Wellcome user: Marcus Heart.
The course major selected for you, is: Engineering.
Your subclass is: Mechanical.
Your next lesson is: Lesson 2: Understanding Your Environment.
Attention: You have displayed a high aptitude for engineering in the previous lesson. Would you like to switch hands on learning?
"Hands-on learning? Care to explain?"
Another window popped up.
Explanation: Hands-on learning involves skipping the pre-recorded lessons in favor of trial and error in a dynamic environment. You'll have access to an advanced assistant however.
I stared at the prompt.
Honestly, that wasn't a bad deal.
"Accept."
The windows disappeared and a blue sphere appeared beside me.
"Hello user: MARCUS HEART. I am your advanced assistant, you may call me Double-A."
Its voice was smooth and synthetic, pulsing as it talked.
A pile of sand appeared before me.
Double-A pulsed, "When creating weapons, you must understand what you are creating them from. You cannot make a steel trap with desert sand, conversely, you cannot create glass from common soil."
Tell that to Apollo.
"Your task is simple: create a viable glass bolt from this material."
I raised an eyebrow.
"That seems kinda easy, just imagine a bolt made out of sand and call it a day, right?"
"Incorrect. Though I may understand why you believe this fallacy. In the last test, you only had to visualize the fan and its components."
Double-A continued.
"In reality, cosmic dust requires more than that. In order to create a component for a machine, you must first create said component. And to do that, you must use the raw materials you find in the wild. That means understanding the makeup of the surrounding materials."
I blinked, frowning. "But that's chemistry, I thought this was engineering?"
"Correct," Double-A chirped, "this is indeed engineering. However, all majors rely upon one another. For example, physics relies on math, and a lot of it. You cannot create a fireball if you do not understand how to create it. Same for biology, it relies on chemistry. And chemistry relies on physics. The key to becoming a pilot is to specialize in one thing while dabbling in the others. You do not need to know everything, only enough."
I frowned.
"Well that's bullshit, I don't even know the make-up of sand. But, even if I did, wouldn't I then have to filter it? Also, where does the heat go when I'm filtering the sand? Does that even generate heat? Make it make sense."
Double–A hovered over the sand.
"I believe the idiom for what you're doing is called putting the cart before the horse. You do not need to learn to vent heat, if you cannot create something that needs heat to be vented."
A window appeared beside the sand pile, breaking down its chemical composition.
Material analysis: desert sand.
Silica. 95.3%
Aluminum Oxide. 2.1%
Iron Oxide. 0.8%
Trace materials. 1.8%
"Allow the simulation to handle the unknown variables, while you focus on turning this sand into glass."
I stared at the pile of sand.
"Okay," I muttered.
I closed my eyes and was immediately shocked. I flinched, taking a step back.
"What the hell, Double-A?"
"My apologies, but closing your eyes cannot become a habit when dealing with hostiles. If you learn to focus by closing your eyes, you will always close your eyes to focus."
I groaned, focusing on the sand mound in front of me.
It felt unnatural, like reading upside down.
I didn't try to imagine the finished product like last time, I focused on the first step of the process.
Getting glass.
"How do I make this into glass, what's the thought process?"
Double-A hummed. "The first thing you want to do is focus on the substance you want to change. In this case, it's Silica."
It continued
"This gives the cosmic dust a tangible target and automatically filters the sand. The second thing you want to do is focus on a deposit location."
Find a deposit location.
I looked up beside Double-A.
"That'll work…"
"Location chosen, remember it, focus and begin."
I stared at the sand.
"Alpha-9"
Extract the silica.
Nothing happened at first, but slowly the sand began to shift. And seconds later, fine specks of white powder began rising, swirling at the deposit point.
It was a slow process.
Double-A hummed. "Go for maximum output."
"Maximum output?"
"Indeed, when a process is repetitive, you can dictate its output or speed."
I shrugged.
"Maximum output."
The sand erupted like a fire hose let loose. Silica was violently ripped from the dwindling sand pile and pulled into a wild vortex.
"Double-A?!"
