commit deab40cfc3014c399e89e1ae80a413699ef407b8 Author: Ren Kararou Date: Wed Sep 14 18:09:43 2022 -0500 flashfire forged on the hardest of days and the darkest of nights diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..567609b --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +build/ diff --git a/Jenkinsfile b/Jenkinsfile new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e9e084c --- /dev/null +++ b/Jenkinsfile @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +pipeline { +agent { label 'tex' } + stages { + stage('Build') { + steps { + sh 'make' + } + } + } + post { + always { + archiveArtifacts artifacts: 'build/*.pdf', fingerprint: true + } + } +} diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6fcc83e --- /dev/null +++ b/Makefile @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ +# Build variables +BASEBDIR=./build +BDIR=$(BASEBDIR) +SDIR=./src +BNAME=aetherials-`git show --oneline | head -1 | cut -d" " -f1` +CONF=default.cfg +SOURCE=main.tex +TEMP=templ.tex + +# Author and metadata +# THESE FIELDS MAY NOT CONTAIN ANY SEMICOLONS! +TITLE=Ætherials: a collection of short stories +PENNAME=Liette Faerchild +LEGALNAME=Ren Kararou +PRONOUNS=fae/faer +STREETADDR=1010 Fake Blvd +LASTADDR=Denver, CO +EMAIL=ren@kararou.space +PHONE=(303)555-4202 + +all: pdf cleanbuild timestamp + +timestamp: mkbuild + if [ -f $(BDIR)/$(BNAME).epub ]; then mv $(BDIR)/$(BNAME).epub $(BDIR)/$(BNAME)-`date -u +%d%m%y-%H%M`.epub; fi + if [ -f $(BDIR)/$(BNAME).pdf ]; then mv $(BDIR)/$(BNAME).pdf $(BDIR)/$(BNAME)-`date -u +%d%m%y-%H%M`.pdf; fi + if [ -f $(BDIR)/$(BNAME).docx ]; then mv $(BDIR)/$(BNAME).docx $(BDIR)/$(BNAME)-`date -u +%d%m%y-%H%M`.docx; fi + + +mkbuild: + if [ ! -d $(BDIR) ]; then mkdir -p $(BDIR); fi + +mktemp: mkbuild + if [ ! -f $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) ]; then cp $(SDIR)/$(SOURCE) $(BDIR)/$(TEMP); fi + +wordcount: mktemp + # This only works when you've got + sed -i "s;WORDCOUNT;`cat $(SDIR)/chapters/*.tex | wc -w`;g" \ + $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + +repo: mktemp + sed -i "s;REPO;`git remote get-url origin`;g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + +title: mktemp + sed -i "s;PROJECT;$(TITLE);g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + +phone: mktemp + sed -i "s;PHONE;$(PHONE);g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + +pen: mktemp + sed -i "s;PENNAME;$(PENNAME);g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + # Change the following line's -f# to decide which name to use + # LNAME needs to be the family name. + sed -i "s;SNAME;`echo $(PENNAME) | cut -d" " -f2`;g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + +email: mktemp + sed -i "s;EMAIL;$(EMAIL);g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + +3ppn: mktemp + sed -i "s;PRONOUNS;$(PRONOUNS);g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + +addr: mktemp + sed -i "s;STREETADDR;$(STREETADDR);g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + sed -i "s;LASTADDR;$(LASTADDR);g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + +lname: mktemp + sed -i "s;LEGALNAME;$(LEGALNAME);g" $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) + +template: mktemp wordcount repo title phone pen email 3ppn addr lname + if [ -f $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) ]; \ + then mv $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) $(BDIR)/$(SOURCE); \ + else cp $(SDIR)/$(SOURCE) $(BDIR)/$(SOURCE); \ + fi + +pdf: template + pdflatex -jobname=$(BNAME) -output-directory=$(BDIR) $(BDIR)/$(SOURCE) + +epub: template + tex4ebook -f epub -c $(SDIR)/$(CONF) -j $(BNAME) $(BDIR)/$(SOURCE) + mv $(BNAME).epub $(BDIR) + +word: template + pandoc $(BDIR)/$(SOURCE) -o $(BDIR)/$(BNAME).docx + +spellcheck: + for c in $(SDIR)/chapters/*.tex; do aspell -t -c $${c}; done + +cleanbuild: + rm -rf $(BDIR)/*.log $(BDIR)/*.aux $(BDIR)/*.toc $(BDIR)/$(TEMP) \ + $(BDIR)/$(SOURCE) ./*.opf ./*.html ./*.aux ./*.css ./*.dvi \ + ./*-epub/ ./*-mobi/ ./*.idv ./*.lg ./*.log ./*.toc ./*.xref \ + ./*.4ct ./*.4tc ./*.ncx ./*.tmp $(SDIR)/chapters/*.bak + +clean: cleanbuild + rm -rf $(BASEBDIR) + diff --git a/src/ack.tex b/src/ack.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 diff --git a/src/chapters/arthurian.tex b/src/chapters/arthurian.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..03fd315 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/chapters/arthurian.tex @@ -0,0 +1,230 @@ +The pool wasn't particularly noisy when the highschoolers arrived, but it got noiser after they'd been there for a while. I wasn't particularly a fan of this, my ears being particularly sensitive in the large echo chamber. My two happy children didn't mind the sound at all though. They were too busy playing with the several toys we'd brought to mind the noise. + +I'd positioned us advantageously in one of the four smaller shallower pools for kids. Each pool was denotated with a relief on the wall behind it. There was the bow, the sword, the spear, and the halberd. Of course, my boys chose the sword. Their interest in the sword was probably bolstered by the fact that I trained in various sword techniques and had begun to teach them. + +They were five and six years old, barely old enough to truly begin training in swordplay, but they'd asked me to teach them and I was more than glad to spend more time with them. They were already so good, despite being nowhere near combat ready. In an ideal world, they shouldn't ever have to be combat ready. + +Conflict is such an ugly thing, full of pain and anguish. Almost always needlessly so. It takes so much out of a person to knowingly harm another person. + +My thoughts left me as I regained my focus on the two wonderful boys in front of me, playing happily without a care in the world. I smiled, feeling a contentment I always found in my duties as a mother. The