NEWS
The slums of Water 7, now known as the Warehouse District, had been on a steady ascent towards enriching the lives of its residents. With the resources provided to them, the slums had been able to grow into something much greater, allowing the once poor to have working class jobs and to support families. Along with this advancement came the installation of marine bases, making the continued growth of this district into a priority for the World Government. Harvard happened to be stationed at one of these new bases and as such, was expected to use abilities to benefit the surrounding area. As he could be considered as the lowest tier officer of sorts, he still commanded a bit of respect among the grunts that were stationed around him. He had no means to boss them around of course, but he was still considered a superior officer that should be helped if he had need of it. This particular day was a clear one, with very little of the ocean cloudfront being visible from Water 7. Harvard leaned out of the windows of his quarters and took a deep breath of the crisp morning air, closing his eyes as his enjoyed the sensation. While he did enjoy this kind of weather, stimulating his senses like this was a good way to get his brain going in the morning.
After enjoying the weather for a bit he put his ensign uniform on and made sure his appearance was as clean and proper as he could. As a representative of the World Government he couldn’t be having the civilian population of what was once the slums seeing him as sloven or uncaring. He took special care in his appearance today because this was the first day that he was going to travel around the warehouse district looking for ways to increase efficiency and to provide new technology should he feel it necessary. The district had been advancing at an impressive rate, but by his estimations the lack of proper technology would catch up with them, and the output would plateau at some point. Given his love for scientific progress, Harvard felt as though it was his duty to keep this progress going. Having prepared himself, Harvard holstered his gun on his hip in such a way that he could utilize it with the quickest means possible if he felt threatened. He then left his quarters and began is patrol through the town. His first personal mission was to investigate the efficiency of the district’s automated or man controlled machines. He wasn’t expecting much out of this of course, but he still needed to be aware of what he was working with. Harvard continued to make his way through the warehouse district, observing the workers around him. He stopped for a moment as he came into an open dock area, and observed the dock workers carrying planks by hand rather than with machines or labor saving devices.
Harvard noted this as he continued to make his way around the warehouse district. Among the many branching alleyways and paths there was one location in particular that sparked his interest. When he was a bit younger he had observed some ingenious individuals utilizing the flowing water in a river to turn a large wooden wheel, which in turn, provided mechanic force that allowed them to automate rudimentary tools. Harvard thought a bit further than just mechanic automation of course, but first he had to be sure the district had flowing water of some sort. Given that the warehouse district was next to the ocean, it didn’t come as a surprise to Harvard that there were a few quick flowing rivers that emptied out in the ocean. After discovering this location, he felt as though a plan for development began to unfold inside his mind, and under the stuppor of excitement, he rushed back to the marine base in order to request materials.
As he had been stationed here for the express purpose of increasing development in the warehouse district, Harvard had the authority to request a certain amount of resources within reason. The first thing he did was visit the marine blacksmiths in order to commission a few things. Harvard wiped the sweat from his brow that formed right as he entered into the forging area of the marine base. There were many grunts running about but the person in charge of the place was a very distinct and rough looking gentleman. He was taller than Harvard by a head and outweighed him by a few hundred pounds, though most of that weight seemed to be solid muscle built from his forgework. His full beard coupled with his resting bitch face made for an intimidating sight. The man looked a bit annoyed as he was approached, giving Harvard a bit of a scowl as he did so. Harvard wasn’t trying to impede this man’s work of course, so he explained his reason for being there by saying “Sorry for disturbing your work buddy, but I have some commissions you might be interested in.” He paused for a moment before he offered his hand towards the man and said “I’m Ensign Walken.”The large man looked down at him with a passive look on his face before grabbing Harvard’s hand, trying to crush it in the process while saying, “The name’s George. These commissions better be worth my time; otherwise I'm going to have to make you pay for interrupting me.” The amount of aggressiveness shown by George was a startling experience for Harvard and the man’s attempt at a greeting was even more so. As a man more concerned with science and technology, Harvard wasn’t exactly the strong type, so the forge worker easily overpowered his grip and left his hand aching after their exchange.
Harvard couldn’t help but grimace through the pain and to save face, he laughed at the awkward situation before saying, “Well I don’t know if the commissions themselves will be interesting to you, but my research grants definitely are.” He held out two rolled up pieces of paper to George, who proceeded to snatch them from his hands before looking at the contents. The first scroll contained the schematics of a rudimentary water wheel made out of steel. It was a typical stream type water wheel that was designed to be placed on flat moving water surfaces. The design included quite a few different parts that would require welding, such as the central piece from which twelve protruding rods were attached, and the curved blades attached the circle those rods created. The second schematic was a very simple type of copper wire that could be made through typical forging methods. It also included a few different pieces of steel that would be required to make the generators. Harvard waited for George to take in the complexity and oddity contained within papers.
