GTL Technology Gaming Apps The future in learning
Engage to Learn Our education system is experiencing an engagement crisis
Engagement and Interest is needed to learn.
GTL Educational, helping Teachers & Parents keep children interested to engage. E
About GTL Educational Apps
"If we teach today, as we taught yesterday, we rob students of tomorrow." John Dewey
A multi app to help students learn by playing games. Games that are fun for different age levels. GTL Gaming apps basic function is for students to play games and answer questions. Not just any questions but questions that are being taught in their schools or a better curriculum from around the world that you may want to learn. Students learn what they need to learn to advance in their studies and to become more advanced than students of today. As students play GTL games, a question pops up every time there's a pause in the action. The are pre loaded with questions similar to answering questions at the end of a chapter, study questions or review for a test. These question are copied and pasted into the games and could be changed easily by teachers, parents or even themselves with access, as they advance. They can advance if they've learned the lesson or want extra points. Questions are in the form of audio, video or text, with multiple answers. Students answer questions by choosing right answers to continue the game. Students can be monitored by teachers or parents to see who needs more help and with what type of questions. You can't keep kids from playing games. Let's take advantage of it and combine gaming with Learning and see their attitudes change and let them run with it. Times have changed. Now's the time to learn a new way combined with the old way.
GTL Educational Technology Gaming Apps
GTL Educational Apps, let's you rewind time, let's you know what it takes to succeed, then let's you do it again and succeed by playing games. In a game, sometimes failing can be fun. You play the games over and over again until you get 100%, (or more). As students play or advance, learning is recorded , via the instructor's portal/dashboard. It provides detailed information and tracking tools to help instructors and help students where they need help to improve and to advance. It sees students that need more advancements as they easily get through questions and need to be challenged more. Learning their strengths and weaknesses. Andre Thomas Texas A&M teachers game design
Gaming To Learn Educational Technology
Teachers teach on the GTL network. Copy and paste to game or go directly to game and press mike and insert a question and answers in sequenced pre-coding needed for games and ready for students to play and learn instantly. This way students can learn and play anytime, anywhere. Students can also go back and watch teachers go over the lessons again to get a better understanding of lessons being taught, then continue to play the games. They can watch again for something they may have missed or not understood. They can post questions to teachers and get responses from teachers and other students on the system, through the teachers portal or question boards where other students can help each other, develop groups or just have friendly competitions with each other or other groups, schools or even other countries.
Higher education remains rooted in rigid, traditional structures and tracks, and it's at risk of getting left behind in favor of expanded access, greater flexibility and tailored learning. Educator Tyler DeWitt explains how innovations in digital content and virtual reality are ushering in the future of learning, emphasizing why academia must adapt to this new reality and embrace an approach to education that works with students neads- not against them. TED
"Play is the highest form of research." Albert Einstein
Why is play important?
Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very young age engage and interact in the world around them.
The Powers Be by Jesse Perez on Amazon
The Powers Be
The Ones
1
Mesa Vista High was situated at the heart of Alice. The founding fathers thought it would be a good idea to set up the backbone of civilization, as they called it, in the middle of everything. It met with little opposition at the time but with the growing population and the new mayor planning to restructure the face of everything, some began to think it was not such a great idea. Build a monument in honor of those that had sacrificed themselves for us, some thought. But the decision hadn't been made and the motion still sat inoperative. Around the school were a brush and a garden that produced hydrangeas in tandem with hibiscus – a pet project of the first principal that had carried on with his successors. It was a three-story building with classes occupying two floors and the administration level on top. Mr. Travis Guthier, a science teacher with a love for animals and the outdoors was in class teaching on the possibilities of life on other planets and the opposing theories that follow.
“Mankind has accomplished so much in our time here on earth. From discovering the solar system, finding cures for deadly ailments, journeying out into the moon and changing the face of transportation. We have sent rovers to Mars, to the moon and back.
"Who's heard of the Drake equation? A couple? Well it goes something like this," as he turns towards the board, "x times the fraction of stars that are formed per year, a fraction formed with planets, a fraction planets that can support life, a fraction of those that could develop life, then intelligent life, the fraction of those that could develop technologies that might release detectable signals into space and of course the time over which the signals might be detectable. But that's just a guess or is it? It might suggest there are over thirty million Advanced civilizations out there doing all kinds of things that we might not understand. If true then why haven't we detected signals by now?" NASA and the European Space Agency have combined effort to form what is called SETI - Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. This search is all in a bid to find/prove that we are not alone in this galaxy.”
