Third collab with
@JeddavenAcadia Observatory - The Institute
The following morning, B7 was waiting outside the delegate’s quarters alongside a silent Courser. She could only hope that the Rontonian’s rest had not been disturbed by some of the events during the night. It would seem that the temporary withdrawal of the Fog had been just that: temporary, and by nightfall the enveloping mist had once again returned. The Institute’s Advanced Condensers had kept most of it at bay, and the area around both the airport, Far Harbor and Acadia itself had remained unaffected. Yet emanating within the areas of the Deep Fog strange sounds and unearthly cries had been heard throughout the night. The creatures within had been unusually active, and there was some concern that they might become more so as the day progressed.
Breakfast had been sent ahead with a couple of Gen-2 synths to each of the delegate’s rooms, and now B7 was merely waiting as the delegates finished and readied themselves for the day ahead.
When they finally emerged, B7 greeted them warmly,
“I do hope each of you are well rested and ready to proceed. I’ll be leading you through our facilities here at Acadia before returning you to the airport. You’ll have to excuse the heightened state of alert this morning,” She said, gesturing both to the Courser beside her and a squad of six synths that appeared to be marching at a brisk pace towards the Acadian perimeter wall, “The aggressive appearance of the Fog has elevated our alert levels. Rest assured you are not in any immediate danger.”
"It's... Quite alright. We've dealt with a few unusual phenomena in our past. Not us personally, but as a nation, and Minister Jutti is often involved with cleanup operations," he said, gesturing to her as she nodded in reply.
"Additionally, I should inform you - our pilot received a radio message last night. The Prime Minister's able to receive Director Crawford in Toronto at his earliest convenience." He explained. "We don't have access to teleportation technology, obviously, so I'm afraid he'll have to travel like us." He joked, smiling.
“Excellent, then I’ll have someone inform him immediately. My assumption is that he is very eager to make the journey, so perhaps we will be returning with you to Ronto,” B7 replied, “But in any case, let's begin….our first stop will be the Bioscience facilities.” B7 led the group towards a section of buildings directly adjacent to the main observatory structure. A large greenhouse was visible here, along with several other smaller buildings. Scientists in Green and white lab coats busied themselves moving between the labs while a few meaderd over by an open air enclosure in which a few pre-war cows, not brahmin, were housed.
“As promised, here is a sample of The Institute’s agricultural research,” B7 announced as she led the group straight into the Greenhouse building. There was a wide expanse of floral here of all shapes and sizes including various post-war and pre-war crops. B7 reached for modified mutfruit and pulled it from its branch. It was nearly twice the size of her hand, “Here Bioscience develops and tests a variety of GMO plants. Each is evaluated for their hardiness under certain soil conditions, as well as for quality and quantity of yields. We obviously have a wide variety of uses for such plants including food and medicine, but we also have a particular interest in cultivating new varieties of rare or otherwise extinct pre-war flora. I understand that Ronto has a particular interest in this field, so please feel free to ask any questions you may have….ah yes Dr. Reed. Perhaps you’d be willing to speak to the Rontonian delegation?”
A gaunt, slightly graying, man in a green lab coat had just turned the corner of the row of crops they were standing in. He appeared surprised to see them at first, but quickly regained his composure and walked towards the group and introduced himself.
“Dr. Harold Reed, Assistant Director of The Bioscience Division, I confess I was not expecting to meet you directly so I apologize if my appearance is unseemingly in any way. If you have any questions regarding Bioscience I’m happy to address them as best I can. Otherwise I would just like to offer you a warm welcome to The Institute.”
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, Dr. Jutti - but I believe you'd best field that?" Stephen asked, raising an eyebrow, and the woman quickly nodded in reply.
"Our Minister of Agriculture was unable to attend, unfortunately - so yes. Put simply, while we're narrowly managing to feed our population, the crops we have access to are... Inadequate. Whe know there's a seed bank some eighteen hundred miles northwest of us, in Saskatchewan, but those are pre war crops - so we're wondering, quite simply, how much you can improve the yields and nutritional values of our crops. There's a number involved, of course, but the thing we're most concerned about is corn. That's our staple crop, but we need to get more out of it." Jutti calmly explained, letting out a sigh of relief. "That's a big question, of course, and we're fully aware that a comprehensive answer will take time, but that's the primary reason for our visit."
