95 95. Threat from Outerspace

"Why the need for such a defense system? What threat would be so extensive that a shield of such scale and power is needed…"

The words rang heavy with their implications, a realization flashing through them at that.

Yes, the post-human was cautious and paranoid beyond what for most was reasonable, this was an obvious reality and facet of his personality to them as well as being mysterious in his plan but even then when pondered upon, such a defense system is but logical to put on but what could it be necessary for?

It was akin to going into a nuclear bunker to protect oneself from airsoft bullets, the megacorp didn't have the means to break through it if their idea of the shield power was correct and it was likely an underestimation. So as powerful and influential as the RDA was it didn't possess the kind of capacity to be a threat for such a defense system following this logic.

Unless they were considering the possibility of weapons of mass destruction such as matter-antimatter warheads being used for some unknown reason. It makes a bit of sense to have it just in case, as frivolous as it seemed to be.

But to spend so much time and resources on such a still-in-progress project for an infinitely small chance of an improbable attack that could be easily stopped by a bit of foresight and preparation, two things the post-human was an expert in, with the near-divine power brought by Tek such as manipulation of light and space… There were other reasons.

The post-human didn't do the irrational, and random.

'Threat, that is the appropriate term.', Liam thought grimly, it was inevitable that starting the creation of a moon-wide shield would lead to questions as to why such a thing was necessary and it was a good and justified question.

The people under him weren't blind or stupid to his actions, even if they couldn't understand them all, Jake was no exception. Though for him it was more about uncommon moments of clarity, he wasn't the worst tool in the shed but he was certainly not that sharpest if it wasn't for Mo'at the Omatikaya leading most of the present days to be noticeably worse.

But that Liam won't speak about it, he could perceive reality as it was but that wasn't how others saw it, he knew, he was once like this, a fog over his mind that twisted what was and wasn't.

As such he comprehended that for others understanding objective facts will be unpleasant and breed negative emotions and when there was no need to speak out he would speak. Aside from that, he wasn't perfect.

Thought about how to answer… This was more delicate, their reasoning was sound but lacking and he could use this to avoid and reduce potential panic, such as omitting the still-in-creation Rose of Jericho or a planet-sized wormhole suddenly appearing on Pandora due to the very low chance the Harvesters would break their pattern to do this but that was more of a last desperate move as Pandora should look like the tastiest of banquets or the most sparkly jewel.

In any case a shield no matter its strength would turn obsolete against this type of unconventional attack.

He had prepared in case the question came, he would have been mildly disappointed in everyone if it wasn't mentioned, truly. It was evident something was up if a modicum of critical thinking with hints of the context was used.

After a few seconds of thought where he closed his eyes and communicated with Eywa through their bond he opened them back he sighed before he moved his lips to answer the many questions in his small public's eyes.

"I will explain the purposes of Project Obelisks to begin, the further necessary details will be sent to you later. Let it be noted that the Obelisks have multiple objectives but I will only speak of two, the major ones, the first is to support a virtual realm called the Nexus to process, collect, alter, store, and transfer data at a supra luminal speed no matter the circumstances to anything tied to it, you can consider this as a superior version of the Internet.", he let out, not yet going to the main subject, it needed to be said and he preferred things to be concise and not repeat himself.

And as for the Nexus, it was an equally important aspect that will be put in full motion once the Obelisks Project is completed, it was as he said but more, the description of the virtual realm would be quite literal here. The ultimate goal was to create a reality where he would be master and reside for when the inevitable happened.

But presently it was only in its infancy, only the first thousands 'basic' lines of codes were woven together to bring a minimum of functions if rather bare bone but vital ones all the same such as better feedback between machines and an overall marginal improvement for Tek to operate more smoothly.

He couldn't do more with the amount of time at his disposal. Adding that the primary language for coding used was conceptually different from the binary number system that was the base of all mankind's programming.

Binary was straightforward and solidly structured but it was its downfall for what was needed, its limitlessness wasn't so for much more advanced functions that would be considered… Out of the norm, if not straight-up reality-defying.

What was used could be called quaternary, it used four numbers instead of two, though it was more akin to nucleotides of the DNA and RNA, and it held the transcendent property only showing in Tek, turning the impossible into possible as it encased principles inconceivable in a three-dimensional space.

