Knights Apocalyptica

Chapter 68: Q.A.P

“One day the prince was sitting disconsolate in the stables when, to his surprise, the black horse spoke to him.

‘Come into my stall,’ it said, ‘I have something to say to you. Fetch my bridle and saddle from that cupboard and put them on me. Take the bottle that is beside them; it contains an ointment which will make your hair shine like pure gold; then put all the wood you can gather together on to the stove, till it is piled quite high up.’

So the prince did what the horse told him; he saddled and bridled the horse, he put the ointment on his hair till it shone like gold, and he made such a big fire in the stove that the flames sprang up and set fire to the roof, and in a few minutes the palace was burning like a huge bonfire.”

- Andrew Lang, The Magician's Horse (2015, 2nd Era)

Time was frozen in the office. It hadn’t changed since Erec last saw it, much like it probably hadn’t changed in hundreds of years. Though, this time in roaming the halls of the forgotten old-world tomb, VAL left the doors open behind. A part of him was glad to know there was no hidden plan to seal him away and never let him out. It was a good sign that their relationship would make real progress for once.

But, there was an obstacle in the way of that change. In the form of a stack of papers on the desk, how they got there was a mystery, considering he thought VAL’s primary host was outside of these walls.

Unless that’d been a bluff.

Erec rolled his eyes as he took in the paperwork before settling down to try to read it carefully. Once more, as expected, VAL encoded the words with an old-world English that seemed designed to give roundabout descriptions and obscure technical language.

Once he felt confident, he understood the gist, and in acknowledgment of his lack of time to spend down here, he reached his decision. VAL seemed earnest, and the contract mostly described what VAL promised him—just shrouded.

He’d be receiving a promotion from intern to Researcher I. Whatever an intern even really was, the Researcher’s job description seemed heavily modified. It referred to his duties as ‘field research’ and prone to ‘hazardous work conditions,’ along with a waiver.

Bodily harm for doing his job? He risked that to live out in the sun anyway; this whole world risked death and violence at every turn. Erec snorted and put pen to paper.

Another line, another signature.

As Erec finished signing his name the last and third time, he stared at the last couple of lines. “VAL, what is this signing bonus?”

[Congratulations, Researcher! Huh, that doesn’t have the same ring to it as Intern; I guess we’ll both have to get used to it. Please follow the trail of red lights; I’ve picked a suitable bonus for you. We’ll be fielding a rather unorthodox compensation for your new position.]

A red light flickered outside the office. Erec looked at the second set of mysterious papers he’d signed in the old-world before leaving them behind to follow the lights.

It led him quite a way, a chasing game where when as he reached one blinking LED, another appeared further down, Guiding him deeper and into the labs.

Eventually, he reached a door with a triple reinforced steel plate; it slid open at his approach and revealed a laboratory with plenty of smaller tucked-away tables. However, a faceless man occupied the center. Erec flinched, hands sliding to his battle axe—but the man didn’t move.

Upon closer inspection, its ‘skin’ was just a polished silicon of incredibly pale white, damn-near transparent. It moved. If Erec strained his eyes he could see the metal moving beneath; in its hands was a thin slab of wires and complex machinery that Erec couldn’t puzzle out. The thing waited for him, hands extended as he regarded it with a weary eye from the entryway.

“What is that thing?”

[Think of it like a set of human hands. I’ve had to develop a few models to conduct experiments in place of regular researchers, mostly to replicate human safety and the viability of particular technology when manipulated by them. Maintaining strict standards and determining biological limitations and risks when working with humanity is crucial. Humans are awfully frail. Well, used to be.]

“…And what’s that thing it’s holding?”

[It's top-of-the-line cutting-edge technology in a field in which Vortex Industries has long prided itself as a leader; you’re looking at a quantum accelerated processor. Or Q.A.P. Model V-2332. I finished tinkering with the design about a hundred years ago before pursuing other lines of research.]

Erec moved in and took the offered tech, holding it reverently as he turned it over—a slick chrome chassis, but relatively compact in his hands. He had no idea what it did or what the point of it was. When he’d begged his way into the lab, he’d been looking for some kind of weapon, not… this.

But, oftentimes, the most powerful of old-world tech disguised itself in hidden forms, or so the priests always said. They often warned children to be wary when dealing with the old-world for things they didn’t know the true purpose of.

He was sure that Boldwick would say something along the same lines, though with less condemnation for using such technology.

“…You plan to have me install this on the Vallum Model?”