“ET, go home,” joked one of the students in an orange hoodie. The class bursts into laughter before settling down.
“I know. I know. This all seems like something on the Syfy channel but think about it for a bit. What if we are not alone? What if there are technologies available to a select group of people? What if these technologies will move us to the final frontier where we would know all things in the galaxy? There lived a physicist in the 20th century. Enrico Fermi considered the age of our galaxy and postulated – you know what that means, right? We have talked about this.”
“Is that like a spoon made out of plastic?”
“No, dork, that is a spatula.”
“Postulated means to put out a questionable theory or a question that needs to be proven.”
“Double points for explaining it in your words, Mandy. Sam and Josh, don’t be rowdy. Anyway, his postulation was a question. He asked: Given the scope of our universe, why haven’t we found intelligent extraterrestrial life yet? This is called the Fermi Paradox or the Great Silence. Who wants to guess why it is called the Great Silence?”
Hands shot up like rockets. The teacher points at the boy in the orange hoodie.
“Josh? Care to tell us?”
“It is simple, Mr. Travis. It is called that because there was no answer. The aliens didn't come at night and tell him why they haven't visited yet!"
“Although I don’t like the way you joke about this, your answer is valid.” He started to pace and gesture rapidly. "Since that postulation, scientists have been trying to offer an answer to this question, yet none have been plausible. If we can't find them, does that also mean that they can't find us? What if they have found us and are just marking time? A basic assumption for most people in the community is this: alien life must exist. The only reason we can't make contact is that something is blocking our communication system or interstellar travel. Who has watched the movie Interstellar? You know, the 2014 movie with Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey, Michael Caine and the beautiful Jessica Chastain?"
More than half the students raised their hands.
“So you must understand what it means?”
The class chorused a yes.
“GOOD!” yelled the teacher. “Anyway, this barrier is called the Great Filter and is viewed as a force or a field that puts a stop to any interstellar travel or communication. If we are to take this theory then we must accept that we keep destroying ourselves which is why we haven’t evolved enough technologically to make the journey or interstellar travel is not a possibility.”
“So all those alien movies are just imaginary stories?”
“Yes, Marvin. There isn't any solid proof that we have made any contact with aliens. In fact, as we speak there are a lot of scientists looking for answers in the stars while others are looking to the past for answers. There's a lot of questions on the mind of mankind but the answers are simply too far away from us or nonexistent.
Space is enormous. Maybe the signals haven't got to us yet. Or in different waves we don't understand yet or they don't need to, they already know.”
"They…?" Molly asked surprisingly
“But I can prove that I am an alien!” retorted someone from the back.
“Is that you, Kodi? Where is the proof?”
“I have six fingers and have El’s powers!”
“There is no way you are an Esper, dude. You don’t have 1’s power not to talk of 11,” Josh replied.
“There is no such person.”
“Exactly! Thank you for making my point. Get it out of your head.”
“But I am an alien. My mother says I am not from around here.”
“Of course! Probably because you were imported from Germany.”
“Enough, boys! Josh, don’t be rude. Kodi, you are not an alien. Your mother just meant to say you are special. And I agree. We are all special in our own way.”
The bell rang and everyone began to pack their bags.
“Don’t forget we have a test coming up Friday,” the teacher half shouted over the din of activity. “Remember that your assignment is due next week. Those of you who are under 4.0 will have a pretest on Thursday before the general one on Friday. Please work an extra hour tonight on the upload I've installed on your apps. Also work in your groups. I will check timers and reports in the morning. If you have any problems paste it on the app board so I will be notified. New sponsor rewards are coming out on Friday. I've heard these are going to be especially good. You'll have time to pick up your grades on the pretest on Thursday. I wish you all a happy day ahead. Get home safe! Molly see me after class in the office. And make sure you all congratulate Mily and Sasha on their recoveries at home. It has not taken a toll on their grades. They're both right under 5.0's following and learning on the GTL App at home. So no excuses guys."
“Bye, Mr. Travis,” cried out some of the students. He smiled, waved back at them and began to arrange his folder. Looking over the class one more time, Mr. Travis exited and disappeared down the hall and headed for the stairs that would lead him to the staff office.
