No one made a sound. They all turned towards me and waited for a reaction. I continued to stare at the now powerless turbine. It had failed. We should have been patient, perhaps we needed more power… A loud crack of thunder erupted and Alveera released a small scream which made the team burst out laughing. I should have been there next to her. Why did I want to protect her? It was a storm. The thunder just gave her a fright. Why did I feel guilty?
“The first run has failed. That’s unfortunate.” I responded after clearing my throat then added, “Alright then. You all have the rest of the day off, we shall discuss how to proceed tomorrow morning. Say around 10 am?”
“Yes sir.” Was the last thing I heard before I walked out of the room. I didn’t even pay attention to recognise whose voice that was.
My only chance was over. We needed the storm to decrease the surrounding air pressure and temperature. That storm was perfect. I guess we could try again when another storm is expected… but a storm with those specific qualities? The probability was close to 0. Even if the team could track it down, that wouldn’t occur any time soon. It would take months.
Clearly, the amount of power available wasn’t enough. I needed more. I can attract a lightning bolt to strike a generator. Such sophisticated equipment to even attract the lightning could take years to develop and construct. That also meant I needed a complex storage facility, one that can operate under a 300 million volt current. My timeframe would be a few microseconds to obtain the voltage. Don’t even get me started on the safety mechanisms, one mistake and this entire facility could be blown up.
Another crack of thunder erupted which startled...