innocence of childhood always reigning in my trauma, easing me into a wholeness I never thought properly possible. + +``Mom,'' Aeren, my younger son, called. ``Mom, play with us!'' + +``Oh, and what are we playing?'' I asked. I wasn't rightly sure. Best I could tell, they'd been playing with their toys on their own. Maybe they were asking me to come up with a game. + +``Lets play water swords, mom!'' Elin, my older son, cried. He was clearly excited by the prospect of showing off his skills while there was a large group of older kids around. I shook my head. + +``That sounds much too dangerous to do,'' I reprimanded. ``There's a rule saying we shouldn't run here. To prevent us from slipping and hurting ourselves.'' + +``Awww!'' both boys were displeased with this. Elin was pouting while Aeren nodded understandingly. + +``Besides,'' I laughed, ``I'd hate to have to bring you home to mommy all broken and bruised.'' Not that it would have been a terribly big deal, my wife was a trained doctor, but she'd probably never let us go to the pool alone again. + +After a moment of deliberating, we decided we'd all play with a toy each. Soon we were all splashing and laughing and having fun. It was deeply gratifying. I would never tire of playing with these wonderful boys. + +``Eee!'' I squealed as an unexpected splash landed squarely on me. I looked over at the source and a girl, roughly the age of my own kids, had jumped in the small pool with us. A playful look held on her face asking a simple question: may I join you? + +In response, my boys splashed her at the same time, coming to my rescue. One I didn't need, but they were all having fun moments later with more splashing and squealing. I was so happy. It had been terribly hard for my children to make friends since we'd moved here. + +I took this moment to look around for the girl's parents, but found only chaperones looking after the teenagers. I certainly don't remember her being here when we walked in. The only other person here who could be looking after her was the lifeguard, a twenty-something looking woman. + +Eventually, after the kids settled down enough, I'd convinced everyone to introduce themselves. The girl's name was Altria. It sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure where from. + +``Nice to meet you Altria,'' we all took turns saying. + +``That's a very pretty name,'' I stated, giving her a gentle look. + +``Thank you, ma'am,'' she replied, feigning a curtsy as if she were wearing a big poofy dress. I giggled. + +``Do you have any parents around?'' I asked her. + +A pained look crossed her face as she shook her head, speaking almost too softly for me to hear. ``I don't have any.'' + +My heart pained for her and I nodded, deciding to drop the subject. ``Well, Altria, you can play here with us until your guardian comes to get you.'' + +She literally jumped for joy, her sad face instantly gone. + +``Boys,'' I addressed Elin and Aeren, ``be kind to your new friend.'' + +They both nodded, not fully understanding the life this poor girl must have while clearly deciding that if they didn't comply, something bad would happen. + +I stepped out of the pool and walked over to the small table where I'd set down our things, being mindful of the children. I was glancing over every few seconds to make sure they were all being safe. After I took a drink of water, I began a slow walk over to the lifeguard's stand. + +``Excuse me, ma'am,'' I called up to her. + +She looked down at me for a second before returning her vigilant gaze to the scene before her. ``Yes. She's mine. Thank you for being mindful of her.'' The young woman's voice was gentle yet certain and full of youth but wisened beyond her years. It sent chills down my spine in a deeply uncomfortable way. + +A whistle blew very loudly before one of the chaparones announced that the teenagers were now to return to the locker rooms to head to the next activity on their trip. As this was happening, I couldn't help but look up at the lifeguard again and followed her ever attentive gaze. + +My stomach churned when I saw what she had fixated on. Through the windows lining the far wall there were two men in three peice suits approaching the pool's emergency exit. These two men were being followed by a unit of police officers in full SWAT gear. Among their armaments I counted three shotguns, six assault rifles, and a single sniper. + +I didn't know much about the local police, having just moved here, but I knew generalized versions of the techniques and tactics they used. This wasn't a normal operation, I could tell that much. The way they were approching and the small number of soldiers meant that this was likely a deathsquad. And I knew that more were already on the inside of the building, likely to make their way through the locker rooms to us. + +I ran back to the children, nearly slipping on the wet floor. A normal person probalby would have felt panic in a situation like this, but I was numb. I let the training that was hammered into my routines take over. This wouldn't be my first fire-fight and I hoped to the heavens it would be my last. + +First and foremost, find a defensible position. Along the wall opposite the emergency exit were two sets of doors. One set was right next to us and consisted of two doors that led in to bathrooms. The other set was three doors on the other side of the pool from us, the locker rooms. With the distance I judged the SWAT team to be at, we probably wouldn't make it to the locker rooms before they were inside. + +That meant that the restrooms would be the safer alternative. + +``Alright boys,'' I said in a hushed tone, ``things might get scary for a little bit, but we need to take your friend into the restroom over there.'' I pointed at the restroom closer to the outside wall, hoping there would be a window I could safely exfiltrate them out of. + +``What's going on mom?'' Elin asked, worry in his voice. + +``I'm not sure,'' I answered. + +``Mom, pew pew,'' Aeren said, eyes wide as the goons approached. + +``Let's move,'' I stated, ``we can do this. Altria, sweetheart, you need to come with us.'' + +She nodded and all four of us ran to the restroom. I made sure to grab my bag from its spot on the table in the corner, knowing I may need its contents. