Days later, Rilke sank back into an endless pile of documents. whenever fatigue set in, the memory of that cruel, destined coincidence from four years ago would rise like a hallucination.

  ?When he and Arhen had tried to report the disc to the military, they hadn't known where to go. They had aimlessly walked into a small neighborhood recruitment center. The recruiting officer had smiled strangely as he listened to the dusty astronomer babbling about a golden disc. With a polite, business-like attitude, he gave Rilke the address of Army Intelligence. That was the first moment Rilke became a cog in the massive machine of the military.

  ?Sometimes, he wondered. What if he had gone straight to the Academy instead? Rilke would have already been a hero recorded in history. But he hadn't wanted to remain a mere 'Discoverer.' Seeing the binary code, he had arrogantly believed he could decode it. He wanted to be the 'Decipherer' who fully read extraterrestrial intelligence with Arhen. The military had pierced right through that secret desire, using Rilke as the face to build justification for this massive project.

  ?Back then, Ernst, then a colonel in the Engineering Corps, had offered a sweet promise while seating Rilke as the team leader.

  ?"When the experiment is over, we will build a giant observatory, your lifelong dream, in your hometown of Makim Desert. The clear sky there will be entirely yours."

  ?But that promise remained as distant as a desert mirage. Instead of an observatory, a massive circular accelerator and military trenches now filled the Makim Desert. The observatory and beautiful formulas were gone. Every day, he wondered if this was what the Disc-Senders had intended.

  ?Just then, the heavy silence broke as the office door opened.

  ?"Greetings. I am Colonel Hori, appointed as the General Manager of the project."

  ?A tall, bulky soldier with the bearing of a warrior entered Rilke's office. Rilke looked at him with displeasure. However, he wasn't rude enough to ignore a formal greeting from a stranger; it was a habit ingrained from years of valuing peer reputation and joint research as a scholar.

  ?"Greetings. I am Rilke, Presidential Scientific Advisor. I was informed. I heard you are quite capable."

  ?Rilke simply extended a fist for a greeting.

  ?"You flatter me. I know you must be uncomfortable with a soldier meddling in a scientific project. But this is wartime. Please understand that this project is deemed essential for the war effort."

  ?Hori wrapped his hand around Rilke’s fist and pulled it slightly—a warrior's greeting.

  ?"Rather than that, I am concerned that this project is moving too fast, in a military fashion. Frankly, there are aspects of the mathematical results from the electromagnetic integration equation that worry me."

  ?"Which parts?"

  ?"Our mathematician will explain."

  ?Rilke called Pardin, who was waiting outside the door. He placed the documents he was holding on the desk.

  ?"If we expand the electromagnetic integration equation, the light we know is ultimately an electromagnetic wave. Expanding on that means wavelength carries energy. And that applies to heat sources as well," Pardin said.

  ?"What does that mean?"

  ?"It means that if we extend the wavelength to the extreme, unknown wavelengths could emerge from high heat sources."

  ?"I still don't quite understand. I am an engineer, not a scientist," Hori said, frowning.

  ?"That is why the military shouldn't intervene. We don't know what problems those wavelengths might cause."

  ?To Rilke's statement, Hori replied with a hint of cynicism.

  ?"That is merely a result derived from a formula. Even if it is mathematically derived, we don't know if it has physical significance. We don't even know if the electromagnetic induction formula is correct, do we?"

  ?"That is why verification is needed."

  ?"I agree on that. To verify, you need us first. Experiments of this scale are difficult for civilians. I came to help you, Advisor."

  ?Hori spoke calmly.

  ?Rilke sighed. He tapped the construction schedule and experimental plan Hori had brought.

  ?"But this scale is too large."

  ?"What does the mathematician think? About the scale of the experiment?"

  ?Sudden question made Pardin’s skin flush slightly red.

  ?"If Cognate Elements truly exist due to neutron differences, calculations suggest we need at least this much centrifugal force."

  ?Hori looked back at Rilke, seeking agreement.

  ?Rilke sighed again. It was a conclusion already reached mathematically, leaving no room for rebuttal. But the problem was what came next.

  ?"But a collision experiment with the same facility? Isn't that focusing too much on efficiency?" Rilke asked Hori.

  ?"I read the report too. It states that the reason mass-energy equivalence reactions don't occur in our world is due to electromagnetic repulsion," Hori replied effortlessly.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  ?Numerical issues or theoretical excavation might be the scholars' domain, but execution was a different beast. Rilke had to gauge when this report had been leaked. Since the project began, the military's response speed had been chilling. They always secured the contents of new reports almost simultaneously with him, before the Presidential briefing. Sometimes, they even brought research data faster than he did. It felt like playing a spy game with the military, and he was losing.

  ?"That reads as if it's possible if we collide them with enough force to overcome that repulsion?"

  ?That point had been debated heavily within the institute as well. But no one knew if it was right or wrong, or even if it was right, how fast or how much force was needed.

  ?"High-speed collisions usually result in shattering from impact force, not metals suddenly merging. That is common sense. If that were possible, most piston engines we know would have fused together."

  ?"That might be because they weren't fast enough or the method was wrong. Rather, if there is enough time for kinetic energy to transform into thermal energy during a high-speed collision, I believe that thermal energy will overcome the repulsion."

  ?Hori brought out data mobilized from engineers in the Engineering Corps.

  ?"Therefore, we will build a circular accelerator for supersonic acceleration. We have selected a site suitable for Mach 10 with a radius of about 15 pertars."

  ?Rilke acknowledged his drive, but the process made him frown. The entire experiment had been decided without consulting him.

  ?"Understood for now. Let's separate the Cognate Elements with the circular accelerator first. We'll think about the rest later. However, we will decide the subsequent methods and schedules. As you said, the military is here to help us."

