Saturday June 15, 2024
“Mom?” Onai asked, early in the morning, walking into his parents bedroom.
“What Onai?” Vapor asked while hooking her bra straps together.
“Have you thought about taking me to the electronics store?”
“Yes. But I don’t get why you want to go to an electronics store. You’re into video games and computers,”
“I want to learn electronics, the insides of stuff. I want to learn how to build my own stuff,” he replied and smiled.
“I don’t know Onai. It sounds like it could be dangerous,”
“You say that about everything. Stop trying to protect us so much like this,”
“I just don’t want you or your sisters to get hurt,”
“Mom, please? I’ll be careful doing it. I promise,” he whined.
“Fine. I suppose we can go,”
“YAY!”
A few hours later Onai, Luna, Elli, and of course Vapor all walked into Dan’s Electronics in Orion. Before Onai could rush off more than fifteen feet Vapor called him back over and told him to behave and walk. Vapor grabbed a cart and looked over at Onai whose tail was wagging furiously and him staring further into the store, impatiently. Vapor walked over next to him and grabbed his shirt before he could move away.
“Stop being so impatient Onai. You have plenty of time to look around. Now speaking of which, what are you thinking about buying?”
“I’ve got a list,” he replied and pulled out the folded sheet of paper and handed it to his mom. After doing a quick glance at the long list she handed it back of him.
“Where do you plan putting all of this?”
“Down in the basement. Quill is going to help build the workbenches and stuff,” he said as they all headed into the store.
“Okay. Let’s get these things. Onai, you do know I’m going to put you to serious work to pay for all of this stuff, right?” She said grabbing a cart.
“Good luck at that,” he replied, laughed then rushed ahead to a display of electronic devices.
After referring to the list Onai picked up four boxes. Inside each was a Fluke 179 digital multimeter. Next to DMM was accessory kits which includes extra wires and connectors, he tossed four of them into the cart. Next to this was even more test devices. After finding the Rigol DM3058E desktop digital multimeter from the list he sat four of them in the cart as well.
A few minutes later they all stood around while Onai stood in front of some other devices, when a sales associate walked up.
“Need any help?”
“Yeah, I’m looking for this thing,” Onai replied and pointed at the next item on his list.
“The Oscilloscopes are over here. You building a home electronics lab?”
“Yeah, my first one,”
“I don’t recommend the Oscilloscope on your list for beginners, it’s complicated and not to mention over five thousand dollars,”
“It’s what? You’re not getting that Onai,” Vapor said.
“I recommend the Rigol DS1104Z. It’s much cheaper and easier to learn,” he said and pointed at the device they stopped at. “There are cheaper ones but this one here works quite well for beginners.”
“Thank you,” Onai said as he lifted up the box and put it in the cart, then repeated it another three times.
“I see you’re going all out on this lab,”
“I am. I’m hoping to at least,” Onai replied.
“Would you like help with everything else on your list?”
“Eh, sure. Thank you,” he replied and handed the ocelot the list.
“You really are going all out. Some of these items are highly expensive,” the sales associate said after taking a couple of minutes to read through the list.
“Just how expensive are we talking about?” Vapor asked.
“Thousands to ten-thousand plus for some of these items. Mainly the test equipment. The 3D printer is pretty much the top of the line that we have, it’s ten-thousand dollars,” he explained.
“ONAI! You said a few thousand,” she replied crossing her arms.
“I said a few tens thousands. Tens was just really quiet,” he replied and slowly looked away.
“If it makes it any better, these brands are top of the line and their machines last for decades. I have some from the seventies and eighties that still work well, they’re just outdated tech though,” the associate replied.
“Nope. Doesn’t make it any better. What’s your name by the way?” She asked.
“Oh yeah, sorry about that. I’m Lamar,” he replied.
“Okay, Lamar. Is this stuff even necessary for electronics?” She asked.
“Of course it is mom,” Onai replied.
“If he’s able to get everything on the list, it’ll be a nice setup. He’ll be able to do almost anything. Repair anything, and of course, build almost anything he could imagine. But all that depends on if he knows how to use every piece of equipment and knows basic and advanced electronics. As for the 3D printer, he needs to know how to make models on the computer, or download them online,” he explained.
“Do you know any of this Onai?” She asked.
“I read about some stuff, but I was going to teach myself as I did things,” he replied.
“So you don’t? I thought you meant that you wanted to get like little kits that you put together, not all of… this,” she said.
“So I can’t get it all then?” Onai asked with a heavy sigh and lowered his head.
“How hard is it to learn and use these things? Are they dangerous?”
“They’re not all that hard to learn. But some can take a few hours or longer to learn the basics. As for dangerous, anything can be dangerous if used or handled improperly,” Lamar replied. “We do offer training on everything we sell.”
“Let’s just look around for now,” she replied then looked behind her at Luna and Elli who have both been quietly looking at various things around them.
The hours passed as they walked around, Lamar explaining to Vapor and Onai about the different devices and items on the list. He explained to Vapor how electronic engineering is a good thing to get into, from the daily usage and to the salary one could make.