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the lifeguard was now holding one of the most iconic sniper rifles in history, or something of its lineage. I wasn't sure where she got it from as it was not a small firearm no matter how big your definition of small was. + +Once we entered the restroom and locked the door, I heard the first shot ring out. All three of the children held their hands tightly over their ears. All I could think about was how it clearly wasn't the big gun the lifeguard had, and my heart sank knowing she had probably just lost whatever fight was going on outside. + +There wasn't anymore gunfire for a moment, but I could hear shouting. I couldn't make out what was being yelled, but it was clearly voices. An exchange of shouts. First a husky male, then the unmistakable and eerie voice of the lifeguard. I was honestly glad the lifeguard wasn't dead. + +I snapped out of my focus on the conversation, working to lock the door behind us, not that it would do much good against these folks. After I had completed that task, I looked around the room. Unfortunately, there was no window, which meant no escape option. + +I sighed the deepest sigh I could muster, clearly disappointed, then I looked down at the children, all cowering in the corner furthest from the door. The walls were a solid ten inches of brick, but the door was a flimsy two inches of wood, so where they were now was a danger zone. + +My boys were looking up to me, silently pleading for direction. I nodded, then pointed toward the corner opposite them. Next to the door. It was unlikely bullets would ricochet into that corner, instead embedding into the wall opposite. The issue would be the SWAT sniper. They could have anything from a simple .300 to a full on .50 chambered in that gun. If it was a smaller caliber, it was unlikely to penetrate the wall, but if it were the larger .50, the bullet would punch a hole clean through. + +That meant that the biggest threat to my children was the SWAT sniper, and that left me only one option. My handgun was in my essentials bag, which I had left in the car, this being a firearm free zone according to the signage at the front of the building. I cursed internally, knowing I should have brought it in anyway. + +I disregarded that thought for a moment while I dug through the bag I did have. I found the three pairs of earplugs I had packed that morning. They weren't fancy by any stretch of the word, just being the simple foam kind. I quickly distributed each pair to the children in front of me, borrowing one to show them how to put them on, then returning it so each had hearing protection. + +I put my finger in front of my mouth indicating they should still be silent, then I moved to the other side of the door. I unlocked and opened it slightly so I could see out into the pool. The two suits were by the emergency exit directly across the pool from my vantage point. The SWAT unit was behind them, a few inside the pool room, but most outside, huddled around the emergency exit that was now propped open. + +``We're just after the girl,'' one of the suits said, ``you know we don't care about you.'' + +``I don't care,'' the lifeguard shouted. In the serene cool of my addrenaline fueled perception, her voice no longer sounded eerie. It sounded almost desperate. There weren't a lot of good defensible positions in the very open room of the pool. ``You can't kill her.'' + +My addrenaline high buzzed as the man laughed. ``Well, I only see one of you, no girl, and several of us. Where's that little brat hiding anyway?'' + +``Eat a dick, Morgan,'' the lifeguard replied. Whatever the man was about to say was cut off as his head exploded and the room was filled with the massive concussive sound of the anti-material rifle. My ears rang as the entire room reverberated with the sound. + +The police were stunned, momentarily unable to take action, several of them wiping their helmets of the blood and viscera that used to be the suit's head. But it didn't last long as another concussive bang erupted out of the rifle. This time the sniper, somewhere at the back of the group, fell to the ground, a cone of blood covering the grass beyond his body. + +It was at that moment that my panic started to come into focus. I had three kids, no way to defend them, and a small army the next room over. Our only hope was a completely unarmored lifeguard who had maybe ten seconds before she was pumped full of holes and lead despite the very big gun she held. + +``Mom, pew pew.'' Elin's voice pulled me out of my dark spiral long enough for me to see that he was pointing at my feet. A silver case was sitting open there, even though it clearly hadn't been there moments before. + +``Merlin,'' Altria whispered, smiling the biggest grin. + +Inside the case was an AR15, not fully automatic like the goons outside had, but that didn't matter becaue I had to be careful with the thirty rounds in each of the four magazines enclosed in the box. Relief flowed over me. I'd been in a lot of bad situations, but never without even a knife. + +I pulled each of the magazines out, securing two to my hips using the sides of my bikini bottom. The third went into the front of my bikini top, and the fourth went into the gun. I released the action to chamber the first bullet of the magazine. + +``Boys,'' I commanded calmly, ``I need you to lock me out.'' + +``No mom,'' Aeren said, ``don't leave