Chapter 8.33: Thesis students

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From Rowan's diary

This morning I reached the campus early in the morning, as always. The lessons finished last week, so now I can devote myself full-time to the students who have asked me to be their thesis advisor. We are developing some very innovative projects they're very passionate about, and for me it's hard not to be affected by their enthusiasm.

Student 1: Good morning, Mr Miller!

Rowan: Good morning, did you all have a good weekend?

Student 2: (yawning) I haven't slept much actually, Mr Miller...

I smiled a bit, nostalgically. Student life didn't seem to have changed at all since when I was one, sleep still isn't a priority for them. Years pass, but some things never seem to change.

Student 2: I asked the faculty secretariat, and according to them there isn't anything actively forbidding us from opening a collaboration with Tech Sixam University, do you know, Mr Miller?

Rowan: I found the same information, and the didactic office doesn't seem to have anything against it either. So are you still convinced? Would you like to spend some time at Tech Sixam University, for your thesis?

Student 1: That would be so cool, Mr Miller!

This, however, is an aspect that has been changing profoundly since when I was a student. At the time most people in that university were suspicious of us Sixamians, while now many have started to use the teleportation systems and have become so curious about New Sixam's technology that they want to study it in person. Juno's preparatory analysis actually predicted this, she always said that new technologies like the ones she's selling often spread among young adults first, and here in this college the phenomenon is very clear. Seeing in person how Juno's hard work is starting to change the habits in this region actually makes me very proud.

And I would also say that my thesis students are quite shameless, as they soon admitted that they actively chose the only Sixamian teacher in the department as their supervisor because they hoped it would have made it easier for them to collaborate with New Sixam this way. I actually don't have much information about my colleagues' habits, but I suspect my students weren't totally wrong in their guess, anyway. I didn't think twice before writing to a few Tech Sixam University professors to propose a collaboration, but I don't know how many of my colleagues would have done the same.

Rowan: (looking around) By the way, what happened to Matt?
Student 3: I suspect he forgot to set his alarm clock again.
Student 1: No, that's not it! If I'm not mistaken, he said he was working this morning.

I would define most of my thesis students as dedicated and studious people, but this Matt is giving me quite a few headaches. Enrolled in college for an unspecified number of years, still three exams to pass, thesis and internship to complete, working part-time to support his studies, so far he has been quite elusive, to say the least.

I ran into him by chance at the end of the day, while moving from the library to my office.

Rowan: Oh, good evening Matt, what a surprise!

Matt: Hey! Good evening, Mr Miller!

Rowan: Today I and the others have started signing the papers for your internship period. Have you decided what to do, by chance?

Matt: Erm, I have to admit haven't had much time to think about it...

I shook my head slightly, if there's one thing that always annoys me, it's chronic disorganization.

Rowan: (patiently) I know that, given your part-time job, you need to intern at some company that guarantees you flexible hours. I talked about it with my wife, and she says that, exceptionally, she would be willing to take you as an intern at the shop they opened in the centre of Sim City.

Matt: Do you mean the one where they sell those teleport devices?

Rowan: Among other things.

Matt: Cool! Okay, I'm in!

So, a few days later, I planned a meeting to introduce this Matt to those who worked in the shop. Given his records, I must say I was surprised by his punctuality.

Juno: So you are the famous Matt... Nice to meet you, welcome on board!
Matt: Thank you, ma'am.

Juno immediately took the supervisor role and began giving Matt the first instructions.

Juno: Rowa… I mean, Mr Miller told me that you are specializing in the field of corporate law, so here you will mainly be responsible for helping me with office work.

Matt: I can't wait to get started, ma'am!

Saying this, she looked around with keen interest, probably recognizing very few of the machines scattered around. Noticing his expression, Juno immediately added:

Juno: Actually, it may be useful to show you the goods we work with before starting... But it's not an issue, I'm sure that Thomas and Gaia will be able to explain it to you in detail.

Saying this, she called the kids with a wave of her hand, and then left Matt in their clutches.

Thomas: (perplexed) So you would be the intern? I see…

Matt: I've been told that you two know a bit about these devices, could you please give me a general explanation?

Gaia: (proud) Tsk, knowing a bit? We both study at Tech Sixam, and I disassembled a teleportation black hole generator just this morning!

Thomas had to try very hard not to laugh at her face, Gaia had started attending that technical institute just a few weeks earlier and she already spoke as if she knew how to do everything.

Gaia: Let's start with the matter recomposer, that's my favourite!

Rowan: As you can see, the operation is very intuitive.

Matt: What are you making now?

Gaia: (focus) A table lamp.

I think Matt had a good impression of this place, and Gaia and Thomas also seemed to have fun.

Proposing him this internship doesn't seem like a bad idea, after all.

From Gaia's diary

Matt: I'm busy now, if you're not snitching to your parents I'm leaving, then.

Gaia: Sure. See you soon, then!

Thomas: ...

Gaia: C'mon, Tommy, why that face?

Thomas: You really need to keep calling me that way? It's what my grandma used to call me when I was still a little brat!

Gaia: It's not my fault if you've a Tommy-face!

Thomas: Whatever...

Tommy was particularly grumpy that afternoon, way more than he usually is when I'm calling him Tommy, I mean. Thinking about it, it was since when Matt started to chat with us, may this be the reason why?

Gaia: Are you sure this is all?

