Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV.
After discussing it, we started with the easiest part: building the spaceship. Most of the work was already done thanks to GLaDOS and the Jumpship that came with Rebecca's template. The Jumpships used NLS drives, or warp drives. This meant the spaceship didn't have faster-than-light propulsion.
Instead, it changes the spatial geometry around the ship to propel it. Specifically, this Warp Drive creates a kind of warp bubble around the ship, compresses space in front, and then expands it behind, maintaining that warp as it travels through space. This lets the ship move through space much faster than a normal propulsion system could.
Now, how fast the ship could fly depended on those two things.
First, how much the Warp Drive could warp space. How much it could compress space without compromising the ship, the engine, or space itself by warping it too forcefully.
If the Warp Drive could compress a distance measured in light-years, then the journey would take seconds, even for a person walking. But with our technology, that wasn't truly possible. The spatial geometry calculations were well within GLaDOS's capabilities, but our technology had limitations that would take much longer to overcome. At the time, the more we wanted to compress and warp space, the larger the Warp Drive had to be, which wasn't feasible to fit on a Jumpship.
And then there was the second thing: propulsion. Space geometry can warp, but how quickly a ship can traverse that distortion depends on its ability to do so; obviously, the faster, the better. But again, building propulsion systems for truly appropriate speeds was complicated.
So really, a good balance was best.
Magic? It solved almost all of our problems.
We still had space limitations. Placing expansion charms all over the ship would ruin the entire warp bubble. Spatial geometry was complicated enough without adding magical spatial geometry and whatever expansion enchantments would do to space itself. Extra calculations would be needed, and the warp drive would have to be modified to account for and compensate for the magically created extra space.
GLaDOS's computational skills were essential for calculating those things, and my eyes could see every spatial distortion with terrifying precision. Even so, we decided not to overuse extension enchantments for this first version.
Unfortunately, enchantments to make things lighter, like Feather-light charm, didn't really work in space. In a vacuum, there's no air resistance, much less gravity, but everything still had inertia. The enchantment couldn't change that.
Designing an enchantment that completely changes an object's inertia, while possible, would also take more time, but more importantly, it wasn't really necessary at the moment. So for now, we left it as it was. We would definitely have to create it for a future version, or a larger one.
Creating a magical propulsion system was pointless when we already had a fully viable and operational technological one. Unless we could cut off Ravel's legs and use her speed for propulsion, anything we created would end up similar to what we already had access to, so it was a waste of time for now.
All we did was place several philosopher's stones and large quantities of alchemical circles that would remain for decades, creating fuel endlessly.
Now, the most important part. How to make the journey faster since we couldn't make major changes to the Warp Drive and the thrusters. And that was the whole point: we couldn't. Time bubbles were the solution to all our problems.
Creating a Bendalloy bubble around the ship was more than enough. We just needed to anchor the time bubble to the ship so that it would move along with it. This meant several days would pass internally—several days of travel—while only seconds passed externally.
And finally, we created a cadmium bubble inside the crew cabin. Both bubbles canceled out in the passenger cabin, so the people inside would only experience real time for a few seconds, while the rest of the ship, especially the warp drive and thrusters, would continue traveling on autopilot for days or weeks until reaching the target.
This left the ship like a cluster of spacetime bubbles. The cabin bubble kept time passing normally. The Bendalloy bubble covered the rest of the ship, allowing it to travel for days on end without pause. And then, the warp bubble enveloped everything, warping the space in front of the Bendalloy bubble.
We had to be really careful not to let the Bendalloy bubble reach the active warp wall. A collision would be very bad. Or at least, that's what GLaDOS's math said, and I trusted it.
Warp drives distort the space around the ship, not the ship itself. The warp bubble surrounds the entire ship, keeping it in a stable region of space while its active wall distorts the space around it. This means that a small, unaltered region of stable space remains before the warped zone begins, and this space is maintained throughout the entire journey without ever actually touching it. In this space, the Bendalloy bubble ends, preventing it from causing any problems.
So, with that triple-bubble system, we could solve our problem; it was simple and functional. Very functional.
The only problem with that system was that it was a mechanical nightmare without more magic. Magic is always the solution! If you haven't found the solution, it's because you're not using enough magic. Or well, probably.
Placing multiple time bubbles over the same object would make parts of the ship move in real time while the rest moved at an accelerated speed.
