Chapter 309: Reaching an Agreement
Inside a solemn and elegant conference room at the Starfleet Headquarters of the United Federation of Planets, Ryo's massive dark red mechanical body formed a stark contrast with the surrounding soft human architectural style.
On the other side of the long table sat several high-ranking officials and senior scientists representing the Federation Council, with Kirk and Carol accompanying them.
At the beginning of the meeting, the representative of the Federation Council, an older woman with a steady demeanor and wise eyes, was the first to express the official stance: "Mr. Magos Ryo, on behalf of the United Federation of Planets Council, I welcome you and your team. Cross-dimensional contact is an unprecedented experience for us. We cherish this opportunity for exchange between different civilizations and hope this meeting can become the cornerstone for building understanding and trust between both sides."
Her wording was rigorous yet friendly, maintaining the Federation's dignity while expressing a willingness to be open.
Ryo nodded slightly, responding in a steady tone befitting etiquette: "Thank you for the Federation's acceptance and goodwill. Exploring the unknown and seeking knowledge is the core driving force of my existence. The technological achievements and societal forms displayed by your civilization have left a deep impression on me."
He cut directly to the chase, not concealing his goals at all: "I hope to launch an in-depth technological exchange with the Federation, aiming for mutual reference and jointly expanding the boundaries of knowledge. Among them, I hold an extremely high research interest in your warp drive technology. It represents a safe, reliable, and highly efficient faster-than-light path, and its value is immeasurable."
He did not come empty-handed, and he knew well the principle of equivalent exchange.
"Of course, I do not intend to demand this for nothing," Ryo continued, his crimson optical lenses sweeping over every councilor and scientist present. "I, and the identity of the 'Magos' I represent, also possess some technologies that might be of benefit to the Federation. For example, we hold unique insights and mature application protocols in the fields of high-density energy storage, special material synthesis, and deep bio-mechanical integration, and even in the temporal domain. I am willing to use this as a foundation to conduct a reciprocal, mutually beneficial technological sharing with the Federation."
What he proposed was a cooperative framework, not a unilateral demand.
A brief period of exchange and contemplation appeared in the conference room.
The councilors and scientists exchanged opinions in low voices, evaluating the value and risks of Ryo's proposal. Kirk remained silent, but his presence itself served as a sort of endorsement for Ryo's "controllability." Dr. Carol opportunely supplemented, explaining from a scientific perspective the potential breakthroughs in fundamental physics and life sciences that communicating with Ryo could bring.
Ultimately, after some prudent discussion, the older female representative spoke again, her voice clear and affirmative: "Mr. Magos, after discussion, the Federation Council agrees to your proposal in principle. We recognize the philosophy that knowledge can only radiate greater vitality through exchange. Based on the principles of mutual benefit and mutual trust, the Federation is willing to launch a technological exchange with you, which can include the foundational theories and engineering principles of the warp drive."
Her tone carried the normative and cautious nature unique to the Federation: "The specific scope, depth, and level of technological confidentiality of the exchange will need to be further defined in detail by an expert team composed of both sides. Furthermore, as you stated, this will be established on the foundation of strict equivalent exchange. The value of the technology you provide will directly determine the tier and content of the Federation technology you can acquire."
This was not an unconditional opening, but a controlled and managed technological sharing model, fitting the behavioral style of a mature interstellar civilization.
"Acceptable," Ryo's synthesized voice held no fluctuation; this result was within his calculations.
He didn't need to get all the blueprints immediately. As long as he opened this door and established a channel for communication, relying on the equally attractive technological bargaining chips in his hands, gradually acquiring the core details of warp technology was only a matter of time. He had even already begun planning within his logic core which relatively "safe" and non-taboo technologies from the Warhammer universe or the Cyberpunk world that the Federation might be interested in could be used as the first batch of exchange chips.
A cross-dimensional technological trade had reached a preliminary agreement right inside this conference room, in an atmosphere that appeared peaceful and friendly but was actually filled with the precise calculations of each side.
For Ryo, his grand goal of acquiring the warp drive technology had finally taken its substantive, most critical first step.
After the agreement was reached, Ryo was respectfully guided by Federation staff to a guesthouse specifically used for receiving alien civilization envoys and important visitors.
The design here was extremely inclusive; the environmental control system could simulate various atmospheric compositions and gravity conditions. The public areas were spacious and bright, and the decorative style blended human art with the aesthetic elements of numerous alien civilizations. Alien visitors of various shapes and sizes could be seen conversing amiably everywhere.
Facing this scene of "dancing stars" before his eyes, Ryo's massive mechanical body stood quietly at the entrance of the lobby. His crimson optical lenses calmly swept over those bizarrely shaped alien lifeforms.
There were Andorians with azure skin and delicate hairstyles, Betazoids with short statures and kind faces, and a few races he couldn't temporarily identify who were conversing using complex tentacle gestures.
This scene was not entirely unfamiliar to him.
In the glorious era when the Emperor launched the Great Crusade, had the expeditionary fleets of the Imperium of Man not encountered countless xenos civilizations in their process of reclaiming lost territories and expanding their borders?
The bizarre forms and sheer numbers of those civilizations far exceeded what he saw in the guesthouse at this moment.
However, the Imperium's policy toward xenos was simple and extreme: either unconditionally submit to the Imperium of Man, accept a near-enslaved subordinate status, and pass extremely harsh "abhuman" screenings, or... face utter purification.
Countless xenos races, along with their homeworlds and cultures, were turned into statistical figures in the galactic dust under the light of the Imperial expeditionary forces' bolters, flames, and destructive weapons.
When he was a low-ranking Tech-Priest accompanying the expeditionary forces, Ryo had also witnessed with his own eyes more than one xenos civilization possessing unique technologies or biological traits being reduced to ashes by the Emperor's Angels of Death, simply because they refused to submit or merely because they were "not of our kind."
The scene of relative equality and peaceful coexistence among different races in the Federation guesthouse before him formed an incredibly sharp contrast with the tragic fate of the xenos under the iron hooves of the Imperium in his memory.
"...In a sense," Ryo couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "for humanity and the Imperium to ultimately turn into that despairing and twisted state of the future, that mummified corpse on the Golden Throne—who sustains a crumbling Imperium but also imprisons the entire future of humanity—indeed bears the primary responsibility."
It was the Emperor's unquestionable ideology of "human purity," that hegemony attempting to unify everything with absolute power and exclude dissidents, that ultimately dragged humanity into an endless dark abyss.
And the prosperity and inclusivity of this Federation Earth before his eyes seemed to be a silent repudiation of the Emperor's path.
This realization did not cause violent emotional fluctuations within him; it was more like a cold fact being recalibrated.
He quickly pushed this bit of "emotion" to the back of his mind, his attention returning to the present.
He observed these alien visitors, no longer with the Imperium's gaze of extermination, but from the perspective of an Explorator Magos, evaluating their physiological structures, possible technological paths, and... whether they possessed knowledge worth trading for or researching.
After all, in this universe, he did not need to follow the Imperium's creed.
Acquiring knowledge and elevating himself was his only standard at this moment.
And these bizarrely shaped "xenos," in his eyes, had already turned into potential, mobile "treasure troves of knowledge."
This exchange platform built by the Federation might bring him some unexpected harvests.
(End of Chapter)