Chapter Text
“Oh my goodness…” Inko whispered in disbelief as she stepped into the luxurious penthouse suite. She may have already seen Izuku’s massive house firsthand, but that was a large family home, not an opulent penthouse.
“Are those… mountains?” Kei asked in confusion, seeing the wrap-around window that gave them a view of I-Island’s internal lake and beyond.
“It’s a projection from the walls,” Melissa explained. “Studies showed that people become more anxious living behind walls. So we added a display to them that would mimic mountains, which have been shown to reduce anxiety, as they provide a natural feeling of safety as opposed to the artificial feeling of safety from the walls. It does get less convincing the closer you are to the walls, but it serves its purpose. Even with people knowing it’s fake, we’ve had a 47 percent drop in reports of anxiety since installing it.”
“Well it certainly looks pretty,” Inko remarked, amazed by how the suite seemed to go on and on and on. It was big enough for everyone in their family. And Izuku even got another one for the Todorokis.
Esil wasn’t with them for the trip. She was taking some extra classes and I-Island wasn’t very fond of inviting a “Villain” inside their walls, not even for a National-Rank like Izuku.
“I’ll be just across the hall for the duration of your stay,” Melissa said. “You can press a button on one of the displays throughout the penthouse to call me if you need me. The Axa Conference will begin in the morning two days from now, and the Inter-National Summit will take place two days after that. The duration of the Summit can vary, so we’re planning the Olympus Celebration loosely.” She pulled a number of silver rings from her pocket. “These will grant you and your guests free and unlimited access to almost anything on I-Island, such as our theme park,” She looked directly at Kei when saying that, “As well as our hot springs, restaurants, medical facilities, massage therapists, and much more. Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, your rings also give you access to many of our laboratories, which are yours to use for your own research.”
Everyone gratefully took the rings, either putting them on their fingers or waiting for Momo to make them chains so they could wear the ring around their neck.
“If either of you need advice, I have presented 3 papers at past Axa Conferences and I’d be happy to help.”
“I appreciate that, but I think I’ll be fine,” Momo said with a slight bow of her head.
Izuku, on the other hand, responded with, “I’d like that quite a bit. I’m… really nervous about this… I’ve presented school projects and even those made me jittery. This won’t be any easier. But, before we do anything else, I’d like to get everyone settled. Then we can go see your father and other patients with the cure.”
Melissa nodded. “Of course. I’ll let you all get squared away.” She made her departure, closing the door behind her.
Inko went to wander, occasionally shouting something like, “They have an indoor pool here too?!”
At the same time, Izuku took a small chain from Momo to put the ring on. He preferred to keep it more accessible, rather than having to pull it from his finger if needed. He wasn’t sure how they worked after all.
When he went to put the necklace on, he briefly brushed aside his collar, revealing another necklace. Getting them tangled, he had to adjust both, which meant that Kei saw the keys at the end of the necklace that was already there.
“What’re those for?” She asked.
“Oh… ya know just extra keys to the house.”
Kei squinted in disbelief. “Those are each differently stylized keys, and their teeth are different.” Izuku glanced over at the girls, who were either smiling, or blushing.
“We’ll tell you when you’re older, kid,” Rumi teasingly answered, patting Kei on the head.
“People only say that about things regarding money, health, or sex. I’ve seen our financial statements, money’s not the issue. You all seem healthy, and I doubt you’d hide that. Judging by the awkwardness, it’s something related to sex.”
“Maybe you’re right, but usually siblings don’t talk about that stuff,” Izuku responded, trying to play-off the tension.
Kei rolled her eyes and was about to say something else, but thankfully for Izuku, her phone began to ring. She pulled it out and sighed. “Finally, I've been waiting for the British Secretary of State for Health to call me. You guys go on ahead with whatever, this call could take a minute.” She answered. “Kei Midoriya, Elysium Corporation.”
As the person on the other end of the line spoke, Izuku and the girls tried hard not to grin stupidly at each other for almost getting caught.
“It’s nice to meet you, Brian. See I was calling because our company is in charge of the logistics of the Eternal Slumber cure, as well as knowledge of it. Now, we’ve freely handed out that information, and provided whatever other countries needed, but some of you aren’t handling your end of the bargain. America, Russia, Japan, Germany, and more have all committed to not monetizing the cure, yet I’ve heard rumblings that your pharmaceuticals have committed to the exact opposite.” Kei smirked as the man stuttered, in pure disbelief as to how she knew that. After all, he’d never be able to see Phantom.