“Yes well as you stated it's a big question,” Dr. Reed began, “I don’t want to commit to giving you an exact answer yet as to how much we could improve your yields. There’s a variety of factors involved that need to be studied and documented first, not the least of which is soil composition. Mind you that’s not because I don’t think we can do it, in fact I’m confident in saying that I think we absolutely can, but just that I don’t want to give you an exact number or ratio and then we fail to meet those expectations. That is a - what’s the pre-war phrase- ‘politician’s answer’,” Reed chuckled a bit.
“Perhaps Dr. Reed, you would be willing to act as a liaison between Bioscience and your equivalents within Ronto for the duration of this project.” B7 stated.
Dr. Reed seemed a bit confused by this statement, and raised an eyebrow slightly at B7, “Well, B7, should The Director appoint me, of course I would be willing.”
“Of course,” B7 smiled cheerfully back, “I’m confident he’ll agree with such a proposal.”
“Indeed…” Dr. Reed replied, his quizzical expression still apparent, “Well in any event it was a pleasure to meet you both, and I do sincerely hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here in Acadia,” Dr. Reed shook both Minister’s hands before departing.
“The Bioscience facilities also include various research labs and a fully functioning hospital,” B7 explained, “However, I’m afraid our tour will not include those due to both safety and privacy reasons. If you are both ready, we will proceed to Facilities.”
"A pleasure indeed - no need to worry about a politician's answer, either." Stephen said, calling out to Reed as he departed. "Trust me, an honest answer is better than empty promises," he said, clearing his throat before turning back toward B7. "We're ready."
B7 led the group back out the Greenhouse and towards the opposite end of the Acadia campus. Here was a large warehouse-like building which filled much of the space of this section, along with several other smaller structures.
“Facilities is responsible for production, maintenance, and the general safety and well-being of our scientists: which includes upkeep to the residential buildings…”
“Yes we are The Institute’s under-fed workhorse,” A voice interrupted B7’s explanation. The young man to whom it belonged had walked out from a nearby building and strode towards the group. His wispy blonde hair and clean-shaven, almost boyish, appearance made him seem much younger than he was. His yellow and white lab coat appeared different from the rest of the Facilities personnel, with the yellow coloring displayed prominently in the front in a manner which almost suggested a toga,
“Samuel Blackhall, Division Head of Facilities,” He said with a smile, “I was told to expect your arrival.” He proceeded to shake each of the Minister’s hands in turn, “As B7 was explaining to you, Facilities is responsible for the all-important day to day functions that enables the rest of The Institute to operate. Don’t let anyone in Advanced Systems or Robotics tell you otherwise: we are just as important if not more so than anything they do. If Advanced Systems is the Brain, Robotics the Heart…then we are the circulatory system. Eh…something like that anyway, insert whatever cliche anatomical metaphor you think is appropriate.”
“Dr. Jutti,” He continued, turning to the female Minister, “I’m told you are the Minister for Science and Industrial Development in your country. My understanding is that you also hold a couple doctorates in that field. I would be most interested to learn more about your work. Now… I don’t suppose I can tempt you enough to poach you from the Rontonians eh? I can’t say the pay is better, in fact the pay would be entirely non-existent but….you also don’t need to buy anything so it evens out in the end. You’d also get that crisp mountain air!” He made a grand gesture out to the valley beyond which the rolling fog now blanketed and completely obscured any view beyond it, “What do you say? When can I sign you on?” He finished with a sly smile.
"Ah, I'm afraid that's not an option," Jutti chuckled, after a pointed look from the plenipotentiary. "There are restaurants back in Toronto I'd miss too much, and, besides, my resignation would need to be approved. As for my education, though - you'd be correct. I hold doctorates in Civil and Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto. Important fields, as you can imagine, when you're trying to rebuild civilization." She smiled, momentarily falling silent. "If you don't mind the question - what are power requirements like here? I understand if you can't give away exact numbers, but I imagine it's generally quite difficult and energy intensive to keep this place running."
