Excavation II: Lost in New York
"I'll take a car," Lois told her brother, "that way I have no chance of getting lost."
"It'll be there in a few minutes," he responded.
Lois stood on the curb of Bedford Ave. anticipating what the car Daniel had sent would look like. If it were anything like the cars passing by, it would certainly be compact and good on gas mileage. The overwhelming majority of vehicles on the street were no more than 4 or 5 feet in length and only about 3 1/2 feet tall. In similar fashion, a car that looked made for a small child pulled up abruptly to the curb. The vehicle, no longer than Lois' armspan, was dark blue in color and almost entirely covered with windows.
"Are you Lois Drennan"? the driver inquired after rolling down the window.
"Yes, I am," she responded.
After settling into the passenger seat, Lois figured it wouldn't hurt to start asking questions about this new, seemingly technologically advanced world she knew as the "future."
"So, can you tell me a little about your vehicle?" Lois asked the driver.
"Well, it's the new model of the INGOCAR that came out about 3 years previously," he said. "It's got a pretty interesting logic behind it. According to the man I bought the vehicle from, the car is built on a simple I-shaped tubular frame in which compressed hydraulic fluids are interchanged to create motion in the hydro-propelled motors in each wheel."
"Wow," Lois muttered. "This sounds like an entirely different language."
The driver chuckled. "I would have to agree. The only reason I know this is because I did my research. Basically, what this car does is create energy and reuse it through the separate motors in each wheel. Using reversing valves, the motors can be reversed, turning them into braking systems that reuse 70-85% of the forward motion energy back into storage for later use in the car."
By the time the driver was finished, they had reached Daniel's apartment building. "Thank God," Lois thought to herself, as all of the car talk had begun to muddle her brain.
"Well thank you for that tutorial, but I'll have to get going," she said to the driver as she stepped out. "Have a good day."
"You too, ma'am."
Lois walked up almost 10 flights of stairs before reaching Daniel's floor. Out of breath, she felt around for the doorbell. "Even doorbells are out of date!?" she thought to herself as she was presented with yet another flat screen prompting her to give her name, date of birth, and the reason for her visit. After a 5-minute interaction with the video screen, Daniel opened the door. At almost 95 years of age, he looked extremely weak in his wheelchair.
"LOIS!" he screeched. "What's happened to you? Why do you look like you've retracted back to your 20's?" he said in utter disbelief.
"I told you I had to talk to you about something important, didn't I?" she responded.
"Come in, come in," he prodded.
They sat down on an oversized couch and the questions started flying.
"What the hell happened to you?" Daniel asked first.
"It'll be there in a few minutes," he responded.
Lois stood on the curb of Bedford Ave. anticipating what the car Daniel had sent would look like. If it were anything like the cars passing by, it would certainly be compact and good on gas mileage. The overwhelming majority of vehicles on the street were no more than 4 or 5 feet in length and only about 3 1/2 feet tall. In similar fashion, a car that looked made for a small child pulled up abruptly to the curb. The vehicle, no longer than Lois' armspan, was dark blue in color and almost entirely covered with windows.
"Are you Lois Drennan"? the driver inquired after rolling down the window.
"Yes, I am," she responded.
After settling into the passenger seat, Lois figured it wouldn't hurt to start asking questions about this new, seemingly technologically advanced world she knew as the "future."
"So, can you tell me a little about your vehicle?" Lois asked the driver.
"Well, it's the new model of the INGOCAR that came out about 3 years previously," he said. "It's got a pretty interesting logic behind it. According to the man I bought the vehicle from, the car is built on a simple I-shaped tubular frame in which compressed hydraulic fluids are interchanged to create motion in the hydro-propelled motors in each wheel."
"Wow," Lois muttered. "This sounds like an entirely different language."
The driver chuckled. "I would have to agree. The only reason I know this is because I did my research. Basically, what this car does is create energy and reuse it through the separate motors in each wheel. Using reversing valves, the motors can be reversed, turning them into braking systems that reuse 70-85% of the forward motion energy back into storage for later use in the car."
By the time the driver was finished, they had reached Daniel's apartment building. "Thank God," Lois thought to herself, as all of the car talk had begun to muddle her brain.
"Well thank you for that tutorial, but I'll have to get going," she said to the driver as she stepped out. "Have a good day."
"You too, ma'am."
Lois walked up almost 10 flights of stairs before reaching Daniel's floor. Out of breath, she felt around for the doorbell. "Even doorbells are out of date!?" she thought to herself as she was presented with yet another flat screen prompting her to give her name, date of birth, and the reason for her visit. After a 5-minute interaction with the video screen, Daniel opened the door. At almost 95 years of age, he looked extremely weak in his wheelchair.
"LOIS!" he screeched. "What's happened to you? Why do you look like you've retracted back to your 20's?" he said in utter disbelief.
"I told you I had to talk to you about something important, didn't I?" she responded.
"Come in, come in," he prodded.
They sat down on an oversized couch and the questions started flying.
"What the hell happened to you?" Daniel asked first.