<Snipped quote by Extra>

Wait, why do you think holding my breath is, like, some kind of default thing to do?

It’s a natural reaction to a change of pressure! It will feel like gravity is everywhere!

<Snipped quote by Legend>

It’s a natural reaction to a change of pressure! It will feel like gravity is everywhere!

Anything else I need to be worried about?

<Snipped quote by Extra>

Anything else I need to be worried about?

No! Just follow me when I open this!

<Snipped quote by Legend>

No! Just follow me when I open this!

Let's get moving, then.

<Snipped quote by Extra>

I still have that bandage I guess, unless it needs something more.

<Snipped quote by Legend>

So it's an AI?

<Snipped quote by Extra>

Let's get moving, then.

*pulls down the lever with a hefty slam and an alarm rings as interconnected locks move and a loud screech is heard from the door. I quickly step ahead of you and lean against the wall, shortly after the door begins to move and open, almost all sound seems to disappear and a shower of luminescent colors fills the corridor. An almost overwhelming wave of pressure torrents through the room, gravity beginning to push and pull in all directions. Through the goggles the light is filtered through a multitude of shades of blues and greens. The door reveals a colossal room with eight gigantic mechanical arms four on top and four on bottom that have what appears to be glowing pads on each end, pointing towards the center. The center is what appears to be a giant atom, but is two massive metallic rings that rotate and flow around a core, the rings being two stellarators and in the middle of the ring being a nuclear core within cube that is expanding and contracting simultaneously. You all feel the thrumming of the core’s power.*

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

And then if merely running tests unleashes that monster into the world once more?

There’s no way to know without knowing. But fear of knowledge never got anyone anywhere.
*Shoves my hands into my pockets, thumbs out*
But I have some theories about the unbelievably endothermic nature of the gem, and the potential for it to be highly impractical for anyone to use as a weapon. I feel like something like that is worth knowing, as an active deterring fact to would-be thieves who would do anything to use it as such, consequences or no.

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

<Snipped quote by Host>

*pulls down the lever with a hefty slam and an alarm rings as interconnected locks move and a loud screech is heard from the door. I quickly step ahead of you and lean against the wall, shortly after the door begins to move and open, almost all sound seems to disappear and a shower of luminescent colors fills the corridor. An almost overwhelming wave of pressure torrents through the room, gravity beginning to push and pull in all directions. Through the goggles the light is filtered through a multitude of shades of blues and greens. The door reveals a colossal room with eight gigantic mechanical arms four on top and four on bottom that have what appears to be glowing pads on each end, pointing towards the center. The center is what appears to be a giant atom, but is two massive metallic rings that rotate and flow around a core, the rings being two stellarators and in the middle of the ring being a nuclear core within cube that is expanding and contracting simultaneously. You all feel the thrumming of the core’s power.*

*Puts on the goggles and stands against the wall. In the midst of all the forces pulling in every direction, I look largely unphased except for the fact that I very slightly slide off my feet and up the wall a small ways*
There is no way this is normal practice.

<Snipped quote by Memory>

There’s no way to know without knowing. But fear of knowledge never got anyone anywhere.
*Shoves my hands into my pockets, thumbs out*
But I have some theories about the unbelievably endothermic nature of the gem, and the potential for it to be highly impractical for anyone to use as a weapon. I feel like something like that is worth knowing, as an active deterring fact to would-be thieves who would do anything to use it as such, consequences or no.

Do not be mistaken—we are are not cut from the same cloth. Fear of knowledge is indeed foolish, and yet, knowledge left unto itself has no inherent value; unapplied, information is worthless. The pursuit of knowledge is not a meaningful end.
*Rests my chin on clasped hands*
This philosophy is my master's, and you must understand it to trade with him. Information is a flexible tool, be it a building block for an elaborate blueprint or the minted currency of a transaction. So the question we face today is: How much is this pursuit worth to you, and what will be your ultimate return on investment?

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

<Snipped quote by Host>

*pulls down the lever with a hefty slam and an alarm rings as interconnected locks move and a loud screech is heard from the door. I quickly step ahead of you and lean against the wall, shortly after the door begins to move and open, almost all sound seems to disappear and a shower of luminescent colors fills the corridor. An almost overwhelming wave of pressure torrents through the room, gravity beginning to push and pull in all directions. Through the goggles the light is filtered through a multitude of shades of blues and greens. The door reveals a colossal room with eight gigantic mechanical arms four on top and four on bottom that have what appears to be glowing pads on each end, pointing towards the center. The center is what appears to be a giant atom, but is two massive metallic rings that rotate and flow around a core, the rings being two stellarators and in the middle of the ring being a nuclear core within cube that is expanding and contracting simultaneously. You all feel the thrumming of the core’s power.*

*Both of us slip and fall when the machine activates*
Woah!

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

<Snipped quote by Host>

*pulls down the lever with a hefty slam and an alarm rings as interconnected locks move and a loud screech is heard from the door. I quickly step ahead of you and lean against the wall, shortly after the door begins to move and open, almost all sound seems to disappear and a shower of luminescent colors fills the corridor. An almost overwhelming wave of pressure torrents through the room, gravity beginning to push and pull in all directions. Through the goggles the light is filtered through a multitude of shades of blues and greens. The door reveals a colossal room with eight gigantic mechanical arms four on top and four on bottom that have what appears to be glowing pads on each end, pointing towards the center. The center is what appears to be a giant atom, but is two massive metallic rings that rotate and flow around a core, the rings being two stellarators and in the middle of the ring being a nuclear core within cube that is expanding and contracting simultaneously. You all feel the thrumming of the core’s power.*

*Bounces in sporadic directions due to the forces*
Tuuuuurn iiiiiit ooooooooff!

