469 And Answers They Shall Have
“Any questions?” Aron asked.
With that, every reporter in the audience raised their hands, all of them eager to ask the first question the emperor would answer since his investiture.
Aron wasted no time in casually pointing to a random reporter in the audience. “You, ask.” He was obviously still dissatisfied with the media and wouldn’t bother treating them kindly at the moment.
“Thank you for the opportunity, Your Majesty.” The reporter bowed, then asked, “How will the effects from Ceres gravity be mitigated so they don’t have any impact on the tides and weather?”
“We’ll use the same technology that you saw in the rescue ships following the terrorist attacks. Our researchers discovered artificial gravity some time ago, and that opened up an entirely new branch of physics dedicated to manipulating gravitational fields. Part of Ceres has already been prepared for habitation, and the internal structure reinforcements and walls all incorporate gravity plating, which allows the controller to manipulate Ceres’ gravity well. Thus, it will have no effect on Earth’s weather or tides,” Aron explained.
“Next question.” He randomly chose another reporter to ask their question..
“How long will the space elevator construction take, and what safety measures will be implemented to protect it from the debris field in orbit?”
The entire audience was teleported to space, giving the reporters the fright of their lives before they remembered the briefing room was in the VR simulation. "As you can see, you’re currently in high orbit above Earth. If you look down, you’ll notice that almost 95% of the debris has been cleaned up. By the time the elevator reaches the planet’s surface, the remaining debris will all be cleaned out as well. But to protect from things like micrometeor impacts and other junk that may accumulate over time, Our researchers have developed an alloy capable of withstanding the impact of debris. Otherwise, how do you think the vessels that We launched into the asteroid belt got there?
“Regarding the length of the construction process, it will last around three months after Ceres arrives in geosynchronous orbit. Most of that time will be spent hollowing it out and testing the organics in its makeup to ensure they aren’t harmful to humanity, and if they are, eliminating or recycling them using chemical processes to convert them to a beneficial, or at least non-harmful, substance. So the exact length of time it takes to build it depends on the test results, but We anticipate no more than ninety days from start to finish.”
(Ed note: Organic chemistry is basically modern-day wizardry. If you’re interested, check out NileRed on YouTube; he’s a chemist who regularly does incredible things like turn vinyl gloves into grape soda, or toilet paper into alcohol. He’s also done other cool things like making transparent wood and so on. Very much worth a watch.)
Aron randomly pointed to another reporter. “You, speak.”
“Who is doing the construction? Is it the military, or is it being outsourced to one of your companies?”
Apparently, not every bad apple in the media bunch had been caught in the recent purge, as that soon-to-be-ex-reporter had just insinuated that the Emperor of the Terran Empire was abusing his authority, not to mention enriching himself at the citizens’ expense. After all, whether the construction was done by the military or by one of Aron's companies, he would still directly profit from it, giving rise to questions about conflicts of interest and monopolies. The reporter would likely even have directly mentioned that to drum up some profitable controversy, if they weren’t limited to asking questions arising directly from Aron’s prepared remarks.
Aron frowned and made a mental note of that particular reporter before answering, “The construction is being done by Hephaestus Heavy Industries, as ARES currently lacks the manpower and training required to build such a large, intricate structure. Much less building it in high geosynchronous orbit.”
After Aron finished answering, the reporter that asked the question unceremoniously disappeared from the briefing, his press credentials revoked and his continued employment in journalism in limbo pending an investigation into him. Draconian as it may be, the newly formed empire had enough controversy already and didn’t need more people stirring the pot and drumming up negativity in the populace, so “bad” reporters like that one would be plucked from the press pool as they were found.
Aron continued, “In addition to the space elevator, Hephaestus Heavy Industries will also be responsible for the construction of our fortress cities, as well as any other defense-related construction in the future, at least until ARES expands to a point that they can field construction battalions. Next question.” He pointed at another random reporter in the audience.
“What are the chances, if any, of catastrophic failure of the gravity plating, and if it fails, what would the consequences be? What plans are in place to deal with a catastrophic failure to ensure that it doesn't fall out of orbit and impact the planet?”
"The empire has space tugs capable of pulling Ceres out of orbit in case of a catastrophic malfunction. Failing that, there are scuttling charges that ensure that, if it were to suddenly fall out of orbit, it would be broken up into harmless pieces and become nothing but a pretty meteor shower. Still, the chances of that happening are so slim as to basically be zero. Next question..”
“Will citizens be able to watch the capture and orbital insertion as it takes place?”
“Yes, it will be livestreamed to everyone interested in watching it. Humanity’s first space elevator is a milestone in the development of the species, and We plan to handle it with all the pomp and circumstance it deserves.”
The question and answer segment of Aron's press briefing continued until the reporters began repeating questions, or simply rephrasing them and asking them as new ones. Aron, though he was internally furious with the media, continued answering them in great detail, sometimes providing additional visuals that made his answers easily understood by everyone, whether they were knowledgeable in the subject or not.
Finally, the time came for him to end it. “As usual, more information can be found in the Akashic Record for those interested in learning more about our space elevator.”
With that, Aron disappeared from behind the podium, leaving behind billions of curious people and a whole host of online discussions and wars of words.
