Journey to Atlanta
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Date: 06/02/2018 |
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Y Driving straight through means the trip from Detroit to Atlanta is about 11 hours. And that before Rei runs headlong into one of Atlanta's infamous traffic jams that send cars sprawling out onto side streets and locks the northern suburbs of the city motionless for long stretches. It does, at least, give her plenty of time to see the city. At least what of it can be seen from the side of the 75. Like a mirror of Detroit, Atlanta stretches out forever in every direction. The southern sun beams down oppressively, a haze hanging over the endless river of cars. Riding lawn mowers turn tight spirals over emerald green lawns. The wealthy, white suburbs. Through every stand of trees she can make out a twisting cul-de-sac, the street snaking to ensure no car ever hits the speed limit. Those trees without a home on the other side barely hide lots being bulldozed to make room for new houses. Five bedrooms, three bathrooms, attached garage in one of six styles. The sameness of it all, sitting in traffic, is enough to make her eyes water. Oil? But all it takes to get through the traffic is patience and a few lanes to weave through. Bringing Rei to the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. The campus mixes some of the oldest buildings in the city- post-Civil War construction with air conditioners poking from the over sized windows and slanted, New England style roofs- with the new construction of a prestigious university- flat roofs with brick veneers and deep set-backs from the broad sidewalks. And, like most campuses, navigating it is a constant nightmare of streets that suddenly become walking paths or deadend into parking structures. First objectives first, though she is passively mapping as she goes Rei sets about exploring this grand institution and seeks that first necessary item of all adventurers, A MAP! She does come off a bit like a wide-eyed tourist for the moment, this is her first trip outside of Detroit since waking up and there is SO MUCH new data to absorb. INPUT! When Rei agreed to a visit, Dr. Yang sent directions. They're of little use on the ground, though. But it's not difficult to find a map of campus built into an obelisk. The tower has a street light above, and an emergency contact phone built into the side next to the map. Rei is able to memorize it quickly, and eventually navigate her way to the Monthomery Knight Building. One of the more modern buildings on the campus, the Knight Building is vast. Only three stories high, it stretches on and on. But the front door is unlocked, air conditioning rushing out into the humid Atlanta afternoon when Rei opens the door. It forces the bored looking work-study student sitting behind the front desk to look up from her homework. That doesn't last long, though. She turns her head back down and scrawls out another formula. Guardian detected, Threat Level: 0, Security miminal, Rei processes as she passes the bored underpaid student worker and systematically as ever begins scanning about for signage and maps that may illuminate the layout of this new sprawling dungeon and lead her to where Dr. Yang has secreted himself away. Next to the elevator is mounted a directory of rooms and facilities. Several classrooms, doubtlessly named after famous alumni, cover the majority of the first floor. The first basement is taken up by a machine shop and aero-maker space. The second basement advertises itself as a wind tunnel. The upper two floors mix classrooms and offices, including Rei's target. Aerospace Engineering Program Chair: Dr. Vigor Yang, office 311. The building map sits there, too. The layout of the above-ground floors couldn't be simpler. A singular long hallway with offices and classrooms branching off either side at regular intervals. Dr. Yang's third floor office differentiated from the others only by being labeled 'Chair Office', colored in a slightly different shade of yellow than the other faculty offices. The upper floors of the building are quiet. The heavy doors turn the lectures Rei passes into a barely heard murmur. Most of the offices are closed. Students and faculty walk the halls, but none stop Rei. Most of them hardly even talk among themselves. Some office doors are covered in comic strips- XKCD being a popular option. Dr. Yang's door is one of the more heavily decorated. Rather than comics or publication lists, the door is covered in photos of young people. They smile proudly. Each one sits above a computer print out, all in large point Arial. It's easy to deduce- a student's name, and a job posting. John Abrahm - Jet Propulson Labroratory. Minoo Alinejad - SpaceX Modeling and Design Labs. Da Jia Jiang - European Space Program. There are dozens of them, decorating the door from over Rei's head to her waist, and spilling to the wall on either side. Rei takes a moment and processes all of the information on Dr. Yang's door, you never know when such individuals might come in handy or as a hit list if they all turn out to be Void Engineers, really one never knows and then she knocks politely on the professor's door. A voice on the other side answers, "It is open. Please, come in!" The pictures ruffle softly as the air in the office exchanges with the slightly warmer air in the hall. The interior is a university office- while the hall is done in white tile, the office has a slate grey carpet. Walls on either side are filled with slim, blue publications. Books sit stacked against the wall. The large desk is oriented at a 90 degree angle from the door, giving the visitor to the office greater access to the window than the man behind the desk. That man must be Dr. Yang. Behind the big desk he looks small, but not feeble. Despite the fact he's obviously pushing past sixty, his eyes are bright behind golden wire-rimmed glasses. He works with his shirt sleeves rolled up over his elbows and his tie pulled loose. His hair pulled into a combover, carefully enough it passes ordinary inspection. Despite the mess of books and stacks of his office, his desk is immaculate. A flat-screen computer monitor, a notebook propped on a stand, and a model of a B-52 Bomber mounted on a clear piece of lucite that disappears at