With it, he could create artificial life and that is what he did with Arx and the others or transform reality into virtuality and vice versa.

Those qualities made it very hard to work with if the purpose was to innovate as its complexity made creating what wasn't within Tekgram exceedingly difficult. It was because of that the Nexus was only in its foundations, and that was on purpose. There is no need to rush and make errors that will lead to unpredictable consequences.

"Then the second… The subject at hand, the Green Obelisk possesses a forcefield generator of potency outstripping any earlier generator, and it will be coupled with the future two others, merging the three letting them adapt and repair themselves as they englobed the entirety of Pandora thereby forming a matrix of elegy that will be called the World Barrier.", he said rather proudly, a hologram of an Obelisk appearing on the table in front of them that showed many of its components, even if nine could understand anything of the mind-bogglingly complex and sophisticated.

Just looking at it and trying to make head or tail of anything would lead to splitting headaches. And this was only the more mechanical part of it, the 'simple' part of this insane construct.

"Jake and Norm, your assumptions are unfortunately correct to a degree I would have preferred not to be. The World Barrier is indeed an excessive measure at first glance. The RDA even if they were to be backed up and held full authorization to do as they pleased would not damage it in any substantial way that wouldn't have been repaired in the next couple of seconds.", Liam affirmed those two words, the tension in the air rising, and breathing and heartbeat quickening, both loud for him.

They believed his every word, no doubt or suspicion about their veracity was in their minds. Liam may be many things of which a lot were negative but a liar he was not, the Devil was in the details and unsaid truth when interacting with him. It was one of those methods he used to hold an iron grip on everything and everyone aside from his sheer powers and influence.

"But it was to be an overkill solution, to begin with, I didn't alter the design I have been working on for a decade, I don't have the leisure of time for this. I don't choose the mediocre, easier but worse solution when I can go above and beyond and it will pay off, something I wish it didn't need to, and this led to Norm's assumption… It is a very accurate reality.", Liam said with a poker face, letting his words sink in, confusion, panic and anxiety were present, mostly within Norm as he was naturally the most nervous but the post-human apparent serenity helped.

If he wasn't showing any kind of urgency then it meant there was no reason for any of them to feel so as well, but they weren't all capable of quieting their emotions and working logically at all times. Still, they all were in relative calmness.

And what he said brought a sense of security, he had solutions and that was all that counted. It was within his estimation, that all they needed to know.

Then Liam's body language shifted from relaxed to serious, veins popping off on his muscles as he hunched over and spoke almost mechanically, a way of speaking that fitted him too well for his liking, "For what I would reveal onward it must be of the utmost evidence for everyone that if words were spread, kept you tongue-tied, I will know, trust me, and I will punish the responsible adequately. There will be no exception, treatment of favor, or a way out, I will trust you on this. It is up to you to hold this trust."

"Humanity is not the first space-faring civilization the All-Mother had encountered.", he announced with shock that some could be seen with others' disbelief.

"So what alien…? This seems improbable, humanity would have known, there would have been traces.", Katherine spoke with confusion, it seemed insane, and if they were a space-faring civilization humanity would have known.

"Katherine without sounding like I'm lecturing you, we have the living embodiment in this room that this line of thought is erroneous and can't by any means void the potential existence of advanced xeno civilization. It is highly arrogant to believe so. It's not because we can't perceive something with our eyes or machines that it doesn't exist, and might I add that if it is known back on Earth, we would have never had the hope to have access to this information. Unless we want a ticking bomb in our brain.", Grace corrected, placing her point of view on the subject.

The redhead woman nodded at this, acknowledging the valid points brought up by the Avatar xenobotanist. Katherine was not offended, she was used to Grace's antics, it was more of a banter between them than anything. It wasn't as if she was faultless either, she didn't miss a chance to prove Grace wrong when at any opportunity given.

Scanning the scene impassively Liam waited until they all quieted down as the ladies weren't the only ones registering what he just said.

The Na'vi were one thing, but a bonafide alien civilization stronger than humanity from the context was an entirely different matter, here they probably would be the Na'vi of the equation if not for the post-human.

"As everyone calmed down? Good. Observe.", Liam said and his specimen implant flashed, at this the hologram in the middle of the Conroom changed.

