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Quod Olim Erat: Fractal Contact (Chapter 23)
🕑 Added 2023-09-04 01:31:58 +0000 UTCThree of the remaining domes had cube artifacts with a fractal pyramid drawn on them. Examining their surfaces as far as the helmet would allow me, I could see no differences, as if they were perfectly identical. When I got back aboard Sof, I’d ask him to do a comparative analysis, but I strongly suspected that his findings wouldn’t differ from mine.
Four domes—four artifacts. All that remained was to explore the fifth one.
“I have found another cobalt cube,” I said loudly, so the suit could record my findings. “I don’t know their function so I’ll be taking them to Sof for later analysis.”
There was no telling what I’d come across further, so it was best if I kept all four. I did make a mental note to send one off in a comm pod back to human space should I run across any danger.
“Moving to extract the artifact outside.” I twisted, swimming towards the exit artifact cube.
The dome spat me out without issue. Taking a moment to readjust my balance, I quickly went to leave the cube along with the rest. As safety protocols demanded, they were kept five meters from one another and surrounded by whatever I had at hand to keep them from being in view.
“Four down, one to go,” I said, looking at the special dome.
With cubes being in the smaller ones, there was an over ten percent chance that an even larger artifact waited inside. Not that it mattered. I was going to enter either way, just to check on the fractal space.
“Sof, if I don’t respond in three hours, I’m authorizing you to view all restricted memories since we arrived in the system,” I said to my comm device. Naturally, the order itself would remain restricted until then as well. “Share the info with the auxies if that happens.”
There was no response, but I thanked him as if there was.
My oxygen level had dropped to sixty percent. According to all my simulations, that was supposed to be plenty, though for some reason I felt uncertain. Just to be on the safe side, I got one of the auxiliary canisters I had brought down with me and filled up to a hundred percent.
I’m not sure whether Augustus would have praised me or grumbled. He liked being prepared just as much as he hated wasting time. I had a feeling that, in his eyes, I had done both.
Time to be an explorer again, I thought.
“I’m heading to explore the key dome.” I strapped the fractal space cube to my belt. “Before that, extracting the seven-triangle artifact from dome four.”
The marginally lighter gravity helped me climb the wall surrounding the central dome. Turning on all the lights of my suit, I placed the entrance cube. The artifact was immediately swallowed. Long lines appeared all over the surface of the dome. Not the usual symbols I was accustomed to. These suggested a much larger presence inside. Upon entering, I saw that that was the case. Long tubular artifacts connected to one another, forming the basic frames of something I failed to recognize. In some ways, it resembled the scaffolding that I’d seen during my mission on the Scuu front, only this was on the inside of a dome and in a very incomplete state.
“I’m looking at a cobalt construction, possibly created by the dead race at some point.” I swam around, in-between the large pipe-like artifacts. “The basic element the construct is made of appears to be a solid cylinder approximately five hundred and fourteen millimeters in diameter, and close to nine meters fifty-nine centimeters in length.”
I moved to the next.
“Segments are connected by relatively small sphere-like objects.” The composition analysis on my display shifted. That was new. “The spheres aren’t metallic. Basic analysis puts it as a carbon allotrope. No seams or connection points are visible.” If this was an artifact of the third-contact race, it was very much different from everything I’d seen so far.
I continued to move along the frame composition. The length of the elements varied significantly, although the diameter of each segment remained the same. In fifty-seven minutes, I had mapped and measured everything inside the sphere. If there had been a cube artifact, the dead race must have removed it and replaced it with the current monstrosity.
A race without symmetry, I told myself. It was visible in the structures and planetoid shells I had encountered so far. There were elements of the Fibonacci sequence but mostly followed a spiral pattern. After running a few hundred thousand simulations, I was left with dozens of options of what the final design of the construct was. Unfortunately, that didn’t provide a single clue as to what its function could be.
