Hi guys, I'm back to update my story again! I believe you all enjoyed this story so far, right? Yes? No?
anchoreddown24 - Thank you for reviewing my story, and I'll try to increase my writing speed.
Demetri the potato - In this story, Valka and Hiccup are not related. I'm really sorry if you are looking forward for a mother-son relationship.
Chapter 3:
"Don't worry about Hiccup," Sam said confidently, replying to Gobber's concern. "He is our future."
"And where did you get that conclusion from?"Gobber questioned.
"Because when you are the last one in our family, I don't think you'll give up that easily," Sam eyed Gobber, clearly his words had a deeper meaning.
"Well then, I'll help him to get started, and Fishlegs can assist him," After scratching his head and considered for a moment, Gobber agreed.
"No, we need another person, someone that knows what Project Bifrost is actually about," Sam stood up, walked to his drawers, and dug out a hard-copied file.
"Who are you talking about?" Gobber watched Sam, intrigued.
"Emma VischKwades," Sam said as he threw the file toward Gobber.
"Emma Visch-who?" Gobber caught the file in the air and quickly scanned the title.
"VischKwades. She is the granddaughter of Hogan Don VischKwades. Right now she works in another Muspelheim laboratory in the west coast, a Top Assistant Engineer for Next Generation Aerospace Defense Project," Sam explained as he collected the dishes that he and Gobber used for dinner.
"I heard about that. Someone said it's so fucking complicated, especially for the computer programing and energy transfer. Man, those two parts are monsters. I still remember when their Lead Engineer requested for more than forty thousand computers."
"Yep, and watch out for your language," Sam warned.
"Right, right," Gobber continued scanning through the file. "Who is Hogan Don Visch… Visch… whatever the last name is."
"The previous Lead Engineer of Project Bifrost. He helped us start Bifrost and kept that project going. But he died forty-five years ago. His death was one of the reasons why we couldn't continue Bifrost. That man contained everything we needed for Bifrost," Sam sighed. "He used to be as successful as Hiccup."
"Cause of death?"
"Assassination. Four people with their faces covered broke into his lab, killed the guards and his two assistants, and pumped more than thirty rounds at him. Our ESS, or Electronic Security System, was hacked at that time, and obviously, the assassins did it."
"Assassination?"
"Another company, maybe a tech, hired four mercenaries to kill him. I don't really know why, maybe because he was too advanced in his research. Some of the key parts of Project Bifrost were too important secret that except for the Lead Engineer, no one knew. Right now those files are still locked up. I only have half of the passcode. When Hogan and his team started working on Bifrost, we didn't have the technologies that we have today, and that's why they couldn't complete whatever they were doing. Even if he didn't get assassinated, he wouldn't be able to complete the project. And for the rest of the research group... an accident blew up their lab, ended up sending the whole group to Valhalla."
"Hmmm… according to this file, I think Emma might be able to assist Hiccup. She sounds like a talented engineer, but she is only seventeen, not even an adult. Isn't she too young for this?"
"So? Age doesn't limit the expertise that a person has. Young doesn't mean inexperienced and naive. By the way, Hiccup is just eighteen, right?" Sam smiled. "I know that you taught some of the best engineers in Muspelheim, but don't think your engineers are always the best."
Gobber shrugged, "You can't find enough evidence to support your claim, can you?"
"Team two, get your butts going. I want this building secured in ten minutes! What the fuck are you doing? Get your shit and get going!" A bossy, Nordic female voice echoed across the isles of Asgard.
"Here we go. Helga's time," Fishlegs complained as he and Hiccup walked into their lab. Although they respected the Security Division, Fishlegs and Hiccup couldn't handle a female like Lead Security Officer Helga Ragnardóttir, the "alpha female", which a lot of guards called her in private. Every morning, the guards needed to thoroughly search Asgard and tried to find any possible tracks that might tell them that someone had been here before.
"What's up, Fishlegs?" a guard walked past them, holding an SRM M1216 shotgun in his hands with deft professionalism. The guards dealt with stress usually by teasing the engineers, and in return, the engineers always tried to find a way to make the guards fall down the stairs or look stupid by setting small traps in the isles. These jokes and romps took place every single day, but none of them went beyond "joking around". "Wish to have a word with Helga?"
