Deke sat in the meeting room. He was one of the twelve chosen Masters in the Glass Department to help design the new equipment. This was their third engineer team to pitch their model. Two more had proposals ready, but so far, this team had the best grasp of what was supposed to be happening. And it was the most sustainable.

Gone were 24 different types of ball bearings. Gone was the pounders. This had the glass broken up in a vertical chamber with rollers. It could handle higher volumes without backing up. Gravity also was taken advantage of. The number of furnaces was doubled, and they were shallower. It provided faster melting and then an easier system to pour into the molds.

This team had no problems working with the existing molds. The first two wanted to update the mold sizes. Yes, they would be getting all new molds, but keeping the same sizes was one of the things that had to happen. They practically threw out the first two for trying to change the sizes.

“Derecho?” Featherlight asked. “No questions?”

Deke shrugged. He was more concerned with his budget proposal. “You guys have it covered. Any questions about the system itself I had were clarified.”

“But,” Deke hesitated. “If we were to go with your proposed system, how long would it take to install and how much would it cost?”

“The time would be about 4 weeks,” One said. “We would need to finalize the timing of the materials, but it should be about five weeks total as soon as we approval.

“As to price, I am sure you will be happy,” The Team Lead said. “900,000 bits. That’s 100,000 bits cheaper than your budget cap.”

“How do you save that money?” Deke immediately followed up. “We haven’t had a proposal meet our budget yet.”

“By using hollow, circular beams. They are strong than a small I beam and can support a lot of weight. They not only weigh less, but they use less material and thus, cost less. Likewise, this system incorporates the floors into the structure, whereas the previous design had the unit surrounded by a scaffolding floor system. Our design pairs it up, making the entire thing sturdier and distributes the weight much more efficiently.”

“The second and most crucial money saver is that we are able to have most of the supporting structure made in house, by the Metal Department. By having them made here, we do not have to pay to have them outsourced for their reshaping. That costs a lot of bits to do.”

“We also can reuse many of the floor tiles the old system used. Our design has them being reused, but we can make new ones. They are a good design to make solid floors. We decided to not mess with that success.”

“Follow up,” Deke said. “How much harder will breakdown be?”

“We estimate it will take 25% percent longer to break it down. But the system will pull apart rather quickly for most maintenance jobs, including replacing the rollers. Stage two takes it down to the main frame for the unit. It can stand without the rest of the design, but its best to keep it all together to reduce the stress. We made it as accessible as possible.”

The team lead put up another chart and began to step them through the take down process to back up his words. It wasn’t more complicated, but it would take more time. Deke had no more questions.

With the proposal done and no more questions, the team departed. Featherlight looked around the table to the group. It was up to them to decide if they like the system.

“Derecho?” Featherlight defaulted to.

“It looks to be the best system,” Deke replied. “They did their research. All production points should be at least doubled in output. I know it is theory, but its the best we have. And they don’t seem to be inflating expectations.”

“The same with installation time. I do not see any obvious flaws. They are reusing the tiles, which are in great shape, and the in house production of materials is perfect. Anypegasus else?”

They spent several hours pouring over it in discussion, working past lunch. Two more engineer firms had proposals. Still, the vote for this team was unanimously in favor of their design. The in house production was a big selling point. The board would have to make the final decision.

Deke left the meeting much later than planned and headed down the hall to Balance Sheet’s office. He was supposed to be meeting him to go over Deke’s proposed budget. They hadn’t settled on an exact number yet. Deke’s proposal to him was supposed to set that down. Still, Balance Sheet would have the final say as to how much he would give Deke to work with. Balance Sheet wasn’t there, meaning Deke couldn’t explain anything. He had to drop it off and let him look it over in the morning.

Deke went to the observation walkway in the Glass Department. It was all gone outside of a set of stairs on the far side. It was familiar because of the offices, break room and other features on the far side that were apart of the building, but it was not the same. It never would be. Most of the old system had been recycled by now.

Deke was in a tough position. He was a Line Head, but working almost like a Floor Director, with still more responsibilities. He should be helping to sort materials on some other line, but it was late. Joining now would throw off the groove of a line.

There was nothing for Deke to do today. He just needed to go home and be back in the morning to meet with Balance Sheet. It felt wrong to punch out so early and call it a day. But at home, he had time to work on a few things until the rest of the family got home. Home was his office.

In the morning, Deke was in first. He left an additional note for Balance Sheet. He was going to the paper department to work on a line until Balance Sheet needed him. Until the budget was settled, he would have nothing else to actually do.

Plastic was almost the same process as glass, so Deke was already well versed in it. Paper was slightly different. The sorting was basically there to make sure that it was only paper entering the system. Paper products often had binding agents, like cheap metal grommets, plastic tabs, plastic spines, rings made of various materials and such. Also large, sticky labels had to be screened out and removed first.

