30XX:Watergrav/Datalore

Experiment 1: July 7, 2250

Abstract: New advances in Gravfield research offer never-before-seen opportunities in gravity-controlled propulsion technology. With the touch of a button, an object's mass can be subject to something akin to "reverse gravity", and will begin flying away from the nearest source of gravitational pull. 

Management requires better understanding of the limits of this technology before developing it for commercial applications.

Procedure: We took our office trash can outside with a field generator and started throwing stuff at the field. We watched in awe as Jane's coffee pod sailed skyward, leaking tiny coffee grounds in its wake, like a doomed ship hemorraging passengers. We gazed in awe of Terry's yogurt lid, as it floated effortlessly out of our view.

We probably should have put trackers on this stuff. As of this writing, the objects haven't returned - effects of the gravfield on inorganic matter last at least 5 days.

Experiment 2: July 22, 2250

Abstract: To determine safe applications of Gravfield technology, we continue to study its effects on inorganic matter.

We're getting a little more scientific about it this time.

Procedure: We've constructed 100 miniature satellites, equipped with long-range tracking devices and sufficient thermal plating to survive exit and re-entry of Earth's atmosphere. They've also got some very basic guidance tech to help them avoid hitting anything on the way back in.

Watching each orb fly up into the sky is somehow less majestic than the trash we sent up a few weeks ago. If nothing else, this technology could at least be an answer to our landfill problems.

Note: Field interactions with organic matter are not yet tested. DO NOT personally engage with an active reversed Gravfield under any circumstances, Steve.

Experiment 4: November 15, 2251

Abstract: To determine potential viability for Gravfield tech to handle propulsion needs for spacefaring vessels, we study the effects of Gravfields on larger masses.

The satellites we launched last year haven't come back to Earth yet, and still appear to be floating off in space according to our trackers. Management's pushing us to move our large-mass experiment schedule up, and we're all pretty uncomfortable about it. What if it comes back?

"Procedure" - I can't believe we're calling it this: Install the abandoned components of the second International Space Station in the ruins of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Commandeer long-range monitoring station 45 miles south in Fort Collins. Project distributed negative Gravfield across the entirety of ISS2, and watch as we send a giant metal monster hurtling into the sky.

Tremors caused by the liftoff of ISS2 appear to have jostled the Gravfield projector, causing fluctuations in the area covered by the field. By the time we shut down the field, 300 square miles of land surrounding Cheyenne also appear to have been affected. Luckily, nobody lives in Wyoming anyway - we believe loss of life as a result of this event is minimal. We'll be more discreet about our research going forward.

Experiment 9: June 12, 2254

Abstract: After the show we put on in Cheyenne, it was only a matter of time before the military got involved in our research. On the plus side, we've got more funding than ever. On the minus side, we're not super on board with most of our work involving efficient ways for our Gravfield research to "manage threats at home and abroad."

Today, they've got us studying one of their new "Corporate Defense" units. It looks like something out of a horror film. They claim the stasis tank it shipped in helps it stay ready for combat, but we're pretty sure it's there to keep the creature sedated.

We ran a few calibration tests before exposing it to Gravfield tech - its tail is comprised of some sort of plasma that the creature can shape telekinetically, and can cut through all the sample testing material we had on hand. Some of its movements are eerily quick - it looks like it can charge forward in short bursts so quickly that it appears to be teleporting, but ultrahigh framerate video review reveals that it's just really, really fast.

Honestly, we're not sure why the military wanted us to study this thing - it adapted to our Gravfield tech about as well as you'd think, just as comfortable slashing around with its tail on the ceiling as it was on the ground.

We're putting research here on hold - our satellite sensors show that one of our experimental devices has re-entered Earth's atmosphere.

Satellite Review: June 14, 2254

Eighteen of our 100-satellite-test units have re-entered the atmosphere in the last 48 hours. Long-range tracking indicates that dozens more are inbound over the next week. This is Bad.

Seventeen of the returning units landed harmlessly in unpopulated areas - guidance tech on the last one seems to have failed, and it leveled a house in Colorado Springs. Hopefully all this military money can keep that quiet.

We've got a thorough, persuasive report that we're getting ready to send up the chain - even if it exposes us, we've got to make Command aware of everything we've sent in to space, so we're ready to deal with it if it comes back down. If the timings work out similarly, ISS2 could be on its way down in about 16 months. Plenty of time to destroy it before impact.

Nothing to worry about.

History

• Early Access 0.33.0: Introduced.