The farmboy
Michael looked out of the window from his bed. The sun was going to be visible in a few minutes. The birds were already chirping making a loud commotion. His alarm would go off in a few minutes as well, he thought, as he struggled out of his bed.
Next to his bed, on his desk was a pile of things to be fixed. Controllers that were not working, solar modules that were not charging the batteries, and batteries that were not getting charged. Though he was just ten, he needed to help his family farm on a regular basis. He did so, by trying to fix broken farm equipment on his own.
As he stepped outside his bedroom and walked through the short corridor that led to the back door, he could hear his parents were up and taking care of his baby sister. His sister, who was seven years younger to him, was demanding all their attention, and Michael was happy, as it left him to focus on things he needed to do.
As he stepped outside the house, in the morning light, he could see the soil moisture bots already going around the field and measuring soil moisture to see where watering was needed on the farm. The probes moved in an elegant yet chaotic manner notifying the watering bot where water was needed. The watering bot, which had lines of water attached from the rainwater harvesting tanks was already in work in one part of the farm, putting controlled amounts of water based on the plant type and soil moisture.
At a distance Michael could see the glittering city where the season's first harvest of lettuce would be going. It was a magnificent city, modelled as a re-imagined New York City, back on planet earth. Michael's great grandfather had been one of the construction workers who had moved to Earth 2, to build a new civilisation on this planet. Luckily Michael's grandpa was able to save some money to buy some land outside the city. Like Michael, Michael's father had been raised on the farm, but unlike Michael, his dad had never wished to live in the city. Michael hoped that one day they would have enough money to live in the city, instead of 30 minutes outside it. While he loved the farm, he was enamoured by the hustle and bustle of the city and the hurry with which people always seemed to be going somewhere.
Michael stepped in the garden shed to see a display of which farm controllers were failing. The display indicated eight controllers were not responding. Michael instructed his retriever bot to fetch the dead controllers, as he started the process to pack the cucumbers harvested that morning for the market. A bot picked up the pail containing cucumbers and started rolling them on a conveyor belt where they were inspected, sorted and vacuum packed in packs of three. Michael was happy to see some odd shaped cucumbers rejected by the sorter, as he picked up a cucumber from the rejected pile, and bit into it. As he finished swallowing the last bit of the cucumber, the retriever bot put the collected broken controllers into his work pack.
Slowly Michael picked up the new lot, and walked back to the house. It was already 6 AM, and his online classes started at 8. He had to get dressed, do a quick check on these controllers and the remaining ones from yesterday, eat his breakfast and be ready for class, before Mrs. Smith started with the morning assembly. A long day ahead.
Next to his bed, on his desk was a pile of things to be fixed. Controllers that were not working, solar modules that were not charging the batteries, and batteries that were not getting charged. Though he was just ten, he needed to help his family farm on a regular basis. He did so, by trying to fix broken farm equipment on his own.
As he stepped outside his bedroom and walked through the short corridor that led to the back door, he could hear his parents were up and taking care of his baby sister. His sister, who was seven years younger to him, was demanding all their attention, and Michael was happy, as it left him to focus on things he needed to do.
As he stepped outside the house, in the morning light, he could see the soil moisture bots already going around the field and measuring soil moisture to see where watering was needed on the farm. The probes moved in an elegant yet chaotic manner notifying the watering bot where water was needed. The watering bot, which had lines of water attached from the rainwater harvesting tanks was already in work in one part of the farm, putting controlled amounts of water based on the plant type and soil moisture.
At a distance Michael could see the glittering city where the season's first harvest of lettuce would be going. It was a magnificent city, modelled as a re-imagined New York City, back on planet earth. Michael's great grandfather had been one of the construction workers who had moved to Earth 2, to build a new civilisation on this planet. Luckily Michael's grandpa was able to save some money to buy some land outside the city. Like Michael, Michael's father had been raised on the farm, but unlike Michael, his dad had never wished to live in the city. Michael hoped that one day they would have enough money to live in the city, instead of 30 minutes outside it. While he loved the farm, he was enamoured by the hustle and bustle of the city and the hurry with which people always seemed to be going somewhere.
Michael stepped in the garden shed to see a display of which farm controllers were failing. The display indicated eight controllers were not responding. Michael instructed his retriever bot to fetch the dead controllers, as he started the process to pack the cucumbers harvested that morning for the market. A bot picked up the pail containing cucumbers and started rolling them on a conveyor belt where they were inspected, sorted and vacuum packed in packs of three. Michael was happy to see some odd shaped cucumbers rejected by the sorter, as he picked up a cucumber from the rejected pile, and bit into it. As he finished swallowing the last bit of the cucumber, the retriever bot put the collected broken controllers into his work pack.
Slowly Michael picked up the new lot, and walked back to the house. It was already 6 AM, and his online classes started at 8. He had to get dressed, do a quick check on these controllers and the remaining ones from yesterday, eat his breakfast and be ready for class, before Mrs. Smith started with the morning assembly. A long day ahead.
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