Chapter 992: Chapter 615: eting_1 Chapter 992: Chapter 615: eting_1 Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
In the headquarters’ first conference room, Jas Wright, the overall person in charge, was seated in an office with dozens of departnt heads and team leaders.
This was a eting.
Though the value of etings is self-evident, it was the first ti in almost three years of travel that senior managent was gathered in person rather than on the Quantum Network.
Ordinary etings could be resolved online with the support of the internal, no-delay Quantum Network.
Everyone could stay at their posts, achieving both the purpose of the eting and saving ti.
But this eting was of great importance, involving the mission’s primary objective and another reason: the embryos’ biological activity had co to a complete halt.
Put simply, the embryos were dead.
The mission had failed, and everyone had so downti; there wasn’t much that needed to be done in the short term.
The atmosphere in the conference room was incredibly somber at this mont.
No one was willing to be the first to speak up.
Though the reality of failure was staring everyone in the face, people could not help but harbor fantasies: of a miracle occurring, of a problem with the monitoring equipnt, or of inaccurate data leading to an incorrect judgnt.
Many even dread of the embryos suddenly coming back to life.
However, dreams were ultimately just dreams, and this one did not beco reality.
After glancing around the room and noticing that no one was speaking up, Jas Wright couldn’t help but take action.
He gently tapped the tabletop, organized his thoughts, and said in an even tone, “The situation has already occurred, and we must face reality. We have implented all the contingency plans we can think of, but we could not prevent the death of the embryos. Yes, let’s not deceive ourselves any longer – the embryos are indeed dead.”
“Of course, the purpose of this eting is not to hold anyone accountable, nor is it to do a post-mortem. Things haven’t ended yet, and it’s not ti for a summary. Before us, no one had ever participated in a true physical light-speed flight, let alone countless people operating equipnt at near-light-speed for scientific experints. No one knows what will happen next. Miracles may occur, or they may not. Therefore, we must face our current failure and also consider our next steps. Should we stay or go? Who should go? How should they go? Who should stay? These are all questions we need to answer.”
“Originally, this issue didn’t exist because our initial plan only required a few thousand people to remain at the base. However, the situation has changed, and there are now 370,000 people at the base, all of whom are top talents in various fields. The sages are treasures of humanity, and so are these talents. I have a responsibility to the sages and to humanity. We must find a balance between sacrifice and preserving these treasures, and that is the purpose of our eting.”
Jas Wright’s words finally served as a conversation starter.
The Navigation Team Leader in charge of flight control and commander of the eighteen Worm Type 3 spaceships stood up and said, “According to the data provided by the external observation group, the Corpse Planet and the research base have already been physically stretched 763215.77 tis. Therefore, we cannot suddenly activate a complete warp bubble, as the human body would be shattered by the enormous elastic impact, like a broken spring, and be decomposed into basic particles.”
“Our current flight speed is 281,200 kiloters per second, and it will take another month to reach the speed of light. If we gradually activate large warp bubbles according to the Barov Curve and slowly increase the output power to decelerate both the spacecraft and the planet, we have a chance of surviving, but it also ans the end of our mission. Additionally, in three days, when our flight speed reaches 282,300 kiloters per second, the window for planetary deceleration will close. The critical point that the human body can theoretically withstand is decelerating from 282,300 kiloters per second, and that’s the limit.”
After the Flight Commander sat down, the Escape Equipnt Managent Team Leader stood up and continued, “Since the population remaining in the base has increased more than a hundredfold, the original supply of escape pods is insufficient. So, since our departure, the Escape Group has temporarily activated low-power dark energy absorption energy storage, manufacturing small escape pods in an orderly manner with extra energy.”
“Last month, we completed the construction of 3,800 small escape pods for the use of 380,000 people. When we set out, the original escape pods were designed to reach a performance parallel to the advancent, followed by on-track evacuation, then slowly decelerating at speeds above 280,000 kiloters per second. Under these flight conditions, the original theoretical survival rate of the escape pod passengers was about 40%.”
“However, in the past three years, we have received a great deal of support from external research units. Now, we can maintain a theoretical survival rate of around 60% even after our speed exceeds 295,000 kiloters per second. So, there’s still a chance if we want to evacuate.”
After the two finished speaking, all the other team leaders in charge of the core aspects of the revival plan remained silent and did not speak.
They were responsible for reviving the sages, and this goal was now essentially declared a failure. They had exhausted all possible solutions, and new proposals were continually being generated on the other side but were not leading to any results, aning their endeavors were as futile as trying to revive a dead horse.
After another three minutes of silence, the team leader in charge of administrative and logistical managent finally stood up. He rubbed his eyes and said sadly, “Let start by saying sothing that everyone might not like to hear. I think that since the mission has essentially failed, we should allow so people to choose to evacuate in small escape pods. Once we have a hundred volunteers, we’ll send away an escape pod.”
“Our current speed hasn’t yet reached 290,000 kiloters per second, and the survival rate of the escape pods is still very high, over 95%. Therefore, let’s start handing out the right to choose to the other people in the base as soon as possible and make the arrangents. Of course, I personally choose to stay until the end. After all, I signed up for this from the start, and I know many people will also stay until the end. I’ll continue to handle the logistics work for everyone until…”
Jas Wright coughed lightly, interrupting the Administration Team Leader’s words.
Jas Wright shook his head and said, “I disagree with giving the choice. That way, no one will sign up. We should issue an order directly, commanding so people to leave. Regarding who should stay and who should go, I have actually already prepared a list. The initial group of people who had booked to stay at the base totaled 6,320; 5,943 of them still remain, and they will all stay.”
“Additionally, I have selected 18,300 people with the highest skill levels and best physical conditions who could potentially maintain their lives longer under extre conditions. These people are ordered to stay. Regardless of whether they accept it or not, everyone else must leave. This is an order, not up for discussion.”
“Everyone has already made so many efforts and sacrifices. The more than 24,000 of us who will stay behind won’t let down the expectations of those who leave. We will do everything possible to complete what they couldn’t finish.”
“Those who leave are not selfish nor cowardly, and they won’t be ridiculed or blad. These people should live on, whether for themselves or for the Empire.”
Jas Wright brought the eting to a decisive conclusion.
Just before the eting adjourned, Jas Wright specifically instructed the Administration Team Leader, “Include this in your orders. We understand everyone’s sacrifices and dedication. But at this point, the chances of reviving the sages may have been reduced to one in a trillion.”
“We cannot let humanity’s treasures be sacrificed in vain. This is not heroic, honorable, or even shaful. For the longer-term future of our civilization, it may be even more significant for evacuees to live on after a brief retreat than for us to perish. Finally, you must emphasize to everyone that this is an order and must be executed unconditionally.””
Ten minutes later.
Jas Wright’s personal AI assistant said in an electronic voice.
“Director Wright, senior researcher Lila Brown of the Nutrition Group has requested to see you. She’s outside your door.”
Without turning his head, Jas Wright replied, “Don’t see her.”
He knew the reason for Lila’s visit.
Although Lila possessed an impressive academic background, her physical condition didn’t et the requirents, so she wasn’t on the list of people ordered to stay prepared by Jas Wright.
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