Black Market Merchant

"Marketing Empire?" Sadie said looking at Lisa with a funny expression. "I have never heard of such a thing."

"I know it sounds funny." Lisa replied with a grunt. The rusted nut she was trying to loosen was being stubborn. If it weren't for her cybernetic arms, she couldn't have been able to do work like this, at least not without powered equipment.

"But the concept isn't unheard of." Lisa continued to explain while working. "For example, Disney, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Amazon, Comcast, ICBC, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, and ExxonMobil just to name a few. All of these companies had made Billions if not Trillions of dollars since their creation. I want to get a chance to earn money just like they did. Though with the way the world is now, this is all I can think of doing to reach my goal for the moment."

"That's an interesting dream, I guess?" Sadie replied unsure of what to say. "Why did you want to make a marketing empire? Didn't you have other ideas about your future?"

"Sort of, but not really." Lisa said giving a shrug. She then moved on to the next set of large rusty looking nuts. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be a gymnast in the Olympics, but that dream didn't last long."

"How come? You seem like you have the skills, even now." Sadie asked.

"War." Lisa replied flatly. "My family was forced to move several times. The bombings kept us always on the move. So, I wasn't able to train properly anywhere. By the time I turned sixteen I had already decided that would I join the military. For obvious reasons, my family was very much against me joining. However, I don't think I made the wrong choice in the end. Though there are things I regret…" Lisa trailed off.

Sadie could tell that Lisa likely had gone through something traumatic, recalling the scar on Lisa’s back, and decided not to press any further. "So, if you joined the military, why do you now want to make marketing empire?" She asked edging the issue.

As if unfazed, Lisa quickly went back to work. "Well, I wanted to get in the military as an officer, they get better pay. So, I went to college early and tried to learn Engineering. It turns out my mathematics skill are lacking, but I did well in the mechanics aspects." Lisa said wiping at her brow leaving a brown rust streak behind. "I switched over to a Marketing major and then also to a different online university. I finished all my high school and college courses at the same time and then joined the military as an Officer. Even though I switched majors and universities, I still crammed in as much as I could. I finished it all in about two and a half years."

"Under three years?!" Sadie said with surprise. "How did you manage to stay focused like that? I could hardly keep up with my own schooling and classes."

"I did some in-class studies for high school and everything else with was on online classes. Between you and me, copy and paste works simply great if you site your sources correctly. To be honest, I only passed because I read the projects required aspects and did the bare minimum of what my teachers wanted." Lisa said shaking her head and giving a wolfish grin.

"Still, that's just way to fast." Sadie remarked.

"Any way, after that I joined the military at eighteen and fought for longer than what feels like an eternity. I rose in rank and became a part of a Special Forces Unit, of course I can’t tell you those specifics.” Lisa said giving a sly wink. “After I left the military, I tried my luck out at being a traveling merchant and that’s how, after a long story made short, I ended up here; in this old dam, working on building my fortune." Lisa said giving an exaggerated mock smile.

"At least you're trying. Most people wouldn't have even considered doing this. Especially not me." Sadie replied.

At that moment Lisa finished loosening the last nut to the top of the generator. She put the large tools aside and started to unplug all the wires and cords connected to it. Pointing at the wires Lisa explained. "This part right here. This is called the Busbar. It carries all the electricity up to the Transformers up above."

Sadie nodded and silently watched Lisa work. She did, however, see that the Busbar tube ran up into the wall and disappeared upwards into an even larger tube that ran towards the powerhouse. She assumed that those large ugly green cylinders on the bottom floor of the building were the Transformers Lisa was referring too.

Next, Lisa was going to remove the heavy metal lid. She was definitely not going to try and lift this lid with her own strength, there was too much risk that she might break the lid or hurt herself. Fortunately, hanging above the generators was a horizontal Overhead Crane that was placed there exactly for this occasion.

Lisa tried to turn it on, but the control panel only let out a drawn-out beep. Meaning that there was an error in its system, and she had to fix it first. Fortunately, she had brought the manual for the crane’s operation as well.

Scanning through the manual and observing the operating panel, Lisa found that some wires had become corroded. She turned off the breaker before working, so that she wouldn't get electrocuted. After rewiring and splicing the corroded wires, the crane started to function once again. The Overhead Crane would travel along a track attached to the ceiling, of which traveled the full length of the dam’s tunnel. This way it could reach all the generators, as was planned in the original design.

