While studying at the training center, Ron visited the Lunar Domes as part of a group of future colonists. The Lunar Domes were a sparsely populated but huge base on the far side of the moon. The base served as a starting point for the colonists' capsules to the so-called "throw area"—the wormholes.

  These capsules, along with most of the equipment needed by the colonists (subject-printers, buildbots, UniComs, and weapons), were actually built on the Moon. The Lunar Domes housed farms that bred experimental species of synthetic organisms called "donators," which produced the orgmat.

  During a lecture, a mentor remarked, "It's funny, isn't it? We can send a copy of our consciousness a million light years into the unknown and plant it in a synthetic body, but it takes us a few days to fly to the moon, like our ancestors did."

  "And why can't we create these wormholes directly on Earth?" Jeanne Chou asked naively. "Or at least in orbit?"

  The mentor frowned. "You're a good fighter, Jeanne. But you should read more. Or watch documentaries. Or at least go on a couple of space quests in Adam Online instead of asking stupid questions. Minus ten points for not knowing a topic from your first year of colonist training."

  Ron answered instead of the mentor. "The Earth's gravitational field doesn't allow for the creation of a throwing area. The farther away from Earth, the better. Moreover, the devices that make up the wormhole generation system continue to move away from our planet at several hundred meters per second. When no launches are scheduled, the operators in the Lunar Domes accelerate their escape from gravitational interaction with Earth to a thousand kilometers per second."

  Perhaps this readiness of Ron to answer any question was what made Jeanne dislike him even more.

  Upon arriving at the Lunar Domes, the group of colonist trainees ascended to the observatory tower. From there, they watched the capsule transfer process.

  The system of one hundred thousand spacecraft was called "Throw." Each device created powerful gravitational distortions and opened a microscopic entrance to the wormhole. The exit was designed to appear near one of the exoplanets in the "Explora" project.

  The configuration of the generation apparatuses changed depending on the direction and length of the channel. Synchronization of all "Throw" vehicles created a wormhole channel wide enough for capsule transfer.

  Since there was no feedback from the planets, Earth-based scientists could only theorize that the capsules should appear as close to the destination planet as possible. The onboard QCPs then calculated the landing site.

  Capsules without synthesans were the first to be sent to undeveloped planets. These were packed to the brim with buildbots and subject printers. After landing, the artificial intelligence began work on building the receiving infrastructure, creating servers for the BATS system and several towers covering a dozen square kilometers of territory.

  Initially, an AI version capable of growing donators was sent to some planets, including Locus. However, this practice was quickly discontinued. During a simulation in the game Adam Online, the AI showed problems in planning farms for donators. These artificial microorganisms were extremely sensitive to living conditions, so the AI-controlled farms ran at twenty percent efficiency. Any AI decisions to improve the donators' living conditions resulted in the loss of all colonial infrastructure. The AI considered the lives of the donators more important than the existence of the BATS infrastructure, putting the synthesans at risk.

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  Given that conditions on real planets were unpredictable, unlike those on virtual planets, it became clear that humans were better suited for breeding donators.

  When the pods arrived at a planet that the AI had already prepared, the process became smoother. The onboard QCP, having received information from the BATS server, would land the capsule closer to the colony site.

  "There's a high probability that some pods won't reach their intended destinations," the mentor said. "According to our models, one in thirty-two capsules either causes the wormhole to collapse, resulting in destruction, or diverges so far from the target planet that the capsule lacks sufficient fuel to complete the journey."

  "It should be noted," Ron interjected, "that these statistics are derived from simulations. Due to the absence of communication from the colonies, we lack concrete data on their actual situations."

  "What does that mean?" Jeanne asked, her voice tinged with horror. "Could the capsules be disintegrating within the wormholes? What happens to our copies in that case?"

  Ron answered before his mentor could. "The Explorus project wouldn't have been developed without confirmation that the wormholes were functional. Consider how we established research stations on all the planets in the Solar System and beyond. All those machines made contact successfully."

  He continued, "On Jupiter's moons and Mars, we conducted several simulations of settlement building under AI guidance. We even sent binary arrays of NPC consciousness from the game Adam Online. After successfully incarnating into synthesan bodies, the NPCs began developing their own settlements."

  Jeanne's eyes widened. "You mean we've cultivated an entire NPC civilization on Mars?"

  "They were used to work out various scenarios of potential difficulties colonists might encounter," Ron explained. "Based on the results of these simulations, we created modifications for subject-printers, buildbots, and body enhancement systems, as well as improving their interaction with Unicoms."

  The mentor added, "Jeanne, you're not only a skilled fighter but also an attractive woman. However, you should read more thoroughly. Or at least retain what you've read."

  Ron snorted at the phrase "attractive woman." Jeanne didn't seem beautiful to him, nor did she seem like a woman at all. An old lady. Granted, this old lady was sturdy and strong enough to break his arm, but still…

  "I've read it all," Jeanne defended herself. "In my freshman year. I remember some of it. Yes, it was like that. They lived on Mars and… they worked…"

  The tutor was relentless. "People like you, Jeanne, skim texts and then ask naive questions, even though all the answers are in the material itself. Minus five points for disregarding historical information."

  "Hey, take it easy. I've spent my career reading police reports. I'm adept at grasping the essence of a text quickly without reading every sentence. Ever heard of speed-reading?"

  "Another five-point deduction for diagonal speed-reading," the mentor concluded. "The history of space exploration isn't a protocol for arresting a landlord or raiding an illegal Adam Online access point. Here, you need to read not just every sentence, but every word."