After a few minutes of looking through the schematics, George looked up from the papers and said, “Well I don’t know why you’d need these weird looking things, but as long as I'm getting paid, I don’t care.” Harvard was relieved at the man’s straightforwardness and continued with his instructions. “I’m going to need four of those wheels and a few hundred feet of copper wire.” George just snorted and nodded his head before asking, “Anything else?” Harvard laughed again as he turned on heels and began to leave the forge area, “No that’ll be all. Let me know when the commissions are done.” He was aware that it was going to take a few days to get these things done, and he still had to go figure out the logistics of how he was going to install the wheels. The many ideas flowing through his head were cut short by the throbbing pain of his hand continuing to torment him. “It’s all for the sake of progress.” He held that thought for a moment before laughing at himself over how edgy and pseudo-intellectual he was being.
After returning to his small office, Harvard spent a few days tinkering with logistical ideas and the actual schematics of his power generator. In the early morning of the third day, he received word that the commission was done and that they had begun to transport the wheels to the river. The moment he heard that the wheels were done, he became a bit excited and got himself ready in a hurry before making his way to the riverside. When he arrived there were loads of grunts using shoddy looking ropes to slowly lower the wheels into the river in such a way that they wouldn't fall over. The work safety guidelines here were a travesty of course, with none of the grunts wearing any sort of head protection or harnesses. The grunts were expendable of course, and they had signed up for this job with their own free will so Harvard wasn't too concerned with them beyond noting the issue. In order to get these wheels set up, he had commanded a few grunts to convert the nearby warehouse by the riverside into a large scale power generator. The grunts had dismantled parts of the warehouse walls that allowed for the wheels to be slipped in and for them to turn without friction causing any issues. The part of the operation was simple enough that the grunts didn't need any supervision. Harvard enjoyed being efficient with his time, so rather than sit around and watch the grunts set up the wheels, he returned to his office and began to make the generators that would be attached the to wheels in the future. In order to generate an electric field, all he required was some copper wires set up in such a way that when magnets were rotated around them, they created a magnetic field, which in turn, created an electric field. After spending some time wrapping the wires around the other components he asked the blacksmith to prepare and after positioning the magnets, Harvard felt that the generator was completed. Like any scientist, he had to test this design first before he made any more.
He returned to the warehouse just as the grunts finished installing the wheels and looked to see how well they were rotating. The wheels had yet to be attached to anything, but one could see that they were rotating at a brisk but consistent pace, something that Harvard hypothesized as ideal. He preferred consistency over maximum power generation as consistent automated machinery was much more useful than ones that just require large amounts of power. With that problem out of the way, he now had to attach the generator to one of the water wheels, and then use the generated power to create some sort of automated device. The act of attaching the generator wasn’t that difficult as all he had to do was have the grunts stop the wheel for a moment, and then weld the generator to the wheel so that the copper wires stayed stationary while the magnets were connected to the actual rotating part of the wheel. After spending a few minutes on that, he allowed the grunts to start letting the wheel move again, before observing whether the generator was producing power. He used a self made voltage tester to test the output and was pleased with the results. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, so all he needed to do was make more generators and to figure out how he wanted to improve the efficiency of the warehouses.
Harvard made his way back to the office and spent the rest of the day creating more generators before enjoying a well deserved night of sleep. Early in the morning he took the generators back to the warehouse district and installed them under the curious eye of the warehouse workers. As he had been laying in bed that night before, he had come up with a use for this power generation that should increase this districts safety and efficiency by wide margins. His idea was to create large scale conveyor belts that could be used to transfer heavy goods between the different locations, which would reduce the chance of injury from moving heavy objects, and would decrease the time it took to transport them. Of course something this large scale would require the use of a large amount of materials, but a short trip to one of his superiors offices and another to the blacksmith made quick work of that issue. It took another few days for the conveyor parts to start being assembled, but with a simple rubber like material being used for the conveyor belt pieces. When the simple conveyor belts had been completed, Harvard hooked them up to his power generation system and amazed the many warehouse workers by making the long belt move on its own. As the warehouse workers were almost all previously uneducated folks from the slums, this act was like magic to them. Knowing that he had helped pushed humanity’s knowledge a bit farther today, he felt a great sense of pride in his accomplishments. In his mind he knew it was just a simple step towards greater things, but it was progress nonetheless. He stayed and socialized with the workers for a few hours, showing them how to use the conveyor belt to just relax and enjoy his day. Eventually he was ready to return to his office, where he had a nice glass of whiskey as he penned down his final report for the World Government on his findings.