Onai exhaled as he walked out of the store with just a few things in a bag. Mostly just small electronic project kits that can be put together with basic soldering knowledge. The other item in the bag was a digital soldering station. The four of them loaded back into Vapor’s vehicle and began their journey home. After a bit Vapor looked over at Onai. His head was down, staring at his legs.
“Sorry Onai. It’s just too much,” she replied
“Yeah. I knew it would be,” he replied before digging his music player from his pocket. After inserting the earbuds he lost himself in old school classic rap of Tupac, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dog and more than twenty other MCs. Hundreds of songs that his dad had bought over the years. Onai got into rap a year back when he pulled an earbud from his fathers ear and listened in. He was instantly hooked.
After getting back home, Onai headed down to the basement and sat at the bottom of the stairs and stared at the open space that could have been filled with electronic devices and test equipment and more. After a few minutes he headed up to his bedroom and plopped down on the bed before sighing out and dropping to his back. He stared up at the ceiling when the door opened up. His twin walked in. She said something but he was too upset to even listen or even attempt to reply.
***
Wednesday June 26, 2024
Onai stood out in the garage with his mom to his left and Quill to the right. They all watched as the Semi truck backed up to the open garage door. After backing in a few feet, the driver stepped out of the truck and headed to the three standing there.
“Vapor Wolfe?” The driver asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Delivery from Dan’s Electronics for Vapor and Onai Wolfe,” he replied.
“That’s us,” she replied with a smile as another person walked into the garage. He had drove his own vehicle, following behind the semi truck.
“Hi Lamar,” Onai said and rapidly waved.
“Hello Onai,” he replied.
“Can we get everything off? I’m really ready to dig into everything and learn,” Onai said.
“Onai knock that off and behave properly,” Vapor said.
“But my stuff is here! My stuff is here!” He cheered happily and bounced up and down a few times.
“Onai, behave or I’ll have it sent back,” Vapor said with a short chuckle.
“Okay mom,” he replied then looked up at his uncle. Quill looked down at the excited wolf cub and a huge smile.
The driver finally opened the roll-up door revealing over two dozen wooden crates. Before Quill could say anything he looked out the door and to his surprise saw another truck pulling into the drive way. This was just a normal pickup truck with a fifteen foot flat bed trailer with beefy suspension. On the back was a few large crates. On the side of one was stenciled “3D PRINTER.” Quill stood there shocked for a moment until Onai tugged at his arm.
"What did I get myself into? I guess I can't back out of building this workbench and everything for you now?" Quill said looking down at Onai.
"NOOOOPE!" Onai replied in a sing-songy manner.
“I’ll get the forklift,” Quill said then headed to the locked storage area. After a moment he drove out a forklift that Fang had bought for cheap. After some repairs to the hydraulic system, it worked like new. Fang bought it for only $5,000 including a few accessories, like extended forks and a 55 drum fork. Brand new it would have been over $30,000. After talking to the driver Quill unloaded the first four crates. Then the driver had to move crates from the back to the front for everything to be unloaded.
After an hour the truck was unloaded and everything was sitting in the garage. Onai waved at the truck driver before he stepped into the truck and took off. Quill looked down at Onai, who appeared to be extremely happy. His tail was wagging furiously.
“So, how are we going to do this? How are we going to get all this down into the basement?” Quill asked.
“Carry it down by paw,” Lamar said.
“Who asked you?” Quill joked, causing Lamar to chuckle as he picked up a large plastic tote a little over 12 inches long by 6 inches wide by 13 inches deep. On the side of the tote was stenciled “Resistors 4 of 18.” Onai had bought 225 packs of carbon resistors, each a different value. Each pack contained 1,000 resistors in each. He refused to budge on his decision, even when Lamar, another store associate and his mom told him that was a bit overboard. On top of the common carbon resistors, he picked out 12 different wirewound resistors. 3 of the wirewound resistors were cement filled type. The other 9 wirewound resistors were aluminum chassis mount. They do indeed look awesome, as Onai stated multiple times in the store. He picked 100 of each wirewound for his collection. All-in-all the crazy wolf cub purchased 226,200 resistors total. The cost before tax; $6,438.20.
Lamar sat the tote an other and picked them both up. He waited until Onai, Quill and Vapor all had totes or boxes in their paws. They made their way through the house. Lamar taking in the sights as he went by. In the living room he noticed that there was others sitting and watching TV or doing other things. Vapor stopped for a moment, causing Lamar to stop as well after they made it past the kitchen.
“Hey, all of you go in the garage and help carry this stuff down to the basement. Be careful and don’t drop anything. Don’t try picking up any of the larger items. I mean it on both. Don’t drop or break anything,” she said then continued walking.
“All of them yours?” Lamar asked.
“No. The one that was sitting on the coffee table is mine. The other’s are, well, like brothers and sisters to me. They’re Willow’s kids, except the Otter, Shade. He’s the mate to Pepper, my husbands sister,” she explained.
