The electronic humming of fans and the murmurs of engineers filled the large, oddly warm chamber when suddenly the monotony of the workday was broken by a man shouting in the entryway.

“HOW ARE PREPARATIONS GOING FOR THE VISITATION, WE NEED TO BE SURE THAT THE NEW COOLING SYSTEM CAN HANDLE THE EXTRA STRAIN!”

The large, almost inhuman man was accompanied by a small woman who seemed like a child in comparison, quickly informing him that his volume needed to be adjusted. The large room turning his already loud voice into a deafening scream. After an “EXCUSE ME!” that nearly ruptured the eardrums of some of the unlucky technicians working nearby, the man turned a small dial under his chin.

“And stop skulking around like that! I like to look people in the eyes when I talk to them.”

A large serpentine figure slowly began to drop from the conveniently placed racks coming from the ceilings above. Winding a long tail across pipes and railings until she finally dropped, rather elegantly, onto the workspace. Her green eyes and long brown hair contrasting her snake-like lower half.

“Sorry, I’m not used to company. WHO’S KEEPING AN EYE ON THOSE PRESSURE DIALS! And this is kind of a full-time job.”

“It’s fine I just need a progress report on the reactor, I don’t want to have to deal with the PR nightmare of a blackout during the one time a decade we let surface dwellers up here”

“Well, everything seems to be on track as long as the tour guides don’t go overboard with the light show. I never got the point of these tours anyways, we send stuff down, they send metal up, it’s a good relationship without us having to entertain them.”

“The districts need a day to test consumer reactions to new products, remember the LazerRazer™  fiasco, besides the Americans aren’t thrilled with us ripping out most of Alaska.”

“Well if you asked me I’d stop them today, there is no need for us to drop everything we’re doing just to entertain people who can barely comprehend it.”

“Then it’s a good thing it’s not up to you, I’ll see you at the meeting tonight, I’ve gotta go check up on the kids. SARAH LETS GO!”

The woman stopped fiddling with various buttons on her watch and ran to keep up with the large man’s stride. As they got off of the lift back up to the surface, the man took a deep breath in. He had never liked visiting the reactor, it felt like he was a hair’s breadth away from a catastrophe at every moment. After reveling in his escape from the humming tomb, he tapped a few buttons on his watch, and a large ornate egg-shaped object appeared in his hand. He twisted the top and watched as half of the egg began to bloom as if it were a flower. He placed the bloomed end on the ground and watched as the metal and carbon fiber unfolded into a bicycle with a sidecar attached to the right side.

The bike was long, thin and seemed to lack any means of propulsion, with thin, almost bladelike wheels held in place by a small magnetic field. The sidecar was held by a similar mechanism, however, it was grounded by four smaller wheels on the side. The man inspected the construct in front of him and nodded in approval.

“This is as good a day as any to test this out.”

The man helped Sarah into her sidecar and mounted the strange vehicle. He then pushed off with his feet and the bike moved forward with a proportional amount of force, however, instead of stopping the bike kept going at a constant speed. As the man piloted the contraption, Sarah took notes, documenting every bump, hard turn, or change in speed. As they approached their destination, the man made a startling realization, he had no clue how to stop.

******************************************************************************

“Okay class, we have a very special speaker today, the minister of tou-”

The teacher was cut short by a crash through the doorway, a large bladed wheel seemed to almost slide between the doors. Almost. As the door was torn off its hinges a mountain of a man seemed to follow the small wheel accompanied by a small woman in a sidecar. The back wheel of this deathtrap began to cut through the foam and carpet that made up the schoolhouse floor, friction eventually stopping the rampaging machine.

“Sorry I’m late, so how’re your projects coming along?”
The gargantuan man brushed off his clothes and popped his shoulder back into its socket, as the recently decimated floor of the schoolhouse was reconstituted. By the end of the whole ordeal, the only trace that the building had ever been disturbed was the seemingly random mass of wheels and metal lying in the corner.

“So nice of you to join us minister, why don’t you explain the project to the kids now that you’ve arrived.”

“I’d be glad to, so as you all know the visitation is coming up, and it is my job to make sure that it goes smoothly. To that end, everyone in town has to do their best to make it a good experience. Your job is to decorate these.”

The minister pulls a large bag off of his back and pulls out a large egg, completely white with a smooth, glossy surface.

“The ministry has given every student whatever they need to make these vehicle eggs look as fancy as possible for the surface dwellers, everything from paint to arc welders, and whoever designs the fan favorite gets to give the tour.”

The room was full of children ranging from ages 9 to 13, each of their minds racing at the infinite possibilities afforded to them, and each of their hearts racing at the competition placed in front of them. As the minister and Sarah collected the remains of their bike, the nostalgic scene reminded them of their own childhoods.