Crossing the boundaries of a time bubble produces strange kinetic effects. Because objects have parts that change speed as they cross the boundary, causing different parts of themselves to pass through at different time rates, they behave physically and kinetically in strange ways and end up being deflected.
That wouldn't mean the entire ship would be destroyed immediately, no. With fixed bubbles and solid construction, there wasn't that problem. The ship would simply push the passenger cabin along with it, regardless of the time difference or their speeds. The problem is that all the ship's structural materials were constantly transmitting energy.
They vibrate, deform, transmit forces, heat up, expand, and constantly respond to various stimuli. Being in two different temporal states simultaneously, one part of them is trying to transmit energy many times faster than the other. Subjecting them to that kind of treatment would undoubtedly cause everything to eventually break.
I'm incredibly grateful for the unbreakable enchantments. They solved most of the problems. Even so, we had to modify the enchantment. While it made the object unbreakable, it didn't actually make it resistant to deformation. They could still bend, stretch, compress, vibrate, and more. Apparently, bending didn't mean breaking. Who knew?
So we had to add a dampening effect to the enchantment to eliminate most of the strain.
We also had to change the ship's layout. The Jumpships were small. Well, not small. They could carry several people, but everything was so cramped that the time bubbles would cross something vital.
Everything had to be distributed correctly to prevent essential parts from crossing the time bubble and to make the passenger cabin as self-sufficient as possible, like the rest of the ship.
GLaDOS coded and created several basic AIs capable of piloting and maintaining the ship during flight, since it would be impossible to communicate with the ship effectively once the journey began. Our orders would arrive too late most of the time.
The ship was truly a masterpiece of magic and technology. And I was really proud of it.
"I admit it, it was fun creating this." I told GLaDOS with a huge smile. GLaDOS just nodded.
"It is. We've just overcome all the limitations and problems necessary for intergalactic travel in a timeframe of... 274 hours and 37 minutes. An acceptable timeframe." GLaDOS said with a satisfied smile. "We could even reach Andromeda in a journey of only 50 years!" GLaDOS said, sounding excited. I snorted loudly, amused.
"Yes, if we had the capacity to power the warp drive and thrusters for 50,000 years without maintenance," I said jokingly. GLaDOS just rolled her eyes.
"That will be resolved later," GLaDOS said nonchalantly. I chuckled. The effective speed of our warp drive was only 50c, meaning it was capable of traveling a distance of 50 light-years in one year.
The Bendalloy bubble, after many tests, had been adjusted to an intensity 1000 times the normal time. Increasing the bubble's intensity would cause more problems than it would solve.
Even so, with the time bubble, our actual speed was 50,000c. We could travel at 50,000 times the speed of light. Honestly, it was truly impressive for our first spacecraft prototype.
I was really proud of it. At that speed, it was more than enough to travel to Wolf 1061, or anywhere close to it. The trip would only take 2 hours and 27 minutes. Not bad at all.
"I'll call it SV Aperture P-1," GLaDOS said, completely satisfied, as she looked at the jumpship. I chuckled. Space Vehicle Aperture Prototype-1, I suppose that was a good name. Well, it was good by GLaDOS's standards. But it would do.
The only thing the jumpship lacked right now was weapons. We didn't expect to encounter any enemies on Wolf 1061; whatever we did find, I was confident I could handle it.
What we did have were shields. Pretty impressive magical shields. Mainly because we didn't have any mapped and available space routes for space travel. That meant that, while we wouldn't collide with any planets or anything like that, we might still hit macroscopic objects while warping space that we hadn't seen beforehand.
Traveling 10 light-years away means that if we tried to observe from here, we would be seeing images 10 years behind. It was unlikely, but we could collide with a rock, an asteroid, or something else we hadn't seen.
"I've already prepared the supplies. We can leave them here and take them out when we reach Wolf 1061. I've also prepared the portal gun. We still need to prepare the shelter where we'll place the portal. I was thinking of using the moon of the wizarding world to create a discreet bunker. We can use magic to make the launch invisible and go unnoticed," GLaDOS said with ease.
"We'll do it." I said, nodding contentedly, and smiled slightly. "After we finish the ritual," I said easily. GLaDOS turned so quickly I heard her body creak slightly. "Is something wrong?" I asked innocently.
"We won't be flying in it?" GLaDOS asked incredulously. I glanced at her briefly before looking at the ship.
