Chapter 40: Chapter 39 – Abyss Battery

What the next few days brought for Alpha was… surprisingly relaxing. When Keelan next appeared, he was like a completely different person, flattering him left and right. Even when Marin asked what he did, Alpha just shrugged, shaking his head as he had no idea. Not until he was reinvited into the conference room and they were letting him bring Marin and Lizzy along too this time. The other lead figureheads of Prometheus Station were also there, standing, inviting him in, trying to hold back their questions as there were hundreds swirling inside their heads.

“Hey…” Marin whispered into his ear. “Did you beat them up or something?”

“No…” He answered, finding their looks a bit creepy.

When they brought up the schematics he saw his mentioned additions… but they were put there wrongly. Or they were incomplete. He finally realized that when he first saw the schematics… It was not a test. They truly ignored him and they were in a serious discussion about their findings.

“Oh.” He blinked his eyes, looking at them. “There are some errors in the application of what I said.” He scratched his throat.

“Let’s fix it!” Keelan said as the rest were nodding their heads repeatedly. He was led to it, given full access to make any modifications he wished, while they surrounded him like children. 

“...” Alpha was a bit weirded out by the quick change in their attitudes but then his stomach rumbled.

“I am going to bring something!” The woman of the group stood up but then Marin stepped in with an unreasonably jealous voice. 

“I will do that!” She said, shooting down the older woman who looked relieved. She did not want to miss anything Alpha may say but she also wanted to show her sincerity. “...” Marin was ready to argue but seeing her thankful gaze she felt like punching into a ball of cotton. 

“Ahaha… Relax…” Lizzy chuckled, patting her daughter’s back. “Haahh… come on, let’s go! Let us be good little attendants and bring something for everyone. This is going to be a long day!” She sighed, feeling a bit depressed to go from a lead scientist to someone who brings breakfast to others.

When they got back, Alpha was already explaining his ideas, the reasons behind them and why should they be the correct choice. In the air, a big, 3D holographic teardown of the generator was rotating slowly as they were listening to him. In the end, Lizzy’s words turned out to be right as they spent 10 hours in that office, discussing things that Marin could not even understand. By the time they finished for the day, she was leaning on the table, drooling as she slept like a baby.

“Hey…” Alpha whispered, rubbing her back, startling her as she woke up.

“Huh? Is it… over?” She moaned, murmuring, rubbing her eyes. As she looked around. Only they were there, even her mom was gone.

“Yep~” Alpha chuckled, sitting next to her.

“Finally! Ugghh… that was boooooooring!” She yawned as she stretched. “When did you come up with all this…?”

“Right here, yesterday.” He said, leaning close as he gently wiped her mouth with his sleeves. “Since learning Ezekiel’s equation… I realized that the strings I see are following its principles.”

“Stop!” Marin said, raising his hands. “You tried to explain it to me many times and I can’t follow it at all! Just… give up! I’m fine with the knowledge that you see things we don’t and you can make things with it! That is fine by me!” She laughed, leaning forward and kissing him. “So, you just modified their stuff because you felt like it should work… that way.”

“Simply put, yes.” He nodded. “I myself do not get it… but I can see how it should be.”

“Cheater.” 

“Huh?”

“You are a cheater!” She grinned, climbing into his lap, snuggling up to him. “It’s like you have the spreadsheet with the answers to their questions and just copy it down! That is cheating!”

“Haahh… sure!” He chuckled, shaking his head. “But…”

“What?” Marin asked, rubbing the tip of her nose against his.

“I may have screwed up now.” He said, a bit unsure.

“Oh? How so?” 

“I may have… left a bit too big of an impact. I told them a lot, right out of the blue. I thought they were testing me so I… solved their problems. All of it.”

“Aaaaand… why is that a problem?” Marin asked, tilting her head, not really getting why he was anxious about it.

“Because normally this should’ve taken a few years… at minimum. Or more.”

“Pft~” She laughed, quickly reigning it in. “So what? That bastard was rude anyway! Just look how different he was today! Where are they now?”

“They went ahead to verify it with multiple AIs and get funding to build a prototype.”

“That means…” She asked with a happy sparkle in her eyes.

“That means we are free for the foreseeable future!” He pecked her lips. “I told them I won’t bother with… menial stuff. They can solve that. If they are stuck, they will come to me. Lizzy is with them, she gets to be my main assistant!”

“Ahaha~ Great! Let’s go home!” She said, hopping out from his lap, pulling him up with a grin.

“What’s the hurry?” He asked, letting her pull him forward.

“Finally we can do it without interruptions! Especially if mom is busy!” She grinned with an excited, blushed face, making Alpha stumble in his steps. 

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It was a surprisingly easy and carefree few months that they spent together. Almost as if they were on an extended honeymoon. It was the first time the two were left together, alone, for such long periods of time. The station was well equipped with many sections, designed for relaxation of the onboard staff. Be it an artificial beach, holo-cinemas, restaurants, amusement parks, anything that helped relax the crew and their families on-board. 