Thomas: It's that guy, he doesn’t really convince me. How old is he, to begin with?

Gaia: Dunno... 25, maybe?

Thomas: I suspect he may be even older, actually.

Gaia: Who cares, anyway?

I don't understand. We chatted for a while, Matt seemed a nice guy. He told me that dad's lessons are so boring that he falls asleep at the desk, but at least is a bit better as a thesis supervisor, and also that he likes to travel to remote places and that he would really like to be able to afford a teleportation device so he can go anywhere whenever he likes to. I had never thought much about it, but looking at the price tags here in the store it actually looks like the prices are rising a bit now that teleporting is becoming more popular also in here.

Tommy, in the meanwhile, had reached record levels of grumpiness, and closed the conversation by saying:

Thomas: Bah, who cares, anyway...

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Like it or not, recently I have to spend a lot of time with Tommy, as now we're attending the same school (even if he is a year ahead of me). We often end up doing homework together or in some of our parents' shops to dismantle some device.

Gaia: It's always very hot here at Tech Sixam!

Thomas: Well, this is a desert to the south, what did you expect?

Gaia: It's impressive how many people are coming in here directly from Sim City to buy stuff!

Thomas: Now that they have teleportation, it's often faster for them to come here to buy spare parts.

Gaia: I see.

Having said that, we diligently started doing our homework. My parents kindly asked Tommy to help me, given that by changing schools I would have started many subjects that were totally new to me, and he seems to have taken this task very seriously. Usually, he's a bit of a grumpy guy who talks about video games, comics and little else, but when it came to electronics he knew a lot of interesting things.

Gaia: Homework finished, what now?

Thomas: Erm, I don't know...

Gaia: I heard that mom found a place just outside the city that would be perfect for the new stellar core plant, she says it's half in ruin but that it has potential. I don't know about you, but I'm really curious to see it!

Thomas: Why not.

Tommy already has clear ideas about his future, he will soon take his high school diploma and then work for our parents' company. He therefore always carefully follows all the developments of their company, as if he already felt involved.

On the other hand, I still don't know what I'll do exactly, I still have to figure it out... But what I know today is that I'm curious to explore that old decadent post-industrial site, the few pictures mom showed me looked very funny!

Thomas: It's even worse than I thought, we'll have to invest a lot to recover a place like this!.

Gaia: I find it charming, instead.

Thomas: Well, if you're into rusty metal...

Gaia: Hey, look at that!

I hadn't even finished saying it before I was already running in the direction of an old yellow grating walkway. Who knows where it led... And what better way to find out than to go and see what the view was from up there? In any case, it seemed stable enough to hold the weight of a few people. I think.

Thomas: Hey, where are you going?

Gaia: Wow, what a view!

Thomas: If you say so…

Gaia: C'mon, there's no need to always be so negative! There is space to build a ton of stuff in here!

Thomas: Uhm...  By the way, do you think that this wastewater is toxic?

Gaia: For sure the colour is quite... uncommon.

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From Rowan's diary

Juno worked for weeks to satisfy the requests of the possible financiers, searching day and night for a suitable place to open the first stellar core plant of the Sim City region. After countless flops, she finally spotted an old industrial area just outside the city, the now almost forgotten Evergreen Harbor.

It's make or break, she told herself. So she called potential investors, showed them the place and waited for their response.

Juno: The stellar core plant will be built right behind the hill. The accord with the municipality, however, also requires us to reinvest 20% of the electrical plant's income in the requalification of this old industrial area, with a 15-year project. In short, this won't benefit only the environment, but also the urban development of this whole area, it's a win-win situation!

???: Well... For sure there is a lot of place, that's true. Also, this area is so degraded right now that no one would want to live here, I guess that there won't be many people complaining about the new construction in their backyard, even less so in case of a requalification process... 

Francis: (to himself) I see she's still a good seller...

The financers kept us on edge all week, only telling us the final response today in the late afternoon. 

Rowan: So, how did it go for you?

Juno: put on the popcorn, we have all the funds we need, and even more!

Thomas: Is it normal for the cat to sit on the counter?

Francis: Well, no one seems to care. Leave him alone.

Thomas: Uhm...

Francis: By the way, Thomas, congratulations! You'll have to do a lot of work to do there, in Evergreen Harbour. How long was the requalification project you promised, Juno? 15 years?

We were all relieved as we hadn't been in a long time, they had all worked so hard to achieve that result that it seemed almost impossible that they had finally managed to achieve it.

We should certainly be proud of it, all the hard work is finally showing its results. And the success of Juno's project (okay, Francis and the New Sixam economic assistance helped, too) is really changing this city for the better.

Could this be the first step towards redefining the consumption of natural resources and stopping the advance of the much-feared climate and environmental catastrophe? All we can do at this point is to hope it really is.

Next chapter -->

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§HermioneSims§ corner

Do you feel it? The end-of-a-generation-is-approaching feeling, I mean. 

Before the last chapter of Gen 8, I want to close with a small behind-the-scenes. In the past I often bragged of those times when I based this legacy plot twists on real events in-game, but this time I want to share a time when I say to the game: "No way!"

The message I received this time was:

^translation: "Hey, Gaia, I was thinking of changing jobs. What do you think about it?"

This time my reaction literally was: "No way, not now that you're a few sims-days from retiring and the plot is wrapping up!" XD