"Don't worry, focus on the extraction, it's currently 95%."
"96%."
It felt like my muscles were being pricked by a thousand needles, in and out.
I gritted my teeth.
"Double-A!"
"99%."
"100%."
"Omega-1!"
I dropped to a knee, my arm numb with the feeling of pins and needles.
"Fucking hell," I muttered breathlessly.
Double-A bobbed with enthusiasm.
"Well done! Now, let's introduce you to a new command. It's called delta-3!"
"Can you call an ambulance?"
"Delta-3 is a hold order, you use this command to halt a process in its current state. Now, focus on the deposit point, and begin a new command."
I glared at double-A, before shifting my attention towards the silica.
"Delta-3."
Nothing happened.
I looked up at Double-A.
"Oh dear, has the NR damaged your frontal lobe? You're supposed to start a new order before you can hold it."
I rolled my bloodshot eyes.
"Alpha-9."
I focused on the pile of silica, raising it to a deposit point.
"Maximum output."
The silica quickly gathered in a tight ball.
"Delta-3."
The silica was held in its place.
Double-A floated around it.
"Well done indeed! Move around a bit, jog in place while thinking random thoughts."
I did exactly that.
I expected the silica to fall, but it didn't.
"See, no matter what you do, the silica will stay in its place. Because it is holding." It bobbed. "There are two more commands you must know. One to unhold a process, and the other is to designate a heatsink."
Finally.
"Epsilon-4 is to unhold, beta-5 is to designate a heatsink."
"To create a heat sink, you must first realize two things. One, the further the heat sink is from you, the longer it takes to cool. Second, the quality of your heatsink. Depending on the amount of heat you're dealing with, choosing a poor medium for your heat sink will result in–"
I groaned.
"Yeah, I know about the heat sink. That's why pilots use mechs, for the thermal capacitor. And I'm assuming the ground is the next best thing considering it's what Kenji used."
"Correct but–"
"Epsilon-4."
The silica began to spin again.
Now for the heat sink.
The way Apollo explained it, the energy comes from reality B.
So, if I'm pulling from B, directing it into the silica. Then the most efficient spot is directly opposite the point of contact. A spot five meters behind the floating silica.
"Beta-5."
"Location confirmed," Double-A chirped. "Now for the final stretch, heating and cooling."
It continued.
"To heat and object, you only need to consider its temperature. The cosmic dust will then apply it to the designated target. Once that temperature is reached, excess heat will be moved. However, glass requires a gradual–"
"So I just need to imagine a gradual change in the temperature?"
"Yes, but at a temperature of 1,700–
"I got this."
I narrowed my eyes, imagining a gradual rise in heat. It was simple enough, the ball of silica began to glow. I could immediately feel the simulated heat radiating off. The ball of silica turned from a dull orange to a bright white.
"Target temperature reached, it's liquefying."
The grass in the heat sink began to yellow, before darkening and catching fire.
The silica ball was now a glob of molten glass.
Now I had to shape it. In my mind's eye, I projected an image of a standard bolt. I visualized the hexagonal head, the spiraling threads.
The density…
It was like trying to sculpt water with ice tweezers.
But it was working.
The molten globe was slowly taking shape. I was threading like a pro, slowly shifting heat from the glass and into the heat sink.
Dropping by 50 degrees a second.
When the temperature dropped low enough, I ended the process.
"Omega-1."
The glass bolt dropped in the virtual grass.
I walked over and picked it up. It was warm, smooth, and heavy.
Double-A looked over my shoulder.
"Well done!" It chirped, "I'd say you passed the lesson with both style and speed!"
I smirked.
Of course I did.
"So, can I go?"
"Of course not, now you have to do it again in a dynamic environment!"
The world around us shifted into a ruined urban environment. Massive ships dueled in the night sky, buildings burned and blood-curdling screams surrounded us.
The air was thick with copper, rust, and ozone.
And in my hands… was a fan.
Double-A beamed.
"You're currently holding a fan that's missing ten very important, very tiny screws. And you must create them… while surviving zombies!"
"Another fan, how convenient."