After enjoying the weather for a bit he put his ensign uniform on and made sure his appearance was as clean and proper as he could. As a representative of the World Government he couldn’t be having the civilian population of what was once the slums seeing him as sloven or uncaring. He took special care in his appearance today because this was the first day that he was going to travel around the warehouse district looking for ways to increase efficiency and to provide new technology should he feel it necessary. The district had been advancing at an impressive rate, but by his estimations the lack of proper technology would catch up with them, and the output would plateau at some point. Given his love for scientific progress, Harvard felt as though it was his duty to keep this progress going. Having prepared himself, Harvard holstered his gun on his hip in such a way that he could utilize it with the quickest means possible if he felt threatened. He then left his quarters and began is patrol through the town. His first personal mission was to investigate the efficiency of the district’s automated or man controlled machines. He wasn’t expecting much out of this of course, but he still needed to be aware of what he was working with. Harvard continued to make his way through the warehouse district, observing the workers around him. He stopped for a moment as he came into an open dock area, and observed the dock workers carrying planks by hand rather than with machines or labor saving devices.
Harvard noted this as he continued to make his way around the warehouse district. Among the many branching alleyways and paths there was one location in particular that sparked his interest. When he was a bit younger he had observed some ingenious individuals utilizing the flowing water in a river to turn a large wooden wheel, which in turn, provided mechanic force that allowed them to automate rudimentary tools. Harvard thought a bit further than just mechanic automation of course, but first he had to be sure the district had flowing water of some sort. Given that the warehouse district was next to the ocean, it didn’t come as a surprise to Harvard that there were a few quick flowing rivers that emptied out in the ocean. After discovering this location, he felt as though a plan for development began to unfold inside his mind, and under the stuppor of excitement, he rushed back to the marine base in order to request materials.
As he had been stationed here for the express purpose of increasing development in the warehouse district, Harvard had the authority to request a certain amount of resources within reason. The first thing he did was visit the marine blacksmiths in order to commission a few things. Harvard wiped the sweat from his brow that formed right as he entered into the forging area of the marine base. There were many grunts running about but the person in charge of the place was a very distinct and rough looking gentleman. He was taller than Harvard by a head and outweighed him by a few hundred pounds, though most of that weight seemed to be solid muscle built from his forgework. His full beard coupled with his resting bitch face made for an intimidating sight. The man looked a bit annoyed as he was approached, giving Harvard a bit of a scowl as he did so. Harvard wasn’t trying to impede this man’s work of course, so he explained his reason for being there by saying “Sorry for disturbing your work buddy, but I have some commissions you might be interested in.” He paused for a moment before he offered his hand towards the man and said “I’m Ensign Walken.”The large man looked down at him with a passive look on his face before grabbing Harvard’s hand, trying to crush it in the process while saying, “The name’s George. These commissions better be worth my time; otherwise I'm going to have to make you pay for interrupting me.” The amount of aggressiveness shown by George was a startling experience for Harvard and the man’s attempt at a greeting was even more so. As a man more concerned with science and technology, Harvard wasn’t exactly the strong type, so the forge worker easily overpowered his grip and left his hand aching after their exchange.
Harvard couldn’t help but grimace through the pain and to save face, he laughed at the awkward situation before saying, “Well I don’t know if the commissions themselves will be interesting to you, but my research grants definitely are.” He held out two rolled up pieces of paper to George, who proceeded to snatch them from his hands before looking at the contents. The first scroll contained the schematics of a rudimentary water wheel made out of steel. It was a typical stream type water wheel that was designed to be placed on flat moving water surfaces. The design included quite a few different parts that would require welding, such as the central piece from which twelve protruding rods were attached, and the curved blades attached the circle those rods created. The second schematic was a very simple type of copper wire that could be made through typical forging methods. It also included a few different pieces of steel that would be required to make the generators. Harvard waited for George to take in the complexity and oddity contained within papers.