"I mean, we'll do it, but not now." I shrugged. "We still have a lot to do. Even if we get to Wolf 1061, we won't really have anything to do if we don't even know what kind of machine world can replace the heart of the ritual. So... it doesn't make sense." I said simply.
"It doesn't make sense? It doesn't make sense?!" GLaDOS asked, almost offended. "This is one of the greatest creations Aperture—no, that I've ever made—and you want it shelved? We'll wait?! It's unacceptable!" GLaDOS exclaimed indignantly. "We have to test it immediately. We have to prove what it's capable of. We have to keep doing science!" she said fervently. I just looked at her curiously.
"Why?" I asked, barely suppressing a laugh. "I mean, you've calculated all the numbers, and we've checked everything multiple times. It can't fail. There's no point in testing it." I said, as if it were obvious, then smiled mockingly. "Unless... unless you don't trust your own calculations." I said with a grin. GLaDOS took a step back as if she'd been punched.
She looked at me as if I had just hurled the most atrocious insult she had ever heard, combined with an expression of utter indignation and offense at the suggestion that her calculations were incorrect; in short, her expression was divine. Then it shifted into hatred and annoyance.
"I know what you're trying to do. I won't fall for those childish games." GLaDOS growled, crossing her arms and looking away. I chuckled and just waited. After barely 15 seconds, she growled again. "I'll make the trip alone." GLaDOS growled.
"You could do it. But you have to be there. Trapped for almost three hours. I was planning to create a time bubble and start studying the ritual. I guess I'll have to do it alone," I said playfully. GLaDOS shuddered slightly.
"I'll modify the AI pilot so it can make the trip on its own. I'll place one of my robots to create a portal on one of the planets of Wolf 1061," she added, annoyed.
"You could do that too, but you'd miss the whole trip. The first flight of the SV Aperture P-1 without its creator. How sad." I said ruefully, though I still smiled. GLaDOS shuddered again.
"I am more than capable of using multiple bodies or multiple instances of myself and then collecting the data as if I had undertaken the journey and worked on the ritual at the same time," she added as her eye, somehow, trembled slightly.
"I mean, you could do that too. But think about it… would it be the same? Would it really be you? In which experiment would your main body end up? Which-"
"Fine!" GLaDOS growled, stamping her tiny foot. "What do you want?" GLaDOS demanded angrily. "Please tell me you want me to create a neurotoxin, and you'll be the test subject. I'd be genuinely interested, even go to great lengths to achieve it." GLaDOS glared at me. I chuckled and turned to face her.
"Nothing." I chuckled. GLaDOS glared at me. I chuckled again, approached her, and placed my hand lightly on her head. She immediately stepped back.
"I see," GLaDOS said, narrowing her eyes. "I suppose I couldn't expect anything more from a succubus," she said, almost dismissively. I looked at her, confused. GLaDOS just glanced at me before taking off her clothes and standing completely naked in front of me. I looked at her, truly confused.
"What are you doing?" I asked, confused. GLaDOS just frowned, still naked.
"What you wanted? To have sex with you." GLaDOS said easily. "Let's finish this so we can travel to Wolf 1061." GLaDOS said, almost bored. I just stared at her in disbelief.
"How... how did you come to that conclusion?" I asked incredulously. GLaDOS just rolled her eyes.
"You're a succubus. You're always aroused. You've been working for almost 12 days without releasing your... urges, and the others you usually release them to aren't here. So let's get this over with quickly," GLaDOS said dismissively. I could only stare at her in disbelief. Then I looked at GLaDOS's body before swallowing audibly.
"Are you... sure?" I asked slowly as a pulse of excitement surged in my groin. I really hadn't planned for it to end like this. I was just teasing her for fun. But GLaDOS was right. Twelve days of uninterrupted work always left me anxious if I didn't let off some steam.
"I already said yes. I didn't know that when a succubus suppressed her desires, she was unable to understand words or suffered from hearing loss. I'll make a note of that in my database." GLaDOS said dryly. I just looked at her one more time and swallowed audibly. Finally, I licked my lips. I grabbed GLaDOS before pulling her toward me.
I hoped everyone else was really enjoying whatever they were doing. I… definitely would. I didn't even hesitate to kiss GLaDOS.
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Author's Notes: Okay, sorry for all the digressions! First the ritual, then everything else, and now a spaceship. So much text! Even so, I had fun writing them. The next chapters from Rebecca/Lucy's POV should be lighter.