Chelsea sat at her terminal, looking at the report that had been laid out before her. “It’s not working.” She muttered, analyzing the rate of mana production and comparing it to the mana production of the previous void generators. There did not appear to be any significant change, despite the fact that she had added the double efficiency modifier.
It must be because the mana is not being created in this world, but another world that is itself being created by the generator. I had hoped that the trait would be applied via the connection, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Is it because of the system sphere normalizing the area around the generator? It would be right to think that, but there is no proper way to run it without those.
Chelsea closed her eyes, going over some backup plans. I still have a lot of points left over to work with, but I don’t want to blow them all at once. Who knows how long it will take before I am given my next research allowance? I might even have to go to the next annual meeting. There are a few ways for the Keeper to pass off my existence, at least.
So… if we want to take advantage of this modifier, what is the most efficient way to do it? Even with the double efficiency modifier, it would take a thousand void cores as powerful as the one fueling Olympus just to equal a single generator. If we made so many void cores in one world, it would create a world instability.
As she was thinking about that, Chelsea heard a voice in the back of her mind. Chelsea, I am aware that your current experiment has failed. However, I would like to ask that you don’t do anything that would endanger the world that you have created.
Chelsea blinked in surprise, instinctively glancing up. Ashley? Ah, right, your people are probably interested in this modifier, aren’t they?
That’s right. I just tasked them with analyzing and copying the modifier to apply it to other areas. Since you are a member of the Admin Room, I can even give you access to the Admin Account I’m having them set up. If it works, it will tie the process of converting the void to mana into special accounts for the Digital Conversion system.
Chelsea’s eyes went wide, and she abruptly stood up from her desk. “What?!” She subconsciously shouted. If the world wasn’t currently being fast-forwarded, she would have sent her main self to question Ashley right away. You want to negate the mana cost for specific people in the Digital Conversion system?!
That’s… right? Is that a problem? Ashley asked in confusion.
No, no, that’s great! It’s exactly what I need! Chelsea was ecstatic. If I can tie that account into a mana generator, it can condense theoretically infinite refined mana straight from the void. Chelsea already knew how to connect machines to the Digital Conversion system. Such a thing wasn’t really that hard for her, and she knew that one of Dana’s familiars had done so on a massive scale in Fragments of Acidia.
As for void instability? The Digital Conversion system was part of the world’s system, so there were naturally safeguards in place to prevent the destruction of a world. According to the most likely theory, if the requested output was too high, it would simply limit itself to what the world was capable of safely withstanding.
If I can get this simple mana refinery set up with the Digital Conversion system, not only can it replace our void generators, but we can safely install them across multiple worlds. Ah, it’d be best not to put them in inhabited worlds still, since void beasts could potentially be attracted to a disturbance of that scale. Still, the cost and ease of setting it up makes it a far more efficient option.
There was a moment of hesitation before Ashley spoke again. I’m sorry, did I just invalidate decades of your research..?
Chelsea couldn’t help but laugh, the others in the lab glancing at her curiously. Not at all! Progress is a tricky slope. If it weren’t for the void generators, I wouldn’t have made a lifeless world with enhanced mana efficiency. If I hadn’t done that, you wouldn’t have had the chance to analyze the modifier. Our decades of research is paying off, just not in the direction that we expected.
I see… I’m glad. Ashley spoke up with a tone of relief.
By the way, have you considered creating a minor world for your researchers, so that they could take advantage of the accelerated time flow? Chelsea asked as she calmed herself, sitting back down at her terminal.
I thought about it, but ultimately decided against it. Doing so would open them to travelers in the void, and I’d rather keep them away from prying eyes. Additionally, I would need to create an entire race for them of energy beings for them that would have an endless lifespan, and wait for civilization to advance to the point where their work could be continued.
True… Chelsea nodded her head helplessly. It might be best for them to stay up there, in that case. Once they’ve got the code analyzed, send it down to me with the code for Digital Conversion. I have my own testing area, so I can help with the second step of the plan.
I’ll do that. Also, once the world stops fast-forwarding this time, we will be applying a new crafting system based on Digital Conversion. One of my people recently came up with it, and it will allow you to create a saved recipe as long as you have the materials.
That’s cool. Chelsea shrugged slightly, clearly not as interested in this as she was the admin accounts. If those accounts succeeded in being created, it could potentially solve their energy problems for the foreseeable future.
Seeing that Chelsea was done with her rather varied reactions, Thea walked over with a curious expression on her face. “Chel? Did the void generator results come in?” She asked hesitantly, worried that those reactions may have been caused by unfortunate news.