Almost every piece of paper was physically inspected. Deke was next to Winter Sun, a Master who was making sure he learned it as fast as possible. Three others from the Glass Department were in the Paper Department temporarily.

Not only was Deke doing his job and thoroughly learning the other departments, but he was also figuring out who was the best to instruct and teach the future temp workers Deke would be hiring. They couldn’t train in the glass department, nor could they all train at the plastic department.

Deke was called up to Balance Sheet’s office after lunch, before he could rejoin the paper line.

“Welcome Derecho,” Balance Sheet smiled. “Or Deke?”

Deke was labeling everything as Deke, not Derecho.

“My sister’s nickname for me,” Deke chuckled. “It holds a lot of power for both of us, as her protector, supporter, caretaker and such. She told me to be Deke, because I needed the extra boost to pull this project off. Confidence is key.”

“Well, that is good enough for me,” Balance Sheet said. “Your numbers are well laid out. You certainly thought this out. I’m not going to give you that budget. You will have to get it done with 10% less, so find out how to do that.”

“Ten percent?” Deke asked shocked. “I was conservative with the numbers.”

“I know,” Balance Sheet nodded. “You listed out both projections. Bits do not grow on trees. They never have. So do it on this budget.”

Derecho took the fresh balance sheet with the budget on top. It was up to him to decide how he used it.

“I think you could break the norm,” Balance Sheet continued. “I know I am not alone. We were trained well in secondary school. You never went to secondary school. Having a CEO who can handle this facility, who has worked his way up, would be ideal. So prove it.”

“Plus, we really can’t afford more than that. I had to fight to get that funding and the funding for the new system in the Glass Department. They chose to bundle it all together. You might get a a boost if the system is installed on budget. Anything extra will go into your budget.”

“Which is looking good. The Board quickly agreed to take up the last engineering team’s proposal. It was always a good guarantee that we would approve your approval, but it is done. We had heard good things about that team, especially about them staying in or under budget.”

Deke looked deeper at the balance sheet. He began mentally laying out his plan. He hadn’t ever talked about aspiring to be more than just a floor director. He hadn’t even even thought about it himself. He wanted to be present, on the floor.

He still could be present. He could leave a legacy for how a CEO was supposed to act and be to his employees at this plant. But the Captain’s chair was incredibly enticing. Both were worthy goals. Both would destroy the highest he could be expected to achieve. He wanted both. Either way, both relied upon him nailing this operation.

“I’ll do it on budget,” Deke said, mind set. “I’ll not spend a bit over budget. I’ll leave you with money.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Balance Sheet warned. “Its very easy to talk big, but perform poorly.”

“I’ll have the weekly costs on your desk, every Monday. I’ll stay in budget.”

“Well, you won’t be productive at home,” Balance Sheet said standing up. “We got you an office to work out of. With a terminal. I know somepegasus like you can learn to use one easily.”

“Thanks,” Deke smiled.

It was a blank office. There was a simple cloud desk with a phone and a terminal. There were no windows, no pictures, just blank cloud walls.

Derecho sat down at the desk and looked at the terminal. He didn’t know if it was on or not. He couldn’t figure out how he could tell if it was or not. He needed to learn how to use it, starting with turning it on.

Deke learned onto his desk to think. He needed to personalize his box. Somehow. Or else he wouldn't want to work here. But the bigger problem was the terminal. Deke only knew of primary schools teaching their use.

Deke could check with the school. Mr. Spark was their terminal instructor. Deke never took that class. It was an elective and he chose “Weather Beyond the Factory.” Deke had never expected to need to know how to use a terminal He was already a Journeyer Class B when the elective was offered. He could see if Mr. Spark knew where he could get trained. Deke was useless without knowing how to operate a terminal, so he figured he could cut the last two hours to pursue that.

As Deke was leaving he ran into Steel Feather.

“Did you get to see your office?” Steel Feather asked.

“Yeah,” Deke replied. “Its great to have one. You wouldn't know where I can get training on how to use a terminal, would you?”

Steel Feather thought for a moment. “No. I took mine in primary school.”

“I took an advanced weather class instead,” Deke chuckled. “I was one of eight in it. But its my hobby, so yeah. I’m going to head to Gale Academy and check in with their terminal instructor and see if he knows where I can get training. Expedited training.”

“Good call,” Steel Feather nodded. “You are getting to see the fun and flexibility of being an administrator. Not that you can blow things off…”

“But you can work things around what you need to,” Deke finished.

“Exactly.”