“Well, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” Samuel shrugged and laughed, and then continued, “Power requirements? Taxing in the extreme, as you can well imagine. Running the condensers alone sucks up a lot of power, and we need to keep them running nearly 24/7 in order to ensure we aren’t gobbled up by the Fog and whatever else is in there. Advanced System is working on potential solutions, but right now it's all we can do here in Facilities to squeeze out as much power as we can from Acadia’s generator along with the alternative power sources we’ve set up,” He pointed to the solar panels atop the Observatory, “We simply lack the resources and infrastructure we once had. And even back at The Institute power consumption was a continuous struggle.”
"I can imagine. Thankfully, that's one of the issues we're looking to help you solve." Jutti said, quietly nodding.
"Precisely. Bringing the power here would be an issue, obviously, but Ronto has a substantial surplus. At the least, we're confident our expeditions into the Chalk River Labs will bear fruit, when it comes to small-scale nuclear power." Stephen continued. "I'm certain there's some way we can be of help."
“I have a feeling you will be my two best friends then,” Samuel let out another laugh, “Maybe I should get a Rontonian flag to put on my desk….now I will say that I’m just the middle man here. Facilities controls our power generators…but Advanced Systems develops them. You’ll want to have a chat with Dr. Rosalind Orman for anything and everything nuclear energy, she’s the new Director of Advanced Systems and, frankly, she’s probably the cream of the crop as far as The Institute goes. Although you won’t see her bragging….well you might a little. She gave the famous ‘Latch-Key lecture that opened the way to the Phase 3 Project back in 2287. I assume you are on track to meet with her?” He gave a quick look over to B7, who nodded in reply, “Ah excellent.”
"We'll be sure to let her know, then - but I promise, we won't forget the people that keep everything working properly. We'd better not - isn't that right. Dr. Jutti?" Stephen joked, and Jutti nodded, smiling in reply.
"It'd be hypocritical of me to snub my own speciality, I think."
Samuel shook both of their hands once more, “Best let you get on your way then. Have a safe trip back to your homeland, and don’t let the Fog Crawlers get you!” He then turned and left.
“We are just going across the way now,” B7 said, and led them off once more, “This will be a bit different.”
—------------------------
The next section of the Acadian Campus that B7 led them to a whole different layout entirely. A single small building stood in the center of a perimeter fence guarded by a couple uniformed Gen-2 Synths. Without pause, B7 led them up and into the small building, which turned out to be housing an elevator platform. B7 pressed a button and the platform began to descend into the earth.
“This is a new section of the Acadia complex which we are actively constructing. Advanced Systems and Robotics are both housed here at the moment.”
The platform descended for several seconds before stopping and opening out into a lit hallway. After they passed through this hallway and the doorway beyond, they found themselves in a large atrium space, not unlike a Vault, with an upper and lower level. B7 continued on and took them through one of the doors in the upper level, which opened up into a small lab filled with terminals and various pieces of unknown equipment. Several scientists in blue and white lab coats looked up from their stations as B7 entered.
“Oh is Dr. Orman not….?” B7 started to ask, before one of the scientists cut her off.
“She’s in the testing area.”
“Again…” Another added quietly, without looking up from her station.
“Apologies, follow me,” B7 said to the ministers as she led them back out and into another doorway on the opposite end of the atrium. Entering it led them into a large open space that was empty aside from two individuals. One of whom was a young, olive-skinned woman with dark hair and wearing a blue labcoat similar in design to that of Samuel’s. The other was a uniformed Gen-2 synth holding a laser pistol. As the group entered, they appeared to be locked in an argument.
“I apologize ma’m but I cannot comply with that order.” The synth said.
“Override restrictions, Directorate level authority,” Came the frustrated reply from the woman.
“Override is denied, this is a priority protocol which requires Director authorization. I’m sorry ma'am, but I cannot comply.”
