Lessons from the Rise and Fall of Thermodynamics

Bubb Henrin

All throughout the terrestrial age, science went through various revolutions epiphanies and paradigm shifts, but one constant through the enlightenment and all the way into the age of quantum physics was thermodynamics. At its core are its first two laws which for a long time have served as axioms around which all scientific theories needed to conform to in order to make sense. The first of these laws says that all energy must come from some sort of potential energy that was in turn created from some other source of energy. The second one has been described in various ways and has had changes to its wording over the years, but essentially it describes in what ways energy can change forms.

The latter would go on to be heavily revised if not entirely overthrown in the late twenty-first century with the advent of molecular machines. It was demonstrated that correctly and precisely constructed molecular machines could take heat out of the air to create electric current, although this principle was not practical for energy production as the molecular machines sapping heat from the surrounding air in turn lowered the excitation of the atomic bonds in the molecular machines that create the current in the first place.

In spite of the lessons of the history of science, the gray technologists claim of having created what they call "quasi-infinite energy devices" has been a primary reason for putting the grays under suspicion as being con artists rather than purveyors of wisdom. More so than any of their achievements of resolving the very difficult conundrums of interstellar travel and polyphoton synthesis and utilization of alternate forms of matter, what blows the minds of the stubborn and dogmatic scientific establishment is that there are devices producing two hundred watts of power without any apparent exhaustion. Although I concur that we do need to use caution in letting the gray influence our science and our society, we cannot turn down their help out of nothing but our own dogmas and the egos of the elven scientific community.

Milo felt an abrupt onset of sleepiness and fell asleep. Before he even loss consciousness, he knew where he was going. Sure enough, he shortly found himself at the foot of Nadarska's tree.

"What happened to you?" Nadarska asked him. "I felt your presence into the hyperplane and I sense your DNA getting altered. Are you all right?" Milo felt himself swallow. He decided there was no point in lying.

"I agreed to enter the hyerplane to help the head of the humanology lab reactivate a metaphysical device from Grithmeer's control panel in exchange for having my genotype changed to hopefully make Kayla more attracted to me" Milo said defiantly with no hint of remorse. For a moment, Nadarska just stood with no expression on his face.

"I'm very disappointed in you" he said. "I explicitly asked you to not allow yourself to be examined by any elven scientists."

"I wasn't examined in any way" Milo said. "I was told I would not have any tests run on me and I took them at their word. You yourself told me you thought I had very good judgement and wasn't overly impulsive so I took a chance to try and gain a mutual attraction to the woman I've always loved." Nadarska again gave him an empty look for a brief moment.

"Maybe this isn't all a bad thing, Milo. You apparently have one property I did not envision when I modified your neurotype as an embryo."

"What do you mean?" Milo asked.

"The hyperplane contains many of the secrets of the metaphysicists. If we can't find the metaphysicists themselves, I might be able to send you into there to find something useful." As usual, Milo had something else he wanted to say but he woke again to the sound of a familiar gray.

"Did you pass out or something?" Cubork asked, holding some strange-looking device he didn't recognize in his hand.

"Yeah, I just dosed off" Milo said.

"That wasn't dozing off, that was crashing."

"Just haven't gotten enough sleep, I guess. Let me ask you something" Milo asked. He took the slip of plastic he had gotten from Lina and showed it to Cubork.

"What does this say?" he asked him.

"It means 'The Elfess of Nature'… basically, the gray word for Gaia. I can't believe there are humans silly enough to use that decal on anything" he said walking onward down the hall, thankfully not inquiring as to where he got it. At that moment, Milo's heart completely sank down in his stomach as he pieced it all together. The device Lina had referred to had to have been the Goddess' Talisman. He decided he needed to see if anyone was going down to the surface of the planet. He needed some isolation time. When he turned a blind corner, he ran into Kayla. Milo's anger and disappointment turned to nervousness. He might find out if it has all worth it.

"Hi Milo" she said. "Sorry to leave you behind like that. Clyde – he – I was helping him get his stuff together to leave. He really seems to be serious about leaving the galaxy behind." She really seemed to be in a chipper mood and apparently didn't even know that he had left to go visit Lina Hest.

"You know" she said after several seconds of silence in a warm way. "We really haven't had much time to just hang out lately. What do you say we go down to the surface and do some wondering around?"

"Sure" Milo said his heart skipping at least a couple of beats. At that moment Milo felt a huge rush of relief and joy. The way she was talking to him and looking at him was just somehow different…it was less like she was talking to her younger brother and more like someone she wanted to be with. For several hours they walked through the grass lands on the surface, and Milo forgot all about his apparent mistake.