Chapter 49: Data Analysis
Within the desert manufactorum, the environment remained constant and sealed.
The power core provided its steady, low thrum, and the air-purification system worked continuously, completely isolating the sanctum from the corrosive desert environment without. The air held the familiar, sanctified scent of machine oil, coolant, and faint ozone.
Joric's dark-red, augmented form was the center of all activity in the space.
He was processing multiple task-litanies, but he allocated minimal attention to the feedback from Maine's crew regarding the burgeoning curiosity of Night City's factions. Such trivial movements, born of guesswork and greed, were a low priority against the backdrop of his technological grand-design and not worth the expenditure of processing cycles.
His focus was on foundational construction and the more profound exploration.
Currently, his primary attention was divided between two parallel projects: the deep analysis of the data acquired from the first inter-dimensional transit experiment, and the completion of Sasha Yakovleva's medical restoration, ensuring her vitals were stabilized before executing the subsequent treatment and custom cybernetic reconstruction protocols.
Without question, the former held absolute priority over his computational resources and logic-engine.
Beside the specialized medicae-slab, Sasha remained in deep cryo-stasis, her life functions reduced to the minimum required for basic sustenance. Most of her body was encased in a bioactive gel and held by a precise mechanical support-frame. Her face was serene. Hair-thin nutrient lines and data-conduits were connected to her spine and primary neural clusters, feeding a constant stream of stabilizers and micro-scale repair-nanites into her nearly-destroyed form.
Joric periodically ran a full systems-diagnostic, updating her data-log. The holographic display showed her vitals were stable, the critical brain-tissue damage had been repaired, and her neural baseline was flat.
"Primary biological functions are stable. Central nervous system repair is complete. The current life-support protocol is sustainable until the next phase," his synthesized voice flatly reported. "The basic physiological-salvage is complete. We will now proceed to the functional reconstruction of the chassis."
Joric was now taking the commercial-grade cybernetic components supplied by Maine's crew and using them as the base materials for Sasha's reconstruction. In his eyes, their original designs were rife with crude, heretical compromises: interface protocols were bloated and inefficient, the materials possessed sub-par bio-compatibility, and the power-transmission pathways were rife with redundancies.
He employed his mechadendrites like a master-artisan restoring a flawed relic, dismantling each piece, purifying its base materials, re-writing its internal firmware, optimizing its physical structure, and sanctifying its key contact points with his own proprietary dielectric coatings and neural-conductive materials.
In this world with its divergent tech-tree, mature cybernetics could indeed replace the vast majority of a human's original tissue. However, this replacement was far from perfect. Its technical flaws—especially those that led to cumulative neural load and severe rejection—were the very thing Joric was now dispassionately studying.
As he precisely implanted the retrofitted components, he recorded all data from a researcher's perspective. In his home universe, with its far stricter standards for man-machine fusion, this phenomenon of "cyberpsychosis"—a catastrophic failure of the spirit in the face of flawed technology—was, in itself, a highly valuable research specimen. He hoped, through Sasha's case, to deeply analyze its root mechanisms.
Of course, this research ran parallel to his promise of restoration. He was integrating unique Mechanicus techniques into the rebuild—such as far more precise neural-lacing interfaces and sensor-algorithms that could simulate near-perfect, native-flesh haptics. This would significantly enhance the performance and adaptability of Sasha's new body. For him, the process of saving Sasha was also a perfect opportunity to study the limits of local technology and collect invaluable experimental data on full-body conversion.
Confirming Sasha's stability, Joric shifted his primary processing thread back to the core sanctum. This area was even quieter. His Old Friend projected the complex data-visualization, showing the detailed information captured from the dimensional transit test: the energy-release trajectory, the brief spatio-temporal distortion, and the various readings from the transit unit at the moment of its passage.
Joric's mechadendrites interacted with the data-stream, filtering, comparing, and calculating, his full processing power dedicated to analyzing this information on the base-level operation of physical law.
"Note this energy-decay pattern," Joric pointed a tendril at a specific curve. "When the dimensional conduit reached maximum aperture and began to close, the energy dissipation did not drop off as projected. Instead, it maintained a micro-stable state. During this window, the energy fluctuations were confined to a narrow band, exhibiting harmonic characteristics."
He ran multiple analytical models. "Our initial hypothesis was too... blunt. Viewing transit as simple brute-force, with high energy cost and risk. This harmonic phenomenon suggests another path... If we can induce and control this resonant state, rather than just maximizing aperture... it might be possible to maintain an extremely faint, but stable, inter-dimensional link. Like opening the door a mere crack. Not enough to pass matter, but enough for information."
This was one of the key objectives of the first test. The specialized servo-skull's core directives included a critical task: upon confirming arrival at the target coordinates (the ruin Joric had left) and ascertaining a secure environment, it was to transmit an encrypted confirmation-signal back to the origin coordinate at a pre-set time.
"Adjust the Dimensional Sextant's power output parameters," Joric commanded his Old Friend. "Shift focus from peak output to frequency-precision. Attempt to replicate and sustain that harmonic state. Simultaneously, elevate our signal-reception arrays to maximum sensitivity. Continuously monitor the pre-set frequencies. We are listening for the designated encrypted signal from 'Coordinate Beta'."
He knew the background noise of the cosmos and the dimensional barrier itself would create immense static, making the identification of such a faint signal incredibly difficult. But it was the lowest-risk, highest-value path forward.
If the signal was received, it would not only prove the transit-path was viable and the messenger had survived, but it would also mean two-way, low-bandwidth communication was possible. This would be the critical data-point for all future decisions.
As a cautious researcher, he naturally had contingency-litanies. If the long-range monitoring yielded no results, or if the returned data (if any) indicated a critical situation back in the Warhammer universe, he would be forced to consider the high-risk option: a brief, heavily-armed, personal return. But that would require far more preparation, including stockpiling more energy and perhaps accompanying himself with locally-fabricated combat-units.
To increase the probability of this "listening" test, Joric had already used the new, high-purity power sources from Maine's crew to upgrade his core reactor and cogitator-arrays, enhancing their ability to extract a potential signal from the noise.
The entire manufactorum was now in a state of poised readiness, all its systems focused on capturing that one, faint whisper that might, or might not, come from another universe. The result of this attempt would directly influence his next course of action—whether to continue safe, remote probing, or to once again step foot into that dangerous and dark world himself.