onto all corners of the planet merely at a call away, and the space station the hotel resides in actually has a space elevator connecting it to the nearest orbital ring, leading to easy access to one of the first mega-continents of the planet.
Torelamri looked around at the jittery and excited humans around him, and wondered if socializing is truly as interesting as the humans and Aquarians has made it out to be. The Rockies are of a very different cultures, and that unified culture is the sole reason that they are standing on the galactic stage with the other two species.
The home planet of Rockies are what's commonly referred to as the Rocky, as it is as rocky as a rocky planet gets. The planet's most prominence features are the sharp rock edges and blazing winds, meaning civilizations over the millennia had been better off developing underground. The first technological revolution occurred when the first Rocky engineer found a way to work with the underground heat flowing system with the very first heat engine, its impact on Rocky history akin to what the steam engine meant to humans.
From then on, their technology developed rapidly, and a few wars later, the clans living on various parts of the planet were finally united under a single banner, the One Rock government, which utilizes rules and regulations that would be called tyrannical and inhumane on both Aquarian and human worlds. However, they are not human.
They follow an entirely different set of rules, because that's how the planet works. There are no time for pandering to the masses, many clans were wiped from history because of a single mistake done by an underling, collapsing the underground structures that housed thousands, or letting the surface dwelling Hurricane bugs in through a careless entrance, sucking everyone's blood dry within that colony.
Within the unforgivable environment, the iron hearted Rockies then started mining deeper and deeper into the planet's crust, mastering chemistry and engineering and then not long later, nuclear physics.
The Hurricane bugs ruled the surface, while the Rockies ruled what lied beneath, however, when the nuclear bombs were simultaneously detonated across the planet in an attempt to extinct all Hurricane bugs, the entire paradigm was tilted up side down. The Hurricane bugs bit the dust, while the Rockies rose to the surface. They came out to find a planet wounded by their work of destruction, and yet the planet now belong to them, and solely them.
The weak-minded humans might question the implications of such drastic climate engineering project on the ecosystem of the planet, and yet the Rockies retorted with the fact that there is a single ecosystem within the habitabal warm zones of the Rocky planet, and it was dominated by the Hurricane Bugs. They ain't have it easy with dynamic and complex ecosystems like the earth, ever since the dawn of the Rockies, there has always been them, and the bugs.
Perhaps there were greenery on this earth, or oceans and forests. But everything was turned to grey and dusts when the bugs took over millions of years ago. However, with the help of the strongest powers ource in their galaxy at the time, those basic life forms were simply out-competed. The war against the bugs were over, and now the war against the drastically altered toxic climate began, and nothing is impossible in the hands of a band of Rockies.
In the next hundred years, the desolate and destroyed planet was rebuilt, and turned into what looked like a decently managed mining world, and yet the bulk of the cities and distrcits existed underground, due to the planet's thick atmosphere.
The next step into space was difficult, as the planet's thick atmosphere dragged down many attempts before it ever left the ground. The gravity itself is also heavier than that of the earth's, so the Rockies once again engineered their way through this problem.
If they had to move mountains and river to achieve their goals, they would do it without skipping a beat.
There is no hesitation, only action for Rockies. If that had to reach mountains to get through the first few kilometers of the oppressive pressure, that's what they had to do.
Another twenty years later, the first Rockie was in space, and they finally had the capability of seeing the endless cosmos, and all the possibilities that lied within their own solar system. Finally, astrology is a subject that extended beyond speculation, and generations of Rockies poured their hearts and souls into this new science with the hopes of sending Rockies to all the planets in the systems.
Armed with the power to terraform any planet simply from surviving the harshness of their home, the Rockies quickly spread all over the systems in another two generations time. At the stage when humans were bickering about resources, economy and returns when picking the next planet to colonize, the Rockies chose their next war.
They wanted to conquer space, and that was what happened. For the three species, the Rockies were the last to enter into space, and yet they are the quickest to spread its wings of influence, when the encountered the Aquarians and Humans. The initial contacts was tough, but the leadership made the right choice again, and decided to join into the galactic government for major affairs, while being totally self governed.
However, that was a long time ago when the Rockie culture was pure, and their hearts were united.