Molly walked in right after him. The office was empty as Travis looked around. "Yes Mr. T what's up?" "Molly I've got some kind of feelings that you and I need to talk about." "Feelings like what?" " Feelings like something is about to change. Something is not looking good for us. You know the history of the GTL app you use everyday in all your classes right?" "Yes I do. The education system had a rude awakening a few years back and an educational app developer team came up with the GTL App. An app that teachers could insert any questions for students to learn anywhere just by playing games or listening to music, plus a few other applications. It became popular and soon became the standard for teaching and learning around the world. This right after we realized we needed a system for students to continue to learn with some kind of standardised learning system that could be implemented quickly. This came to be after the world went on lock-down and nearly everyone quarantined themselves after the early 2020 World pandemic happened. All schools, non-essential businesses, sporting events and the likes got shut down. Our educational system did not have a way to continue teaching students without interruption. An educational development team introduced GTL gaming apps and got everyone ready and made sure learning was never interrupted again." Molly stated. "Well something is about to change again. I've been studying the apps algorithms and they're changing again. This time not for the best. I need you to keep an eye on your classmates. And get ready. We've talked about the students in your class, they are very special, very special indeed." " Yes Mr. T, I'll be ready."
“Do you think what Mr. Travis taught is real? Like, if we take all of these theories to be an actual representation of the world then– ”
“That means,” Mandy interjected. “Somewhere someone is monitoring us like sheep.”
“That is a scary thought, Mandy.”
“But, these scientists hardly know what they are talking about.”
“Really, Sam? You know that you aren’t as smart as any of their lab assistants, right?”
“Don’t disparage my friend like that, Mandy. I am sure he didn’t mean it that way.”
“Oh! Now you are privy to the processes in his head. How chummy.”
“We all know you’re smart but you aren’t better than any of us.”
“I'm a thoroughbred. Why should I even think of being better than you.”
“A what?”
“Sam!” cried Josh. “Dude, come on! A thoroughbred. You know, like those "horses" that act all high and mighty because of their bloodline.”
“I am surprised you know so much. Goodbye, boneheads.”
The boys stayed silent as Miss know-it-all left the class. Josh swallowed his words and shook his head slightly.
“Are we meeting later today?”
“No, Sam. You have to stay home and go through the upload. You're falling behind and at this rate, you may have to repeat this grade.”
“But that's why I want to come over so we can hang out and you can help me.”
“Dude, we both know if you come to my house you would end up doing no work. We can work through the app and get you to 4.0 or more.”
“Josh...”
“I am sorry, dude. But I am doing this for your benefit. Weren’t you annoyed by the way she shot us at the knees just now? I believe you're smart but you gotta let it out sometimes.”
Sam smiled a little.
“Okay, Josh. I can start in about an hour so we can get our group together and excel.”
“Sure!”
“Then we can play Quest of Galaxies on the weekend, right?”
“Only if you make good on the pretest Thursday and the general test on Friday.”
“I will.”
“Good. Come on, let’s go. It's strange staying in school when it's closed.”
2
Somewhere a ball of light appeared in a room that was otherwise dark. 10 seats are lined around a mahogany table that's shaped like the sign of Pisces. A widescreen appeared at the edge of the cubic room. A countdown sequence began and a door opened up. Forms dressed in white and black suits filed into the space and take their seats. Two seats remained unoccupied for a brief moment. Holograms of two females replaced the empty space.
The countdown hits zero and an aged man comes into view.
“Hello, my comrades.”
“We hail thee, great commander,” came the chorus.
“Who runs things without leaving a trace?”
“The Powers Be!”
“Who charts humanity’s future and drives the vehicle of change?”
“The Powers Be!”
“Who sees what no one sees?”
“The Powers Be!”
“Who doesn’t need recognition for work well done?”
“The Powers Be!”
“Who is The Powers Be?”
“We are. You are. No one is.”
“How do you become the future?”
“Be all knowing. Be all seeing. Yet, remain unseen.”
“The Powers Be!”
“The Powers Be!”
Silence fell over the congregation as the man on the screen smiles.
“I thank you all for honoring my invitation. It has been a while since we gathered like this. Casey, report.”
“We have managed the cryptocurrency situation in Australia and the Middle East. Bourne and I have secured control of all the major players through one of our brokers.”
“Good. Next time do not take so long.
Irons?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Report to the whole clan what you told me last week.”
The man referred to as Irons, cleared his throat and began to speak, “My analysts have pointed something disturbing to me. I really apologize for not catching this early. There seems to be an influx of educated people. Many people are leaving their jobs and opting for higher education or special training.”
“How is this a problem?” asked one of the attendees.
“I am getting to that. You know as per our charter, there is supposed to be a balance between laborers and the educated. But as it is now, we lack qualified laborers as more of them are quitting their meager jobs and going for an education that would put them over their station. This would not have been an issue in the past but with the growth of technology and superior learning methods, it has become easier to advance without much effort. The higher they go on the education ladder the worse the situation becomes. More people are being woke from their slumber and being socially responsible, so their attention is fixed on helping others beneath them. We were in charge when the reverse was the case – we do not want too many or too far advanced innovations or for them to keep helping each other. The human condition shouldn't be this placid.”
