Chapter 244: Eldrath’s Highest Priority

Chapter 244: Eldrath’s Highest Priority

Noah opened the Arcane-Industrial Integration Package on his terminal and checked the folders one final time. The manuals, technical diagrams, and research materials were all there. He closed the individual documents and turned his attention to Eldrath.

Through his connection to the planet, Noah located the ruler in the government palace. Several officials were delivering their morning reports, and the ruler was listening to one of them discuss repairs to a manufacturing facility. Noah waited until the official finished speaking, then prepared a divine mandate.

He attached the complete archive to the mandate and issued it to Eldrath’s ruler.

"To the ruler of Eldrath and all who serve in the pursuit of knowledge: I grant you the Arcane-Industrial Integration Package. These records contain methods for studying mana, magical crystals, and their possible uses in technology. Make the knowledge available to your scientists and engineers. Study it carefully and develop what you can. I leave the work in your hands."

The message reached the palace, together with the archive. The ruler stopped the meeting and rose from his chair. His officials followed him to their feet. Noah watched the ruler acknowledge the mandate before opening the transmitted records on the palace’s central display.

"His divinity has sent us new knowledge," the ruler told the officials. "Get the heads of the research institutions here. Include the laboratories that have been working with the unusual crystals. Tell the industrial administration to send someone who knows our instrument workshops."

One official was already opening a communication channel. "Should I summon all the department directors, Your Majesty?"

"Start with the people who will understand these documents. The rest can join once we know what the research requires." The ruler looked at the folders appearing on his display. "And have the archive copied into the government research records. Keep the original files unchanged."

The officials began contacting the relevant institutions. The ruler returned to the display and opened the first volume of the archive while waiting for the researchers to arrive.

The first was an elderly scientist carrying a terminal loaded with laboratory records. Two younger researchers came with him, followed by an engineer from the industrial administration. They greeted the ruler, then crowded around the display when he told them what Noah had provided.

"The divine mandate came with all of these files?" the senior scientist asked. He opened the archive’s index and scrolled down the list of subjects. "Detection, measurement, crystals, industrial applications... Your Majesty, we’ve never had material like this."

"Take a look through it," the ruler said. "Tell me what you think."

The scientist selected the first manual. It opened to a discussion of detecting mana, followed by diagrams of instruments unfamiliar to the group. He enlarged one drawing, and the engineer stepped closer to inspect the parts.

"I’ve seen something like this housing," the engineer said. "Our workshops make similar precision instruments. I don’t recognize the assembly inside it, though. Can you open the component list?"

The younger researcher found it. "Here. There’s another page explaining how the instrument is checked before testing a sample."

"Send both pages to me. I’ll have the workshop specialists look at them." The engineer enlarged a small label. "I’ll need the definitions for some of these materials too. They’re not names we use in our factories."

The senior scientist took notes while the engineer examined the drawings. "We should find out how the instrument is supposed to produce a reading before anybody makes the parts. There might be an explanation in the next volume."

"Then let’s check that first," the engineer said. "I can send the drawings to my team once we’ve looked through the specifications."

One of the younger researchers searched the archive for references to crystals and opened a separate volume. "Look at this. It describes tests using samples containing mana. We still have those crystals from the eastern deposits, don’t we?"

"Most of them," the senior scientist replied. "The older laboratories kept the samples after the first examinations. Some were cut apart, but the storage records should show what’s left."

"I’ll ask them for the inventory. The previous reports only list weight, hardness, and the changes observed during heating. We can start comparing those records with the new procedures."

The ruler listened while they discussed the samples. The engineer had already taken copies of several diagrams, and the younger researchers were looking for passages that explained how to confirm a reading.

"Can you begin with the facilities we have?" the ruler asked after giving them time to read.

"We can start studying the documents today," the senior scientist said. "The tests will take longer. We need an instrument that can measure mana, and we haven’t built one before. There are also terms we need to understand."

"And the manufacturing side?" the ruler asked the engineer.

"Some parts should be easy for us. Others might need new tools or materials. I’ll ask the workshops to check the drawings and tell us what they can make."

