Stations and Chemistry

[Alli Vern]

Aurana giggled as she saw the familiar face of Sara Janrand buried in the screens of no less than 3 displays. "Hey there,Ready to get started, The techs from Emeritus are going to be here any second. " She smiled and looked around, they needed to produce the gas on a small scale so they could increase the production by such an order of magnitude. It was very hard to do that when your own engineers didn't know how to process the gasses. She smiled as she saw the door open up. Hopefully it would be [member="Ice"] or [member="Enigma"] and their teams. This was going to be an interesting day indeed, as she vaguely remembered that Ice was bringing his own products to have some input on them. Of course all Aurana cared about was that the refinery's basic chemistry process was narrowed down so they could scale it.

 

[Ice]

Ice walked in through the door followed by several members of his engineering teams. Seeing Aurna again brought a smile to his face. "Hey there Aurna. Good to see you again. How have you been?" While he waited for her reply, he gestured for his team to set up their equipment over on some nearby tables. They quickly did so, only giving quick but polite nods to the woman who was to be their host today.

"I hope you don't mind. Is it alright if they set up over there? Or would you like us somewhere else?"

[member="Aurna Vern"]

 

[Alli Vern]

"That is fine, just don't bother Sara over there, she is deep in thought doing something over there, she even refused my offer of lunch." She smiled at Ice and wondered what exactly he had brought with him. She knew he was always desigining something, and she had been excited with what her company had come up with of late. She didn't know though what he thought about her progress though. She decided to activate her new toy, sending the signal and she watched as before her eyes a small prototype view caster was built before their eyes. " Like my new tech?" She asked knowing the fact that something building out of thin air was sure to interest Ice.

[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

A smirk appeared across his face as he looked to the mentioned person who was indeed concentrating furiously on something. Meanwhile, Ice's team began to set up their stuff when Aurna activated some demonstration. He noticed it at first and began to look away when he quickly did a double take. "What in the world..." He said quietly to himself as he walked over and began to look at what was being done.

An object seemingly surrounded by some sort of goo began to grow larger and large. In point of fact, it sort of reminded him of his nanites that he used to help create his Mirage set of armor. Could it be she managed to create something similar but far more extensive constructive abilities? A curious smile and look of wonder was plain to see on his face. Technology always fascinated him. The wonders that could be accomplished with it always seemed limitless.

Turning back to Aurna, he asked simply, "What is it?"

[member="Aurna Vern"]

 

[Alli Vern]

"Well that is a prototype View Caster, which lets you simulate any view you want on a wall or window. The holo projector gives it unreal depth, and you would swear you really are staring at whatever view you have. The trick is that my special construction nanites built it."


She said with a smile as she wondered what his response would be. " They can do complex stuff like wires and small things. You generally have to build the frame for whatever they are building. Otherwise it would take too long. " She smiled "I came up with the idea and my engineering team helped me make it a reality."


[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

He had already known about similar technology to the view caster, though with the nanites constructing it, the cost would most likely be much less than the older traditionally built product. His technical mind had already begun to form many questions. "This View Caster as you call it. Can it only be made in flat shapes? Or can it be built to be rounded? Like a dome for instance? Also the images themselves. Do they have to be pre programmed into the unit? Can you have multiple images? Oh! Can this instead be connected to cameras to show real time life like images of whatever the camera is viewing?" Depending on the answers, he had already thought of 3...no 4 different applications for this technology.

His gaze then shifted over to the nanites specifically. "And these nanites. How do you control them? I mean, how do they know what materials to grab, where to put them...and please don't tell me they can self replicate?" His excited curiosity had turned a bit to concern and worry as he thought about the possible damage self replicating nanites could inflict on a world if the people behind them ever lost control of them. Still she was so some amazing promise for someone so knew in her position. She was earning her way into Ice's good graces.

[member="Aurna Vern"]

 

[Alli Vern]

"It could be rounded... I mean I just used it for windows as I know I wanted a view on my station wall so it looked like I wasn't in a floating hunk of metal in space. You can pick from our ever expanding library of views.. and yeah you could use cameras if you wanted. " She said wondering where he was going with this.

She shook her head. " they can only ever have one design in their control node at a time so I suppose they could if that was the design that was in their node, but I generally use them for other things, and don't see the point in making them make themselves. "

Aurna had Alli Wren's book knowledge, she just didn't realize that was what it was from.

[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

He noticably relaxed when she mentioned they could only replicate themselves if programed to do so from some node? He looked around the table to see the control node she must have been speaking of. "Oh ok, good." He continued to stare at them while they finished building the device. "How big of an object are they able to make? Like if the frame of a vehicle or ship or something was made, could these things theoretically fill in the rest?" Again, numerous applications for this technology. He began to wonder if she would consider allowing Ice to purchase a license to manufacture these little guys himself. A question for later perhaps.

Switching back to the view caster, he smiled. "Very interesting." He mumbled under his breath as he waited for her answer. Another thing he'd like to expand on....

