Motor Hinge

Writers: Aaron, Devin
Date Posted: 14th November 2017

Characters: K'don, T'lin
Description: Kedon does his best not to drip on Tyselin's schematics
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 5 of Turn 9

K'don

T'lin

Tyselin sat on his bed with books and drawings strewn all around him. With the Hatching coming he wanted to work through at least some of these designs and get them to the other technicians for testing. Just in case.
Kedon walked past in shorts and sandals, his hair still damp from the
bath. He would have kept going without bothering anybody, but he was
suddenly intrigued by Tyselin's books. He stopped, stuck a finger in
one ear to get a bit of leftover water out, and then said, "Hi.
What're you lookin' at?"

Tyselin looked up. "These are some of the surviving cooling system
designs from the ancients, and a few recent ones. I'm working on some
possible improvements."

Kedon's eyes widened with awe. Improving on the Ancients! It seemed
like an almost impossible task to him. Even using Ancient designs to
work out a better version of what the technicians made seemed like a
gargantuan undertaking.

"Wow! I'm not actually really sure how any of that works," he said,
peering at the drawings.

Tyselin opened his mouth, but stopped himself from launching into a
long technical description. Talking with his fellow technicians was
one thing, but there was no need to throw a bunch of terms at someone
unfamiliar with the craft. "Well, basically, it's about how to get a
fan to work more efficiently. Can I find a way to make it use less
electricity? Can I find a way to make it more powerful? That sort of
thing."

Kedon was fascinated. He never would have guessed that someone might
want to try to do those things, but hearing it, he wondered why.
Improving on what was known was the only way to do what needed to be
done, but better. He felt almost ashamed at never having thought to
wonder how to improve his own craft, but he supposed that keeping
beasts healthy for a little while was a much simpler task than making
a fan work harder. He had no idea what really made a motor go.

"That sounds hard," he said. "I would have thought you'd have to put
more in to get more out."

"That's not always true. There are inefficiencies that you can find
and reduce. It's like..." Tyselin tapped his chin. "If you had a door
that you had to push hard on to open, but someone figured out the
hinges were rusted. Once you oil them, you use less energy pushing to
get it open."

"Ohh!" said Kedon, understanding dawning on his face. "That makes a
lot of sense!" He tapped his chin and pondered for a moment. "So, it's
like... you need better oil for the motor? Or better... hinges...
What's a motor hinge called?" he asked. He was not sure what else to
call whatever the part was that did the turning.

"Um, I think that would be the rotor. That's the part that spins."
Tyselin pointed it out on one the diagrams. "And yes, if you improve
the parts and how they interact, you get more efficiency."

"Rotor," Kedon repeated. Rotor rhymes with motor. Should be easy to
remember. He stared at the diagram, trying to puzzle it out. Turns and
Turns and Turns to be anything more than an apprentice. Kedon was not
going to learn it all in one sitting, but it was still fascinating.

"Did you draw these?" he wondered.

"This one." Tyselin pointed to one of the drawings. "And I'm working
on this one. The others are copies of diagrams made by other
technicians."

Kedon leaned in to take a closer look, but he took care not to lean so
far over that he might drip excess bath water onto the schematics.

"Are they gonna be mad if you Impress?" Kedon wondered. He knew that
everyone understood the need to fight Thread and the duty that all of
them had to Stand if they had the affinity for it. But that did not
mean that it was not a terrible sacrifice to make when one was smart
enough to make these kinds of improvements to other important parts of
the common knowledge. If he was Tyselin's master, Kedon knew he would
be more than disgruntled to lose such a promising student. Even if
riders had some spare time to contribute to their former crafts, it
was never the same.

"Mad? Oh no." Tyselin shook his head. "I'm sure it'll be bittersweet.
They'll disappointed I can't focus on my Craft, but they'll be happy
for me too. And proud." The other technicians knew how much he wanted
to Impress.

"It looks like you're really good at this," said Kedon. He hated the
idea of anyone dying in Fall who could have done so much more, like
inventing things that made everyone's lives better. Kedon did not
really have anything like that. As far as he knew, he was already
doing his best to make others' lives better. He was never going to be
clever enough to make a new way.

"I am." Tyselin smiled. He wasn't one for false modesty.

"Well. Stay alive, OK?" asked Kedon. His breath caught in his throat a
bit as he was reminded that people were dying now to keep everyone
safe. That his parents, his siblings, his family, his people were all
in danger of dying. It could happen any time.

"I'll definitely do my best. You too, okay? You seem like a good sort
to have around and I'd like to keep it that way."

Kedon smiled, feeling encouraged. He nodded and said, "Thanks.
G'night, Tyselin."

"Good night, Kedon."

Last updated on the December 10th 2017

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Motor Hinge