Professor Hiraku Kaneko was Head of Research and Development at Mazon Propulsion Systems (MPS)
Biography
Professor Hiraku Kaneko was, arguably, one of the greatest minds of the modern GCPS era. At kindergarten it’s claimed he was completing complex mathematical puzzles, before moving on to build working ion engines from scrap as a science project at high school. The Mazon Centre for Educational Excellence took notice and quickly enrolled him into their education programme. In exchange for paying for Hiraku to attend the First Sphere’s best schools, he would become a Mazon employee and any scientific or technological advancements made by Hiraku would become the intellectual property of Mazon Holdings.
Short bio from the official Mazon Labs website: Widely renowned for his research into theoretical phsyics, Professor Kaneko has brought his expertise and passion to our groundbreaking developments in Mazon Propulsion Systems.
His latest advancements in research for MPS led to the incursion of the Nightstalkers, as thoroughly described at the Fall of Pluton III.
The Interview
The recording starts as professor Hiraku Kaneko takes a seat directly across from his interviewer.
“Ok Doctor Kaneko, before we get to the main interview let’s just chat a bit to get you comfortable.” Unused to media attention, the professor sat stiffly in his chair unsure where to put his hands or where to look. “Can you explain to me - as if I was new to the science behind them - what wormholes are?”.
Kaneko took a breath as if to launch into his usual explanation but then paused, trying to find the right analogy. He removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes.
“Well, a wormhole is basically like a fold in space. It’s like…imagine a piece of paper.” He held out his hand flat and put the tip of his pen onto the palm. “If we draw-...”
“Here, take this”. The reporter handed Kaneko a tissue from her satchel.
“Thank you, yes. So, if I draw two points A and B, at opposite ends of the sheet, what is the shortest path we can travel between them?”
“Oh, a straight line?”
“Exactly. A…straight…line” Said Kaneko as he drew this line onto the tissue. “That is true when there is no manipulation of space, and as far as we know it, true across the entire universe. However, just as this tissue is a two dimensional representation of our three dimension reality, what if we could bend areas of space in a… controlled manner?”.
The reporter waited for Kaneko to continue.
“Ah, watch.” Kaneko folded the thin paper in half, so as to make the two dots meet. “Look, now those two locations are practically the same place.” Taking the pen, he pierced the tissue through both dots then pointed to the hole he’d just made. “This is what a wormhole is… er does… er makes. It allows us to bend our space so that two points meet without actually needing to move. And the best thing is that the distance this can be achieved over is infinite!”.
The reporter considered her next question.
“That sounds easy Professor. I assume given our interview today it’s not quite as simple in practice?”
“Ha! Quite. For one thing, it takes an immense amount of energy using conventional methods. Even over the small distance of say, a Dreadball pitch, it requires the battery tech the Koris use to hop about - even then those batteries may not even last the game.
And - I would say more importantly for space travel - the size of the wormhole, known as the rift-length, is also a limiting factor. A wormhole to the other side of the galaxy is of no use if all you can send through it is a few atoms -...oh thank you”. An assistant handed him a glass of water, which he promptly put on the floor and ignored.
“Erm, where was I? Yes, right, so - it turns out the equations that everyone had thought were complete…weren’t. Or at least, you can introduce several other variables without affecting the function of the wormhole itself, but that bypasses the problems.”
“You mean the anchors?”
“Exactly. They solve the size issue. We can get as large a wormhole as we need, so long as there is a sister device with which to anchor to. True, it may take time to get that device into place, but once it’s there we can connect wormholes to it indefinitely. But, that still doesn’t solve the energy problem. But, I guess that’s why we’re here isn’t it?”
The reporter smiled professionally. “That’s right, but for now I still just want to chat with you so I can ask relevant questions during the interview proper. All informal.”
Kaneko was acutely aware of the multiple cameras around him, all marked with the Mazon Labs media wing insignia.
“Ok. Well, to put it briefly, yes I think we’ve done it.” He returned a worried smile back to the reporter. “Well, we have done it technically, if accidentally, but we’re close to controlling it. Erm…” He once again had to take a pause to figure out how to simplify his explanation. “I -... we, realised that some of the variables we could introduce into the wormhole mathematics are additional dimensions. Like our three, up and down, left and right, forward and backwards, but you can keep adding dimensions as you want. Initially it didn’t appear to affect anything, until we tried the █████ dimension. Then the energy needed just kind of…slips.”
“Slips?”
“Yes, it falls away rather than continuing to rise by a factor of the distance traveled.”
“And so that solves your energy problem then?”
“Er, yes and no - in theory it works, but the technology required to access and control that dimension is… fledgling.” Kaneko lowered his voice. “A stable connection is proving difficult, but I’m positive we’re on the cusp of perfecting it.”
Silence fell between the pair as the reporter tapped out some notes on her data tablet.
“Ok, I think that’s enough for us to go with. Are you ready Professor?” asked the reporter, Kaneko nodded back. The reporter looked at the camera operator opposite her. “Ok?”. She straightened her suit and sat upright. “Good evening. Tonight I am joined by none other than Professor Hiraku Kaneko, Head of Research and Development at Mazon Propulsion Systems…”
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