An ovoid structure with a flat underside where two towers equal in length to that of the main body appeared, next to it was a speck of light with a zoom on it showing an ISV Ventura, there was a model of Naratskxepay with a part of it covered in dot from one point of impact.

Others showed its inside, pillar of scale beyond reason, a ceiling so high nine could see, and massive arches connecting to labyrinthine bridges of aesthetic reminiscent of what insects living in communities would build and live in.

Silence invaded the room as everyone looked wide-eyed at the holograms, many thoughts flashing in their minds at what they were seeing.

"This is… This is the size of a small moon or country.", Norm said in both shock and awe at the sheer scale of it.

"Holy shit.", Grace added gracefully, it was such a massive structure that thousand of the biggest of humanity's largest spaceships could fit inside and then more. The entire thing was of a scale the human mind could not truly comprehend, it was more of a mini world than a spaceship.

"This is an approximate reconstruction of the fragmented vessel I have found on the moon {Naratskxepay}, it has crashed upon this moon's surface an uncertain amount millions of years in the past.", Liam added and in his words, a hologram of the icy moon appeared, on it was marked where the point of impact had happened with the depth the space shipwreck was found and a 3D image of the massive wreck in question.

"Several millions of years ago?! How in the flying fuck is it still standing! How did it not turn into smithereens at the crash too? How?", Katherine was the first to exclaim herself at this impossible notion. It didn't make sense, a common theme in those times it seemed.

She had no doctorate but she knew her fair share of how things should work and such a damaged structure under continual stress should have collapsed eons ago, that is by using any materials she knew of.

"There is no reason to be agitated. I will explain. It has in great part fossilized into the ice surrounding it and with the moon little geological activity and its weak gravity stopped most grievous structural damage from happening, as for the damages of the crash themselves… My mate and I are not certain. The ancient materials that made it are certainly strong, strong beyond what this humanity could produce but not enough to survive such an impact, even Tek wouldn't end unscathed. Nothing physical would truly be. The only possibility is a powerful energy shield generator of some kind that has absorbed most of the damage, but it's not a problem to worry about.", Liam said in an even tone, his ethereal silver eyes switching to Jake as before the latter began speaking.

"Then how did it crash, something this size can't be realistically shot down? Even without techno bullshit shielding… Is that the threat we have to worry about?", he asked, proposing several scenarios, that it's possible in their realm.

"It's because it wasn't shot down or critically damaged in any way before crashing. Picture balloons in your mind, everyone knows that balloons can only be pumped with so much air before exploding. Now replace those balloons with a Mind and air with Psionic, the principle is similar, this was what happened to the billions on board.", Liam answered cooly, showing no sign of empathy at the horrifying implication of what he just said.

"The All-Mother… It's her, correct? This implies that the entirety of the onboard species was Psionic. Terrific and fascinating.", Edmund said with morbid curiosity yet hardly believing himself with such outlandish claims.

"My mate is indeed responsible for the death of the species that I named the Harvesters in this vessel, she shattered their very being. But do not feel pity or empathy. They wanted to harvest Pandora of all of its resources and do so on hundreds of other worlds indiscriminately. If not for my mate Earth would have been harvested long ago.", Liam added, the notion it could have been the human there were a minimum Psionicaly inclined was chilling but not surprising considering how the local fauna and flora were hyper-aggressive toward humans.

After this the meeting went on Liam explained more about this species such as showing pictures of the two caste members known, Queens, and Drones, that they used biological exosuits, their technology was largely biologically based, that they were a Psionic hive mind, but more importantly that their civilization was still active, alive, and kicking.

But also that one spaceship was easy enough to shatter the Minds of all passengers if a solitary vengeance were to happen but more and that would be a problem. If the World Barrier wouldn't be built, that is, as arrogant as it was, Liam trusted his future creation to fully stop any 'regular' attacks thrown at it for at least enough time to win.

He also spoke of where he would build the other two Obelisks, the Red Obelisk earning a bit of apprehension not specifically due to where it was placed but who lived there. Violence would likely be of use.

In the end, Jake, Grace, Edmund, Katherine, and Norm got a far larger understanding of how small they were and that being lax would prove to be their death and that of everyone.

It was a humbling lesson. And nothing better than one enemy to motivate others under you than two, the second far more dangerous than the first.

*

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