26 )
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They have a problem with energy. They lived in just one section of the giant space station. It rotated slowly as it revolved around the star.
The rest of the space station was dead, empty, out of reach of the inhabitants. This was a problem as the solar arrays and energy from the star came to them only when they were facing the star.
During the times they faced away from the sun, they had a problem of having enough heat, to keep things from freezing, keeping plants alive, living with some sense of comfort.
Over time, they worked the systems out to survive the conditions the best they could. They had previously reclaimed all the water and other materials from the rest of the space station. They built a super sized tank near the outer wall and filled it with all their water. The water fell down through a series of turbines, and ponds and watered the farm land, and then went through more ponds and turbines, diverted for industry and filtered until it reaches a vat at the lowest level.
There were solar panels to provide power and banks of batteries to store the energy till later. The area got hot during the summer. they did not want to suffer the heat at this time, but wanted the heat during the winter. they had vast vats of chemical that they ran the hot air through it and brought the liquid in them to a boil by the start of fall. The air with the heat removed would pass through the rest of the environment. During the winter, the air would be run the other way and some of the heat was drawn off to keep the area warm during the winter. By the beginning of spring, the vats would be nearly frozen solid. The nature of the chemicals caused the ice to participate to the bottom of the tank, away from the plumbing drawing the heat. In the summer, they used low plumbing for the heat transfer.
Another thing they did was for processes that caused a lot of heat, was set up at the lowest levels. Factories and facilities would use the heat at each level for their process, then send it on. By the time it came to the upper levels where the people lived, it was a comfortable warmth that passed through the floors and then outside. Of course, heat rose so the warm air went to the roof where the water vat was. Exhausts went up beneath the water vat where it was processed finally and the last heat dissipated into the base of the vat of water. Ice sometimes formed on the surface but that was about it.
During the summer, solar energy powered pumps that drove the water from the lowest vat up to the highest vat and would run at full power until the sun was lost or they ran out of water. During the winter, the water in the upper vat would power generators for electricity. The upper vat was used like a storage battery, using water as the energy store. they also used accumulated heat to cause steam to drive water to the upper vats. This was usually something they did near the end of summer when they knew they were behind on their water storage. It might be a waste of energy, but it also heated the upper vat and slows the freezing later.
The object was to try not to let any energy go to waste.

27 )
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An empty elevator showed up just as I came to the door. I happened to have some wood toys with me. This seeded this concept.
Sebastian was visiting his daughter and had toys for his grandchildren. Sebastian had studied occult and tried drugs when he was young. He stopped both when he started having illusions of a magical world. that was nearly forty years ago.
He had with him some toys he made. A toy cannon, a fairy, a pony, a dragon and a knight, all made of wood. As he walked up to the elevator, he could hear it in use. The bell pinged and the door opened. the elevator was empty.
He stepped in, turned around and the door closed as he hit the floor of his daughter. The elevator started moving, but something felt strange. He noticed that while it vibrated, the floors were not marking off.
The elevator slowed down, the bell rang, and the door opened. Sebastian fell forward suddenly, landing on polished stone. He stood up and was inside the ruins of a temple. There was no elevator anywhere. He saw a circle right behind him so on lark, he stepped into it in case it took him back into the elevator. He instantly knew that he had to be here a time before it would send him back. He felt movement behind him. He turned around, then looked down. The wood fairy floated up to eye level. The knight and dragon picked themselves off the ground. the dragon was the size of the knight. For some reason, he knew the cannon was loaded and would load itself instantly the instant he fired it.
The pony nudged him and then moved so the saddle, which he never carved into it, was beside him. "Shouldn't a knight be riding? he asked as he was about to mount the pony.
"I am too heavy. I will find a charger a bit later." The knight said.
"You've been here before, haven't you?" the fairy asked. She was the size he made her.
Looking around,"As a youngster, I started entering this world and it panicked me." Sebastian said as he recognized the plants and sky.
"You were in deep concentration when you made us, weren’t you?" she asked.
"Well, Um, Yes. I do woodworking to shut out the problems of my life and become focused. It is almost as if I am in my own world."
"That is why we animated. your focus put magic into us."
"And you made us well." the knight said as he whirled his blade. "Masterful, if I say so myself." The dragon nods.
He would use his toys to survive several adventures, using the cannon to fight off a vast army to defend some helpless people. He finds he has the ability to know what is happening magically around him, recognizing the powers in others. His physical ability at his age gives him an advantage, people always underestimate him.
He would eventually end up at the temple, possibly surrounded by the enemy, having drawn them away from the innocent people he was trying to save. His toys surrounding him closely he gets into the circle and is in the elevator again surrounded by his toys. He picks them up off the floor, gathering them in his arms.
He sees his daughter and she complains about the condition of his toys. there are little chips and nicks in them. He said he dropped them in the elevator. The children loves them but the mother takes the toys away from the child when grandpa is about to leave. she hands him the toys.
"I don't think I will be coming back here again. Make sure the children remember me. that is all I ask."
He walks to the elevator the door automatically opens. He knows what that means. He gets inside, distributes the toys around him where they will do the best in the battle, and hits the button. The elevator vibrates. He positions himself in a crouch and will roll rather than fall. "Ready children. We are about to fight."

