Chapter Text
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RECOVERED FILE 16011420080518
Archivist’s Note: The following recovered file was recovered from the Deep Well project. This file was created no sooner than three millennia ago, and so current ontokinetic methods for translation may be flawed. Below is the best English rendering of the file. Names have been transliterated. Translated units are marked in bold.
:BEGIN VIDEO LOG:
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This first log is kept as a record for the council, if it survives. Our objective should be completed in no more than 1028 cycles. My team is terrified. The stress is going to kill them, or it would, given enough time.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This second log is kept as a record for the council. The construction of the outer shell was completed two cycles ago. A small victory, but it cheered the team. I hope they aren’t reminded of the end goal for this project. 993 cycles remain.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This fourth log is kept as a record for the council. Fascinating. The energy output for a single node on the shell is enough to power this station indefinitely, at less than 1% max output. This is expected, of course, but to experience it in person is [idiom does not translate, intent indicates shock or amazement]. We were able to shut off our fusion reactors, not a moment too soon, in my professional opinion. 988 cycles remain, by our estimates.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This fifth log is kept as a record for the council. 10^35 joules each 5 minutes for a whole cycle. We are going to be using 10^35 joules each 5 minutes for a whole cycle. That is the total output of our star for 400 cycles, and we need to produce and store enough for a cycle. Insanity. Today we started the first test. Our goal is to spool up the systems to one percent of this target. Even this amount of energy is more than our civilization has used since its inception.”
A banging is heard.
“Excuse me, Oem is back with the preliminary report”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This sixth log is kept as a record for the council. The first test is completing today, and has already exceeded our hoped efficiency, at nearly 90% of the theoretical maximum.. If future tests keep with this trend, we will be easily over the required threshold for power output. I missed this last log due to Oem’s intrusion, but three cycles have elapsed, and as of this log there should be around 965 cycles left.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This seventh log is kept as a record for the council. The first test concluded yesterday, and to our surprise the average efficiency ended at 93%. Our entire team is elated, of course they are. It's funny, the curious individuals in every civilization care about knowledge more than their own life. It's almost a mania, but who am I to speak? To be reasonable, the truth of our project probably hasn’t been absorbed yet, even by the members of our team in full confidentiality. 964 cycles left.”
“This is researcher Oem, with the Sink team filling in for Kmpt. This… wait… this eighth log is kept as a record for the council. Before I give the report I have to state that this is completely insane. Absurd. This entire objective takes the concept of quantifying the value of image life to an abhorrent level. But I did agree, there is no other way. We tested a smaller sink prototype today,and it worked. This technology could have so much more use besides building a [data lost]. It must be done though, we all know it. I am glad I am not Kmpt, that is too much responsibility, at least for me. But my speech wanders, this is Oem, 923 cycles remain”
“I almost forgot to mention it, but this log contains our most recent prototype for the sink, for the council”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This ninth log is kept as a record for the council. My team is [idiom does not translate, intent indicates intentional laziness or slowness to avoid consequence], which is to be expected. No-one wants to finish this, but it must be done. The forest is dark, it has been for as long as time, but we shall make it slightly brighter. This project will be the bedrock for civilizations, and this sacrifice will pale in comparison to what is to come!”
“This does not solve the question of moral, though. Some of our team are close to dying from the stress alone, others are looking for a way out. If only there was a way to share the vision. 907 cycles remain”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This tenth log is kept as a record for the council. We need more people. Simple as that. We had two people just drop today, the stress was too high. One was stabilised, but the other was dead before he hit the floor. Not all races have the privilege of a sleep state. The others are taxed to their limits. It’s one thing to take a shot meant for another, it’s another thing to take the shot meant for another, every cycle for 11.333 years. They will all break before we are done, I can feel it.”
“The next log covers the sink, so I am going to have Oem discuss it. After all, Oem was just promoted to lead engineer. We have 906 cycles.”