the right angles. Giving the plane the illusion of floating. Dr. Yang's attention already pulled up from whatever piece of work he had been occupying himself with. He smiles broadly, wrinkles at the corners of his eyes showing it to be an expression he often has. "Hello," he greets, his voice deep and resonant despite his small stature. He speaks not with an accent, but with the completeness of sound and practice cadence of someone who trained their thick accent out years ago. “How can I help you?" "Hello." Rei greets politely, "I am Dr. Durov's student, we spoke a bit previously about the possible applications of NanoAluminum?" she remains in the doorway for the moment, perhaps still taking the man's measure and seeing how he will react. The recognition is instantanous. Dr. Yang takes his feet, smile still beam. "Ah! Ms. Tenko! I'm glad you could make it!" Pushing his chair back with his knees, he circles around the desk. Hand extended for a handshake. Clasping her palm in both of his, pressing firmly. "Please, come in! Take a seat! I'm so excited you're here. Were you able to take the admissions tour?" he gestures to one of the two chairs in front of his desk, offering it to her. "If not, you really should make time while you're here. I do not mean to brag, but the facilitates we house are second to none. You will not find better equipment anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard." Instead of going to the chair behind the desk, he takes the other chair in front of it. Rei offers Dr. Yang a smile, engage human mannerism protocals, "It is a pleasure to meet you in person Dr. Yang." she accepts the offered seat, "I have not had a chance to take a tour yet, but I shall endeavor to do so after our meeting, it sounds fascinating." she pauses before cutting to the chase in a characteristically Rei fashion, "I am currently very interested in pursuing research related to NanoAluminum as a power source, large scale application of the fuel cell technology currently being considered for cars for say a building like this one. If it can be scaled up. You mentioned in our previous correspondance that NanoAluminum was not being pursued outside of aerospace fuel due to cost concerns and volatility, if we put aside cost for the time being as sufficiently developed technological applications reduce cost over time, do you think there is any possible vector towards stabilizing the material while still getting sufficient reaction?" Dr. Yang laughs, a rolling chuckle that broadcasts from deep down in his chest. He sits up straight, an ankle crossing his knee. He wears khakis and brown loafers. His socks show Snoopy dancing across his ankle. "Right to business is it?" he smiles, adjusting his glasses at his temple. Taking a moment to pause, to summon his thoughts, and inspect his counterpart. "NanoAluminum is an extremely volatile substance. Currently, it lays just within the realm of usability for aerospace technologies. However- are you familiar with the Royal Dutch Shell Company? They were an early pioneer in extracting fossil fuel. Their primary operations were in Sumatra and other South Pacific islands," an arm crosses his chest, holding his opposite elbow. "They would drill the crude oil and refine it to usable materials on a facility that had constructed on a Sumatran island. Crude oil came in, and they would export out kerosine. Kerosine being the primary fuel oil of the time. But the refinement process they used was tremendously inefficient, creating by-product oils too unstable for the ships of the day at a ratio of approaching five-to-one. The Dutch would simply transport these by-products to the other end of the island and dump them. Environmental standards of the day being what they were. Eventually, this dump caught fire and rather than extinguish it, the Dutch simply took it as a blessing. The fire freed up storage space. Eventually, it became so large that Dutch and English trading vessels chartered toward China and Japan used it as a navigational guide on par with astrological features. The primary component of that fire? Gasoline." Rei listens intently to the professors story, occasionaly making a point to fidget in some manner as she's been taught so as not to appear like a disconcerting statue. "So are you suggesting," she asks after taking some time to consider the anecdote, "That I look at the byproducts of what the reaction produces when the NanoAluminum cooks off or the refinement processes of the NanoAluminum itself. I see the reactions of the substance itself might lead to the production of a more stable byproduct." The doctor cocks head to a side, smile fading for just a moment. Then he laughs again, "Perhaps I am being too metaphorical. I mean to say that though we are limited in possible application by current technology, I have no doubt that future innovation will allow us to better harness those resources to which we have access." His fingers weave together, hands settled in his lap. "That is what we spend every day on here. Our computational combustion and materials lab is extremely impressive. 16 terabytes of RAM- capable of modeling reactions to the thousandth of a millisecond. Perhaps you would be interested in viewing that facility? Perhaps speak with some of the students specializing in fuels research?" Rei gives several small nods in rapid succession to show what she hopes is keen interest, "I would love that Dr. Yang. That sounds utterly fascinating. If we could set that up I would greatly appreciate it." a pause, "What other projects are you currently working on here? With such an advanced materials lab have you come across other materials with interesting possibilities for fuel cells outside of NanoAluminum?" "We pursue many areas of research. Graduate students are allowed free reign in choosing their research projects. In addition, I have a few contacts who I could contact on your behalf. The JPL has several former students employed there, and they have some excellent research in this area. Let me send a few emails," Dr. Yang shifts his posture slightly, "What is your interest in this area? Your correspondence suggested you were unaffiliated with any institution currently. Is that so? Dr. Durov is with the faculty of Wayne State and-" a moment's pause, "They're a fine school but hardly where