Translation
In northern Arizona, a truck departs from the uranium mines.
This wasn't the first time Mariah moved uranium for the government. And yet, this trip was... Strange.
The security was already tight, but today it was even stricter. And her route was changed at the last minute for... "Unforseen technical reasons".
Yeah, right.
After hours of uneventful travel, she finally reached her new destination. This refinery was different from the previous one. Bigger, taller, that's for sure.
However, she wasn't a technical person. Her job was to move something from point A to point B, that was it. She would probably never know what was cooking in the pot, despite her curiosity.
Oh, well. At least they paid her well.
Miles and miles away, a man was walking into an empty building.
This was but a husk of what the final thing would become; regardless, The Facility was officially born today.
An almost unassuming building on the outside, a future rtreasure of knowledge on the inside.
Now, the assembly of the needed machinery could finally begin...
The Facility
Re: The Facility
In the following days, Mariah's route started changing more and more frequently to supply the new refinery instead of the old one.
But that wasn't the only thing she found to be strange.
Indeed, she was asked to transport cargo on the way back. She didn't know what was this new stuff; she though that it was also probably uranium, since the crates looked similar. But that didn't actually mean anything, since for all she knew they could be of standard use and filled with something else...
As such, her new route was from mine to the new refinery/factory, on the way back a slight deviation to another refinery/factory, and then back to the mine.
The new refinery/factory, at this point she wasn't sure what was which, was also different from the first one, both in layout and in size.
When driving she often liked to speculate on what the hell was happening, and she had the wildest theories... Of which probably none were true.
Not for the first time of her life, she regretted not pursuing an higher education like her father wanted.
Then she rembembered, once again, why she didn't. That priceless freedom she felt behind the wheel, driving alone in the desert... Well, alone except for the military escort, but close enough.
Miles and miles away, the bowels of The Facility started looking less and less empty.
Crates and crates of cutting-edge components had been deleviered straight from the Silicon Valley, and now careful technicians were putting them toghether, guided by expert engineers and aided by specialized machines.
Deep down underground the electronic brain of The Facility, an advanced supercomputer, was being assembled.
It wasn't just the computer itself, though: all the subsystems needed to actually work with it were being assembled as well; as such, while the eerie glow of screens now lit the once empty main room, a man looked at the progress made with satisfaction.
But that wasn't the only thing she found to be strange.
Indeed, she was asked to transport cargo on the way back. She didn't know what was this new stuff; she though that it was also probably uranium, since the crates looked similar. But that didn't actually mean anything, since for all she knew they could be of standard use and filled with something else...
As such, her new route was from mine to the new refinery/factory, on the way back a slight deviation to another refinery/factory, and then back to the mine.
The new refinery/factory, at this point she wasn't sure what was which, was also different from the first one, both in layout and in size.
When driving she often liked to speculate on what the hell was happening, and she had the wildest theories... Of which probably none were true.
Not for the first time of her life, she regretted not pursuing an higher education like her father wanted.
Then she rembembered, once again, why she didn't. That priceless freedom she felt behind the wheel, driving alone in the desert... Well, alone except for the military escort, but close enough.
Miles and miles away, the bowels of The Facility started looking less and less empty.
Crates and crates of cutting-edge components had been deleviered straight from the Silicon Valley, and now careful technicians were putting them toghether, guided by expert engineers and aided by specialized machines.
Deep down underground the electronic brain of The Facility, an advanced supercomputer, was being assembled.
It wasn't just the computer itself, though: all the subsystems needed to actually work with it were being assembled as well; as such, while the eerie glow of screens now lit the once empty main room, a man looked at the progress made with satisfaction.
Re: The Facility
Weeks after the new route became the only one for Mariah, a stern-looking, blonde military woman approached Mariah while her cargo was being unloaded.
<<Mariah Jones?>> she barked.
<<Uhh, yes ma'am?>> Mariah answered.
<<Sergeant Aiyana Smiths. Please follow me.>>
Mariah followed the woman inside a little building near the entrance of the external restricted area.
<<Please, sit.>> Said the sergeant, pointing to a chair in front of a desk, while she sat in the chair behind it.
Mariah sat down, and was presented with a document.
<<Our designated driver for the next delivery suddenly fell ill. You have been choosen to drive in his stead.>>
Mariah's gaze rose from the paper, flabbergasted.
<<But... But that's in New California! What about the delivery to the building on the way back to the mine?>>
<<That delivery is not urgent. This one is, and needs to be done as soon as possible. Another driver will take care of the other delivery. But we need you to make this one. Please sign the paper.>>
Mariah, still confused, signed.
