My Ultimate Sign-in System Made Me Invincible Chapter 547 They Built Where We Weren't Looking
Previously on My Ultimate Sign-in System Made Me Invincible...
Within mere minutes of the initial posts surfacing online, the crucial footage found its way to the Calloway's office.
His deputy, already vigilant since the earliest posts appeared, had been diligently collecting data on the flagged accounts. By the time Calloway's vehicle had cleared the security gate, a preliminary file had already been compiled. The orbital footage was prominently marked at the top with a single, urgent directive: Review this first.
Calloway observed the footage standing rigidly at his desk, his coat still on.
He played it a second time. Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, he lowered himself into his chair and viewed it a third time.
A colossal skeleton occupied the upper half of the screen. The Voyager, the very vessel that had traversed the solar system under live broadcast, seemed insignificantly small beside it.
Hundreds of construction drones moved with organized precision across the superstructure, their movements fluid and purposeful. The lunar surface curved at the frame's base, a stark reminder of the scene's tangible reality, far removed from any digital rendering.
He activated the communication system. "Connect me with Reeves. I need the NRO duty officer. And locate whoever is currently manning the lunar telescope array." After a brief pause, he added, "All three, simultaneously."
***
Calloway was engaged in a call with Reeves within the hour.
"I require a positional model," he stated, cutting through Reeves' initial greeting. "It must be constructed from the orbital footage that staff uploaded this morning. Extract every feasible reference point: the orbital position of the initial spacecraft, the angle of sunlight striking the skeleton, the curvature of the lunar surface visible in the frame, its apparent altitude, and the angular relationships between all discernible structures. Utilize everything the footage provides." He paused. "Subsequently, I need you to cross-reference these points against our lunar orbital geometry database to ascertain an estimated surface location for the base. The critical question is: where on the moon is this footage originating from? I need the answer, complete with a confidence interval, and I need it urgently."
"You're asking me to reverse-engineer the base's location from a video posted on LucidNet," Reeves responded.
"I'm asking you to attempt it," Calloway countered. "Proceed under the assumption that the footage is authentic, as all available intelligence on these accounts supports this premise. Work from that assumption. Determine their location."
A moment of silence followed from Reeves' end. "Grant me two hours."
"You have ninety minutes."
***
Reeves initiated the return call in eighty-three minutes, indicating readiness.
"The model is complete," he announced. "I ran it independently three times prior to contacting you. Each iteration yielded the same result, with a variance of no more than forty kilometers."
"Location?"
Reeves hesitated briefly, weighing the choice between an answer that seemed plausible and one that was factually accurate.
"The far side," Reeves declared.
A hush fell over the line.
"Are you absolutely certain?" Calloway inquired.
"I am certain that the reference points are consistent and the model is robust," Reeves affirmed. "The footage provides the Voyager's orbital parameters, the solar angle at the time of recording, the visible lunar surface curvature, and the angular separation between the two structures. When these variables are processed against established lunar orbital mechanics, the position that satisfies them consistently falls on the far side. Furthermore, I forwarded the footage to two external contractors without providing any context. I didn't inform them of my findings or what they were analyzing. I merely requested independent positional estimates."
"And the results?"
"Both independently confirmed a far-side location, within thirty kilometers of my own estimate."
Calloway rose from his desk.
He walked to the window, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular, while his deputy observed him from across the room.
"Task the NRO," Calloway commanded finally, his back still turned to the window. "Initiate comprehensive far-side coverage. All assets capable of lunar far-side operations are to be tasked immediately, with the highest priority. I require imagery of the calculated location and its surroundings." He paused. "And bring the telescope array online. If this base possesses external illumination – and the footage clearly indicates significant external lighting – then it must be emitting light outwards. The far side faces deep space, not Earth, so it would be invisible to Earth-facing surveillance. However, a telescope with the correct orientation should be able to detect it."
His deputy was already engaged with a second line, diligently executing the instructions given.
***
The NRO's findings were returned within forty minutes, revealing a pristine, cratered surface devoid of any visible installation, thermal signature, or anomalous electromagnetic activity.
The telescope array yielded identical results.
Calloway perused both reports while standing at his desk.
"Run the analysis again," he instructed.
"Frank—"
"Run it again."
The subsequent analysis took twenty minutes, producing the exact same outcomes.
He carefully placed the reports down.
"The stealth capabilities," his second-in-command stated from across the command center. "The project documents specified that 'Stealth systems would be deactivated upon entering the airport's airspace until departure.' They turned them off for the operational duration. A voluntary measure." She took a breath. "They did not disable them for any other reason." Calloway turned his gaze to her. "A fixed installation situated on the far side," she elaborated, "with no visibility towards Earth and no light emissions directed toward deep space as opposed to our sensors. Our orbital assets will have limited observation range because our surveillance infrastructure was designed for Earth-facing observation, not for observing the far side." She concluded, "And stealth systems were applied to the installation itself. All four conditions occurring simultaneously. We were never going to discover it." "No," Calloway responded. "We were not." He spoke with a complete lack of emotion. "Not because our assets were insufficient or because our coverage had a deficiency that better resources would have rectified. Rather, it was because they accurately assessed our complete surveillance capacity, identified the location where all four conditions converged, and constructed their facility there." He paused. "From the very beginning, whatever that beginning may have been." His deputy remained silent for a short period. "How long has this been in place?" "The available footage shows the shuttle fleet docked in the bay," Calloway stated. "The base infrastructure visible in the facility tours. The size of the common areas and the living quarters." He picked up the NRO report, then placed it back down. "None of this is constructed rapidly. None of this is built within a year. The construction timeline suggested by what we can observe in the publicly released footage is—" He trailed off. "Extensive," Calloway finished. "Significantly longer than any timeline we had been operating under. The base has been functional, fully staffed, and completely constructed for a duration that our current understanding of this organization does not accommodate." He met her gaze directly. "Whatever assumption we were working with regarding when Nova Technologies came into existence—when it became capable of this level of operation—that assumption was incorrect. And we have no means of determining by how much." The room became profoundly silent. "Compile the assessment," Calloway commanded. "Everything we can verify from the footage. The positional model, the three independent estimations, the NRO findings, the results from the telescope array, the deduction regarding stealth capabilities. State the conclusion plainly—don't obscure it or soften it." He retrieved his jacket. "The President must understand that we are not facing a surveillance oversight. We are confronting an entity that comprehended our strategic architecture better than we understood theirs, built in accordance with that knowledge, and has been doing so for longer than we are aware." He paused at the doorway. "They did not conceal themselves from us," he declared. "Hiding implies a necessity to evade detection. They established their presence where we were not looking. There is a fundamental difference, and it is important. One action is defensive. The other suggests something entirely different." Having delivered his final words, Calloway departed. His deputy remained alone in the office, with the NRO report resting on the desk before her and the orbital footage continuing its playback on the screen behind it. She observed the footage for a considerable time. Subsequently, she initiated a new document and commenced writing.