I would look for advanced fuel cell research." Rei's expression gets thoughtful as she considers the questions, the doctor definitely has a solid point, "My interest is in large scale clean energy, the possibility of powering a building with its own sustainable generator rather than dependence on power plants which could decentralize the power grid and make us less vulnerable to malicious foreign agents. If NanoAluminum could be stabilized it's reactions with water to produce hydrogen seem like a perfect candidate for this, though I am open to exploring other materials as well given something I had not previously considered, we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us in terms of research after all. As to why I am currently affiliated with Dr. Durov in Detroit, I have personal reasons which unfortunately keep me in that area for the time being." That admission dims Dr. Yang's smile some. "Ah, I see. Well. You did not come seeking my advice on this matter, but if I may offer it in any case?" a pause, purely perfunctory, "We only have so much time on this Earth. If this is an area that interests you- and you feel could offer lasting benefit- then you should not let things stand in your pursuit's path. How about that tour, then? I have no lectures to present today, and this article will wait until the weekend to be edited. You can see for yourself what we're working on, and return home knowing a bit more than you did." <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "So it is midnight 30 here and I am running out of gas pretty rapidly. We could either continue this on my tomorrow, or shift into OOC mode to cover anything else you would like covered." <<OOC>> Rei says, "OOC mode is fine, thanks for the great scene. :) She'll go on the tour. Probably try and see what information is on Dr. Yang's computer before leaving for the tour and any other discreet scans she can manage on the tour without triggering a Timestop >_>" <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "OK. What do those scans require? I'm assuming an Arete roll?" <<OOC>> Rei says, "Yeah I think it's Arete and then maybe Per+awareness" <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "Ok, let's do an Arete and Perception + Awareness to read Yang's office PC." <<DICE>> Rei rolls arete, difficulty 3 <<DICE>> FAIL (1 7, Specialty: No, Willpower: No) <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "What does Rei's process for a scan look like? Like, is it just literally observing how the electricity in the machine moves?" <<OOC>> Rei says, "In this case it was Forces 1 Mind 1 reading the magnetic data straight off the hard drive with her sensor suite. But yes Electricity is a fundamental element of her paradigm which forms the basis of other forces and elements, so that is an accurate description." <<OOC>> Alexandra nods. That takes little enough time that I'm essentially ok with letting Rei 'take 20'. If you're ok with her spacing out in front of Yang for a socially awkward (but not inconceivable) amount of time, we can forgo the rolls altogether. <<OOC>> Rei says, "It would not be the first time she has done that in front of people >_>" <<OOC>> Rei says, "Though usually because she is searching the internet for information about something they said." <<OOC>> Alexandra laughs, "Ok. Yang's PC if very much what you would expect from the office PC of a high respected professor who also edits several journals. It is filled with articles on various cutting edge aeronautics and fuel research, along with a great many models of combustion and acceleration. Of note: Yang is both a night owl and an early bird. There are files edited as early as 4 AM and as late as 1 AM on different dates. He maintains extensive correspondence with former students and other researchers, and has a habit of saving drafts of in-progress emails. Rei can essentially harvest dozens of email addresses of researchers in a number of high tech fields. Yang enjoys classical music, particularly the cellist Yo Yo Ma. He has several siblings in Taiwan and is making plans to visit with his family this summer. He has almost no web browsing habits other than online journals. He defrags his computer weekly. <<OOC>> Rei says, "Good tastes in music." <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "The only other computer of note Rei sees on her tour is the computation combustion laboratory computer, which is a computer design to model combustion and the movement of gas particles. It stores vastly too much information in too complex a way for her to get anything meaningful from it without a storage method and time to decipher it all. It's literally one of the most powerful computers on the east coast." <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "Excepting possibly Rei." <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "But even then it's tight." <<OOC>> Rei nodnods and didn't think I would have the capacity to take all of it's data. <<OOC>> Rei is guessing she see's lots of interesting machines and labs though. <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "Absolutely, they're one of the best engineering schools on the planet." <<OOC>> Rei says, "Is the super computer hooked up to the internets or cloud at all?" <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "It is not, for security reasons." <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "OH! Also of critical note, given the method Rei is using: Access to all the buildings and secure room on the G-Tech campus are controlled by BuzzCards. These are cards with a magnetic strip on them like a credit card. Yang and most of the AE students wear them on lanyards around their necks. It is explained they do everything from controlling the locks on the dorms to tracking you meal plan in the dining hall to accessing secure facilities like the machine shop or CCL." <<OOC>> Rei says, "My univesity had something like that." <<OOC>> Rei says, "Our IDs opened the doors and tracked our meals." <<OOC>> Alexandra says, "Yeah? Well, given that they're essentially tiny versions of hard drives, they're easy for Rei to pick up (literally every student has one) and could be forged with a Forces 2/Mind 1 effect." <<OOC>> Rei says, "You mean like if she wanted to break in and use the super computer ;D" | |