“You have heard him. Suggestions?”
“I think one of the issues is the creation of a new technology that has become all the rave. I hear it boosts learning by a hundred percent and has taken off like a chemical reaction among the masses. We need to take care of that and reduce the opportunities available.”
“How do we do this was the question, Kayla.”
“Simple: we deny them access to this technology,” said the holographic lady. "If I understand what he said, then it is clear that our mode of attack is the denial of service. This would lead to a drastic reduction of people with access to this technology and would, in turn, reduce education rate and job qualification. Too many educated and intelligent people would mean losing our grip over the masses. Crowd mentality would be at an all-time low. Menial jobs like janitorial duties, carpentry, shop assistant, grocery store workers and all those things underlings are for, won't have a constant supply of job seekers. We should draft out a plan to give this technology to only people we choose, like we have done for centuries. We should decide here and now what everyone would be – we make sure they stay in their category until they leave this earth."
“I get what Sandra is saying and I think I have a perfect method to get that ball rolling. By my estimate, we would lose control of this society in about 5 to 10 years, and that is unacceptable! I suggest we buy the rights to this technology. Buyout every investor that cannot be swayed to our way of thinking. We must act immediately. File for a cease and desist. Print cash. Leverage on our contacts and push down the pressure point of whoever tries to resist us.” Kayla stated.
“Kayla’s suggestion would work only if we go all out and add as many zeros as it takes to acquire this new technology. We want total control. We don’t care if it’s one billion dollars or One Hundred BILLION dollars! We’ll still have access to the monies spent on this technology. They need to keep the money somewhere (so large a sum). They wouldn’t know how and where to spend it anyway. Overwhelm those in charge with crazy offers – hand them offers that would seem stupid to reject. We almost print money. We just move it around and move the decimal points at the push of the keys. Bring them to their knees and take control of what they don’t know they have. Make this happen now!”
“How much do you know about this app, Irons?”
“Not much data personally but some of my staff have used it and there are testimonies on the internet. There is also an upload from a Disrupt Hackathon that was organized in the valley when the app first came out right after the US government needed something to implement for all schools and universities that were affected by the disruption caused by the world pandemic in early 2020. They didn't have anything that all students could continue learning when schools got disrupted and suddenly closed. Over 50 million students were left just sitting at home playing games and bored out of their minds. Only a few online programs were running but not enough to continue normal class learning. Then this popped up and worked very well. Very well being an understatement. For anyone interested, go study that. Anyway, according to my sources, the app does not let you fail. It is practically impossible for you to fail at anything you want to learn because the app maps out your brain and evolves with you. Think of it as a smart training wheel. It keeps track of everything, suggests what to study for your own brain preference – before now, we didn't know there was anything like brain preference. We all assumed our brains thought in the same manner and filed information in the same manner. It helps strengthen your weakness and take your strength to unimaginable heights! 3.5 GPA students or lower can easily scale up to 5.0 in a short time frame. Teachers are getting excited by the alarming rate at which their previous dull and uncoordinated students are turning into individuals with genius level IQ's.”
“Are there any side effects to using this app?”
“None whatsoever. None have shown up in studies and research. It is too perfect. But I do know that not everyone got taken in our destruction of the world markets and the crypto world. Many survived, some even excelled. Something is different with this technology. Very different. ”
“Here is my verdict: buy out whomever you have to buy out and get us that technology, no matter the cost. You have three months for negotiation and handover. I have given you enough time. Do not fail me. The Powers Be!”
“We are the light in the darkness. A light that cannot be seen. The puppet string that hides in shadows. The dark muscle that does not flex. We are one and we are separate. We are here yet nowhere. The world is ours and it doesn't know.” As suddenly as they had started, the chorus ended and the room fell into thick darkness.
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Lilith Evolved by Jesse Perez on Barnes and Noble
Lilith Evolved
Tesla's Mana
Book 1
TABLE OF CONTENT
THE END.
THE MIDDLE.
FORCES UNSEEN.
BIG OIL.
THE END.
Chapter 1
THE END.
Almost imperceptible the change in the world that occurs when life as fickle and fleeting as a flame goes out. The change also occurs at birth, a life form has been converted in a way, and so the world spins coherently. Grief at a loss, and joy, at birth are known to be the reactions expected from the sentient life forms in proximity to the novel change in energy form. The moment it happens; when life is transformed in the world, there is a burst of energy, a force so strong it moves the earth just a little.
