Tanya woke up unsure what exactly today would entail. The schedule said "panels and recruitment," Amara had got her to pick from a list of panels, but what that meant in practice remained a mystery. She found herself looking forward to it. She could finally do something like a normal attendee.
At breakfast, Cameron had already made her coffee just the way she wanted it. And sat down beside her.
"Ready for another exciting day?" he asked.
"I hope we get to see a princess today!" said Janet as she was filling her face with pancake.
Tanya could barely muster a response as she hadn't finish her coffee yet. "I think we have seen enough royalty this week."
Amara arrived during their meal with her usual brisk efficiency, consulting her ever-present tablet. "I have your schedule finalised for today. First, I want you three to network on the graduate and mid-tier floors. This is a trade show and you need to see what else is out there."
"What about our booth?" Janet asked.
"I'll handle it personally and direct serious inquiries to wait for tomorrow's technical demonstration." Amara made notes as she spoke. "Mid-day, you'll have to attend the panel you've chosen. Cameron and Janet, I've registered you for the 'Space Survival Technologies' panel. Tanya, you're attending 'Automated Fabrication in Modern Shipbuilding.'"
Cameron raised an eyebrow. "That sounds incredibly boring."
"It's practical," Tanya defended, then caught his amused expression. "Not everything has to be exciting explosions and life-or-death scenarios."
"Says the person who builds ships that surf gas giant storms," Janet pointed out with a grin.
"Finally," Amara continued, "we've received over three hundred job applications since yesterday's demonstration. I've shortlisted some young, idealistic candidates who might fit well with your team dynamics."
"Three hundred?" Janet whistled softly.
"Most are opportunists or completely unqualified," Amara said dismissively. "But the promising ones are exactly the kind of passionate professionals you'd want to work with."
An hour later, the three of them wandered through the graduate and mid-tier exhibition floors, discovering innovations that ranged from brilliant to questionable.
"Look at this," Janet called out, examining a display of small autonomous drones. "Hive AI mapping systems for asteroid surveying. Each drone shares data with the others to create comprehensive three-dimensional maps of complex structures."
Tanya studied the demonstration with genuine interest. "The coordination algorithms must be incredibly sophisticated. How do they handle communication delays in distributed swarms?"
The recent graduate manning the booth brightened at her technical question, launching into an enthusiastic explanation of their mesh networking protocols. Tanya caught Cameron watching her as she had an animated discussion with a graduate, and she found herself speaking more expressively than usual, gesturing as she learnt about the topic.
//Interesting, there could be many applications for Hive AI. They have only just started the journey.// stated Sage, Tanya found herself agreeing she had already come up with multiple use cases for a swarm. From active shielding to search and rescue.
At the next booth, they encountered an interior decorator whose work made Tanya stop in her tracks. The display showed miniature models of ship interiors that transformed seamlessly between different configurations. It showed sleeping quarters that became workspaces, storage areas that expanded into recreational facilities.
"This is incredible," Tanya breathed, studying how every centimeter of space served multiple purposes without compromising aesthetics or functionality.
"Your attempts at space optimisation were pretty poor compared to this," Janet said with gentle teasing, but her comment triggered uncomfortable memories.
"The Vanguard," Cameron said quietly, recognising Tanya's expression. "Those first few days when we were all trying to figure out how to live together in that cramped space."
"The galley was a disaster," Tanya admitted. "I prioritised functionality over liveability and made everyone miserable."
"You were learning," Cameron said in a tone like that of an adult talking to a child. "We all were. Besides, the ship itself was remarkable. it was just the domestic arrangements that needed work."
Their final stop was a booth promoting new radiation-resistant materials, allegedly perfect for deep space exploration and stellar probe construction. The vendor's claims were impressive, but Cameron frowned as he studied the technical specifications.
"This doesn't add up," he said quietly to Tanya and Janet. "The atomic structure they're describing couldn't provide the radiation resistance they're claiming. Either they don't understand their own material, or this is an elaborate scam."
"Should we say something?" Tanya asked.
