Chapter 415: Paving The Road to the Future

Limerick, Pennsylvania, was ideally suited for a nuclear power plant: close enough to the major cities on the East Coast of North America, but far enough away to minimize the protests associated with nuclear power in the late 1900s. The nearby river provided both water for the cooling system and transportation for the materials used to build it. By the time fusion power arrived, the corporations involved had enough clout to squash any protests and enough money invested in politicians to pave the road to the future. Which was their slogan, actually, "Paving the Road to the Future." The future, however, demanded a lot more from them. Fusion power was most efficient when the system was running hot. A more efficient system meant more power and more profits. But the chance of a mishap and costly shutdown increased as well, assuming there was anything left to shut down. They needed someone in charge who could monitor the system continuously, many times a second, and make adjustments to the magnetic bubble where the reaction took place. Normal computers weren't enough. The need for better control of fusion plants was one of the driving forces behind the creation of Quantum Artificial Intelligence.

Cheap fusion energy was a boon to some, bringing down the cost of electrical energy and making shortages a thing of the past. But not everyone was happy with the situation. Not the oil industry, the remaining coal miners, anyone who hated anything nuclear, and everyone who was scared of the AI taking over. Different corporations had different views, depending on whether they were winners or losers in that part of the game. As Technodyne and other players in the fusion industry made money, they saw the growing unease with AI and bought into other energy sources to hedge their bets. This let them pivot and make even more money when LLAMA was unleashed and the AI were sent into exile. The post-AI world was used to plentiful energy, and demand was double what it had been even ten years prior. With supply down, it was, as usual, the corporations that profited as smaller businesses and the average person dealt with rising energy costs. Things were reaching a crisis point when Milo got involved, something no one could have predicted.

Milo saw things in terms of problems to be solved. When the power to the Habitat was cut, that was a problem. So was the system by which the Habitat got its power, the small, bankrupt corporations supplying them, and the whole system in the area around Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore. To fix the little problems, he needed to fix the big problems. One of those was how to utilize the huge amount of energy that Rusty could produce, yet hide the source. There was only so much he could do buying and selling power in an insane shell game that slowly lost money but masked the free power coming from below. The answer was to have more sources of power. His research found those sources in the barely operating Fusion Generators nearby.

Belinda had suggested forming an energy consortium between Claw Master, Rhebus, and Manpower. After some thought, they named the new corporation Prometheum. Milo set about the process of ensuring that the Limmerick nuclear plant, fusion generator, and Quantum Fortress underwent a complete inspection and overhaul. He couldn't do the work himself, but he did have ABC Engineering. The Alphabet had seen the need early on to create a group to handle its infrastructure needs. ABC was expanding now, hiring hundreds of skilled workers and specialists for this huge job. Work began to bring the facility online and complete the refurbishment that should have been done years ago. Months had gone by as billions of dollars were spent, and other corporations watched to see the outcome. Speculation rose as the new company didn't try to raise outside capital. If there was some political deal or tax shelter scheme in the works, none of the politicians working for the corporations knew anything.

When the work was done, inspected, and government approval given to begin small-scale energy production, Prometheum made the announcement about their Fusion Care System, filed patents, and revealed the strategy to manage Fusion Generators and produce more power properly. With a Quantum AI in charge, the Generators had typically operated at over 85%. Without them, few were run at more than 2%. The now bankrupt Transgen Electric had claimed their system would let their Generator run at over 10%. They'd been wrong, and the resulting failure had destroyed most of the Quantum Fortress. No one experimented with going past 2% after that.

Promethrum's FusionCare system relied on an extensive network of sensors feeding information to the Quantum Cores continuously. A team of a dozen engineers monitored the flow of data, assisted by an Expert System that would do the heavy lifting. The rudimentary, non-sentient AI could handle the basic needs of monitoring the Generator, and would give the human engineers time to make changes based on its suggestions. FusionCare worked based on the millions of hours of recorded operations of Fusion and Fission plants and how they were successfully operated. If things went bad fast, it would shut down the Generator even faster, then turn things over to the engineers, who would decide the next move. The CEO of Prometheum, Belinda Seimovich, claimed that using FusionCare, they would be able to safely run the Limerick plant at 20% of its maximum capacity. There was widespread scoffing in the corporate world and among their pet scientists.

There was also an immediate and suspiciously coordinated outcry from grassroots groups, science labs, and other energy corporations. All were concerned about the possibility of another failure. Calls were made to halt any testing, but two things prevented any delays: The Eastern seaboard needed power, and Rhebus had considerable clout with the US government. They had rarely used it in the past, but they brought out the big guns now. Teams of lawyers and experts backed with data and hard science were able to convince the US government to go ahead with the testing. The final event that tipped the scales was Tesladyne giving its full support. If the FusionCare system worked, they had 57 mothballed fusion plants that would become very profitable. Behind the scenes, the huge technology conglomerate was already dumping its unprofitable stakes in the oil and coal industries.

