Chapter Twenty-Seven: Positive Results

Bill receives preliminary positive results on wormhole research from Hugh, indicating a workable solution is near despite not yet being fully optimal. Bill prepares to begin hardware testing at a remote Oort cloud station, where he meets with Garfield to discuss the theoretical challenges and risks of developing FTL technology.

Bill is notified by Hugh that the Skippy-led research team has achieved mathematical convergence on a wormhole solution that avoids generating infinities, though it remains imperfect and potentially dangerous. Hugh indicates the preliminary design could be used immediately but with significant limitations and unknown risks, including possible catastrophic failure. Bill reveals he has already constructed most of the necessary hardware at a specially prepared space station in the Oort cloud, chosen deliberately for its isolation in case of dangerous experiments. He contacts Garfield to discuss next steps. During their conversation at the station, Bill explains his century-long engagement with the FTL project and his decision to focus on wormholes rather than Alcubierre drives, citing the many unresolved theoretical problems with warp drives. Garfield expresses concern that Thoth's hint about FTL might be intentionally misleading, designed to cause catastrophic harm when implemented. Bill dismisses this worry using the principle of mediocrity, arguing that other civilizations would have already attempted such technology and visible consequences would exist in the universe. He suggests they will know the answer soon as they approach the heavily armored testing facility.