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So, one of the cool things about going to a boarding school is that the field trips are just straight up better. In astronomy we all went on this two hour bus ride to some space ship hanger. Where as everyone else found it boring and a waste of time, me and Alex were like kids in a candy store.

When we stepped off the bus, the smell of tar and grease filled our lungs. The other kids made gagging sounds and acted like they were choking. I just thought it was cool that I was breathing in the same air that NASA workers do.

The hanger itself was huge. It was nearly a hundred feet tall, and over five hundred feet deep. There was a massive metal structure in the middle with about fifteen workers welding stuff on it. We met our tour guide there.

Now, me and Alex are alike in that we don't like to show ourselves very much. We like to lay low and stay behind, but we were caught up with the guide the entire time, and stood in front of the teacher even.

"So, you're the kids from Inferno High? Well, welcome to the greatest science facility in the world."

I heard some punk kid whisper to his friend behind me, "That's a bit of an overstatement."

"Really? You think there's a company better abled then Theorium Industries?"

"Wait, I thought this was NASA." [Alex]

"NASA? PSh, NASA's nothing compared to us. You see those ships over there? There's a reason they're designed to be aerodynamic. Any more out bursts? No? Good, moving on. This, behind us is HY-54, the fastest and most technologically advanced spacecraft of today. Currently, those men are repairing the wings from damage in space debris, but nothing major-"

"Wait, why would a spacecraft need wings? There's no winds or anything. Banking is irrelevent. You'd just cut the power in one engine and amplify it on the other side to turn." [Me]

"Good observation! Yes, there is no wind or need for wings in space, but this isn't your stereo typical ISS crap. Think of it more like a plane that can exit and re enter our atmosphere and glide at twice the speed of our gravitational pull."

"That's like eighteen meters a second." [Alex]

"Actually it's like fourty miles a second. These things go so fast that the tiniest leak in the hull would rip apart the inside and crush it so fast that any and all passengers would die without even feeling pain. Now, on to the factorization facilities." He spun around on his heel and we all followed the blue husky across the hanger floor and into an office building attached to the hanger.

We stopped in a massive hallway with one wall made entirely out of glass. On the other side was a huge cube farm of all kinds of anthros, sitting, talking, and writing.

"So, this is the application center. This is where we pick up new recruits for our scientific endeavers. Each one is given an oral and a written test, asking the same questions. If they pass the average score, they're in. If they don't, then they can try again next year. We only take in new recruits annually because we need time to gather more data about what the average score would be." He turned around and we continued down the hall to small chamber with another viewing window. Inside was a massive nozel that would occasionally release a bright, thick jet of white fire.

"Here is where we test new thruster designs. This one is a little more industrial than what we use on the HY-54s, but it's also nearly a thousand times faster. Implemented on the right ship, we could reach galactic travel at an astounding rate. Everyone here knows what a light year is, right?"

I heard some dumbass jock speak up behind me and Alex, "Yeah, his name's buzz!"

"Ha ha, very funny... Seriously."

"A light year is how far light travels in a year, and the closest star to our home system is four light years away." [Alex]

"Brilliant! Good job. Yes, and this JE-33 can reach speeds half that distance in under a minute. In just eight years we'd be in another system, seeing another star, and trying to make homes on other planets."

"But, wait, how does it work? How could you possibly generate enough energy to risk testing that on Earth?" [Me]

"Theorium Industries has it's secrets. Don't worry, you'll find out in a few minutes. Onward to the generators!"

Yet again, we were in motion, down long hall ways and up several flights of stairs. I was getting a little confused as to why they built their generators in the air, and then I saw them.

They were small, only the size of a can of Raid, but the amount of energy pulsing off of them was clearly visible. Seriously, the damn things glowed!

"Theorium is a strange metal, but has been the key source of technological advancements in science since before World War II. It's behaviour with energy isn't entirely understood, but we believe it converts dark energy into regular energy. Or, maybe dark matter. Or... was it both? I don't really remember, but it's something like that. Of course, it needs a little energy to work, so we give it a little spark from traditional flint and steel. After that, a small wire reels off of it and links it's power to the entire facility. The rest of it just stays in a locked circuit of increasing heat and energy. We built machines to store the energy, but we're constantly running out of space. Which is a good thing because we can then shut down the circuit and revert to back up power."

"Wait, if it generates energy off of more energy, how do you shut it down?" [Me]

"It's a ring, and the last piece of the ring is an aluminum plate, and that's only because it's cheap. We actually wanted something that wouldn't be very conductive energy wise. If it were, than it might over load the Theorium, as if that's possible."

"But, what if it does over load?" [Alex]

"Then everything within fifty miles of here is flattened by the force of a thousand nuclear bomb going off simultaneously. On to the next stop!"