Rise of a new being

[Vendetta]

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By the end of their conversation, Leviathan was quickly taking check of the area. He brought the power core into view, making a crude box with his fingers and thumbs as a lens, drawing a mental image of a design plan. Envisioning how and where all the necessary parts would go. Much of the foundational work is already outlined in the existing structure provided by the AI at Secundus. This was fortuitous, as it meant Leviathan wasn't starting from nothing.

'Adaptability.' He thought to himself as he scanned the room. Another benefit would be the lack of gravity. Moving parts into place wouldn't require as much strenuous effort, or heavy machinery. 'A small team at best, with extra hands on standby.' The picture was quickly coming together in his head. The needed supplies were already here - as was the catalyst ingredient. The cell itself.

Leviathan lowered his arms with a content sigh. Having seen all he needed to see, he brought up the console on the wrist of his armor and began to type away, sending out messages like a spambot to the staff he wanted on hand. The chief of staff replied, indicating that the teams were prepping with the first set of materials to come over. Superconductors, energy field equipment, HTAs and other key components were being offloaded from the Pytheas as he typed. Various nondescript personnel sporting opaque helmeted EVA suits worked like longshoremen on a high-paying salary. Their work was swift and meticulous, as they were being scrutinized by the ever-observant eye of Venator Serapis from the decks above.

The staff took the better part of three hours to have everything together. A little over a dozen men and women had sealed their suits for the upcoming lack of atmosphere and were moving the supplies over by cart to the entryway. There they'd begin to offload and transfer the goods through an airlock. Once out of gravity's clutches, the goods became far easier to move, though there remained obvious risks with mass differences. One wouldn't want their hands to get caught should a crate gain too much speed on the way over. The key was patience - taking their time. Utilizing appropriate leverage for each object, and making use of cable ties as guides for the heaviest pieces. A precaution advised by the cargo officer, which the staff took to heart.

The loading process felt like child's play to the team, having set up tethers and anchors for the crates. Two planted themselves and used a series of ropes to help control the momentum of each of the heaviest crates of materials. It took a lot longer than they had initially planned to get everything in place, but each step of the way was guided with instructions from Leviathan. Each crate that came in was directed to a specific spot, as Leviathan barked orders like a foreman on a jobsite. The armored man pointed in various different areas, setting up zones for material organization. A process for easily managing the flow of construction.

It took a few more hours for everything to be laid out. By then, the staff had gathered around Leviathan in a circle, where he used a small holographic projector to break down the steps of converting the reactor.

"Much of the foundational framework here is laid out for us, so our biggest concern is the core of the reactor itself. We'll divide into two teams: The main core group, and the periphery team. The core group requires no explanation, as they'll be working directly on the housing for the generator and the feed system to siphon off energy. The periphery team has the fun job of double-checking the conduits and replacing each outlined node in this schematic to prevent leaks and overloads." He explained as he pointed to the holographic display, aiming for specific spots on the blueprint which resembled 'wires' or 'hoses'. With a snap of his fingers, the staff he had brought on nodded and saluted as notice that they're ready and getting to work.

The masked figure sighed as he watched the people scurry off. Leviathan had kept the schematic hologram out for them to see. 'Like little worker bees.' He thought to himself, as the crew was prepping their materials. Each called out one after the other, indicating a ready status. Leviathan nodded, and powered down the reactor.

Their work had begun.

Dealing with self-contained energy and adapting it to human equipment has always been a risky process, given the unstable nature of most hybrid methods. Over the years, through combination of different approaches, trial and error, and the study and reverse-engineering of various recovered samples had paved the way to new methods - ones Leviathan had some personal involvement in.

The more modern data provided by Leviathan's counterpart led to one such merging of methods. It outlined a conduit network and chamber with a specialized condenser and conversion system in order to process the feed into usable energy with the use of a focused particle beam. In collaboration with the existing foundation from the AI, the draw method for the power source was already present. It instead became a matter of stabilization and adaptation of the existing hardware to handle the output from the alien cell. Gammu tech was already equipped for Dark Matter use. The cell itself wasn't much different, but needed a special system to be tapped into for this all to work.

A series of cooling systems ranging from complex heat sinks to alien-esque apparatus making use of cyrog-organisms and extremely low-temperature fluids were set up at the beam's emitter and at the receptacle. The chamber's temperature when active would plunge, to ensure that any attempts by the AI to manipulate its energy source would go as smoothly as it possibly could.

The reconstruction process would take well over a week of careful installation, as the Pytheas fabricated the complex components and sent them over when they were needed. They were on a tight schedule, after all. There was only so much time to get a functioning model set up, and in such a distant area they weren't able to make many mistakes. The crew would rotate out with other staff from the Bulwark moored alongside the old Judicator, so that they could work around the clock. Where manpower failed, machinery and automation filled the gaps. Drones specific to the Technocracy scurried out to help control the movement and momentum of the largest parts of the reactor as they were moved and installed in place.

Leviathan looked back over the schematics one last time for anything they might've missed. He might just be being overly cautious, but there were lessons of the past to apply here. Test results from Revenant's first time dabbling in this sort of tech. Warnings. These were overcome by applying an enhanced energy dampening field, overcharging its output as an additional off-load location in the event of failure, and adding an additional two layers around the Core itself to ensure it was secure as a preventive measure.

As their work was finalized, Leviathan looked on with arms crossed. They were behind his schedule, and in the moments he couldn't coordinate them directly on the floor, he worried their attention to detail could be lacking. A final check of each and every possible thing that could go wrong was underway, as the Navarch had tasked each staff member with triple-checking their work. He was even moving along the installed pieces himself, scanning with the light of his helmet for the slightest indication of imperfection. Leviathan checked some conduits, grapping their fixtures and seeing if he could move them easily, or if they were loosely installed. An hour would pass before the inspection was complete.

Leviathan ushered the group out of the room as he looked on at the finished product. An amalgamation of AI and Technocrat tech, fused together to pull power straight from a recovered Nomad Cell. It's not an uncommon feat in his line of work, given that past doctors had replicated similar devices for market sale. These methods weren't safe. The slightest incorrect input, or improperly installed conduit could lead to an overload. If the cooling system fails or if their math is off in the slightest, it could be problematic. All the risks he knew were already involved. He'd taken every measure he could think of.

But it was time.

With a sigh, Leviathan began the ignition sequence of the unit's new power source. There was a moment of silence before a hum began to radiate from within the reactor's structure, building upon itself like a ripple in the water. The hum evolved into a pulsating rhythm that was slowly increasing in speed with each second as the machinery begun to articulate and move. The readouts began to display various tidbits of info from the core itself. Readouts of output and ready status. It'd be some time until it was funny online, but his work was complete.

Though the result the new energy source might have on the one who had sought his assistance remains ambiguous at best. The armored mechanoid locked his fingers together behind his back, watching contently as the readout continued to flash away.

Now it was a waiting game. A waiting game to see whether the results were satisfactory, or if his tampering had led to unexpected consequences.

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