"Shut up and get out of here, Brandt. I know that you came from 101st Airborne, but don't believe that you can do whatever you want with that shit in hand. And, it's a negative if you want to search our lab," Fishlegs replied while he and Hiccup rushed into their lab and slammed the door close.
"Fine, but you better organize your lab. Today some guests will come, so keep the trash can version of your lab covered up," Brandt the security guard laughed and walked away.
"Well, this is not our first time meeting with some guests, so I suppose you know what to do?" Hiccup asked as he unhung his white lab coat from the closet and put it on.
"All right, I don't enjoy talking to another group of strangers," looking out through the giant glass window of their lab, Fishlegs answered with indifference.
"Hiccup, the guests are arriving in ten minutes, so get your butts ready!" Gobber's voice appeared from the radio.
Hiccup reached over to his work table and grabbed the small, black radio and clicked a button: "How many representatives are coming?"
"Around four or five. Just keep in mind, some of them are pretty prepared for their trip, so don't mess things up."
"Let's get down to business," Valka placed a paper file on Hiccup's table. "Bose-Einstein Condensate."
"Bose-Einstein Condensate?" Hiccup's eyes widened with surprise, staring at the file as if the few printed pages were a bomb. He stood still for a few seconds and exchanged a worried look with Fishlegs. "You want us to create Bose-Einstein Condensate? The state of matter predicted by Nath Bose and Albert Einstein?"
The five guests with the black "DPA" badge bored on their sleeves glared at Hiccup. They nodded altogether like some cold-blood killers who finally identified their target in front of them.
But the silence didn't last long.
"What the hell is Bose-Einstein Condensate? Is it food?" Tuffnut yelled.
"It's not food. It is another state of matter beside gas, solid, liquid, and plasma," Hiccup tried to summarize his knowledge about it in a few sentences. "It's when we cool something, usually gas, super close to absolute zero. It's very cold but extremely fragile."
"Why can't we find it from Antarctica? That place is pretty cold," Ruffnut said.
"Because it's an artificial product. There are no natural places on Earth that can reach absolute zero," Fishlegs stepped forward and stood beside Hiccup.
"Anyway," Pushing the twins away, Valka pointed at the file. "We want you to create it, and weaponize it."
Fishlegs scratched his head, "Nobody tried it before. Right now it's already a miracle to just cool down something to near absolute zero."
"Then I guess you guys will be the first."
"You said you want us to weaponize it, so are you trying to kill someone with that?"
"Of course, or use it as an anti-tank, anti-aircraft, or something like that."
"Well, I already said that Bose-Einstein Condensate is extremely fragile. You can't use it physically against someone or something," Fishlegs shrugged.
"Then how about freezing something? You said that BEC is extremely cold."
"I'm not sure if it can freeze anything. In order to store it, we must put it into a specially designed container, and it can't even withstand room temperature."
While Fishlegs and Valka intensely discussed weaponizing Bose-Einstein Condensate and exchanging details about it, Hiccup scanned the people who accompanied Valka. There was a twin, a muscular man, and a blonde. When Hiccup locked his vision on the blonde, he blinked.
Unlike other visitors, the blonde wore a silver black trench coat with a belt. Using the mirror on the other side of the wall, Hiccup could see that beneath the trench coat, there was only a vest. She cocked her head and looked back at Hiccup. Clearly, she wasn't a nice girl who you could find in a theater or in a mall. Hiccup could even feel daggers shooting out from her eyes. Without even saying or gesturing anything, she created an invisible territory around her that no one was allowed to cross. Hiccup witnessed when the muscular guy tried to move closer to the blonde, she hit him in the belly with her knee.
Actually, Astrid was a little bit mentally freaked out under the engineer's awkward glance. That dude was skinny like a fishbone comparing to his oversized companion. His auburn hair was messy and even tangled up like a bird nest, but she knew that this kind of people could abruptly transform into a god when there were in a lab. She felt naked in front of him as if his vision could pierce through her clothes and directly view the inside of her. According to her personality, she would walk straight up to him and punch him in the face and yell: "Why are you fucking staring at me? I'm not a nude!"
