Ch5: Athena

Hong Kong, Earth, December 20th, Year 999, Solar Era.

"Have you picked up your luggage yet? Athena. I told you that you shouldn't book a flight that would land so close to the time of the party."

"Yes, yes! Mom…' grumbled Athena. "It's not my fault that the airport couldn't handle the flight traffic. My flight had to fly circles in the air for a whole hour!"

Athena whipped her golden copper hair left and right as she twisted her head trying to navigate her new environment. She had visited Hong Kong many times before-- her relatives lived here. However, she had never had to take the train from the airport before.

If only the airport wasn't overwhelmed by the number of flights at this time of the year, she complained to herself. Supposedly, one of the runways needed repairs, so how was she at fault? She had planned enough time to get to the party post-landing.

Deep down, she could not deny that her mother was proven correct.

"Have you found the station? The neurosurgeon is already presenting your aunt with your baby nephew's neuro results!"

Athena could hear cacophonous cheers leaking through to her end.

"Look, mom, I'm trying my best here. I'm ending the call!" Without waiting for a reply, Athena ended the call. She was trying her best to find her way to the station. She didn't need her mother to further stress her situation. Her neuro-circlet slightly dimmed. Some of its other processes were still being used though-- Athena's luggage trailed behind her without a leash.

She turned her round face to look at the beautifully decorated wall, accompanied by her waist-high luggage, down a beige marbled tunnel. Her ancestors had supposedly originated from somewhere in northeast Asia, which gave her and her mother incredibly round faces with Asian features. An ancestry tree also showed significant strains of historical Japanese, northern and southern China, German and Russian roots. Regardless, that was simply curiosity and nothing more for Athena. She gazed at the walls of the tunnel.

Welcome to Hong Kong!

In the year 2047 AD, Wong san chi, Raymond, pledged to turn Hong Kong into a spaceport in combination with maintaining the city's world class sea port, in agreement with the mainland's support!

A rather archaic picture of a man accompanied this introduction.

This signified our pledge to developing aerospace technologies, and our continued support of engineering, transport and commerce.

A rather technical drawing of skyscrapers, train systems, spaceship and rocket launch systems with a cathay pacific emblem illustrated this point.

May your visit be blessed with joy and opportunities!

It was rather common for cities around the world to present their city with pride at their airport.

Finally at the end of the tunnel, Athena found herself on a platform with a row of half-filled train carriages.

She entered a carriage, stowed her luggage and found a soft cushioned seat.

After a few minutes, the few train carriages started up, and a robotic male voice sounded from the speakers.

Welcome to Hong Kong! There will be a few bumps on startup due to the magnetic levitation systems. Please stay seated or hold onto support as needed.

A rhythmic beeping noise sounded and the train doors slid shut.

A dulled shrieking of metal against metal sounded initially, but it faded as the few carriages sped up.

These carriages will be connected to the main looping train system soon.

Looking out a window, Athena found that her line of carriages were now parallel to another much longer train to the right side.

Her set of carriages seemed to slow a little and gradually lagged behind this other much longer set of carriages.

The two tracks seem to merge, and she felt her set of carriages accelerate.

Connection in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

There was a slight bump and clicking noise as Athena's set of carriages attached itself to the main looping train head.

Though Athena rarely took the train during her visits, she had been amazed the few times she did. Even now, her wonder had yet to fade.

The train system had multiple perpetual main loops that circled close to every single hub of the city. Every single loop had multiple train heads that pushed the pace of travel throughout the whole day. The system would only get to rest for three hours in the middle of the night.

This was a major improvement to a time when trains had to more or less stop at every single station to drop off passengers. Now, a passenger would effectively be traveling continuously toward their intended station without stops.

The next station is Tsing Yi. Please move to the last carriage if this is your destination.

A few people shuffled to the back.

Doors locked. Detachment in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

Her head twisted to look at the back, Athena saw the last carriage disconnect and that carriage changed direction into a side tunnel.

Reminder! If you miss your station, please stay calm. This loop system only takes approximately ten minutes per loop.