  ?Rilke couldn't guarantee if drawing this line would be effective. But he knew it was the best he could do. He thought he should instruct Pardin, the pure mathematician, not to share data with the military anymore. His mathematical interpretation was brilliant, but this was now politics. They were struggling just to research, let alone create logic to counter the logic created by the military's massive human resources.

  ?After everyone left and the door closed, a heavy silence filled the office.

  ?Rilke buried himself deep in his chair and closed his eyes.

  ?At times like this, he missed his days as an astronomer. Funds were scarce, but research was possible. Now, resources were more abundant than ever, yet he couldn't do anything he wanted.

  ?Amidst these thoughts, a letter from Arhen on his desk caught his eye. A smile crept onto his face at the sight of a letter from his old colleague. He remembered his realization from months ago when he saw the mass-energy formula and the electromagnetic equation on the disc.

  ?Soldiers saw strategy in these formulas; politicians saw infinite Steam power. Rilke, however, saw the answer to humanity's age-old question regarding Alisor, the central star that had sent its red light unchanged for hundreds of millions of years.

  ?He had sent the discovered formulas, solutions, and equations to Arhen along with Alisor's spectral data. Despite the military intervention, Arhen was treated as a co-discoverer, so exchanging research data passed censorship. Amidst the whirlwind schedule, he had even forgotten he asked for a formula review, but his faithful colleague hadn't.

  ?Rilke opened the thick envelope. True to his blunt nature, Arhen skipped formal pleasantries and listed formulas straight away. Rilke read the letter, taking the formulas as greetings.

  ?It was an intellectual freshness he hadn't felt in a long time.

  ?After passing through several new mathematical techniques, the conclusion to his hypothesis appeared at the end.

  ?'Friend, you have now become the second Garenian in history to know why Alisor continues to burn red.'

  ?A thrill ran through his body at Arhen's final comment. It was the thrill of a scholar, something he hadn't felt in ages. He wondered if this was exactly what the Disc-Senders had intended.

  ?Then, a thought struck him. It was the answer to the part that had kept him anxious.

  ?'If a star shines as a result of mass-energy equivalence, then light emitted when raising the temperature to that of a star will share the same properties as light resulting from mass-energy equivalence.'

  ?The danger caused by wavelengths emitted in high-energy environments. A method to verify it vaguely came together.

  ?Rilke immediately searched the government HR recommendation list for an expert in high-speed Steam vehicles and found a man named Pollack. He called HR right away.

  ?Ten days later, upon receiving word that Pollack was joining, Rilke began designing the experiment. The most critical part was simulating the planetary surface temperature and measuring the light emitted from it.

  ?Pollack had the stereotypical look of an engineer Rilke imagined. Slightly rough around the edges, but always kind and meticulous when spoken to. And intensely focused on what he knew. When Rilke first met him after he cleared security procedures and oaths, Pollack approached and extended a red, hot fist. Rilke didn't hesitate; he grabbed the palm and pulled firmly.

  ?"I've never seen anything this complicated. Felt like I was detained for three days. They interviewed me ten times."

  ?His ears trembled—pururu—blue, as if signaling relief at last. It seemed hard for him to control his emotions; though not his face, his hands were flushed red, and faint steam rose from his body.

  ?"It is not only work that requires that much security, but it is also critical. It could decide the direction of the war."

  ?Rilke said, patting him on the back.

  ?"History has rarely been changed by new weapons," Pollack grumbled slightly.

  ?"This will change history from now on."

  ?Rilke handed him a summarized report.

  ?"Take your time reading it. If there's anything you don't understand, I'll explain."

  ?Pollack nodded and began reading quietly. By the second page, his flushed hands had cooled. They seemed to tremble slightly. By the fifth page, his eyes shone coldly, and his reading speed increased. It seemed to be the section on mathematical proof. He quickly flipped through a few pages backward.

  ?At 5 cells, his foot tapped the floor—tak tak—as if thinking. By about 10 cells, he had read almost to the end of the summary, and at some point, he tilted his head.

  ?"So, what is it that you want?" Pollack asked Rilke.

  ?"Risk assessment in high-temperature processes."

  ?"That is already in commercial manuals. I don't think you'd hire someone like me just for that."

  ?Rilke cleared his throat.

  ?"I want at least double the temperature of the highest Hemolysis Point. Is that possible?"

  ?Pollack thought for a moment, then nodded.

  ?"You're talking about high-temperature compression, not just high heat."

  ?Rilke sensed that Pollack was the type who strictly worked within his field. Prepared to explain the temperature context from an astronomer's perspective, Rilke was surprised by the simple answer.

  ?"Plus, we need equipment to observe it. For temperature measurement and light intensity."

  ?"When do I start?" Pollack asked, standing up.

  ?"Start now. And please, as fast as possible."

  ?Rilke wanted to eliminate the risk factors before the military finished separating the Cognate Elements and proceeded with the collision experiment.

  ?"You aren't asking why it's needed," Rilke remarked.

  ?"I'll hear that later," Pollack replied simply. "For now, let me show you a sketch of what immediately comes to mind."

  ?He quickly drew a process of adiabatically compressing Steam extracted from a Hemolysis Point to raise the temperature by three times.

  ?"How many stages of this are possible?"

  ?"Depends on the material settings, but if we purely repeat this process and exchange heat, I think up to five times the Hemolysis Point temperature is possible. In temperature terms, about 1200 Gels."

  ?Rilke gauged that temperature. It was higher than the estimated core temperature of Alisor. He thought that would be enough.

  ?He organized his thoughts for a moment, then nodded.

  ?"We need to observe the characteristics of the light emitted at that temperature. How much safety distance is needed, and..."

  ?Rilke paused, then continued.

  ?"...how dangerous it actually is."