“It feels a bit wrong, but I know I am heading out to tackle what I need to, head on, in order to perform this job to the highest standard.”

“That’s the spirit,” Steel Feather smiled.

Deke walked away and stopped. “Question. With the position I am in now, can I ignore the flying routes and just go over them?”

“Nope!” Steel Feather chuckled. “No one can unless you are on military duty or part of the law enforcement. Both you and Crimson Fluff crack me up with your hatred for the system.”

Deke just walked away, shaking his head. He would have to do it the hard and painful way. This was one of those times where slowing down wasn’t safer or better. And the school wasn’t far.

Deke finally touched down at the school. Classes were nearing their end. Deke strode into the school and straight for the principle’s office. Principle Starfire was available.

“Hello Derecho,” She smiled. “What can I do for you today?”

“I was coming to see about where I can learn to use a terminal. It turns out that for my job, I am going to have to learn. I took “Weather Beyond the Factory.”

“I don’t know,” Principle Starfire said. “Not off the top of my head.”

“I was hoping that Mr. Spark would have an idea.”

“They finish up in 15 minutes. You can speak with him in his classroom once the bell rings.”

“Thanks,” Deke smiled. “Same room?”

“Yep. We can’t really move the mainframe from that room.”

Deke chuckled. “I’ve been in that room like twice. I only know that he taught out of it. But that makes sense.”

Deke headed down the empty hall, reliving memories. He got to the classroom and leaned against the lockers opposite of the door. The standard terminal class was a year long. They got two electives, and a few choices when it came to science classes. Otherwise you were all together under the same teacher to learn history, grammar, literature, basic science and the likes.

The bell rang and the students poured out of the classrooms. Deke made his way into the classroom as soon as the stream of pegasi pouring out of the doorway ended.

“Mr. Spark?” Deke asked coming into to the classroom.

Mr. Spark adjusted his glasses up. He was in the back of the classroom helping a student.

“Well I’ll be. Derecho. You came around the other day, but you have never come into my classroom that I know of. What brings you in now?”

“I don’t regret not taking your class,” Deke clarified. “But it turns out I now need to know how to use one. I can’t even turn one on or tell if its on or not.”

“The screen lights up and displays something,” Mr. Spark said. “So most likely it was off.”

“Where can I learn how to work a terminal?” Deke asked. “And quickly. I have weeks, really days, to be using one for a lot of work in my, unique, position. I am very willing to pay to learn.”

“How open is your schedule?” Mr. Spark asked.

“I can move things around,” Deke replied. “Temporarily I am not on a line. I am working on a project to try and solve some things. They gave me an office and everything.”

“I tutor students after class until 4. And I watch over a dozen or so who have permission to use the school terminals. After that, I can give you about an hour a day in crash course. 100 Bits each week and we will go week by week. 50 bits to the school for use of their property and 50 to me. I am sure Principle Starfire will find it agreeable.”

“That is very reasonable,” Deke smiled. “Very reasonable.”

“If I recall correctly, you are a fast learner.”

Deke’s smile shifted to a smirk. “I got ahead and graduated a year early.”

“Can you start today?”

“I can’t do my job, well... at all, without knowing how. I’m extremely free.”

“Go double check with Principle Starfire and if she says yes, we will get you going on it today.”

Principle Starfire found it an absolutely perfect idea. Deke left a check with the school and headed to the classroom. He sat quietly, waiting for his time.

Deke’s first thought when Mr. Spark began teaching him was about why he chose the weather class. But then he switched mindsets. He got that class, now it was time to stallion up and learn the new stuff.

Unlike his classes, Mr. Spark didn’t teach Deke by example. He made Deke do it all by his direction. Deke wasn’t following him doing stuff on the teaching terminal’s projection at the front of the class. It was hooves on teaching. And by the end of the day, Deke could do messages and written documents. Including most formatting. Spreadsheets would be the following day.

As Deke strode out of the first successful instruction day he found Sun Shower and the Twins waiting. Sun Shower had a big grin on her face.

“Did they find you so unqualified they had to send you back to school and redact your diploma?”

Deke chuckled with her. “I need to learn how to use a terminal, yesterday. So, I came here searching for a place to learn. We struck up a deal to teach me after school. They didn’t know of anypegasus or place to teach me. School is school. For learning. But its an intensive crash course because I need to know this stuff for my job.”

“Do you, have to go back?” Sun Shower asked hesitantly.

“Nope!” Deke grinned. “We can walk home from school again.”

It was a good feeling walking together again. Deke missed walking home from school with Sun Shower and the Twins. It was the time they got to catch up without being distracted with anything else. They couldn’t do homework and walk.

Next Chapter: Story 2 - Operation Clean Windows Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 22 Minutes