“Oh look at you!” Lizzy ‘welcomed’ them home one day. They just came back from the beach, feeling fully refreshed.

“Did something happen?” Marin asked, blinking her eyes with innocence. 

“Did something happen?” Lizzy asked back as Alpha was already lowering his head like a dog, caught doing something mischievous. “Everyone is working while the two lovebirds are having fun all the time!”

“Um…” Marin fell silent, looking at Alpha but he was still looking at the floor, drawing circles on it with his toes. 

“Time to work!” Lizzy said, throwing a datapad at them which Alpha caught hurriedly. 

“Oh?” He exclaimed, reading through it. “The prototype is ready?” 

“It is. They are filling up the compartments with dark matter and anti-dark matter. It will be ready in an hour. You are ORDERED to be present at the experiment.”

“Ordered?” Marin asked, unhappy with the word but Lizzy just reached forward, knocking on her forehead. “Owie! Mooooom!”

“Ordered by ME!” She said, putting her foot down. “I am going to take a bath. Then have some fun, maybe go out for dinner! See if there are some handsome boys ready to have some fun!”

“Uhm… Mom?” Marin asked, feeling a bit weirded out but it seemed like Lizzy was having none of it.

“Zip it, young girl!” She said immediately. “Now, Alfy, you go and do your JOB. Marin, you are going to go on a trip.” She continued, giving her another datapad.

“Huh?” She flinched, reading it. “THREE MONTHS?!” She cried out loudly. 

“Hm?” Alpha leaned over, reading it. “Oh… you are going to oversee the completion of the first Suit of Ares on Titan?” He said with an excited voice. “At Hephaestus?” He read it further as it detailed her assignment.

“The new base that was constructed just for building them. This is going to be the first to be made combat ready.” Lizzy explained. “When the Abyss Battery is ready and working, we are to transport it personally and install it to the suit and do the test runs. Marin is going to travel with a group there in advance to make preparations for our arrival.”

“The road trip itself takes three months…” She moaned, reading it. “Then it will be another three until you arrive… I won’t see you for half a year! I mean, you two!” She added quickly. 

“It will be gone quickly! Trust me!” Alpha laughed, rubbing her shoulders as Marin was completely dejected.

Since Alpha saved her life, she was inseparable from him. No matter what happened, spending only a few days apart and she was irritated, throwing tantrums just so she could go and visit him.

“Good.” Lizzy said. “You are going to regain some self-respect by then! I hope!” 

“Mom?” She flinched.

“You are too used to getting everything done for you!” She scolded her with words and Alpha with her look… as he was the main source of it. He did everything that Marin asked of him. “So, off you go!” She nudged Alpha. “They are waiting for you!” Before Marin could react, he was already pushed out from their home by Lizzy.

“W-wait!” She turned around but was held back by her mother.

“No. You will see him soon enough! If I let you say goodbyes it would last for days! Your ship is ready, get packing as you are scheduled to go in an hour!”

“Nooooooo~!” She cried but to no avail.

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When Alpha arrived at his station, everyone was waiting for him. Yet none of them looked angry at all, quite the opposite. 

“Good, you are here!” Keelan walked up to him like old buddies, slapping on his back.

Before them, in a sealed chamber was the first prototype of a completed Abyss Battery. The round, metallic sphere was already filled up with the required elements, ready to start the first test run. Countless, long tubes were connecting it to the floor and to the ceiling as it was housed behind the same shields that were put on battleships. It was an exciting moment, even with all the dangers it may entail. When the first atomic bomb was dropped, scientists were debating if it would ignite the Earth’s atmosphere or not. Same was happening right then as it could also go horribly wrong… And maybe kill all of them. Not that the prospect would stop any of them from turning it on!

“Sorry, I… was lost in time a little.” Alpha smiled, rubbing the back of his head.

“Great minds tend to do that!” Keelan laughed. “We wanted to let you start it up first!” 

“Oh… you shouldn’t have…” He said, trying to explain his honest thoughts but they were clearly trying everything to butter up to him. 

In the end he was almost forced to press the lone, red button, initiating the dark matter generator’s first run. As soon as he pressed it, Alpha’s eyes were fixated on it. The others thought he was just as excited as they were, only playing shy or reserved. In a way, they were right but Alpha’s excitement came for a different reason. What he was seeing, as it started to hum and vibrate, was that the interactions between multiple strings was familiar. He saw them changing color, reverberating like waves in a predictable manner… everything about them was predictable. And he also knew why… they were acting the same way as Ezekiel’s equation foretold. No matter how many layers he peeled off of it, working on it in his head from time to time, it always resulted in another, even more layered and complex equation. But whenever a new one came together, he realized that those strings were acting according to those laws. Forming matter on a quantum level and by that, forming reality itself. Now, seeing the Abyss Battery work, it gave him a new idea… a new way to tackle the current layer of the equation he was stuck at…

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