Beau stared at the report for several seconds before slowly lowering it onto his desk. "Wait, so if I am reading this correctly, they have discovered a new technology that can make our trains faster, stronger, and more efficient in almost every way?" he asked, his frustration slowly mixing with genuine excitement. "Does that mean the trains we are supposed to announce this week are already outdated before they have even entered service?" The realization should have irritated him, yet the potential of the discovery made it difficult for him to complain about it.
The report concerned the rune tome that the secret research facility had recently acquired, and Beau was already beginning to understand why they had requested additional funding. He had no problem approving enormous sums of money for something with this much potential, especially if it could revolutionize transportation across Europe. However, he wanted to keep the existence of runes secret for as long as possible, particularly because revealing them too early could trigger an international race for rune technology. Fortunately, the unlocking conditions described in the report reassured him that humanity would not immediately be able to reproduce everything contained within the tome.
"Right, get a copy of this to the intelligence agency responsible for international affairs," Beau ordered as he gathered the documents together. "Have them investigate whether any faction or government is close to fulfilling these unlocking conditions, because we have two choices." Either Europe could quietly cooperate with the others and keep the information private, or they could be the first faction to bring rune technology onto the international stage and control the narrative surrounding it.
Mette Berge immediately reached for the documents, already knowing that the rest of her night had just disappeared. "And I am going to need a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the intelligence agency," Beau continued, rubbing his temples as another problem emerged. "We need to decide exactly how we handle this before someone else discovers the same thing and forces our hand." He paused before looking at Mette. "Is there anything that needs to be delivered to the president?"
"No, sir, I will go see him myself after I have finished reading the report and worked out exactly how much additional funding we need," Beau replied before Mette could answer. He knew that going directly to the president was necessary because asking Parliament for more money without informing Isaac Aiken first would make him look incompetent. Even though their coalition held the majority and could approve additional funding relatively easily, politics was never that simple. The opposition needed opportunities to ask questions, and even members of his own coalition needed to feel that their concerns were being heard.
Otherwise, those politicians would become irritated, and irritated politicians were capable of turning a routine funding request into an unpleasant political crisis. Beau had already learned that lesson several times during his brief and unwanted career in government. "So, sadly, I will have to endure another round of questions tomorrow," he muttered as he looked toward the door. He was beginning to wonder whether becoming Minister of Technology had been the worst career decision of his extraordinarily long life.
Only then did Beau realize that Mette had already left the office. "Oh, she is already gone," he said with a tired sigh before returning his attention to the documents. "All right, let us see what I have to defend myself with tomorrow." The more he read, however, the more his expression changed from exhaustion to interest.
The research facility had apparently discovered something that could justify significantly more funding, and that alone was enough to make Beau feel considerably better. The technology was not merely useful for civilian transportation, either, because the same principles could potentially be applied to military communications. The researchers had also discovered that the quantum server required to operate the communication system did not need an internet connection, meaning that an external hacker could not simply access it remotely.
That immediately caught Beau's attention because secure communication had become one of Europe's most serious problems. Mana had already made traditional technology unreliable, and nobody wanted sensitive military information traveling through systems that could suddenly malfunction. A completely isolated quantum server protected by physical security was therefore an extremely attractive proposition. If Europe could develop the technology internally, it could potentially make money from civilian applications while simultaneously maintaining control over military-grade versions.
Beau continued reading and raised an eyebrow at the speed of the researchers. "They only received the tome three days ago," he muttered in disbelief. Yet despite having access to the knowledge for such a short time, they already had a functioning prototype and several experiments demonstrating that the underlying principles worked. Of course, they were not inventing the technology from scratch, but rather rediscovering principles that had already been documented, which explained how they could progress so quickly.
Still, the prototype itself left quite a lot to be desired. Beau could not imagine millions of Europeans willingly carrying a device that required them to understand Morse code merely to communicate. The limitations were simply too severe for the first generation to compete with ordinary phones in convenience. However, that did not mean the technology was useless, because its ability to function outside the regions where conventional technology still worked could make it indispensable.
The so-called old cities, where much of the previous technology still functioned normally, might have little reason to adopt such primitive devices. The new cities were an entirely different matter, however, because mana had disrupted much of their previous technological infrastructure. Merchants operating between those cities would especially benefit from instant communication, even if they had to learn Morse code to use it.
"Sir, I delivered the report to the Department of Intelligence," Mette said as she returned, wearing the satisfied expression of someone who had successfully completed an unpleasant task. "They were moving as though their house had caught fire, but I made sure they understood how urgently we need their investigation." She placed another document on Beau's desk. "I will check on their progress again tomorrow."
"Good," Beau replied, immediately standing from his chair. "Come with me and lock the office behind us." He gathered the documents he needed before heading toward the presidential offices. "We are going to see the president, and he should still be awake; if he is not, I am kicking him out of bed."
Mette followed him through the corridor, trying not to laugh at the mental image of the Minister of Technology dragging the president out of bed. The government building was still bustling despite the late hour, with officials moving between offices and carrying stacks of paper. Since computers could no longer be trusted with every important piece of information, the amount of paperwork throughout the building had increased dramatically. Beau had begun to suspect that Europe's greatest technological achievement would soon be the invention of a better filing cabinet.
When they finally reached the president's office, Beau was surprised to find that Isaac Aiken was still working. "Beau, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Isaac asked warmly as he looked up from behind his desk. Twenty assistants stood around the room, each handling different matters before the president could even look at them, yet Isaac had still made time for Beau.
That was one of the qualities that made Isaac so popular among the people working beneath him. He was charismatic, approachable, and seemed to possess an almost unnatural ability to make people feel comfortable around him. His appearance only reinforced the impression, with blond hair, striking blue eyes, and a physique that resembled what would happen if someone dressed a handsome Viking in an expensive business suit.
The combination was somewhat misleading because Isaac spoke English with a strong Irish accent. He had been born and raised in Ireland, and despite becoming the president of the European Union, he had never lost that distinctive way of speaking. Beau had always found it amusing that people who met Isaac for the first time expected him to sound far more formal than he actually did. Instead, he sounded like someone who had wandered out of an Irish pub and accidentally become president.
"I am here because I have a problem with the budget," Beau said, taking the chair offered to him. He placed the rune report on the desk between them and sighed before continuing. "I need more money, and I was planning to ask Parliament for it tomorrow." Isaac's expression became more serious as he looked at the documents.
"I assume there is a reason you are asking for additional funding on such short notice," Isaac said. Beau nodded immediately, already feeling some of the pressure leave his shoulders. "There is," he replied, tapping the report with one finger.