Volume 6 Bonus Content:

A young Tocarris stuck a poster onto the wall of her room. There were no windows or much decoration, considering she was far beneath the surface of the planet and suffocatingly surrounded by Gratoo’s reddish rock, so she thought that this would liven things.

She was currently eleven years old and training to become a microbiologist under the rigorous tutelage and meticulous curriculum of the Kardusi family’s private academy.

She gazed at the poster and smiled. It was an advertisement depicting one of Paradise Vacation Corporation’s exotic resorts. It displayed the rich vegetation and wildlife during a sunset on the surface of the faraway planet Vrinca, while a couple relaxed on deck chairs with some drinks and a waiter stood nearby. Nature was quite beautiful, and Tocarris wished she could actually visit and observe it rather than learn science theory underground her planet of Gratoo, where not much life existed apart from the intelligent humanoid species that did business here including her family.

The door to Tocarris’ room opened. She expected her younger brother, but instead, her father, Radoff Kardusi, entered the room. It was rare for him to talk to her: he was always too busy to stay in the household.

He smiled. “Hey, there, Tocarris. What are you looking at?”

“Oh! Father! I just put up a poster to decorate my room. What do you think?” Tocarris explained.

Radoff looked at the poster and frowned. “Don’t you think that’s a bit distracting? Why do you need something like this?”

“I like the animals on it. I want to one day travel the galaxy and see all sorts of life!” Her eyes twinkled.

“Hmmm…” her father remained fixed on the poster. He was distant. Suddenly, he asked, “Tocarris, are you not interested in microbiology? Our family also works in zoology. If you’re more interested in that, since I’m more lenient than the other heads of The Family, I can allow you to change professions because you’re still young.”

Tocarris shook her head. “It’s not that I’m not interested in microbiology; that stuff is really cool because everything is so small and still somehow works! It just gets boring when I study it all day. I want to see loads of animals and experience meeting them and research them! That’s going to be my dream or hobby. There are things I want to do outside of work. I don’t wanna become boring like you guys,” she pouted, referring to how the adults of the family were constantly focused on work.

“Dreams…?” Radoff thought for a moment. “What do you think the most important thing in the Universe is for you?”

“Huh? I dunno. Maybe health? Happiness?” Friends were out of the question for her, and they no longer came to mind.

“Wrong. It’s the Family. Other things come second.

“Being born into the Kardusi family is an honor that you’re allowed to wear. You’re given access to many resources and lots of wealth. But this is not all free. You must not laze around on the wealth provided to you by the labor of your ancestors and relatives: that would be leaching off the family. You must show your gratitude and give back. Spread the good name of the Kardusi family. No matter what it takes, do your job and do it well. There’s a reason we’re considered the best. It’s because of the sacrifices we make to fulfill our promise to our employer and do a perfect job, not even settling for ‘good’.

“You have no freedom or privilege to pursue these ‘passions’. Not while you hold your name as a Kardusi and have claimed the benefits that come with it. Know your duty and focus solely on it.”

Tocarris’ previously excited face was now turned down in shame.

“I came here because I heard you scored a 90 in this week’s test,” Radoff added. His face was now serious and disappointed. “I took a look at the questions. They were nothing out of the ordinary.” He took out an electronic device and looked at the screen. “‘What gene does this string of DNA represent?’. Easy enough, no?

“Stop wasting your time with this nonsense. Use it to perfect yourself. I see great potential in you—potential to become the next head of the family—and I don’t want it wasted. Though I must admit, it’s partly my fault for not noticing this childishness in you. Don’t neglect your studies and disappoint me again.”

With that, he left the room, leaving Tocarris alone. She looked up sadly at the poster on her wall. The colorful picture of a couple basking in the sunset and laughing seemed to mock her. She tore the poster off the wall. She was destined to do great things, and this would only be a distraction. She shouldn’t even think of such dreams.

She threw away the poster and sat down to study in her room. Her father was right. She had to work hard and settle for nothing less than perfection. She would uphold the name of her family at any cost and impress her father, and one day, her work would affect billions of people…

General Information:

This section contains information not related to the story, such as fun facts about things mentioned in the story—like an appendix.