When Lilith Ulrich, like many before her, felt the world stop as she watched her mother, the only being who hadn’t felt like a stranger in such a strange world, cease to be. She was ten when it happened and blessed as she was with a mind that understood intimately the laws of being, she quickly grasped as she sat by her grandmother that the still warm body of her deceased mother no longer held the soul she had loved with every fiber of her tiny being. She understood this fact as very few before she had, and her heart broke as she realized she would never again see her mom. The light in Lilian Ulrich’s eyes had gone out, her energy dispelled into the world.
Now, a Twenty-one-year-old Lilith Ulrich believed in energy, so much so that when she went to bed at night and dreams of her smiling mother caused her to sigh and smile, sadly, deep in dreams, she was convinced even in that state of semi-consciousness that the dreams she had were light displays caused by energy fluctuations in her brain. She wrote a thesis about it and kept it in the storage she kept all her otherworldly designs. She still felt her mother’s loving eyes on her and this meant the energy that had been Lilian’s soul had never really left her. Her life’s work became the study of energy, at first in the orthodox forms it presented itself, but during her years in college, she studied the human soul from the perspective of a scientist. To her it was a quantifiable force that had yet to be discovered. Her thirst for knowledge occupied every part of her being, so that energy, and its numerous potential forms of peculiarity became her religion, her evidence of a purpose to all of creation. "Harnessing Entropy"; the title of her final college paper and its contents, garnered a response from the scientific world that shocked her peers. A detailed theory about the dimensionality of energy conversion in the fabric of spacetime. She basically highlighted and detailed in a fashion that could be described as uncomplicated, how elementary particles could acquire mass along a symmetry in spacetime. Barely a week after the paper was published, she had top companies looking to put her under a payroll. Until the end of her final year in the University of Texas, she had kept a simple profile, a few friends, fellow students in her field of study; mostly minds she enjoyed being around, for the unintentional challenge they offered because of their views and systems of belief, or the easiness of their company. They were just as surprised by the newfound fame their friend had just as they rounded up their final year at the university.
She walked straight into the defining moment when she was nineteen, three nights before her graduation. The gang had been hanging at Xavier’s dorm room and she joined them, anxious at first because until a week before that night, she was Lilith; a Chem major with an easy, outgoing nature.
“I mean I knew it. Lerrina! Tell'em what we found!”
Lerrina Paul, a chem major in her final year had an almost empty can of beer in her hand, she spun the can in circles as she shook her head. There was just no explaining it, she had met Lilith for the first time on the night of orientation, their first night on the university grounds and they had been friends ever since.
“She’s always been super smart,” Lerrina told the room of drinking college kids, Nirvana played from Kodi’s device as they relaxed in the dorm room. Exams had taken a toll on the lot of them and that evening, just days away from graduation they were letting loose. “I mean we all knew that right?” getting nods of agreement from a few of her friends then turning to Jordan with a lopsided grin and a chuckle she told him, “you tell them, cause boy am I still reeling.”
“You’re completely useless when you drink, you know that right?” Jordan shook his head and sighed.
“A year ago, we found a paper she must have written when she was in high school, it blew my mind.” He took a chug from his can, emptying its content before opening a new one, “so I showed it to Lerrina right, and then we asked her about it, and she just shrugged according to her, it was something she came up with for a school paper.”
“It was about interdimensional travel!” Lerrina interjected, “and it was so detailed, like worthy of a frigging Nobel. And she didn’t even turn it in, said it wasn’t anything her teachers were ready to see yet.”
“Thought you were too wasted to tell it.” Jordan eyed Lerrina and they both laughed.
“But if she’s so smart,” Xavier spoke up, “why has her whole academic career up until two weeks ago been pretty much ordinary?”
“Well I was very sure I wanted to have a normal college experience; people tend to look at you differently when you have an IQ to rival Einstein, so they're saying, I've never actually been tested.” Lilith stood at the door, the noise from a dozen other indoor parties filtered into the room, obviously they weren’t the only ones taking a load off.
“Well speak of the she-devil,” Kodi said.
Lilith walked into the room, shutting the door behind her, she moved to the bed where Kodi was seated by Analise, both spotting similar mischievous grins.
“I’m hurt, you guys started without me.” She said as she dropped her bag and plopped on the small bed by Analise.
“Hey, it was all Lerrina’s idea. She really went at the drinks like an alcoholic possessed.” Analise pulled strands of gray hair away from Lilith’s face and Kodi offered his friend a can which she promptly opened.