[member="Aurna Vern"]

 

[Alli Vern]

"THey shold be able to depending on the size. You might have to build the walls and such on bigger ships. I have them building satelites for me." Aurna smiled and looked at what ice men were doing. "What did you bring?"

 

[Ice]

[member="Aurna Vern"]

"Hmm. Any chance I could purchase a manufacturing license for those little guys? Actually that and the view caster? I've got a couple applications for them in a couple different projects I think." When she had asked about what he brought, he turned toward his people for a moment, and then back to her with a smirk.

"Oh that? My latest project. One I'd actually like you to be involved in if you'd be interested." He gave her a nod to follow him over. "I'm working on a design for a main line battle tank. It's to be a walker, but I currently lack the manufacturing capability to make a beast of this scale. I'm also not nearly finished with designing it either. So I was hoping to bounce some ideas off you, again if you don't mind?"

 

[Alli Vern]

"Well I don't really have the ability either.. but I think if I built my planed factory with the nanites in the Assembly line, I should be able to handle it. I would love to draw up a contract, though they aren't cheap but I can make them for you, once you apply for the license and have your men operating the nodes, get the certification in them. " Aurna smiled " I mean they are dangerous.. so I have to make sure anyone I let use them, watches the safety of them. I also have to have inspections as long as the license to use them is active on a basis, I hope that is ok."

Aurna smiled and looked over the stuff a bit from afar. " Well we just need to ensure we have the protocol ready to build the new station we are building. Plus since there will be more than one, we have to come up with a process. "


[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

[member="Aurna Vern"]

He smirked at Aurna. It seemed like she was doing well with beefing up security when it came to her intellectual property. "I'm fine with inspections as long as it is you doing them. Otherwise, you know me. Not very fond of outsiders in my labs. But really, we can manage. We are familiar with nanite technology and in fact already use it for one of our products. Yours is just a more advanced version of ours." He finished with a wink.

Moving on he said. "As for the tank...hmm, well. Since your first station isn't built yet. Perhaps I can work on something a bit smaller with you. I'll have my team continue to work on the tank while your station is being built. Anyway, my team also recently finished developing field disruptor technology. It's essentially a bit of hardware that allows you to pass through any kind of shield. Tion Hegemoney has a couple versions. But I was unable to negotiate a trade of rights with them. Their price was too high I'm afraid. So we had to start from scratch. Anyway, now that we have it. I was curious if you thought you might have any use for it? Perhaps instead of credits, we can do an exchange of technology. Your nanites for my field disruptor tech. What do you think?"

 

[Alli Vern]

[member="Ice"]
"I can't really think of any use for it sorry. I mean maybe build and sell a module that does it but I feel that it wouldn't be cost effective. If you find a way to make it so though, I just might be up for that trade but I will need to see it before I agree blindly to it. After all, I can't be too trusting can I sir?" She smiled as she checked the work of her engineers. The toughest part was going to be building the station in a way that would be easily reproduce able even a few times. She was working out the building of large sections of a station. It was tough when you weren't just putting it together, but then she realized she could outsource the frame. Then if she just worked on the interior once that bit was done it would be easy. " As you said it's price is rather high." She said as she worked on the specs the engineers were feeding into her computer station.

 

[Ice]

[member="Aurna Vern"]

He raised an eyebrow. She couldn't think of anything Tanlabs would like to build that could make use of such an impressive technology? Curious. "Oh I already have the module. And if a demonstration is what you require, then step on over here." He then turned to one of his engineers and asked him to bring up the test holos.

Soon an image popped up a of a simple doorway that had a shield barrier over it. The shield device itself was hooked up to a power generator so it wouldn't fail. The testers then proceeded to try shoot, grenade, bash, and slash their way through the doorway. Nothing worked. Then a tester with the new device simply waltzed on through like it was nothing. He turned back toward Aurna. "Can you imagine the possibilities with technology like this? I mean granted many would have military applications, but not necessarily all. You might be able to embed this device within one of your nanite nodes. Maybe make it a repair drone that can now get through shielded areas to reach the damaged portions beyond. All while never having to shut down the shield to let it pass. That same train of though could be geared toward mining operations, prison systems, pretty much anywhere certain personnel might need to get through shield barriers without shutting them down to do so."

He was fairly confident he had made his point, but you never know. Turning back to her project thought for a while. "If I may, I think you're going about this construction in the wrong way. Instead of trying to have the nanites work on the whole station at one time, here is what you do. You said they could build stuff the size of small ships, right? So do that here. Break up your station into smaller cube like sections, sections that could all fit together. Once each cube piece is finished, transport it to another section and attach it. That way your nanites can keep the station construction moving at a good clip, and the only tradition form of construction you would have to do would be the welding all the cubes together. That should cut down construction time by...mmm...at least 50% depending on how efficient you were able to make your nanites."

