Falmouth Academy Resonance 2020-21

First

Bailen leaned back against the soft fabric that lined the bottom of his Personal Travel Device, or PTD. The top part of the sphere was transparent SpiriGlass, and he could see his other classmates floating in their own PTDs. Some were reading, and others were talking on the cosmophone. As he floated into the Education Space, an automated message informed Bailen, “You are entering the ES. Welcome!” His PTD docked at the Learning Pod (LP) port, and the top popped off so he could climb in. Educator Akiel once told Bailen that VACMs used to be called “computers,” and the acronym stood for “voice-activated communication module.” Bailen loved ancient history, so he thought that was fascinating. He sat down on the stool and a hidden speaker began transmitting the lesson to his LP. He heard Educator Akiel’s voice:

“Hello, students! Are you ready to join me in the ES to broaden your neural pathways? We are going to start a unit on EarthWorld. Can anyone tell me what that is?” Four cameras in Educator Akiel’s Teaching pod took a live video of him on all four sides. Not only could Bailen see the Educator through the SpiriGlass, but the four screens in front of his stool also streamed the videos taken from Educator Akiel’s pod. Bailen could see and hear the Educator as if he was in the LP with him.

“I would like to answer the question,” he told his VACM. The VACM transmitted a message instantly to his Educator’s VACM.

“Great! I see that Nani, Bailen, Adrie, Louie, and Rio think they know the answer,” replied Educator Akiel. “Adrie? Can you tell us what you think EarthWorld is?”

“Believe it or not, I was just reading a book this morning that mentioned EarthWorld!”

Of course, Bailen thought. The only person in our class who knows more about Ancient History than me is Adrie. And she’s determined to keep it that way. I better read more history books.

“So, what I understand is that there was this perfect amazing planet, and then they destroyed it and only a few people escaped in a cosmoship and we’re their ancestors.”

“Yes, Adrie, that’s right,” said Educator Akiel. “Does anyone want to elaborate? Rio?”

Rio replied, “Yeah, there were lots of different groups of people on the planet, and plants and animals grew wild. Some of the groups of people were democracies, like our ship, and some were not. Then, one group somehow got all the power and used it to threaten all the other little groups. One of the little groups got so scared that it took the beautiful EarthWorld for granted and blew it all up with a terrible bomb.”

“However, Rio, that same group that blew up EarthWorld had been working on a state-of-the-art cosmoship to hold all the people in their group. Right before they blew up the EarthWorld, they escaped. Nani, do you know what our people think about that?”

“Well, Educator Akiel, it was a really bad thing to blow up our paradise. I am ashamed of my ancestors.”

“As you should be!” replied his Educator. “That was a terrible decision on their part.”

The day continued, and Bailen and his classmates were shown a map of EarthWorld right before it was destroyed. They learned about how the cosmoship was constructed in secret, and how a group of very smart scientists made an amazing new piece of technology that nobody knew was possible: the gravitator.

The gravitator charged the floor of the cosmoship with a strong Eliza Chun gravitational pull similar to the one on EarthWorld. Things that needed to float around, like PTDs, were equipped with a tiny anti-gravitator to counteract the gravitator.

Bailen’s PTD was attached to his LP. The LP didn’t have an anti-gravitator. It was attached to the ceiling of the LS with a fibrocord, which always stayed taut because of the gravitator. The piece of fibrocord attached to the LP was about the same size as the one Bailen’s Dental Hygiene Machine stuck between his teeth every night before bed.

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