Chapter 245 Volume IV - Chapter 90: Malfunctioning Gate
I made my way through the white-colored walls, acting the way a paranoid person would act when trying to appear calm and strong, and made my way through the damaged gate with my 'assistants' in lab coats walking beside me.
I got enough rest. I slept for about three hours in the room I was given, which was quite enough for me. I probably won't even need to sleep again until the operation is over.
"What kind of problems have you encountered so far?"
I asked, putting a hand to my chin as we continued to move forward, which was one of Frederick's habits. One of my 'assistants' answered me.
"The gate draws the mana it needs. Initially, it be functionin' properly, but then it becomes unstable all of a sudden. The amount of mana stays the same, but the intensity spikes for no reason, and then the gate goes outta control."
"Oh..."
This... actually sounds familiar.
"Do you have any idea, professor?"
"Of course, I do. But I can't comment without checking."
"Ah, we've arrived already."
One of the dwarves walking next to me suddenly interjected and I turned in the direction he was looking.
Further down the corridor led to a clearing, a huge space.
I couldn't help but be impressed inwardly.
The place was really big. It fit the theme of the base, so there was nothing special about it, but the gate that grew too big with it was a different story.
The device that made up the gate stood in the center of the huge room. It had the length of an average bus and the size of a three-story apartment building. It could certainly move a whole platoon from one point to another in a very short time. Aside from that, there should normally be an active gate in the middle of the arms opening to both sides, but since the device was closed, there was only a gap there.
It was actually quite similar to the devices in science fiction movies. In fact, it was almost an exact copy. It was technological and nice looking to fit in with this whole base. It was very tempting, at least for me who had only been in this world for half a year.
Of course, it was nowhere near the gates that allowed transportation between countries and continents. They were completely different structures. Those things... they were so marvelous that they didn't seem to belong to this world. Still, that didn't stop this gate from being dangerous now.
After seeing it myself, I was sure why they were so worried.
The destabilization of such a gate would not only prevent reinforcements from coming here, but it could even endanger this whole base. So it was understandable that they were in such a hurry, trying to rush this scientist named Frederick here without even arranging for proper security... I guess.
"Oh, have you cleared the area already?"
The first thing I noticed was that there was nobody in this huge space.
"The gate be dangerous, sir, no one be darin' to get close to it."
"Oh... I see."
I walked toward the gate as if I didn't care about the warning I had just heard.
Frederick may have been a coward, he may have been paranoid, but he didn't back down when he had to do his job. He was a man who did his job well, and even if he didn't look trustworthy from the outside, he was more than capable.
"Are you scared?"
I couldn't help sighing as I approached the device and saw that the two dwarves who were supposed to be my assistants were not moving.
"Suit yourself."
I don't care. In fact... If they're really scared, it's good for me. At least they won't stick their noses into something stupid.
Even though it felt strange to be one of three people in such a huge space, I walked to the bottom of the gate, made my way to the control mechanism and when I reached it, I looked at the screen.
The points where the gate was to be opened were shown on the control panel in front of me. Each point on this screen was a base for the Southern Holar, and this information alone was actually quite important for the North.
I didn't try to memorize the location of each point immediately. I already had plenty of time, it wouldn't be too difficult to do that while trying to 'fix' the gate.
"I need to see what's happening, I'll open the gate quickly and close it if there's a problem."
The dwarves didn't answer, they were still waiting further away. Watching what I was going to do.
I took a deep breath, decided to really ignore them this time, and focused completely on what was in front of me.
I chose one of the locations specifically chosen for testing as a target point, then briefly pressed a few buttons on the screen, confirmed the action, and watched to see what would happen.
The area suddenly went quiet. In the midst of this silence, a slight hum slowly made itself known and began to intensify. First, a small blue dot appeared in the center of the huge gate device. Then this dot began to expand along with the humming it brought with it.
It was an awe-inspiring sight to watch it grow, following the arms on either side of the huge device. The patterns on the slowly forming gate made me feel like I was looking into a blue-colored space. Still, I knew I shouldn't get carried away.
I narrowed my eyes, focusing on what was about to happen.
The gate continued to grow steadily in front of my eyes, as it should. Twenty seconds after I had started the process at the very beginning, which was also half a minute away from completion, suddenly something happened.
The humming sound that I could hear suddenly became thinner and more like a ringing. The growth rate of the gate suddenly multiplied, and the ground seemed to tremble.
