Chapter 282 — Second Exchange
The area outside the workshop remained busy for several minutes after the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine disappeared.
Security personnel continued scanning the surroundings.
ONI officers exchanged brief reports.
Several guards remained near the transport vehicle, ensuring that everything had proceeded according to protocol.
But gradually, the activity began to die down.
Their assignment had been straightforward.
Protect the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.
Now the engine no longer sat on the transport platform.
It had vanished into Gaius's Parcel System.
There was little reason to maintain such a large security presence.
One group after another began departing.
Vehicles started moving.
Personnel withdrew from their positions.
Within minutes, only a handful of ONI personnel remained outside the workshop.
The operation was complete.
Inside the workshop, the atmosphere was considerably calmer.
Halsey, Tony, and Gaius returned to the discussion table.
The three took their seats.
Before anything else, Halsey activated her communicator.
The lasgun package Gaius had transferred earlier remained open on her display.
Even from a brief glance, the amount of information was impressive.
Blueprints.
Manufacturing data.
Maintenance procedures.
Variant specifications.
The package was far more comprehensive than she had expected.
Without delay, she forwarded the entire collection directly to ONI research divisions.
The transfer completed a few seconds later.
Now the researchers could begin examining it.
Only after that did she turn her attention back toward the two men sitting across from her.
The first exchange had been completed.
Slipspace technology for lasgun technology.
A valuable trade for both sides.
Now it was Tony's turn.
Tony leaned back slightly in his chair.
"Alright."
He folded his arms.
"My turn."
Halsey gave a small nod.
"Go ahead."
Immediately, a holographic display appeared above the table.
Several rotating technical schematics materialized in the air.
Complex engineering diagrams slowly spun before them.
Halsey remained silent as she studied the information.
The more data she examined, the more interesting it became.
MJOLNIR shields were already remarkably compact by military standards. Compared to the shielding systems used by vehicles and armors, the hardware required for a Spartan's armor was extraordinarily small.
The core components were barely larger than a fist.
For a moment, Halsey found herself checking the schematics again to ensure she had not misread the scale.
She had not.
The difference was significant.
MJOLNIR shields were among the most advanced defensive technologies humanity possessed. They automatically protected the wearer, reacted instantly to both ballistic and plasma weaponry, and formed a complete defensive envelope around the armor.
The problem had never been effectiveness.
The problem was production.
The systems were expensive, complex, and difficult to manufacture.
Tony's design appeared to address all three issues at once.
Only a small number of soldiers could realistically receive them.
Otherwise, every UNSC soldier would already be equipped with shield technology.
Instead, the systems remained limited to Spartans. Even then, only a fraction of them possessed energy shields, and that number had fallen further after the destruction of Reach.
One of the most famous examples was Master Chief.
Tony's approach was different.
Instead of generating a full-body protective envelope, the system focused on creating highly concentrated defensive barriers.
The protected area was smaller.
But the generator itself was dramatically more compact.
And according to the projected performance estimates, the defensive strength was comparable to existing MJOLNIR shielding.
In some situations, it even appeared capable of outperforming it.
That alone was significant.
But surprisingly, that was not what interested Halsey most.
Her attention remained fixed on another section of the schematics.
Manufacturability.
The engineering requirements appeared substantially simpler.
The production chain looked more efficient.
The system could potentially be reproduced far more easily than existing shield platforms.
Even if the UNSC never adopted the technology directly, studying it could still be immensely valuable.
Smaller generators.
More efficient designs.
Improved MJOLNIR systems.
The possibilities were obvious.
Tony noticed her expression.
A slight smile appeared on his face.
"I'll take that look as a good sign."
Halsey nodded.
"It is."
Her eyes never left the schematics.
"This technology has value."
A brief pause followed.
Then she added,
"Considerable value."
Tony's smile widened slightly.
That was more or less the answer he had expected.
Beside them, Gaius remained silent.
The negotiation was between Tony and Halsey.
For now, he simply listened.
After another few moments of examining the data, Halsey looked up.
"Do you have more?"
Tony nodded immediately.
"Next is my Artificial Intelligence knowledge."
That answer instantly drew her attention.
Artificial intelligence was one of humanity's most important technological fields.
Tony continued.
"After I studied yours, its lifespan is quite limited and it has the tendency toward rampancy."
"Mine does not have that issue."
For the first time since the discussion began, Halsey's eyebrows rose slightly.
There was genuine surprise there.
The possibility had never occurred to her.
Rampancy remained one of the greatest limitations of Smart AI technology. It was treated as an unavoidable reality rather than a problem waiting to be solved.
Every Smart AI eventually reached that point.
No matter how advanced.
No matter how carefully designed.
Eventually they became unstable.
It was a problem humanity had never truly solved.
Tony continued before she could interrupt.
"Although I don't know if my AIs are more powerful than yours."
That surprised her.
Tony shrugged.
"After all, the calculations needed for slipspace navigation are already extremely high."
"From what I've seen, humanity here has some very impressive AI systems."
That much he was willing to admit.
Slipspace navigation alone required computational capabilities that even JARVIS currently struggled to match.
Tony was confident in his work.
That did not mean he ignored the strengths of others.
"So I'm not claiming my AIs are necessarily smarter."
"Or more powerful."
"What I'm certain of is that they're more stable."
"And their lifespan is significantly longer."
The workshop became noticeably quieter.
Halsey's full attention was now focused on him.
Tony gestured toward the holographic data.