28 )
Griffith was an engineer who built stuff as a hobby. He was driving past a university while a particle physics experiment was going on. The experiment exploded. The buildings became debris, some of which hit Griffith's car. He spun out of control and then the energy hit. The car rolled and he was thrown out. he landed in some brush and rolled.
It took a bit for Griffith to recover as he was stunned. When he stood up, he found himself in the middle of a forest, unhurt. The air was cold, not the summer warmth of his home. He looked around and finally picked a direction and started walking.
He found a trail and followed it. He came upon a town and knew beyond a doubt that he was not home. He was relieved that he spoke their language with their accent. It was not the language or accent he was born with. As soon as he spoke, his thinking shifted to that language.
It was getting dark and he was able to convince the blacksmith to let him work with him a little in exchange for some room and board.
He ended up staying for a week helping the blacksmith. His knowledge of making things allowed him to understand instructions. He learned during that time that magic was common in the world. He also learned that there was a university where magic was taught.
At the end of his week, he was given some money and he headed off to the city.
He talked himself into the school, his engineering knowledge allowed him to bluff his way in. He insisted that he start at the very beginning as if he knew nothing and worked his way through the lessons. His being in the classes helped the younger students as he asked the questions they assumed they knew and really didn't. He had to as he had no clue as to what magic was or what it did.
He was a hard, industrious, intuitive worker and earned his keep as he went through the classes. After several years, he graduated from the school as a master magician. they asked him to teach, and he said he needed to practice what he learned first.
He gets out into the world, out by the edge of civilization to experiment without harming anybody. He could cause a lot of problems if he made a mistake.
One thing he learned was that magic can be traced back to the user, so any magical weapon could be used against the originator.
He applied his magical skills with his engineering skills. He knew that some engineering principles that worked back home did not work here. Gunpowder did not work. It seemed like explosives were suppressed in some way.
He quickly decided that magic could be the gunpowder. He then decided that having the magic send the bullet would allow them to trace the bullet back to him. He decided to use air power, and use the magic to pump the air. Experiments showed that it had no power in rifle sized systems. ON a lark, he expanded it up to cannon size. It was quite effective.
He then made a little change, Instead of having the magic pump the air he had the magic work the pump to pump the air. the magic itself did not touch the air inside the cannon. He also added an air tank.
He made other kinds of weapons and tools where the magic was separated from the actual action. Along with his experimentation, he helped the few locals by doing magic for a pittance. He only had them pay so they would appreciate what he did. He did other kinds of work, fixing things, making items, He could do magic to make them work even better, but he chose to use his engineering to make them work well.
His Nation's army appeared in his area. Another army soon appeared. He watched as both armies battled, sword against sword, magic against magic. His army was getting beat. He finally decided to help. He took his weapons to the battle field. He fired his cannon. His shell was filled with compressed air. It flew the distance and hit among a bunch of magic users. the shell exploded and sent shrapnel everywhere. He watched as one of the survivors tried to trace the magic back to him. He fired another shell and it landed among a phalanx. it cut them down.
Fireballs came flying at him. he was just out of range. He fired as fast as he could shove the ammo into it. When the enemy got closer, he dumped gravel into the barrel and fired. He also used his other weapons on the army.
The enemy was driven back and they suffered more from him until they got out of his range. The enemy withdrew and left the territory.
Griffith returned to his study for a while, then went back to the university to teach. when asked what he was teaching, he told them that he was teaching magical engineering.

oops