I hurried back to the readings on the screen.
Everything was indeed normal. Mana values and many other parameters... everything is as it should be.
Except for one thing, the mana density in the gate.
"Oh..."
I pressed the rectangular red button in the center of the screen.
The ringing sound suddenly faded and disappeared. The uncontrollably growing portal that had begun to form suddenly stopped and began to shrink, as if time was rewinding.
It took twenty seconds for the gate to start destabilizing and five seconds for it to close completely.
"Have ye discovered what happened, sir?"
The dwarves, who had been silent until now, called out in concern, but I didn't turn to them, concentrating on the task in front of me.
"No, I just got an idea."
I can experience something like this at any time, so I can guess what it is, even if I am not an expert on the gates.
Spiritual Ascension... whenever I use it I gain access to the mana pool that Sith originally possessed, an amount so immense that sometimes I feel dizzy, I find myself literally swimming in all that pure and dense mana.
I involuntarily want to use it, I want to pour as much mana as I can into all the wind spells I cast.
It's a similar situation here. The only problem is... I have no idea what exactly is the enormous source of energy that the portal accesses.
Not that I need to.
I ignored the control panel, approached the device itself, moved to the point where the energy flows, where most things are connected, and opened the hatch, which is almost the size of a car, wide open.
Before me was a technological feast. Cables, screens, hundreds of chip-like structures, and jumbled runes that I had no idea what they were for...
"Let's start..."
To sabotage, of course...
*******
I reached for a cable, looked at the dwarven writing on it to see what it was, and saw that it was the cable that powered the rune that stabilized the mana in the gate.
I focused on the penknife-like tool in my hand, imagined its tip changing, and the moment I did, the tip of this nano-tech tool took on a shape that allowed me to cut the cable.
Two hours...
I've been fiddling with things for two hours, changing things, disconnecting cables. I disconnect runes and reconnect them by changing the connection points and moving them around, and then I go to the control panel and do a test.
So, that's what I've been doing for the last two hours.
Of course, what I do is not random. I'm putting into practice everything I've learned in the thirty hours I was given before I came here, and even if it's all basic, at least it keeps me from looking like I'm just randomly going through the motions.
Because every time I take a new test, something that could blow up the base doesn't happen instantly. Rather, it's either the same thing that happened before or something different. That's why nobody dares to disturb me, they don't want to interrupt me when I am 'focused' on my work.
Even the dwarfs who came here to be my assistants left an hour ago. So... I've actually been alone in this huge place for quite a long time.
It's been half an hour since I planted the bombs I was supposed to plant... I was sure I was being watched, so I tried to fit it into my 'work' as much as possible, and I think it worked. Otherwise, they would have suspected me of sabotaging the gate and jumped on me long ago.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead, made sure that the last change I had made would not cause any extreme problems, and nodded, smiling slightly.
I went back to the control panel and started another test.
This time, compared to the previous ones, something very different happened.
Normally the gate would be stable for a period of fifteen to twenty-five seconds and then become unstable.
This time when I reached that time limit... there was no destabilization.
I felt a gravitational pull as if the gate was pulling me like a black hole. It was quite weak, however, it intensified as the portal got closer to opening. Yet there was no instability.
At least until the fortieth second.
When I reached the fortieth second, the usual instability reappeared and I had to end the test with a sigh.
I checked my watch, realized that the time was slowly approaching, and stretched slightly.
"Hey, is anyone there?"
As soon as I said this, the door to the huge room opened and I realized that the time was slowly approaching. I stretched slightly, hiding my smile. Meanwhile, a staff member looked at me with raised eyebrows and a slight smile.
"Do you need somethin', sir?"
"Yes! I've been working for two hours, I've made a lot of progress, and now I'd like to rest for a little while... maybe... have a meal."
The staff member smiled and nodded.
"Please come with me."
I smiled back.
Although the operation was still a few hours away, I had finished most of my own work, so... now I had to find a way to get into that archive room.
As I walked away from the gate, following the dwarf behind him, I was happy to be out of this huge and suffocating space.
This happiness did not last long, though. I frowned with uneasiness as I realized that after moving forward for a certain amount of time, I was not heading to my room, but to a different place.
We turned left down a corridor when we should have turned right.
I became even more confused, and even though I tried not to show it on the outside, I started to worry on the inside.
Where is this person taking me?
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel