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- Underground eXperts United
-
- Presents...
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- [ The BIG System Vol.2 ] [ By The Chief ]
-
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- ____________________________________________________________________
- ____________________________________________________________________
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- -*-*-*- CHAPTERS 11 THROUGH 15 - VOL.2, VERSION 1 - THE REAL VERSION! -*-*-*-
-
- _______________________________________________________________________________
-
- CHAPTERS 11 THROUGH 15
- _______________________________________________________________________________
-
- 11.....Andromeda 22
- 12.....Easy school
- 13.....2 Computers, all in one
- 14.....Beach Party Panic
- 15.....The Meeting
-
- _______________________________________________________________________________
- CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER ELEVEN
- __________________________________ANDROMEDA 22_________________________________
-
-
- Andromeda 22 was seen as a glowing ball of fire after it's sudden
- and unexplainable appearance to the surprise of Earth's astronomers
- and scientists.
-
- You could barely see it as a small red spot with your eyes, but
- through Earth's best observatory on the island of Lunai, not far
- from Hawaii, it could be observed with careful and powerful
- strength.
-
- The Soviet republic and the United States of America had been
- cooperating with space exploration for a long time, to reach
- further together without unnecessary and often dangerous
- competition.
-
- When the space station SATCON 7 was built, the cooperation became
- stronger than before. Seven Americans and nine Soviets now worked
- together on the station, placed near one of Jupiter's many moons,
- IO.
-
- Steve Spingleman was one of the astronomers and scientists who now
- had gathered at the observatory to, if not exchange theories about
- A-22, to start a cooperation to get much closer to it.
-
- China was the nation that had a space station closest to A-22,
- right between the planet and Earth. The station, ZUR, wasn't manned
- but was built to handle a crew of five. The distance was a major
- factor. Journeys from the Earth to the station, whichever it would
- be, would demand large amounts of money in transportation and
- communication. If ZUR was to be used, the costs were cut to half
- comparing to if they were to use SATCON 7, because it was placed on
- the other side of A-22, between A-22 and Jupiter.
-
- Communication was the second most important factor. If you could
- cut the distance in half, you also cut the delay in time in half.
- The delay was a major problem when working with these incredible
- distances. Of course plasma energy was used which almost reached
- lightspeed, but the delay could still be about two hours if they
- used SATCON 7 instead of just one hour or less with ZUR.
-
-
- The third factor was the crew. China had many of Earth's best
- astronomers, but ZUR could only take five persons. SATCON 7 took
- fifteen...
-
- _______________________________________________________________________________
- CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER TWELVE
- __________________________________EASY SCHOOL__________________________________
-
- Fifteen minutes after I had put the phone down the error-test of
- The Metro was complete. Through my home-built error-checking system
- I found a small but not harmless fault. A quick change of the
- vacuum-freezed number generator that handled the identification-
- process with XX EXPRESS modems and everything seemed to work
- all right.
-
- A quick look at the watch told me that I wouldn't be able to try
- The Metro the same day. "School" was about to start and with it an
- essay which I'd forgotten. The subject was "Computer fear in the
- 20th century". Info Addict was bound to have what I was looking for,
- so I called it up and started to go through the massive bank of
- information.
-
- Computer Anarchists, Computers & Cooking, Computer Evacuations, ah,
- Computer Fear! A large file of 150 pages plus thirteen other files
- covering subjects not close, but close enough to Computer fear.
-
- I lazered them over and copied a little bit of each file into one,
- made a few changes and ended up with an 80-page essay in six
- minutes. Sure, it wasn't very honest, but when everything's already
- written, and is accessible, why bother to write it again? You get
- my point? Well, I fed my essay into the school-drome and got the
- result 10 seconds later with an "A". The "School" took about two
- hours, then it was time for dinner and after that, the beach party.
- No, I hadn't forgot about Megan. That was exactly what I was
- thinking about.
-
- _______________________________________________________________________________
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER THIRTEEN
- ___________________________2 COMPUTERS, ALL IN ONE_____________________________
-
- Spingleman's assignment was to build the computer that would handle
- the journey, most of the observations and even be able to handle
- the whole operation itself if it was necessary, but the time-delay
- factor made it almost impossible, but only "almost". The computer
- would need instructions from Earth and quick decisions was crucial,
- the slightest mistake could ruin the operation. Human assistance
- would therefor take care of that problem.
-
- Spingleman could stake all his knowledge on that the computer would
- manage all predictable and unpredictable situations even without
- human help, but everyone didn't share his trust in computers, so
- they decided on human assistance as a "safety net".
-
- When Spingleman had been contacted by the WSA three weeks ago, he
- had been working on the GCEC project, but had to drop that for the
- new computer. Now three weeks later, his standard prototype,
- connected with a couple of XX EXPRESS modems to the telephone net
- back home had been upgraded so it contained both projects. His
- customers were delighted to try out not one, but two new computers
- at the same time, adding their wants and needs to their lists from
- both computers.