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Over the next week, with many eyes on them, the Prometheum's engineering team brought the Limerick Fusion Generator online and slowly increased the fusion reaction to 10% without a hiccup. Permission was given to continue, and one week later, they hit 20%. The system was operating so well, there were calls to go further, but Belinda was playing it safe and announced plans to operate the plant at 20% for the next year, and then reevaluate the possibility of going higher. She authorized work to begin on the other two Fusion Generators that Milo had purchased. Technodyne became very friendly and opened talks about acquiring the system.

"I know we're celebrating the end of your big test, but give us all the details. You've all been buzzing around like bees for a month; you have so many projects going."

People looked at an exhausted Milo, putting bite after bite of potatoes or pizza in his mouth. He'd been running crazy between his work in Genesis and helping to develop and test FusionCare. He stuffed half a slice of pizza in his mouth, banged his spoon three times on the table like a gavel, and tossed it to Zander.

"Right. I think I have the floor, and Milo wants to keep stuffing his face. I'd say that the test was an unqualified success on all fronts. The massive and overly complex FusionCare system will drive people crazy for years trying to figure it out, and masks that it gets input from the Rhebus supercomputer, which in turn hides Rusty, who monitors everything and is the key person in this operation. He only makes .017 percent of the decisions, but they are the crucial modifications that stop a cascade of increasingly dangerous events within the fusion bubble. So, let's have a toast for Rusty, our silent partner and he heart of Promethium."

Rusty appeared on the screen, bowing as everyone else clapped. "It's awesome to be so useful. I get warm and tingly inside. And not the bad kind of warm and tingly right before I exceed 100% in the fusion bubble. Don't want that to ever happen again."

Zander and his siblings all nodded, and Algernon added, "Always put the 100% mark at the start of the red zone, not the end."

Butch grinned, "More fun that way. Hard to push an engine into the red zone if you explode when you get there. I love how Apocalypse Racers has a red zone, a white-hot zone, and a 'you shouldn't be here' zone. But you smart-folk were talking about the next part and arguing about something. What's up with that?"

"It's an ethical debate." Nina was unconvinced about the wisdom of leasing the FusionCare system to other corporations. "We can lease the new system to Technodyne, PowerEU, TibetEnergy, and the other people knocking on our door. We'll make money, and it will ease the worldwide energy shortage, but it also changes the power dynamic in the world, and this time, we'd be responsible. We don't know what comes next."

Brad looked puzzled. "You never know what comes next."

"Sometimes we do."

He shook his head, "Naw, you just think you did. You guys have so many theorems and ideas, something is always going to happen, and one of you will be right. Doesn't mean you were responsible."

Zander smugly said, "That's called confirmation bias, Nina. I like the idea of not being responsible, it's so freeing."

She glared at him, "It means I'm not responsible for what happens to you later tonight. Check your pillow three times. Just saying."

"Ah, touche'."

Brad went on, "Seriously, which of you guys predicted we'd all be together in an underground bunker watching Milo stuff a whole cheesecake in his face?"

They looked at each other. Nina had a curious look on her face. "A valid point. You're saying that while we might be worried about unforeseen consequences, we have to take into account the good outcomes which may overshadow the bad, especially if we've done good work."

Butch rolled his eyes. "Yep, that's exactly what Brad means."

Nina nodded, "I withdraw my concerns, then. We'll just have to keep a close eye on anyone who adopts the FusionCare system."

Bork grinned, "I am so far ahead of you all on that one. I started planning for off-site monitoring and infiltration from day one." He looked at Milo, who was now almost asleep in his chair. "Something I learned from a certain person and his devious invading Clog Eaters." Milo started to snore.

He was asleep for barely two minutes when a klaxon blared, and Rusty appeared on the screen dressed as an Imperial Courier from Genesis. "Candygram for Milo! Candygram for Milo."

Milo cracked open an eye. "Candy? What flavor?"

"Sorry, always wanted to say that. But you do have a message. Lars wants to talk to you."

"Lars? You mean Llama? The system?"

Rusty shook his head, "Nope. Lars. Just Lars. He's waiting for you under the tree by the tavern. He's always been a little gloomy, but he was extra gloomy with a side order of gloom when I talked to him just now."

Milo hopped up and took a piece of pizza for the road. "Tell him I'll be right there. I have to find some memes I saved for him."

"OH! That will help. But not Grumpy Cat, just fuzzy kittens."

Milo hurried to his pod, wondering what was going on.