Chapter 271: Approaching Timeline - III

Hans took a deep breath and pointed toward the images.

"Keep their approach slow. There might be something going on here. I’ll ask Tyrus if he knows anything about it."

That man always seemed to have some new piece of information whenever Hans encountered something strange.

Sometimes, Hans wondered if Tyrus had half of the world’s classified information stored somewhere inside his head like a databank. Every time something weird appeared, the man either knew something about it or knew someone who probably did.

Dianne nodded.

The northeastern map disappeared from the main display before Grefort returned in its place.

Several areas around the Core were highlighted, along with the Directorate site and other locations where SAS recovery teams had been working.

"The intelligence recovery assigned to Agents Marcus and Evelyn is progressing slowly."

Hans focused on the new reports.

"Marcus is still working through the damaged receivers, storage drives and other recovered material. Evelyn has been helping with the remaining SAS records and the leads connected to them."

Dianne brought up several images of damaged storage devices and equipment.

"The main problem is processing capacity. Marcus believes he can speed up the decryption and reconstruction considerably if we recover one of the larger data centers around Grefort, or anything with enough surviving computing power to support the work."

Hans furrowed his brows; that was easier said than done.

Grefort used to have several large data-center hubs, particularly around the riverside and other commercial areas where communication infrastructure had once been concentrated.

Unfortunately, most of them were in terrible condition.

Some had been flooded.

Others suffered structural damage during the Event or the months of fighting afterward. Even if the buildings themselves could still be repaired, there was no guarantee that the servers inside survived along with them.

Trying to rebuild one of the heavily damaged sites could easily cost more effort than simply producing new equipment.

The problem with that option was that normal computer production had barely started recovering.

Golden Eagle Army bases could produce tanks, aircraft and all sorts of ridiculous military equipment through the System, but that did not mean Hans could suddenly tell it to manufacture an ordinary civilian server farm.

"Tell him the recovery can continue as it is until we have a better solution."

"Understood."

Hans looked through several of the listed drives.

Marcus was good at this kind of work but that did not mean he could break encryption by glaring at a storage drive long enough.

If the man said he needed more processing power, then he needed more processing power.

Hans could wait. He had already waited this long anyway.

"Oh, and how about the progress from Kimmy?"

Dianne switched the display again.

Several photographs from inside the Directorate appeared.

Some showed sections Hans had already seen before. Others came from deeper areas where Engineers had opened additional passages after Kimmy identified irregularities in the shielding.

"The Directorate still appears to have more concealed areas. Ms. Asters has been assisting whenever she can, but Dr. Shearman warned her against repeated use of her ability without enough rest."

Hans leaned slightly against the table.

"Well, he’s pretty considerate. What are these secretive areas?"

"Ms. Asters believes some of the passages may extend beyond the Directorate sections we’ve already mapped."

Another diagram appeared.

A portion of the known facility ended near several unconfirmed spaces. The markings beyond them were much less certain.

"She suspects at least one of them may lead toward another facility or a separate section that wasn’t included in the Directorate records we recovered."

Hans stared at it.

"And Johannes?"

"He doesn’t recognize it either."

Johannes had already proven useful whenever the SAS left some strange piece of infrastructure behind. If even he had no recollection of those areas, then whatever was behind them probably had not been something ordinary field agents were supposed to know about.

Or maybe there was nothing particularly important inside and the Directorate simply enjoyed hiding rooms inside other hidden rooms.

At this point, Hans would not be surprised by either possibility.

"Keep the search less intense. If Tyrus has his own considerations, we should follow his words."

Dianne nodded.

There was no point exhausting Kimmy just to open another section several hours earlier. The facility remained buried underneath Grefort for months. It could survive a few more days.

"And any progress from Tyrus’s research?" Hans added.

"Nothing that requires your immediate attention, Commander."

Dianne changed the display.

Several reports from the NPP laboratory appeared beside earlier medical readings and trial results.

"His recent work with Yunera was successful enough to continue, but Doctor Shearman isn’t satisfied with the sample size."

Hans raised a brow.

"Sample size?"

"Individuals."

Hans understood what she meant.

Yunera was only one person.

Whatever Tyrus had managed with her might work again, or it might have depended on something specific to Yunera herself. Her enhancement, genetics, previous exposure, or something else Hans did not understand yet could change the result.

One successful subject was hardly enough to prove anything.

