A lot of R&D projects going on and getting extensive funding around Boston are directly linked back to work on Project Vulcan or studies on CFD, but not all of them. There was a time when Novatech was the name to know in Boston. Now the brand has been dragged through the mud. I was even having a tough time thinking they might actually be doing something interesting or useful other than just reminding everyone of the last Crash.
Behind the scenes, though, Novatech has been a big part of the push for the worldwide grid and a major sup- plier of the base components and programming. Their name goes on nothing, but the profits find their way back into the AAA subsidiary’s coffers (and the pocket of my old friend Richard). Those profits are then directed to research interesting things like Project MADAR and work toward changing the face of Novatech from a com- puter-tech firm to an R&D company with a wide array
of programs and projects that pull in funds and profits but get other brands slapped onto the Novatech com- ponents and base programming. All the money, none of the negative press.
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Doesn’t hurt that you have some serious stock in Novatech, eh, Miles?>
Glitch>
My portfolio is significantly lighter after everything I have had to expend to keep myself from falling under the sway of my malicious mental passenger. That included unloading the bulk of my shares in Novatech. I have very little interest or influence with that corporation anymore.>
Miles Lanier>
Wait a minute, that’s a nice chunk of control over Novatech. Who’d you sell your stock to?>
Mr. Bonds>
A number of interested parties who were willing to pay rates well above the current value of the stock to prevent it from falling into the hands of a rival. It went to three individuals who all share the same last name. That’s all I’m giving you, but I’m sure it is more than enough.>
Miles Lanier>
Whatever your passenger has done to you, you haven’t lost your acumen. You still know how to play the game with the best of them.>
Mr. Bonds>
Most of the time, yes.>
Miles LanierProject MADAR attracted me first due to its strange name. I was intrigued and kept coming up with different things the acronym could stand for before I actually got into any of the files. I wasn’t right with any of the guess- es, but I also wasn’t up on the advancements that had taken place in this particular field. And, in my defense, it wasn’t a perfect acronym.
MADAR is a shortening of MAgnetic Deflection AR- ray. The fundamentals of the systems are based on the Earth’s magnetosphere and were initially studied for Novatech’s comet probe, the Whipple, back in the early ‘60s. At that time the primary focus of the work was on preventing solar radiation from damaging the compo- nents on the ship without having to use expensive and bulky shielding materials. It’s one of the reasons the probe was able to look so stylish (by ‘60s standards) and still be functional.
Despite the failure of the probe to reach Halley’s Comet, the MADAR system was a success. The system is currently used in almost every deep space and inter- planetary vessel currently in production or use, and No-
vatech gets cash from every one of them since it holds the CC patents.
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It’s been a long time and really doesn’t matter anymore so, can you tell me: Was it a glitch that did in the Whipple or sabotage?>
Slamm-0!>
Both.>
Miles Lanier>
Huh?>
Slamm-0!>
Witty.>
Glitch>
Glitch, you salty bastard. We’ve argued this for years, and now you’re gonna tell me it was you!>
Slamm-0!>
I will neither confirm nor deny why I have spent years telling you I was positive it was a glitch. :)>
GlitchThe current focus of this project is much more acces- sible to those on the streets and much more meaningful. The current MADAR tech is designed to be man-porta- ble—in fact, backpack-sized—and isn’t designed to de- flect solar radiation but instead to deflect atomic materi- als. Anything with protons, neutrons, and electrons can be deflected by the field generated around the wearer. The system requires large amounts of power to operate, and the backpack-sized device weigh over twenty kilos. Most of the weight is batteries and magnets.
In field testing the system had its share of problems. Reports indicate that early trials resulted in repulsion from the Earth’s surface and all other surfaces, repulsion of all molecules, including gasses (like oxygen) away from the user, and my personal favorite, inverted directional polari- ty that caused the repulsion of the user’s cellular structure from itself. Some poor bastards imploded, and their re- mains were forced out the null points in the field.
The null points and limitations on mobility are the two greatest weak points in the system. Null points are like the poles of the Earth where the magnetosphere narrows to near insignificance. This means that anything coming up from below or down from above is unaffect- ed by the MADAR system. The mobility limitations come from the field extending out around the user. As such the user’s own appendages are repulsed by the system. The system also repulses air and objects around the user, forcing them to fight air resistance and managing a minimum distance from objects as they move.
According to the research, they’ve worked out a suit that can allow movement of appendages within the
field but still limits the use of any gear or objects not encased within the suit. Small objects are reported to be safe within the closed fist of the user’s gloved hand, but opening the hand causes the immediate repulsion of the object. Field testing revealed some potential for that effect to be used to propel a missile if the projectile is small enough to be accelerated quickly, but it also risks damage to the holder’s hand, which means damage to the suit, which means cancellation of field negation properties and, well, you can imagine what happens to the exposed tissue held inside the non-canceling field as it tries to escape but is held in place.
The technology is far from street availability, but there are reports of field testing out in the Rox by un- named subjects. I know enough about Novatech’s sub- ject coding to identify that all of the subjects are orks or trolls, and most of them lack SIN numbers. If I had to place an educated guess, I would say a gang with primarily ork and troll membership is currently playing guinea pigs for Novatech.