Scientific Conundrum

Posted on 04 Sep 2015 @ 9:58am by Ensign (Lagh) Cyrin Fel

978 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: IKS Saalm, Fel's Laboratory
Timeline: MD04, 2100

[ON]

Fel looked up from his screen just long enough to glance at the chronometer. At 2100, he was halfway through his shift. It felt like he'd been sitting here forever though. Before him on the display were undulating patterns of various energy forms that was likely to make some people feel sick if they stared at it took long. Beside it was a scrolling mass of equations that would probably make even more people sick just to glance at. It certainly wasn't making Fel feel very good at the moment.

"Intermix Simulation #134-14 Gamma-09 is complete," the Computer said, and the pulsing energy stopped at the same time the numbers ceased to scroll as well. "Quantum structure collapsed at four-point-three seconds. Thalaron radiation ratios insufficient based on stated parameters. Intermix levels: L = 4kB so for B = 900 centicurie, L = 1,300 kilorads."

Fel sighed, heavily, and took a look over his shoulder at the only other person in the room. His laboratory was quiet at all times, and Beaumont was standing patiently on the other side of the room, watching him. Fel liked it this way, no inane chatter in nearly incomprehensible babbling. While Beaumont's utility as a weapon could not be understated they often didn't have much to say to one another. Beaumont had heard far too many failures however.

"Computer," Fel said flatly, turning back to his controls and began to type. "Alter the tertiary EM band to 90 kilohertz, switch isotropic deviation to 3 times 10 to the eighth power, and harmonic resonance amplitude to level 19. Label 'Intermix Simulation #134-14 Gamma-10, and begin simulation."

There came a beep of confirmation, the screens cleared, then a new pattern of energy and mathematics appeared. It might look like the same as the previous one, but Fel could see the difference as he stared bleary-eyed at the screen. He'd run so many of these simulations now, trying to understand, that even the slightest adjustment stood out so that to his eyes the pattern was wildly different.

It was what he'd been doing for four years now. Four years of this, trying to figure out just how to build the ultimate weapon. It would be one to earn him the approval of the Queen Regent forever, and the fear of this crew as well. If he could pull it off. Things just weren't adding up for the weapon's designer. The complex structure he was attempting to produce continued to elude him. There were deviations from what he needed that kept popping up, and every time he thought he'd fixed one thing another's mathematics seemed to come undone. He was the greatest weapons designer in decades. This shouldn't have been happening!

The odds of what he was attempting were, admittedly, extreme but that was what made this effort worthwhile. A weapon that could destroy all organic matter that it touched while leaving technology undamaged would be a huge victory for him. And, he supposed, the Alliance, but that was of only secondary concern if that. Fel's loyalties were only to himself in the end. Even the Queen Regent, for all the respect he gave her and attempts made to impress her, wasn't truly of importance. What did matter was his work and securing his future. He'd told her that he'd solve this, and that was just what he was going to do.

Recently he'd been trying to create the complex energetic structure that, he theorised, would be necessary to someday finish his design. Thalaron radiation was not a naturally occurring substance but was created by combining other radiation in a specific ratio while subjecting it to both electrical and harmonic stresses. He'd managed to build the smallest of prototypes, useless as a weapon, but without it he would not have been able to get this far. There were too many possibilities, and simply duplicating the model on a larger scale would not work, but it was a starting point.

And, Fel hoped and did not lose sleep over, it would be his design that would revolutionise weapons systems for centuries to come. He was doing this intentionally, creating a weapon of mass destruction. In the end it did not matter how many millions or even billions would die because of his device. People would want to know. Who had created it, and why?

"Intermix Simulation #134-14 Gamma-10 is complete." Fel reached for his controls, suppressing a sigh, fully expecting yet another failure. "Partial match to objectives found. Q = 7.5 x 42 µSv for dose equivalence. Quantum structure symmetry within margin of error. P = 790.13 to the third power / 100 to the second power = 9.09 milliroentgen. Intermix destabilization within thirty-point-nine seconds however, outside of simulation parameters. Neutron wavelength 71 nanometers also fails to match."

Had he'd been a more expressive person, Fel might have shouted for joy. He'd finally gotten, after four years, out of so many failures, just a little bit closer. The Trill glanced over his shoulder again to see Beaumont still staring at him inscrutably, then turned back to his screen. His grey eyes scanned the results with disruptor-like focus, calmly assimilating the data. Fel hoped that this would be the beginning of the path that would see the Queen Regent pleased and his own retirement secured. He'd been making himself grey with the stress of his lack of results and wondering when his superiors or his rivals were going to come down him and blow him to atoms in the blink of an eye.

"Now I'll have something to show them," Fel said with renewed but cold enthusiasm. "Computer, let's try this again, but alter the harmonic nodes to a 180 phase change. We'll build this piece by piece if we have to. I'm going to figure this out, and then they will all fear me like never before. Label test Intermix Simulation #134-14 Gamma-10-0001, and begin..."

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