Lisa lowered the two hooks that hung from each end of the crane and secured them to the two thick steel shackles on the lid. Pressing the lift button on the control panel, the lid slowly started to rise, exposing the generators components inside. Then Lisa moved the crane further down the tunnel so that the lid would not be hanging directly above them while she worked.

Sadie marveled at the complex appearance of the generator’s interior parts. "How do you know that you can actually work on this thing?"

"I did a two-week summer internment at a company that worked on generator repairs." Lisa replied making sure that the cranes load was indeed safely in place. "I got to help out with cleaning a smaller version of this generator while I was there. Like I said before, I am really good at the mechanics aspects and I remember this stuff fairly well."

Then she got a faraway look on her face as she continued. "Kind of got the knack for this kind of stuff from my dad. He was a mechanic for commercial airplanes and had lots of books related to mechanics in the house. I read a lot of them as a kid and I guess that skill runs in my family."

"I see." Sadie replied looking at the circular metal devices inside. "So, what are all these parts? I haven't a clue as to what these are."

"Well, I'll explain while I look them over." Lisa said picking up the manual for the generator. She also picked up another smaller wrench to use as well. Then pointing at the outer most portion of the generator, Lisa started to explain what they were looking at. "So, this rusty red outer part is the actual generator that converts the mechanical energy from the turbine into electrical energy. This happens when the Rotor, this green one, spins around against this blue part called the Stator."

Lisa then pointed at the various parts with the wrench, working her way further towards the center of the mechanism. "The Stator are these blue rows of small stationary airfoils attached to the casing of an axial-flow turbine, positioned between the rotors." Then she pointed down below the Rotor and Stator. "That white casing is what covers the shaft, and that shaft goes way down to where the turbine is. So, since this is obviously a dam, the turbine is moved by water as it falls down a gravity fed pipe and hits the turbine. Water turns the Turbine, Turbine spins the Shaft, which turns the Rotor and then rubs on the Stator to create electricity for the Generator to collect. Pretty simple set up, right?"

"I think so?" Sadie said squinting at all the colorful parts. All this mechanics talk was making her head spin. However, she didn't want to seem dumb, so she asked, "Is that all there is to making electricity? I figured it would be harder to make."

"Well, there is more to it, but those are just the basic parts that you will need. The rest of the parts just support and assist the main parts, so that they function properly." Lisa explained. She had just started loosening the bolts on the generator’s outer parts to remove it.

"I need to take this off to check for broken parts, rust, and copper corrosion. I'll also need to do this with all the rest of the parts individually, so this might take me a while." Lisa said pausing to look up at Sadie.

"So, what do you need me to do?" Sadie asked. She was feeling kind of useless watching Lisa do all the work.

"Well, let's see." Lisa said pausing from her work. "I know, we are going to get thirsty while we work, but we don't have anything to drink. So, can you go back outside and put water into the pot and boil it for over three minutes?"

"Sure, I can do that." Sadie nodded.

"Sweet. Then once you get back, I need your help with writing stuff down." Lisa said while raising her hands up for Sadie to see them. "My hands are getting covered in rust and all this old sludge from lubricant. I am going to need you to make a list of all the things I am going to need in the future. I'll have a contact of mine find and sell to me the stuff that I will require."

"Alright, I won't be gone long." Sadie replied turning to leave. She didn't go far when Lisa called to her.

"Hey, Sadie?" Lisa called. "Be careful up there alone. I don't know anyone that lives around here yet. If someone comes here that's not John or Hanna, come back to me as quickly as you can."

"I understand." Sadie said giving a reassuring smile. It was a refreshing feeling that someone was feeling concerned for her. Completely unlike being back at the Warehouse Arena MFA headquarters where everyone felt that she was just a burden to them.

Lisa nodded and got back to work on the generator. Looking at all the different parts she felt slightly relieved. The parts were in surprisingly particularly good condition. Other than the light green corrosion on copper parts, some rust on other parts and the desperate need for clean lubricant, the overall condition of generator Two was in great shape. Things were really getting off to a decent start.

Lisa couldn't help but smile. Soon the townspeople would have power and she would have money in her pockets!