Chapter 111: The Electromagnetic Railgun

“Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard the Starship Ferry.”

“This voyage travels from geosynchronous orbit around Earth to the Lunar Orbit. The entire journey takes approximately four hours…”

“The ship is currently accelerating away from the port. Please remain seated and do not leave your seats until the announcement signals the start of constant-speed cruising.”

“When moving about the cabin, please stay within the passenger areas. Do not attempt to enter the cargo zones…”

Aboard the accelerating Ferry Spaceship sat a group of middle schoolers, led by several AI Teaching Robots, on an educational trip to the Lunar Surface.

For these kids, not yet fully grown, it was undoubtedly an exciting new experience— their first real journey to an extra-terrestrial city of Human Civilization.

Many children eagerly looked around the interior of the Ferry Spaceship they were currently aboard, all while staying seated.

“…Teacher, this is the biggest spaceship in our civilization right now, right? It’s huge!”

“Yes, the Ferry Spaceship we are currently on is indeed the largest vessel by volume in our civilization. This is mentioned in the last unit of your history textbooks, under current technological developments.”

The AI Teaching Robot patiently answered the student’s question beside it,

“However, if we expand the concept of ‘ship’ to include any type of flying craft, we currently have even larger vehicles under construction.”

“I know this, ‘Spark Space City’! I read the report on the Huaxin News Agency website.”

“Indeed. The Spark Space City is still in its initial construction phase in the lunar orbit. If we are fortunate, after the Ferry Spaceship enters the lunar orbit, we might be able to glimpse a little structure of the Spark Space City, still under construction, through the windows.”

The Spark Space City was the name the Negentropy Research Institute had publicly chosen for that mobile space city.

It meant exactly what the words said: a tiny spark can start a huge fire.

The purpose of building this Spark Space City was to preserve a small spark of Human Civilization under extreme circumstances.

The entire plan to build and operate the Spark Space City was also called the ‘Spark Project’.

“…The ship has entered steady cruising. Passengers may move about the cabin. Please ensure safety during movement…”

The announcement sounded again.

Students who had long been restless immediately unbuckled their safety harnesses.

The more impatient ones already pushed their way towards the windows lining the edges of the passenger cabin.

The more reserved ones also stood in front of their seats, gazing out through the windows at the scenery.

Of course, it wasn’t just these students. In truth, even most adults, taking the Ferry Spaceship for the first time,

were also very interested in the sights inside the ship and the views outside its windows.

Some simply looked, while others took pictures of the view outside with their smart devices.

“Excuse me, could you make some room? Let us see too…”

A boy, around twelve or thirteen, holding hands with a girl about the same age, squeezed his way to the forefront.

The ship’s design had accounted for passengers’ viewing needs, leaving several large transparent windows in the passenger cabin.

The boy and girl pressed themselves against the window.

“It’s stunning…”

The girl murmured, staring out at the cosmos.

“Right?… I feel amazed too. I plan to move to a Lunar Surface City after graduating… It feels like being closer to the endless universe that way.”

“Want to come with me?”

“Okay.”

The girl smiled sweetly and agreed readily.

“Hmph…”

Adults nearby smiled at the words of these two pre-teens.

Similarly, nearby classmates who knew them made faces of disgust.

The boy rolled his eyes at his classmates.

“Be jealous, you guys.”

Then he turned back, holding the girl’s hand as they both pressed against the window, gazing outside.

“…But, housing on the Lunar Surface seems more expensive than on Earth now.”

“It’s fine, you don’t understand this part. Lunar Surface housing is a little pricier now because demand exceeds supply. But Lunar Surface housing doesn’t actually offer any real advantage over Earth. As more Lunar Surface cities get built, and considering how fast our civilization is developing there, don’t worry. By the time we graduate, housing values on the Lunar Surface will definitely match those on Earth.”

“Plus, after we graduate college and look for housing, we can just pick the Lunar Surface. We might have to enter a lottery, but who knows, we might get picked!”

“Uh-huh…”

Just as the boy and girl chatted, while other passengers talked amongst themselves or gazed out the window with awe,

the ship’s Intelligent Program announced again:

“Attention passengers, due to related experiments by the Weapons Research Institute of the Negentropy Research Institute, our approach to Lunar Orbit will be delayed. We appreciate your understanding…”

After a brief pause, the announcement continued,

“…A small meteor will strike the Lunar Surface. The Weapons Research Institute will use this meteor to test the now-completed Crater-based Electromagnetic Railgun.”