The Shadow that Izuku had taken from America’s arsenal of corpses had been instrumental in setting up their own company to manage and patent their many inventions. His stealth capabilities almost surpassed Izuku’s, and he could use that to slip Shadows into anyone else’s shadow.
With Kei handling the business, they had been making real progress in distributing the cure. Some governments, like America and Russia, had instantly accepted Izuku’s conditions, but other countries needed convincing.
“I understand that you’re concerned about the readiness of the drug, but our calculations indicate you have more than enough production to spare. Your contributions to less developed countries and non-monetization, in tandem with the rest of the contributing countries would be able to completely eradicate the disease from most of the world. And let’s be real for a minute here, do you really want to be the country that got morally upstaged by Russia? ”
Izuku smiled with pride as she expertly manipulated the man. He could’ve chosen anyone else with more experience, more merits. But he trusted his sister to get the job done. When it came to business, she was probably the smartest person he knew. To top it all off, he could trust her. She’d experienced the same pain as him, of not having the money or resources to take care of their mother. She was going to make sure that no one else in the world felt like that.
She had access to the billions of dollars America gave them, and she used it efficiently to acquire whatever and convince whoever she needed. Canada had almost backed out of the agreement, as they wouldn’t profit, until Kei threatened to just buy their entire particle physics department out. She’d rob them, quite cheaply, of all the experienced men and women they had unless they contributed freely to the effort.
Was it extortion? There was room for debate. She was threatening them in a way, but it was also just her offering the underpaid staff more money at a different position. She wasn’t threatening the staff to move jobs, just warning the country that she would try to win them over if certain concessions weren’t made.
Izuku would’ve liked to do all of it without any questionable methods, but in this instance, he made an exception. Natsuo had told him to be careful with how he used his National-Rank immunity and after talking it over with his family, they agreed that this was an acceptable situation to toe the line on. If they didn’t, they’d essentially be killing anyone who couldn’t get access to the medication.
It had all been a bit of a gamble, but Kei pulled it off, and Canada also contributed a small amount to the worldwide problem of the Eternal Slumber. She was young, but she knew what she was doing.
*******
After everyone had unpacked, Izuku and Momo left the penthouse with Melissa and two backpacks full of medication.
Despite many countries committing to the production of the cure, there still wasn’t enough to go around. Depending on the rate of Mana accumulation in the liver, which could vary based on the patient, an Eternal Slumber sufferer needed to take a pill between once every 2 days, and once per week.
For example, Inko was a once per week sort of patient, whereas Miss Yaijrobe, the wife of that fighter pilot they first tested the cure on, needed one every three days.
Because the medicine wasn’t a permanent cure, the amount of medication required worldwide was quite large. It meant that they hadn’t been able to reach some parts of the world yet, and some countries were still working to cure their own population first.
At the very least, with knowledge that the disease was treatable, it was unlikely anyone would be taken off life-support. With their company also providing extra funding to any families struggling with payments, it was even less likely.
They were losing a lot of cash to make it all possible, and their company was wildly in the red looking at the books alone and ignoring the vast wealth they had access to from America. But soon enough, they would be able to make an insane profit margin, without compromising anyone’s health or safety, and it would be completely legal.
As soon as they left the hotel, they were swarmed by people. Reporters, average citizens, and some more rabid fans.
Izuku once more had to use his Gravity Magic to keep them back as they made their way towards the black SUV waiting for them. Of course, on such a technologically advanced island, it wasn’t your standard SUV.
Every last road within I-Island was designed with specialized tracks in mind, almost like a railway. But instead of typical propulsion, they all used Maglev technology and clean energy to make their way to anywhere in the city. From an infrastructure perspective, it was way more complicated, with dozens of safety measures and special programming to ensure a smooth and individualized transportation network.
There was some controversy surrounding the Maglev system. Many wondered why public transit hadn’t been put in place instead, but the project had been funded by American corporations, amongst others. They wanted private transport and it had been enforced by government officials, so there it was.
Even understanding the point of naysayers, being from Japan where trains were ubiquitous, Izuku couldn’t help but be impressed by how smooth the car ride was and how quickly they reached their destination. The Maglev guide rails could actually manage traffic with advanced artificial intelligence, ensuring that cars almost never stopped moving.
