[88: Spaceship?]
(A/N: I'm going to be straight up. I got waaaaay too into this when I was coming up with this. And when I realized it, I already wrote three chapters. So, uh, my bad. Though if you're into pseudo-science and sort of hard, kind of not really, sci-fi, then I guess this is for you? You'll see what I mean.
Again, I really tried my best to be at least scientifically accurate or maybe keep it theoretically possible, but I think I crossed into sci-fi for most of it. So much for trying to be semi-grounded in this whole thing, but it was bound to happen, I guess. I hope you enjoy.)
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Eleanor returned to her base. She was quiet the entire time, constantly thinking of what she had just done. She had forcefully stopped the messages with Aoyama, but kept the blackmail. She looked at the data storage device in her hand and set it down. Without hesitation, she destroyed it.
The noise attracted Lady Nagant. She entered and looked at Eleanor.
"Did you do it?" Lady Nagant asked quietly.
There was uncomfortable silence before Eleanor sighed and responded. "Yeah."
Lady Nagant already knew. She was the only one who came back. Lady Nagant nodded slowly. "I see. Is…that it?"
Eleanor looked up. "Yeah. There's only one—" Eleanor caught herself, clearing her throat as she continued. "There's only one thing we should be focusing on at this point."
"The MLA?"
"Yeah. We'll have to watch and see what they do."
"Right now? Shouldn't you take time to…get yourself together?" Lady Nagant was concerned that Eleanor was maybe pushing herself too much at this moment.
Eleanor responded to Lady Nagant as she moved around the base, gathering paper, pens, setting up a computer, and connecting her AI. "I know what you're talking about, Kaina, and while we have to see how the situation with the MLA and the Japanese government develops, which gives us some rest, it doesn't mean we can sit around. I need to use this time to finally develop some stuff. A new kind of drone."
"What kind?"
Eleanor looked out a window, looking at the sky. "Well…I'm looking to the greatest frontier for human exploration. Space."
Lady Nagant was slightly shocked and taken aback. "Space?! Are you serious?"
Eleanor smirked. "Yeah. Space. And it's not like it's anything new. Countries have had space weapons since the early 21st century; they just didn't want to admit it. The United States had space weapons confirmed in the year 2026, which means they've had them for a few years before that."
"Whoa…that's kind of crazy."
"No, not really. Ignoring the massive interplanetary and space networks, there's a permanent base on the Moon and outposts on Mars. You think countries are going to leave that undefended? China and Russia have a base on the Moon, but only after the United States, with help from Japan, former South Korea, India, Canada, and some other countries, got there first."
"And that's legal?"
"Ehh…yes and no, but it doesn't matter because who's going to try anything against China or the United States? The United Nations?" Eleanor laughed. "Please, they're garbage and an ancient relic of a different time, and quite frankly, I have no idea how they still exist in this era. The last time the United Nations did anything was in the late 20th century during the Gulf War."
"Okay, wow, uh, bit of a sore spot for you?"
"Hmm…yeah, maybe. Sorry about that."
"Okay, so the United Nations is useless. Noted. But…why?"
"Because if it did work how it's supposed to, then the idea of a country and sovereignty would be a joke. It's also outdated as hell. Like, come on, 1945? It's the 22nd century; it doesn't reflect reality at all at this point. There's also veto and vote abuse. Remember, every P5 country looks out for its own self-interest, and maybe their allies if they feel like it."
Eleanor was engrossed in writing. Her hand moved fast across the paper. Technical terms and knowledge were being written down. Eleanor was pushing the knowledge she knew and had learned from this era for this ambitious drone design.
Lady Nagant looked at it, but could hardly make any sense of it. Weird math symbols, scribbly lines and shapes, terms she'd never heard of, and more. "Alright, well, uh, what are you writing? Drawing?"
Eleanor didn't look up at all. "Both. If I'm going to make a spacecraft, or a 'space drone,' then I need to start designing. This stuff is very complex. Propulsion systems, guidance systems, electronics, weapons, structural design, and a lot more. Normally, a large team of very smart people does this, but now I have to do it on my own."
"Well, you seem to be doing…fine?"
Eleanor smiled a bit. "Yeah, I have a bit of knowledge."
"Could I help?"
Eleanor raised an eyebrow as she looked at Lady Nagant. "No offense, Kaina—"
"At least give me a shot."
Eleanor nodded. "Alright, how about this? If you can solve this problem, I'll let you help."
Eleanor got a separate piece of paper and started writing before handing it to Lady Nagant. "Here, solve this, Kaina. It's a problem I'd expect someone to solve if they wanted to get involved in what I'm doing. You can use a computer. It should be simple."
Kaina looked at the problem on the paper. The problem read: "A satellite of mass m = 500kg is currently in a circular Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of h1 = 500km above the Earth. Mission control needs to transfer this satellite to a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) at an altitude of h2 = 35,786km. Given the following Earth constants: Radius of the Earth: 6,378km and standard gravitational parameter of Earth: 3.986 x 10^14m^3/s^2 (3.986 x 10^5km^3/s^2), calculate the circular velocities v1 and v2 at LEO and GEO, the transfer ellipse semi-major axis, the velocity of the spacecraft at the periapsis and apoapsis of the transfer ellipse, and the total Delta v required for the two-impulse Hohmann transfer."
Lady Nagant looked at Eleanor. She was waiting patiently. "Uh… never mind, you got this, Eleanor."
Eleanor shrugged her shoulders. "It's a pretty simple problem. It just looks scary, 'cause of the wording and terms. Anyway, I need to work on this."
Eleanor went back to her writing.
Lady Nagant, seeing how focused Eleanor was, decided to stand by and let her work.
Eleanor would type things into the computer, complex designs coming to life on screen. Flashes of light, lines of symbols, the sound of clacking, her hands waving as she interacted with 3D holographic models, and occasionally her voice.
"Theodore, start some new projects." The screen in front of Eleanor shifted to an empty work environment. "Call this one, uh, I don't know, AEGIS, or whatever; not like it's important anyway. This one will be a heavy, autonomous space drone." Some small details were added.
{What other projects should I add?}
"Hmm…make one for a heavy satellite. It's going to be big and have smaller supporting drones and satellites around it. Call this one…" Eleanor was thinking of this one. Coming up with a name was perhaps the hardest part of this entire thing. But when she thought about it, specifically the satellite, an idea came to mind.
Something in the real world that was theoretically proposed. Something that, while it sounds cool, was really dumb due to the limitations of technology at the time, the financial and material cost, and the reality of physics. All things that her quirk could solve or compensate for.
Eleanor smirked. She hadn't felt this eager and excited in a while. While she tried to be grounded at times, or as grounded as the 22nd century and someone with her quirk would allow her to be, she would always have the fantasy of cool things in her head that wouldn't be viable in reality. Or at least, viable in her first life. And such a thought was running through her mind at that moment.
"...I'm going to name this one something dramatic. Call it…Project THOR: Mjolnir System."