Getting a Technology System in Modern Day

826  A leap

It didn’t take Aron long to finish assimilating the new knowledge he had purchased from the system shop. However, the cost had been steep—nearly twenty-five percent of the SP he had painstakingly hoarded for over a decade had suddenly vanished. Yet his expression remained calm and composed. He had always known the SP existed to be used when necessary, and feeling regretful or hesitant at a critical moment would have been counterproductive.

The urgency of the new revelations, which had reignited his drive, ensured that he felt no remorse for spending the SP. In fact, he was confident that the knowledge he had acquired was sufficient to solve the remaining obstacles in his research. With everything he now possessed, Aron was sure that unless unforeseen issues arose, he would have a functional production-ready product within the next few weeks.

Motivated and focused, he was ready to move forward, knowing the path ahead was clearer than ever.

“Let’s start getting to work,” Aron said after recollecting his thoughts. He had already used the newly assimilated knowledge to chart a clear path for creating prototypes from each piece of information he had acquired.

The task ahead was delicate—he needed to fine-tune each of the technologies meticulously to ensure they operated on the same level of sophistication. If one was too advanced while another lagged behind, it could create an exploitable weakness, jeopardizing the entire project.

{Are we starting with towers, sir?} Nova asked, having already integrated the newly acquired knowledge into the Lab City's shared database. With her abilities, she could easily anticipate the direction Aron would likely take.

“Yes,” Aron replied. “Although having something like a faith thread would’ve been ideal, it’s out of reach for now. Buying a similar technology at that level is impossible with my current SP reserves. So, we’ll have to make do with signal towers for the initial phase. They should allow even ordinary people to access the system, provided they receive the necessary assistance for the initial connection.”

As he spoke, Aron began inputting detailed instructions into a system panel, outlining exactly what he needed to be created and how. The atomic printer, with its ability to ensure near-maximal production efficiency regardless of complexity, allowed him to bypass the usual manufacturing calculations. This meant he could focus entirely on designing the most optimal system without being burdened by logistical and means of production constraints.

Nova silently observed as the process began, her algorithms already running simulations based on his input to anticipate potential bottlenecks and ensure a smooth implementation. The plan was taking shape, and both of them were ready to see it through.

Slowly but surely, new equipment began to materialize with each additional instruction from Aron. Nova worked with precision, integrating the components as though assembling a massive Lego structure. By the end of several hours, a colossal—but undeniably ugly—tower spanning kilometers in each direction had been constructed.

“We’ll worry about aesthetics later, once we’re certain everything works,” Aron said, closing his eyes briefly. Despite the seriousness of the project, the absurdity of the monstrosity they had created brought a faint chuckle to his lips, momentarily lifting the weight on his shoulders.

{I concur,} Nova replied, unbothered by the tower’s appearance. Without wasting any time, she initiated the first round of tests after uploading the main operational algorithm.

Nova wasted no time and immediately created a new universal simulation instance, crafting a detailed recreation of a massive star system. She populated it with individuals representing every race whose brain data they had stored, ensuring diversity and variety in behavior and abilities. On one of the system's moons, she placed the colossal, ugly tower—its imposing presence hard to miss, even from orbit. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

To make the test comprehensive, she seeded select individuals within the simulation with varying levels of knowledge about how to access the tower's systems. Some had only the bare basics, while others possessed advanced understanding. A significant portion of the population, however, had no knowledge at all, particularly those who were "manaless" and incapable of accessing mana without assistance.

She then stepped back and began observing, letting the simulation unfold naturally. The test served multiple purposes: to evaluate how effectively the tower’s components functioned together in a live scenario, to analyze how knowledge of the tower’s purpose and capabilities spread among the population—especially between those with access to mana and those without—and to assess adaptability by observing whether individuals would innovate or create other ways to access the system.

As both she and Aron monitored the unfolding tests, Nova broke the silence. {So, how do you plan to spread these towers, and how are you going to convince the leaders of each civilization to allow them into the most intimate parts of their societies?}

Aron, deep in thought, responded, “I’m still refining my plan, but the foundation is a Trojan horse strategy. I want to ensure they willingly bring these towers into the very heart of their civilizations.” He paused, his tone measured, showing the plan was not fully complete.

Nova chuckled softly, her amusement clear. {If they discover the truth, they’ll do everything in their power to remove the towers from their physical universe.}

Aron smirked, emphasizing the word, “If.” He continued with calm confidence, “As for spreading the towers across the Astral Conclave, I’ll start with the leaders of each civilization. But if convincing them proves too challenging, there’s always the option of targeting other organizations. I could incentivize them by offering a share of the earnings generated by any tower they help spread. For as long as they protect the tower from harm, they’d receive a small percentage of its revenue. Greed is a powerful motivator.”

Aron smirked, emphasizing the word, “If.” He continued with calm confidence, “As for spreading the towers across the Astral Conclave, I’ll start with the leaders of each civilization. But if convincing them proves too challenging, there’s always the option of targeting other organizations. I could incentivize them by offering a share of the earnings generated by any tower they help spread. For as long as they protect the tower from harm, they’d receive a small percentage of its revenue. Greed is a powerful motivator.”

{Now that’s a good incentive,} Nova commented, being one of the few people with access to that knowledge she knew just how profitable the universal simulation was for the government, even when there were only two star systems currently in it. It was clear that any family or organization that took on the responsibility of placing and protecting the towers would become incredibly wealthy without needing to do much beyond that.

“Exactly,” Aron replied. “But this will only come into play if the leaders of the civilizations choose not to take on the task of spreading and protecting the towers themselves. Having the towers under government protection ensures their security far more than under the control of an organization. While placing them under an organization would allow them to focus entirely on safeguarding the towers, it also opens the door for sabotage. Rival organizations would stop at nothing to take the towers down and try to replace them in order to put a new one and claim the share of the profits.”

Aron paused, his expression growing more serious. “Punishing any organization that sabotages or attacks another's tower—things like banning them from the universal simulation for life—would be the most effective way to deter such actions in the long term. But during the early years, before the full scale and importance of the technology is understood, such punishments will only be a weak deterrent. Even with all the overestimations, they won’t fully grasp just how significant these towers are until they see how important access to the universal simulation becomes for unimpeded life in the Conclave.”