new scene : Atlanta Hackspace

A few people told me that the sub plot with the hackerspace kids should stretch over more than one scene. I’ve re-outlined the second book, and stretching some of the minor plots a bit does two things:

• makes the pacing work better – we get to alternate from thread to thread to thread without either (a) losing any of them or (b) letting any of them becoming boring by overfrequent visiting.
• provide a bit more depth to the world.

Just after I finished writing this I realized that all of my younger guys are competing with each other in the dating / sexual marketplace, and all of my older guys are competing with each other in the corporate / political marketplace.

I reject any and all suggestions that there’s even a touch of Mary Sue in this book. 😉

== Atlanta Hackspace, Atlanta, GA, Earth

Maynard rested one hand on the Hobart stand mixer they’d picked up cheap when Dominck’s Pizza went out of business. Its throbbing motion slowly smoothed into a more even whir as the beater smoothed out the lumps in the mix. Maynard picked up a measuring scoop, dipped it into the sack, then sprinkled more clay powder into the mix.

“How’s the goo coming?”

Maynard turned and saw that Vince was there, looking at him. “Oh – hey Vince. This batch is almost done.”

Vince nodded and turned back to his screen.

Maynard thought it over for a second then decided to risk it. “Hey, Vince.” Vince turned back. “Have you looked over the expat’s ship guide?” Vince didn’t respond immediately so Maynard hurried on “It – uh – it was covered in Pulse, Makernet, Home Shop Machinist -”

“Yeah, I read it.”

Maynard cleared his throat. “Well – I was thinking it might be interesting to build it. I mean – maybe not the whole ship – that’d cost money. But at least the prototype.” Maynard thought about saying more but realized that he’d presented his case.

Vince thought the idea over. “I don’t know. It’d be cool…but can we afford it? The liquid nitrogen -”

“I can sneak some of that out of the materials science lab.”

Vince raised one eyebrow. “Really? Hmmm. That’d be cool.” He thought for a moment longer. “And the copper for the bus-bars?”

“I can work that out.”

Vince inclined his head. “The goo ready for the printer yet?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. We just need to screen it first then it should be ready to go.”

“OK, why don’t you load that into printer number two?”

“Uh – I was going to use printer one for a mug set I’m working on.”

Vince hit him with his thousand watt smile. “Oh, come on – be a team player, man. I’ve drawn up a sketch for an AWESOME bot body. It’s like a J-type, but it has arms. Here, man, come look at my plans.” He beckoned Maynard closer and then put an arm on his shoulders familiarly as he pointed at his slate.

Maynard looked it over. It was pretty cool – it used several captured dumbbell joints, the kind Maynard had shown Vince just the other day on the Russian prototyping site. As if reading his mind Vince pointed to the joints “See those? Awesome, right? And I couldn’t’ve done it with out your input.”

Maynard smiled, pleased for the acknowledgement. Vince ran hot and cold, and it was always nice to be in his good graces.

Vince slapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks, brother.”

Maynard nodded…and then realized Vince was talking about using his batch of goo in the printer. Well, he might as well. Vince HAD thanked him for the idea he’d used in the design. Maynard walked over to the Hobart mixer, turned it off, and then man-handled the mixing bowl out of the cradle and onto the cart. In a moment he’d pushed it over to the printer – avoiding that one uneven floor board that could slosh the mud – then wrapped his arms around the bowl and tilted it so that the goo started to pour into the printer’s intake funnel. He had about half of it poured in when the door to the hackerspace opened and the noise of a half dozen chattering hackers wafted in. He looked up. Carrie-Ann – his girlfriend – was with them. He wanted to wave but he was still cradling the half-full container. He finished the pour, put the bowl back down on the cart and looked up. Carrie-Ann must not have seen him there behind the printer – she was deep in conversation with the crowd that had walked in, clustered around Big Bertha, the new slow motion CNC pottery wheel they’d built last spring.

Maynard walked over to the crowd. “Hey Carrie-Ann!”

CA looked up from her conversation and smiled. “Hey Maynard, I didn’t know you were here!” He went in for a hug but at the last minute Carrie-Ann pulled back.

“Oh – gross!”

“What?”

She pointed at his shirt and he looked down. Oh, crap. He hadn’t been careful about wiping the rim of the mixing bowl clean before humping it over to the printer, and he had a broad horizontal stripe of grey slip across his stomach. “Oh, crap. Sorry.”

Carrie-Ann shrugged and smiled but kept her distance. Maynard felt a strong hand on his shoulder – Vince had sauntered over and joined them. “Maynard – introduce me to everyone.”

Maynard did and Carrie-Ann – always polite – smiled warmly at Vince when she was introduced.

Vince interrupted the introductions. “So what projects are you working on tonight?”

Carrie Ann blinked. “Oh, nothing impressive.” She pointed at Big Bertha. “I’m thinking of making a Community Ring for the Peace Faire.”

Vince somehow seemed simultaneously wryly amused and curious. “A ‘Community Ring’?”

Carrie Ann blushed. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just a thing that people are doing. So I thought I’d make one. Out of stoneware. You know.” She bit her lip. “What are YOU working on? Something complicated, I bet?”

Maynard started to answer “You remember – the mug set -”

Vince put his hand back on Maynard’s shoulder. “I think she was asking me.” Maynard looked at Carrie-Ann and verified that Vince was right. Oops.

Vince smiled. “It’s funny you should ask – just before you got here I was talking with Maynard. You guys all know about the Expat Ship Guide?”

There was an intake of breath from the group. “No! Really?”

Vince nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to set up the machinery and build a cryo-bath, and Maynard is going to get me the copper bus-bars and a tank of nitrogen, right M?”

Maynard smiled, happy to be included. “Right.”