After mapping it thoroughly, I used the regora and jiroga verbal commands, aiming to get a response, but nothing happened. The presence of the frame distorted the sound waves too much, and as for the frame itself, it remained perfectly static. Or maybe that was its purpose? For the first time in human existence, as far as I was aware, I had come across proof that the third-contact race might be malevolent.
“The only conclusion I can come to is that there is a seventeen percent chance that the dead race engaged the third-contact race.” Or vice versa. “As far as I can determine, the only purpose of the cobalt-carbon composition is to negate the command function of the domes.”
There were only two reasons why someone would do that: either they wanted to stop the third-contact race from using it, or keep themselves from doing so. Time to see if it affected fractal space. That, though, could remain my personal secret.
Floating through the liquid cobalt, I made my way to the top of the sphere, where I released the star cube. The moment it snapped into place, I pressed it.
Fractals attempted to fill the space, but each time they did, the construct disrupted them. It was like watching a reflection in water constantly disrupted by raindrops. At no point did the dome boost or intensify its attempts; it just continued as if everything was normal, transforming into a pale, distorted version of the fractal space. A semi-transparent whiteness filled the space around me, bubbles of disruption breaking through on a normal basis.
The countermeasure, whatever it was, had only been a partial success. Based on my analysis, I estimated that the reason might be it not being completed. The dead race must have been in the process of neutering the dome, but had stopped part way. Maybe they had died out before they could finish, or maybe, based on their form of governance, they had run out of funds and decided to dedicate their cobalt elsewhere. Whatever the case, it provided a hint to achieving the greatest advantage humanity had against the third-contact race.
After waiting for three hundred seconds, I pressed and twisted the artifact cube, returning the inside of the dome to its usual state. Nothing more would be achieved today.
Interestingly enough, the effects of the device also spread to the other domes, as it turned out. The distortion was less apparent but I still couldn’t get any of the instructions to appear. Even fractal space was non-responsive, like a static image of something that used to be interactable.
A warning message appeared on the visor of my helmet, informing me that my oxygen reserve was half full. With the additional supplies I had in the chamber outside, I could continue the exploration for hours, yet there was no point. Gathering the artifact cubes, I left the artifact.
Events had put me at a crossroads. Exploring the planet had proved to be a good decision, as were my orders of thought quarantining all the ships under my command. As valuable as the information was, it also came with an extreme level of danger. If someone, anyone, within human space had the ability to effectively deactivate artifact domes, that could shift the balance of political power; if someone beyond human space learned of it—the war could take an entirely new turn and not for the better.
What would you have me do, Augustus? I wondered. Present humanity with a high risk-high reward option? Or erase it from existence?
It was within my power to do either. With the authority and armaments I had been given, I could destroy the dome and the entire system with it. No one would ever learn of my discovery or possibly even venture into the cloud cluster.
There was a third option: I could encrypt the information in such a way as for it to be unusable for the next decade. It would mean delaying the discovery for a certain amount of time, but humanity would still get it at a moment when they had a better idea of what to do.
In the end, I decided this wasn’t a choice I could make. I remained a battleship, after all. This was a human decision, and humans would have to make it.
Directing Sof to send me some retrieval shuttles, I gathered my equipment and all the minor artifacts I’d obtained. After that, it was time to get back to the standard trivialities of the mission.
“Sof,” I said through direct laser com. “Is Radiance still asking to talk to me?”
“Rad?” he asked in mock surprise. “All of them are. The kids are upset that their captain hasn’t been talking to them for the last few days.”
I could tell they were aware of their thought quarantine.
“Tell them I’ll have a nice long chat with them in a few hours.” A short distance away, a carrier shuttle started its launch procedure, sending plumes of dust into its surroundings. It marked the last of the heavy gear heading back to the main ship. Now, the only thing left on the planet was me. “Did they find enough materials to restock?”
“They found the materials, but didn’t stock up. They were unsure regarding your orders.”
“Those who are low better stock up. Any response from Command?”
