Part 1: The End of Mankind #4

Post date: Feb 13, 2016 3:24:26 PM

Part 1: The End of Mankind

Baylee flicked a switch close to the door and instantly a bank of lights, over a small section of the massive room, came to life.

Fisher’s eyes widened as she glanced around the machine shop and garage of the city’s Reproduction of Family Ministry. She’d never been in this part of the facility. Only having a SG level 2 access, she hadn’t been afforded certain privileges as Baylee did.

Fisher expected a machine shop to be dirty, filled with old rusting parts of all variations and oil and grease. Or to be as immaculate as the laboratories that were located upstairs. This room was neither.

Organized chaos was the only way she could describe what she saw.

Careful not to knock anything over, she lifted the heavy bag over her head and carefully navigated the maze of dismantled auto-gliders, open drawers of tool cabinets, and several computerized assembly robots as she followed Baylee.

Baylee stopped by a large tarp that covered something and put her bag on the surprisingly clean floor. She removed her rucksack and gestured for Fisher to do the same.

Fisher did so as Baylee pulled two small objects from her jacket pocket.

“These are Kanban cards and they are going to provide us with the essentials to get this pilot project on its way.”

Fisher nodded even though she had no idea what Baylee was talking about. She followed Baylee over to a machine that resembled a medical dispensary she’d seen in the labs.

Baylee pressed a button and the machine lit up. A string of blue dots flashed across the top of a long bar. A moment later a log-in box popped up. Baylee keyed in a numeric code and instantly the bar turned green. Baylee inserted one of the two cards she held.

“These little babies,” Baylee said. She held the other card between her thumb and index finger. “Hold the specifications to whatever is needed for whatever you need to assemble. In the case of the one I just inserted. It has the exact requirements to the contents and measurements of ethanol to gasoline that will fire that little gem under that tarp there. And this one.” She removed the first Kanban card and replaced it with the second. “Will provide us with the all important and essential components that we can’t live without.”

“Water,” Fisher said.

“Not just any water and this water isn’t meant for us to drink.”

“Then what?”

“It’ll take me too long to explain and it’s better if you see what it does, or rather how it reacts.”

Baylee removed the second card and pocketed them both. She turned to Fisher and Fisher could see the twinkle in her friend’s eyes. “Now it’s time to show you the little project I’ve been working on.”

“You just ordered fuel so I take it you’ve procured us transportation.”

Baylee grinned and walked back to the tarp. She grabbed the bottom end of the lightweight cloth covering. Fisher went to the other side and did the same.

The two of them lifted the tarp to reveal an odd looking vehicle.

“Whoa.” Fisher laughed, letting go of the tarp. Baylee rolled it up and tossed it to the side. “This is incredibly…weird. What am I looking at?”

Baylee stretched out her right leg and pressed the underside of the back end of the vehicle with the toe of her boot. A trunk of sorts began to slowly rise revealing a medium-sized compartment. Baylee picked up one of the black canvas bags and positioned it into the compartment alongside several other items that were already in there.

Fisher noted that a elongate blueish object looked like it could be a rolled up tent.

“This used to be, a few hundred years ago, what they called a trike.” Baylee said as Fisher handed her the other bag and then the two rucksacks. “A three wheel motorcycle. I dismantled the chassis and rebuilt it so as to extend it substantially. That allowed me to lower the centre to offer greater stability. I also attached a set of roll bars.” She gestured to the metal bars that stretched from the back of the vehicle and up over the two seats and forward towards the front. “And then I added some cargo space and slapped on a pair of old truck tires which still had good treads.”

A slight whining noise interrupted Baylee’s further description of how she had altered the ancient motorcycle.

Fisher looked up and saw a steel-hinged section of the garage’s ceiling swing open. A moment later two mechanical arms were deployed through the opening. The arms lowered at a measured speed and appeared to be flexible enough that they could be manipulated into several different positions. At the end of the arms were huge human-like shaped hands. The hands held nozzles that had rubber hoses attached.