Around ten seconds later, a new carriage appeared behind.

Connection with Tsing Yi arrivals in ten, nine …

Another bump and the new carriage attached to the main train head, and new passengers walked in through the door between the carriages.

Many were wearing festive Christmas hats, causing Athena to remember her Christmas scarf. Now that she was on the train without her mother's nagging voice, Athena felt much more tranquil in her heart, and with that, Christmas joy. With a small smile, she promptly wrapped her red and green reindeer scarf around her neck. The reindeer's big red nose was designed to pop up right at the center of her neck.

A few more stations later and Athena found herself in the back two carriages of this train head. There were quite a number of passengers so two carriages had to be detached.

Reminder! The two carriages at the back will be connecting to the Hong Kong Island loop. The furthest back will be the clockwise loop. The other will be the counterclockwise loop. Detachment in ten, nine, eight …

A jolt and the two carriages not only detached from the train head, but also each other. Athena had moved onto the carriage second from the back.

Her carriage veered off in a large circular movement, her direction a near 180 degrees change, then aligned itself with another long line of carriages, before lagging slightly behind and merging behind the new train head.

Attachment to the Hong Kong Island counter-loop train head in ten, nine, eight…

Athena could only marvel at the system. She had effectively been traveling at a continuous approximate 500 km per hour, if she ignored the fact that her carriage had to slow down a bit to turn and attach to the counter-loop train head.

Soon enough, she found herself in a back carriage that detached, veered into a separate tunnel before coming to a stop at the Hong Kong University station.

A carriage carrying passengers had already left the station as the carriage Athena had arrived in now stood on standby along with a few other carriages that were already here.

Her uncle worked at the university, and naturally, the new baby that was to be her nephew received her neurosurgery from a university affiliate. It was the norm for all new babies to be tested and 'installed' the neuro circlet system.

Knowing that she was already late, Athena opened her luggage, removing a sort of device that looked like a set of kangaroo legs.

She attached these to her legs and made sure everything was tightly secured with regards to her ankles, knees and hip.

"Neurosync. Device is kangaroo legs. Align system with normal leg muscle activation."

The neuro circlet lit up and let out a beep to confirm the task completion.

Athena then put on a large pair of visor sunglasses.

"Destination: HKU Children's Neurorevo Hospital."

Her visor lit up with an overlay system, providing a dotted line that she had to follow to reach her destination. As she moved her head to examine the environment, this dotted line would move around as well, maintaining the path that she had to travel.

Her luggage… Athena felt a bit of a headache. She resolved that she could always get a new one if this one got damaged. As for what the luggage carried-- she had bought this luggage after ensuring the interior had quality cushioning systems. Any likely damage would be to the wheels on the luggage.

Worst case scenario? She would just whine that her mother's phone call had made her rush and accidentally damage the luggage's wheels.

With that, she held onto an emergency handle that flipped open from the luggage, and began bounding towards her destination.

Although the device was called the kangaroo legs, it wasn't as if its users would bounce like an actual kangaroo. These devices were modeled after the legs given to paralympic sprinters, and then further modified to increase its speed and support for current day users.

With these, Athena's sprinting motions, to a bystander, would appear like she was leaping a good two to three meters every step. That poor luggage bouncing behind her… would be the natural thought of every bystander she passed by.

Soon, Athena arrived at her destination and stowed away her kangaroo legs. Her luggage had lost one of the rubber wheels…

The receptionist directed her to Dr. Ng, the neurosurgeon for her nephew.

When she entered, the doctor was in the process of explaining all the neuro device paths that her uncle and aunt could choose for their baby.