-
- Of course, this was only known to himself and his customers,
- because no-one else had access to the prototype, or at least SHOULD
- have access to it.
-
- _______________________________________________________________________________
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN
- _______________________________BEACH PARTY PANIC_______________________________
-
- Dinner was quickly finished and it was time to walk down to the
- beach and the party. It had started about an hour ago, but would
- surely last the whole night so I didn't need to hurry, and.. then
- it was that thing with Megan..
-
- Ten minutes later I was at the beach with a large drink in my hand.
- I noticed my sister and her friends but not Megan. Maybe she'd been
- held-up and couldn't come? Well, I managed to find a couple of my
- friends and sat down to talk a bit. It was Rob (Robert, who shared
- my interest in computers), Patrick, generally called The Professor
- because he could always come up with the most unusual and hard-to-
- get facts just like he had added another 20-Terrabyte HD to his
- brain. Then there was Mimi, whom I had grown up with and her friend
- Marcelline who I didn't know too well.
-
- We sat there and talked about everything. The party, the latest
- rumors, well, whatever came up. After a while we needed some new
- drinks, so we decided to walk around and see what was happening on
- the beach. A couple of bands played and we stayed for a moment to
- listen, and then started to walk towards the big fireplace.
-
- And then, I ran into Megan...
-
- _______________________________________________________________________________
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN
- __________________________________THE MEETING__________________________________
-
- Right after the end of the meeting, the very impatient Dr Spingleman
- was called to the WSA presidential's office. His office, placed at
- the top of the magnificent SPACE COMMISSION building was The largest
- office in the whole building, because it covered the complete top.
-
- The building was described as a 220 meter high black building, made
- of the material found on the Moon a couple of years earlier. The
- material, called 'Lunar' was the latest word in strength and it
- didn't reflect any light. The sunlight that hit the building was
- absorbed and converted into pure energy. The building therefor
- didn't need outside sources to get light, heat, or power for it's
- massive amount of electronics. It was a magnificent sight.
-
- Big black doors (in the 3m class) opened when the guard received the
- word to let Spingleman in. Behind the doors, a man sat with his back
- turned against Spingleman in a big black chair. The man seemed to
- enjoy a good cigar of the latest artificial tobacco-free brands.
-
- When Spingleman got closer he recognized the worried look of his old
- friend, staring out a big black window, and seemed to be far away.
-
- - Frank?, Spingleman said clearing his throat.
-
- - Steve! I'm glad you could make it. Sit down, sit down.
-
- Frank Stechnykov's troubled look vanished, replaced by warmth and
- frankness.
-
- - It must have been..., Stechnykov hesitated, 10 years? Well, time
- really flies!
-
- - No no, Steve said making himself comfortable in a big black chair,
- it'll be 15 years next year, but you're still the same. The only
- change I notice is that round...
-
- - Hahaha, Stechnykov thundered, You know Jeanie's food is unresistable.
- It's really good to see you again Steve, he said and commented
- Spinglemans beard with just as much irony.
-
- After they'd covered what had happened the last 15 years, Stechnykov
- started to come to the reason why Spingleman hadn't been cleared to
- attend the meeting earlier that day.
-
- - China wants to do research by themselves, and have no intentions to
- let us in on it or to cooperate. He puffed a few rings of smoke before
- he continued. The Operation must therefor be run from SATCON 7, as you
- already know, which makes the whole thing much more complicated, plus
- the competition that surely will be dangerous. It isn't just the
- increased distance...
-
- Stechnykov had that worried look again. He raised from his chair and
- pressed a black button on his desk. Spingleman's chair rotated 90
- degrees, facing a big black wall. Stechnykov went up to the wall and
- turned to Spingleman.
-
- - What you're about to see is classified and has top priority in
- top security issues. This is, as you will see, a very delicate
- situation. Everything said in this room from now on must stay here.
-
- Spingleman nodded and Stechnykov pressed another black button. The
- room was now totally black. Big black shutters covered the windows
- and not a shred of light could enter the room. A big CCVS Screen
- (Computer Crystal VideoScreen) lit up with a picture of SATCON 7.
- A voice started to tell the story.
-
- _______________________________________________________________________________
- END OF THE BIG SYSTEM - VOL.2 - VERSION 1
- _______________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- Even more Questions, & more Questions
- -------------------------------------
-
- * What the hell is going on?
-
- * What about that BIG system?
-
- * Why didn't we get some answers about Marielle?
-
- * What happens with Megan?
-
- * Can you eat it?
-
- * Smoke it?
-
- * What is the number to Info Addict?
-
- * Is this going to be another Space story?
-
- * No sign of the missing Engineers?
-
- * Why is Public Enemy simply The Best?
-
- We can answer the last one right now: Because!
-
- Get the next Volume of The BIG System, and you'll will have the answers!
- ONLY from uXu - Underground eXperts United!
-
- _________________________________________________________________________
- _________________________________________________________________________
-