“This is lead engineer Oem, with the sink team This eleventh log is kept as a record for the council. We have a predicament, and it's not to do with the forest, or our horrible goal, I promise. This one is much more practical. We powered on the observation sink, to carry out some preliminary documentation (we need to know what we are working with) and in the ensuing discussion we realised that we may need to widen our plans, which means more death. Attached is the list that we need approved. Oem, lead engineer, 895 cycles.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This twelfth log is kept as a record for the council. We received the twelve new engineers and researchers today. I have also received your approval for the list Oem sent. I want to be angry, but Oem is absolutely correct, we need to expand our scope, which of course means more energy, nearly double, if this list is correct. Two cycles of firing time, insane, but it does fit within our margins. We will be running another capacity test tomorrow, trying to bring it up to 16% capacity, and then we will see if we can actually hit the high efficiency the first test promised. 894 cycles remain.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This thirteenth log is kept as a record for the council. We nearly lost everything. Our emitter array must have been clipped by an asteroid, and the slight angle change compounded with each cycle around the inside of the shell, before punching a hole in an unmirrored location. We are repairing the damage, but this is likely to set us back nearly thirty cycles. By my estimates we are looking at 904 cycles remaining.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This fourteenth log is kept as a record for the council. The repairs are coming along smoothly, and we replaced the diagnostic sensors on the array. I have taken the liberty of modifying the design to include more diagnostics and a failsafe. We may not escape next time. 899 cycles remain”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This fifteenth log is kept as a record for the council. The repairs finished yesterday, and Veeve is just finishing the systems check. Relative time frames become an issue at this scale, so while the diagnostics will have been completed over half a cycle ago, we won’t know the result until tomorrow. The preliminary checks are going smoothly, though.885 cycles remain.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This sixteenth log is kept as a record for the council. All checks came back clear. We have begun the second test again. The emitter array reports perfect alignment. We should hit 16% in two cycles. 885 cycles remain.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This seventeenth log is kept as a record for the council. The second test concluded with little issue. We hit 16% with 87% efficiency within one cycle. The buildup of heat energy is a peculiar challenge for this design. Our construct can handle the temperatures, but it does dramatically increase our thermal visibility. This last test was enough to reveal our existence in a growing envelope, expanding at the speed of light. We probably won’t have more than 2000 cycles before we meet with hostilities. This shouldn’t matter, as we only need another 882 cycles to complete our goal.”
“This is lead engineer Oem, with the sink team. This eighteenth log is kept as a record for the council. Kmpt requested that my team test the larger ontokinetic sink. We gathered our group of ontokinetisists, and created the subject. Attached are the schematics for the concept, but they won’t mean anything, of course. While the system was at 16% we fired on the target we created, and it was easily propelled out of the noosphere. We lost one person, and several others suffered reversible damage to their minds, but the test was a technically success.”
“It was horrible to watch though. Veeve shuddered and dropped, smoke trailing behind her. I keep telling myself that it has to be done, that we are the heroes, the ones taking the sacrifice, but it's a lot to cope with. 881 cycles before… well 881 cycles remain.”
“This is Dr. Kmpt, with the [data lost] team This nineteenth log is kept as a record for the council. I just received the report for sink test two. To be blunt, I was expecting more deaths. We will miss Veeve, but her sacrifice, together with ours, will save uncountable multitudes. I want to feel horror, but I must stay focused, this has to be completed.”
“I am no ontokineticist, so I can only imagine what the completed project will cause. Still, the sacrifice of millions or even billions is preferable to the forest remaining dark forever.”
“On to a more practical issue, our little test may have attracted some attention. If we have sinks, (and sinks aren’t even needed, living specialists can perform rudimentary ontography), how many other races in the universe have them? If we are keeping tabs on the whole, chances are that others are too, and they just saw a point appear from nowhere, and then get violently flung out. They won’t know where we are, but they will know to start looking. I hope the council knows what they are ordering. 870 cycles remain.”