Why it never ends

Chapter 1242 Mass Production
Qiqi was embarrassed to run out of the group alone, but being called by Eleven's name made her feel extremely awkward. She looked around, hoping to get permission or stop from a teacher, but it seemed that no one was paying attention to her at the moment.

She took a deep breath and ran towards Eleven.

"Hurry up and touch it! Hurry up and touch it!" Eleven excitedly grabbed Qiqi's hand.

When Qiqi touched the outer wall of the tent, she immediately understood why Shiyi was so excited. She didn't know how to describe the material, but it felt so warm to the touch, yet it was sturdy when tapped.

A middle-aged woman poked her head out of the tent and invited them inside in District 3. Her sudden appearance startled both Eleven and Qiqi. She spoke District 3 very quickly, and neither of them understood her. They immediately grabbed each other's hands and ran back to the group.

Xia Yixue was still registering at the entrance.

For groups like theirs that booked in advance, the exhibition hall could assign a dedicated guide, which was much more efficient than them exploring the exhibition area individually. After learning about their group composition, the exhibition hall manager proactively offered to assign them several more guides. As a result, they had more time to coordinate with each other compared to other groups.

While waiting, Hershta stood near the park entrance reading the display boards.

Although this is also a science and technology exhibition, its content is completely different from the science museum that previously rejected Xia Yixue. The latter is a history of human progress linked by the history of science, which is almost all-encompassing, and it also has a large number of interactive devices that allow children to intuitively experience the wonders of science and technology.

This place is different; it mainly exhibits industrial installations—sponsored by major companies in the North Twelfth Ward.

Most of the students who come here are over fourteen years old. More than half of these children will not continue to pursue higher education, but will instead embark on the path of learning technical careers. Therefore, they come here to see what the large factories nearby are doing and what job openings might exist.

Hester was engrossed in watching. As she expected, District Twelve had a huge number of ports, so there were quite a few transportation companies. But she didn't know that the energy manufacturing industry here was also booming. Apparently, the star booth of this exhibition was a battery factory that was to be completed within two years. Its scope covered almost everything from positive and negative electrode materials to grid-scale energy storage systems.

The battery factory is funded by District 14 and is currently recruiting for management and support positions. Several technical schools in the suburbs of Emmanuela have also recently opened related programs. In theory, after about a year of basic education, these apprentices can start working at the factory and complete their apprenticeship, which will last approximately two years.

During this period, apprentices receive half pay while learning practical skills, and a significant number of them eventually sign long-term contracts and become factory-stayed technical workers.

Hester paid special attention to whether there were age restrictions for these apprenticeship positions and found that they generally started at age 16, with either no upper limit or around age 29. She suddenly felt that she had made the right decision to come, because many farm laborers could apply directly after resolving their immigration status.

"Jane!" Stella called from afar, "Let's go!"

Hester turned around and saw that the main group had already headed into the square, so she followed them.

To ensure everyone could hear the explanations, they were divided into five groups, each led by a different guide to a different exhibition hall. Hershta followed behind the children's group, starting their visit from the nearest hall.

From the moment they entered the spherical tent, the children exclaimed in amazement. Everything here astonished them. Several children were immediately drawn to the mannequin of a technician at the entrance—the mannequin was wearing a full set of protective gear, from an anti-static bodysuit and fully enclosed goggles to a half-face respirator, looking exceptionally professional.

Although these work clothes weren't available in children's sizes, they still lingered, touching the cuffs and trousers of the protective suits, imagining what it would be like for each other to wear them. Shortly after entering, Shiyi heard a strange cry—she discovered that the middle-aged man who had invited her and Qiqi inside was giving a lecture to the previous group of young students. The man was holding some kind of stacked sheet, which appeared to be the same material as the outer wall of the tent.

Eleven wanted to go around to listen, since Hershta and Victoria were standing on the outskirts of the crowd, but her language skills weren't good enough for her to understand what the middle-aged man was saying, so she could only obediently follow her own group and the translator.

Xia Yixue was also attracted by the new materials here.

After listening for a while, she realized that the white sheet in the middle-aged man's hand was some kind of cuttable solid-state battery. It was only three sheets of white paper thick and could be fitted to any curved surface. Inside it was a matrix of parallel cells, which could continue to supply power even if it was cut laterally.

Everyone listened with admiration, but Hershta and Victoria simply stood there quietly, barely reacting.

"Isn't it amazing?" Xia Yixue said sincerely. "Sometimes, if you don't come to see these exhibitions, you won't know that technology has developed to this extent."

Hershta glanced at her with some surprise—at least the Mercury Needle had been using this type of material for a long time, and the solar panels constructed from these solid-state batteries were the fundamental reason why AHgAs could be used to install chelate alarm devices on a large scale at low cost.

Immediately afterwards, the middle-aged man standing at the front of the crowd said with a hint of regret, "Unfortunately, this technology is not stable enough at present and can only be produced on a small scale in the laboratory, and cannot reach the level of industrial mass production."

"However, we can remain optimistic, because the first step from zero to one is often the hardest to take. Once the concept is proven feasible, industrial manufacturing can always catch up quickly. Does anyone have any questions about the explanation just now?"

Several students immediately raised their hands.

Hershta frowned as she listened, and gently leaned her head towards Victoria.

"That thing, if I'm not mistaken, it should be—"

“Yes,” Victoria replied affirmatively.

"Not in mass production?"

“…Well, how should I put it,” Victoria glanced away subtly, “as far as I know—”

Suddenly, a child on the other side screamed. Almost everyone looked toward the source of the sound. Victoria and Hershta were on alert for a moment, but then realized that the child's scream did not come from fear, but from excitement.

A thin, sharp arc of electricity appeared in front of a black velvet curtain not far away. Beside the curtain, Nadi was vigorously cranking a wooden handle.