“Arrrgh! It’s perfectly safe! It doesn’t require Director approval!”
“I’d be happy to forward your request to the Director’s office, if that is helpful Dr. Orman.”
“No…no let’s not do that. Not after last time….oh!” Dr. Orman looked surprised as she noticed B7 and the ministers, “Perfect timing!” She then walked over and grabbed the pistol from the Gen-2 unit and handed it to Stephen, “I need someone who isn’t a synth to help me with this. Their safeguards are a pain sometimes…would you please stand over there,” She pointed to a small yellow circle nearby. She then moved off to stand in a similar blue circle some distance away.
“If you wouldn’t mind doing me a tiny favor….shoot me.”
“Dr. Orman!” B7 looked utterly horrified.
“Now override guardian protocols, both of you,” Dr. Orman said, looking both to B7 and the other Synth. That one at least shouldn’t need Director authorization. Got it? Good.”
“Now if you don’t mind discharging that weapon at me please,” Dr. Orman asked again politely, “I’d appreciate it. Don’t worry, it's perfectly safe!”
For once, Stephen seemed utterly shocked - or shocked enough, at least, for his facade of complete control of his emotions to drop. His eyes widened slightly as he stared down at the weapon for several seconds, all while Jutti looked on, equally confused.
"What
is it going to do, exactly?"
“Well what THAT will do is fire a focused beam of coherent light at me with enough wattage to potentially do considerable harm. What it won't do however, is actually hit me. You’ll see. Fire away!” She replied with a beaming smile.
B7 stayed silent, every coded line of her programming was screaming to intervene, but she remained motionless.
"With all due respect..." Stephen said, shaking his head. "I'm not going to shoot anyone, even if it is
theoretically safe. If something went wrong, I would almost certainly lose my job."
B7 let out a deep breath and muttered a barely audible, “Oh God thank you.”
Dr. Orman gave off an exasperated sigh, “Fiiiine, jeez what’s a girl got to do around here to get shot at….” She walked back over to Stephen and grabbed the weapon from him, “This won’t be the most thorough manner to test it, but I suppose it will have to do.”
She quickly raised the weapon to her temple, and B7 reacted with a loud cry of despair but had no time to do anything else before Dr. Orman pulled the trigger and a blast of energy emitted from the pistol.
There was a loud electrically charged clash that followed, and an aura of bright blue light seemed to shimmer around Dr. Orman briefly before it once more disappeared. She held out her hands as if to say ‘See? I told you’ and then handed the weapon back off to the nearby Synth.
“Miniaturized photonic resonance barrier,” Dr. Orman explained as she pulled a small device from her pocket, “With a range tweaked just perfectly to fit an average human, and quite capable of deflecting small arms fire. Something I whipped up as a side project. I always personally test my inventions before bringing them up for Directorial approval, and I never test them before I’m 100% sure they are going to function as intended. So you see Mr…..” She cocked her head quizzically, as if noticing for the first time that the pair didn’t belong in The Institute, “Uhhh….who are you?”
“The Rontonian delegates, Dr. Orman” B7 croaked out.
“Oh wow! I guess I kind of lost track of time! I’ve been working all night….” She laughed nervously, “Rosalind Orman, Division Head of Advanced Systems. Soo…uh….what…what…brings you here?”
"
Well," Stephen said, clearing his throat with a loud a-hem, "we're here to 'kick off' diplomatic relations with the Institute, as it were, and were graciously offered a tour of your facilities. Everything is tentative, but we’re exploring the possibility of supplying you with surplus generated power in exchange for aid with our crop shortage, and, potentially, wider scientific exchange. I'm Minister Plenipotentiary Stephen McLeod," he said, gesturing to himself - and then to Jutti.
"And this is Minister of Industry, Innovation, and Science, Dr. Harijhatta Jutti."
She nodded, gently bowing her head in respectful greeting.
"We're quite impressed with your technology, I must admit - back home, we're still relying on synthetic fibers and plates for body armour, and we certainly don't have access to... Teleportation technology."