“Ah. It’s a pretty large family,” he replied.
“Yeah. Yeah we are,” she replied with a chuckle, as she headed down the steps to the basement. She warned him to watch the first step.
After a couple of hours they had everything moved down into the basement. Onai was moving around everything. More like bouncing between the dozens and dozens of boxes and totes and everything. He was running around to the different boxes and packages and checking everything out, while Quill and Lamar were talking. Vapor was sitting on a stool listening in. After a few minutes Quill called Onai over.
“Okay kiddo. I’ve been told the spacing that we need for all these things. Lamar has to go but I think you and me can put the workbenches and tables together ourselves, when we get the material. You up for it?” Quill asked.
“Of course. I want to get busy making things,” he replied holding up his balled fist. Anxious and excited for the fun times to come.
“Sorry that I have to leave like this. But I’ll be back in a week to starting teaching you how electronics engineering and how to use everything. Don’t try using any of it, you don’t want blow anything up,” Lamar said.
“Okay,” Onai replied a bit saddened.
“Just a suggestion, but I would install some additional lighting in here. I’d suggest 4-foot 4-light florescence lighting on the ceiling. Two per workbench, at least. It sounds like a lot, but that extra lighting will really help, especially reading resistor color codes and the tiny writing on some of the components,” Lamar said.
“Okay. We’ll get it done,” Quill replied.
“See you soon Onai. Remember, don’t be stupid and try to use the equipment,” Lamar said then headed upstairs following behind Vapor.
Onai looked out over all the boxes and smiled. He thought to himself and wondered why his mom let him buy almost $150,000 in electronics. He shrugged it off and started sorting things out. First the resistors, then the normal capacitors, the diodes and the rest of the stuff.
After nearly four hours he walked up the stairs and into the living room and plopped down on the couch. He exhaled loudly, exhausted from all the work. His mom looked over at him as his eyes closed, she only shook her head as his rolled to the side.
A few hours later a worried Willow walked up to Vapor, almost frantic.
“Vapor, have you seen the kittens?” Willow asked.
“Uh, not since they helped carry stuff down to the basement. Have you checked there?” Vapor asked.
“Yeah, but I didn’t see them. They’re not in the safe room either,”
“I’ll help look. There is a storm outside, so maybe they’re hiding?”
“Vapor, they haven’t hide from storms in like 3 years,”
“Never know. Anyway I’ll help look. Just stay calm,”
The two of them started on the first floor checking every room and behind every door. After nearly two hours they were both panicked now as the sun started setting.
“Okay, lets check the basement again. It’s the only place we haven’t checked together,” Vapor said. Willow silently nodded and started heading back to the basement.
The two of them stepped into the basement and looked around. Vapor chuckled and shook her head.
“What?” Willow asked.
“Listen,” she replied and held her finger to her mouth. They both heard the near silent purrs. The pair walked up to the largest box and opened it. Inside were both Tib and Katia, soundly sleeping, balled up.
“DAMN YOU TWO!” Willow hissed, causing both of them to jump to their hindpaws and their fur to stand on end.
“You had me worried to death!”
“Wh-what? Where? What do you mean mom?” Katia asked, not remembering anything.
“Why were you two sleeping in a box?”
“I don’t remember getting into it,” Tib replied rubbing his head.
“Jeez you two. Scared me to death. We hadn’t seen you since the truck left hours ago. I was scared that you might have been in it,” Willow replied.
“This is a bit funny,” Vapor said taking a step back and getting the attention of Willow.
“How is this funny?”
“Tib and Katia… Sleeping in a box like feral cats,” she snickered.
“Enough of that Vapor. You two, just get up stairs and try to stay out of the boxes, please. I don’t need a heart attack,”
“Sorry mom,” both replied. They hugged and kissed her then headed up stairs.
***
Thursday June 27, 2024
The next day Quill woke Onai up fairly early to eat breakfast then loaded into Quill’s pickup truck with trailer attached. They headed to Orion City to a distributor for specialized aluminum framework.
After making the trip, taking almost two hours due to increasing traffic, they finally pulled into the parking lot of the large manufacturing warehouse. After walking into the front and greeting a person Quill handed the worker a sheet of paper with item numbers and lengths needed. The lizard’s eyes widened at the amount.
“Yeah, we can do this, but, it’ll take a few hours for us to make all of the cuts,” he said.
“That’s fine, we’ll head into the city and do other stuff,” Quill replied
“Did you want anything special machined on these?” The worker asked.
“Oh yeah. The ends drilled and tapped please,” Onai replied and showed him drawings that he made.
“Okay. We can do those. You want them on all ends? They’re 50 cents per drill and tap,” he replied.
“Uh … Uncle Quill?” Onai said.
“Might as well, for the future,” Quill replied.
“Okay. I need your name, phone number and a $1,500 down payment for everything. The down payment will be deducted from the final price,” he replied.
“Sure. Care if I unhook the trailer and leave it here? Me and my nephew is going to head into Orion,” Quill asked.
