SWNOVELS Chapter The Discovery
The Discovery
Block 7,907,508
Han was refreshed after a long night’s sleep. As usual, though, he got up, showered, dressed, and poured some black tea as he went over the technical details for the next node inspection. By the end of the mission, he would practically memorize the entire protocol because it rarely changed from node to node.
He always feels somewhat relieved after his first inspection and testing. There’s never been an issue, but he always worries that something will happen when he gets on-site at the first node.
Today, though, he gets a little smile as he thinks about his next location. It will be Ben Jianao. This is his favorite of all the sites of the Spider Works nodes. It’s not because he enjoys any activities in the area or local foods. He doesn’t do that anyway. It’s simply its location.
It’s not long before he’s in the AAPD and is being whisked away to Ben Jianao. He’s comfortable with his early morning review. He will relax for the trip today and continue to rest. He’s barely even started, so he knows how he’ll feel at the end of the mission.
The AAPD makes a rapid ascent to avoid all other drone traffic; the winds from the previous couple of days have subsided.
He calls Huifen and the kids on the way but doesn’t want to call too early. So he waits about an hour and commands AI to call Huifen.
“Good morning, Lǎopó,” Han says as Huifen answers.
“Good morning Lǎo Gong.” She says sleepily.
“Why do you sound so sleepy? Did you not sleep well, my love?”
“No, little Lilly was coming into the bedroom all night asking where you were, and I kept having to put her back in bed. I think she was just dreaming. She knows you are out of town for work. I hear the boys are up now, and AI is ensuring everything is OK. I’m just resting a little more before I start my day. I think Lilly will sleep in a little as well.”
“Ok, I was calling to tell you that I love you and the kids. I always get a little anxious on the first day of testing, but it went fine.”
“Really?” She says sarcastically. She knows by now what a perfectionist Han is and that he’s never had issues with these installs.
“Yes!” He retorts. “No, really, everything went fine. I got a good night’s sleep last night, and I’m heading to my favorite site...”
Before he could finish, she said, “Ben Jianao!” After all these years, she knows that it is his favorite sight.
“I’ve never seen it before; you should take me there sometime.”
“Lǎopó, there’s nothing special there for you to see. There’s no shopping, no places to eat. It’s just the beach and ocean. And the beach isn’t a place you can lounge. It’s just a craggy, rocky beach.”
“I know, you tell me that every time. If it’s special to you, I know it will be special to me. So promise one day that you will take me there.”
“Okay, Lǎopó, I promise.”
Huifen doesn’t mention Lilly’s comment. She knows Home, Han, and SO-Land AI are all listening to their conversation. She’s less concerned with Han AI, but she will discuss it with Han in a private location when he returns. She doubts it will be an issue; she wants to ensure Han knows what she said before the play date. They talk about random family matters before Han hears the boys running into the room.
“Kids, daddy’s on. Would you like to talk to him?”
In unison, “Yeah!”
“Hi, daddy!”
“Hi, sillies. Is mommy taking good care of you?”
“YES!”
The kids are yelling back and forth while Huifen smiles.
Han can barely make out what they are saying. He chuckles.
“Sillies, let me talk to mommy again.”
“OK!”
Huifen picks up an earpiece from the nightstand so they can talk privately.
“I love you, my dear, and can’t wait to hold you again,” Han says.
“You too, my love,” Huifen replies.
“I’ll call on my next travel day.”
“Ok.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Han dismisses the AI and enjoys the clouds passing below. The sun is above the cloud horizon now in front of him. The glass on the AAPD darkens to accommodate the bright sunlight. Han never likes a total blackout of the glass. He always wants to be aware of his surroundings. He decides to have another cup of black tea before he arrives.
The AAPD finally descends to the hotel flight deck. This hotel is smaller than the last one, which Han prefers. He likes more intimate settings. The hotel is on the south side of Quanzhou bay.
After the descent, the hatch to the AAPD opens, and Han exists. He can smell the sea and the salt. A warm, muggy breeze comes in off the bay. The Hotel AI escorts him through the open door and down the hallway to the waiting elevator. The Hotel AI has created the perfect mood zone to enhance Han’s memories of his phone call with his family. Han enters and descends one floor. The elevator door opens, and he’s guided down the hallway about mid-way.
“Damn.” Han thinks. “Wished it could have been farther down the hall.” He always prefers being away from the elevator. He hears little in hotels like this, which makes him feel more secure.