The ruler called the research administrator over from the other side of the table.

"Open a dedicated project for the package. It takes the highest priority among our scientific programs. Have the research institutions provide their available specialists, and put the equipment requests through the industrial administration."

"I’ll contact the directors," the administrator replied. "Some teams have experiments running that can’t be interrupted halfway through. I’ll find out when their staff and laboratories can be reassigned."

"Keep the essential work running. The scientists can tell you which people they need first."

The senior scientist looked up from his terminal. "Your Majesty, could we coordinate this through one research office? Several institutions will be reading the same documents, and we’ll need to share our findings."

"Arrange it with the administrator. Choose the directors who should lead the research and have them organize their teams."

"We’ll start with the detection manuals," the scientist said. "I’ll put a group on the measurement procedures too. The crystal specialists can review the older samples while the engineers study the instruments."

"Send someone from my department to each of those groups," the engineer added. "If the scientists find a part they need, they can speak directly with our people."

The younger researcher opened the specifications for another instrument. "This one includes a calibration procedure. We should keep its tests separate from the crystal experiments. Otherwise, we’ll have trouble telling whether a strange result comes from the sample or the instrument."

"Good point," the senior scientist replied. "Take that section and review it with the measurement team. We need to know the equipment works before we start testing crystals."

The researcher nodded and began collecting the relevant files.

A second laboratory director arrived carrying two sets of crystal reports. She apologized for coming late and opened the older records beside the new manual.

"The palace said this was about the crystal research," she told the senior scientist. "I brought the latest inventories. We still have intact samples from three deposits. Are we going to repeat the heating tests?"

"Not yet. Look at the measurement section first. We finally have instructions for investigating the energy associated with the crystals. I need you to tell us which samples have reliable records and which ones should be examined again."

She read the page he indicated. "Some of our old records are incomplete. We changed instruments between the first and second sets of tests, and the summaries don’t always say which one was used. I’ll have my laboratory sort that out before we start comparing results."

"Keep the original reports attached. We can correct the summaries once we know what actually happened in each experiment."

A younger researcher brought her two entries bearing the same specimen number. One listed a higher weight than the other, although both claimed to describe the sample before testing.

"These measurements don’t match," he said. "Do you know which record is the original?"

The director looked over the dates. "The second entry was made after the sample was divided. The new piece should have been given a separate number. I’ll check the storage register and have both entries corrected."

"Check the other labels as well," the senior scientist said. "We should sort out the records before assigning samples to the new experiments."

The director moved aside with one of the younger researchers and began checking sample labels. The engineer returned to the component lists and contacted a workshop supervisor. Their conversation moved from the dimensions of an instrument housing to the availability of precision tools. The supervisor agreed to examine the full drawings and identify which components the workshop could manufacture.

The ruler watched the staff moving between terminals.

"How long before you can build the first instrument?" he asked the senior scientist.

"We haven’t chosen a design yet. Give us time to work through the archive. We may find a simpler instrument in another section."

"All right. Discuss it with the engineers and decide which one to start with."

A clerk at the far end of the table asked where the new files should be stored. The senior scientist showed her the sections that needed to be shared with laboratories and pointed out the instrument diagrams that included separate reference pages.

"Don’t send only the pictures," he said. "The notes on the following pages explain what the labels mean. The workshops will need those too."

"I’ll distribute the full volumes and keep the original archive intact," the clerk replied. "The departments can make working copies from there."

The ruler then addressed the officials still waiting near the end of the table.

"Notify the research institutions today. The package came through a divine mandate, and we’re making its study our leading scientific undertaking. Tell the departments what has been decided and have their directors arrange the staffing."

The officials dispersed to carry out the announcement. The ruler remained with the scientists, asking about the laboratories they intended to use and the equipment already available.

The senior scientist continued reading after most of the administrators had left. His colleagues were still comparing the diagrams with equipment lists, occasionally calling him over to settle a question. One researcher found an industrial application that seemed to involve a crystal-powered device and showed it to the engineer.