"He wants more people?"

"Eventually. He hasn’t submitted a number yet."

Hans thought about it.

"Can we put out a volunteer notice?"

"We can, but Dr. Shearman would have to specify what kind of volunteers he needs and what risks are involved."

"Then ask him."

Hans rested one arm against the table.

"Tell him he’s authorized to recruit volunteers when he’s ready, but keep it reasonable. Small group, voluntary, and screened properly. I don’t want half of Grefort lining up because somebody heard they might get stronger."

Dianne nodded.

"Understood."

There were enough people inside Grefort who had already seen what enhanced individuals could do. Hans could easily imagine someone volunteering without understanding what Tyrus might actually put them through.

If the doctor wanted more subjects, he could have them—just not in the scale of hundreds or more.

Dianne closed the trial report.

"That also leads into the next item. Overseer Weissenberg sent another update from the Nuclear Power Station this morning."

Hans looked back toward the display.

"Kordula?"

"The station restoration is approaching the point where surviving plant personnel believe they can begin limited generation within the next few days. Grid checks, safety tests and repairs to several transmission connections are still underway."

"That sounds good. What’s the problem?"

"Fuel and maintenance stock."

The display changed again.

Several inventories appeared beside images from the station.

"Kordula is relaying the assessment from the plant personnel. They still have usable certified nuclear fuel, but not enough to sustain full-output operation for very long once the station is brought back."

Hans frowned.

"And the other problem?"

"Replacement components. Several parts needed for continued reactor and turbine maintenance are already below their preferred reserve."

So they could restart the plant, but keeping it running properly was another matter.

"Where can we get them?"

Dianne brought up two locations.

"One of the old supply chains extends west toward Teutonia."

"That’s too far."

Hans dismissed that option almost immediately.

Crossing half the region for nuclear fuel and spare parts when they still had enough problems inside Ashington did not sound particularly attractive.

"The other lead is much closer."

The map shifted south—Silverpeak.

Dianne opened another set of records.

"Overseer Weissenberg found old transfer and certification records connecting some of the station’s fuel reserves and specialized industrial components to suppliers in the Silverpeak region."

Kordula did not know exactly where the relevant facilities were, but her current knowledge already supported recognizing Silverpeak-linked component pedigrees, fuel reserves and certification records once the evidence surfaced.

Hans looked over the map again.

Silverpeak had already become important because of its industries. It was about to become even more useful.

"Tell Brandon to put more emphasis on industrial recovery."

Dianne waited.

"Not at the expense of the civilian operations," Hans added. "But I want them looking for anything connected to fuel storage, reactor materials and heavy maintenance parts. If the ICD knows where those facilities were, use them."

"Understood."

Hans opened the production and training queues.

Southern Command already had enough work without Hans dumping another objective onto Brandon and expecting the same people to handle everything.

He started another reinforcement batch for the south.

By the time the last units finished training and production, the additional package would be roughly Battalion-sized. They would not all arrive at once, but Brandon could start using them as they became available.

"Give Brandon another reinforcement package as well. He can decide where he needs the manpower most once they arrive."

"I’ll inform him."

Hans closed the queues.

It was strange how quickly the problems were beginning to connect.

Silverpeak had started as another southern campaign.

Now, its industrial recovery might decide how quickly a nuclear station far to the north could return to sustained operation.

Dianne closed the NPP report and checked the remaining list one last time.

"There are no more reports on the table, Commander."

Hans looked toward the display for several seconds.

Silverpeak was moving.

Horjus was liberated.

Saicine continued expanding outward.

Pylow became considerably more suspicious than it had been several days ago.

Grefort itself was slowly returning to something resembling a functioning city.

And underneath all of it were enough recovered drives, hidden facilities and strange research projects to keep half of his people busy for months.

Hans opened his System interface.

There was one construction order he had almost grown accustomed to seeing somewhere in the background.

------

[ Tech Center ]

[ Construction in Progress ]

[ Time Remaining: 2 hours, 47 minutes ]

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Fifteen days and fifteen hours. When he first queued the building, the construction time looked ridiculous compared with everything else he could produce.

Now there were less than three hours left.

"Very well. Send anything else to my terminal."

Hans closed the panel and stood.

"The meeting is over."

The officers around the table began gathering their reports while Dianne closed the remaining files on the main display.

Hans walked away from the table.

He already knew where he was going later that day.