“Ah well not to brag, but the teleporter is kind of old news. Heck that thing was built in my grandfather’s time. You should see the sorts of things Advanced Systems is coming up with now….” Dr. Orman trailed off and bit her lower lip, “Although I suppose I can’t really say anything more. Regardless though, I’m glad you’ve come. The notion of exchanging scientific ideas and cooperating further with the surface…I mean the wider world…is a worthwhile endeavor. I’ve always supported The Director’s new policy of breaking The Institute’s self-imposed isolation whole-heartedly. We’ve achieved great things on our own…but we could achieve so much more if we worked with others. Speaking of which, I hope it's not too bold of me to say that I find myself enthralled with your nation…or at least what I’ve read from our briefing documents. Is it true that you’ve mostly returned to pre-war standards of living?”
"We're on the way there," Jutti said, clearing her throat. "It's only recently that we've been able to begin deploying a primitive television network, but, if I'm frank, our greatest obstacle has been a lack of usable plastics. No oil, few plastics - or other petroleum products." She said, shrugging. "We're working on some solutions, like bioplastics, but deploying those on a large scale is difficult using Ontario alone."
Dr. Orman clapped her hands together excitedly, “I could help with that,” She said quickly, “The Institute has been making use of mass produced bioplastics for some time. In our weapons and early generation synths. I certainly think…well I supposed I shouldn’t make any promises without consulting The Director. Oh I wish I could make a trip to Ronto myself, I think it would be incredibly enlightening to see how a post-war reconstructed nation functions.”
“I agree,” came a voice from the doorway. Director Xavier Crawford had walked in and was approaching the conversing group. He was similarly dressed as a member of The Directorate in a black toga-like lab coat. A watchful Courser followed closely in his wake, “As a matter of fact I came down here directly to speak with you Dr. Orman. I would like you to accompany me to Ronto when I meet with the Rontonian Prime Minister and their respective government representatives. I realize there are risks involved with two members of The Directorate making the journey north, but I’m confident we are in good hands,” He nodded towards the two Rontonian delegates, “And I think the benefits of having one of my best with me when we meet with our counterparts outweighs those risks.”
Dr. Orman became wide-eyed, “I’m…well I don’t really know what to say…”
“Is that acceptable to you?” Xavier asked, looking expectantly to the two Ministers, “
“Absolutely,” Stephen cleared his throat, drawing attention away from Dr. Jutti with a nod and a smile. “Will you be traveling with us, by air - or using your own technology?”
“We will travel with you,” Xavier replied with a smile of his own, “I could make up some excuse and say this is because of proper diplomatic decorum, but the truth is, I’ve never flown before….and I think I would like to.”
“Oh! I’ll pack my things!” Dr. Orman almost shouted, “Just one second! I…” She looked around, seemingly confused for a few moments, and then looked back up at the group, “Uh…well I suppose I don’t have much to pack come to think of it.”
“I took the liberty of having a Synth pack some essentials for you,” Xavier said, “You’re all set.”
“Oh perfect! No wasted time then.”
As Dr. Orman and The Director had been speaking, The Courser bodyguard had held a hand up to his ear and turned away, seemingly getting some kind of communication. He now leaned back in and whispered something quickly into The Director’s ear.
“Ah well…speaking of no wasted time…I’m afraid we’ll need to move quickly. It would seem that the airport is currently under attack. I’m told that the defenses are holding, but that there is some concern regarding potential danger to the plane if it remains on the ground. I apologize to you both, but I suggest we cut your tour short.”
"Oh! Well, it's fortunate our bodyguards are armed, then." Stephen nodded. "We should be able to take off just fine - from what I understand, these planes could manage on runways half the length of what we landed on, and dirt, too. Shall we?" Stephen said, gesturing for the Director to lead the way. Jutti seemed nervous, her eyes darting back and forth - but Stephen, on the other hand, was utterly unperturbed.
“Indeed, follow me.”
