Chapter 307: Technological Exchange
On the way to the engine room, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, the Scotsman who was full of pride for his ship, faced the intense interest shown by Ryo, a Magos from another dimension, toward the warp drive that he had devoted his life to. He couldn't help but open up and enthusiastically explain: "The principle of the warp drive, simply put, is not making the ship itself 'move' through space at faster-than-light speeds. That would violate the laws of physics.
"Instead, by creating a localized spacetime curvature bubble, or a 'warp field', the ship is enveloped within it. The ship itself is relatively stationary inside the bubble, but spacetime itself is twisted, compressed, and expanded outside the bubble... We compress the space in front of the ship while expanding the space behind it. Thus, space itself 'pushes' us forward, and the ship itself does not violate the light-speed limit..."
Scott gestured as he spoke, trying to explain this complex concept in a relatively intuitive way, while observing Ryo's reaction.
He saw that the crimson optical lenses were focused intently on him, seemingly recording and analyzing every word. The feeling of being earnestly listened to by a "peer" who clearly possessed profound technology made him feel quite validated.
As the introduction came to a pause, Scott couldn't contain his curiosity and asked the question he had been holding back for a while: "Honestly, Mr. Magos, with your technological level capable of cross-dimensional teleportation, have you... not developed a faster-than-light technology similar to warp drive?"
He found it hard to imagine a civilization capable of crossing the barriers of reality being trapped in the cage of conventional light speed.
Ryo's mechanical head turned slightly, and his synthesized voice rang out steadily, giving an answer that shocked Scott and Saavik, who was listening nearby: "We possess faster-than-light technology, and it is highly efficient. In my world, during the early stages of humanity igniting its journey through the sea of stars, shortly after inventing basic faster-than-light engines, we quickly unlocked a crucial technology called the 'Immaterium Engine'."
He paused slightly, as if retrieving precise data.
"It is a technology that utilizes a special dimensional plane known as the 'Immaterium' for navigation. Thanks to this special subspace, whose physical rules are vastly different from the real universe and which possesses a certain... 'convenient' connectivity with our universe, navigating through the Immaterium can easily achieve speeds unimaginable in the real universe."
Ryo's synthesized voice remained steady, but the subsequent description made Scott's eyes widen: "When navigating through the Immaterium, distance becomes blurred, and the flow of time is not synchronized with reality. A successful jump through the Immaterium, crossing distances of thousands or even tens of thousands of light-years, might only take weeks, months, or years in the real universe. In some extreme cases, due to the bizarre temporal currents within the Immaterium, the time a vessel arrives at its destination might be earlier than the time it departed."
"Time travel?!" Scott exclaimed, his understanding of physics completely subverted.
Even the usually calm Saavik raised her signature eyebrow. Her Vulcan logical mind was spinning wildly, trying to comprehend this possibility that violated the law of causality.
"You could understand it that way, although it is usually an uncontrollable and extremely dangerous byproduct," Ryo confirmed, then revealed the cruel price behind this highly efficient technology: "However, the Immaterium is not a vacuum. It is filled with violent turbulent energy, unpredictable 'storms,' and... some malicious entities that exist based on the emotions and thoughts of sentient beings. Navigating through it is like steering a small boat on a dark, raging sea; one could be torn apart by a storm at any moment, or have their soul devoured by lurking 'demons.' Every jump is a massive gamble."
He concluded, his tone carrying a statement of facts rather than bragging: "Precisely because the Immaterium Engine demonstrated an 'efficiency' in long-distance voyages that conventional faster-than-light engines could not hope to match, coupled with the rapid expansion needs of the human federation at the time, in my world, in-depth research into conventional faster-than-light engines was deemed an unnecessary branch long ago and fundamentally abandoned. We... chose a faster, but also far more dangerous path."
Scott opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.
He was proud of the Enterprise's warp drive, considering it a reliable partner for exploring the galaxy, but he never expected that in another universe, humanity was actually harnessing such terrifying and bizarre power to travel among the stars.
A mix of lingering fear and relief spread in his heart.
Ryo then turned his gaze toward the end of the corridor, where stronger energy fluctuations faintly emanated. His synthesized voice carried unquestionable decisiveness: "Therefore, Mr. Scott, this safe and reliable faster-than-light technological path of yours, based on the physical rules of the real universe, holds immeasurable potential value for me and my world. I am eager to understand it deeply."
Facing Ryo's undisguised urgency and focus, Engineer Montgomery Scott's inner pride in the warp drive and the unique desire to share characteristic of technical personnel completely overpowered his initial caution.
He no longer held anything back and enthusiastically led Ryo's massive mechanical body toward the heart of the Enterprise—the Warp Engine Room.
When the heavy radiation-proof doors slid open, the scene that entered Ryo's optical lenses was starkly different from the Imperial Warp Engine rooms he was familiar with.
The massive warp core device occupied more than half the space. Complex energy conduits coiled and extended like the root system of a giant tree, emitting a steady, low hum.
Streams of blue energy flowed smoothly within transparent containment field channels. The air was filled with the smell of ozone and highly efficient coolants, yet it wasn't unpleasant.
"There she is!" Scott's voice carried an almost fatherly pride as he pointed at the massive core. "The warp reaction core generates massive amounts of energy through the controlled annihilation of matter and antimatter. Look over there, the dilithium crystals are responsible for focusing and regulating the energy flow. They are the key to the entire system..."
Scott began to talk endlessly, explaining everything from the power regulation of the matter/antimatter reaction matrix and the precision control of the plasma injection system to how the warp coils generate and maintain that crucial spacetime curvature bubble.
He mentioned technical terms like Cochranes and warp factors that didn't exist in Ryo's database, and even casually pulled up complex energy flow diagrams and cross-sectional structural schematics on a nearby console.
Ryo stood quietly in the center of the engine room. His crimson optical lenses followed Scott's indications, precisely scanning every component, every conduit, and every control panel.
His massive body remained motionless, but internally, a tsunami of data processing was taking place.
His advanced sensors captured every subtle spectrum of energy radiation, analyzed the atomic composition of the materials, and recorded the physical effects produced when the entire system operated.
More importantly, his memory storage array, directly connected to his logic core, was operating at maximum priority. It categorized and flawlessly recorded every technical term, every principle description, and even the empirical knowledge revealed in the engineer's tone that spilled from Scott's mouth.
These streams of information were like sweet rain pouring into his desert of knowledge regarding faster-than-light technology. He was rapidly constructing a preliminary theoretical model of warp technology and comparing and verifying it against the physical knowledge he already possessed.
(End of Chapter)