The Past, Rewired

[Soban]

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Donagan smirked at the revelation.
“So they were ticklin’ the dragon’s tail wi’ Nomad tech, were they? Aye—that might explain why most o’ the group—and their toys—vanished without a trace.”

When Derius voiced doubts about the mainframe’s ability to cope with the torrent of incoming data, Donagan waved the concern aside.
“Ach, she’ll manage fine. She’s no prototype anymore, an’ she’s isolated—only our inputs an’ scripts can nudge the process. I’ve only had tae make a few wee adjustments so far.”

He slid aside a panel on the console, revealing a chunky push-button and an auxiliary display.
“Here’s our latest bit o’ wizardry. Should a catastrophe strike, I can freeze the entire rig—or just slow the cycle speed—then thaw specific sections to tweak whatever needs fixin’. Gives us time tae act, ye ken.”

With a few keystrokes, he brought up a schematic of the container holding Derius’s data: a strange cylinder surrounded by intricate mechanisms that rotated in measured silence.
“I’ll spare ye the details, but that’s our second fail-safe. Let’s hope we never need it.”

He dismissed the hologram and turned back to the console.
“Right—back tae work. These last few percent are critical, so keep yer focus sharp!”