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Post by William Blake on Aug 2, 2010 14:38:01 GMT -5
Earth 29th May 2459 Conferences and Expos had always been the Science and Engineering community's favourite way of showcasing new talent and technology. They could see physical demonstrations of some of the most advanced technology to have been developed in the last year or so, then they were allowed the chance to admire the work afterwards and question the designer. Sometimes it helped them pick up ideas, other times it helped to get to know the tech before it went world wide, so that they could understand it and have gained a good knowledge about it before the public got their hands on it. Freebies were also a perk.
Will had never got the chance to be a spectator at one of these events. The first time he went to one he was eighteen, and he and his project group were there presenting their new energy efficient cooling system to a room full of Professors from all over the state, eager to see if the technology was viable. He was the youngest engineer to ever have something of his design go into mass production.
This time, the conference was being held in Minnesota, and it had brought together the world's most prestigous and acclaimed scientists, doctors, and engineers to view the latest technology, as well as regular scientists and engineers, and students of the same subjects. This didn't bother Will much, stage fright wasn't really something he was worried about. He was more preoccupied with the fact that Joe was here, his best friend, and he'd brought his daughters (Will's Goddaughters), Charlie and Janey, who Will adored. They were giggling up a storm back stage, finding everything completely fascinating. Janey wasn't much of a talker yet, as she was only two, but she was having fun pointing at things and trying to wriggle from her father's grasp. Charlie was completely in awe of what she was seeing, and kept asking questions about everything she laid her eyes on.
There was movement on stage, and Will craned his neck round to see the announcer, Jerry Caufield, position himself behind the glass podium, ready to speak.
"Looks like I'm about to go on," Will said, straightening his jacket which Charlie had been tugging at, and dusting down his trousers.
"Our next demonstration will be presented by one of the World's finest up-and-coming engineers. He graduated from The London Institue for Science and Technology, a year ahead of his classmates, with a First Degree in Engineering and Technological Sciences, before going to on work on the Luciana where he excelled at his job, keeping one our fleet's best ships in top condition. Even with a full time job, he has found the time to develop several pieces of new advanced technology, the first went into mass production before he even graduated from school. So, without any further ado, I give you, William Blake."
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Post by Natalie Blake on Aug 2, 2010 15:44:46 GMT -5
Earth 29th May 2459
It was almost always fascinating, Natalie found, to come to conferences like this, where scientists and engineers met to display their latest breakthroughs and designs. It was downright inspirational, to be honest. To see what had been achieved showed her what could be achieved, and that gave her motivation to continue in her line of work. Maybe, one day, she'd be the one up there.
Pfft, not likely! she snickered at herself, shaking her head. Sure, she was an I.B. student. She was good. But she wasn't that good. If she came up with something new, no doubt it would have been completely by accident, and even then it would be a miracle. But just because she would never come up with anything didn't take the shine off of learning what others had.
Natalie looked up when the announcer came back onstage to introduce the next demonstration. He gave a relatively brief speech--well, it seemed brief considering how long some others were--before announcing a man by the name of William Blake. The introduction suggested that he was rather young, and the sight of him as he made his way up onto the stage proved to Natalie that he couldn't be much older than she was.
She tried to get a better look at him, interested now, but a large man pushed his way in front of her and her view was effectively cut off. Sighing in frustration, she made her way around him, chiseling through the unmovable crowd towards the stage. The annoyed grumblings of the people she pushed passed made it hard to hear what William was saying, and on top of not being able to hear him she was short enough that she couldn't see him, either.
Just as Natalie managed to get into a free space near the stage next to a man who was preoccupied with looking after two girls who must have been his daughters, the room burst into applause and William took his leave of the stage. Huffing a little, she resisted the urge to scowl at her luck. Great, the one chance she had to learn about the success of someone who wasn't a decade or more older than her and she had to be too busy fighting her way through a sea of people to hear.
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Post by William Blake on Aug 2, 2010 16:19:02 GMT -5
The whole presentation from start to finish was a breeze. It wasn't like he hadn't done this before, and the sea of eyes leading back from the stage, many of whom he recognised from pictures in online articles which he'd read for his research, watched with avid interest, which helped to stroke his ego somewhat. Not many could claim to have this experience and such an audience at this age, only twenty-two. It helped a lot that he liked being up on stage, talking about the technology, it was his forte after all, and it came effortlessly to him.
Out of the corner of his eye while he was still talking, he could see someone making their way through the audience by the ripple of people that seemed to move in a rough line towards the stage. Someone was obviously interested to hear more, but he couldn't see who it was, and besides, he was supposed to be giving his presentation his full attention.
He finished to a raucous round of applause which made him grin from ear to ear, then he took his leave, jogging back down the steps and over to Joe and girls. "How did I do?" he asked them, smiling. "You were amazing!" Charlie beamed, stretching out her arms so he'd pick her up. "Yeah!" Janey concurred, generally agreeing with anything that Charlie had to say - she was smart enough to defer to the older, more experienced one.
Will hoisted Charlie up into his arms, and looked at Joe. "You know you were great, mate. You were born to do stuff like this; you've always had a propensity for showing off." Will snorted with laughter, which caused Charlie to poke him and go, "not down my ear!" "Sorry, darling," he said, smoothing her hair before turning back to Joe. "Hey, that propensity for showing off had Doctor Hauer sitting with his mouth open in the front row," Will grinned, "my crowning moment, I'm sure."
A flash of blonde hair caught his eye, and he looked more closely to see where it had come from. He could see someone retreating into the crowd, but he didn't recognise them. The crowd were huffing in the same way that they had been during the talk though, which made him smirk. She obviously wasn't aversed to disturbing people to get her way. Maybe some day he would get to find out who she was.
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