"My AI architecture doesn't naturally progress toward rampancy."
"It was designed differently."
"And if your people study it, you might find ways to improve your own systems."
For several moments, nobody spoke.
Halsey immediately understood the value.
Even partial compatibility would be useful.
Even small discoveries could be useful.
Preventing rampancy.
Delaying rampancy.
Reducing rampancy.
Any progress in that area would be enormously valuable.
Just like the shield technology, the value wasn't necessarily in replacing existing systems.
The value was in improving them.
Eventually, Halsey nodded.
"This also has considerable value."
Tony smiled slightly.
Again, the reaction matched his expectations.
After a few moments, he leaned back.
"This is what I will currently trade."
The word immediately caught Halsey's attention.
Currently.
Not everything.
Not all of it.
Just what he was willing to place on the table right now.
Which implied something obvious.
Tony almost certainly possessed considerably more technology.
Technology he was not yet offering.
Still, she chose not to pursue the matter.
There would be time for that later.
Instead, she turned toward the other man seated at the table.
"What about you, Gaius?"
Gaius met her gaze.
"What I'm trading now is a material from the Imperium known as Ceramite."
Immediately, another holographic projection appeared above the table.
A dark metallic composite rotated slowly in the air.
Streams of technical information appeared beside it.
Material analyses.
Structural data.
Manufacturing notes.
"It is one of the primary armor materials used throughout the Imperium."
"Its resistance to kinetic impact, thermal stress, and structural damage is considerable."
Halsey's attention sharpened immediately.
Materials science formed the foundation of military technology.
A better weapon was valuable.
A better vehicle was valuable.
But a better material could improve everything.
Armor.
Vehicles.
Starships.
Infrastructure.
Entire industries.
Gaius continued.
"However, Ceramite is not a single material."
The projection shifted.
Multiple examples appeared.
Different compositions.
Different densities.
Different internal structures.
"There are numerous grades."
"Different applications."
"Different manufacturing methods."
Then Gaius briefly looked toward a nearby table.
"The physical samples have already been prepared."
Halsey followed his gaze.
Only now did she properly notice the collection resting nearby.
Several square plates had been arranged neatly in rows.
At first glance they looked similar.
Closer inspection revealed subtle differences.
Different coloration.
Different textures.
Different finishes.
Different densities.
"From low-grade armor applications."
Gaius continued.
"To the variants used in Terminator armor."
That immediately caught her attention.
She looked back toward him.
"You created samples?"
"Yes."
Gaius answered simply.
"I believed physical analysis would be more useful than a theoretical description."
That earned a small nod.
He was absolutely correct.
Researchers could learn more from physical samples than thousands of pages of documentation.
Especially when dealing with entirely unfamiliar materials.
"The complete manufacturing information has also been prepared."
"And unlike the lasgun technology, this material has numerous variants."
"So I included them all."
For several moments Halsey remained silent.
She looked at the samples.
Then the data.
Then the samples again.
A new weapon was valuable.
A new shield system was valuable.
A breakthrough in artificial intelligence was valuable.
But entirely new materials often became the foundation upon which future technologies were built.
Ceramite had tremendous potential.
Eventually she looked toward both men.
"Both of your technologies are valuable."
"Since both of you have spent time studying my world, you may ask for what you want in exchange."
Tony and Gaius both nodded.
Tony spoke first.
"I already know what I want."
Halsey gestured for him to continue.
"Smart AI technology."
The answer did not surprise her.
Tony had clearly done his research.
Over the past several days he had spent considerable time examining publicly available information regarding UNSC artificial intelligence.
He understood the basics.
Smart AIs were created using human neural patterns.
They possessed human-like cognition.
Human-like reasoning.
And immense computational capability.
The problem was that they never stopped growing.
Never stopped learning.
Never stopped processing.
Eventually that growth became instability.
Rampancy.
Tony believed there was value in combining that technology with his own work on JARVIS.
Not merely creating a more intelligent assistant.
But creating an AI capable of independent reasoning and creative problem solving on a level JARVIS had never been designed to achieve.
Halsey nodded.
"That can be arranged."
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"Is that all?"
Tony shook his head.
"And your best shield technology."
A small smile appeared on Halsey's face.
She had expected that answer.
"Then I agree."
She answered almost immediately.
"On behalf of humanity."
"Tomorrow the complete information package will be sent to your contact."
Tony nodded, visibly satisfied.
That was exactly what he had hoped to obtain.
Halsey then shifted her attention toward Gaius.
"What about you?"
Gaius remained silent for several moments.
Carefully considering the question.
Eventually he answered.
"I would like information regarding your highest-grade material technology."
Halsey immediately understood.
"Titanium-A?"
It was the first time Gaius had heard the designation.
Still, he nodded.
"Yes."
Halsey folded her hands together on the table.
"Titanium-A is one of humanity's most advanced material sciences."
"A titanium alloy specifically engineered for military applications."
"It possesses exceptional strength-to-weight characteristics."
"High durability."
"And excellent performance under extreme stress."
She paused briefly.
"It is the material used in Spartan armor MJOLNIR."
That immediately captured Gaius's attention.
The armor used by this world's super soldiers was certainly worth studying.
Halsey continued.
"It is also one of the most closely guarded technologies humanity possesses."
For a moment she looked toward the ceramite samples resting nearby.
Then back toward Gaius.
"However."
"I believe that exchange would be fair."
Gaius gave a single nod.
"Then I accept."
Just like that, the second agreement was reached.
~~~
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