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

Do not be mistaken—we are are not cut from the same cloth. Fear of knowledge is indeed foolish, and yet, knowledge left unto itself has no inherent value; unapplied, information is worthless. The pursuit of knowledge is not a meaningful end.
*Rests my chin on clasped hands*
This philosophy is my master's, and you must understand it to trade with him. Information is a flexible tool, be it a building block for an elaborate blueprint or the minted currency of a transaction. So the question we face today is: How much is this pursuit worth to you, and what will be your ultimate return on investment?

*Furrows my brow, closes my eyes, and exhales*
How about any semblance of certainty that he won’t come crawling out on his own, in time? For every second we assume it’s safe, in the event that it isn’t, could be time for him to recover and come back. It’s not good for anyone to be sitting on an armed bomb, that much, I’m sure you agree with.
*Throws my hand out to the side, summoning a holographic display of a square chart divided into four quadrants, and some data strewn about with lines drawn across it to acknowledge correlation, and an assortment of footnotes*
Based on dividing possible scenarios of our situation into four groups, you can see easily that sitting on this thing is more likely to be dangerous than looking into it, if you map the permutations of possibilities with potential threat of action versus that of inaction.

<Snipped quote by Memory>

*Furrows my brow, closes my eyes, and exhales*
How about any semblance of certainty that he won’t come crawling out on his own, in time? For every second we assume it’s safe, in the event that it isn’t, could be time for him to recover and come back. It’s not good for anyone to be sitting on an armed bomb, that much, I’m sure you agree with.
*Throws my hand out to the side, summoning a holographic display of a square chart divided into four quadrants, and some data strewn about with lines drawn across it to acknowledge correlation, and an assortment of footnotes*
Based on dividing possible scenarios of our situation into four groups, you can see easily that sitting on this thing is more likely to be dangerous than looking into it, if you map the permutations of possibilities with potential threat of action versus that of inaction.

In other words, your pitch is that the chance of us both understanding and neutralizing the artifact is greater than the chance of triggering a cataclysm by studying it. Correct?
*Snaps, and a masked Servant copy enters the room and hands you a glass of ice water, before bowing and exiting*

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

In other words, your pitch is that the chance of us both understanding and neutralizing the artifact is greater than the chance of triggering a cataclysm by studying it. Correct?
*Snaps, and a masked Servant copy enters the room and hands you a glass of ice water, before bowing and exiting*

*Nods and holds the glass, not drinking from it as I speak in animated form*
Close. To be more precise, invert that second clause. I’m proposing we have a far greater chance of ensuring our safety through study, understanding and acting on any knowledge we gain, than by not studying it at all. It could very well be that keeping it under lock and key forever is sufficient, but odds are against that. Both from internal and external factors on their own. Incredibly so when weighed together.

<Snipped quote by Extra>

*Both of us slip and fall when the machine activates*
Woah!

<Snipped quote by Extra>

*Bounces in sporadic directions due to the forces*
Tuuuuurn iiiiiit ooooooooff!

*glances back then turns to look at both of you, rolling my eyes and helping you both up, pointing at my eyes the then I lean on the wall, waving you to follow*

<Snipped quote by Extra>

*Puts on the goggles and stands against the wall. In the midst of all the forces pulling in every direction, I look largely unphased except for the fact that I very slightly slide off my feet and up the wall a small ways*
There is no way this is normal practice.

*waves you to follow as I push through, grabbing on to a handrail that is lining the outer walls from a very sturdy catwalk*

<Snipped quote by Memory>

*Nods and holds the glass, not drinking from it as I speak in animated form*
Close. To be more precise, invert that second clause. I’m proposing we have a far greater chance of ensuring our safety through study, understanding and acting on any knowledge we gain, than by not studying it at all. It could very well be that keeping it under lock and key forever is sufficient, but odds are against that. Both from internal and external factors on their own. Incredibly so when weighed together.

The chance that it will remain dormant and the chance that it reactivates are both perfect unknowns at the moment. But at the same time, perhaps I agreed and told you I would dedicate Tier Five resources to studying the device. Something tells me that answer would not satisfy you.

<Snipped quote by Host>

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*glances back then turns to look at both of you, rolling my eyes and helping you both up, pointing at my eyes the then I lean on the wall, waving you to follow*

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*waves you to follow as I push through, grabbing on to a handrail that is lining the outer walls from a very sturdy catwalk*

*Hangs on tight to the catwalk and follows after you*
Are you sure this is safe?

<Snipped quote by Extra>

*Hangs on tight to the catwalk and follows after you*
Are you sure this is safe?

*keeps moving forward with my head slightly angled to watch the reactor and be able to see forward, you feel like you hear yourself speak, but nothing is heard due to the immense pressure of the room*

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*keeps moving forward with my head slightly angled to watch the reactor and be able to see forward, you feel like you hear yourself speak, but nothing is heard due to the immense pressure of the room*

*Shakes my head, staring into the singularity as we walk*

<Snipped quote by Extra>

*Shakes my head, staring into the singularity as we walk*

*to an untrained eye, you don’t notice anything off, but I snap my head towards the core and stop us, leaning fully to the wall and facing the core. What warned me is some of the light flares within and the core flowing more vertically signals a short wave of pressure increase, I wave my hands and show you all to wrap your arm behind the handrail*

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*to an untrained eye, you don’t notice anything off, but I snap my head towards the core and stop us, leaning fully to the wall and facing the core. What warned me is some of the light flares within and the core flowing more vertically signals a short wave of pressure increase, I wave my hands and show you all to wrap your arm behind the handrail*

*With a confused look, holds tightly to the rail with my arm*