Mach:

Mach number represents the speed of an object relative to the speed of sound (sonic speed). The speed of sound depends on the temperature and material of the medium, but is around 767 miles per hour. An object traveling slower than 1 Mach (M) is subsonic (less than 767 mph) and one faster than a Mach is supersonic (greater than 767 mph). One faster than 5 M is hypersonic. The term is primarily used when talking about aircraft. Aircraft have different design focuses depending on the speed at which they are expected to travel, with supersonic speeds more focused on reducing heat generated due to air friction. The Concorde was one of two supersonic passenger aircraft that ever operated. It was operated by British Airways and Air France from the 1970s till the early 2000s, when it was put out of service due to many concerns about the future of the industry. Supersonic travel is no longer available for civilians. youtube.com/watch?v=a_wuykzfFzE Supersonic objects traveling through air continuously produce a loud ‘sonic boom’ in the shape of a cone behind them as they travel, caused by compression in air. They also form a vapor cone around them as a drop in air pressure causes a drop in temperature (due to Gay-Lussac's law), which in turn causes water to condense. For more info: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/sound.html

Microbots:

Microrobots, robots whose dimensions are measured in micrometers, are becoming more powerful as Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) and advancing technology allow for smaller electronic circuits. Xenobots are minute, synthetic, new organisms created from small tissue taken from frogs (Xenopus laevis, from which the name comes). So far, they have limited functionality, apart from the ability to move around in a semi-controlled manner. Nanobots have great potential in the field of nanomedicine. They have the potential to enter the human body to assess and diagnose it, deliver drugs to hard-to-reach or precise locations, perform operations on a miniature scale (for example, resolve a blood clot), etc. Some of these functions are already in the market. Nanobot swarms are large groups (even in the millions) of small robots that can work together to form certain shapes and accomplish a common goal. Simple versions of these already implemented are made of metal and can be moved by passing a magnetic field. The sci-fi movie future is already beginning. https://www.cnet.com/news/nanobots-can-now-swarm-like-fish-to-perform-complex-medical-tasks/

Active/Adaptive Camouflage:

Active Camouflage is used in animals to change their body color to match that of their surroundings. This allows them to stay hidden (crypsis). This is useful for prey to not be spotted by predators, and for predators to hide until prey nears them before attacking. They can accomplish this by illuminating themselves to be as colorful as their environment, or changing their color to match their surroundings (as in the famous chameleon). Such camouflage can be replicated using technology by flexible OLED panels combined with a camera that views surroundings and displays them accordingly. Technological Active Camouflage involves preventing a piece of technology from being noticed by hiding its illumination or other electromagnetic radiation. In this story, both the above techniques were used in the PVC ship.

Low Earth Orbit:

There are many types of orbits for satellites revolving around a planet. Examples include Geostationary (staying in one spot with respect to the ground—used for telecommunications and weather monitoring), Low Earth (a distance of up to 1000 km from the surface—used for satellite imaging), Medium Earth, Polar Orbits. At Lagrange Points, the gravity on spacecraft due to the Sun and Earth cancel out, being useful for telescopes like the recent James Webb telescope to observe space without radiation interference. https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Types_of_orbits Space debris is a huge problem for satellites. Tiny cosmic dust and the junk discarded by previous spacecraft float in space, where, if they hit satellites moving at high velocities, they could cause significant damage.

Computers:

Computers are classified into classes including the Mainframe (the traditional large one used for server-hosting and heavy computing in companies), minicomputer (smaller versions of mainframes used toward the end of the 20th century), and microcomputers (such as personal computers and smartphones). Supercomputers generally take up the size of a large room and are used for extra-heavy computations like weather forecasting. They cost millions of dollars to make and on a similar scale for maintenance due to the high electricity usage. Moore’s Law, an observation and extrapolation of the computer industry’s growth by Gordon Moore, states that every 18 months, the number of transistors in a processor doubles. Resultantly, the speed of processors doubles. Similarly, processor sizes have exponentially decreased over time to allow for higher clock speeds. This general trend has continued after it was observed, however, recently, transistor sizes have become so small that phenomena on the molecular level disrupt performance.

https://youtu.be/8JAWz9Da5og

Modern CPUs contain billions of transistors on the scale of just a few nanometers each. This means that you can fit over 600 CPUs on a dinner plate.

Humans and Nature:

Search up ‘Unabomber’