“Yeah, that’s fine. Just put it over in spot, let’s see… space four,” he replied.
After a bit of paperwork Quill unhooked the trailer from the truck and headed out. Having ate breakfast just barely three hours ago they bypassed all the restaurants, stores, pubs and other businesses. Onai smiled as his eyes looked out in the distance. A tower peered over the horizon and the roofs of buildings. A tower marking the center of “Crazy Lad’s Amusement Park.” His tail started whacking on the seat from excitement.
“Easy Onai. We’re not going there. Would be a waste of money for just one ride, maybe two if we’re lucky,” Quill said.
“Oh okay,” Onai replied then leaned back against the seat again.
About ten minutes later Quill pulled into a nearly empty parking lot. After parking the two headed up to a three story building. Tall granite pillars lined the front entrance, eight of them evenly spaced except in the middle which opened up for the stairs. Onai looked from one side of the building to the other end. He counted at least twenty-four windows but there was a lot more than that. The building itself was made from tens of thousands of granite stones, cut into rectangles, 18 inch long, by 12 inch tall and 12 inch thick.
“A museum? Why? This is going to be boring,” Onai said, walking up the stairs.
“Not boring. Come on buddy,” Quill replied.
“Welcome to the Natural History Museum of Orion City. You’re just on time for the next guided tour, if you want. It’s an additional $10 per person,” the ticket lady said to the two as they walked up.
“Hello. Two tickets please and the guided tour sounds good,” he replied.
“$84.87 please,” she replied.
After a few minutes later the two were in an extremely small group, only three others were standing around waiting for the tour guide. They didn’t have to wait long, just a few minutes, when a beaver in a fancy dress-suit walked up. After a few more minutes to explain the tour and rules they all followed her to the first exhibit; Ancient Egypt.
Over the next two hours the tour guide and the visitors walked around the main floor while the tour guide explained the history of Furs and Humans.
The ancient Egyptians ruled from 3100 BC to 343 BC. Between those 2,500 years an estimate of 310 native Egyptians ruled the lands. The first Pharaoh was Narmer, who ruled, what is know known as, The Old Kingdom.
The Old Kingdom lasted for 560 years, between 2660 BC and 2100 BC.
The Middle Kingdom lasted for 300 years BC, between 2100 BC and 1800 BC.
The New Kingdom lasted for 800 years, between 1800 BC and 1000 BC.
In 2180 BC the power of the Pharaohs started to decline for unknown reasons, lost to time.
From the first Pharaoh to the last, Furs were worshiped as Gods. This is depicted in many of the tombs and hieroglyphics, shown as cats, dogs, beetles and others. They believed that Furs were Gods and that the Pharaohs were chosen by the Gods to lead their citizens, among having them build monuments to Furs and to their Pharaoh. Some were used as slave labor under certain Pharaohs and other Pharaohs paid their citizens well including good healthcare.
In 1640 BC during the Middle Kingdom, Egypt was taken over by the Hyksos, which is known as “Rulers of Foreign Lands.” They, the Hyksos, used horses and bronze tools to fight the Egyptians, which also introduced them to the bronze tools.
In 1570 BC the New Kingdom rose and Egypt became wealthier than ever before. This is the most well known Kingdom. In part thanks to Tutankhamen, “The Boy King”. He ruled for 8 years between 1332–1324 BC.
The last native Pharaoh ruled between 359 and 342 BC. Nectanebo II ruled the land until the Persians conquered them. The native Egyptians ruled Egypt for almost 3000 years.
During the twenty-seventh dynasty, between 525 BC and 404 BC, the Persian Empire, with the help of the Furs, conquered Ankhkaenre Psamtik III and his armies. The Persians ruled for 121 years until they were conquered by native Egyptians.
In 404 BC, Amyrtaues, a native Egyptian, rose up and conquered the Persian ruler Darius II. Amyrtaues had the help of the Furs that they worshiped for all the generations before. With the 500,000 Furs, Amyrtaeus became Pharaoh.
After 410 BC, the Egyptians started to decline their worship of Furs as their Gods. Upset at this, the furs rose up with help from the Persians starting in 410 BC. Nectanebo II was conquered and executed by the Furs, slicing his head off in front of all Egyptian commoners in the city. The Fur’s allowed Artaxerxes III to become Pharaoh in 343 BC. Egypt was once again ruled by the Persian Empire. However the Persians quickly turned against the Furs and exiled them from Egypt.
In 336 BC Rome and Furs led war against the Persian Empire for 4 years. After successfully defeating the Persians, Rome double-crossed the Furs. Instead of giving the Furs Egypt as promised, Rome took the crown. Egypt became part of the Roman Empire.
In 44 BC the Furs rose up and led war against Ptolemy XV and Rome in Egypt. This began the First Fur-Human War which lasted for 14 years. The Furs numbered only 1 million. But due to their partial feral bloodline, they were able to win with stealth and utter fierce fighting in battle.
