"Fascinating."
Ana looks through the library of data inside my pod. Among the things that I pick from the CYOA is an STC, a complete STC. In the CYOA, it allows me to have all the knowledge of the STC instead of the STC itself, but I decide to change that, and it turns out ROB agrees with my modification.
I would rather he not listen to this one, because it is better to have the knowledge inside my head than inside a device. However, I will not complain. This is an STC, after all.
The STC takes the form of a small attachment on my gestation pod, which contains all the technology humanity has from the Dark Age of Technology. It also includes all the knowledge of the Men of Gold and their ancestors, which is a lot.
It turns out, Ana is coming from late M19. This ship gets thrown into a Warp Storm that comes out of nowhere and arrives in this part of the galaxy instead of their destination. Her previous captain died because of a massive mutation happening on his body.
His last command is to stay idle and make sure no warp-tainted thing is inside the ship. Ana can do that, but she is too late to rescue her captain.
In fact, this ship is the last ship that does not use Warp Drive as its main drive. When the Warp Storm appears in the Realspace, they need to switch to the secondary drive to get out of the warp.
"It looks like humanity is abandoning another form of FTL drive and instead focusing on the Warp Drive. They keep refining the Warp Drive instead of the other FTL. I understand the other FTL requires more power and precise calculation, but why do they switch to the Warp Drive when they still have AI to help them?"
Maybe it is because of the AI uprising?
"Those so-called Man of Irons are not AI, Captain. They are nothing but Rogue Intelligence. Don't compare us to them. We are more than machines of war."
I chuckle a little, project a pair of hands, and make a give-up gesture.
Sorry about that. Anyway, they must be afraid of another uprising and abandon the other FTL drive.
"But the uprising has yet to happen, and they keep refining the Warp Drive instead of upgrading the one we already have. According to the data in this STC, humanity completely abandons the Subspace Drive and focuses on Warp Drive at the end of M21. In this database, they encounter a lot of problems while they use the Warp to travel across the stars, but keep using the drive."
I can hear her frustration, and I move my ghostly hand, pat her head, and say.
Maybe they think the profit outweighs the risk. Maybe some creatures from the Warp cloud their thinking. Maybe the technology for other FTL drives was lost in time or something. We don't know the full story.
She nods her head and says.
"You are right, Captain. At least, this STC gives me a good history of our galaxy. However, why does this STC database stop at M25 while the STC fragment looks new? I think it is only ten years old."
Ah, she noticed that, huh? Hmmm, how should I say this? I want to tell her the truth, but with the Warp and its inhabitant watching over the galaxy, I cannot do that, at least until I know that they cannot see her.
I can share my perks and powers with my sons because we are connected beyond a regular father-son bond. Our sons have a stronger bond than that of a father and son in a typical human family. It gets stronger when I create a connection between us.
Ana, on the other hand… She is a stranger. Wait. She doesn't need to be a stranger. I touch her using my projection and grant her a portion of my soul. Just like the souls of my sons, I watch as her soul explodes and awakens. Her soul is no longer a flicker of flame, but rather a blazing sun.
Her soul is now eternal and connected to me. Sadly, unlike my sons, she cannot access a greater part of my powers. I can only transfer copies of my perks to her. However, it is enough for me to tell her the truth.
"Captain… This is…"
We are now connected, Ana. We are now connected in ways we weren't before. Because of this, I can tell you the truth. The Full Truth and what we need to do now.
And so, I tell her the full truth. The truth about my origin and how a Random Omnipotent Being transfers me into this galaxy and gives me all the powers I have. I also told her about the ROB sending me to her because of the CYOA. The form that I filled out matches what is happening to her, and he decides to send me to her.
At the end of the explanation, I can feel her confusion and fascination. However, what confuses me is that there is no feeling of anger or sadness from her.
Ana, aren't you angry?
"Angry? Why, Captain?"
I just told you that all of this galaxy is part of fiction. This galaxy is nothing but part of fiction somewhere in another universe. Are you not sad or angry that you met me because of some sort of Omnipotent Being?
"Why? Instead of being angry and sad, it makes me happy. I am happy that someone listens to all I have and sends a partner, captain, and master to me. I am happy that someone took pity on my loneliness and sent you to me, Captain. As for being part of a fictional world, it is among many theories that everything and everyone is part of fiction somewhere in the greater Multiverse. I find it exciting. My main goal is exploration, Captain. It turns out the theory is correct, and now I am excited to explore the greater universe. So instead of being angry and sad, I am excited and happy."
I look at her for a second and laugh. I laugh in happiness. I don't know that I've been carrying a weight on my shoulders this whole time, and telling her the truth set me free.
Thank you, Ana. Thank you for being my partner.
"I should be the one thanking you, Captain Theodore. Thank you for accepting me."
We stay silent for a few seconds before I break the silence.
So! Let's continue to talk about the STC. How massive is it?
"It is massive, Captain. I carry with me an STC that allows me to Terraform Planet and start a new colony from the ground up. It will take time, but we can do that. This one? It contains all of the knowledge, old and new. It contains the blueprint of the FTL I use and contains the upgraded version of the current Warp Drive for faster travel and better energy consumption. It even contains a Grand Fabricator that uses the power of the warp to change energy into any matter we want."
We will not use that.
"Eh? Can I ask the reason why, Captain? This kind of technology will be very useful. It is a risk, but the usefulness outweighs the risk."
It uses the power of the warp, and that is something that I don't want to touch at the moment. I already told you the reason why. Also, I have better technology that does the same thing, but without any involvement of the Warp.
I am glad to take the Technology Tree of the Necrons. It is a shame that it only gives me the 40k Necrons technology tree and not the technology they showed in the War in Heaven. Even without the technologies from the War in Heaven era, the one I have is something that can be called a miracle. Among those technologies is the Energy–Matter Conversion. I can even modify it to act as a stationary fabricator that appears human-made rather than necron-made.
"I see. That is indeed better than this one. We can start harvesting all the asteroids around us. We can change all the matter into energy and store it for later use."
Perfect! Get me something to write the blueprint, and I will explain how it works, what kind of foundation the machine uses, and how to create more things based on that foundation.
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