The David Shield Memorial Hospital was one of four hospitals on the island. In addition to handling normal patients, they were responsible for handling all Eternal Slumber cases on the island, and were dedicated to studying and finding a cure. They got beaten to the punch, but after spending years watching family members mourn, they were just happy the cure existed. There were definitely a few, more arrogant doctors, who were outspoken about the “handout.” Unfortunately for them, people would rather humble themselves and save lives than obsess over who got credit.
The name of the hospital was now a little strange considering that they could cure the Eternal Slumber. But the hospital had been named that way because, at the time, David Shield might as well have been dead. Now, it was a different story.
Most of the doctors and nurses were too busy to ask for autographs or selfies, but some did, alongside their conscious patients. Izuku may have avoided the earlier crowd, but these people were either suffering, or working hard for the sake of others. He couldn’t help but stop for anyone who asked.
After a while, he noticed Melissa getting antsy. “Sorry, this is cruel,” He took off his backpack and handed it to her. Momo would hold onto the other one for now. “Go wake your father. We’ll be there to meet you soon.” Relieved, she took the pack and sprinted off to the elevator.
Her father had fallen into the Eternal Slumber just a year after Izuku’s mother did. There would no doubt be a tearful reunion between the two, and Izuku figured she would want some privacy for that.
After an hour-and-a-half Izuku and Momo were no longer being crowded by people, finally freeing them up to head to the floor Melissa was on.
Izuku gently knocked on the room’s door and a faint, “come in,” echoed from inside.
It was a familiar sight. A tired, emaciated, and disheveled man staring up at his daughter in shock, her eyes puffy from crying.
“Would you like us to come back later?” Momo asked softly.
“No no, I’d like you to meet him!” She said, grinning from ear-to-ear.
It made Izuku think about how they’d approached her. They treated the occasion as something heavy and sensitive, but he’d completely forgotten the reality. This would be the most joyous moment in some people’s memory.
Granted, that wasn’t an excuse to just barge into the room, but Izuku realized he didn’t have to be so nervous about it. Sure, they’d bawl like a baby for a while, but as soon as that wore off, the euphoria would come rushing in.
“Dad, these are the National-Ranks I was talking about. The ones that cured you.”
“Actually, only she cured you,” Izuku amended, pointing to Momo. “I’m just moral support.”
“And yet Melissa tells me you’re so much more.” David almost completely ignored Momo. “Research into the Soul? You’ve mapped it?”
“I’m capable of mapping a Soul, yes, but so far it seems impossible to make a full artificial Soul.”
“Fascinating, I wonder-”
“Dad,” Melissa interrupted. “Could you please thank Miss Yaoyorozu first?”
“Huh?” He seemed to notice Momo only then. “Oh! I’m so sorry! Your research is just as fascinating to hear about, and I obviously owe you a great debt!”
“Sorry… he gets hyper focused very easily,” Melissa apologized.
“That’s alright.”
Izuku’s first thought about the man was that he was some fanatic obsessed with copying the Soul, maybe preserving his own life. Now, it seemed more like he had ADHD, or was neurodivergent, rather than anything unnerving.
“I’m really looking forward to your full presentations tomorrow!”
“Dad, you just woke up from a coma, you can’t just leave the hospital!”
“Nonsense! Just get me a wheelchair and an IV I can take with me! We’re still rich, right? I can always hire a nurse.”
“...Yes, we’re still rich, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to discharge you from the hospital so soon.”
“Just a day pass! I’ll be fine!”
Izuku and Momo smiled at each other as the two argued back and forth. Eventually, David won out, and Melissa relented. Izuku also put a Shadow on him just in case, that way he could intervene if something went wrong.
“So, Melissa said you had something in mind for me?” David looked up expectantly at the two.
*******
The low din of the crowd could be heard from backstage. It made Izuku want to run away screaming. This would be his longest public speaking engagement, and the biggest crowd. Usually, there were a dozen or so reporters and fans, not hundreds of intelligent men and women judging his presentation.
“You’ll be fine. Together with Momo, we’ve gone over everything,” Melissa said to him before she took her own seat in the auditorium. “Just stick to your script, speak slowly, and allow your gaze to wander throughout the room.” Someone yelled that they were about to enter the stage. “Good luck to you two!”
“I’m gonna throw up…” Izuku was certain he was as pale as a ghost.
Momo took his hand in hers. “Come on. This will change the world. The entire future. Even if we mess up a little bit, we’re still gonna be pioneers. Don’t panic. Just imagine that you’re about to enter a Gate. It’s a lot of emotion, but you can handle it.”