But the two emerald eyes were so familiar to Astrid. The awkwardness was not the only thing that hit Astrid, but also warmth. Under his stare, the feeling of her parents cuddled her when she was young came back to her. Astrid searched through her mind, trying to find where and when she met those eyes before. From the outside, Astrid looked nothing except for a cold-blood, serious killer, but her emotions and thoughts were all concentrated on that engineer.
Her hands unconsciously slipped into the remolded pockets of her coat. In there, two HK MP7 Submachine guns were locked and loaded. Astrid wasn't trying to kill someone, but the only thing that could make her feel safe and protected was her weapons. She held on the handle of both guns while taking some deep breaths to calm herself.
She chose this pair of MP7 when she jointed DPA. This German submachine gun was invented based on NATO's policies and was spread to more than twenty countries. Having a similar size than a pistol, MP7 could both create a wall of bullets by a ROF of 950 rounds per minute and hide easily under jackets or coats for secret missions. Astrid's MP7s were customized: the handles were designed only for her grip, a red dot sight and Picatinny rail were mounted on both guns, and the extended barrels increased the accuracy and effective range of the bullets.
"Please hold it right there, lady," Helga violently pushed the door open and stepped into Hiccup's lab pointing at Astrid, followed by a team from Muspelheim Security Division. The guards took out their standard combination of SRM 1216 shotguns, FN P90 Submachine guns, and Glock 18 pistols and surrounded the visitors.
"What? What the heck is going on?" Fishlegs protested. "We are trying to talk about science and technology. We don't need those stupid… shooting pieces of shits during a science talk."
"Put your hands at where we can see it!" Helga commanded as her FN P90 pointed at Astrid. She totally ignored Fishlegs's objection.
"Nice trick," Astrid said carelessly as she pulled her hands out. She wasn't afraid of the guards. Before they came, they already studied the security system of Asgard. The guards were pros, but Astrid was confident that if a gunfight broke out, they would win.
"Trick yourself, asshole," Helga said as she approached towards Astrid.
"Helga, stop what you are doing and get your men out of there," Samuel Timothy's voice crackled from Helga's radio.
"Sam, they are armed, and there is a possibility that one of them is trying to use their arms," Helga replied.
"That doesn't matter. I want this trade to be a peaceful one," TImothy's voice was low but powerful and forceful. "Not a bloody one."
"Yes, Sam," After a few seconds of hesitation, Helga withdrew her P90 loathly and turned to her guards. "Let's move. I believe this time Mr. Timothy doesn't want us to disrupt his favorite engineer and project."
"Motion detectors," Fishlegs explained after the guards left the lab, not willing for Helga to hear this. "Every movement in this room is detected and analyzed by a system of fourteen motion detectors. I'm not sure why you did that, but I'm sure that you were reaching for your arms?"
"How do you know that I have arms?" Astrid asked, but the question was more like a challenge.
"Metal detectors and infrared cameras."
"How much do you think it'll cost?" Valka asked, totally ignoring the fact that a gunfight almost broke out in the lab. Valka wouldn't be affected by her surrounding environment. After she focused on something, no disturbances could catch her attention.
"Four million, minimum," Fishlegs took out a calculator from his pocket and punched some numbers.
"That's a lot."
"I get it, but in order to create BEC, we need a lot of energy to decrease the movements of molecules, and in order to use it as an arm, we need to find a way for it to withstand room temperature by itself… Anyway, it's very complicated. Do you have other requirements or limits?"
"No, just make some Bose-Einstein Condensate and weaponize it. Easy, right? You can do things your way."
"It…it's actually not easy," Fishlegs corrected her. "But I guess we can make it work."
After parking his Ford into his driveway, Hiccup dashed into his house and ran to the table covered by photos. He couldn't wait to confirm his prediction. He lost track of her for more than seven years. Was it faith that brought her back to him again? He picked up the middle photo, the one with a young boy and a young girl.
"Oh my…it's really you," Hiccup murmured as tears landed dripped down his cheek and landed on the table.
He plopped onto the floor with the photo in hand. His hands trembled and muscles spasmed as if he was undergoing a panic attack. Well, the thing that he was experiencing was no different from a panic attack.
To be continued
Just for a reminder: certain technological and scientific facts and descriptions were created or changed for the purposes of dramatization.
The writer of this story (that's me) is not an engineer or scientist.