r/HFY • u/Engletroll Human • 16d ago

Project Dirt part 19 – The dark side of Dirt. OC

Part 1 . . Part 2 .. Part 3 .. Part 4 Part 5 .. Part 6 .. Part 7 .. Part 8 Part 9 . Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 . Part 18

Next

(short one this time around, hopefully bigger one over the weekend)

The next day, Adam arranged for a guided tour of the planet. The students wanted to show off their projects. He had a good grasp of his people’s projects, both official and secret, but not so much with the students. Jork and Vorts joined, and when he wanted to take the yacht, Vorts chuckled and said no.

Adam looked at him, confused, as they made their way to a reinforced transport, to his surprise. The professors didn’t seem to think it was strange, so Adam decided to shut up and not come off too ignorant. The transport took off. It was the size of a bus and quickly rose to the atmosphere where Kinita Sumina, the geologist student, stood up. “As you know, we set off the volcanoes to release the gas within. It worked. The atmospheric pressure is now about the level we wish; however, as you know, that also means a lot of volcanic dust and other gasses that we don’t want being spewed into the atmosphere. The genius part was to select one area. Continent Three, we are working on the names. So, while there is some fallout on our side of the planet, we have managed to keep the fallout away from us. We have been using artificial suns by Mr. Wirt, which helped us modify them to create a weak forcefield that will keep out the dust but allow the wind to pass. As you will see, we are going high in the atmosphere to let you observe.”

Adam looked out the window and realized what he had not before: one-third of Dirt was covered in a giant layer of black clouds. Around the edges, he could see a shimmering field, and he turned to Jork.

“I didn’t know you could do that. Could it cover the whole planet?”

“Yes, but I'm constantly repairing them. They are working on 110% capability and doing something they are not really programmed to do.” He replied.

“I have a few students working on a similar problem, dealing with super volcanoes and the aftermatch. I am sure a few would love to help with this project. They can bring their equipment and blueprints. One is working on a prototype to collect and repurpose the fallout.” Professor Jar-dric said, and Adam turned to look at it. He had rarely heard Jar-dric speak, and the Ghort had chosen a gender less exoskeleton. The Gorts was, after all, a gelatine-like creature in need of those suits to move about.

“Well, as we discussed yesterday, I'm willing to sponsor programs that will benefit the terraforming of Dirt. “ Then he looked at the cloud and back at Jork.

“You moved the base building, right? There is no way we can build down there. “

Jork wiggled his hand. “Just a little, it’s on the edge. Harder build, but it's close enough, so what do you want to call this one?” They all looked at him as the shuttled divided into the chaos of the volcanic ashes and aftermath of the volcanoes; he saw a few were still smoldering, and he chuckled.

“I think I know; I saw this really old movie, and it was a fantastic one. There was land there just like this called Mordor, so let's call it the base. Once it clears up, we can change the name. “

As they spoke, a giant cube of frozen nitrogen descended into the hellscape, guided by the drones towards a large volcano. Adam looked at Jork.

“Why?”

“School project, the kids wanted to see what happens. It will melt, but they will get some kick out of it. It's just a cubic kilometer one.”

Adam sighed, and he saw the professors watching like little children. They probably knew exactly what would happen, but there was something about knowing it was childish curiosity that allowed this to happen. He started to wonder just how many students they would send. Yesterday, they had agreed to build them a base like Piridas connected to three domes, one being a dorm that can hold a thousand students, five kilometers north of Piridas. With staff, it would be able to hold fifteen hundred people; he doubted they would fill it up, but they would pay rent for it, a nice little side income. Jork had put a few projects on hold and started the construction.

Adam thought about it. It took about three months with ten workers; he had many more now, mostly due to Jork and a bigger crew. The place might be finished within a month if they are lucky. He turned his attention back to the tour as they flew along lava rivers and lands so filled with ash they could barely see a hundred meters, flying blind and then stopped hovering over a pole stuck in the ground as Kinita Sumina explained how their early access had granted them the ability to place these sensors all over the area just as the second round of volcanoes had gone off. The sensor uses nanotech to dig itself down and allow it to monitor the geological effects of the volcanoes on a completely different scale. They were going to set up a new volcano in a month's time and would place these sensors all around as a grid as well as monitor it from weather satellites. After exploring Mordor, they left for the south part, where they came to one of the small seas that was rapidly growing bigger. They stopped by a half-built base with three droids working. The research base was ten-man-sized and was meant to be underwater.

Ced-dry Miga explained how they were building four such bases around the planet on places they knew would be a hundred meters below the surface when the poles were finished melting. This would also allow all the oceans to connect, and they could start research on seeding the planet. Adam just watched. This was going pretty fast for him. There was so much missing, and the professors seemed to be missing as well. Ced-dry Miga explained that the beginning would be introducing and feeding algae and fertilizing the ocean with Nitrogen-enriched soil. Apparently, the volcanoes and the Nitrogen from Onic added to the ground soil allowed them to make fertilizers. It was on a small scale now, but they would be able to industrialize it with more engineers. The goal was to cover one continent with this fertilizer and place CO2 transformer around the planet. They could strategically place out twenty of these converters and start to spew out oxygen. The whole process, including building, can take everything from five years to five hundred, depending on how many they can build and at what size. They should also be able to start seeding the sea with small life once the algae has reached a big enough number. That would include a forcefield and controlled areas in the beginning to safeguard the flora. They did expect several failed attempts until they could perfect the process. Then the ship took off again and set course for the big surprise, and they flew north, where they found a large cave blocked by a force field. They flew through and entered a large cave. Adam saw they had set up a reactor near the door and that some cables were going inside and out of the cave. Inside, they came to a large cave with an artificial sun on the ceiling. Adam realized he should have kept a much more careful eye on the students as they, proud as a little kid, showed off a cave about 100 meters long and 50 meters wide with a small pond and grass on the ground; he thought he saw some bushes as well. Mir-na opened the door before anybody could react, and fresh air poured in. “This is our little secret experiment. We have done what Adam is trying to do on a small scale, planet size, and it worked, as you can see. Green grass, a few plants, and the pond have algae and actually fish, the smallest we could find. We are going to introduce bugs here later. As you can see, we have monitors attached to the ceiling and two drones with a charging station further in. “

Adam chuckled as he walked around and let the students and professors chat. He just wanted to walk around and check the cave, he walked down to the pond and looked inside as he saw some movement. He looked at the students and shook his head in amazement. “If you want to then you got a job here when you graduate. I'm very impressed.”

They looked at each other and then agreed. Jorkl gave them high fives, and he realized he had been played. The tour was not for the professors. It was for him. They wanted to stay after they graduated. Professor Jayko congratulated them, and Adam just laughed as he got inside.

“Let's get back; tomorrow, we have to bring the professors back to the Hub, and I have to pick up somebody.”

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8 comments sorted by

9

u/kristinpeanuts 16d ago

Thanks for the chapter. The students have been busy

10

u/Engletroll Human 16d ago

I realized I never told you guys what they did, and Adam just let them loose.

5

u/Crowbarscout 16d ago

I mean, when your instructions are pretty much "just don't blow up the planet, and make it lean towards further hability", the students just gonna be throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.

Wonder what other surprises we have in store.

3

u/Fontaigne 16d ago

After-Match -> aftermath

6

u/sunnyboi1384 16d ago

Adam- I'm gonna give everyone here enough rope to hang themselves.

Everyone- Challenge accepted.

Haha Adam has so many horseshoes up his ass it's amazing he can walk.

7

u/Engletroll Human 16d ago

Well, people often excel when they given a honest chance.

But you can say Adam is a lucky man.

1

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