“Right…” Izuku responded with little confidence. There was something about presenting an official scientific paper that made things much worse.
A man near the door held his hand up to an earpiece. “Okay, you guys are up in 3… 2… 1… go,” He smoothly opened the door and the two walked out onto the stage.
Izuku was shocked by how silent it was once the light applause winded down. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the blood flowing through individual veins. Thankfully, this raw fear manifested as apathy, giving him a somewhat-professional air of confidence. Of course, no one in the audience knew that Izuku was screaming bloody murder inside his head, trying to stay calm.
As they reached the center of the stage, they spoke into the microphones fixed invisibly to their clothing.
“I’m Momo Yaoyorozu.”
“I’m Izuku Midoriya.”
“We’re honored to be standing on this stage, and we’re grateful to share our research on such a wide-reaching platform.” In many ways, the Axa Conference was like the United Nations of science. Scientific representatives from all over the world attended. Even a North Korean was allowed in.
“Today, we’d like to present our joint Hero Thesis, or at least, what we have so far,” Izuku feigned disbelief. “I’m honestly shocked you guys let us up here with just a theory!” The awkward joke didn’t earn a loud laugh, but Izuku saw the corners of the mouth lift on many faces.
“We’ve sought to answer some of the biggest questions related to Magic. This is our presentation, The Physics of Magic, and its Vessel, The Soul. ”
The auditorium, specially configured for each presentation, went dark, aside from two spotlights on Izuku and Momo. This was all according to plan, as several devices began projecting from around the room. In the darkness, it created a brand new landscape, a 3-D representation of whatever the presenters wanted to show.
The first thing they decided to show were atoms, made up of incredibly chaotic clusters of protons and neutrons.
“During the Russian-Japanese war, we were made aware of Magic’s elemental structure. Or rather, we discovered a part of it. With the propagation of the Eternal Slumber cure, it’s become well known that Magical elements exist out on an interconnected series of ‘Islands of Stability.’ Fittingly, these elements have ‘magical’ numbers of protons and neutrons, making them remarkably stable. This makes them comparable in some ways to lead, which has double magic numbers and is the element which most heavy elements decay into due to nuclear forces.”
“The initial theory of the Island of Stability was much more tame than what we discovered. The theory proposed that there was maybe just a single elements with magic numbers at certain points, such as Element 120 and Element 126. And these elements would still only exist for a couple of seconds at most before decaying.” This was all relatively well-known to the field of physics, but not everyone in the room was a physicist. The topics Izuku and Momo were covering overlapped in many areas, so they had to be thorough.
“Discovering the elemental construction of Magical Elements changed everything.” The one atom became 21 different atoms. “So far, we have documented the atomic structure of 21 new elements. 19 of which have a half-life in the billions of years, and the other 2 are so stable they’re practically immortal, like lead.”
Those in the room who understood what that meant were beyond shocked. The discovery of a single element was a hotly contested competition between global powers. And finding a new stable element was akin to discovering the philosopher’s stone and turning base elements into gold. Izuku and Momo had completely shattered the limited expectations of the scientific world.
Behind the atoms, waves of scientific data collected, displaying the exact numbers on dozens of graphs. There was so much of it that it would take weeks to comb through everything. It made it seem so unbelievable as to be a fraud.
Thankfully, an independent coalition of experts in multiple fields verified findings before anyone could even be let into the Axa Conference. They were the sort that looked for fraud and they were very good at finding it. If someone spoke on stage, they were legit. Even then, it was hard to believe.
“These all exist around the 200s in terms of elemental numbers. And their increasingly chaotic and jumbled protons and neutrons, as predicted, cause the basic chemistry that we all understand, to break down. This is almost an entirely new field of science, which explains why these elements lead to such fantastical phenomena that don’t necessarily fit into the standard model.”
“However,” Momo waved her hands and they zoomed into one of the atoms, “They do have certain properties similar to more standard elements that can explain what we call Magic. When these elements decay, in addition to firing off protons, neutrons, and anything else we know of, they fire off a new particle. What we’ve come to call a Null Particle, or NPs.”
This time, the crowd had started murmuring amongst themselves.
“I understand we’re somewhat glossing over these major discoveries, but we have a lot of ground to cover. I assure you, the full paper will go much deeper into the numbers and the intricacies of this newfound knowledge.” Izuku attempted to assuage the crowd once more. “Trust me, we’ve been working at the numbers fervently. For now, please allow us to be a bit selfish and present the basic concepts that we have found.” He was definitely overcompensating, worried about screwing up, but it did make sense.