“Snitch.” Lerrina grunted at Analise, “I only had one can cause I couldn’t wait, besides I saved you some slices.”
“Ahhhh, food.” Lilith groaned. She sat up and grabbed the box from Jordan’s hand.
“How did your date go?” Jordan asked as Lilith decimated a slice of pizza.”
“Well, that’s dead.” She said. “He broke up with me.”
“Oh, honey!” Analise pulled her into a hug, halting Lilith’s munching, she found a way around the hindrance, passing the slice to her left hand and taking a bite, while she mumbled.
“What did you say?” Analise asked, she still held Lilith in her embrace.
“I said,” Lilith paused her munching and sighed, “I got dumped, I’ll get over it. It's not like I got some terminal disease so you guys can skip the pity party and move straight into celebrating our last days as students. Analise you can let me go now.”
“You seem pretty relaxed for someone who just got her heart broken.” Lerrina straightened up in her seat and reached for a new pizza box, Jordan, ever the helpful friend passed it to his drunk friend while eyeing Lilith suspiciously.
“Yeah, what can I say? It wasn’t meant to be?” She took a swig from her can and relaxed into a comfortable spot on Analise's laps, placing her feet on the wall in front of her. Analise pushed strands of her ginger hair away from her face and began rubbing her head.
“Well, that’s the curse of the genius, crappy love lives.” Miah mused sagely, earning an empty can tossed in her direction by Kodi.
“Miah’s wisdom or lack of aside, there must have been a reason, Dan can be a douche sometimes but he really cares about you. He wouldn’t just dump you without an explanation.” Vanessa Geller walked into the room as Xavier spoke, her inability to read a room had always made for a good laugh, and she wasn’t one to disappoint. Her sandy blonde hair was tied into a ponytail and there were bags under her eyes. She still had a paper to write and she had spent the day at the library.
“Dan broke up with Lilith? That scum!” She exclaimed. Jordan and Lerrina groaned and Lilith laughed.
“He told me he didn’t know who I was, and it kinda made sense, I guess. I really never meant to deceive anyone,” she looked to the side and her eyes fell on Lerrina, before traveling around the room to see her friends watching her. She sat up with a groan, dropping her beer on the bedside table to her right. She looked around the room again, Vanessa had taken a seat on the floor by Jordan and they were all watching her. Lilith picked up the can and emptied it, then she cleared her throat.
“I’m very ambitious when I have my mind set on something, and that is pretty much an understatement. I had friends in high school but there was always this thing, kinda like a boundary I couldn’t cross with them, so while I was friends with them, it was obvious I was the third wheel, it’s a lot to get into so let’s just say after I got into college I knew immediately how to exist on better terms with the people around me.”
“So, you pretended to be dumb?” Vanessa asked.
“Nope, I stayed out of the spotlight,” Lilith said with a shrug. “I simply laid low.”
“Yeah, I think I get it,” Vanessa said.
“You’d think Dan would too,” Xavier said.
“It’s really not his fault.” Lilith offered in her ex’s defence.
“But there’s something I don’t get.” Kodi had been sprawled on the bed while she spoke, he sat up with a look of confusion on his features. “Why now?” He asked.
“You mean why did I publish my paper on spacetime energy conversion?” When Kodi nodded she shrugged.
“I mean I have had theories about it for years, but I never really made anything out of it. I think it was the GTL app. When we were using it to study, I just felt it was something I had to do. The knowledge was there, I just felt it was up to me to show it to people.”
“Well great job babe, now you got a ton of job offers lined up. You’re gonna be racking in the big bucks by Christmas if you accept Big Oil’s offer.” Kodi cheered.
“Forget that! Those guys are only concerned about their bottom line. Who knows, by Christmas, we might even have proof of other dimensions parallel to ours thanks to you.” Jordan raised his can and they cheered for her.
"While that sounds wonderful, what I really want is an end." Lilith stared into space and the room stilled.
"What does that even mean?" Vanessa asked, Lilith met her gaze, she shrugged and sank back into the bed.
"The inefficiency of it all." She said.
The room was silent a moment longer, then Vanessa guffawed. She turned to face Lerrina who looked like she would need help heading to the bathroom soon, "has she always been like this?" She asked and shifted her attention to Jordan.
"Yeah, I guess she has."