“With luck, friends, you may see, through the front windows of the ship, the spectacle created when a projectile launched from the Electromagnetic Railgun collides with this small meteor.”

This announcement caused a stir throughout the passenger cabin.

While the idea of a meteor impact was somewhat unnerving,

people also knew small meteor impacts on the Lunar Surface were common events, nothing to be alarmed about.

What truly interested people right then was the Electromagnetic Railgun.

Everyone knew about the establishment of the Weapons Research Institute. That it was developing weapons suitable for Interstellar War wasn’t a secret.

One might say, with Human Civilization unified now, many things lost the need for secrecy.

Predictably, interested passengers crowded towards the front windows.

Those who couldn’t get through still strained to look.

The ship’s Intelligent Program obligingly displayed the view of the space ahead

on several screens within the passenger cabin,

easing the passengers’ urgency fueled by curiosity.

At this moment,

the space visible through the forward windows remained utterly still and silent.

People waited patiently; no one spoke.

Time passed second by second.

Finally,

as people craned their necks, growing stiff, some considering sitting back down or taking a break,

it happened suddenly, utterly without warning.

In the dark, dead universe ahead, a cluster of sparks bloomed like fire igniting in the night,

shining for a brief, blinding moment.

It made the pupils of those fixed on the scene contract.

Like a brilliant firework exploding in the cosmos, it appeared directly ahead and slightly to the lower right of the ship.

No sound reached them, but the image itself was stunningly powerful.

With that instant burst of light, people seemed to see some tiny substances bursting out from that point in all directions at that moment.

Did the projectile from the Electromagnetic Railgun hit that small meteor?

Was the experiment of the Electromagnetic Railgun successful?

Clearly yes, because the intelligent program on the starship, actually controlled by the Strong Artificial Intelligence, after that instant scene, informed everyone on the starship of the good news.

‘…Thank you, passengers, for your understanding and cooperation. The Negentropy Research Institute’s Weapons Research Institute’s Electromagnetic Railgun experiment has achieved complete success, and the starship will continue to approach the lunar orbit.’

After the brief announcement,

the passengers on the starship burst into cheers and applause.

For people who were originally taking this Starship Ferry to the Moon for other reasons,

this was undoubtedly an unexpected surprise.

Although it was only a very short process, for them, it was definitely an unforgettable experience.

‘…All right, now I have a topic for my summer vacation essay, just say I witnessed the Electromagnetic Railgun experiment.’

‘Holy crap, awesome… this is the most beautiful ‘firework’ I’ve ever seen. Sure enough, real men should work on weapons. I’ve decided, when I join the Negentropy Research Institute later, I’ll enter the Weapons Research Institute!’

‘Bro… think about whether you can even get into the Negentropy Research Institute first.’

‘…Better yet, think about how old you’ll be when you graduate from college.’

On the starship, the students on an educational trip and other passengers chatted excitedly, speaking various things, until the Starship Ferry successfully docked at the lunar orbit, and the inside stayed lively.

…

Unlike the brief instant scene seen by the students on the Starship Ferry earlier, the entire process of the Electromagnetic Railgun experiment was actually much more complex.

It was the first real use in an actual scenario since the large Electromagnetic Railgun built on the lunar surface was completed.

The chosen small meteor was not very large in size; if it hit the lunar surface normally, it wouldn’t fall on any Lunar Surface City of human civilization on the lunar surface at that moment.

At the same time, while the Electromagnetic Railgun experiment was going on, other more mature Laser Weapons on the lunar surface tracked this small meteor, to fix any possible risks if problems came up with the Electromagnetic Railgun experiment.

And before the Electromagnetic Railgun was officially launched, the ‘Lookout’ observation array, which consisted of many already completed space observation devices on the lunar surface, tracked the path of this small meteor, helping the Electromagnetic Railgun with aiming.

Before the projectile was launched, the Electromagnetic Railgun had been started up for some time, powered by a Helium-3 Fusion Reactor near the lunar surface, which gave energy to this Electromagnetic Railgun built inside the crater.