When someone first discovered something, you had to get the basics down. Often explaining something, as simply, was the best way to get people thinking about it in a complex manner. And once you got to that stage, the numbers and more boring details became crucial to study.
The study of “Magical Physics,” as Izuku and Momo had roughly named it, was still in its infancy.
That’s when it clicked for the audience. They had expected some very basic research from these two young adults. Maybe a Magical Element. But with that sentence from Izuku, they realized that their expectations had been wildly miscalculated. Him saying that meant that this was barely the beginning.
This wasn’t just research, it was a spectacle. It was evolution. This was a modern-day, Magical Industrial Revolution.
Everyone went limp in their chairs, eyes fixed in rapture as they awaited the rest of the revelations.
“After further examination of the NP, it became clear that we had already seen it before.” The hologram displayed two charts. “These are the readings from the NP, and these are the basic readings humanity has so far been able to gather from Mana.” The charts overlapped, their data almost perfectly matching up. “This seems to confirm the Magical Radioactivity hypothesis posited by David Shield over 10 years ago.”
“I knew it!” The man called out from within the crowd, scaring his nurse with the outburst.
Izuku couldn’t hide his smile. “This begs several questions. The most pressing seems to be the question of why we’ve never encountered it before? In fact, that was one of the main arguments against David Shield’s hypothesis. Your first thought might be that ‘these are particles from manufactured elements.’ But you’ll remember we mentioned two new very stable elements. Ones that have existed ever since heavier elements began to form inside stars. By using radiometric dating methods, we confirmed that these elements came to be only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang happened.”
“It’s clearly possible to manufacture these elements, like with all elements, but they’re not new to our universe. We should have seen them long before we uncovered that palace in Antarctica.”
“Even then!” Someone piped up from the crowd. It seemed that not everyone was convinced. “Radiation doesn’t explain how humans can use Magic!”
“That was our exact thought process as well,” Momo responded. “That is where Midoriya’s research on the Soul comes into play.”
“Initially, our research had nothing to do with each other. I began looking into the Soul after Jeju Island, where I was made fully aware of its ‘shape’ or ‘structure.’ I believed that by accessing the Soul, I could improve the Rankings of humans, strengthening us on a global scale. So the first thing I did was replicate a Soul based on a real human model.” The hologram displayed the spherical device Izuku built with Hatsume, who had been credited in the paper and the displays on-stage. “By using a variant of Dark Magic, Soul Magic, I was able to determine the structure. It works similar to a brain or computer. Essentially, energy impulses along certain paths trigger reactions.” The Soul was a chaotic mess of thin white wires.
“Hold on, you replicated a Soul?!” The question came as the realization caught up with everyone. While everyone in the room was a scientist, plenty were religious, and making a copy of a Soul was a big no-no. Even non-religious scientists were a little vexed by it.
“Yes and no,” Izuku answered. “I made a replica of a Soul, but it failed to work at all. Currently, there’s no explanation for this, but creating a full artificial Soul seems to be impossible. So instead we mapped the Soul and singled out specific regions, similar to mapping a brain. We then ended up with a small bundle of wires which controlled Magic. We also made a model that controlled Skills. At first, they yielded no results outside of minor explosions. We attempted to control it with regular electricity, as well as Mana. Both experiments were a failure, which made no sense. NULL Particles, or Mana, should’ve worked, so we had to slightly revise our theory of Magic.”
The hologram zoomed in on the wires, shrinking so far down that they became hollow tubes. These tubes were made with their own particles.
“We failed to get the Magic and Skills working, not because of the energy we used to trigger it, but because we were using the wrong materials to construct Souls in the first place. That was what led us to the discovery of ABSOLUTE Particles, or APs. The fabric of the Soul.”
“They stand in opposition to NPs,” Momo added. “Structured, organized, and rigid. The tubing of the Soul takes in energy, whether it be NPs or electricity, and triggers a physical response. Think about how an electron flowing through a computer chip causes your screen to display something different. It’s just that, in this case, it’s a real world effect.
“Souls are made up of many different parts, some of which we still don’t understand,” Izuku pointed to many spots on the hologram. “This appears to be where a majority of an entity's Mana or NPs are stored. The APs, when given the correct signals, access this storage and the surrounding radiation of the NPs, to manipulate physics.”