After a few minutes of looking through the schematics, George looked up from the papers and said, “Well I don’t know why you’d need these weird looking things, but as long as I'm getting paid, I don’t care.” Harvard was relieved at the man’s straightforwardness and continued with his instructions. “I’m going to need four of those wheels and a few hundred feet of copper wire.” George just snorted and nodded his head before asking, “Anything else?” Harvard laughed again as he turned on heels and began to leave the forge area, “No that’ll be all. Let me know when the commissions are done.” He was aware that it was going to take a few days to get these things done, and he still had to go figure out the logistics of how he was going to install the wheels. The many ideas flowing through his head were cut short by the throbbing pain of his hand continuing to torment him. “It’s all for the sake of progress.” He held that thought for a moment before laughing at himself over how edgy and pseudo-intellectual he was being.
After returning to his small office, Harvard spent a few days tinkering with logistical ideas and the actual schematics of his power generator. In the early morning of the third day, he received word that the commission was done and that they had begun to transport the wheels to the river. The moment he heard that the wheels were done, he became a bit excited and got himself ready in a hurry before making his way to the riverside. When he arrived there were loads of grunts using shoddy looking ropes to slowly lower the wheels into the river in such a way that they wouldn't fall over. The work safety guidelines here were a travesty of course, with none of the grunts wearing any sort of head protection or harnesses. The grunts were expendable of course, and they had signed up for this job with their own free will so Harvard wasn't too concerned with them beyond noting the issue. In order to get these wheels set up, he had commanded a few grunts to convert the nearby warehouse by the riverside into a large scale power generator. The grunts had dismantled parts of the warehouse walls that allowed for the wheels to be slipped in and for them to turn without friction causing any issues. The part of the operation was simple enough that the grunts didn't need any supervision. Harvard enjoyed being efficient with his time, so rather than sit around and watch the grunts set up the wheels, he returned to his office and began to make the generators that would be attached the to wheels in the future. In order to generate an electric field, all he required was some copper wires set up in such a way that when magnets were rotated around them, they created a magnetic field, which in turn, created an electric field. After spending some time wrapping the wires around the other components he asked the blacksmith to prepare and after positioning the magnets, Harvard felt that the generator was completed. Like any scientist, he had to test this design first before he made any more.
He returned to the warehouse just as the grunts finished installing the wheels and looked to see how well they were rotating. The wheels had yet to be attached to anything, but one could see that they were rotating at a brisk but consistent pace, something that Harvard hypothesized as ideal. He preferred consistency over maximum power generation as consistent automated machinery was much more useful than ones that just require large amounts of power. With that problem out of the way, he now had to attach the generator to one of the water wheels, and then use the generated power to create some sort of automated device. The act of attaching the generator wasn’t that difficult as all he had to do was have the grunts stop the wheel for a moment, and then weld the generator to the wheel so that the copper wires stayed stationary while the magnets were connected to the actual rotating part of the wheel. After spending a few minutes on that, he allowed the grunts to start letting the wheel move again, before observing whether the generator was producing power. He used a self made voltage tester to test the output and was pleased with the results. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, so all he needed to do was make more generators and to figure out how he wanted to improve the efficiency of the warehouses.
Harvard made his way back to the office and spent the rest of the day creating more generators before enjoying a well deserved night of sleep. Early in the morning he took the generators back to the warehouse district and installed them under the curious eye of the warehouse workers. As he had been laying in bed that night before, he had come up with a use for this power generation that should increase this districts safety and efficiency by wide margins. His idea was to create large scale conveyor belts that could be used to transfer heavy goods between the different locations, which would reduce the chance of injury from moving heavy objects, and would decrease the time it took to transport them. Of course something this large scale would require the use of a large amount of materials, but a short trip to one of his superiors offices and another to the blacksmith made quick work of that issue. It took another few days for the conveyor parts to start being assembled, but with a simple rubber like material being used for the conveyor belt pieces. When the simple conveyor belts had been completed, Harvard hooked them up to his power generation system and amazed the many warehouse workers by making the long belt move on its own. As the warehouse workers were almost all previously uneducated folks from the slums, this act was like magic to them. Knowing that he had helped pushed humanity’s knowledge a bit farther today, he felt a great sense of pride in his accomplishments. In his mind he knew it was just a simple step towards greater things, but it was progress nonetheless. He stayed and socialized with the workers for a few hours, showing them how to use the conveyor belt to just relax and enjoy his day. Eventually he was ready to return to his office, where he had a nice glass of whiskey as he penned down his final report for the World Government on his findings.