"Have you seen this design?" she asked. "If we could build something like it, we might be able to use the crystals for more than laboratory studies."

The engineer scanned the page. "It looks complicated. We don’t even have a working mana detector yet. Save the drawing, and we’ll come back to it after we’ve figured out the instruments."

"I’ve added it to the later research folder," she said. "There are several more designs in the same volume."

"Keep those together. We’ll need to understand how they work before we can build anything."

The senior scientist joined them. "Let’s finish the introductory manuals first. Once we can make reliable measurements, we can start looking at the applications. We’ve already got enough work to organize."

The others agreed and returned to their sections.

One of the researchers opened a page containing several procedures for examining crystal samples. He called the senior scientist over and pointed to a diagram showing how the sample should be positioned inside the instrument.

"Does this mean we’d have to prepare the crystals differently from our previous tests?"

"Most likely. Let me see the instructions." The senior scientist read the accompanying text. "The sample holder is designed for a particular size. We’ll need to check whether any of our stored specimens fit."

"We could cut new samples from the larger crystals," the younger researcher suggested.

"Let’s check the inventory first. We may already have some that are suitable. There’s no reason to damage another specimen if we don’t need to."

The younger researcher opened the storage records and began comparing the dimensions. Another scientist joined him, pointing out that several samples had been placed in separate collections after earlier experiments.

"We should ask the storage department to put everything into one inventory," he said. "I can see at least three different records here."

"Contact them and have the lists sent over. We’ll go through the samples once we’ve sorted out their locations."

The engineer, meanwhile, had received a response from his workshop supervisor. He read the message and turned toward the group examining the detector diagrams.

"The workshop says they can manufacture most of the outer assembly. They need more information about the central components. I’ve asked the materials department to examine the specifications."

"How soon can they get back to you?" the senior scientist asked.

"They’ll start today. Some of those materials may already exist in our industrial catalog under different names. We’ll have to compare their properties."

"Send me whatever they find. I’ll have someone check the corresponding sections in the archive."

The engineer forwarded the workshop’s response and returned to the drawings.

Several other researchers began compiling questions from the manuals. Some concerned unfamiliar scientific terms, while others dealt with procedures that required equipment not currently available in their laboratories. The senior scientist divided the questions among the appropriate groups and asked them to record any explanations they found.

One researcher raised a concern about the amount of material.

"We have hundreds of pages here just on measurement. How are we supposed to keep track of what everyone is studying?"

"We’ll use the shared research records," the senior scientist answered. "Each group can mark the sections they’ve reviewed and add their findings. That way, anyone who needs the information can find it without searching through the whole archive again."

"I’ll set up the folders for our group," the researcher replied. "We can begin with the introductory procedures and work through the more complicated ones afterward."

The ruler listened to the discussion and called the research administrator back to the table.

"Have the institutions coordinate through the senior research office. They’ll need access to the same records and equipment requests. The directors can settle the details."

"I’ll arrange it, Your Majesty. The department heads have already been notified, and several are preparing their personnel lists."

"Good. Let them get started."

Noah continued observing Eldrath through his planetary connection. The researchers were examining different parts of the archive, and the ruler had already begun assigning resources to the project.

The senior scientist called the engineer over to another display, where a younger researcher had found a more detailed diagram of the detector’s central assembly.

"Take a look at this. It might answer some of your questions about the materials."

The engineer read the specifications and opened the workshop’s response beside them.

"That helps. I’ll send this to the materials department. They were asking about exactly this component."

"Let me know what they find. If we can identify the materials, we can start comparing the rest of the design with what your workshops can produce."

"I’ll contact you when they finish."

The researchers returned to their terminals. Around the table, several discussions continued at once as the scientists examined the manuals, compared crystal records, and exchanged files with the engineers.

Noah withdrew his attention from Eldrath and returned to the terminal on his desk. He closed the completed redemption record and checked the time. His next lesson on Law comprehension was scheduled for the following morning, and he had left several passages of House Aelwyn’s World Integration Technique marked for study.

He opened the document to the page where he had stopped the previous evening and continued reading.