"...general and specific as well as devices that are a combination of sensory and motor functions. With your child having eight channels, I would recommend having one motor and one sensory channel trained for a combined system, as that is an increasingly popular type of device. The second and third sensory channels should be a specific one useful in a sort of profession-- for example, being able to sense dangerous chemicals would be imperative in certain settings. The forth sensory should be a general one, so your child will be able to switch sensory devices as needed on that channel. Granted, he will not be able to as quickly or accurately respond to information from that channel, but a bit of flexibility is useful"

"Now, the other three motor channels. For those, I recommend two general channels and one specific channel, or all three general channels. Being able to switch multiple devices will be incredibly useful. Also, artificial intelligence can help cover for any lack of specificity from the motor input. But perhaps, if you are certain that your child will benefit from the use of one specific style of motor device; that may be beneficial."

Athena's parents among her other relatives crowded around this doctor and many of them nodded in agreement with the relieved doctor's advice.

Her mother noticed that Athena had arrived and waved her over.

"Girl! Come and give your advice. You have the most experience with these neuro devices!"

Still slightly out of breath, Athena felt a bit embarrassed as all her relatives simultaneously turned their gaze onto her.

"Athena Watanabe?" Dr. Ng's eyes widened as he recognized her.

Athena inwardly sighed. She had dealt with 'attention' from many specialists of the neuro-related professions since her birth.

When she was born, she was determined to have eighteen motor and eighteen sensory channels, a combined total of thirty-six. Unfortunately, she would never realize that potential.

Her parents discovered that as a child, she would always cry when controlling more than sixteen devices. Doctors never quite resolved the issue, and could only tell her parents that it was likely something to do with the neuroload.

Thus, growing up, Athena had trained many of her neuro channels with a multitude of devices both specific, general and motor plus sensory combined. She just could never simultaneously use them all without getting a massive headache and losing consciousness.

It was for this reason that almost every single specialist in the neuro-related profession knew of her existence.

The downside to this was that many expected her to have some grandiose achievement, and she never quite felt like she would ever live up to those expectations. From her perspective, she simply had extra arms, some of which she couldn't even control at the same time.

Luckily, those outside of the neuro-related professions didn't take much interest. At the very least, although not common, there were quite a few others who could control close to twenty devices as well.

After all, there were other factors that determined success such as intelligence and creativity. That allowed Athena to have some form of normalcy with her peers, seeing as in her assessment of herself, she didn't really stand out in terms of these areas.

"Congrats, auntie and uncle! Sorry for being late. I agree with the doctor's advice." She gave her best smile, not wanting to deal with Dr. Ng's curiosity. Her mother had a habit of pushing her forth in these situations, but she certainly did not know more about neuro devices than a well-trained doctor.

Meanwhile, to the side, her mother was frowning at the broken wheel on her luggage…

"Thanks for coming. You know how much this means to me!" Her third aunt stood up and gave Athena a tight hug.

Her third aunt had been trying to have a child for a long time. Now that her baby has received his neuro system surgery… Athena understood how much this meant to her third aunt.

"I'm very happy to be here! Will you be coming to Hokkaido?" Their family often traveled together as one big group every year for the new year celebration.

"Yes!" Her third aunt rejoiced. "The doctors said it's safe! I will just be watching on the side as you all ski. But the hot springs will do me a lot of good!"

The meeting with the doctor soon came to an end, and Athena was relieved that Dr. Ng did not raise the subject of her neuro constitution.

Every family member's attention was focused on the baby. His name was Steven, and he curiously stared at all the new faces and would uncertainly look at Athena's third aunt as if confirming if he should be scared of all these people.

Her mother seemed to have given up on pursuing Athena regarding the damaged luggage wheel, unwilling to sour the celebratory mood.

The group left the hospital and entered multiple private cars.

"Destination, third sister's residence," Ordered Athena's mother.

Acknowledged.

The self-driving vehicle began their journey to Athena's aunt's home for a house party.

"You know. Your second aunt decided to come too, with her husband." Her father opted to provide this information.

"John Muller?" Athena perked up. She had met her uncle before and this uncle always had interesting things to say. Her second aunt and uncle resided in Pacific City, the floating city of dreams.

"Yes." Athena's father had a wry smile, knowing that his daughter enjoyed talking to this uncle of hers. "He's back from space and their flight from Pacific City should have just landed."