"Not our responsibility to police the trade show," Janet replied practically. "Besides, any serious buyer will conduct proper testing."
Soon after it was time for them to attend their selected panels.
Tanya found herself in a packed conference room, surrounded by engineers and manufacturing specialists from across the Empire. The panel title "Automated Fabrication of Starships: From Asteroid to Deployment" had drawn serious attention from industry professionals who understood the complexity of large-scale production.
Dr. Sarah Chen from Shauzhu University took the podium, her reputation as a leading expert in empire-scale fabrication preceding her. "Today we'll explore how the industry is transitioning from localised, human-supervised orbital construction to fully autonomous, high-volume starship production systems."
"Let's start with the fundamental challenge," Dr. Chen began, activating a holographic display of asteroid mining operations. "The 'Ore-to-Plate' problem. How do we efficiently transform raw asteroids into starship-ready materials without human oversight?"
Charts appeared, breaking down current issues with transport time and processing efficiency topping the list.
"As you can see, travel time remains the largest problem, and if my connections are accurate, we may have a breakthrough on that front soon. But today I'll focus on processing efficiency," Dr. Chen explained.
She moved on to logistics. "Feedstock homogenisation is a critical problem for us to solve. How do autonomous systems standardise wildly varying raw inputs, such as silicates, metals, and volatiles, into consistent components? The traditional answer was massive processing stations, but that's changing."
Footage showed mobile refinement platforms following mining operations, processing materials on-site instead of shipping raw ore across star systems.
"Dynamics recently deployed swarm mining systems that achieve eighty-seven percent efficiency by using distributed processing. Instead of one massive refinery, they use hundreds of smaller processors that adapt to different ore compositions in real time. Hence, harvest more usable product from each asteroid."
Tanya leaned forward with interest. Adaptive swarm processing reminded her of the hive AI systems she'd seen earlier. She could see how they might be combined to optimise distribution and ensure the right ore reached the right processor.
//The principle of distributed processing could apply to many manufacturing challenges,// Sage observed privately. //Your beacon network could cut down on time and allow for larger, more efficient refineries with no need for large numbers chasing the mining swarm.//
"Now for the fundamental design question," Dr. Chen continued, switching to architectural schematics. "Orbital shipyards versus planetary fabrication centres. Each approach has passionate advocates and significant trade-offs."
A shipyard architect spoke up. "Orbital construction eliminates gravitational stress during assembly and reduces contamination risks. You can build ships that could never survive planetary construction."
"True," countered a planetary advocate, "but orbital facilities are vulnerable to cosmic radiation, micrometeorite damage, and supply chain disruptions. Planetary facilities offer stability and easier containment of hazardous processes."
Dr. Chen nodded. "Both have merit, but the industry is moving toward a third option: Distributed Micro-Fabrication. DMF employs swarms of smaller, mobile construction drones instead of massive assembly lines."
She displayed footage of construction swarms building ships in open space with thousands of small units working in perfect coordination. "Each drone specialises: hull welding, electronics installation, system integration. The swarm adapts to design changes in real time and reroutes around damaged or malfunctioning units."
Tanya took detailed notes. The coordination challenges were immense but fascinating.
"To control a swarm requires more than a human brain," Dr. Chen said. "So let's discuss the digital brain behind all this. Every ship under construction has a real-time Digital Twin. A perfect virtual model that allows fabrication AI to predict stress, monitor fatigue, and adjust parameters instantly."
An AI specialist raised a concern. "How do we ensure quality without constant human inspection? Autonomous QA is still experimental."
"That's the critical challenge," Dr. Chen acknowledged. "Current systems use layered verification: multiple independent AIs cross-checking each other's work, plus random human sampling. But the goal is full autonomous QA that guarantees deep-space component reliability."
She moved on to logistics AI. "These systems manage thousands of concurrent builds, optimising schedules, handling supply chain disruptions, and reallocating resources dynamically. Essentially, they're running civilisation-scale logistics operations."
A debate broke out over component sourcing. "Is it more efficient to fabricate everything in-house, or manage networks of specialised autonomous suppliers?"
