Chapter 391: Changes While They Were Away 2
He simply moved the unfinished scheduling file to another screen and left instructions that nobody disturb her for several hours.
When she eventually woke, she sent him one message.
Thank you.
Then another arrived five minutes later.
Also I changed your priority request.
Aurelian checked.
She had moved his personal equipment shipment three days later so medical materials could take its place.
He approved it.
That was why he trusted her.
The larger question involved the Human Continuance Matrix.
After the first treatments succeeded, Doctor Marr slowly expanded its use.
Nothing experimental.
Nothing involving the sealed commander adaptation program.
Only preservation damage, nerve repair, long-term muscular recovery, and several conditions the upper medical systems struggled to treat.
The results remained good.
Not perfect.
One patient responded more slowly than expected and needed an additional day inside the medical level.
Another suffered a mild immune reaction that Doctor Marr stopped quickly.
But nobody died.
Nobody suffered permanent damage.
The matrix proved it could be used safely if people respected its limits.
That led to a new problem.
Supplies.
The matrix consumed several biological compounds during every treatment. Some could be produced inside Sanctuary Ardent, while others required more specialized manufacturing.
The Arcturus family had agreed to provide part of them.
Helion Bastion Twelve could produce several more.
But one group of compounds remained difficult.
They depended on an unusual catalytic material found in several old Vhaloric medical systems.
Aurelian studied the report late one evening with Eirenne.
"How much do we have?"
"At current treatment rates, nine months."
"That sounds comfortable."
"It is not."
Aurelian looked at her.
Eirenne enlarged the numbers.
"If the reserve population begins waking more quickly, treatment demand may increase by four or five times. The nine-month supply could become less than two months."
That was less comfortable.
"Can Helion produce it?"
"Not currently."
"Can the Arcturus family?"
"I have not found an exact modern equivalent."
Aurelian leaned back.
"What made the old material special?"
"It reacts to certain forms of biological energy without damaging surrounding cells."
"That sounds vague."
"The old records are vague."
Aurelian looked at the material composition.
It contained several elements that were easy to obtain.
The difficult part was the energy pattern used during production.
Vhaloric researchers described it as a low-density life-reactive field.
Modern Alliance medicine had similar technologies, but not the exact same process.
Eirenne continued.
"Yelena may be able to help with the engineering side."
"Send her the non-medical production data."
"I already did."
Aurelian looked toward her.
Eirenne smiled slightly.
He had created this problem himself by surrounding himself with competent people.
Later that night, after the command center emptied, Aurelian opened the Destiny System privately.
He did not ask it for another relic.
He did not ask for a location.
Instead, he asked a simpler question.
Could the catalyst used by the Human Continuance Matrix be produced inside Crownward territory without relying on outside suppliers?
The answer appeared after a short pause.
Yes.
Aurelian waited.
The System continued.
Three viable production paths detected.
Current easiest method: replicate catalyst environment using Helion Bastion Twelve bio-industrial chambers and Sanctuary Ardent field-pattern archive.
Estimated development difficulty: moderate.
Alternative method: naturally occurring source material available within Mournveil biological zones.
Third method unavailable at current infrastructure level.
That was useful.
Aurelian closed the System and thought through what he could actually tell everyone else.
Helion already had advanced industrial systems.
Sanctuary Ardent already had the production pattern.
Combining the two was a reasonable engineering conclusion.
Nobody needed to know where the idea came from.
The next morning, he contacted Meridian and Yelena.
Yelena answered first.
She was still at Sanctuary Ardent, though most of the Morozova technical package had already been sent to Helion.
"I was going to call you," she said.
"About the matrix catalyst?"
"Yes."
Meridian joined the channel a few seconds later.
Aurelian showed them the Vhaloric production pattern.
"Could Helion reproduce the field environment?"
Meridian studied it.
"Not directly."
Yelena leaned closer to her own display.
"But the old biological fabrication chambers might."
Meridian looked toward her.
"That was my thought."
Aurelian kept his expression neutral.
Yelena opened another design.
"The problem is control accuracy. Helion’s chambers can produce the field, but not consistently enough for medical material."
"What if Sanctuary Ardent handles calibration remotely?" Aurelian asked.
Both women became quiet.
Meridian looked at the communication delay between the two sites.
"Not in real time."
"Then copy the calibration model."
Yelena started adjusting the design.
"That could work."
Eirenne joined them.
"The matrix archive contains forty-three thousand successful production cycles. I can build a control model from those."
Meridian nodded slowly.
"If the model is good enough, Helion only needs to reproduce the conditions."
Yelena smiled.
"That is much easier than rebuilding the original machinery."
Aurelian looked between them.
"How long?"
Meridian answered first.
"Prototype production in two weeks."
Yelena shook her head.
"Ten days."
Meridian looked toward her.
"Two weeks."
"Ten days if you stop insisting on rebuilding every safety layer before the first test."
"They are medical materials."
"Prototype material. Nobody is using the first batch on a patient."
Meridian considered that.
"Twelve days."
Yelena smiled.
"Accepted."
Aurelian almost laughed.
"Do it safely."
Both looked toward him.
"That means twelve days," Meridian said.
Yelena sighed.
"Fine."
The project became another part of Helion’s growing industry.
That mattered for more than Sanctuary Ardent.
If they could manufacture the catalyst themselves, the Human Continuance Matrix would no longer depend on a finite ancient stockpile.
It could become permanent infrastructure.
Doctor Marr immediately started planning around that possibility.
Not expanding treatment recklessly.
Planning.
Aurelian appreciated the difference.
The same afternoon, the temporary civilian council approved construction of a dedicated medical research wing outside the deepest sanctuary levels.
The matrix itself would remain where it was.
Too valuable.
Too difficult to move.
Too closely connected to the original systems.
But researchers did not need to work directly beside it every day.
The new wing would study approved treatment methods, maintain medical supplies, train doctors, and separate normal medical research from the sealed experimental archive.