us.'' + +``You're safer if I do,'' I said, kneeling down and kissing my children's foreheads. ``I'll be back. I promise.'' + +``Mom,'' Elin said, tears in his eyes, ``we love you.'' + +``I love you both more than the world.'' + +They both smiled that sorrowful smile through tears. It shattered my heart but I didn't have any intention of dying. I'd faced off with worse odds and come out unscathed. Now that I was armed, I had hope. Now that I had hope, I was unstoppable. + +I swung the door open about half way and stepped through it, making sure it closed behind me. I heard the lock thunk behind me and stepped toward the center of the room to avoid leading any stray bullets towards the children. A small, but crucial step in ensuring they were safe. + +Once I was sure that any bullets aimed at me wouldn't hit the restroom I started squeezing off rounds, counting each one. The first three rounds missed their mark, erring to the left by about six inches. The sights needed adjusted, but I didn't have the time to mess with them. It was workable. + +The next three shots landed. Two hit one of the SWAT officiers carrying a shotgun taking them down and out. The third hit another officer's armoured vest, knocking them back a step. + +Unfortunately for me, my next few shots missed entirely, as the officers started to target me. I wasn't sure how the lifeguard did it, but she was merely standing atop her tower completely unscathed. The bullets were simply moving around her. + +Of course, luck was never on my side. I hadn't been hit yet, but I felt a few bullets fly uncomfortably close. I was definitely going to take some lead, as there wasn't any cover to hide in. It was unavoidable, but as long as I was still breathing in the end it probably didn't much matter. + +Bullet wounds weren't the worst thing that could happen. + +I didn't really have time to let my thoughts wonder, though. The sound of gunfire was making the cavernous pool room a nightmare for my poor ears. Every time I pulled the trigger, no matter how good my aim was, my unprotected ears were ringing even harder. + +Squeezing off more rounds, I only hit armoured vests or open air. It was as if the bullet was deflected mid-flight, a feat aparantly not reserved exclusively by the lifegaurd. This enemy was unlike anything I'd ever faced before. + +I released the magazine after the last bullet was chambered, quickly replacing it with the one sticking out of my top. I squeezed several more rounds off, finally striking another officer. That made a total of four down and eight remaining. + +And that assumed my hunch earlier was wrong and there wasn't another unit making its way through the locker rooms. A bullet flew past me from the wrong direction. I glanced over and saw a few more officers poking their rifles out from the locker rooms. + +Of course, I had to jynx it just by thinking. + +I turned my attention to the new front. It left my back exposed to the previous threat, but I figured the lifeguard had them under suppressing fire, so it shouldn't be a terribly big issue, especially if I put myself directly between the two groups. + +Alas, my figuring was wrong: both groups were perfectly fine with potentially hitting eachother. A bullet hit me, flying clean through my leg below the knee. I toppled to the ground as the splintering bone shattered beneath my weight. + +I momentarily lost consciousness as my head bounced against the textured concrete floor. When I came to, my head felt like it had cracked. Which is to say, it was an almost blinding pain. + +Looking around for my weapon, I found myelf at a loss. It had probably fallen in the pool. Never once had any effort gone this wrong for me. Especially not so close to where I lived. + +I looked around, feeling in my bones, or at least what was left of them, that it would be the last scene I'd ever see. I looked over at the shallow pools where my kids and I had just been having the time of our lives just minutes earlier. + +The reliefs on the wall really stuck out. They appeared to be glowing. The more I took them in, the more they were speaking to me. In my minds eye, I saw each of them. Legendary weapons in their own rights, but the one that really stuck out was the sword. + +The sword was a beautiful thing. Unmistakably divine in origin. Only one sword like it in existence. It was Caliburn, better known as the Sword in the Stone. It all became immediately crystal clear. An arthurian tale unfolding before my eyes. + +Altria was simply a variant of the name Arthur. And the young girl had said the lifeguard's name, Merlin. That meant that the forces that were responsible for shattering my leg were none other than those of Morgan le Fae. + +And I was looking directly at Caliburn the legendary sword. It looked so real that I decided to reach for it. What I didn't expect was to feel it. It had an actual weight to it I couldn't quite bring myself to expect, but the moment it was in my grasp, my entire body felt weightless. All of my pain faded instantly and I felt an immense power at my fingertips. + +I had torn a sword out of the fabric of the universe. A legendary sword. \emph{The} Legendary Sword. + +The world materialized around me. I was standing right where I had been laying a moment before. My leg, no longer shattered, was holding my weight, even as I felt weightless. My head felt funny though, like I had more there than I used to. Something had apparently unlocked in the soft fleshy folds of my brain. + +Pointing my index finger at the officers in the locker rooms, I unleased some of that unlocked power toward them. Lightning shot from my fingertip to the first officer in the lineup, then chained from one officer to the next until there were none left in the chain. They had fallen flat on their faces, not a one even conscious. Most were probably dead. + +I turned my