CHAPTER 2
THE MIDDLE
That was two years in an almost forgotten past. Lilith had gone on to develop her thesis on energy manipulation, but not under any of the big-name companies that had wanted her under their pay. Instead, a startup from India had offered to fund her research, now she worked with her team of brilliant minds, those she trusted with her life’s work. Kodi and Xavier had both accepted her offer to work with her in a lab located in a remote community in Iceland. Kodi was a brilliant computer engineer and along with Xavier who had majored in mechanical engineering in college, they and six other engineers made up the tech unit. Miah, Lerrina, and Analise worked with other brilliant radiology experts.
Jordan, for as long as Lilith could recall, had been her close friend, they had been neighbors growing up and when she moved to live with her grandmother, they stayed in touch. So when he refused to take the offer to work as the lead engineer for the quantum mechanics department on her team and instead chose to work for Big Oil with Vanessa in tow, she had felt the grief of loss again, this time she questioned the feeling. He might have been a world away, but he was still alive, still within reach. Yet she grieved. Then he showed up at the lab one afternoon in beaten worn-out jeans and a punk rock t-shirt, a week’s worth of stubble decorated his jaw, so he appeared as though he had stepped right out of their college days. He had quit his job at Big Oil a year in, then he spent the better part of a year working in East Africa on the creation of sustainable energy. On a night out in the neighboring town with the gang, Xavier confronted him about his sudden appearance at the lab. Jordan shrugged, “I just missed you guys I guess?” Xavier let it go, sufficiently under the influence to accept Jordan’s answer. Lilith hadn’t accepted his answer, and as they drank late into the night, she watched her friend.
“It’s hard to explain Lilith.” He offered in his defense when she pried him for answers after Xavier, Lerrina and Miah passed out in their seats.
“Try.”
“I felt like I wasn’t alive, like all I was doing wouldn’t amount to anything because I wasn’t with you guys.”
She stopped prying for answers after that, she didn’t tell him, but she understood what he meant all too well.
Jordan had sat in his chair with a thoughtful look on his features for a while after that. Lerrina then fell out of her chair and he and Lilith had themselves a good laugh at their friends’ expense.
“Now that brings back memories.” Lilith laughed so hard her ribs hurt.
Jordan had revealed that Vanessa was not planning on quitting any time soon, she was in fact, on her way to becoming head engineer, especially with him no longer a rival for the position.
A month and a half after, Jordan began working with Xavier and Kodi on the design of a collider; an atom smasher like none in the world.
“Almost 60 years ago, the human race had a breakthrough.” Beethoven’s Appassionata played solemnly in the background as Lilith led the gang of students through the facility.
“Although you all might be much too young to remember this, the entire world went through quite an ordeal beginning in the year 2020.”
“You mean the virus that caused a worldwide epidemic?” A bright-eyed girl with her hair made into neat cornrows asked.
“Yes. That’s correct!” Lilith beamed at the little girl. “What’s your name, little lady?”
“Alba.” She answered. Lilith grinned at her before raising her gaze to meet the teacher’s eyes, he appeared very proud of little Alba.
“What are you teaching kids these days?” she inquired.
“Our curriculum follows the learning patterns designed by GTL Tech.” Lilith wasn’t surprised, she knew it was being utilized for mind molding technology in all levels in the educational sector. “Most of our kids are developing learning patterns as complex as high schoolers.” He added.
The GTL app molded minds efficiently, at times she wondered whether the decision to educate children with such an advanced tech was a smart decision, she had witnessed kids become too smart to enjoy their childhood. But the GTL App had helped her to advance her education. Most students today graduate college by 19 or 20 years old.
“Well, I guess that’s as good as any place to start,” Lilith continued her lecture, grinning once more at the little girl before she continued leading the visitors through the facility. “The GTL app was created by bright minds in a research and development lab much like this one, the mind's ability to learn has for millennia been a much-debated topic, amongst scholars and scientists. It was even theorized once that the percentage of the brain used every day; to interact, to build, even to socialize was well below twelve percent, tremendous, isn’t it? But with the ongoing advancements of GTL Educational Technology, it has capablized anyone to learn easier, faster and made it fun as well.”
The Lichtenberger lab was large for a research facility, the energy company responsible for its creation had spared no cost. Built in Akranes; a port town on the west coast of Iceland by Advik Ahuja, an Indian engineer and philanthropist. His power company, Safe Energy World. had been in the market for a revolutionary shift in the power generation sector.
Safe Energy World was built after a power plant explosion in the early nineties. At first, they struggled to gain ground as the government in power at the time had other plans for the generation of power. Years and dozens of lawsuits and underhanded power plays later, they built the first power generation plant in Patna. Wind and solar energy generation worked well for parts of the state, but the need for a renewable energy source that would end the power troubles in the country was a Sisyphean dilemma that kept Advik Ahuja, the mind behind Safe Energy World, up at night.