“Huh?” Chelsea glanced back, nodding her head. “Yeah, it was a total failure. There is no increase in mana output from the double efficiency world.”
Thea’s eyes widened in surprise, before looking even more curious. “You… don’t seem upset about that. I thought you’d be the most affected…”
“It’s fine.” She shook her head. “Go and get your sister and Treisha. Oh, and James too. He’ll want to hear this.”
Chelsea smiled, making her way to their planning area. She waited until she saw James and the others all approaching, before giving a firm nod. “The void generator plan has failed. Our existing generators will continue operating within safe parameters for the time being, but we will not be making any more.”
“Isn’t it too early to give up?” James asked hesitantly, not sure why Chelsea was just abandoning the project.
“It’s fine.” She repeated what she told Thea. “We have a bigger project now. I want everyone here to work on a large scale mana refinery. Leave the control center to me. But all of you… prioritize output above all else. Efficiency is nice, but if you can squeeze out some more output by sacrificing a bit of efficiency, it’s best to do so.”
“No… it isn’t right to call them refineries.” Chelsea shook her head. “Packaging plant. That’s more like it. A large scale packaging plant for refined mana. The total output should be greater than what our current void generators can produce. The refined mana has to be safely sealed and made ready for transport.”
Nora furrowed her brow. “Where are we going to get that much mana to package without the generators? You’re not just wanting to attach these to the generators we have and hope it helps increase the output, are you?”
“No, by the time this plan is complete, there will no longer be any need for those generators, and we can immediately decommission them.” Chelsea said in a firm tone, further surprising the group. A small smile played on her lips. “Ashley’s team is working on a new feature. Once it’s implemented, we will be able to establish an automated refining process for mana through the Digital Conversion system at no cost.”
That got everyone’s attention, and they immediately knew why Chelsea had said that output was the most important. The actual mana production would be handled by the system itself, so there was no need to worry about anything other than how fast they could move the mana along the assembly line.
“I’ll handle the containers.” Treisha said as she quickly moved to her desk. “We’re going to need enough material to keep up with the demand. Automatic inventory production? No, it costs divine coins to expand an inventory, so that would be less cost-effective. And the old devices borrow void space, so they’re unsafe for this type of storage. Do I have to come up with a new storage spell that can be done entirely through mana?”
“We’ll handle the transport system.” Thea and Nora spoke up in unison, glancing at one another. In order for this operation to be carried out successfully, the refined mana needed to be safely transported from the plant to the recipient. Normal void gates would attract too much interference, and indeed there were even now some void beasts that intercepted packages from the void generators.
“I suppose that leaves me with the main structure.” James said with a small grin. It had been far too long since he was able to tackle a normal project, and he was looking forward to this.
Soon after Irena finished her explanation on the mysteriousness of the Underworld, I found Ashley messaging me, asking for approval for two new systems. One was a crafting plug-in that they had completed, and the other was an admin account for Digital Conversion? According to her brief explanation, those with the account would waive the mana fees of anything that they made.
Naturally, I approved of both of these plans. There was no reason not to, really. However, what I was not expecting was to see the results of my agreement so soon. In total, the acceleration this time lasted for thirty years, and I kept the speed slow enough on my end that we spent roughly a day waiting. That meant that for every minute we spent in the Admin Room, a week passed in the mortal world.
Still, it took nearly an hour before Dana arrived, having reached what she deemed a satisfactory state with the training. Though, really I think she missed Tsubaki and wanted to rush back. Either way, we spent the rest of the day watching movies and playing games with one another.
When the day had passed, and I received a notification that the world had stopped its acceleration, I checked the map once again. Within the void, there were certainly new barriers in place around each world, though I had little means of estimating their strength, aside from the system’s evaluation that it met my criteria.
When I looked at Deckan’s universe, I saw that there was significantly more space travel than before, so it was easy to guess that they had expanded again. It wasn’t until I zoomed in on Ashtanu that I saw the real surprise.
The advertisements of the city had been replaced with magical, holographic displays. Transit gates were established across the city like common bus stops, allowing people to teleport from one to another before walking to their destination. Although electricity had not been entirely replaced by mana, the remaining electrical systems were powered by converting mana into electricity.
Ashley? Don’t tell me that you opened the admin accounts to everyone?
Ashley’s reply was immediate. Of course not. Chelsea helped me complete the code planet-side, and adapted her generator plans for it. The effective price of mana has plummeted in the last decade, so more facilities are incorporating it into their business. There are still regions that don’t get enough mana for advanced operations, but the major planets no longer have that problem.