attention to those that had initially threatened the safety of my children. The fear in the eyes of the suit struck me as funny. He had moved to the back of the group earlier during the fire fight. Now he was running, unable to contain the horror he felt in his soul. + +The officers tried to stop me as I moved, nearly lightning fast, to pursue the suit. Their attempts rang futile as I raised my palm toward them and unleashed a torrent of fire. I pitied them for just a moment as I watched their clothes melt to their skin. + +Conflict was messy. It was awful. It was almost always evil. Right now though? For the first time in my life, it was righteous. Maybe it was even justified. They'd tried to kill an innocent little girl. They'd put my family at risk. + +And ya know what, to top it all off, they fucked up a perfectly good day at the pool with my kids. + +Fuck 'em. They could burn to hell. + +Once I stepped over the pile of burning SWAT officers and through the threshold of the emergency exit, I took a breath of fresh air to clense my lungs of the chlorine, sweat, gun powder, and blood. The air tasted of an almost idylic fresh-cut sweet grass. + +But that didn't distract me from my mission. I couldn't let an agent of Morgan le Fae escape, lest my children's only friend be hunted further. I couldn't let that happen, she was such a sweet little girl. + +Looking around, I found the suit to be off in the distance. He was trying desperately to unlock a car, his hands too shakey to properly insert the key. I was on him in a second. + +``I am Elaine, Protector of The Sword and mother of two.'' My voice had more depth to it than it should have, but I didn't care, it sounded cool as hell. ``Fear my wrath.'' I plunged the sword into his chest. + +My next priority was checking on the kids. Once I got back inside the pool room, I sighed a huge sigh of relief when I saw that the outer wall of the restroom was free of bullet holes. My tactical sense prevailed again. + +I knocked on the door. ``Elin, Aeren, its mom, you can open up.'' + +The door unlocked, Altria walking out calmly. ``They're in there asleep. I figured it would be better if they didn't have to remember all the guns going off.'' + +``And its better that you do?'' I asked her. + +``I'm used to this by now,'' she said, her voice unsteady. + +I wrapped her in a hug that even my boys would be jealous of. ``Its okay to cry sweety. Its unhealthy to keep all those emotions inside.'' + +``You sound like Merlin.'' + +``Maybe Merlin is just as smart as I am.'' + +She deadpanned, ``I don't think you're very smart.'' + +I laughed. ``Yeah, I did make a lot of stupid decisions in a very short period of time.'' + +``I'll wake up Elin and Aerin now.'' + +``No, that's okay.'' I said, securing Caliburn to my side and entering the restroom. My boys were sleeping soundly huddled together in the corner. + +I smiled seeing them so peaceful after such a horrible ordeal. + +Tears spilled from my eyes as I picked them up, laying each of their heads on my shoulders. I could feel their heartbeats against my chest. I sobbed as feelings of love and relief overwhelmed me. + +Exiting the bathroom, I passed between the smaller pools and the larger pool. The water was stained a deep crimson, blood was still making its way to the pools from the corpses littered around the room. I was greatful that I had survived, my near defeat still fresh in my mind. + +I stepped over the corpses, no longer burning, in the emergency exit and out to the fresh air. The grass covered hill behind the pool looking as if the grousome battle hadn't just taken place. The grass waved under a gentle breeze. + +Reaching the other side of the hill to obscure the pool from sight, I gently laid my sons down in the grass. Their breathing was steady and calm. I calmly surveyed the area, ensuring we were entirely safe before laying down next to my children. + +Altria and Merlin laid down near us. Merlin was holding the small Altria tightly in her arms. They were both silent, but I could see the tears streaming down their faces. + +Eventually, we were all crying, my boys having woken up and cuddled into me. + diff --git a/src/chapters/thedatacentre.tex b/src/chapters/thedatacentre.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..956a2ea --- /dev/null +++ b/src/chapters/thedatacentre.tex @@ -0,0 +1,176 @@ +As I stood there, in the middle of a field, I wondered what exactly to expect. This was the right address, I'd triple checked before leaving and then checked again once I'd arrived. The only indications that this place held anything other than a field of Colorado-native grasses and plants was the small shed. But there wasn't enough here to be able to tour one of the top ten super computing facilities in the nation. + +I'd lined up so many contacts, pulled in so many favours, just to be able to be the first reporter inside this facility. I didn't want to miss the story because I got the wrong address. I sighed and checked my phone again, hoping for any new messages that would indicate I was in the right spot. + +``Hello, you must be Azalea,'' a soft voice greeted me. I startled and looked around. A beautiful dragon-wolf hybrid had emerged from the shack. + +``Yes,'' I replied, ``I am she. You must be Ræn.'' + +The hybrid nodded, and motioned me inside. Cool air blew my hair back as I entered the shed. + +``You never mentioned your facility was underground in your correspondance,'' I noted quietly, ``I was worried I had come to the wrong place.'' + +``Its,'' fae trailed off, lost in thought for a moment, ``there are a number of things you must understand. We only have an acre here at the research lab, but we've worked extensively with engineers to ensure our facility is more efficient than we can show for.'' + +``How did you manage to fit so much compute in only an acre?'' I