Nowadays, with the ever mixing of cultures, for example like the bearers that Torelamri is currently with, there has been a switch in the culture. Though Torelamri always felt that there is a certain part of traditional Rocky soul living inside of him, and he is proud of it.
Ever since joining the Bearers, he has rarely left Athena 3 because he is always scheduling himself with work and trying to master as many engineering and crafting skills as he could, taking in as many commissions from both the mining colony on Athena 3 and even the neighboring systems and, of course, helping out the bearers occasionally, for example with Rydel's exploding mace.
This is a special occasion, however, as the track to Olympus Zero isn't exactly a short one, and the planet is a pure engineering marvel, with all of the three species best technologies all combined into one. The biotechnology of Aquarians in constructing space ecosystems, the megastruture construction of the Rockies and the mix bag of humans all blending beautifully into each other and creating the pinnacle of space faring civilization.
This is what Torelamri came here to see.
They arrived on at morning in the local time, and the bearers quickly scattered each into their groups. The human couple went straight towards the next shuttle to the food and cuisine district for east, while miner kid and the thief kid went down towards the high fashion area, which are located quite close to the technology exhibitions. Ol looked like he has some socializing to do as a representative of the bank came to greet him.
'I go.' Torelamri approached his old friend and said with a firm voice.
'Be safe, my friend.' Ol said with his echoing voice, 'and have fun.'
Typically, Torelamri always let the plans and schedules guide his everyday, however, for the first time in a long while, he doesn't really have a plan. Everything around him is a marvel of technology, and as the space elevator declined onto the orbital ring that's the shopping districts, even the multi-layered holograms are somewhat interesting to him. He did not stop a beat and did what all Rockies consider unorthodox throughout their history.
He is going to do something very human for a change, he is following his heart, and letting it take him where he wanted to go.
Through the layers of commercialization and overflowed information, Torelamri took the next shuttle that will fly him deeper down towards the planet's surface, the destination being the district 234,235 and 232, where the high tech themed exhibitions will be held. The log of activities were distributed on the shuttle, and Torelamri began to read through it.
As the orbital raised above in his perspective with the ships undocking from its space port, Olympus Zero grew ever closer towards Torelamri. The high technology section is filled with interconnceted skyscrapers that made the planet's surface seemed a lot closer than it actually is, and despite most of the high risers being apartments and office complexes, some of those towers were in fact dictated by entire firms and opened for exhibition. However, most other exhibitions are held at ground levels for the other companies, and for those without a company based in this district, the first level into the ground before going deep down into the planet's crust are re-purposed for food, services and a giant conventional center.
The highest building in this area belongs unsurprisingly to Infinity, much as the bearers expected. Despite the warning signs, Torelamri still wished to pay it a visit, at least on the gronud level. Rockies are known engineers and scientists, so it wouldn't be that out of character for them. Plus, those humans always struggled to identify Rockies from one another.
The shuttle landed at a floating platform above all of the business beneath, and Torelamri took the elevator with the others. Most people that come to visit the high technology districts clearly showed their backgrounds with the outfits they are wearing. The humans wear smart suits and shoes, the Aquarians in well crafted light armor and Rockies in a tank top and sandals. Truly each to their own.
The queues down into the basement level has already been forming around each of its entrances, and surprisingly not many people is actually going through the Infinity headquarters roughly a few hundred meters away. Perhaps it is too early in the day? Or perhaps the single biggest company in the galaxy is just too daunting for most. Not for Torelamri though, he isn't one to wait in lines, and he stepped his way towards Infinity.
This area of the planet is adjusted to the universal ambient temperature, and his thick Rocky fur actually made him feel a little warm on the inside. He had to take of his head to let the bold top get rid of some excess heat for trying to beat the queue that never formed.
This is not the Infinity headquarters. As Elmyra has seen, that is based on a moon of its own, and this building is simply the operating center of Infinity in the high technology districts, while many other buildings existed in various other locations on Olympus Zero. The entire building's outer layer is made of reinforced glass painted in dark blue and the shape of the building forms a mesmerizing spiral form the ground up. When Torelamri thought about the shape for one more moment, he realized that it is shaped like the symbol of infinity when viewed from the lowest of Orbital rings.
