Chapter 343: Reconnection

Chapter 343: Reconnection

Quick Announcement: As chosen by the overwhelming majority in the discord, Chapters will now be bi-weekly, on Monday and Friday, so that my writing doesn’t interfere too much with my classes.

I hope you all can be understanding <>

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

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??? - Late Summer : The Acardi Laboratory | Siratha

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*hhhuuummmmm* *Beep* "Unable to connect to remote servers. Please Provide Instructions." The glowing blue orb at the center of the room gently reverberated as the voice echoed through the room.

-Is it really.. online?- A part of me somewhat struggled to believe it, but the more I monitored everything outside, the more it seemed like it really was stable. "The battery had a malfunction and destroyed most of the lab. How much data can you still access?"

"Even I cannot access above a certain clearance level. However, with your permission, I could verify."

-With my permission?- "What is my clearance level?"

"Maximum." The voice responded instantly with a very blunt tone.

"T..then..." I was a bit taken aback. "Please verify the data..." Turning my attention back to the computer, I quickly navigated my way to the home screen and found the familiar series of files on the homepage, none of which stuck out as especially top secret. -Do you have to go through the AI for the top-secret stuff?-

*Beep* "Most local data seems intact, with only a few exceptions."

"And that is?"

"File 8,142,029 in Registry 3. It was a file regarding Locally connected Deep Ocean Sensors and various miscellaneous files throughout Registry 5."

-Deep ocean sensors?- "How do you know what it was for?"

"The directory still remains; however, everything inside is corrupted beyond what I can repair."

"Hm..." -I see... Does it have any information on them?- "What were the sensors for?"

"They had various purposes. From monitoring seismic activity to monitoring 'The Leviathan' at the top of the liquid ice sheet."

My ears instantly perked up, and my chest tightened as the final words of one of the Acardi echoed through my mind. "The Leviathan?"

"Would you like me to-"

"Yes."

The AI continued without a moment of hesitation. "The Leviathan is an A-rank Monster capable of threatening A-Class motherships and B-Rank planets on its own. Colloquially as 'The Leviathan', it is a creature known only in ancient myth as one of the founding beings of Div-4856, the planet locally known as Delphi, and is estimated to be on par with the King of Dragons. However, it has been registered as 'no apparent threat' and is to be left alone unless stated otherwise."

My mind instantly started to stutter. -Uh.. what?- "Is the 'King of Dragons', known as Bahamut?"

"That is correct."

But of everything I asked over the course of a few days, digging out every piece of information the AI had access to, there was one question and answer that made me wrack my head.

*hummmm* "So the Apothocaris is a carnivorous plant that lives by thermal vents and has a bunch of extreme healing properties?" At the time, I had already asked most of my more pressing questions and had moved on to asking about all the different lifeforms logged within the database, from those only known by fossils to those that were still around when the Acardi were studying the oceans.

"That is correct. Although considerably dangerous with their durability and ability to use magic, the Apothocaris is extremely valuable and heavily valued within the Sector. Although farming is likely impossible because of the immense heat, pressure, and mana of their environments." It paused as it brought up a picture of a huge water tank with ash-filled water and a faintly visible, massive plant inside of it. "Attempts have been made within the Sector's Mothership, but to no success as of the most recent report."

-Huh.. I wonder what they couldn't replicate, considering how advanced they are...- "Can you access that report?"

"Not without access to the Local Server Database."

"Haaaah..." I let out a long, heavy sigh, hearing the same hopeless response I had been hearing a lot since I started digging deeper. -That does make me wonder though...- "So you need the Ping Tower to be repaired and the server to be online in order to connect to that database, right?"

"That is correct."

"So, where is that Ping Tower?"

*Ding* The map on the computer instantly updated. "The tower was originally in this location and was communicated to via cables running across the sea floor, but the tower was later outfitted with a rune utilizing quantum entanglement as it was a faster and more reliable means of data transfer. The lack of communication to this tower may be due to the transponder here in the laboratory malfunctioning, the tower, or both."

-Interesting...- Essentially, quantum entanglement was a theory in quantum mechanics where two electrons would become entangled so that whenever one changed direction, so would the other. This, at least in theory, would allow for faster-than-light data transfer. "But why would they use a relay if they have those runes?"

"For ease of initial and sustained connection, security, and allocation of data access. With a Ping Tower, one can form a web of connections so the functionality of the network isn't tied to one singular connection, and if a connection is ever lost, there are other connections that can be used while the other is repaired."

-I see...- "Well, eventually, I can try and repair that and connect it to the tower. But I'd then have to connect it to the main server where the database is to establish a data link. Do you know where that server is?"

"District 4B of the local lunar surface."

I immediately jolted. -Lunar surface?!- I immediately thought back to everything I had heard before and visualized the sights I saw on the moon as I approached it before eventually asking another question. "Could you show a map of where that is?"

Quickly turning to the computer, I watched the screen update with a large, somewhat colored spherical object with a grid over it and one of the small squared highlighted and labeled 4B. "It appears the map is outdated, however, if connection to satellites is reestablished, remapping is possible."

But as the AI spoke, I zoned out, staring at the sphere on the screen with wide eyes.

-Is that.. a city?-

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