asked, bewilderment showing on my face. + +``Before I can explain further,'' Ræn replied, shuffling some papers around, then presenting me with a thick stack, ``You'll need to sign these non-disclosure agreements.'' + +``I'm a reporter,'' I stated flatly, ``You can't expect to gag me.'' + +``There are certain cutting edge technologies here,'' fae began to explain, ``we won't be gagging you in full, but there's a lot that goes into a cutting edge facility like this. You'll receive a breifing on what you can and can't talk about after the tour.'' + +I was no stranger to NDAs, there was red-tape all over the computing industry since the 2024 open source crash and companies started re-proprietizing all their software and hardware. One company stood outside of that paradigm, though. BreakPoint Industries. They were still a nearly fully open source company. + +``Alright,'' I agreed, signing several pages, ``but I expect to be able to publish my article without your oversight.'' + +``We'll see about that,'' fae replied, ``We'd like a pre-publish copy to review, we won't stop you from publishing, obviously, but you'll understand our reticience when you're inside.'' + +``Understood,'' I stated, then handed faer the stack of NDAs. + +Fae took the papers and put them in an envelope, rolled them up and put them in a circular tube, then turned to look at me. + +``Now that we have that taken care of,'' Ræn said, an evil smile creeping up faer face, ``lets talk about small things.'' + +``Small things?'' I asked, fear gripping me, ``Why would we need to talk about small things?'' + +Fae pulled a small metal box out of faer pocket, then handed it over to me. It looked like a much smaller version of the 3 server chassis that BreakPoint manufactures for companies. + +``I discovered a way to miniatureize everything inside a given space,'' fae said, excitement bleeding through into faer voice, ``That was my first experiment, and it ended up a bit small, the rest are only a little bit bigger than that, but the power savings are amazing.'' + +``How do you service servers this small?'' I asked, confused, ``And how do you get power savings by just shrinking the servers?'' + +``I'm not sure of all the physics behind it,'' fae admitted, ``but the guys over at BreakPoint said that the processors shouldn't even function this way. Something about breaking the laws of quantum tunneling? Anyway, follow me.'' + +``Where to?'' I asked, looking around, ``There's nowhere to follow you.'' + +In response, Ræn pulled on the wall in the corner. As fae pulled, a hidden door opened to a person sized tube. + +``The door will close after you, so come down when you're feeling ready,'' fae explained, getting into the tube, ``it will only feel a little bit awkward for a moment.'' After fae finished explaining, the tube started to lower, while also shrinking slightly. + +I found myself staring as fae disappeared into the conical tube. As I peered over the edge, I could see Ræn standing at the bottom, only a few feet down. Fae looked much smaller, exiting to the left. I took a deep breath, realizing I was very confused, and wasn't sure how I was going to react to being shrunk down to the size of six inches. + +But I wanted this, too. I wanted to be able to cover the story of the overnight supercomputer giant, offering its services to scientists and researchers completely for free with compute time booked for at least a year in the future. I wanted to know what made this work. I wanted to know where the Kararou Computer Research Lab had come from. I wanted to know why it was here. + +I finally decided I'd do it, as the small floor returned to normal size and rested just below the lip of the tube. I stepped onto it, closed my eyes, and waited for the slight discomfort to pass. I didn't end up feeling any discomfort, maybe due to my accutely human-level senses. There was no doubt that a dragon-wolf hybrid is much more sensitive to changes like this. + +When I looked over, I saw an apparantly normal-sized Ræn waiting for me to exit. + +``Hurry up and come with me,'' fae said, motioning down the hallway, ``our staff don't like to keep the door open for too long, as its a security violation.'' + +``Alright,'' I muttered, ``I understand why there's so little information available about this place, though. It looks like it was built inside of a concrete box.'' + +``It was,'' fae replied, ``the whole acre was dug up a year ago, and we poured a concrete box with a fourteen inch internal height.'' + +``Isn't there ventilation?'' I asked. + +``Oh yeah,'' fae replied, ``we had an intake and an exhaust built, too. They were holes that were four inches over near the corners of the property.'' + +As we walked down the hallway, Ræn pulled me into a reception area. There was a cat hybrid sitting at the desk next to the entrance. His green eyes were reflecting the light the rows of un-shrunk LED strips were giving off. Along the walls were several comfy looking couches with end tables and coffee tables. Everything was a white colour. + +``So you do have staff down here, and you've prepared to have guests, too,'' I noted. + +``Yes,'' Ræn stated, ``We're also the model data centre that BreakPoint is going to use to sell the solution we've built here.'' + +``I thought you said you discovered it,'' I noted, then asked, ``so why go to BreakPoint?'' + +``I'm the one that bailed them out after the crash,'' fae responded, ``I was the mysterious benefactor that kept them afloat, and I've been using them for research and development for years since, only fair I give them anything I develop, too.'' + +I was taken aback. ``But that would mean you'd have had to buy the company when you were, what twenty one?'' + +``Yeah,'' fae answered, ``don't ask about the cash flow on that, but suffice it to say I think we have a real game changer here.'' + +``If your