Chapter 128: Chapter 128: The Reward That Wasn’t 2
Two to five milligrams.
His current cultivation—just maintaining the partial ring halo around his heart at 15% completion—consud approximately 50 milligrams of exotic energy per day. That was just maintenance. Not growth or progress. Just keeping what he already had stable.
To actually make progress on his cultivation, he’d need grams per day. Eventually tens of grams. As he advanced to higher stages, the requirents would increase exponentially. Tons per day wouldn’t be unusual for high-level cultivation.
He did the math quickly:
For basic daily maintenance: 10-25 square ters of growth area (a small room)
For moderate cultivation progress: 100-250 square ters (a large greenhouse)
For rapid advancent: 1,000-2,000 square ters (multiple industrial greenhouses)
For comrcial production or supplying multiple cultivators: tens of thousands of square ters (multiple football fields)
"Acres," Orion said aloud to the empty conference room. "I’d need acres of glowing algae to cultivate at a reasonable speed. Football fields covered in modified plants. That’s the system’s ’synthesis thod’?"
The disappointnt sat heavy in his chest. He’d worked so hard. Three months of intense focus. Designing revolutionary fusion technology from knowledge that was centuries beyond Earth’s current level. Managing a company. Cultivating his body and mind. Studying constantly. Pushing himself to exhaustion every single day.
All to receive a biological farming thod that produced exotic energy only slightly faster than manually extracting it from Earth’s thin atmospheric concentrations.
It wasn’t useless. He could make it work. But it wasn’t the breakthrough he’d been hoping for. Not the ga-changing reward he’d imagined.
"I worked three months for a farm," Orion muttered, leaning back in the chair. "The system gave
a glorified farm."
He sat there for several minutes. Just processing. Feeling the frustration. Acknowledging the disappointnt.
Then his mind started working differently. Analyzing instead of just reacting.
Okay. This isn’t what I wanted. But what did I actually receive? What can I do with this?
Orion reviewed the synthesis thod again. This ti looking for opportunities. Weaknesses to exploit. Information the system had given him that might be more valuable than the thod itself.
KEY OBSERVATION #1: The system provided complete genetic sequences and modification procedures. But it didn’t explain the fundantal chanism. Those three novel organelles—Alpha, Beta, Gamma—were essentially black boxes. The knowledge showed how to create them. What genes to insert. What proteins they’d produce. But not the actual physics of how they converted energy into exotic energy.
KEY OBSERVATION #2: The "unknown biological chanism" suggested this was beyond Earth’s current scientific understanding. But it was still biology. Biology could be studied. Cells could be dissected. Organelles could be isolated and analyzed. If it worked through biological processes, those processes could be mapped. Understood. Reverse-engineered.
KEY OBSERVATION #3: If a living cell—limited by biological constraints, tabolic inefficiency, cellular maintenance requirents—could convert energy to exotic energy, then the underlying physical principle must exist. And if the principle existed, it could theoretically be replicated artificially. Without biological limitations.
Orion sat up straighter. The frustration was transforming into sothing more productive.
"I don’t need to use plants," he said slowly, thinking it through step by step. "Plants are just the proof of concept. A working demonstration. The system gave
an example of sothing that functions. Now I need to figure out how it functions. Map every tabolic step. Identify the actual chanism happening inside those organelles. Understand the physics. Then engineer artificial systems that replicate the sa effect—but faster, more efficiently, at industrial scale."
The biological thod was slow because biology was inherently slow. Cells divided at biological rates—hours or days. tabolic processes operated at enzy speeds—milliseconds to seconds, but still limited. Growth took ti. Harvest took ti. Everything about biology was constrained by evolution’s tinkering.
But if he could understand the core principle—the actual quantum physics or exotic energy physics that occurred inside those organelles—he could design chanical or electronic systems that weren’t limited by biology.
"This isn’t just a farm," Orion said, his mood shifting from disappointnt to determination. "This is a blueprint. A working model of sothing that shouldn’t be possible. And I have all the tools I need to reverse-engineer it."
He pulled up a ntal checklist, organizing his thoughts:
THE PLAN:
Phase 1: Create the Organism
Follow system thod exactly Produce functional Qi-generating organisms Establish baseline performance data
Phase 2: Study the chanism
Map complete tabolic pathways Isolate and analyze novel organelles Determine energy conversion chanism Docunt every cellular process Identify the fundantal physics involved
Phase 3: Reverse-Engineer
Extract core principles from biological system Determine if chanism can be replicated chanically/electronically Design artificial exotic energy synthesis systems Remove biological limitations
Phase 4: Industrial Scale
Build chanical generators Achieve yields in kilograms per day, not milligrams Supply personal cultivation needs Enable comrcial exotic energy production
It would take ti. Months of research. Possibly longer. The biology alone was incredibly complex. The physics behind exotic energy synthesis was completely unknown to Earth science.
