Arcanium, borders of Oroz Continent, 500 miles East of Terrabitha


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________


    ***


    At first, the apuse was surprising, he repaid them with his authentic gesture. The man exchanged handshakes, tapped on the shoulders, and exchanged hugs. He hugged the ones closest to his heart.


    The ones who worked closely with Project Nightfall.


    "Speech! Speech!" A few of them said.


    He doesn’t like speeches. It would bring bitter memories. Back in the city, at the peak of his career, he was used to the spotlight, talking in front of many. But now it had be traumatic. Anyhow, traditionally, he should deliver a speech.


    "Folks. My co-professionals," he started with a soft voice, "I am new to thismunity and I am new to this drive. But truthfully, even for a few months, it was the most fulfilling months of my life!"


    The cheers grew louder and he paused for a while. He let the cheers subsided and he continued again.


    "All of you, you saved me. You save me from my despair, you save me from regaining my memories," The man nced at the Psychologist, "and you give me happiness that I never had before since I left the City. Your purpose is my purpose now, and I will contribute my very best to regain what’s ours. A renewed Earth!"


    The apuse came louder.


    "A renewed Earth!" The Majority rejoiced.


    His statements had pauses that a crowd would listen to. It was a strategy for good speakers like him or rather, his respites, to mask his hurtful feelings for the warm surprise he had received.


    The man was obligated to say the words, the encouraging statements, but he never revealed his fear. He smiled instead and showered words of optimism.


    "Let’s proceed, Doctor!" Nina ushered him to theb after a series of transparent walls that held various scientificbs.


    A translucent curtain, reaching unto the high ceiling of the dome, opened automatically and revealed a wide expanse of a greenhouse effect. The refracted light streaked through, fingering its way to the gaps of trusses in between panels of ss. The light came from the sun and through the translucent roofing of the dome.


    But it was not brighter as the sun was high, as it almostpletely retreated towards the ck horizon. A fraction of it still showered its rays to the peaks of the mountain.


    The Dome was designed by a Civil Engineer among their ranks. Efficient way of utilizing construction materials, as one would assess. It was made of concrete to hold the structure’s integrity, but also tempered ss and wood.


    Wood.


    It was the first ever that the newly recruited man had seen; wood used for construction. The Civil Engineer was hailed the best among a throng of Civil Engineer professionals and aspirants.


    The workers under him such as his foreman, were also the best strategists in presenting alternative ways to efficiently arrive the desirable oues with the avable materials. Frugality at its best reflected the dome’s structure.


    All of them, in the dome, were the best among the best.


    The man too, an Electronic Tier, considered himself the best among his colleagues. In the Dome, he was a hero. In the City, he was a traitor.


    The drive they had been working on for years tranted within the covers ofrge translucent curtains, below the transparent ceilings, and with the proper care of Nina, the assistant Botanist.


    A nt nursery.


    The man ambled to a wide table to where the sessful experiment transpired. Three professionals were at his back as the man inspected the specimen. One of them was the Gicists.


    It was a meter high Mango seedling, all were artificially grown by DNA reconstruction. Below the seedling was a seedbed filled with dark brown soil. On the sides of the table were robotic arms, four of them, hovering around the specimen and being controlled by the scientists.


    The Mango Tree seedling, as their experiment as asexual propagation, was grafted to a reprogrammed organic DNA at its base.


    "Organic tissues stabilized well with cybeic material," One scientist said. "You calctions are correct, Doctor."


    The man nodded in agreement.


    The man trained his fingers delicately to the intricatebination of a cybeic material embedded in its metallic forms in the trunk and the roots.


    "They are synchronizing, we managed to stabilize the DNA fusion," The man said as he closely inspected the abnormalities. There was none. No seeping of tree sap. No burned discoloration of barks. No scion destruction. The Masterwork-level metals were the key to his experiment.


    Everything seemed normal. His heart was pounding.


    "Ok,mence Electricity induction," the man said.


    One scientist turned the knob and the whirring of smooth equipment hums emerged from the bottom of the table. The cybeic-infused material glowed as a jolt of amperage passed on them.


    The roots expanded below the soil, perceptible by the movement below the seed bed. The nt grew gradually. For 10 seconds, it grew 10% of its growth as they measured it.


    "Full charge capacity. Hit it," the man said again.


    The equipment below hummed again, louder this time and the nt grew at an increased rate. Branches from the sides of the trunks emerged like thorns. The trunk turned its color to bluish, almost perceptible veins of electricity sinuously winding the surface of the seedling’s bark.


    The humming continued and so as the seedling’s growth. For over a minute, it doubled its height and its branch span had tripled. The trunk looked mature like bonsais, but bigger.


    "Continue charging," the man said again, his voice overpowering the humming machine.


    "Doctor, the charge won’t hold," the scientist contested.


    The Dome lights flickered in the process. Everybody in the building witnessed closely as the experiment progressed.


    The seedbed started to crack and the roots crawled out from the table like live snakes. The outcropping now becamerger than the tree itself.


    Such happenstance was expected by the man who conducted the experiment. The roots grew faster as to where his cybeic infusion core was in ce. It should be in the roots to hasten the absorption of nutrients to support the elerated growth of the tree.


    The mango tree tripled its size for about 3 minutes and the source of the charge had surrendered. The humming was discontinued and the growth halted.


    There was silence. Others were waiting if the project was a sess or not.


    The man was silent too.


    Then, right before they were disheartened, flowers sprung along the branches, almost recing the number of leaves with yellowish flowers. The petals bloomed right away as if they were moving on their own. Fragrant scents were released filling the room with an unfamiliar aroma.


    As they bloomed, fruits sprouted at the flower’s ovaries and their growth was elerated too, until its full maturity.


    Then the awes from the crowd grew. As if they were witnessing a miracle in progress.


    ’Even without the charge, it was still bearing fruit?’ The man was perturbed.


    It was the first time he witnessed a nt bearing fruit for less than 5 minutes.


    "Status?" The man asked the scientist who conducted the monitoring.


    "The charge is at 0% and the tree is at its 60% full growth. That’s below 5 minutes of injecting electric current. We need a bigger and stronger battery to support the full growth of the nts. We need power."


    The man nodded.


    "We needed a Masterwork level Ultragenerator" the man replied.


    "What is it, Doctor?" It was Nina who asked.


    "An infused Electromaic Battery, partnered with an Energy elerator," the man responded.


    "Where can we get one?"


    "He will MAKE one for us," Erik replied.