Chapter 13: ProtoTasking

“Now entering Sector Regensburg,” the voice of the subway’s automated announcement system cuts through Celia’s thoughts as she recalled the plan they had devised together.

The first step is to figure out where we should build the rocket, Alto said, I suggest building it at an existing space center if we can find one, since they’re prebuilt with the preferred conditions of launch site in mind, such as being next to the ocean, away from populated areas, and on top of flat land.

The problem with that is that we don’t have any major space centers in Euracia, Celia pointed out, the ones they had in the past were mainly used to launch smaller, unmanned rockets that weren’t meant to reach the moon. Not only do we need to find a space center, we also need to find one that was actually used to launch missions to the moon.

I know my home country, The Silk Axis, had a couple, Hikaru said, there’s the Tanegashima Space Center in Tokyosaka and the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Shanghaijing, but I don’t know if they still exist. I heard most space centers got decommissioned and rebuilt into different buildings after they shut down the programs.

We should still at least check them out, Alto suggested.

As much as I want to, I don’t have enough money to visit both cities and check both of the sites sites, Hikaru admitted, I only have enough money on me right now to make a one way trip back to Tokyosaka, but then I won’t have enough to make the trip back.

That would be pretty bad… Celia murmured, and I’d prefer to move as a group as much as possible anyway.

Well we’re going to have to check both space centers eventually, unless you guys know another one that’s closer to us, Hikaru said, there’s obviously the one in the United Countries of America where they launched the first manned mission to the moon, but that’s much further away and not only requires us to take a train to Madron, but also a ferry across the Atlantic which is more expensive.

Looks our first goal is getting money then, Alto concluded.

That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. We can easily make some if we focus on picking up tasks from the ProtoTask app and ignore some classes. That might sound bad, but we’re jail bound anyway so it’s not like focusing on academics is too important anymore, Hikaru reasoned, I’ll start picking up more tasks on ProtoTask as well, but I also still have to attend the Aerospace Engineering class for obvious reasons, so I’ll be counting on you to make most of the money Celia.

…What’s the ProtoTask app…?  she sheepishly murmured.

You don’t know what the ProtoTask app is?  Hikaru asked, how else have you been making money up until now?

My parent’s give me some money every now and then… she said.

Hikaru sighed. Give me your phone, I’ll show you how it works…

He then explained the details of the ProtoTask app to her. 

Apparently, it was an app that every engineering student, minus Celia, had that allowed them to get paid for completing various engineering commissions from people, ranging from something as simple as repairing a small item to coming up with an innovative solution for larger companies. The app was developed and popularized over the years due to the steep increase of the people’s reliance on more technology over time.

The benefit for the average person for using the app to commission engineering students over using a repair shop, was that it was cheaper and sometimes faster to get it repaired via the former way — the risk being that perfect repairs were less guaranteed from a random student over a qualified expert. Not only do the engineering students get paid for their services, but they can also start building a reputation on the app that can then be used as a highly credible statistic on a resume for job applications in the future.

If someone wanted their item repaired by a student with a higher reputation, they had the option to pay a little more to set a voucher threshold that an engineering student had to meet before accepting the commission. This meant that higher paying commissions required vouches that could only be earned by taking on the lower paying, simpler commissions that have little to no voucher requirements. Since Celia was new to the app, that meant she had to take such commissions first.

Hikaru already has 88 vouches huh… she thinks to herself, as she gets off the train, I need to catch up to him quickly so I can start making a lot more money and not hold the team back.

Celia looks at her phone to double check the location of the commission before Tabby follows closely behind her and immediately begins routing the destination. He had come back from the local repair shop the day before, and Celia had felt an immediate sense of relief when she saw him again.

As the two of them walk the streets of the Regensburg sector, Celia looks around the place in awe, enjoying the scenery.

Regensburg was one of many sectors all over Euracia that was dedicated to preserving its unique architecture that dated back to the medieval time period for the sake of cultural preservation, while the rest of the sectors in each city modernized into metropolises.

In the distance, Celia could see the towering gothic spires of one of the many St. Peter’s Cathedrals across the world — its unique and intricate design casted interesting shadows onto the cobblestones streets she walked on. Every corner she turned made her feel like she was walking through history herself; each building a different color and multiple centuries old in design.

I don’t think I would’ve ever visited this city myself if I hadn’t decided on this path, she thought to herself as she neared her destination, was this one of the ‘unforgettable things’ I wouldn’t regret by the end of my journey that Alto mentioned?

“We’re here,” Tabby suddenly said, interrupting her thoughts as they approached a simple, yellow, patrician house with a red rooftop.

After knocking on the door, an old man in his 80s wearing a blue t-shirt underneath a brown cardigan, holding a cane with a pair of glasses on his face greeted them warmly.

“Ah you’re here,” he says with a smile looking on his phone to confirm her name, “...Celia was it? Nice to meet you, I’m Klaus Stein, but you can just call me Mr. Stein.”