 

[Alli Vern]

"This is true.. I could make 50m by 50m by 50m cubes. Aurna said smiling, though its not exactly a cube shape so I will have to adjust the edges but well it should work for the bulk of the station. That should work really well, thanks for the aid, if we build it 50m cube by cube then we will make it in record time though it will still take a while. Thanks for the idea." She said changing the plans and emailing the other engineers the update. "Well maybe I mean I just don't know.. Sure I would love to I can think of a few uses of that module, depending how big and energy efficient and cost effective they are. " Aurna smiled and looked at everything. " We could just weld the cubes and then use mobile modules to finish the wiring and details stuff on each one so then the connections are even easier. "

[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

[member="Aurna Vern"]

He gave her a quick nod. "Anytime, glad to be of help. As for the module. The smallest scale version we have is about 15 cm (almost 6 inches) long. On the lowest settings it'll last for an hour. If you're wanting to get past military grade shielding, four minutes is what you'll have. But it's just for going through shields. So you turn it on, step through, turn it off. That four minutes will still last ya quite a few trips before needing to be recharged. Anyway, it's nice and compact. Our versions for larger applications are of course course going to be bigger. It all depends on the application. As for cost, you know very well most the cost is in the research and development. Which we have already done." It was interesting. He had always encouraged her to be careful. But he was starting to wonder why she was holding back now. Was she really just playing ahrdball on this deal to play hard ball? Or was there some alterior motive. He wasn't sure. All he could do was hope his honest offer would yield some results this time.

"And going back to your station, how was everything else going with it? Any other problems, concerns, or possible snags I could help out with?"

 

[Alli Vern]

"Your not violating any laws or anything right by making your own are you? " Aurna asked, " The last thing I want to do is get on the bad side of the Tion Hegemony. I mean I shouldn't care but at this point we are too small to not be smashed by them should they decide we are a threat. " She sighed " I mean they aren't the friendliest of groups, and well yes I am looking into starting a group similar I just want to be careful about crossing them. "

She sighed, she would love the tech, she could think of multiple things she could do with it. "I will do it, if you can promise your not slighting them, I don't want to lose Tanlab, like my Aunt lost Baktoid. She had it robbed from her by those who envied what she had. I just don't want to lose the little bit she hid away for me to have a future. "

[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

[member="Aurna Vern"]

Ice shook his head no. "Of course not. Illegal operations aren't good for business. At least not for long. No, the Tion Hegemoney's tech is Fringe territory exclusive. Thus they have no bearing on any territories outside of that. So don't try and sell anything that has this tech in the Fringe, and you should be ok." He gave her a smile as she finished. "I'm proud of you. You're not the same person I met when we first signed our partnership agreement. You are covering all your bases and not just expecting success. And I promise. Also, if you ever have any trouble, you can count me in to help you out of a jam. Deal?" He held out his hand to the woman to shake. She had earned his respect...and trust. Besides, he still had a promise to keep. So he would look out for her as best as he could. Even if she had misgivings about him at times.

 

[Alli Vern]

[member="Ice"]
"Good, I am glad I am impressing you, now if you look at the proposed simulation, the pieces wiill for the most part be 50m by 50m by 50m cubes. How can we easily make and the place these? I was thinking of building a mobile construction frame to control the nanites so that we can build things of this size with ease. She forwarded a design. The Design was something rather basic, a retangle that had nanite nodes on it to enable them to produce anything within the limit of 50m by 50m by 50m. "Then as they come out we just tug them into postion and weld them together. and then upon the completioin of the frames and everything, we have the nanites do the wiring and such in the cubes so then all our welders and such have to do is connect them. Then everything is done for the most part other than our bigger sections or rooms or parts that don't do modular sections well can be built by normal construction methods I will do the deal though, my nanies, for your disruptor tech. " She smiled and wondered what he thought of that.

 

[Ice]

[member="Aurna Vern"]

He smiled widely, shook her hand, and gave a quick nod. "Excellent! I'm glad we could come to an arrangement on this! Now then, let me take a look at this idea." He frowned lightly as a couple possible problems he could see began to rear their head. "You are going to need to have the nanites building in an enclosed environment with artificial gravity if you plan to do this in space. Otherwise they will simply float away. This proposed structure would work fine for putting all the pieces together. Though I don't see why you wouldn't just assemble everything within our Gotan-Class Drydock Station. With the exception of the stations of course as those are too big. "

He thought about the idea a bit more. Now that he would soon possess the ability to build things with the nanites, this affected him as much as her. He pulled up his datapad and sketched out a rough idea on a "drydock" of sorts for the nanites to work. "Here look."

​

"So each construction zone would have a tractor beam to easily withdraw each finished cube which would then be towed into position in the drydock for attachment to the other cubes. We could have many control nodes lining the walls to speed up construction. And all would have easy access to raw materials held in a central holding area. To holding area would also have an access door for more raw materials to be easily offloaded. On top of this "Nanite Construction yard" we could put a couple more tractor beams to hold cubes in place for attachment right above if the overall ship or station doesn't fit in our drydock. Thoughts?"

He pulled away from his extremely rough drawing so she could see more clearly, and hoped she could picture what he was trying to describe.