[TECH] Ancient Treasures: Within the World of Archeotech Trading

Ancient Treasures: Within the World of Archeotech Trading
by Talasoi Vilb, Tayseri Times

Sevenfold Cataracts, Tefnut- With this morning’s sale of the Kazakerak Armors aboard Cataracts Station the merchant cartels of the Traverse have taken the first steps in establishing something of a rarity in the normally shadowy and intensely secretive world of the galactic Prothean and pre-Prothean era technology exchange. Namely, an entirely licit marketplace.

The aversion to such an institution is, historically, one born of necessity. Virtually any and all uncoverings of the mechanisms, technologies, and data collectively and colloquially referred to as “archeotech” have been pursued by governments from across the galaxy, non-state actors such as megacorporations and mercenary companies, and private individuals or institutions with access to the requisite resources.

The value of these objects is largely linked to their laterality: while not inherently superior to modern technology on an objective basis, different patterns of mechanical evolution over different eras have a distinct tendency to produce items and objects whose functionality can circumvent or effectively “outmaneuver” their contemporary counterparts. Small and heavy arms, personal objects, apparel, and augmentics (among the most frequently recovered examples) can afford alternative methods of defense, attack, mobility, and sensory capability than the commonly established; circumventing current day tools and techniques in the process. Larger and more impressive examples such as the Prothean Beacons, while extremely rare, have opened up entire new fields of study and enhanced existing development.

Since the Crucible Event at the conclusion of the Reaper War and the revelations concerning the fall of the Prothean Empire, interest in acquiring said pieces has experienced a resurgence. Sets of equipment like the famed Kazakerak are but the tip of a massive, multibillion credit, iceberg.

“The crucial step in understanding the importance of these items beyond the strictly academic lies in the acknowledgement of their practical applications and, in all honesty, their esoteric appeal,” stated Setk Vasra’shalk whose trading house, Asil Gazi Osil, handled the Kazakerak trade to noted Pirate Lord Sazakil Poson. “Robes that generate kinetic clouds, gauntlet projectors that create haptic and sonic constructs, Bashab’s Golden Sword, for a particularly noteworthy example, which could create and manipulate nanofabricated duplicates of itself. To own such an artifact is to own exclusivity, to be striking, diverse, and powerful in a way that is rarely attainable.”

Despite the enormous amounts of traffic to and from the station as prospective buyers, cautious sellers, and curious spectators alike arrive to freely trade one of the galaxy’s most controlled resources under the protection of the Cataracts, the recently founded institution has been decried by the Citadel Council and a number of cultural preservation associations. Balabsa Rule of the Greater Council Space Society for Archaeological Protection called the measure “nothing short of gross exploitation of nearly unique artifacts for the sake of base profit”. A spokeswoman from the Council confirmed that “current scientific and social norms regarding archeotech within Citadel Space will be upheld regardless of the actions of foreign parties.”

So anyway, back to this sword thing...

The original Golden Sword - Sword A - can create more swords at will -- that is, identical replicas. Presumably replicas that can make more swords.

So you pick up Sword A, and make some swords with it. You make swords A1 and A2.

Then you drop Sword A - the original - or sell it to someone. It's the original sword; it's worth quite a lot.

But then you've got two identical sword "replicas" - A1 and A2. And these swords are direct copies of A.

So using these swords, you make, say, four more swords - two each. So you've got six swords - that's A1, A2, A1/1, A1/2, A2/1, A2/2. Each of those swords is identical to the previous sword - and (for now, at least) worth quite a lot. You keep making swords from those...

A1, A2, A1/1, A1/2, A2/1, A2/2, A1/3, A1/4, A2/3, A2/4, A1/1/1, A1/1/2, A1/2/1, A1/2/2, A2/1/1, A2/1/2, A2/2/1, A2/2/2.

And holy [CERBERUS DAILY NEWS DECENCY FILTER], that's EIGHTEEN swords in three duplication cycles (A-A1, A1-A1/1, A1-A1/1/1).

Eighteen swords, each of which is worth about as much as the original (at least, until the market gets saturated with a gazillion golden swords of unparalleled BADASS). One dupe cycle later, well... if each of those 18 can make 2, that's FIFTY FOUR SWORDS.

Seriously, never give this thing to a volus.

Oh no thank you. It's so very pleasant to be appreciated.

Oh I can imagine.

No. It can't. The original thing requires microscale fabricators, telecommunication capabilities, processing power, shock absorbers, and something like fifty other pieces of archeotech on top of an actual edge. Do you have any idea how ball shatteringly impossible it would be to build identically capable tools en masse out of nanites? The red hot processing erection alone would probably set the air on fire. That's not taking into account having all the specialized resources immediately on hand and if you're carting around several hundred kilograms of superconductors, high grade silicates, and lanthanides in your pack then just...what are you even doing with your life.

Congratulations on passing highschool and/or having access to a calculator and at least two functioning braincells. No really round of applause.