The door to the room opens, and he steps in and looks towards a big bay of windows overlooking the bay.
“It’ll be a great night of rice, fish, and a little baijiu.” He muses.
As he desired, Hotel AI woke him up about an hour early so he’d have time for his morning tea, time to do a cursory review of the testing and implementation protocol for today’s node validation.
He planned to arrive early on-site at Ben Jianao to catch the sunrise.
He finishes his morning routine and heads to the AAPD. He feels the gusts coming off the bay this morning. However, as he recalls, the rising sun tends to diminish them somewhat on this part of the bay.
The AAPD lifts off and skims just off the surface of Quanzhou bay. Forward visibility is excellent, but there is a small amount of fog just above the water’s surface. Despite the winds, the bay seems relatively calm. He thinks it must be low tide or something to do with the phase of the moon. These are his random thoughts as he approaches Ben Jianao from the southwest. He’s decided to focus on being calm and present for the sunrise, so no devices except the AAPD to distract his attention this morning. The glass on the AAPD is clear as crystal with a little AI enhancement to take in the beauty of the first light of the morning. He sees what appear to be blacktip reef sharks just below the surface but is not sure. AI is at its limits of visual enhancement.
He looks east and sees dozens of autonomous fishing vessels (AFV) trolling. Some are closer in, and he notices the multitudes of sea birds that hover around the boats. “I’m sure that scene hasn’t changed much in hundreds or thousands of years.” He thinks.
He’s not sure what each boat is fishing for but can tell by the different lighting each boat has that each one is fishing for different fish. At the same time, he can’t see any floating sea garden. He knows they are out there supporting the fleet of AFVs. Long ago, plant and vegetable proteins were engineered as the perfect feedstock for wild fish/marine life. This breakthrough AI technology essentially allows this floating armada to fish continuously 24/7, 365 days/year. Transfer drones run a continuous route to the mainland to deliver fresh-caught fish. Depending on the price you wanted to pay, you could have fish within moments of it being caught on a table in front of you. For the occasional citizen worker in the Armada, AAPDs provided a link back to the mainland.
Because of technical breakthroughs in fishing and genomics, whaling also became a primary industry at the beginning of this century.
As the AAPD continues its flight, the dark purple and deep pink sky of first light silhouettes the Ben Jianao node in the distance.
The AAPD makes its final approach, turns off the water’s surface, and descends to land next to the node. Han exits the vehicle and makes his way down the rocky side of Ben Jianao. It’s not too treacherous with Han’s glasses donned; he has enhanced vision in the early morning light.
He finally gets to just above the water and takes his glasses off. He takes deep breaths in and out to become one with his environment and be present for this moment. He takes normal breaths at first and then a deeper breath. He blows out through his nose and in through his mouth. The next breath is deeper, and the next is even deeper. He holds each breath a little longer than before. During this deep meditative dive, he focuses on how he feels inside to relax. After several minutes he begins to reverse the process. As he begins to emerge, he focuses on the sea, the waves, the sounds, and the smells. He takes a deep breath in and holds it, and holds it, and holds it, and slowly breathes out through his nose. He slowly emerges from his meditative state and slowly opens his eyes as he approaches a regular breathing pattern.
The morning sky lights up, and he gets a deep, satisfying smile.
“Yes, my Lǎopó should be here one day in my arms to see this.” He thinks to himself in silence.
He can start to see Dayu island off to his left.
As the sun starts to peak through the horizon, he feels like he is one with this time and feels a deep sense of peace.
He sits for fifteen to twenty minutes and admires the sun coming up in the distance. He can hear the sounds of sea birds squawking all around and the lapping of the waves. The wind begins to calm down a bit. He knows it will pick up later in the day. He looks east and sees the typical void beyond the horizon. He looks about forty-five degrees north, and the void disappears and is filled with a distant ocean and azure blue sky, but from about his ten o’clock position down as far as he can see south, there’s a void in the horizon. He’s never quite been able to figure out what it is in the far-off distance, and using his glasses in the past has never enhanced his vision in that region.
No matter, he’s satisfied with his presence, takes one final breath, and stands up to leave.
He turns and starts up the rocky side of the island, and he hears an unnatural sound.
“What is that?”
He pauses his breath to listen more intently.
“There it is again.”
“I don’t think it’s a pattern. Hmm”
He holds his breath again.
“Yep, definitely hear that, and it’s random.”
