The Industrialist

Doctor Adamson agreed to meet with Lance during the after classes. Although he enrolled in his subject he needed to expedite the creation of the Ultragenerator as soon as possible.

He headed to Adamson's office with the SHF bodyguard casually following him about twenty steps behind. Lance wanted to walk among the streets without the people knowing about his bodyguard. They had not talked about it, somehow, the bodyguard read what he wanted without communicating to him directly. These people were trained to read other people's minds, anticipating the desires of others.

Lance believed on that notion.

When he arrived at Adamson's office, he went inside after three knocks and saw the Professor reading about his CloudArchive tablet.

"Oh, it's you. Come in," Adamson said.

"Forgive me Mister Adamson for the late-night visit. There are questions that I would like to ask about the construction of a generator."

He did not elaborate that he would be making the Ultragenerator, which would raise Adamson's eyebrows and tinged his suspicion about the matter.

"Yes. I know. Ok. What are your questions?" Adamson said.

He was a busy man but when it came to teaching or exercising his stock knowledge as a teacher and having the opportunity to impart it to others, he would allocate his precious time for such.

And besides, who would not want to help the new Savior of the City as the media hailed?

"I wired the Accelerator to the battery," He maintained generic names for his components which he assumed that Adamson would catch up. "With the use of impure Gold wires, would I need to have ground connections for it? I mean, the generator, for it to perpetually function, the current levels will fluctuate and would be passed on to these components on a high-frequency level.

I theorized that the equipment would heat up and the surge of current would not have a line to escape."

"Well. All powered generating equipment should theoretically have grounding. Especially the high-powered ones. But you should not ground it on the generator's generic housing. You should have a separate material that would be bolted to the ground for proper function. This would prevent your component from biting your hands when touching it." Adamson elucidated.

"Ok. Got it. What about heat generation? Would the impure gold wires can withstand continuous operation."

"Impure gold wires are used in high-powered generating equipment and high frequency. If what you are building is not that powerful, I mean, below 50 KVA, then you don't have a problem. But if you are generating more than that, you should adjust the thickness of your impure gold wires to withstand the heat transfer borne by electricity. I have a formula for that if you want?"

"Yes, I want the formula."

Adamson transferred a file to Lance's hologram via a wireless connection.

"You said before that you are not going to share information that covers your lessons. Or this would be a form of cheating," Lance said as he scanned the electronic documents.

"Yeah. I said that. And you should be a topnotcher because of this. But it only holds about one percent of our lecture, so it would help only a little." Adamson said and held a sarcastic smile. "We don't want the Golden Boy to be a failure, do we?"

Lance only smiled.

"Listen, Lance. You are under a microscope right now by the society. I know you are not used to living with the Mid and high-classers but it's different. A week from now, we are going to start our classes, and you know, if you are famous, they will test you. They will test your intelligence and of course your personality. You should outthink them.

Don't play their game, play yours. Don't let yourself be bullied by high-echelon students. I used to be bullied when I was still an Aspirant. I was a Commoner back then, my family was not born rich. I am self-made and I endure bitter experiences in school. Let these experiences guide you for your strength, mold you mentally to control your emotions, and keep your rage at bay."

Hearing the words from Professor Adamson gave him the goosebumps. He spoke like his father, giving him unwanted advice. Well, it was apparent that Adamson wanted the best for Lance. Adamson was a self-made millionaire, therefore, in order to succeed, one should experience bitter moments as the former also struggled during his growth years.

He missed his father. His mother, too. But he had little memories of his mother. She died when Lance was still eight years old. On the other hand, if the Seer was telling the truth about his father was still alive, there could be a chance that they could reunite. But it has been about three to four years since his father had left him.

"Thanks, Professor Adamson for the life advice. I am prepared for whatever it is."

"Yes. I know. To make your life easier here in the Academy, I suggest that you make friends with the mid-classers. They are more decent to be with than the high-classers."

Adamson poured himself a drink, an orange transparent liquid, like the color of gasoline, and smelled like alcohol when the liquid flushed inside his glass.

"Have you tried rhum?"

"Rhum?"

"Yeah. 65 years. It's an expensive drink. I have heard that before the Nuclear World War, it would only cost around three units per half liter of a bottle. Now, it cost me Fifty units."

"Wow. How come?"

"Supply and demand, Lance. The demand is there. The upper class wanted to drink liquor but alcoholic drinks are hard to come by these days. Because of the rarity of the materials. I don't know how they do it, but the Agricultural Sector found a way to genetically engineer the raw materials for this. You know HomesteadGreen Sector?"

"Yes, I've been there. I know the directress." Read exclusive content at empire

"Miss Leric? Yeah. Fine woman. Do you know the Lerics?"

"Yes, his father and their daughter. I have a project with Jaqi that we are going to present tomorrow."

"Wow! Really? The Lerics are famous. This is a warning for you, Lance. They have more control over the city than you can imagine. These are dangerous and influential people, Lance.

So be careful with them. There is something sinister in them, pulling of strings and the politics. They are the center of it. Well, it's a secret for both of us but if you say you are connected with them, just be careful."

What Adamson said was no surprise. Lance had been researching about the Lerics and Lance knew that Mister Chester and Janet Leric were integral part of the Vicious Circle. And the Vicious Circle curated of everything evil in Axe Central City. He just needed to take them one by one. However, finding the other members posed a challenge.

The existence of the circle only circulated in the level of rebel factions and even Jefferson and the council had no idea who the members were.

Lance continued questioning about technical information on the assembly of his Ultragenerator through Doctor Adamson. During his inquisition, he learned many information about generators. Moreover, he also knew Adamson's hatred against the Government. One little motivation, he would become a rebel himself.