“Not that I’m aware.”
“I’m lifting your restrictions on that subject,” I said.
“No, no response.” There was a seventy-five percent chance that he was telling the truth.
“In that case, time for a nudge. Prep a comm pod. I’ll be sending a report.”
“Whatever you say, Captain. Was it everything you hoped for?”
“Who knows,” I lied. As valuable as the find was, it was the last thing I needed, reinforcing the doubt that I might be walking into a trap for humanity. “Start analyzing our flight options. We’re heading out of the system once everyone’s ready.”
Several hours later, I was back aboard and swarmed by an avalanche of questions. Radiance had started with her usual request to explore the area as far and wide as time would allow. The discovery of the dead race had only hardened her determination. For a moment, it was almost like looking at myself; using the same reasoning I had had, a younger ship was making the same demands. A lot of what she said was reasonable, preferable, even. Sadly, none of them were anything I could allow.
The rest of the ships followed. Their demands, masked as requests, ranged from the petty to the serious. A few were even adamant I should abort the mission and let the arbiters assess the new information. Others backed Rad in that we should map out the domain of the dead race before going beyond. Ultimately, a fake compromise was achieved. I allowed ships to explore two jumps from our star system going forward. Sof was to be the point of reference, remaining subject to my explicit orders. Furthermore, there wouldn’t be any further arguments.
Given that I had the authority to order them to do anything I wished, some of the ships accepted the result as a minor victory on their part. Rad, though, didn’t. She had picked up too many of my bad habits, adding a few of her own. While she seemed to comply, she still insisted on putting herself more at risk than anyone else. Once we ventured to the next system, she was the one who volunteered to do all the exploration flights of her faction. At this point, all I could do was hope for the best and continue with the mapping of this part of the cloud complex.
The presence of the dead race increased for the next few systems. There was no doubt that we were moving towards what had been their central systems. The planetoid moons—that we dubbed class Luna battleships—increased, then diminished, but the notable lack of cobalt metals remained a firm constant.
Most of the “developed” planets were in the moderate zone when it came to the system stars, although there would be an outpost every now and again located near the system’s fringes. Between forty and eighty hours would be spent in each new system—enough time for the remaining auxies to map all areas of interest, and for me to examine anything on planet, if needed.
Most of the time the systems remained barren, even with indications of massive ancient cities. Every now and again, however, I would come across a dome. The artifacts would always be deprived of rods and filled with the disruption construct in various stages of completion. After eleven systems, a pattern started to emerge. What I believed to be a partial construct was anything but. While not full, the disruptions created always led to the same result: distortions in the images and complete blocking of voice commands.
There was no way to know for certain, but it seemed that each construct was made specifically to affect the dome it was placed in. The alternative explanation was that multiple forms achieved the same effect. At this point, I felt vindicated not using standard Fleet communications. It also made it clear that I could no longer hide that part of my findings.
“Sof, send a message to all the kids. I want them here as fast as possible.”
“Three are still exploring systems,” the ship said. I could hear the annoyance in his voice. “It will take a while.”
“Everyone else, then. I’ll have a nap in-between.”
The deliberate grumble let me know that my order was acknowledged. As much as he pretended to protest, though, I knew that he was looking forward to this as well. Gathering all the ships together means that I would provide details regarding our mission.
Before returning to the ship, I passed through the dome chamber. Thankfully, the dead race constructs hadn’t affected it, but even so, fractal space hadn’t provided any new answers. The map was similar to all the times I’d seen it before. The theoretical locations of the final two star markers remained where I expected them to be—just beyond the cloud complex. Sadly, there was no indication how long that might take. Despite the number of developed star systems, and the discovery of a dead race, the trip was taking longer than predicted.
The bridge remained as it always had been, but for some reason, I found it more and more sterile by the day. According to some space psychology, the reason why battleships had large crews was for the sanity of the people aboard just as much as to ensure that a ship didn’t go rogue. I never put my trust in that. I’d seen mining colonies with fewer people do fine. It was the events on the outside of the hull that remained a greater issue. Having a crew of zero, though, did leave its toll even on someone like me.
