It seemed I hadn't gone in too soon, for shortly after I had locked the sturdy door I heard the sound of beasts come sniffing all around. They clearly were looking for something to eat and I heard them try a couple times to get in, though they found no weakness that they could exploit. After making sure they were not going to find their way in I sat down at my table with the crude lamp I had hand made illuminating the small room and started carefully taking apart the device, cataloging in my mind where each piece went. There were many parts and I had to take quite a bit of time studying how they were connected to make sure I could put it back together. The most fascinating part of it was how simple they all were, they had been hand made and the device must not be of a very high quality compared to what I could create when I used it. I didn't have any paper with which to write, so my walls became my parchment and the residue from the lamp my ink. The sun started to come up again when I had finished cataloging and drawing everything and when the device was back together there was a knock at my door.
I didn't even have to open the door to know it was the same elders as before, but they had brought a few others with them as well along with some supplies to draw with and create plans. Inwardly I smiled at their foresight in the need of these things and wished I had done the same when I had come out yesterday, though I hadn't anticipated what I would have been up to then. I was tired and they had been thoughtful enough to bring food. As I ate they asked me about what I had drawn so crudely on my walls and I explained that I was trying to create a new device before the one I had broke. They were surprised that I mentioned the device could break and I could see fear in their expressions. I told them if they would be patient I was ready to begin trying to recreate the thing they desired so much. When they consented I brought in the materials I thought I would need and sat down, staring at the wall with all the drawings and notes I had made. It took quite some time and I could hear the elders shuffling behind me, but slowly the parts were recreated and even better than the previous ones. As each piece came into existence I replaced the one in the device I was using, testing it out and so long as it worked it remained. Some of the parts took a few tries but eventually I had figured out what I had done to make it in the first place. It wasn't until each piece was made that I got to work gathering all the materials again and instead of making just the bits and pieces I created a fully new and redesigned device. It was smaller, sleeker, stronger and much more capable than the original and when it was done and fully tested I used the new one to destroy the old one, much to the shock of the elders. When asked why I had destroyed the original I explained that it was a dangerous device to leave lying around due to the way it could alter their ways of life. I assured them I would help them rebuild, but they would need to take the time to learn the technology on their own. I would not artificially advance their society and would work equally with all the towns to make sure they maintained equality in some measure. As they made their way out the door, frustrated, I began to think about what I had accomplished today. I felt some sense of familiarity with the device I had in my hands and began envisioning further use of it to acquire better resources. I knew not all the elders would agree with my decision, but I knew their society would benefit from learning instead of receiving. With the remaining light of the day I quickly made my way back to town and picked up my remaining possessions, taking a moment to appreciate the refinement of the other tools compared to the original refiner. It really was amazing that the first tool could be made by hand and then be used to quickly produce the rest.
Monday, November 7, 2011
My Own Place
I awoke, as I expected to, to the sound of someone trying to open the door, and being unable to they knocked loudly. I could tell by the amount of light coming in to the room that it was still early. I quickly checked that everything was in place in the room and picked up my tools, making sure to keep them near me at all times and then unlocked and opened the door to see who it was. It was one of the staff that ran this establishment, they had come to inform me that I had visitors already. I told him that I would come out shortly, once I had a chance to get ready. With that I closed and locked the door once more and took my time getting ready for the day. I knew they would be annoyed at having to wait, but I also knew it would be a long day and I wanted to be prepared for it.
When I entered the room to meet my guests I saw there were just a handful of elders. Upon seeing me they quickly approached and handed me a bag full of food for breakfast and then, with only a couple quick words informing me that we needed to move quickly and quietly we made our way out of the town and back towards the place where I had constructed my pavilion. I wasn't sure what this was about but they clearly wanted to make sure no one else knew where we had gone. As we came to the structure the sun was finally breaking through the morning haze. The structure was just as I had left it, but there were quite a few footprints going all around it. With the town at such a distance the elders began talking and informed me that the structure I had made was amazing to their people, they had never seen such fine work completed so quickly and the structure was more sound than most of their own homes. When they found out what it was made of they were surprised that scraps could be put together in such a way using such a small device. They wanted to see it work again, this time on something bigger as I hadn't made anything like the building in front of them. I expressed to them that I actually wanted to make a workshop here but would need more materials than what I had. With that they wasted little time talking and all of us were gathering all the different resources we could find. By the time we were done it was close to noon and the food we had brought was gone. We were quite hungry and two of them left to find something to eat while the rest of them sat to observe the device in action.
