American library books ยป Other ยป Oceania: The Underwater City by Eliza Taye (novels for teenagers .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•

Read book online ยซOceania: The Underwater City by Eliza Taye (novels for teenagers .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   Eliza Taye



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explain this one, Allie. Apparently, after The Great Plague, the WHO in collaboration with many other organizations worked to find ways to keep it from ever happening again. So hidden in each public doorway to every building is a scanner that can scan for infectious diseases. If one is found, the person is immediately extracted by the PHP, or Public Health Police, and treated for their illness. Theyโ€™re in charge of detaining sick people and taking them to where they can be healed before being allowed around other humans again. Am I right, Allie?โ€

โ€œYeah, pretty much.โ€

โ€œWhat happens to the treated individual?โ€

โ€œNothing, Dylan, my boy, according to this website, worldwide healthcare is now free for all. Apparently, part of the issue of the widespread plague stemmed from too many people around the world not getting treatment because they couldnโ€™t afford it, so the disease spread out of control.โ€

Hoping Dr. Wilcox would get the message, I returned to rummaging through the things in the pile. Thankfully, he did and went back to searching on my omniphone. Just as I reached to pull something off the top, another object started careening down the side. I caught it just before it hit the floor. โ€œIs this a camera?โ€

โ€œNot exactly. Itโ€™s a projection camera.โ€ Dylan showed me how to hold it and told me to take a picture of him.

I did so, pressing the capture button at the top.

โ€œNow press the button next to the viewfinder.โ€

When I did, an exact 3D projection of the image materialized in front of me. โ€œThis stuff is amazing.โ€

โ€œYeah, I know. Iโ€™ve spent hours digging through all of it. Iโ€™ve found all sorts of treasures. Most items are early prototypes, but some are already being sold.โ€ Dylan picked up a small device the size of a pebble. โ€œFor instance, this one has been on the market for a while. Itโ€™s a nanobot for dust cleaning. You simply place one of these in your room and it will crawl all over the place eating everything in sight. Once itโ€™s full, it deposits its contents in the trash and goes back to what it was doing.โ€

โ€œOh, my goodness, Allie.โ€

My body tensed up as Dr. Wilcox came back over.

โ€œAre natural disasters really as common as several hundred per year? Major floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, and tornados ripping up the earth every day?โ€

I let out a puff of air. โ€œDr. Wilcox, you can believe almost anything you find on the education section of the Network. Nothing is placed on there unless itโ€™s by an expert. Any other section, you can question.โ€

โ€œUh, Dr. Wilcox, you can keep searching things on Allieโ€™s communicator. I think Iโ€™m going to take her around Oceania some more.โ€

The happiness faded away from Dr. Wilcoxโ€™s face. โ€œOh, very well, then. I will be here when youโ€™re ready to retrieve your device.โ€

Gratefully, Dylan and I escaped Dr. Wilcoxโ€™s workshop and made our way northeast to the adjoining district. On the train ride, Dylan told me we were heading to the Utility District, where the power stations and water and sewage treatment plants were located. Three enormous blue-gray box-shaped buildings took up the space of probably ten or so blocks. A large fence surrounded the area, with warnings posted on the outside of both the sewage and power stations.

โ€œDylan, it doesnโ€™t look like we can get in.โ€ I searched around for an entrance but found none that didnโ€™t require an employee access code.

โ€œI know. The only place where ordinary civilians can go is underneath the complex.โ€

Confused, I followed Dylan to what looked like a shed beyond the outside of the fence. The door opened easily to reveal a long set of stairs disappearing down into darkness. Dylan used his communicator device as a flashlight, illuminating at least twenty steps in front of us.

It felt like an eternity walking down those steps, but finally, we reached a catwalk. Standing at the railing, I peered out at an expansive area extending as far as the eye could see. Winding up, down, through, and coiled between others, were pipes of assorted thickness and color. They hung from the ceiling, and twisted and twined in a myriad of ways that had my head spinning.

โ€œWhere are we?โ€

โ€œIn the first sublevel of Oceania. Here is where all of the waste and used water is collected.โ€

Reaching inside my pocket, I dug around for my omniphone, and then remembered it wasnโ€™t there. โ€œDoes your communicator have a magnification screen? I want to get a better look at those pipes on the ceiling.โ€

โ€œYeah,โ€ Dylan pressed a button on his shirt and a pocket appeared. Pulling out his communicator, he handed it over to me. โ€œAnd we call ours c-coms.โ€

โ€œC-coms?โ€ I smirked, holding back a laugh as Dylan handed it to me.

โ€œYeah, itโ€™s short for โ€˜clam communicators.โ€™ Since theyโ€™re the shape of orbs like a pearl, it reminds us of clams, so we call them clam communicators or c-coms for short.โ€

โ€œOkay, thanks.โ€ I swept through the many screens until I found one with the image of a magnifying glass. Touching it, a holoscreen came up in which I could use my hand to swipe over whatever I wanted to see. โ€œThis is really cool.โ€

โ€œOur tech is highly advanced.โ€ I glanced over at Dylan, a smug smile gracing both corners of his mouth.

Using the magnifying screen, I zoomed in on all the piping, finally able to discern where they came from and led to. The smallest ones were copper-colored pipes bunched in scattered regions throughout the area. The less numerous concrete-gray ones had girths the width of sequoia trees. Fire hydrant yellow pipes stuck out the most and seemed to be the rarest. โ€œHow does all of this work?โ€

โ€œThe pipes collect water and sewage from the city to transport them to the treatment towers, but the real marvel is below us.โ€ Dylan leaned over the

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