The Sergeant took the document as soon as she was done.
<<Thank you, Miss Jones. You will receive a bonus for the... Inconvenience, upon completion of the delivery. Best of luck.>>
And with this, Mariah was out.
If the supercomputer was the "brain" of The Facility, the lasers surely were its "arms".
Arms of light, yet somehow more powerful of the arms of flesh, at least when nuclear experiments were concerned.
Positioned into special chambers, they had the job to excite and manipulate the atoms of the test materials.
Not only that, some of the smaller ones had the purpose of measuring, dectecting and examinate, with a precision normally inconceivable.
Now that the "brain" was competed, The Facility was getting its "arms".
And in the following days its "eyes", the plenitude of sensors which will monitor all the experiments of The Facility, will be finally opened.
<<Mariah Jones?>> she barked.
<<Uhh, yes ma'am?>> Mariah answered.
<<Sergeant Aiyana Smiths. Please follow me.>>
Mariah followed the woman inside a little building near the entrance of the external restricted area.
<<Please, sit.>> Said the sergeant, pointing to a chair in front of a desk, while she sat in the chair behind it.
Mariah sat down, and was presented with a document.
<<Our designated driver for the next delivery suddenly fell ill. You have been choosen to drive in his stead.>>
Mariah's gaze rose from the paper, flabbergasted.
<<But... But that's in New California! What about the delivery to the building on the way back to the mine?>>
<<That delivery is not urgent. This one is, and needs to be done as soon as possible. Another driver will take care of the other delivery. But we need you to make this one. Please sign the paper.>>
Mariah, still confused, signed.
The Sergeant took the document as soon as she was done.
<<Thank you, Miss Jones. You will receive a bonus for the... Inconvenience, upon completion of the delivery. Best of luck.>>
And with this, Mariah was out.
If the supercomputer was the "brain" of The Facility, the lasers surely were its "arms".
Arms of light, yet somehow more powerful of the arms of flesh, at least when nuclear experiments were concerned.
Positioned into special chambers, they had the job to excite and manipulate the atoms of the test materials.
Not only that, some of the smaller ones had the purpose of measuring, dectecting and examinate, with a precision normally inconceivable.
Now that the "brain" was competed, The Facility was getting its "arms".
And in the following days its "eyes", the plenitude of sensors which will monitor all the experiments of The Facility, will be finally opened.
Re: The Facility
When Mariah finally arrived to her destination, a weight lifted from her shoulders.
She couldn't really tell why, but for the whole trip she felt tense, on high alert.
Rationally, she knew she was just being influenced by the added military security following her, compounded with the oddity of the situation; after all, she also had to use an apposite truck for this delivery, and she was an abitudinary woman.
Yet, she felt relief the moment she parked the truck in the designated spot at this new factory.
She wiped the sweat from her brow, and decided to go for a quick lauch break.
Just as she had got off the truck a VIP car, with the windows completely blacked out and a sizable military escort, entered the premises of the building.
For a moment she lingered, hoping to satisfy her curiosity and see who the VIP passenger was; but to her disappointment, both the car and the escort entered
a sort of garage connected to the side of the building.
Just her luck, as usual. Damn...
The man looked excited.
Very few knew of The Facility; even less of his involvement with it; even fewer that he was its Director.
He just received a report from one of this few, which informed him that the last shipment of enriched uranium from the enrichment center number 3 arrived in time
to the manufacturing plant. All according to plan, they were stockpiling the material so that the data from The Facility could be used as soon as avaiable.
But right now The Facility was still asleep, as it was getting its "eyes", the sensors.
Yet, he gave the order to start transporting the last of the crucial subsystems. After all, they were almost done with the sensors...
She couldn't really tell why, but for the whole trip she felt tense, on high alert.
Rationally, she knew she was just being influenced by the added military security following her, compounded with the oddity of the situation; after all, she also had to use an apposite truck for this delivery, and she was an abitudinary woman.
Yet, she felt relief the moment she parked the truck in the designated spot at this new factory.
She wiped the sweat from her brow, and decided to go for a quick lauch break.
Just as she had got off the truck a VIP car, with the windows completely blacked out and a sizable military escort, entered the premises of the building.
For a moment she lingered, hoping to satisfy her curiosity and see who the VIP passenger was; but to her disappointment, both the car and the escort entered
a sort of garage connected to the side of the building.
Just her luck, as usual. Damn...
The man looked excited.