“These particles exist just below the scale of Quantum Particles and together, they create what we perceive as Magic by altering the very nature of matter and energy which Quantum Particles control. This is how ‘Magic’ defies standard physics.”
“It appears that living beings are far more than flesh and blood and chemicals. There is a final metaphysical aspect to it. But it does operate by rules.” Izuku focused in on the Soul they had replicated, but also added a second Soul to the mix. “This Soul was based on a Fire Mage. And this Soul was based on a Water Mage. The patterns are very faint, but they are there. By focusing on these parts of the Soul, we were able to create a functional version, what we called a Mechanical Soul that could use Magic independently via electrical or NP inputs. The only downside is that, so far, APs are impossible to create and structure scientifically. Soul Magic is required to shape the APs into a functional Soul. But this is not a completed Soul. Even using Soul Magic, creating new complete Souls is impossible. We’re not creating true sentience here, just some functionality. Ones and zeroes that give us basic intelligence.”
“You mean… you’ve discovered a way to channel Magic without the need for an Awakened human?” If the crowd was enthralled before, they were practically hypnotized now. Discovering the mechanisms of Magic was important, but putting it to use in a functional way was quite literally the most important invention of their time, possibly in the history of humanity. Because this meant it was no longer about mere Awakened Humans versus Villains, but humanity as a whole versus Villains. It was more important than any Ark.
“No,” Izuku responded. “We’ve gone one step further than that. We’ve made viable prototypes using the newfound information.”
One last time, the hologram switched, displaying a small spider-like contraption. Except, instead of just eight legs, it had over two dozen limbs pointing out in every direction. Spreading his hands apart, Izuku caused the hologram to split apart, revealing the inner workings of the machine.
“This is a Particle Weaver, based on the prototype, manually controlled, Weavers that rebuilt Jeju Island. It has three major components.” He pointed to the simplest first. “A computer chip made of Magical Materials, insulated from the harmful effects NPs have on technology. This controls the Weaver. It’s nothing special really.”
“Then we have a Mechanical Soul with a few different Magics. Because we’re still researching the shape and formatting of Skills and Magics, we had to use existing Souls as a template. This meant studying the Souls of people who had the abilities we were looking for. A list of the Souls studied and their 3D representation has been included in the paper.” Momo split the Mechanical Soul into three parts. “Spatial Magic, Metal Magic, Soul Magic, and Lightning/Electric Magic.”
“Finally, there is the photovoltaic receiver, which powers the entire device, about an inch in diameter.”
“All of this, working in tandem, creates a self-replicating machine that can build whatever we tell it to.”
“By taking in electricity from the photovoltaic, we can turn those electrons back into NPs by reversing the process inside a Mechanical Soul with Electric Magic. This means that each device will have its own storage of NPs to use. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a way for humans to use this technique, so we’re still limited on the Mana we can use.”
“With energy, the Weaver is capable of using Metal and Spatial Magic in tandem. It can mine out surfaces or underground deposits of materials and store them in a single pocket dimension shared by the Weavers. It can also withdraw materials from this pocket to build something. Metal Magic takes care of most of the mechanical engineering required.”
“It can then construct a duplicate of itself and use Soul Magic to make its own Mechanical Soul, repeating the process again and again.” Izuku pointed out a few other components. “Some basic propulsion for operating in low-gravity or zero-gravity, and-”
“I’m sorry, you said this is viable already?”
“Well it’s not on a nano scale yet, so we can’t use it for some things, but, as of two hours ago, well…” Izuku smiled and stepped back from the spotlight with Momo. Behind them, the normal LED display flashed to life.
“Artemis Base, this is Houston, how’re we looking for the first test?” The voice crackled every so slightly over the radio as it traveled to the moon. The craggy surface was desolate, apart from a single HAB inhabited by NASA’s astronauts.
“We’re as ready as we can be,” A voice replied, belonging to one of the astronauts hopping along. “Just say the word.”
“Artemis Base, this is Houston, test is go.”
For a while, nothing happened. Or at least, nothing visible to the human eye was happening. But after speeding up the footage, there was a small silver lump on the surface of the moon, slowly spreading outwards.
As it began to bulge further, some of the Weavers broke off from replication and began to build. What was one habitat became two interconnected ones. Then three, then four, and finally, it reached critical mass.
Humanity’s first humble moon base exploded into a web of tunnels, structures, and machinery.
“We’re just getting started,” Momo proudly announced. “So, are there any questions?”
Just about every hand in the room shot into the air.