In 30 BC Furs conquered and pushed the Romans out of Egypt. This marked the end of Pharaohs for the rest of time. The 5 million Fur’s lived throughout Egypt peacefully. The Furs during this war had everyone from age 6 and up fighting in bloody and hellish battles. Parchment from this time period says that the cries from young Furs could be heard on every battlefield. The cries included those crying out for their mothers and or fathers, and the cries of pure pain as they slowly died from sword slices to their legs, arms, chests and faces.
For the next 129 years the Furs were still angry that the Romans had double-crossed them. During that time the Furs planned and finally came to an agreement; “Rome must pay with blood and death.”
Starting in 100 AD, Furs attempted to, with 10 Million in numbers, overrun the Romans. After many failed battles, the Furs backed off to recollect themselves, lick and mend their wounds and to replan a new attack. Historians say that the Fur’s attempted at least 50 battles, but the actual numbers are lost to history.
During the next 50 years the Furs population grew to 100 million. In 150 AD, the Elder-Furs came up with the idea to gift Roman’s with Lead. The Furs knew Lead was poisonous to health if ingested or applied to cuts. The Roman’s took the bait. Soon they were using this “amazing metal” for almost everything from water pipes, drinking glasses, plates, bowls and more. They even used it in makeup and as medical healing, they thought would cure various diseases.
The Furs watched and waited while the Romans slowly poison themselves over the next 50 years. They were furious they, the Romans, were not dying as fast as they had hoped.
In 376 AD the Furs led one final attempt of overrunning Rome for double-crossing them 405 years before. The furs now outnumbers the Humans 2-to-1. 500 Million-to-250 Million in population. In the first battle there was 250 Million warring furs over age 14 and only 50 Million Roman soldiers over the age of 16.
As the two sides ran towards each other, the Second Fur-Human War started. The war lasted 19 years as both sides population declined due to deaths in the war. Although the Furs were powerful without weapons the Romans proved to be resilient and lost less than the Furs each year. The Furs death counts were in the, up to, tens of millions per year while the Romans were in just the hundreds-of-thousands. In 384 a major drought overcame the land, killing millions of Furs and Humans, but it really took a toll on the Furs. After the end of 384 the Furs had lost 94 Million that year alone due to the drought and the Fur-Human War. Historians say that 80 Million was from the drought alone.
In 395 AD the Furs, with their massive numbers, were finally able to break through and continue their way slaughtering Romans and non-Romans who stood in their way. As the Furs neared the Roman capital, the Romans called for peace. They numbered just 5 million soldiers left, compared to 99 Million Fur warriors. Although it was a defeat, it was not what most Furs wanted. They wanted blood and death of all Romans, however the Elder-Furs accepted peace with Rome.
In the terms of surrender, Rome was split in half; The Eastern Empire and the Western Empire. The Eastern Empire remained under Roman control, as it was their capital in Italy. The Western Empire was given to the Furs for their control.
The next few years was peaceful and calm as both sides tried to ignore each other and restart their lives and repopulating and training new warriors and soldiers.
Between 395 to 406, a high-ranking Roman General named Stilicho tried to reunite the West and East. This failed for multiple reasons. The Furs wanted nothing to do with the Romans. But it eventually was called off as Stilicho’s troops was called to Africa for a war starting there.
In 465 Rome broke the declaration treaty that banned them from starting wars for the sole want of claiming new lands and countries for the Roman Empire. In 467 the Furs once again rose up against Rome for them breaking the treaty after they took over the Middle-East.
By this time the Roman numbers were lower than ever before, due to the decrease of food and the amount of times they went to war. With just 1 million capable soldiers, they stood no chance against the 226 Million Fur population. The Warriors numbers were at least 55 Million.
Even though the Furs Warriors highly outnumbered the Roman Soldiers 55-to-1, the Romans fought viciously and withstood complete and total slaughter for 10 years. Near the end the Romans were desperate and forced those they previously conquered to fight for them, including farmers and fishers and children as young as 10 years old.
In 475 AD the Furs broke through the walls of Rome, Italy and slaughtered the population as they made their way to the Emperor. After a few more days of fighting they stood in front of a pile of dozens of Generals and Officers that they executed in front of the Emperor.
As the Elder-Furs and high-ranking Fur Warriors stood in front of Emperor Romulus Augustulus, they Elder-Furs decided not to execute the then 16-year-old Emperor. The Elder-Fur Gregilous “taking pity on his youth,” Romulus was spared his life and forced him to abdicate. They sent to live with relatives in lower Italy and granted him an annual pension of 6,000 solidi in 476 AD.
After the Roman Empire fell the city-states were split into dozens and given back to the citizens of each county and country. At the end 15 Million Fur Warriors were lost. However, the Furs remained in Italy and ruled it for the next 250 years until they were forced out by Chinese Invaders in 725 AD. The Chinese outnumbered the Furs 2.5-to-1, 1,965,000,000 to 786,000,000, in terms of total population.
