In the years when he drifted without clear ambition, the psyker Delico reached his fiftieth birthday.
By now, he had built his once modest machinery company into a vast private enterprise whose operations spanned more than fifty planets. Even high-ranking officials of the Human Federation were compelled to take his words seriously.
Life was tranquil as always: a stable household, a loving wife, and healthy kin.
On this particular day, he sat in his office, sipping black tea and contemplating the company's future direction after giving a stern lecture to his subordinates.
Then a video call arrived from his wife.
He answered without hesitation. Even before she spoke, Delico's heightened senses detected her excitement and joy.
"What is it?" he asked, his tone noticeably gentler than it ever was with outsiders.
"I'm pregnant!"
The simple words struck him like lightning. His body stiffened, and psychic energy surged from him instinctively, extending toward his home.
Moments later, he confirmed it for himself: within his wife's womb was a fragile yet vigorous new life — his child.
The sensation was indescribably moving.
For the first time in decades, Delico tried to smile. He discovered he had nearly forgotten how. His face twitched awkwardly before he finally managed a stiff, clumsy grin. Containing his emotions, he told his wife:
"I'll come home immediately."
When the call ended, Delico slammed his palm on the desk in exhilaration.
The reinforced alloy desk — forged from materials normally used for starship hull plating — shattered beneath his psychic-enhanced strike as easily as butter under a hot knife.
Steadying himself, he quickly contacted his secretary:
"My wife is pregnant. To celebrate, the entire company will take a week of paid leave!"
There was a pause, then a hesitant reply:
"…But sir, in two days we have an important order scheduled. If everyone takes leave, our annual profits could drop by a third—"
"That doesn't matter. Do as I say. Everyone gets leave."
The secretary sighed. "...Understood."
Internally, though, he grumbled:
'Just because of a pregnancy, he's willing to sacrifice trillions in revenue? When the child is born, will he abandon the company altogether?'
Before ending the call, Delico added one more instruction:
"And arrange for my office desk to be replaced before the holiday."
"?" The secretary, baffled, agreed anyway: "Yes, sir."
Half an hour later, as workers examined the desk, they fell silent at the gaping hole in its surface.
"This is N-11 grade alloy," one said in disbelief. "It's the same material used for starship armor. It can withstand high-powered railguns. What kind of force could have done this?"
"Are you secretly weapons manufacturers? Was this a weapons test?"
The secretary could only shrug helplessly.
__
When Delico arrived home, he immediately placed his hand on his wife's still-flat stomach.
The feeling of his bloodline continuing stirred an unprecedented joy within him.
For the first time, his otherwise hollow life had purpose. He resolved to give his child the very best of everything.
"What should we name the child?" his wife asked.
"I'll need to look through the old histories," he replied without lifting his hand. "I want to give him the best name possible."
As they discussed names, a tall figure appeared outside their home.
Ra.
Sensing through the Warp that the inhabitants within were pure-blooded humans, his hostility faded.
He had rushed there because he had felt Delico's psychic flare earlier — at first mistaking it for an intruder who had slipped past Orsaga's barriers.
Now, recognizing Delico's powerful innate potential, Ra made a decision.
At some point, he would need to speak with this man.
For a talentless, untrained psyker was dangerous. Without proper guidance, he could easily draw the attention of Warp entities. Were it not for Orsaga's shielding, the havoc from psykers alone would already have been catastrophic.
So, a warning — and perhaps instruction — would be necessary.
Ten years later.
Delico's child, flipping through a holobook of travel guides, pointed at the image of a lush colony world.
"Father, can we visit Talasa someday?"
Delico checked the coordinates and shook his head helplessly.
"It's too far. With current technology, the journey would take at least twenty-two years."
Though humanity's domain was vast, its technology still lagged. Colonies remained largely isolated, separated by daunting distances.
At his father's words, the boy's excitement crumbled into disappointment.
Watching his son's expression, Delico's mind began to turn.
He recalled what his teachers had taught: the Warp, a dimension both adjacent to and beyond realspace, where time and space were chaotic and unstable.
'Could I exploit the nature of the Warp to achieve faster-than-light travel?'
The idea took form, clear and bold:
A Warp Jump Drive.
A new project was born.
_____
T/N:
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