Each task in the process produced questions, most of which I could not answer. They were amazed as the device pulled in all like materials from the pile and then just as rapidly created a stack of usable materials. When it was all done there was enough to make a small house, just big enough to be my workshop and still leave me some materials to make some furniture. I waited for the others to return before I moved on to this step. One thing that began to worry me, however, was that the device looked like it was starting to wear out. This would be one of the last things I could do with it before I needed to start taking it apart to understand how it worked, I just hoped I would be able to put it back together after I had seen all the bits and pieces of it. When the others had returned and we had had our lunch of fruits and nuts I got to work creating the house and all that was within it. The structure was very strong and they put it to the test trying to damage it, but it was beyond their means without having some tools. With that they were satisfied with this private demonstration and expressed their interest in having me help rebuild their town, to which I replied that I would be happy to help them once I finished understanding this technology and could reproduce it. I then informed them that now that I had a place of my own I intended to sleep here for the evening and would return to town tomorrow to pick up the rest of my belongings. They hesitated in giving in to this, but I made it clear it wasn't a request and they reluctantly left, but not before they secured a promise that I would be here in the morning when they returned. Once they were gone I picked up a few pieces of wood and got to work creating a crude light source so I could continue my studies here in solitude.
When I entered the room to meet my guests I saw there were just a handful of elders. Upon seeing me they quickly approached and handed me a bag full of food for breakfast and then, with only a couple quick words informing me that we needed to move quickly and quietly we made our way out of the town and back towards the place where I had constructed my pavilion. I wasn't sure what this was about but they clearly wanted to make sure no one else knew where we had gone. As we came to the structure the sun was finally breaking through the morning haze. The structure was just as I had left it, but there were quite a few footprints going all around it. With the town at such a distance the elders began talking and informed me that the structure I had made was amazing to their people, they had never seen such fine work completed so quickly and the structure was more sound than most of their own homes. When they found out what it was made of they were surprised that scraps could be put together in such a way using such a small device. They wanted to see it work again, this time on something bigger as I hadn't made anything like the building in front of them. I expressed to them that I actually wanted to make a workshop here but would need more materials than what I had. With that they wasted little time talking and all of us were gathering all the different resources we could find. By the time we were done it was close to noon and the food we had brought was gone. We were quite hungry and two of them left to find something to eat while the rest of them sat to observe the device in action.
Each task in the process produced questions, most of which I could not answer. They were amazed as the device pulled in all like materials from the pile and then just as rapidly created a stack of usable materials. When it was all done there was enough to make a small house, just big enough to be my workshop and still leave me some materials to make some furniture. I waited for the others to return before I moved on to this step. One thing that began to worry me, however, was that the device looked like it was starting to wear out. This would be one of the last things I could do with it before I needed to start taking it apart to understand how it worked, I just hoped I would be able to put it back together after I had seen all the bits and pieces of it. When the others had returned and we had had our lunch of fruits and nuts I got to work creating the house and all that was within it. The structure was very strong and they put it to the test trying to damage it, but it was beyond their means without having some tools. With that they were satisfied with this private demonstration and expressed their interest in having me help rebuild their town, to which I replied that I would be happy to help them once I finished understanding this technology and could reproduce it. I then informed them that now that I had a place of my own I intended to sleep here for the evening and would return to town tomorrow to pick up the rest of my belongings. They hesitated in giving in to this, but I made it clear it wasn't a request and they reluctantly left, but not before they secured a promise that I would be here in the morning when they returned. Once they were gone I picked up a few pieces of wood and got to work creating a crude light source so I could continue my studies here in solitude.
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