Chapter 10B: New Experiences
Today was a special day. It was the day the trainees meet with their professors again. Alex separated with her friends early in the morning and joined the other students in the group. With the three month deadline that Dr. Ptah had set up, many of the students procrastinated. They wanted to explore the new environment.
Thankfully, Alex had a treasure trove of ready to manufacture inventions left behind by the old man. But she couldn’t start using them just yet. She needed to check if any of the old man’s inventions were already patented or not.
While the students were chatting among themselves, Dr. Ptah appeared before them like a ghost. Upon closer inspection, he wasn’t present physically but was rather a hologram.
Dr. Ptah looked at the students who were stunned speechless. Deep in his artificial eyes laid the look of disdain. He didn’t wear it on his face as he knew that he shouldn’t, but honestly, his standards were just too high.
Only a few of the pupils recovered and were eager to learn. Dr. Ptah took notice of them.
“Today we will be heading towards one of the main branches of Gaia, the Tinkerer Society,” Dr. Ptah said as he withdrew from his coat a silver gear.
Engraved on the silver gear badge, was his name and his current rank. It wasn’t very impressive for those who know nothing about the society, but for the learned, his rank was shocking. They might even wonder why he was teaching new recruits with such a high rank. He could have easily delegated it to a subordinate.
Sadly, none of the students knew what the badge meant. They were new to this world and its ways.
“Follow me,” Dr. Ptah said as his hologram began to hover a foot above the ground.
The students followed him with reluctance out the building into the alleyway. They ventured deeper and deeper into the city until they reached a rather large building. To be honest, the building wasn’t just large. It was the third largest structure in the city.
Ptah said with reverence in his voice, “This is the headquarters of the Tinkerer Society.”
The black pedestrian roads gave way to beautiful marble stairs that led up to the building. On the front was the image of a giant gear and the words ‘Tinkerer Society.’
They entered the enormous double doors into the lobby. The roof above was a painting of all the greatest inventors and creators through time. Tesla, Einstein, Franklin, almost everyone who had ever invented something had their portrait plastered on the ceiling.
“This is the Hall of Giants. We tinkerers realized early on that everything we have today was thanks to these people. Upon their shoulders we stand proud, ever looking forward to the future.”
The students listened to Ptah’s speech and looked up at the amazing view.
Alex was stunned as well. She saw the giant building off in the distance, but she could never enter it. Security droids would stop her as soon as she took a step onto the marble stairs. It would seem the badge that Dr. Ptah held managed to allow them to enter unhindered.
At the very center of the room, was a round kiosk reception area. Two androids stood still, awaiting the next customer.
Ptah’s hologram vanished all of a sudden. The students panicked and were looking around for him.
All of a sudden, one of the many doors in the hall opened up. Dr. Ptah walked out, but rather than a hologram, it was his real person this time.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
In his hand was a sphere. It rotated at incredible speeds to the point where a sharp eerie screech emitted from it.
“Today, you will be registered into the Tinkerer Society,” Ptah said.
The students were all eager to join the ranks of the giants.
“But first, we must visit our forefathers.”
Ptah walked by with his back straight, his posture regal, and his pace steady. The students followed along in a messy stampede. The receptionists bowed and without a word, opened the door to the hallway behind them.
Inside the next room, twelve titan obelisks stood in solidarity.
“On these pillars, the names of every single tinkerer who had ever existed within Gaia are listed. Whether they are still researching, or have already entered cold storage, their name will forever remain engraved upon these obsidian obelisks.”
Ptah pointed at the fourth obelisk from the right. A single name started to glow red.
Alex quickly realized it was Ptah’s own name.
“This place also record ranks. The tinkerers have twelve ranks. All of you who just joined aren’t even qualified to be listed on the first rank obelisk.”
Ptah looked at the students with hidden disdain again.
“All of you are apprentices. You will follow me only for the first year. Afterwards, you will find a new sponsor. You will work with them until you gained enough experience to become a rank 1 tinkerer.”
The students who were originally excited were shot down. The mood inside the room turned grim.
One student decided to speak up.
“But what if we make something new and innovative?”
Ptah just laughed.
“You think you can possibly make something that hasn’t been thought of in all of human history? I applaud your arrogance and your stupidity.”
The students winced at Ptah’s remarks.
“Now I would like to see what you students have in mind for the three-month assignment, just speak out what you had in mind.”
Silence washed over the room. The students who were originally confident with the assignment were now doubting themselves. Alex was one of them. She looked at the hundreds of thousands of names on the obelisk. She tried to see if the old man was on it. Deep down she knew the old man must have some connection with this society. The gear necklace hanging from her neck was the exact same as the logo.
But sadly, she couldn’t find it. It was too hard to look without any easy method. Reading them one by one would take far too long. She was sure there was a search mechanism, but most likely she doesn’t have the authority to use it.
One of the students suddenly spoke up.
“My project is on the reintroduction of actual food to Gaia.”
Ptah’s fake eyebrows rose.
“Go on.”
“Those of us who had been through the ARK program realize how lacking our lives were up till now. It was a flavorless hell. The introduction of the culinary arts changed our view of the world. If we could have actual food instead of just nutritional supplements, wouldn’t we be a more motivated species to live to another day?”
Ptah clapped slowly.
“How many times do you think your suggestion had come up over the years?” Ptah asked with an evil grin.
“Countless,” The student said with reluctance.
“Indeed countless. But why is it that we still have nutritional supplements instead of real food?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Ah, you finally admit it. None of us here know everything. To admit that you know everything is to deny the role of a tinkerer. There is a reason we explore, we think, and we create. It is because we do not know. Therefore we look for answers.”
Ptah looked at the sphere still spinning in his hands.
“The reason why real food hasn’t been reintroduced back into Gaia was that it is inefficient. Just how much resource is put into raising crops and livestock? Just how much space is required?”
Ptah frowned as he pointed at the student.
“Fields for cows to graze, hectares of land for vegetation to grow and mature. The sheer amount of water we must provide. All of it is just FAR too much for Gaia to provide. Do you realize why we still allow taste in the ARK system? It is so we as humans do not forget what flavors are.”
He put down his hand only to look longingly at the obelisks.
“But you should realize the situation we are in. We are traveling through space in a giant metal vessel with no hope of finding a new home anytime soon. We must conserve and survive in the most efficient way possible.”
The student was at a loss for words now. Perhaps he was shocked at his own ignorance, but most likely he was shocked at the sympathy Dr. Ptah could show. Most of the students viewed him as a condescending asshole.
Now they realize that Dr. Ptah was just a realist.
After a brief moment a silence Dr. Ptah spoke again.
“Now who is next?”
Alex took a deep breath and prepared to speak when another student butted in.
“I am.”
The boy who spoke up had the look of an arrogant aristocrat. His bleach blonde hair was gelled into the most pompous look one could imagine.
“My idea is to explain on the visor we currently have.”
Ptah’s interest grew. The other students were now listening carefully, hoping that Dr. Ptah rips the kid a new one as well.