The Chinese rule did not last for more than ten years. In 735 AD, the Furs swarmed Italy in a single night, 500 Million Fur Warriors slaughtered most of the Chinese within Italy and surrounding areas. Only a few hundred were left alive to send message back to their country.
After the Fur-Chinese battle, the Furs gave the land back to the native Italians. The furs spread out among the lands of Italy, Africa and other areas and continued growing their population.
During the next 1000 years Humans started to decline in population, however they never went extinct and recovered. Between 1340 to 1400 more than 750 Million Humans died to Bubonic Plague while only a few hundred Furs died from it. Those Furs that did die were half-breed Fur-Human mix.
The Furs watched as the Humans started exploring the world and finding new lands to them.
By 1500 AD Humans numbered 3 billion and Furs grew to 2 Billion.
In 1800 the Fourth Fur-Human War begun when Humans tried to eradicate the Furs for being non-human. The Furs and Humans lived on every continent. Humans numbered 4 Billion and Furs number 3.5 Billion This was a full world war, named Fur-Human World War I. At the end of the 50-year war, more than 2 Billion Furs were killed. More than 3.5 Billion Humans. The humans finally cried out for peace. Furious at the Human actions the Furs enslaved the Humans, just one of the many declarations of peace.
For the next 100 years Humans were used for all manners of work. Furs used the Humans to rebuild the cities that were destroyed, the lands that were ravaged. The Humans were treated horribly in many places, used for sex and often sold to another until they sold them off.
It wasn’t until early 1900 when the Furs finally released the Humans from enslavement. By then, their numbers were less than 2 million worldwide and they still have not recovered in 124 years. As of the last census, in 2020, there’s an estimate of 100 million humans.
Since their release the Humans and Furs have lived in mostly peace. There’s just a few incidents of both sides having hate rallies. Those rallies are usually shutdown fairly fast. The worst incident was when a group of Human haters massacred more than 500 Humans over the period of two days. The government was able to intervene, killing 60 Furs on sight and saving an additional 600 Humans.
Today, many Furs and Humans work together, often in the same offices, worksites, stores and many other places. Both see each other as equals. Both have fought in world wars together, side-by-side. There are even Fur-Human companionship and marriages. Those that decide to mate and try for a child of mixed species, they find that it is quite risky, to say the least. There have been some successful births and have grown up into adulthood. However about half of them don’t make it to birth or even to their first or second birthday, due to complications because of the differences of DNA as well ts antibodies not knowing what to do and attacking their own cells and even more unknowns.
“So, what did you think?” Quill asked, walking out of the building with Onai to his right.
“It was okay. Interesting to know our history though,”
“Told you it wouldn’t be boring,”
“It was still boring though,”
Quill chuckled as they got into the truck.
***
Friday July 12, 2024
“UGH! This stuff SUCKS!” Onai whined dropping his head onto the workbench.
“Enough of that Onai,” Lamar said, pulling him back up straight with his shirt back.
“It’s hard though,” Onai replied.
“You are the one that wanted to get into electronics. You’re the one who begged your mom to buy you nearly 200,000 dollars to electronic devices and components even though you were warned by me and two or three others, plus your mom. I warned you to learn electronics first before buying any of this stuff. You’re just learning the basic formulas right now. This isn’t hard, wait until a bit later when you’ve got to compute the values for inductors, capacitors and resistors to ensure you have all the correct values to work properly with each other. So sit up and pay attention Onai,” Lamar lectured him, while Vapor chuckled nearby watching over both of them.
“Now then, back to the formula. Xc equals 1 over 2 times pi times Frequency times Capacitance. If the capacitance is 0.01 µF and the frequency is 400Hz, what is Xc?” Lamar asked.
Onai sighed and picked up the pencil and started writing the formula and began working it out, but stopped quickly.
“Ugh, I don’t know Lamar. I just don’t know,”
“Onai, it’s basic algebra, really. What’s pi?”
“3.14,”
“What is 3.14 times 2?”
“6.28,”
“Okay good. So, 6.28×400×0.01×10-6 (-6 power) is what? Work it out using the order of operations,”
After ten minutes of trying Onai sighed and looked up at Lamar.
“That’s correct. 39,800Ω Well done Onai,”
“When do we start making cool things?” Onai asked.
“As soon as we get through this first book,”
Onai whimpered after looking at the book. They were just halfway through it.
“Okay, onto the next bit; capacitors in series,”
“When capacitors are connected in series, the total capacitance decreases. For that matter, the total capacitance of series capacitors are always less than that smallest capacitor. So, for example, if you have two 100µF and a 50µF capacitor, the total capacitance will be less than the 50uF…”
Lamar continued lecturing Onai for another three hours, with a break halfway through. At the end of the third hour, Lamar pulled out a sheet of paper and sat it down in front of Onai.
“Another test today?” Onai whimpered.
“Yes Onai. Everyday we meet you’ll have two tests. One for what we went over the previous session and then one for what we went over on this day. Get busy, there’s twenty questions on this one. Use a calculator if needed,” Lamar said as he stood up.
