After concluding his discussion with Swann regarding the trial production of "plasteel," Osiris seemingly casually brought up his observations of the mineral crystals.
"Engineer Swann, I've noticed that your ship's supply of raw materials is heavily reliant on the conversion of mineral crystals. The versatility of this substance is impressive. Do you have systematic data on its baseline characteristics, such as its energy retention rates or long-term conversion stability?"
Swann was busy calibrating an energy field generator module against a schematic and answered without even looking up: "Mineral crystals? That stuff is like air and water—you just use it. We're here to fight and fix ships, not play geologists. Its traits? Stable, efficient, and capable of turning into almost every baseline material we need; that's plenty. As for the deeper mechanics? That's a headache for the folks doing basic research."
He paused and scratched his head with a wrench. "If you're truly that curious, maybe you should ask Stetmann. That guy... his head works a bit differently. He loves pondering weird, fringe questions; he might know a thing or two we don't."
Guided by Swann's directions, Osiris located Egon Stetmann in a Hyperion laboratory cluttered with bizarre instruments and flickering screens.
The technician's hair was somewhat disheveled, and his eyes held a sharp, twitchy blend of high excitement and nervousness unique to those who spend prolonged periods hyper-focused on unconventional fields.
When Osiris stated his identity and intent, mentioning his preliminary observations regarding the nature of energy-matter conversion in mineral crystals, Stetmann's eyes lit up instantly—as if he had found a rare kindred spirit.
"Ah! The consultant from the 'Far Star Alliance'! Swann told me about you—you guys have real substance when it comes to materials!" Stetmann spoke at a breakneck speed, gesturing exaggeratedly. "Mineral crystals! Precisely—it is definitely not just a simple fuel or ore! Versatility? That's just a surface phenomenon, the most superficial application!"
He leaned closer and dropped his voice, as if sharing a earth-shattering secret: "Did you know? Its most incredible trait has been ignored by almost everyone, or deliberately glossed over—it grows, Mr. Consultant. I mean, under the right conditions, it can self-replicate."
Osiris's demeanor remained entirely composed, though his internal data collection priority was instantly dialed to maximum.
"Self-replicate? Please elaborate."
"Not in a biological sense!" Stetmann waved his arms, pointing at several small mineral crystal samples surrounded by complex field generators in a corner.
"It's a 'replenishment' at a far more fundamental level. We mine it, we use it, but if you place a mineral crystal within a specific energy field—not coarsely triggering its conversion, but 'nourishing' it with a softer field closer to its internal resonant frequency—and supplement it with a tiny amount of catalytic seed material.
It can slowly draw faint energy from its surrounding environment, primarily from background void radiation, and re-condense that energy into new crystalline matter identical to its own structure! It's slow, and far less efficient than mining, but the process is indisputably real!"
He brought up a set of long-term monitoring data curves, showing a tiny mineral crystal exhibiting an extremely slow, yet statistically significant upward mass trend within the specialized field.
"Look! This isn't my imagination. Even if the rate of mass increase is too low to hold industrial value, it proves its true nature! It's not a dead, stagnant 'ore deposit'—it is a low-entropy energy-matter condensate in dynamic equilibrium! It can passively harvest free energy from space itself to repair or marginally expand itself! That explains why certain ancient veins that should theoretically have been depleted eons ago always show faint signs of new crystal growth over long periods!"
Stetmann caught his breath and looked at Osiris, eagerly anticipating his reaction. This theory was far too ahead of its time; among the pragmatic Raynor's Raiders, and indeed across the entire Koprulu Sector, serious listeners were exceedingly rare.
Osiris remained silent for a few seconds, processing the information. It perfectly corroborated and deepened his own deduction.
Mineral crystals were not simple matter—they were a unique physical state.
The "self-replication" Stetmann observed was exact proof that it contained an internal mechanism capable of steadily converting background energy (Void radiation? Fundamental quantum fluctuations?) into specific material structures.
This was not magic, but a highly specialized, macroscopic manifestation of matter spontaneously trending toward a low-entropy ordered state—perhaps designed by the Xel'Naga or formed under certain extreme natural conditions unique to this cosmos.
"Extremely... insightful, Mr. Stetmann," Osiris finally spoke, his tone purely academic. "Your observational data provides critical supporting evidence for understanding the 'semi-energy state' nature of mineral crystals. Do you have more detailed records on the parameters for the 'specific energy field' and 'catalytic seed' you mentioned? Does this 'growth' process have specific requirements for the environmental energy spectrum?"
Stetmann became instantly thrilled, diving into a non-stop explanation of his obscure experimental details, failed attempts, and theoretical conjectures.
Osiris listened patiently, logging the input, occasionally asking a sharp, probing question to guide the other toward more concrete dataset parameters.
Upon leaving Stetmann's cluttered laboratory, a new high-priority sub-project appeared in Osiris's core database: Koprulu Sector Anomaly Resource: Mineral Crystals (Provisional Designation: Stable Energy-Matter Condensate) Deepening Characteristic Research.
Internally linked to it were Stetmann's observational data, his own mass-energy conversion analyses, and a premise awaiting validation: did the underlying principle behind this ability to steadily convert Void energy into ordered matter hide a clue for countering or utilizing the chaotic nature of Warp energy?
Did it share a common technological philosophy with the Xel'Naga's "Endless Cycle" or the energetic nature of the Keystone?
Back in his workspace, Osiris looked down at the mineral crystal samples. They lay quietly, their dim blue glow seemingly harboring a secret of the universe itself.
The faint clatter of Swann hammering "plasteel" in the adjacent compartment echoed over—a pragmatic effort pushing known technology to its limits.
Yet what Osiris pondered in this moment was a far more fundamental question concerning the origin and stability of matter in this cosmos.
The "growth" characteristic of mineral crystals was like a peculiar key. Perhaps it was insufficient to open a door immediately, but it undeniably pointed toward a hidden path beneath conventional perception—one that might lead to a far deeper technological understanding.
He had a intuition that the long-term significance of probing the essence of mineral crystals might prove no less vital than researching the Xel'Naga Keystone.
Both seemed to point toward that remarkably blurred, yet operationally accessible boundary between energy and matter within the rules of this universe.