He looks around; he’s got plenty of light now. He walks slowly and looks around, craning his neck and cupping his ears. The randomness of the sound, especially with the lapping waves, makes locating the source difficult, but he knows it’s nearby. He bends down and crouches and starts hobbling like a bird to listen for the sound.
“Damn, where is that sound coming from?”
He hobbles around, trying to locate the source of the sound, but his internal timer starts to alarm. He knows he has to begin his testing to stay on schedule. He’s certain Han AI will alert someone to his absence if he’s not in the node by 07:30. It’s a typical security protocol. It will seem even more strange that there has been an absence of accountable time between his departure from the AAPD and his entry into the node. Han and SO-Land AI will know, though, that he walked down to that certain spot before he took his glasses off.
Now he’s practically on all fours trying to see where that sound is coming from. Then, suddenly, he hears clank, clank, clank in rapid succession. It appears the waves have finally jarred it loose, and he immediately turns around and pounces on the location of the sound. He’s still looking and then notices within a small crag, water coming in and out with and with each wave, a small metallic-looking capsule. Without hesitation, he forces his hand down and grabs the capsule scrapping the knuckles of his right hand on the way in.
“Shit!”
He manages to pull the capsule out on the first attempt. But, then, he looks at it dumbfounded. He’s never seen anything like this before. It’s covered in algae on its undersurface.
“it’s probably weighted on that side.” He thinks.
“Well, no time to mess with this now; I’ve got to get going.”
He shoves it in his back pocket. He can feel the cold salt water soak his bottom and can feel the slime of the capsule scrape off on the edge of the pocket. It’s pretty large, so it fits snugly and produces a noticeable bulge in his rear. As he walks back up the rocky side, the hard metal pushes up against his hip bone and causes an uncomfortable pain.
“Shit. that hurts.”
He finally gets back up next to the node entrance and walks in. He doesn’t notice he’s slightly disheveled, with bleeding knuckles, dirt patches on his knees, and a wet spot in the rear of his pants.
“Mr. Tan.” Han AI says.
“Yes?”
“Are you ok?”
“Yes, why do you ask?” Han replies.
“Han AI notices your appearance is not what it was after you left the AAPD. Did you have an accident?”
Han starts thinking quickly and realizes what the AI notices. “Uhh, yeah, uhh, I slipped a little on the rocks. I went lower down than I should have and slipped.”
“Do you need medical attention?”
“No, no, I’m fine. But I will sit here for a moment to gather myself before I begin.”
“Very well. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Of course, thank you. Where is my water?”
“Where it always is, on the server bench. Don’t you see it?”
“Oh, yes. Thank you. I guess I got a little unnerved from the fall.”
“Are you sure you don’t need medical attention? It appears that physically you are but is there anything else you need?
“No, No, I’ll just sit here for a bit.”
As Han backs towards the chair to his right, he tries to figure out how he will dispose of the capsule without Han or SO-Land AI figuring out what’s going on. He slowly shuffles backward and starts to squat down to sit. As he does so, he catches the edge of the chair with the bulging bottom of the capsule and pushes the capsule up and out of his pockets. He puts his hands behind him on the chair like he’s doing a triceps dip to ensure the capsule doesn’t pop out or roll onto the floor. He grunts a little; the earlier activity down by the water reminded him of how old he is.
After a little finagling, he manages to coax the capsule out and place it in the back of the chair as he sits up and slides his bottom towards the back. He’s bent over a little now to use his hands and bottom to push the capsule back. In a natural motion, he then transitions to putting his face in his hands.
“Wow, pretty clever ol’ Han!” He thinks to himself. “first, problem solved; next, how to get this thing out of here? That will have to wait until I start testing.”
After a few minutes, Han stands up, approaches the server bench, and slides on his glasses. Before he has them completely mounted, he glances over from the corner of his eyes to see that the capsule is safely against the back of the chair. He must avoid looking over there with his glasses on, or Han and SO-Land AI will see an anomaly. Satisfied, he slips the glasses on and starts his testing.
For the first time ever, he is consciously distracted from his mission. Instead, thoughts are racing around in his head.
“What the hell is that thing?”
“How long has it been there?”
“What purpose does it serve?”
“I’m not sure I’ve seen anything like that here in SO-Land.”
“Maybe it’s something from the Northern SO-Lands?”
It takes every amount of mental energy to focus on his testing and validation. He can only guess how exhausted he will be at the end of the day, but he’s got to get this done and done on time.
“Brilliant!” He thinks to himself.
“AI!”
