The Core: The First Guest

53. When you reach too deeply...

"Kevin!" I heard a voice call to me amid the low din of people recounting the news. The background information, something that I hadn't needed to pay attention to the whole time that I was in the game, was awash with timestamps, scans with all forms of known energy, as well as a strain I hadn't yet felt inside my habitat or in VR as a whole. The strain of my habitat System running at its limit.

"What is going on?" I asked as I stepped off the travel disk and onto a patch of spilled popcorn. It seemed that whatever had occurred had taken place at such a speed that my AI hadn't thought to even clean up the environment.

"Shifting to your navigation deck." I heard Tutor say as the environment around us changed immediately to the navigation deck nearby the cargo hold viewing area. I had yet to study this addition of my VR space but I could tell right away that there was a purpose for each display and console. No, there weren't any Warp Drives or Tractor Beams to control but there were maps with information mined by George that seemed to be just for me. In fact, everything seemed to be laid out for my benefit so that I could see everything useful at once. - I thought as I walked up to the display island where Tutor was standing. George seemed to be having fits, his hands and body shuddering as he forced the habitats System to its limits while he studied the data he was gathering.

"George, calm down," I said as I neared the counter. I could feel the stress on the System ease as he obeyed my command, turning and standing up from the vast array of displays that he had running in front of us. To me it looked as if he had a grid of 20 IMAX screens open off in the distance, each displaying news and feeds of something that was happening now.

"Something horrible has happened back at Magus the 2nds Core." Tutor started before George, his forehead sweating, took over and brought up a news video that had a very recent timestamp, just moments before I was yanked from the game. On the screen was a Tela avatar with blurbs of title and text annotating that this was a global Tela System announcement.

-Citizens of Tela, it is with great pride that I, Magus the new 2nd, announce that I have developed a new patented cr mining method that will usher us all into a new era.-

The screen went on to show countless harvester carriers hard at work converting raw cr into viable cr currency. Before our eyes the harvester carriers converted their structures and grew more massive, using the excess cr to increase their size and output capability. We watched as precious resources used internally inside the cr microbots were endlessly delivered to the growing harvester carrier structures. It was mind-blowing to witness how fast the uptick of mining was occurring. It seemed that with each increase of cr, the ability to harvest more cr went up exponentially.

Interestingly, they didn't once show how the cr was being harvested but when I discovered who this Magus the new 2nd was, it all became clear to me. I had really messed up.

-This cr is all being harvested, with my ingenuity, under the provision and oversight by my superior, Magus the 1st. In a matter of hours I have been able to harvest 21 percent of this sun's remaining cr. This even after the star had been labeled a class 5 star with limited or no harvestable cr remaining.-

The footage covered the incredible amounts of cr again before he continued.

-I am expecting all wealthy Tela investors to contact me for leasing rights to this new technique. Presently I am 4% away from the core and planning to sweep around the equator, harvesting all viable raw cr. What am I, Magus the new 2nd going to do with all of this newfound wealth you are all asking? I am investing heavily into Magus the 1st's war machine. There is a war coming with an invading species that could harm the Tela sovereignty. I have seen it first hand. I have seen a true monster. This monster has a name and his name is... What? What is that!?!"-