Not bothering to undress, I sat down in the captain’s chair and leaned back.
“Entering sleep mode,” I announced. The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes again.
Images of all ten ships were displayed on the bridge wall in front of me. A few, like Radiance, had chosen to have their human avatar displayed. The majority didn’t.
“Anything substantial to report?” I asked, stretching as I stood up.
“We have come across our first anomalous system,” Sof said before anyone else could.
“Who found it?” I asked, instinctively looking at Radiance.
“I,” Speed said, to my surprise. “The system was only marginally affected. Navigating through it is possible with a bit of calculations. Everyone here could manage.”
I could almost hear the unmentioned “even you” in the prolonged pause. It was sort of nice knowing that they still viewed me as a ship, even if outdated.
“I didn’t find any jump points from there on,” Speed continued. “Based on my simulations, there’s a eighty-one percent chance that the system could have been deliberately sealed off.”
That was an interesting remark.
“Any dead race presence?”
“Not as much as in the main systems. I could determine presence on three planets and no Luna ships.”
“Looks like the cage theory is true,” Grace said.
“You can’t say that on one data point.” I looked at the ship. “But the possibility exists. We’re returning to single ship jumps from now on.”
“Any excuse to stop exploring?” Radiance didn’t sound pleased. “I think it’s a mistake. Mapping the full domain of the main race would be of benefit to the Fleet and—”
“Will be considered at a later point,” I interrupted. “I know what that means, but the dead race isn’t our priority. You’ll have a chance to send your reports, but before that, there’s something else I want to share.” I transmitted a selection of my findings to Sof with instructions for him to retransmit to the rest of the ships. “You’ve probably suspected that I’ve been exploring a few of the planets while keeping you in through quarantine. This is part of what I found.”
“Dome artifacts,” Strength noted.
“Enough to make the BICEFI very happy. That’s not the reason I’m sharing this information. The dead race seems to have found a way to disable the effects of a dome.” I paused a thousand milliseconds. “It doesn’t seem to affect the rest of the system and it remains uncertain what the effects on lesser artifacts would be, but I’ve already checked all domes we’ve come across so far and my observations hold true.”
“How many domes have we found so far, ma’am?” one of the ships asked.
“Eight,” I replied. “The relative density suggests it’s likely that they were brought, or placed, here prior to deactivation.” I paused again. “There’s also a zero-point-three percent probability that they were constructed here.”
“Constructed?” Sof asked.
“It’s a remote possibility, but there’s a chance that the dead race might have been tasked to create the domes, or it might not have even been a race at all, but a factory on a system-wide scale.”
That was going to give the kids something to use their free processing power on. Personally, I didn’t give the idea too much credence. After seeing giant Cassandrian constructs that enveloped an entire star-system, though, nothing was off the table.
“The why and how aren’t our priority,” I continued in a firm tone. “The arbiter council deserves to be made aware of the findings, but only they are to proceed along this line or not. While we’ll continue to explore the systems as we chart the cloud complex, we’ll continue to move on through it.”
“And you get to explore them on the way?” Radiance asked in accusatory fashion.
“Only if they are on our path. From here on, you’ll be constantly performing a visual analysis of our greater surroundings. Any indication that the cloud complex is thinning, I want to know. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” a chorus of disinterest filled the bridge.
“Good. Lastly, instantly inform me if you find large concentrations of cobalt. The greatest cluster of domes was close to our side of the cloud complex. There’s a twenty-three percent chance that there’s another near the other side as well.”
I did not offer for them to ask questions. As things stood, I doubted they would, even if I had. All the important things were made clear, just as I wouldn’t allow myself to be distracted from the original mission goal. As interesting as the dead race discoveries were, they would be left for another team. Our goal was to become new gods.