As heir to a large fortune he had decided to employ in his pursuit of advancement while studying artificial intelligence at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom. He established the Safe Energy World plant with his best friend, and also funded renewable energy labs in his country.
The Lichtenberger Energy Research Lab was named for his partner's hometown. The facility was equipped and staffed with only the best money could afford.
Advik read Lilith's paper while on a trip to Washington and decided after reading it a third time, that hers were the right hands to entrust his dreams for the future.
Being the head of Lichtenberger Energy Research Lab meant she had a lot of responsibilities. She never imagined one of those responsibilities would be leading school kids on a show and tell excursion. Grunt work was well beneath her person, yet a task she had all but begged her teammates let her handle. Jordan stood a few feet away from the party. She had assured him it would be a breeze taking the visitors on the excursion through the lab, but obviously, he hadn’t trusted her. She had to admit she had wanted the chance to lead the excursion for selfish reasons. Who wouldn’t want two hours away from a stifling lab? Especially when it meant she could mold young minds in the process. She loved her job, but monotony did take its toll. She had always felt teaching would have come easy to her if she hadn’t been gifted from a young age the ability to understand the intricate cogs of science.
“The founder of Lichtenberger lab has a simple ideal in mind, it is to ensure a safe reusable form of energy for all of humanity, and behind these doors, there are wondrous breakthroughs taking place that will make that dream a reality.” Lilith unveiled, “through the service corridors on the other side of the facility there are experiments taking place as we speak on energy manipulation, right now, Jordan over there,” she gestured at Jordan who the kids had been introduced to at the start of their excursion, “and his team of brilliant engineers are transforming forces in controlled environments.
Now energy transformation, or energy conversion, is the brilliant process of changing energy from one form to another. Your legs are expending energy right now, as you move along with me, and I am very sure you understand various other ways in which energy is utilized every single day.”
The kids nodded and Lilith carried on. “Well, in physics, energy is a quantity that provides the capacity to perform work, a truck moving along a highway is an example of chemical energy being converted into kinetic energy.”
Yup. She was enjoying herself.
“Waterwheels, windmills, and then the steam engine of the industrial revolution,” she went on, “and further into the future, airplanes, and spaceships. We’ve come a very long way since the first evidence of energy conversion when the ancient humans discovered the use of fire. In this facility we are looking to go even further; that is, we are manipulating matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale. And our goal is now, more than ever, a possibility. With enough energy concentrated in a very tiny region, it is possible to access a section in the fabric of spacetime, and in theory, if we can access one, we can access other sections of spacetime.”
Jordan watched as Lilith lost her audience with a guilty sense of satisfaction. Xavier owed him twenty bucks. He knew how easy it was for her to get carried away when she got excited, and if he was being honest, he had only offered to assist her because he had suspected she would need all the help she could get. A mischievous thought played around in his head, it might be fun to let her carry on while he enjoyed the show but that would make him a terrible friend, and he really couldn’t watch the kids suffer for much longer. “Okay, that’s it,” he mumbled under his breath.
Lilith was on a roll. She didn’t notice the numerous yawns and distracted gazes. She noticed Jordan trying to gain her attention and shot him an irritated look before continuing her lecture. “We can create a direct connection between two sections even, as long as coordinates are obtained, interdimensional travel is possible. But I should add, this particular scientific leap might take a while, still a work in progress, you might say.
“Umm Lilith,” Jordan had joined her, she hadn’t noticed him leave his position at the rear of the party. “Don’t you think it would be best you educate these young minds in a more fun manner? You know, for, preschoolers?”
Lilith turned to see the kids behind her spotting looks of bewilderment of varying degrees. Even the homeroom teacher that had looked excited at the beginning of her lesson appeared extremely bored.
“Got it,” she whispered to Jordan with a thankful smile, “Thanks Jordan, what would I ever do without you?” She turned to the kids with a grin, “that’s all for the theoretical aspect of today’s lesson, now, who wants to see a science trick?”
With that, she got the attention of the kids. “Me!” the kids chorused with glee, even the young homeroom teacher appeared interested again. She was glad the GTL app hadn’t altered their minds completely; they were still excitable kids.
Her strides down the public corridor took on urgency as though the excitement felt by the kids had somehow infected her.
“Move quickly,” she warned them, “or you just might miss it.”
Jordan, Lilith, and the visitors left the corridor. She had planned on saving the collider for the end of the excursion. She would just settle for blowing their tiny little minds earlier than planned.
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