After an hour Onai handed the sheets of paper to Lamar and exhaled deeply.
“Good job Onai. With a quick glance, it seems like you’ve done mostly good. I’ll let you know how you did the next time we have a session,”
“Okay. I guess,”
“Oh yeah, I never told you. These workbenches and tables look amazing. You and your uncle did an amazing job,”
“Thanks,” Onai said, wagging his tail, “they cost a lot of money, almost $7,800 for all of them.
“Jeez. Take care of them and they should last a life time or a few,”
“Can I start making something now? I’m bored of just studying,”
“If you want to, but if anything happens, it’s your fault,”
“Finally! Now to figure out what to do,”
“Hmm… I’ve got an idea,”
“Huh? What?”
“Your sister, the little one. Why not go buy a teddy bear for her. Replace the eyes with super bright white LEDs. They would act like flashlights,” Lamar suggested.
“Oh! That’s perfect. Thanks!”
“Onai, no lithium-ion batteries. Use a battery pack for AA-batteries,”
“Okay,”
“Don’t forget a reflector to focus the light better. I wouldn’t use over a 5-watt LED. I bet your mom could help you design and sew a custom battery pack,”
“You’re amazing. Great ideas!” Onai said as his tail started wagging furiously.
“What parts do you need to do this project?” Lamar asked.
Onai stopped wagging his tail and looked over at one of the workbenches, deep in thought.
“LEDs, batteries, battery holder … uh … OH! And the teddy bear,” Onai replied
“You’re missing at least one part. An important component,”
“Huh?” Onai said and thought again.
“We’ve been over the component already, quite a few times,”
“I don’t know,”
“It’s to control current and divide voltage,” Lamar hinted.
“OH! A resistor!” Onai said clenching his paw in a ball.
“Right,” Lamar replied, “but what value will you need?”
“Let’s see…” Onai said, sitting back down at the workbench.
He slid a notebook over in front of him and started writing information down. After a bit of work and learning a few new formulas Onai finally had the resistor value he needed.
“45 ohm and a quarter watt?”
“It should work. You can use a half-watt resistor, less chance of it getting too hot. Also, well done on figuring it all out,” Lamar replied, causing Onai to smile and thank him.
“Okay, Onai. I have to go but we’ll pick this stuff up another day. If you do anything, just be careful okay? We don’t want you getting hurt or burning anything down,”
“Thanks Lamar,” Onai said, sliding off the stool.
The two walked upstairs as Vapor started to head down.
“You two done?” Vapor asked.
“Yes. I’ll be back in a week,” Lamar replied.
“How is Onai doing? Did I waste money?” She asked.
“Haha, he’s doing really good. And it’s no waste of money if he’s having fun and learning new things,” he said with a smile.
“True, and good to hear,” she replied.
“See you later Onai,” Lamar said.
“Bye,” he replied as he watched Lamar walk out the front door.
“Mom,” Onai called out.
“Yes Sweetie?”
“Do you have an extra stuffed animal that I could use to make something for Laika?”
“Maybe, what are you wanting to make her?”
“A teddy bear that the eyes are LEDs and she can turn on for a flashlight,”
“Aww, that’s sweet of you Onai. Come on, lets go look in the garage and look in some of the storage bins,”
After a while Onai held a light brown teddy bear in his arms and was explaining to his mom what else he needed. Another ten minutes of searching through bins she handed him two older flashlights, so he could take them apart for the reflectors.
“Thanks mom. Could you help me cut it open and remove the eyes and sew some stuff up? Oh, and I need 5 AA batteries too, which I need a holder for them. Lamar said one could be sewn up to hold the batteries,” he explained.
“Sure Onai. Let me get my sewing kit and materials,” she replied.
After a couple of hours Onai had the modified teddy bear in his paws. The back of it had a zipper, the eyes were replaced with the flashlight reflectors and had the battery pack in his grasp.
“Thanks mom,” he said then rushed out of her bedroom and straight down to the basement.
Onai spent half an hour going back over what he and Lamar worked on during the lesson for the day. He was really wanting to build the flashlight teddy bear but on the other paw he wanted to make his tutor happy.
After the little study session he pulled the teddy bear over near him and got to work. After a few minutes he figured out the color code for the resistor that he needed. But then he spent over an hour trying to find the 45Ω resistor in the more than 237 unlabeled bins. He finally found the correct color of Yellow, Violet, Black. He sat the resistor on the workbench and rushed back upstairs and found his mom. He explained that he couldn’t find the resistor easily and asked for what she suggested to do.
“How about labels on the front of those bins? You can type up all the stuff in them, print it out and put the labels on them,” she suggested.
“That would take forever though,” he said.
“Hey, you asked for a suggestion and I gave you one. Ask Lamar when he come back if you want something different,” she replied.
“Okay mom. Could you buy those labels please?”
“Uh, sure,”
“Thanks mom,” he said and hugged her before starting to rush off.