The projectile was made of the latest and most advanced high-strength metal material in human civilization, provided by the Negentropy Research Institute’s Materials Research Institute.

The projectile sped up for a long time in an extremely long acceleration tube.

At the moment it left the acceleration rail of the Electromagnetic Railgun, a big part of this high-strength metal projectile had melted, but its mass itself didn’t lose much.

It was found that the speed at launch got to one percent of the light speed.

Then, after flying for a while, the projectile hit the incoming small meteor exactly, and with pure, huge kinetic energy, it destroyed the meteor completely.

Above the lunar surface, in the universe, a bright firework lit up.

…

When this Electromagnetic Railgun was doing the experiment, Qin Yu was actually there at the site.

But the whole test was handled by the Strong Artificial Intelligence; besides saying to start the experiment, Qin Yu watched this first use test of the Electromagnetic Railgun, along with other researchers.

Seeing in the cosmos above the lunar surface, the amazing scene from the crash between the Electromagnetic Railgun’s projectile and the meteor.

The researchers present clapped hard, feeling excited and cheerful.

Qin Yu also clapped, saying congratulations to the researchers of the Negentropy Research Institute’s Weapons Research Institute who ran the project.

Even though this was only a stage step in the Weapons Research Institute’s work on the Electromagnetic Railgun,

or more, just trying out how to bring together current tech in the area of electromagnetic weapons,

it was still worth praising.

This Electromagnetic Railgun already had some use for human civilization.

Its launch speed went past all kinetic weapons of human civilization before,

and when fired, the power it could put on the target was huge.

In space, its force truly beat some regular fusion energy weapons.

Sure,

for this Electromagnetic Railgun right now, everything was still just beginning.

‘…Director Qin. We want to build a bigger Electromagnetic Railgun based on the present one.’

‘We plan to raise its projectile launch speed to over ten percent light speed, and also push bigger mass projectiles when launching.’

Feng Cangguo, head of the Weapons Research Institute, said this to Qin Yu.

‘What’s the detailed plan?’

Qin Yu looked at the universe above the lunar surface, which had calmed down and gone back to its normal quiet, answered.

‘We hope to research and design together, a ring electromagnetic railgun for the orbit around the Moon.’

This head of the Weapons Research Institute replied again this way.

‘I personally have no issue. But making a ring-Moon orbit railgun like that might still need to solve a lot of troubles.’

‘We have plenty of confidence.’

‘Hmm.’

Qin Yu and this Weapons Research Institute head, Professor Feng Cangguo, talked more about the ring-Moon electromagnetic railgun plan.

For growing this ring-Moon electromagnetic railgun, Qin Yu would help too, but not spend most of his time on it.

Right then the whole Negentropy Research Institute,

compared to its starting goal when Qin Yu set it up,

with history and time changing, had actually drifted a bit from the first target.

More, it stood as the science hub for all human civilization.

Sure, whether as the science core of civilization or as the ‘Apocalypse Institute’ fighting against doomsday.

At that point, the Negentropy Research Institute as a whole was still trying to fight ‘entropy rise’ in real ways.

But,

Qin Yu clearly couldn’t join every research project at the Negentropy Research Institute.

It didn’t tie to him having a Super Brain;

he only had twenty-four hours each day, and one man couldn’t split in two.

Now,

Qin Yu was more focused on pushing ahead the research to ‘lift the average IQ of human civilization’ for the goal.

This actually fit under

the ‘Human Enhancement Project’ that Research Institute 011 has kept doing all these years,

but next to bettering other human parts, lifting IQ just felt way harder.

And for the project to boost the human average IQ, it was mostly Qin Yu alone doing it.

He just sometimes had the intelligent program from the Negentropy Research Institute send out some parts of the project to research teams at Research Institute 011.

It let teams interested in this study the parts,

saving him time on some smaller projects.

But for this big project, lifting the human average IQ, it was just Qin Yu carrying it out himself.

For this project, Qin Yu also kept it secret for now.

If he really got some results in increasing the human average IQ study,

he might put those wins on the identity ‘Entropy’.

He’d share this tech as ‘Entropy’.

After all, it matched the field of ‘Entropy’, perfect.

Sure,

these were all small matters,

but only if the tech could really come true.

For Qin Yu, the study on the human IQ rise project was likely the toughest research he had worked on and done in these years.