claims of power efficiency aren't over exaggerated,'' I said, doing some calculations in my head, ``all the costs of building and upkeep of a datacenter would be less than a quarter of a traditional datacenter.'' + +``Not wrong, during buildout, we only spent a few million credits, though most of that was on compute itself and the shrinking tech is actually really inexpensive to make.'' + +``Will it eventually be open sourced?'' I asked, realizing that BreakPoint was the premier in open source technology. + +``We're still working out how to do that,'' Ræn admitted, ``Imagine the military applications of it, then realize that we don't want to change the world such that megacorps have even more power to destroy eachother and the world with them.'' + +``You could transport nuclear material almost undetected,'' I said, my eyes widening in shock, ``I understand the need for secrecy about this.'' + +``I knew you would,'' fae said, wearing a smile, ``The guys over at BreakPoint are working on how to add non-trivial defenses against putting fissionable materials through the matter gates, but its still a work in progress.'' + +``Which is why I'm the first to see this place,'' I said, an understanding washing over me. + +``Exactly. Do you want to sit down, I'll have Hector fetch some coffee if you'd like.'' + +``That would be nice,'' I said, walking over to a couch and flopping down in it, ``cream and sugar, please.'' + +``Hector,'' fae said, turning to the reception desk, ``would you be a dear and get us some coffee, I'm sure this is bound to be a long conversation, she'd like cream and sugar, as well.'' + +``Alright, captain,'' Hector responded, his voice a low purr. + +``Please refrain from calling me captain, I've never been in the military,'' fae responded. I knew that was a lie, though. During my research of the place, I'd made sure to run background checks on the contacts, Ræn and one other. Faer lack of military experience was greatly exaggerated. + +Ræn had been a part of the Toa Heavy Industries Security and Defense Force for several years. While not technically military, the THI SDF was easily several leagues beyond the flimsy military that the Colorado Free State had managed to pull together to defend itself from its neighboring countries, also mostly owned by megacorps. + +``Yes ma'am,'' Hector replied, walking behind a recess in the wall, apperantly where the kitchen was. + +``Sorry about that,'' Ræn said, turning to me, ``Hard to find non-military personel that will keep a secret like this.'' + +``No worries,'' I replied, ``When can I see the rest of the datacenter?'' + +``Soon,'' fae replied, ``just have to get a few formalities out of the way.'' + +``Alright, are we going to wait for the coffee to begin, or can we multi-task a bit?'' + +``You're already accustomed to it, then. Alright, lets get started,'' fae said, beginning the `few' formalities. + +``First, we are only on shore power during maintenance of our powerplant. We have a sterling engine powering the whole facility using the heat from the servers and cool water from the ground to get the differentials. It produces two kilowatts, which is more than enough to power everything and charge our batteries. Our batteries are un-shrunken 18650 sized lithium iron-phosphate batteries. We picked those because they don't explode compared to lithium cobalt cells. We store enough power to run us for several days. This is the first area we'll visit. After that, we'll head to the colocation center, where my personal servers are. Its nothing special, but we water-cool all the servers and use a heat-exchanger for the whole facility, running that water through the sterling engine, then cooling it using a geothermal heat-exchanger. Its all quite neat, in my opinion.'' + +``You're that advanced here?'' I asked, confused as to how the servers were producing enough heat to power themselves, ``It sounds like perpetual motion.'' + +``Nice catch,'' fae answered, ``but the sterling engine works on heat differentials, so as long as the cold side is cold enough, its fine. We scouted this place for its exceptionally cold ground water.'' + +That didn't make much sense to me. Groundwater, especially at geothermal tempuratures, was supposed to be a uniform temperature no matter where you were. + +My thoughts were interrupted by Hector coming back with the coffee. + +``Please, enjoy,'' Hector said, handing me a warm mug of coffee. + +``Thank you,'' I said, turning my attention back to Ræn. + +``So, lets get down to it,'' fae said, standing up and motioning for me to follow. I was led down the hall to a door that had a bronze badge on it. + +``This is the power plant observation room, it shows us a nice view of the power plant floor and the battery floor.'' + +``Can't we go out onto the floors?'' + +``Unfortunately no, we're small enough now that even the twelve volts running through the wires is dangerous.'' + +``Okay,'' I said as fae opened the door. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that there was hardly any noise coming from the door. + +As I walked in, I saw why. It was a deck, slightly raised for better viewing angles. A faraday cage was built around it to keep the observers safe from any lethal electricity, though the cage had to be for show. Bisecting the outside of the cage was a wall. On the left side, the batteries, on the right, the engine. + +It looked like there were enough batteries, giant hulking towers from my relatively small point of view, to power a large electric scooter, but no more than that. The engine was much more interesting by comparison. The batteries merely had some circuity hooked up, and a few very large power converters along the floor. The engine was a large green box inset into the floor with see through tubes displaying some pink liquid and a blue liquid, small bubbles constantly moving