Very few knew of The Facility; even less of his involvement with it; even fewer that he was its Director.
He just received a report from one of this few, which informed him that the last shipment of enriched uranium from the enrichment center number 3 arrived in time
to the manufacturing plant. All according to plan, they were stockpiling the material so that the data from The Facility could be used as soon as avaiable.
But right now The Facility was still asleep, as it was getting its "eyes", the sensors.
Yet, he gave the order to start transporting the last of the crucial subsystems. After all, they were almost done with the sensors...
Re: The Facility
Mariah didn't expect to be offered a new job. Or was it a promotion? It was hard to say with the classified positions.
Anyway, apparently the military find her driving "of excellent quality", and were more than satisfied that she managed the delivery on time.
That, and reports on her that apparently her escort had written, had let to this windfall.
But honestly, she was sort of undecided.
On one hand, she was already the proud owner of a very restrictive NDA, and the idea of possibly having even more parts of her life under NDA wasn't... Actractive.
Also, she still remembered the tension felt during the "urgent" delivery.
On the other hand, the more restrictive NDA would have come with an even higher clearance, the new job would have paid better, and... And she was curious. That was part of her as breathing was, in a sense.
And the new job, or at least its higher clearance, could help her satisfy just a tiny bit of that curiosity.
She pondered for another half an hour, time she used to steel her resolve.
She always believed in seizing opportunities, and apparently that meant that her life would be forever intertwined with whatever secret projet was brewing.
That was what, deep down, really tipped the scales for her.
She would know more, of that she was sure.
When talking about particle accelerators, the first thing coming to mind to the public are often kilometric things and obscure science experiments.
In reality, a good majority of big laboratories have a kind of particle accelerator or another, ranging from few meters to hundreds of meters in radius.
This of course allowed for experiments ranging from the simple ion separation, exploiting the fact that different elements and isotopes have different atomic masses, to more complex interactions.
And at the moment, technicians were working to assemble the multiple accelerators of The Facility, which had multiple sizes and purpouses.
While they were proceding fast, the problem with PAs was not their assembly, since they relied on relatively simple principles to work, but their calibration.
Indeed, if they wanted to obtain the most precise results obtainable with a given PA, after assembly they would have to carefully test each PA and its sensors to be
sure to obtain results of the proper precision.
And of course, the Director wouldn't accept nothing as "proper", other than the very best.
Anyway, apparently the military find her driving "of excellent quality", and were more than satisfied that she managed the delivery on time.
That, and reports on her that apparently her escort had written, had let to this windfall.
But honestly, she was sort of undecided.
On one hand, she was already the proud owner of a very restrictive NDA, and the idea of possibly having even more parts of her life under NDA wasn't... Actractive.
Also, she still remembered the tension felt during the "urgent" delivery.
On the other hand, the more restrictive NDA would have come with an even higher clearance, the new job would have paid better, and... And she was curious. That was part of her as breathing was, in a sense.
And the new job, or at least its higher clearance, could help her satisfy just a tiny bit of that curiosity.
She pondered for another half an hour, time she used to steel her resolve.
She always believed in seizing opportunities, and apparently that meant that her life would be forever intertwined with whatever secret projet was brewing.
That was what, deep down, really tipped the scales for her.
She would know more, of that she was sure.
When talking about particle accelerators, the first thing coming to mind to the public are often kilometric things and obscure science experiments.
In reality, a good majority of big laboratories have a kind of particle accelerator or another, ranging from few meters to hundreds of meters in radius.
This of course allowed for experiments ranging from the simple ion separation, exploiting the fact that different elements and isotopes have different atomic masses, to more complex interactions.
And at the moment, technicians were working to assemble the multiple accelerators of The Facility, which had multiple sizes and purpouses.
While they were proceding fast, the problem with PAs was not their assembly, since they relied on relatively simple principles to work, but their calibration.
Indeed, if they wanted to obtain the most precise results obtainable with a given PA, after assembly they would have to carefully test each PA and its sensors to be
sure to obtain results of the proper precision.
And of course, the Director wouldn't accept nothing as "proper", other than the very best.
Re: The Facility
It was done.
The last few days saw the calibration of the particle accelerators, and the final set-up of the various reinforced test-chambers and laboratories.
And now, it was finally all done.
The Facility could finally begin its operations.
[Continues in the main thread]
The last few days saw the calibration of the particle accelerators, and the final set-up of the various reinforced test-chambers and laboratories.
And now, it was finally all done.
The Facility could finally begin its operations.
[Continues in the main thread]
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