Chapter 15 - Structure Setting
Chapter 15 - Structure Setting
The government verification team arrived at MIT the next morning.
Three black vehicles entered through the rear entrance of the research building, and the hallway, which would normally be bustling with students, was quietly cordoned off.
Siwoo was staring at the whiteboard inside the lab.
A structure where resistance disappears, a path where electrons don't need to detour, and the point where that path closes.
On the surface, it was just formulas and drawings, but to Siwoo, the flow inside was visible.
I didn't consider this complete yet.
The sample was a success, yes, but one sample wouldn't change the world.
The real problem was whether the same structure could be created repeatedly. People would call it a superconductor, but what I saw wasn't the material, but the structure.
The structure isn't the kind of thing you can copy just by taking apart the finished product.
It's similar to not being able to build the same city just by looking at a photo of a completed road.
If you don't know where the path was opened, at which point the flow was diverted, or in what order it was connected, you end up with a different object that just looks similar.
Even if that difference looks small, to an electron, it was a completely different path.
A moment later, the door opened and Jonathan entered, followed by the MIT president and the government verification team.
The head of the verification team, an official from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and a technical representative from the Department of Energy were with them.
The head of the verification team gave a short nod.
"Siwoo, we've come from Washington."
"I think you should look at the structure first."
"The sample has passed MIT's verification."
"Yes, I've confirmed that as well."
"What we want to verify today is the feasibility of production."
Siwoo nodded.
"That's the most important thing."
"Is production possible?"
"It's possible. But it's not as simple as just building a factory."
The head of the verification team looked at Siwoo.
"What do you mean?"
"I have to set up the production line."
This was not the answer the verification team had expected.
They were waiting for words like process blueprints, patents, equipment specifications, or raw material mixtures, but what Siwoo said was completely different.
"Did you say 'set up'?"
"Yes."
"Setting up the production line?"
"That's right."
Siwoo drew a new diagram on one side of the whiteboard.
It wasn't an electron flow, but a production line.
A diagram showing raw materials entering, processing steps following, and the structure closing at the end. However, it was different from a typical process flow chart, and small reference lines were marked between each step.
"This superconductor isn't something you get just by putting in materials and running the equipment."
"The structure has to align slightly at each step."
"Even if the exterior looks the same, if the intermediate reference lines are off, the electron path breaks."
The head of the verification team asked slowly.
"Can those reference lines be quantified?"
"Some of them can."
"I can write down things like temperature, pressure, and time, but even if I write all of that down, it's not enough."
"What's missing?"
"Because you have to see the moment the structure closes."
The room went quiet, and the Department of Energy representative asked.
"Then does that mean it's difficult even if we create a manual?"
"Yes. A manual is for making people follow what someone has already understood."
"But this hasn't been understood by anyone else yet."
"I can't put the structure I see into writing."
Professor Bradley Hunt quietly interjected.
"We have confirmed that part as well."
"We verified the sample by following the conditions Siwoo mentioned, but even we cannot fully explain why the structure closes at that point."
"Are you saying even MIT doesn't understand?"
"Yes."
"We confirmed the results, but we cannot see the structure itself as Siwoo sees it."
The government wanted technology, but what was in front of them was something more complex than just technology.
There were finished products, samples, and numerical values, but the core was inside Yoon Siwoo.
The head of the verification team looked at Siwoo again.
"Can't other researchers learn it?"
"They can learn how to use the machines."
"They can memorize the process conditions, too."
"But judging whether the structure is correct is a different matter."
"Why?"
"Because just because one value is correct doesn't mean the structure is correct."
"The flow must be continuous from beginning to end."
"If the electron path is broken even once in the middle, it becomes an ordinary metal."
The official from the Office of Science and Technology Policy said in a low voice.
"Then does that mean even if we replicate the production line, we might not get the same result?"
"Yes. Even if you set up the same equipment on the outside and run it in the same order, it won't work without the setting."
"The factory must be tuned so that it can create the structure."
"And the only person who can do that setting right now is student Yoon Siwoo?"
"Yes."
The answer was short, but no one in the room could take it lightly.
That one sentence was completely changing the meaning of the superconductor.
The head of the verification team opened the sample case, and a piece of metal a little larger than a fingernail was inside.
