The Cost of Progress

The 12th of Shanthin, in the year 733 after the Coming of Estarra, was a chill autumn morning, though one could not quite tell such things in the City of Hallifax. With its position high in the skies and full weather control, it was a day like any other for Senior Researcher Inix Aalin. The Amethyst Research Lab was abuzz with activity, but none of it interested the Senior Researcher for he was possessed by a singular idea.

Long had he striven to catalogue all the works stored upon the shelves of the Library of Universal Knowledge so that he may reference them in his reports with ease, only for his systems to fail time and again. They were too complex, too unwieldy, and most importantly, creating them was taking too much of his time already and he had little to show for it. But that fateful morning, as he was walking with purpose towards the laboratory, he chanced upon Skyborne Parvenu Zweeloh assisting in the repairs of the city’s hologram plinths. Their exchange was brief but it occurred to Inix that as the holograms store data pertaining to historical figures, they could perchance just as well store other data.

So intrigued he was by the idea that he abandoned his duties mid-shift and went straight to procure the necessary materials to put his plan into action. At the Proprietary Supplies and Sundries, he chanced upon Intern Hinic of the Skylark Consortium who not only sourced the crystals, conduits, and wires, but also the services of a handful of servants skilled in plinth repairs. Together they set up in the Library of Universal Knowledge where they were quickly found out by none other than Lord Librarian Ayisdra Ysav’rai, whose attention was ever upon his domain. Seeing no reason to object, and even lending a hand, Ayisdra helped Hinic and Inix set up the plinth, sort the wiring, and procure the necessary power for the endeavour. By the time they began transferring the books into the plinth, Skyborne Parvenu Surea arrived to assist in the arduous work, lessening its tedium.

It was not until the 20th of Shanthin that all the books were transferred into the plinth and by that time it has grown in size so much, in order to contain all the data, that they were barely keeping up with its power needs. Without Aramel Shevat, the whole project may well have failed right there, but she arrived just in time to lend her gemcutting expertise and supplied the plinths with powerstones aplenty. Between her supplies and Ayisdra’s harvesting of Continuum for suitable gemstones, the project was complete.

When they queried the plinth, it found the desired quotation effortlessly among the library’s books, providing references, uses, and even explaining its meaning. This was beyond anything they expected as not even in Inix’s wildest project outlines has he ever drafted a system this robust. They had to keep going, the group agreed, but for that they would need power beyond even what Aramel could provide.

The Board of Directors convened on the 22nd of Shanthin, presided by Chair Tikki and with Board Members Xanthia, Ayisdra, and Ashira in attendance. Ayisdra, well acquainted with the project, brought the case forth and received authorisation to proceed – power could be diverted from the Amethyst Generator towards the project and the plinth was moved, not without effort, to the Amethyst Research Lab. There, the Research Team was augmented by Legac, Hinic, and Melrose who kept feeding every paper they could find into the plinth, querying it, and improving its output. Before long, the plinth was solving advanced problems and even helped rewrite joule protocols for the Transphenortex Grid. “This will be our generation’s Project Cosmic Hope,” Efarihm Ysav’rai was quoted as saying, an inspirational quote soon broadcast by the Crystal Resonance Tower day and night across Hallifax.

But as the project expanded, so did its power needs. Every lab began funneling power from the Generators towards the plinth, a decision made with unanimous support of the Board of Directors. The Plane of Continuum was being harvested by Ayisdra to the brink of its capacity and Chair Tikki had to covertly negotiate with Talthos to procure additional gemstones as the city’s own reserves dwindled. The Matrix itself was tapped after the Minister of Power, Luce Shevat, announced the city would power the project at the expense of other research, guards, and even guild resources.

This did not concern the Consortium whose Overseer, Ayisdra, was already busy filing intellectual property claims, nor the Adherents whose Emissary, Ashira, sought the wisdom of Cririk Adom within the plinth. Quintessence Xanthia, leader of the Aerie, was not without reservations at first, but the High Supreme Justices ruled in favour of leveraging the plinth for artistic endeavours on the 29th of Shanthin. Such was the cost of progress, and even though the Master Artists organised a protest outside the Spire of the Lawgivers, the project continued to move forward.

With the Consortium, Aerie, and Adherents now with full access to the project, time will tell what will become of the Lucidian Language Model.