"And with my new engine, trains can travel for hours, even days without needing to stop for water, ships will be more fuel efficient, and even be able to create the first flying machine!" Yuka said. Yuka is an Illian woman and a new scientist at the University of Attenferg, the most prestigious univerisity in the world. She was now presenting the design for her newest invention, the spark-engine, to the Society of Scientific Advancement to gain funding for its development.
The six old men in front of her were silent in front of her, no doubt pondering her invention, much to Yuka's nervousness. "Pray tell," the second from the left said, "how much coal will be needed to make this engine run for "hours, even days," as you say?"
"Well, obviously a lot. But it can still do it! And when a new fuel is developed, it'll only need a few modifications to work with that," Yuka answered.
"If that's the case, why not just keep using traditional steam engines if we still need the same amount of coal anyway?"
"Well, it'll still make the vehicles faster, saving loads on time in traveling."
"Really?" the third from the right said, "Isn't it the locomotive machinery that makes a train move or the paddle of a ship sail? Not the engine itself?"
"T-the engine give it the capacity to go faster. After all, more speed means more power consumed, so it'll need-"
"Why not just develop a component to make vehicles go faster on their own? Why waste money on a new engine that may not be much better than what we have already?"
"W-well, I-"
"Also," the third from the left interrupted, "What was it you said about a flying machine?"
"Oh, well my engine will produce enough power to create a heavier than air vehicle. And maybe even a rocket propelled machine."
"Rocket propelled?"
"Yeah. Air ships are nice and all, and heavier than air is a promising concept, but I believe that rocket powered vehicles will be the future of aviation. Especially if the illian race plans to explore space."
Much to her surprise, all the society members laughed at the idea, making Yuka much more nervous than she was already.
"Explore space? Rocket powered flying machines? Did they give your class science fiction books instead of textbooks by mistake?"
"What's your next great idea? That the continents move?"
"W-well actually," Yuka said, trying to change the subject, "I have thought about the theory."
"Theory? Wait, don't tell us you actually believe that?"
"N-no, but with the shape of the continents, the similar soil types, and not to mention the similar fossils, I think if a proper research expedition were funded-"
"Bloody hell, she actually believes that science fiction nonsense."
"I-it's not fiction nonsense! If I had the resources, the I'm sure I could at least find some evidence of-"
"That's enough!" the third from the right yelled. "As Vice Chairman of the Society of Scientific Advancement, I won't have some woman squander our limited time and money on some whims she heard from her favorite author. I ask you to take your silly ideas back to your home and come back with REAL theories that we can properly research."
Yuka was silent for a moment and clenched her fists. She picked up her things as she held back the tears forming in her eyes and left the room. She walked back to her home, threw all there things into the trash and collapsed onto the bed, lamenting everything that transpired.
"Rocket vehicles, what was I thinking," she said to herself. More self loathing thoughts ran through her head as she wallowed in despair for the rest of the evening.
In the dead of night, after Yuka had almost drifted off into sleep, she was woken up by...
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author