But it was achievable. Difficult, but achievable.
"Alright," Orion said to the empty room. "I can work with this. It’s not what I wanted, but it’s what I have. And it’s better than nothing."
He took a deep breath. Let the frustration go completely. Focused on the path forward.
IMDIATE OBSTACLES - ANALYSIS
Orion thought through what executing this plan would require.
Problem #1: Technology Gap
The genetic engineering required was beyond current Earth capabilities. The system had provided complete genetic sequences for the 47 custom genes. Complete blueprints for the three novel organelles. Detailed modification procedures.
But actually implenting those modifications required unique and advanced equipnt that didn’t exist yet.
Current gene sequencing was accurate to single base pairs, but slow and expensive. Current CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing was effective for simple modifications but had off-target effects—sotis cutting DNA in unintended locations. Current cellular engineering was limited to inserting a few genes at most, not completely redesigning cellular organelles.
None of Earth’s existing technology was sophisticated enough to create organisms based on the system’s specifications.
"I’ll need to design everything myself," Orion realized. "Advanced gene sequencers. Enhanced CRISPR systems with perfect targeting accuracy. Cellular assembly chambers that can build organelles from scratch. tabolic pathway analyzers. Exotic energy detection instrunts that don’t exist yet."
Problem #2: Simulator Limitations
The Starr Simulator—powerful as it was—couldn’t help with completely unknown physics. It could model known chemistry. Simulate known biological processes. Test engineering designs based on established principles.
But the exotic energy synthesis chanism was unknown. The Simulator had no data on how exotic energy actually ford. No equations to model. No physical laws to reference.
He’d need actual experintal results first. Real data from living organisms actually producing exotic energy. Only then could the AI begin to understand and model the process.
"Physical experints first," Orion said. "Can’t skip that step. I need real data before the Simulator becos useful for this."
Problem #3: Equipnt Requirents
Creating organisms with the system’s specifications required specialized equipnt:
Next-generation gene sequencers (atomic-level precision) CRISPR-X enhancent system (zero off-target effects) Cellular assembly chambers (build organelles from components) tabolic pathway mapping systems (real-ti analysis) Exotic energy detection instrunts (asure at cellular level) Specialized growth chambers (precise environntal control) Biosafety level 4 containnt (prevent modified organisms from escaping)
All of it would need to be designed from scratch. Built using the replicators. Tested and calibrated.
"Weeks of preparation," Orion estimated. "Maybe a month before I can even start the actual genetic engineering work."
But he had other rewards to explore first. And those might change things.
Orion pulled up his BCI connection to Rene. "Rene, I need comprehensive research on current genetic engineering capabilities. Best available equipnt worldwide. Most advanced techniques. Everything you can find."
"Searching now," Rene replied instantly. "May I ask what this research is for?"
"New project. Biological engineering. I’ll explain the complete details later. For now, I need to know what technology exists and what I’ll need to design myself."
Data began flowing through the BCI connection. Rene was efficient as always.
Current gene sequencing technology: accurate but slow, expensive, limited throughput.
Current CRISPR systems: effective for simple edits, ~60% accuracy for complex modifications, significant off-target effects.
Current cellular engineering: limited to introducing 3-5 genes maximum, no capability for designing novel organelles.
Current tabolic analysis: requires destroying cells to study them, no real-ti observation possible.
None of it was remotely sufficient for the system’s genetic specifications.
"Complete custom design required," Orion confird. "I’ll need to build everything from the ground up."
"Shall I assist with equipnt designs?" Rene asked.
"Not yet."
"I received a knowledge package from the system—Complete Genetic Engineering Codex. I need to absorb that first. Then we’ll work together on designing the laboratory equipnt."
"Understood. Shall I notify Dr. Okafor that you won’t be attending the celebration dinner?"
Orion had completely forgotten about that. The team would definitely want him there. It was their mont. Their achievent.
But he had so much to process. So much to learn.
"Tell them I have urgent business to handle. Personal research that can’t wait. Send a ssage congratulating everyone on the incredible work. And authorize a bonus—200,000 credits to every team mber who worked directly on the reactor project. They earned it."
"ssage sent. Bonuses processing. Is there anything else you need?"
"Privacy for the next few hours. I’m going ho to study."
"Understood. I’ll handle any urgent matters that arise."
Orion stood up from the conference room chair. Unlocked the door. Checked the ti on his phone.
5:23 PM.
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