around. + +It was amazing to me that the liquid gurgling around inside the engine was creating more noise than the engine itself. + +``BreakPoint really put in a lot of effort on that jobbie there,'' Ræn stated proudly, ``its quite the effective work they've done, too.'' + +``Yeah,'' I agreed, ``its even really pretty. I assume the pink liquid is the server coolant?'' + +``Indeed,'' fae confirmed, ``The blue liquid is a special formula we use in our geothermal loop. Once it comes out of the engine, it goes to cool the server coolant.'' + +After I'd had my fill of jotting notes about the power generation and storage facilities, I was led to another room. This one had a silver badge on the door. + +It was another observation deck, this time over the coolant pumps, which pumped both the server coolant and the geothermal loop. This area also had several large heat exchangers, facilitating the heat transfer from the server coolant to the geothermal loop to warm the earth below us. I also took a lot of notes here before being led to another room, this one had a gold badge on it. + +Fortunately for me, behind this door was a datacentre floor. I would actually be able to observer the hardware up close, this time around. + +``So these are more or less standard BreakPoint OCP compliant racks,'' Ræn explained, pulling out one of the server sleds, ``The only major difference is that instead of converting the twelve volts once per rack, we've converted the whole facility to use a single twelve volt source and send it across the bus bars to each rack, which still uses the bus bar system in the rack itself.'' + +``You're really stacking up your efficiencies here, aren't you?'' I ask, poking fun. It sounded like too many extremes just to go after marginal efficiency gains. + +``When you're running nearly six thousand of these racks, every single efficiency measure adds up to less overall power consumption, whether your datacenter is fourteen inches or fourteen feet, every single microamp can make the difference.'' Wow, fae really meant it, too. + +Ræn was running the most efficient datacenter in the world. + +``Hey, you said that one of these floors was your personal datacentre,'' I began, ``what does and individual such as yourself use all of this compute for?'' + +``Oh,'' fae smiled, ``that, is a story for another time. Perhaps over coffee next week?'' + +``Sure,'' I responded shakily. Was fae asking me out on a date? Did fae count as an excentric billionaire? + diff --git a/src/default.cfg b/src/default.cfg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58f66f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/default.cfg @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +\Preamble{xhtml} +\CoverMetadata{cover.png} +\begin{document} +\EndPreamble diff --git a/src/fw.tex b/src/fw.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3bb2874 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/fw.tex @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +I keep having weird dreams about things of all natures, as I think about technological problems and other assorted issues. So consider this anthology of aetherial short stories as some weird look into my demented head. diff --git a/src/main.tex b/src/main.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..48b7ec9 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/main.tex @@ -0,0 +1,129 @@ +% Document Definition +\documentclass[12pt]{book} + +% Required Packages +\usepackage[letterpaper, margin=1in]{geometry} +\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} +\usepackage[english]{babel} +\usepackage{fancyhdr} +\usepackage{ragged2e} +\usepackage{titlesec} +\usepackage{setspace} +\usepackage{times} +\usepackage{subfiles} % Load me last + +% Package Options + +% Headings bullshit +\pagestyle{fancy} +\fancyhead[L,C]{} +\fancyhead[R]{SNAME / PROJECT / \thepage} +\fancyfoot[L,C,R]{} +\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt} +\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt} + +% Formatting Stuff +\setlength{\parindent}{0.5in} + +% Macros +%%% \mkchap +%%% used as \mkchap{toc number}{title}{subtitle} +\newcommand{\mkchap}[3]{ + \newpage + \vspace*{3in} + \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{#1 - #2} + \begin{center} + #2 + + {\small #3} + \end{center} + \vspace{0.5in} +} +%%% \mkinfo +%%% used as \mkinfo{name}{pronouns}{address}{phone}{email} +\newcommand{\mkinfo}[5]{ + \begin{flushleft} + \singlespacing + #1 (#2)\newline + #3\newline + #4\newline + #5 + \end{flushleft} +} +%%% \mktitle +%%% used as +%%% \mktitle{title}{penname}{srcuri}% +%%% {legalname}{pronouns}% +%%% {address}{phone}{email}% +%%% {wc} +\newcommand{\mktitle}[9]{ + \begin{titlepage} + \mkinfo{#4}{#5}{#6}{#7}{#8} + \center + \vspace*{3in} + #1 + + by #2 + + \vspace{1in} + + {\tiny + As compiled from \LaTeX source on \today. + + A copy of the source can be found at: + + #3 + } + \vspace{\fill} + \center #9 words + \end{titlepage} +} +\newcommand{\mkack}{ + \newpage + \vspace*{3in} + \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Acknowledgements} + \begin{center} + Acknowledgements + \end{center} + \vspace{0.5in} + \subfile{src/ack} +} +\newcommand{\mkfw}{ + \newpage + \vspace*{3in} + \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Foreword} + \begin{center} + Foreword + \end{center} + \vspace{0.5in} + \subfile{src/fw} +} + +% Document +\begin{document} +\begin{doublespacing} + \mktitle{PROJECT}{PENNAME}% + {REPO}% + {LEGALNAME}{PRONOUNS}% + {STREETADDR\newline% + LASTADDR}{PHONE}% + {EMAIL}% + {WORDCOUNT} + + \mkfw + + \setcounter{page}{1} + + % canon worthy + \mkchap{1}{The Datacentre}{} + \subfile{src/chapters/thedatacentre} + + \mkchap{2}{An Arthurian Tale}{} + \subfile{src/chapters/arthurian} + +% Need acknowledgements before enabling this. +% \mkack + +\end{doublespacing} +\end{document} +