—---------------------------
A few frantic minutes later the group had returned to the teleporter and in an instant, were sent back to the airport building. Already upon leaving the teleporter room and exiting into the reception area the sounds of gunfire and laserfire could be heard alongside inhuman, abominable, noises. A group of four Coursers fanned out in front of the delegates and led them back through the reception area and out onto the tarmac.
What they found was a chaotic scene just beyond the perimeter fence. A horde of Fog creatures, Gulpers and Anglers, were scrambling to get over the fencing and towards the plane. A host of Synths were firing their laser rifles and pistols with mechanical precision aiming for whatever parts their combat programming told them would be points of likely vulnerability. In addition to The Institute forces present, a dozen RCMP troopers in full tactical gear had disembarked from the plane and were forming a tight cordon around it. Their automatic rifles rang out as they sent a flurry of sporadic fire towards the creatures. If they were at all unnerved by the horde of unknown monsters from the mist, they did not show it.
A black haired female Courser who seemed to be in charge of the Institute forces present approached The Director as the group left the building, she raised her voice nearly to the point of shouting so as to be heard,
“Perimeter is holding currently sir, but it's been steady like this for a good ten minutes. We’ve no idea where they came from or what else is on the way. We need to get you all onboard and safely away before anything breaks through. Once the aircraft is up, the Synths will fall back to defensive positions inside the building. We should be able to pick them off from there.”
“Lead on A7!” The Director shouted back over the din of fire.
Dr. Orman desperately clutched at her briefcase as the group nearly sprinted for the plane and right into the protective line of Rontonian forces.
“We need to get them onboard straight away!” A7 yelled out to the troopers. Just as she did so a loud crashing could be heard in the underbrush beyond the fenceline. Something big was coming.
“Fog Crawler!” She shouted.
"Everyone up the stairs, buckle in! We're going for minimum takeoff distance, so it's gonna be a bumpy ride! Go, go, go!" One of the RCMP officers shouted, gesturing towards the unfolded staircase. Stephen was the first up, followed by Jutti - only once the Director and Doctor Orman filed in did the RCMP officers begin to follow, continuing to lay down fire as they tightened their cordon toward the stairs, practiced and disciplined in the extreme.
The airplane, perhaps unsurprisingly, wasn't especially ostentatious, certainly not like prewar airliners. It was relatively small, and narrow-bodied - a reduced seating configuration of 25 allowed for two people to pass by abreast, the floor and seats both clean and well-upholstered in calming, dark blue tones.
Stephen and Jutti had already strapped themselves in in two seats on either side in the front, arms braced against the armrests.
Xavier and Rosalind took seats together in the row directly behind Stephen and Jutti, while the four Coursers and B7 spread out in seats next to and behind them. There was a brief moment of awkward unfamiliarity as The Institute personnel tried to work their seatbelts before they quickly figured it out and sat back. Rosalind looked out the window and her eyes grew wide at the sight of a massive mutated crustacean breaking through the perimeter fence and rearing up as if in challenge to the plane: the Fog Crawler had arrived. It tore through a couple of unlucky Gen-2 synths with its massive claws as if they were made of nothing but paper and began making its way across the tarmac towards the aircraft. Mere moments later, the RCMP officers piled in, hopping into their seats - and the aircraft lurched
violently forward, the low thrumming of the turboprop quickly transforming into a loud drone.
Moving at a speed that was likely blistering, and probably viscerally uncomfortable for a pair of first-time flyers, the turboprop charged down the runway, directly toward the Fog Crawler. Close, closer, and...
Suddenly, it pulled back, lifting into the air well short of the Fog Crawler, leaving Bar Harbor behind.
"It'll get smoother after this, I promise!" Stephen hollered.
“Oh I hope so,” The Director replied through gritted teeth. Both he and Dr. Orman were white-knuckled, gripping the ends of their arm-rests tightly. The Synths on the other hand, including B7, were surprisingly calm. The Coursers display no visible reaction, while B7 merely pursued an old flight safety brochure. Xavier almost envied them in their poise and control, their emotions tempered by their crisis response programming.
He leaned back, and closed his eyes, content to simply relax as best as he could.
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