"What happens if another country secures this sample?"
Siwoo looked at the sample.
"They'll be able to figure out the materials."
"And they'll be able to see the arrangement to some extent."
"Then, replication?"
"They can't."
The head of the verification team's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Why are you so sure?"
Siwoo organized his thoughts for a moment.
He had to explain it in terms the other party could understand.
"This isn't a secret material or a secret mixture."
"The core is the structure."
"And that structure is created in the process, not the result."
He pointed to the production line diagram he had drawn on the whiteboard.
"The sample is the finished result. But you can't know the entire process just by looking at the finished product."
"You might be able to make something similar with the same materials, but if the electron path doesn't close, it's not a superconductor."
Someone inside the conference room gasped lowly.
The reason the verification team came here was to confirm if the superconductor was real, but what they were hearing now was a much bigger problem.
The superconductor exists.
But the only person who can make it is Yoon Siwoo.
A government researcher asked cautiously.
"Can the factory Yoon sets up continue production?"
"It's possible."
"Once the structure is set, the factory can produce it repeatedly."
"But if the structure collapses or if a new line is built, I have to look at it again."
"What if we build a factory in another region?"
"I have to set that up too."
"What if we build hundreds of them?"
"All of them."
The room went quiet.
That meant it wasn't just a simple technical problem.
It meant that production volume, supply chains, national strategy, and industrial control were all connected to one person.
I know this is a dangerous thing to say, but I couldn't state the facts any differently.
We could build many factories, and we could hire many people.
But if I don't see the core structure, the production line is just a bundle of expensive equipment.
The head of the verification team didn't ask any more questions.
He wrote a short sentence on the first page of the report.
[Production line structure setting required]
[Yoon Siwoo's direct involvement essential]
[Possibility of independent replication extremely low]
He stopped his pen and looked at Siwoo.
"I will report it like this."
"Yes. It's better to write it accurately."
"Because if someone else tries it for no reason and fails, they'll just be wasting time."
The official from the Office of Science and Technology Policy smiled faintly for the first time.
It was overly realistic for something coming from a ten-year-old, but in the current situation, that realism was actually necessary.
That afternoon, the secure line in the MIT president's office was connected to Washington, and the head of the government verification team didn't speak at length.
The people in the conference room were already waiting for the report.
"The superconducting structure is real."
"The sample verification results match the MIT report, but the core issue is production."
The Washington conference room went quiet.
"Is there a problem with production?"
"We can build factories."
"But the production line setting must be done by Yoon Siwoo personally."
"Can it be manualized?"
"As of now, it's impossible."
"What is the possibility of other research teams learning it?"
"Low."
"What is the possibility of a foreign country that secures a sample replicating it?"
The head of the verification team was silent for a moment and then answered clearly.
"Extremely low."
"The core is not the material but the structure, and the only person who can see that structure is Yoon Siwoo."
For a few seconds, no sound was heard in the conference room.
The Department of Energy representative looked down at the report, and the Department of Commerce representative stopped tapping the desk with his finger.
The aide from the Office of Science and Technology Policy read the same sentence again.
[Personnel capable of setting: Yoon Siwoo only]
Someone said in a low voice.
"Does that mean even if we build a thousand factories, we can't produce anything without Yoon Siwoo?"
"Yes."
The air in the conference room sank coldly.
That statement was dangerous, but at the same time, it was a huge opportunity.
If the US is with Yoon Siwoo, they can control the superconductor supply chain.
Conversely, if they lose Yoon Siwoo, they can't make anything.
The aide from the Office of Science and Technology Policy slowly opened his mouth.
"Yoon Siwoo is more important than the superconductor."
No one refuted that.
That night, at the MIT lab.
Even after the verification team left, Yoon Siwoo remained in front of the whiteboard.
The government people saw the superconductor, but Siwoo was looking further ahead than that.
Factories, production lines, structural settings, repeated production.
The sample was just the beginning, and the real problem started now.
The structure must be implanted into the factory.
It must be changed into a process that people can follow, but the core structure must be seen by himself.
If that balance isn't maintained, it becomes a bottleneck, not an industry.
Siwoo picked up a marker and wrote a new phrase on the whiteboard.
[Production Line Structural Setting]