[If you follow my instructions, it should adapt to the technology well. I predict it will take half an hour to install. I believe we can modify it with minimum suspicion with a discrete placement near the frame.]

Erec turned it over—it was slim; he was sure it could get tucked away somewhere in the plating. Maybe weld in a slot for it to mount to in a secure location.

“And what does it do?” Despite knowing better, Erec had to ask, finding it hard to believe something like this could do what he’d wanted.

[It’s perhaps more subtle than you imagined. When interfacing with my host body, we’ll be able to perform accurate predictions and computing on enemies. This will allow me to offer real-time suggestions and map out accurate battle information to provide an appropriate counter before an attack. Additionally, we can manipulate the Armor on a micro-level to draw out your strength without any friction with the hardware.]

“Which means what exactly?”

[…Think of it as predicting the future of your opponents. We can call out attacks before they’ve started. Additionally, minor corrections to form will boost your ability to put yourself into dodging and attacking.]

An all-around upgrade, Erec supposed. A complement to his strengths and a way to shore up his weaknesses. That was if he could respond to and utilize the suggestions of VAL in actual combat.

It wasn’t bad. No. He saw how it could be pretty useful. But to him, the uncertainty of it left him feeling a bit anxious. “Is this… going to be enough VAL?”

[This facility specializes in nano-research and quantum technologies. A lot of the research conducted here was not for direct combat application, despite some obvious utility and adaption. I’m hesitant to expose some of the more dangerous nano-related technology, as it’s either invasive to you—a clear issue you’ve expressed—or hazardous to bystanders.]

Erec let that explanation stew in his head for a little while. VAL's opening up regarding these things was a significant step forward. But it also revealed that Erec lacked the tools even to understand the machine once it did. For example, what made them particularly dangerous?

“I need to learn more…”

[That’s the attitude we like to see, Buckeroo. Don’t worry; I’m sure we’ll get there one day. First, we’ll start with adapting this Q.A.P to your Armor, and then we’ll take things one step at a time. Okay?]

“Yeah.” Erec shook his head, looking at the rest of the lab.

VAL gave him about an hour more to tour the facility. Erec peeked in—some places, as VAL claimed, were still out of his authority. Trade Secrets had certain classifications. But, for the most part, any sealed rooms were due to Erec having no technical knowledge or safety precautions if the worst were to happen. It left him questioning what they’d researched here long ago, but he didn’t mind too much.

He saw plenty enough to understand in the short hour he’d had.

Plenty of rooms were defunct and filled with expended resources and equipment from thousands of repeated tests, transformed from labs into storage chambers. Some contained finished projects, but most were graveyards of experimentation.

For days, months, and years, VAL remained down here. It ran the same mindless testing to gain another percent of efficiency to achieve a slightly higher output—all of it in the name of science.

Erec would’ve lost his mind. And thinking about it, perhaps VAL had. With no one to see it until now, the machine described its accomplishments and rigorous methods with almost manic energy. Here, there might be a small cube filled with the longest nanocarbon tunnels it could manufacture. In another room might be a quantum heat sink that could transmit and disperse energy from thousands of miles away.

Though, Erec wasn’t allowed to get too close to that one.

Almost everything couldn’t be touched. Not by his hands, not for now. They were to sit down here, a collection of jewels meant alone for the maddened robot to admire and brag about.

At the end of the hour, Erec climbed up the ladder to the surface. He tucked the Q.A.P close to his chest, terrified at the idea of falling, despite VAL’s assurances of its solid and robust design. He didn’t want to risk it. If this thing promised him an edge in the fighting to come, it would make it that much easier to act to save those he cared about if the worst were to happen. It made it worth more then anything else on him.

As the night sunk towards day, Erec snuck back into the camp—avoiding the attention of the posted guards.

Early in the morning, without any sleep, he pretended to awaken early and said he wanted to work on his Armor. Secretly, he installed the Q.A.P to the Vallum Armor, listening all the while the VAL rattle off instructions in his head on where to connect the wires, where to nestle the device, and how to route power from the frame directly to it.

As promised, a quick install.

There were stories, as much as the priests loved to depose and argue against specific old-world technology, of Knights who scavenged themselves a priceless artifact from the old-world. Frankly put, if something was useful enough, even if it bordered on the line of heresy, such a thing might be allowed. Especially if said Knight kept it quiet long enough.

As Erec got in his Armor for the first time, he wondered. Just what difference such a small box that allowed ‘quantum accelerated processing’ could do?