Chapter 569 Mo’ Technology, Mo’ Problems

Chapter 569 Mo' Technology, Mo' Problems

While Aron was assimilating the new knowledges and deep in Nova’s medically induced coma, the top minds in the imperial space agency were in a meeting with Styx, the AI that headed up both the TSF and their agency.

“How reliable is this?” Dr. Musa Aminu, the head of the ISA, asked as he blinked the holographic file displayed in his glasses closed.

“We’re 95% confident, sir. Some time within the next week, another Carrington event is expected to take place. And based on the sunspots we observed along with the increase in solar winds, we believe it’ll absolutely dwarf the event from 1869. The most damning piece of evidence we have is that it’s happening off season.

“Normally, the Sun acts up on a predictable eleven-year cycle, and the last solar maximum was only five years ago, so—”

“It wasn’t 1869,” Agency Head Aminu calmly said. “It was -149 BE.”

“I’m not sure that’s relevant, sir,” the researcher said. “A change in calendar doesn’t mea—”

“It means exactly what it means, Doctor Yao. If this event is as epoch-making as you say it’ll be, then we must be absolutely meticulous. If for nothing else, consider it for posterity’s sake.”

“Understood, sir.” Doctor Yao cleared his throat and continued, “It’ll be more devastating than the event in -149 BE, sir. It might even be a civilization-ending event, given our reliance on technology.”

Musa nodded, lost in thought. The entire room fell into an uncomfortable, anxious silence before he sighed, “Styx, please inform the higher-ups of the oncoming mess and call an emergency meeting. Tell them that there’s a seventy-odd percent chance that we’ll be hit by a historic coronal mass ejection within the next week.”

Styx flickered into visibility, then blinked. [An emergency meeting will be held in thirty minutes with the emperor’s inner council,] he said. [They’re currently being briefed on the issue and will need a detailed presentation from you.]

Dr. Aminu nodded to Styx, then turned to the other researchers in the conference room. “Prepare a presentation on the event. I’ll leave it to you to present it,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir,” they chorused, then left to prepare their presentation.

......

“Wait... shields?” Minister Rogers asked with a slight frown, obviously considering something. “What about the planetary defense shield? Isn’t this kind of thing exactly what it was meant for?”

Dr. Yao’s eyes lit up. “We have a planetary shield? Can it handle the full brunt of the incoming CME?” he asked. His security clearance level wasn’t high enough to have any information on the full brunt of the incoming CME?” he asked. His security clearance level wasn’t high enough to have any information on the PDS, so the information, in his mind, changed everything.

[If we switch it from passive to active defense, then, sure. We’ll also need to move all of our shipping under the shield or behind Jupiter,] Nova answered. [And during that time, nothing will be able to pass in or out of the shield.]

“Does it need to be fully active? Can we just activate the half that’s facing the sun when the CME hits?” Minister Rogers asked.

[Technically, yes,] Nova said. [The shield is set up such that any of its hexagons can be activated independently of the rest. But it wouldn’t be a good idea, as the coronal mass may wrap around it due to the Coanda Effect and hit the planet regardless. So, to counter that, we’ll need to activate the entire shield at full power.]

(Ed note: The Coanda Effect is what causes running water to “stick” to the surface of objects placed in it and flow around them. You can see this by turning on the faucet in your kitchen sink and putting a glass in the water on its side. The water will seem to adhere to the surface of the glass and flow around it, 18:06

then continue flowing instead of being deflected off to either side of the glass. Physics is fun!)

[We should let it hit the planet,] Nyx interjected, immediately attracting the attention of everyone in the room.

A moment of silence ensued, then every human in the room burst into a clamor.

“What!?”

“Do you have any idea how devastating it’s going to be!?”

“Are you insane?”

The outburst continued for a full three minutes before John slammed his hand on the conference table and shouted, “SHUT THE FUCK UP!”