“Yes?”
“I need a change of clothes. My pants got wet when I slipped, and it’s distracting me.”
“Of course, I will dispatch a delivery drone and have it here in no time.”
“Notify me when it arrives.”
“Certainly.”
“Yes, you are smarter than the Ol’ AI, Ol’ Han.” He smiles
He continues testing, feeling a sense of ease that his next problem is solved. This will give him more time to answer the other questions rattling around in his head.
About twenty minutes later, Han AI announces that the delivery drone has arrived.
“Excellent!” Han exclaims.
He starts turning his head towards the door and jerks it back in front of him. He almost brought the capsule into full view of the glasses. He barely noticed it, but something clicked inside before his whole plan would have been foiled.
“Shit, that was close.” He says under his breath.
“Sir, is there a problem?”
“No, I got a little distracted by your announcement. It’s not often we have interruptions like this in the node centers.”
“Yes, you are correct. I’m sorry I should have used a different method to alert you.”
“No problem but note for the future.”
“Noted.”
Han takes his glasses off, folding them before placing them on the bench.
He walks towards the door.
The door opens, and the noonday sunlight pierces through the dimly lit node center. He covers his brow with his forearm as he walks to the delivery drone. The drone opens, and he reaches in to retrieve his change of clothes. Although every article of clothing is present for a complete change, he only takes the shirt and pants.
He turns around and walks back into the node center. He walks over to the seat, takes his shirt off, and throws it into the back of the chair.
“Yes!” He thinks to himself.
The shirt completely covers the capsule.
Next, he takes off his shoes and unbuckles his pants. He unbuttons the front of his pants and pulls the zipper down. The pants fall to the ground, and he steps out of them. He puts on his new pants and shirt, slips his shoes back on, and heads back to the server bench.
“Great, now I can forget to take my glasses off, and it will be ok.” He thinks to himself.
He easily gets back into the pace of his testing and finds ways to increase it. He’s anxious to work on his next little problem.
The testing is finally done.
He does one more test and places his emoji. He scrolls through an old file, finds a capsule, and places embed it. He logs off.
He turns towards the seat, takes his glasses off, folds them, and places them in his shirt’s upper left breast pocket.
“Time to solve another problem!” He thinks with a smile.
He approaches the seat and scoops up the shirt and capsule. He ensures he can feel the capsule before he lifts the mass and bends down to grab the pants. At nearly eye level with the chair, he can see that the capsule is under the shirt and what he feels in his hands is the capsule.
“Excellent.”
He walks towards the door of the data center; it opens on approach. The balmy wind blows in, and the AAPD’s mood zone has begun.
He enters the AAPD and places the pile of clothes on the floor.
It’s been a long day. It’s been a stressful day. It’s been an intriguing day.
He can’t wait for the next day.
“Ben Jianao is definitely my favorite place!” He affirms to himself.
He returns to his hotel room, takes the pile of clothes into the bedroom, and places them on the bed.
“AI, I would like a satchel!” He commands.
“Very well, what type would you like?”
“Suggest!”
The Hotel AI displays several different options.
“Item #8!”
“Very well. It will be here within the hour.”
“Thank you.”
Han would usually be exhausted and nearly ready for bed, but he lingers a little at the dinner table, waiting for the satchel. Thinking.
The delivery drone arrives at the front door with the satchel he retrieves.
It’s a stiff black leather satchel with a simple flap and a magnetic clasp. It has a matching handle and strap. Inside, the construction is simple. It’s wide at the bottom and has one zippered pocket running along the back wall.
After a thorough inspection, he decides it’s perfect.
He heads into the bedroom. And places the satchel with the flap opened towards the mound of clothes. He carefully slides the capsule into the satchel under the shirt and gently lifts the satchel. He can hear it roll down the wall, clinking a little against the backside of the magnetic clasp, and thuds onto the bottom. He sits the satchel upright, flips the flap over, and clicks the magnetic clasp.
“Perfect.”
He walks towards the front door and places it next to his shoes. He’s not used to using a satchel, so he doesn’t want to forget it. As he’s walking towards the door, he decides it can’t be a single-use or single-purpose item. He scans the hotel room and decides to place a small AI console inside and his pair of glasses. He then enters the bedroom to retrieve a shirt from the closet and an undershirt. He folds them nicely and places them in the satchel. He decides to unzip the pocket and put the capsule in the pocket. He closes it back up and then places it by the front door.
“Ok, that should do! My new apparel.”