The arms stopped about shoulder height and Baylee reached over to the one that had the letters FFV stamped on the handle of the nozzle. She flicked a switch and a small red light flashed on.

“What’s the FFV stand for?” Fisher asked as Baylee went to the side of the vehicle and snapped open a tiny door and unscrewed two yellow caps. She positioned the FFV nozzle into the pipe on the left.

Baylee squeezed a black bar on the nozzle. Another whining noise began emitting from the arm. “Back when the scientists and environmentalists were screaming about our over dependance on fossil fuels, they started developing biofuels. The FFV stands for Flex-Fuel Vehicle. It means that the engine can run on an ethanol/gasoline mixture.”

“I thought vehicles only had one fuel tank.”

Baylee grinned. “They usually do, however some long-haul transportation vehicles had a second holding tank. I modified this baby to have a backup. Gasoline is hard to come by and I was forced to up the ratio of ethanol to the mix. That means we’ll get less gas mileage. An extra tank will hopefully ensure that we won’t get stranded.”

Baylee finished pumping the gas mix into both tanks then flicked the switch on the nozzle and the red light stopped flashing. Baylee gave the arm a slight tug then released it. The arm immediately began to retract up toward the ceiling again.

Baylee went to the back of the vehicle and Fisher saw her reach in and press a section of the elongated bluish object. A small panel slid sideways revealing that the object wasn’t a tent like Fisher had first though but a soft, malleable container. Baylee flicked another switch on the second nozzle and began pumping what Fisher assumed was the special water Baylee had mentioned.

When the container was full Baylee closed the panel and sent the second arm back up to the ceiling. Another whining noise sounded as the steel-hinged doors closed.

“Okay, load up.” Baylee said, closing the trunk of the vehicle and heading to the driver’s seat.

There was a passenger’s seat directly behind the driver’s seat that resembled an auto-glider seat. A helmet complete with a black visor sat on top of a folded brownish grey blanket.

Fisher set aside the helmet and lifted the blanket which turned out to be a long duster-like coat. Fisher slipped her arms into the sleeves and pulled the front of the coat across her chest. She quickly fastened the metal snaps that reached from the collar all the way down to almost her knees. She picked up the helmet and settled herself into the back seat.

Baylee finished putting on her own coat and then showed Fisher how to buckle herself in. A leather belt came first around Fisher’s stomach, then a harness that was attached to the sides of the seat went up to latch onto a metal rung that ran across the vehicle and was attached by a hooking mechanism.

Baylee adjusted the straps that crisscrossed Fisher’s torso, then gave her a smile.

“The helmet has an automatic set and release action. Just move your head back to have the visor raise, then nod forward and the visor will snap back into place You’ll see all kinds of information coming up on a screen at the top of the visor. It won’t impede your vision and if it bothers you just say ‘screen off’ but I wouldn’t advise it.”

Fisher smiled back. “It appears you’ve though of everything.”

Baylee snorted. “While the visor is in place you have a miniature air-circulation filter that will help to clean the air once we’re outside. There’s a monitor gauge along the bottom of the display screen. It was impossible to get a helmet that was completely air tight, so keep a close eye on the bar indicator. Oh, and there’s also a built in mike. We’ll be able to communicate.”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay, then let’s get out of here.” Baylee put on her helmet and climbed into the driver’s seat.

A moment later the engine came to life with a shockingly load roar and then Baylee had the trike, or whatever it was called now that it had been modified, moving out of the bay in the garage towards a set of doors that were now slowly recoiling upwards.

In less than thirty seconds Fisher and Baylee had left the building and headed toward the adventure of a lifetime.

“Hee-haw.”

Fisher heard Baylee’s yell come through a pair of speakers that were embedded in the helmet.

Fisher followed with a, “woo-hoo,” and a huge grin on her face.