SCMR Chpt 68

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==Chapter 68 - Self Configuring Modular Robot==
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"There's an answer for everything....
...sometimes more than one." Elizabeth Ngo commented.
"Here she goes again with her 'competing theory' idea..." Penny Doons cracked.
"Not this time." Liz said, "More like 'alternative application', which is how we got HPG's." Elizabeth grabbed a marker and went to her whiteboard, while the others sat in a semicircle with dinner.
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"...going to need dedicated hardware at both ends" Terry said, "and some way to deal with the excess particle and infrared output."
"Sinket." Jess commented, "Mayhep en'aways what uses et t'supplement paw'r...gon' need a laht metals base..." Jess stepped up and added notations. "Lahk usin' ahce, y'all."
"Lizzie, Cost estimates?" Arthur Steiner-Davion asked.
Elizabeth had a terminal up and open, "Fifty six billion Kroner estimate as of materials prices last night on the Tharkad exchange, we'll need...Terry, how many hours?"
"Around ninety five thousand hours for each installation, based on bureau of labor stats and assuming we can find enough skilled labor to handle it."
"Okay, I'm going to have to add a slop of twenty percent to your estimates, Liz. Things go wrong." Sierra chirped, "people make mistakes, deliveries end up late..."
From his corner, Zein watched them work once again. Where one of the teens spoke, another finished their sentence. It was like watching an elite Elemental Sibko going through a drill they'd handled a thousand times before.
The difference, was that these younglings were designing something enormous.
"I can cut some of that labor cost out." Elizabeth stated.
"I figured you were already going that way with the low-ball cost estimates." Arthur noted.
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"What will it do when you're done?" Zein hazarded from his guard post.
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"Oh. Well, we set up one in one system, and another in another system, synch them up? and you've broken the Thirty Light Year barrier for jumpspace travel." Elizabeth stated, "Effectively forming a corridor, like a wormhole. The tough part's going to be having enough exotic matter to power it for the initial startup, once that's done..."
"We don't know. It's big science, big guy." Arthur added, "We THINK it'll form a sort of conduit through higher-frequency Hyperspace, like a wormhole, but it could just as easily..."
"...explode beautifully." Penny said, "Especially if the fields go unbalanced."
"Yeah, that."
"What's 'beautifully'?" Zein asked hesitantly.
"Oh, lemme see...carry the ones...um...Supernova might come close to the energy release?" Penny said, "it'll be gorgeous if it goes wrong."
"Let's not make pretty lights int he sky that can scour nearby solar systems, okay?" Arthur snipped.
"Already ahead of you. I like my booms artistic, and contained.", Penny answered
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