Moonquest: A Journey To The Stars-Chapter 64: Progress Report (I)

Sitting at the table, the group clasped their hands, waiting to inform each other of their respective progress on their subjects.

Titus sat down with his stack of papers, busy ruminating over which design he should pick...

Goblina sat down hunched, her face buried in her pile of bottles, busy giggling and leering at them...

Duncan leaned back in his chair, frowning upon the myriad issues that he had found to be revealing slowly...

Lewis clasped his hands over a pile of reports, his red eyes revealing nothing...

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And Simon...

Well, he's just being Simon

Silence reigned the room, as nobody knew who should start the meeting. Since nobody was willing, Titus looked around the room, before deciding that he would speak first.

"Alright guys (and girl)... Let's start the meeting. Since none of you wusses are willing to speak up, I've decided to go first. Here are some of the designs I've made regarding our space/control station. Have a look y'all..."

Spreading across the table were several drawings, among which three stood out the most:

1– A large rectangular building is standing in the middle of the picture, surrounded by pipes of all sizes entering it. In the centre lay a giant hole, from which a long tubular rocket is seen protruding from.

2– A large domestic sat on top of a hollow tube, covered all around in glass. Going through the side was a long tunnel, upon which a catapult-like launch pad was stationed.

3– A large underground complex sat beneath a launch pad, complete with living quarters, laboratory, farms etc. Atop it was an intricate launching complex, complete with retractable supports, laid out.

"Oooh, so pretty! But..."

Goblina began commenting on the various drawings, but she later trailed off. Duncan also stared at them before realising what made Goblina feel so uncomfortable. "Old man, I don't think this planet's technologically advanced enough to build stations like this..."

Realising he must've slipped up, Titus quickly grabbed back the drawings. "I-I'll fix them real quick. Hey kid, what's your progress so far?"

Titus managed to save himself from slipping up more, by steering the conversation towards Goblina. Puffing her (very flat) chest, she pushed forward her box of beakers. "Here are some of the products I've managed to accrue from the Fractionating Tower. But..."

The group began examining the beakers, reading the placards placed on top of all of them:

Beaker 1 – Light red in colour. Density of fluid is very low, allowing it to somehow float above water. When 10g was lit on fire, it did not even warm the water.

Beaker 2 – A slightly darker red in colour. Density of fluid is very low, but higher than beaker 1, allowing it to somehow able to still make it float above water. When 10g was lit on fire, it barely warmed the water.

Beaker 5 – Light orange in colour. Density of fluid is the same as water, but due to some unknown properties, it still cannot mix with water, causing an awesome water fight. When 10g was lit on fire, it boiled the water in 35 minutes.

Beaker 7 – Dark Purple in colour. The density of fluid is heavier than water, causing water to float to the top. What I find weird here is that the water immediately froze after a couple of minutes, which should not be possible. Using it as fuel was impossible, for the water froze immediately upon contact with the freezing flame. Future experiments should be considered for further usage...

Beaker 10 – Pitch black in colour. Was like a fucking block. Broke the table, even the mithril mixer. Cannot be used as fuel. As an additional observation, beasts avoid the material as soon as they see it. Wonder why...?

Reading some of the observations, the group began frowning. Even Lewis broke his moody behaviour as soon as he read the results, especially beakers no. 7 and 10. Scratching her head, Goblina finished off what she began. "Eheheh... W-well, I could not do more, as the tower is not...perfect, as you say. I still need to fix the kinks before further tests can be done. Also, some of the oils escaped as some sort of gas, cause the air stunk really bad. A-anyways, my parts done, s-so Mr. Lewis, what did you do?"

Without saying a word, he plopped a report on the table, which the group read through, ignoring his rude behaviour.

Duramin – Lightweight in appearance. Its silver sheen makes it an excellent material for reflecting light, as well as transferring heat. Its low density and flexible nature make it an excellent material for building small objects, but it's not suitable for going to space. Also, it's highly reactive; if left untreated, direct contact with air will lead to immediate corrosion. Best if used as an alloy.

Darksteel – As its name suggests, it's metal as black as night. Highly conducive to dark elements, its innate nature allows it to dissipate heat and energy across it very rapidly. However, long-term exposure to it will corrode organic materials to Necromantic state.

Dwarven Steel – This has similar properties to Damascus Steel. They are much tougher and stronger than common Steel, have higher tensile strength, and can withstand much larger loads, perfectly suitable for space voyaging. However, it has very high density, so using this would require either more fuel, or a higher efficient fuel source

Reading through some of the notes, the group were at awe at Lewis's scientific methods. "Umm, so, since many of them are suitable for space faring, which met–"

A sharp glare from Lewis shut Simon up, who raised a valid point. Seeing Lewis still dead-eyed, Simon shrunk to his seat. Duncan merely observed the whole farce, shaking his head all the time. We really need him to snap out of it...

Coughing for attention, Duncan stood up under the stares of all his peers. Silence reigned the room, as they foresaw the next report to be of not good in nature.

"Guys, we're running out of funds, fast."

This bombshell of a news set the while group reeling, even Lewis. "What'd you mean we're running out!? Aren't you the leader of Silvertree Corporation, the fifth largest Merchant Guild in the world!? How come–"

"As you can see, we're running through the raw materials for our experiments, fast. To boot it all of, they're all fucking expensive! So we need a plan, and a plan fast, to combat this situation! Any ideas y'all...?"

The room renianed silent, as each and every one of them began contemplating ways to combat this dire situation. Just when Dunca began losing hope, Goblina stood up.

"Ooh! I know, I know! We should do–"

SCREECH!!!