"Both work," Dr. Chen replied, "but specialists usually achieve higher quality. A dedicated power system manufacturer with centuries of experience will outperform a generalist facility every time."
"The final stage presents unique challenges," she continued. "How do we activate and calibrate a ship's dedicated AI during construction, then deploy hundreds of vessels without human pilots?"
She explained the Launch AI integration process and how ship consciousness was gradually awakened during assembly, running diagnostics and learning its systems before handover.
"Automated fleet staging is equally complex. We're deploying completed vessels from fabrication centres to strategic deep-space positions using convoy AI. No human has ever piloted some of these ships. Our testing shows excellent success rates."
//The concept of artificial consciousness emerging during construction raises interesting philosophical questions,// Sage observed. //The boundary between tool and entity blurs at sufficient complexity.//
Tanya wondered if Sage considered themselves alive or merely a tool. She almost asked, but Dr. Chen's final topic pulled her back.
"The ultimate goal: true Forge Worlds. Planets or orbital megastructures dedicated solely to self-sustaining, multi-class starship production with near-zero human oversight."
The scale was breathtaking. Worlds entirely converted to manufacturing, with surface-to-orbit logistics handled by AI, autonomous mining for resources, and quotas measured in thousands of ships annually.
"But this raises profound questions," she continued. "What happens when we create planet-scale AIs that self-improve endlessly?"
An ethicist voiced concern. "We'd be creating artificial civilisations devoted to production. What happens when they question their purpose?"
An environmental engineer added: "Can Forge Worlds transition from resource consumers to closed-loop systems? Could they recycle decommissioned ships indefinitely?"
Dr. Chen displayed models of self-sustaining cycles: decommissioned ships reborn as new vessels. "Mathematically sound, but control systems remain beyond us."
The moderator pressed further. "In an autonomous shipyard, how do we prevent cascading failures if a critical sub-component supplier goes offline?"
Answers came quickly: redundant networks, stockpiling systems, adaptive substitution.
"And the most significant regulatory hurdle to Forge Worlds?"
"AI safety regulations," Dr. Chen replied without hesitation. "No government will authorise planet-scale AI until they understand long-term behaviour. And resource claims of converting entire planets to industry are politically volatile."
Tanya seized her chance to ask something burning in her mind.
"I've noticed some materials seem to have preferences in that they 'want' to be shaped a certain way. You get better results working with their natural tendencies rather than forcing them. When you automate everything, how do you account for that? Can AI develop that kind of sensitivity, or do we lose something essential without the craftsman's touch?"
Dr. Marcus Webb of Industrial Fabrication Systems chuckled dismissively. "Romantic thinking. Materials are materials. They follow physics. Your 'preferences' are anthropomorphising matter. Automated nanometer-level precision outperforms any so-called intuition."
Tanya clenched her jaw. They don't know, she thought. Quantum-enhanced materials literally changed based on how they were handled. The Avdrulla Stela's hull was proof, but she couldn't reveal that.
//The panelist's view reflects the limits of current paradigms,// Sage noted privately. //He's bound by his framework.//
Exactly, Tanya thought. He doesn't know that some materials respond to quantum fields, dimensional manipulation, or even intent. His "nanometer precision" is meaningless when substances can reorganise themselves. She stayed outwardly calm but inwardly frustrated.
The panel closed, leaving Tanya both inspired and unsettled. The scale of industrial operations dwarfed her work, yet the principles of coordination, quality, adaptive systems were universal.
It's incredible, she thought, but also terrifying.
As she left, Tanya reflected on her own challenges. She still hand-crafted ships, but now she'd glimpsed the pathway from workshop to Forge World. Scaling wasn't just about building bigger. It was reimagining the process at each stage.
//Your surfer represents craftsmanship. Your beacon network is a distributed coordination. The next step is systematic automation,// Sage observed. //Perhaps not planetary scale…yet.//
One step at a time, Tanya thought, already imagining how to adapt these ideas to her own growing operation.