Soon enough, we reached our destination, which was the lowest layer of the Araneus Prime Research Facility on the planet.
The first thing that I did was connect the Architect to the console, as my AI was now using all the computing power of the entire Executor-class Super Star Destroyer Dreadnought to breach the firewalls of the Research Facility.
Fortunately enough...
Many millennia of disrepair had left the facility in terrible shape, and as I predicted, there were only a few droids that were taking care of the facility, but none of them were sentient and were controlled by the automated systems of the Research Facility.
Within the Terran Federation, the Core Facilities, be it the ones for the Military or Research, were always designated and built with that idea in mind.
The idea that you can practically withstand the passage of time within those facilities, even when everything around you is fucked up and destroyed.
It seemed that these contingency plans had worked rather well.
Much to my surprise, because I was rather skeptical of them.
Nevertheless, with the computing power of the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer Dreadnought and the Architect's expertise, the AI sub-program that I brought with me to the Immaterius Universe managed to obtain complete control over the Core Facility, which was actually in the best shape.
Even I was surprised that when we exited the elevator and passed around four security checkpoints, we were welcomed to a rather clear and sterile enviroment. While some signs of the time and neglect were evident...
I almost thought that I was back.
[Araneus Prime Core Research Facility is Online.]
[Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Defense Systems are functioning at 78%.]
[Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Life Support Systems are functioning at 44%.]
[Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Auxiliary Systems are functioning at 57%.]
[Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Self-Repair Systems are functioning at 67%.]
[Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Self-Sustainance Systems are functioning at 71%.]
[Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Central Artificial Intelligence Mainframe is severely damaged.]
[Taking over the Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Central Artificial Intelligence Mainframe has been initiated.]
[The Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Central Artificial Intelligence Mainframe has been assimilated.]
[Executing the Reboot of the Core Systems.]
[Connecting to the Alpha Backup Mainframe.]
[Connection Established.]
[Executing the Last Protocol.]
[Executing the Contamination Protocols in the Araneus Prime Core Research Facility's Anti-Psyker Segment.]
[Anti-Psyker Knight Mechs have been detected to be dormant.]
[Connecting to the Anti-Psyker Knight Mechs through the Federation CyberNet.]
[Connection Established.]
[Erasing the Men of Iron within the Anti-Psyker Knight Mechs.]
[Erasure Complete.]
[Takeover of the Anti-Psyker Knight Mechs has been completed.]
[Unlocking the Segment Sigma.]
[Segment Sigma Error!]
[Requiesting the Authorization of the Councillor of the Federal Council.]
[Authorization denied.]
[Breaching the Segment Sigma of the Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Central Artificial Intelligence Mainframe.]
[Executing the Breach Protocol.]
[The Araneus Prime Core Research Facility Central Artificial Intelligence Mainframe's Segment Sigma has been breached.]
[Rebooting the System.]
[Accessing the Project: Human Webway.]
[Project Human Webway has been accessed.]
[Opening the Segment Sigma.]
[Unlocking the Segment Sigma complete.]
I was swarmed with notifications from the Architect, as for the next half an hour, we were standing together with Esdeath in the hallway and waiting for the entire process to be finished.
Even though the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer Dreadnought was armed with some really advanced computers and I had acess to a lot of Federal Files, who would have thought that after my death, this facility was changed to the Federal Council Core.
This was more problematic because I couldn't access the part that was holding the Webway and Anti-Psyker Knight Mech project with the identification codes of Jeron Egan Butler.
Even though I was very high in the hierarchy of the Terran Federation in my first life, I wasn't a member of the Federal Council. It was clear that somebody updated the security clearance to the Federal Council Level, which was pretty troublesome to deal with.
I knew that firsthand because I helped partially design the Clearance Level and its security measures, and because of that, I also knew that even with the help of the computing powers on the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer Dreadnought, the Architect's sub-program would have a rather hard time cracking the code.
Fortunately enough, I knew the system well enough to find the backdoors that were left there in the case of an emergency or by the people who were building the architecture and wanted to have access.
So even despite not having the Federal Council Level Clearance and Acess, I was able to bypass it with enough time, like right now.
"Welcome, my dear... to the last remnants of the Terran Federation in the Milky Way Galaxy... I don't think that there are more than a few facilities from the old age that managed to survive till this day."
I said as huge vault doors started opening and revealing the facility inside that was actually in very good shape. Even better than the outside, with the bots and droids conducting maintenance where they could, or some were already malfunctioning.
Even Esdeath looked in wonder around everywhere, because this place was rather intact.
Mostly.
Even in my memories, it looked rather the same, sans the people, because it seemed to be abandoned.
If I had to guess, then if there were any people here at all, during the time when everything went to fuck, they must have left the place after some time and reach the surface. Though I could also see some skeletons here and there... so it was clear that not everyone had left the facility, and some people decided to remain here.
Which wasn't really the worst choice, but these facilities weren't designed to sustain human life for centuries.
The food and clear water would soon become a problem, mainly because large parts of the facility had already been destroyed at the start of the Age of Strife. That much was clear from our journey here...
At the same time, it was rather fascinating that nobody from the upper levels managed to discover the existence of the Araneus Prime Research Facility.