“Onai, dinner will be ready in an hour. I want you cleaned up before then,” she said.
“Aww, okay mom,” he replied, and walked off with his tail dragging behind him. Instead of heading back down to the basement he headed up to his bedroom.
“Hi Luna,” he said walking into the bedroom.
“Hiya,” she replied.
“Whatcha doing?” he asked.
“Really? You can’t see what I’m doing?” She asked.
“Sorry, figured you wouldn’t be upset about me asking. Jeez,” he replied.
“Just trying out a new diaper, okay?” She replied.
“Why are you so mad? I only asked a question,” he replied.
“Why Onai? Why? Since you’ve got that stupid electronics stuff, all you do is stay in the basement. We haven’t hung out or played together in nearly a month. All you want to do is that stuff down there,” she said then slide off the bed.
“I’m trying to learn something new Luna. It’s not like you haven’t done something like this before. Just last year when you learned gymnastics. It’s all you did for like two months or more until you stopped doing it because you got bored. Don’t get mad at me because I want to learn to make stuff and that it takes a lot of time to learn,” he lectured her.
“You could at least hang out with me, your twin, for a couple of hours every few days,” she replied.
“Sure Luna,” he replied and headed into the bathroom. He turned the shower on and stripped down. He sighed as he stopped himself from entering the shower. He headed into their bedroom and stood there for a few seconds staring at Luna.
“Hey, mom says dinner will be ready in an hour, so… Yeah,” he replied and headed back into the bathroom.
***
Right after he finished dinner Onai excused himself, rinsed his plate off and put it in the dishwasher then quickly rushed down to the basement. As he stepped foot into the dark basement, he flipped the four light switches. Two for the lights in his work area and the other two for the other lights in the basement. It made it less creepy in his opinion. There were other switches on the wall, but they were to turn on or off the various pumps and machinery in the basement, water pumps, AC units, heater units and more.
Onai hopped up on to the stool and swiveled it around, laughing happily, a few times before catching his paws on the workbench and staring at the gutted teddy bear on the surface. He looked over his notes once and got to work.
Half way through soldering Luna walked up to him and watched him touch the soldering iron to… something and a wire.
“What is that?” Luna asked.
“A light,” he replied.
“Oh. What are you making?”
“Something for Laika,”
“Oh okay. That’s nice,”
“Did you need something?”
“Just wanted to hang out with you,”
“Well, I’m working on this,”
“It’s okay,” she replied and sat down on the other stool.
She watched him for the next half hour soldering the few components together. He explained what things were when she asked. His final bit was to secure the LEDs into the sewn in reflectors for its eyes. After a bit of struggle he was able to hot glue the LEDs in. He put the batteries into the custom battery pack and turned it around. Pressing the bears paw the two LEDs lit up. Both of them groaned from the blinding white light coming from the eyes, until he shut it off.
“Hey, go and turn off the lights,” he said. She hopped from the stool and turned the lights off. The basement was quickly overcome with darkness. Onai pressed the paw again and it lit up a good portion of area in front of him. Bright enough to see where he could walk, and to ensure Laika there were no monsters or anything scary. As soon as he turned it off the basement lights came back on.
He sat the teddy bear back on the workbench and turned the LEDs back on. He positioned it so the light was shining away from him.
“What are you doing now?”
“I’m going to leave it on and make sure nothing happens,”
“What do you mean?”
“It would be bad if it caught fire, because its for Laika,”
“Oh yeah, good idea,”
***
Saturday July 13, 2024
The following day, Onai carried the unstuffed teddy bear up to his mom.
“Mom can we put this back together?”
“You finished already?”
“Yes. I let it stay on all night and it didn’t catch fire. I guess I did good,”
“That’s good to hear. I guess it needs new batteries too?”
“Yes,”
“Okay. Lets finish it,”
A bit later Onai walked into his 6-year-old sisters room, his arms behind his back.
“Hey Laika, what are you doing?” He asked.
“Hi bubba,” she said with a smile, “’ust playin’ with toys. You wanna play too?”
“Maybe, but I have something for you,” he replied.
“What is it?” She asked standing up.
“You want to guess?”
“I ‘on’t know,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
“Not even one guess?”
“A toy?”
“You want it?”
“Yes,” she replied and jumped a few times. He pulled the teddy bear out from behind his back and held it towards her. She rushed up and took it in her paws and squeezed it.
“I like it. Thank you,”
“It does something cool. Press any of the paws,” he said.
She pressed it’s left handpaw and the LED eye’s lit up, shining light against the floor and Onai’s chest and legs.
“Oh nice. It lit up,”
“Yes. I made it for you. If you get scared at night, you can use that for a flashlight,” he explained. She pressed the paw again to turn it off after he told her how to do so. She hugged him and kissed his cheek.
“Thank you bubba,”
“You’re welcome. I hope you like it and use it,” he replied.
“I do an’ will,”
After a few moments he left the bedroom. With his first successful electronics project finish he was happy and hoping that he would make more cool projects. Only time would tell.