Typical human behaviour. He thought, as he nears the gate. The hologram opened up, and a chilly gust of conditioned air rushed out to greet him, forcing him to put his hat on.
He can tell it is still early in the day and some areas of the ground floor is still setting up, though an AI hologram has already appeared in front of him and swiftly morphed itself to his height as to not tower over him.
'Welcome to Infinity base in district 234, the home of future technology, even for the future!' The AI welcomed him in standard, and an option is open asking whether he wished to be greeted in Rockian, the Rockies language, 'please take the chip and stagger it on top of your personal interface!'
Then, the hologram reached out, and dropped a chip onto his hand.
Damn, holograms can interact with physical objects already? Torelamri raised his thick Rockies eyebrows at the sight, he had no idea how this may be accomplished. Despite his engineering background, digital technology is never his strong suit. He staggered the chip and lets it magnetically stick to the side of his personal interface, and the entire copy of the AI algorithm is stored within the tiny chip is now in his possession.
'Now, how should I address you, Mr...'
'T.' Torelamri replied, 'please show me around.'
'The research focus of the Infinity's base here is generally called filling in the void. Is there a gap in certain products? An inadequacy in established technology, or perhaps something even further. Is there something you feel are missing, or aren't performing to your standards, or even getting worse and worse by the day?'
There is indeed such a thing for Torelamri.
And that was the Crystal Clock, his artifact that deals with time.
He has had the artifact for the longest time out of everyone in the bearers, and it was awarded to him when he won a competition at which contestants are forced to produce a product under immense time pressure. The competition is overseen by the then leader of the Rockies, of which the prize is a replica of the original Crystal Clock. The original crystal clock has been a symbol of Rocky spirituality for as long as the establishment has existed.
The Crystal Clock was discovered when a crew of Rocky miners went digging in an archeological site near the capital city. The entire place was frozen in time, and when someone tried to remove the Crystal Clock from where it was found, all of them dropped dead on the ground instantly. The Rocky government at the time tried to keep this incident under wraps the best they can, and soon the accident is forgotten in the river of time, buried underneath the waves.
In its place, an academy was built, and the systematic study of the Crystal Clock as it's own subject began, a mixture of philosophy, religion, science and engineering. This is where the replicas of the Crystal Clock was created. However, nobody truly understood the inner workings of the clock, and it went from a mystery that once cost many lives to now a mere attraction and symbol. All of the replicas merely copied it's shape, but failed to address its inner workings.
That was until Torelamri arrived at the academy, but that was another story.
Through the five years he had been there, he eventually became the first individual to realize the Crystal Clock is a lot more than what most realized, had to go against the government for a little while when doing his research in secret, and eventually got close enough to the artifact to trigger the trial of the artifact, which the first batch of miners failed, but he passed.
He never shared the details of the trial with anyone, but right after he obtained the Crystal Clock as it shrank from its original size to something he carried around, he spent an entire night and built an exact replica of the original size Crystal Clock and swapped it on before anybody noticed it.
From that point on, all of the replicas made was made after the replica he made, a bit of a inside joke for himself to enjoy. Though, deep down he knew his actions had attracted unwanted attention within the Rockies society, leading to him finding a way out and researching powerful items that bends the known rules of physics, when he met Ol at a conference.
Compared to most other artifact bearers in the group that activated his artifact in an later stage, his Crystal Clock has its own powers, but also came with something else. That was the weird count down that was attached to it, and Torelamri always felt held back when he tried to use the artifact with his maximum intention, as if some extra load is on it, though he could never quite tell what exactly it is.
As Torelamri continued to tour the department, the environments around and the various posters only reminded him of his days at the Academy. That was a long time ago, but his minds constantly traveled back to that time.
'Oh, you are a Rockie too?' Suddenly, a distinctively Rockian yet impossibly smooth female voice came from behind him, causing him to spin around. Standing there was a relatively tall Rockie dressed in neon reflective full body clothing, 'it's nice to see a brother here.'
The last thing Torelamri expected to happen is to see another Rockie in this floor of Absolute Being.
'Likewise, sister.' Torelamri returned with a traditional Rocky greeting, bownig his head and putting an arm across his chest.
'My name is Vindy, I am a musician, may I know your name?'
'I am Torelamri. Engineer.'
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