Alexander, Philip, and Tiffania went to another department. Basically means they are not in the electronics division anymore. Still, Philip insisted that he’d want to join them and discover new products made by other departments. Alexander couldn’t say no because he had done a lot for his company which he owed him greatly.
“Where are we heading next brother? We have been walking for ten minutes and my feet are getting sore and I’m feeling tired,” Tiffania complains to Alexander while keeping up her smile. Her eyes showed how much she really wants this as she continues walking with both of the men walking in front of her. It doesn’t take long before it gets too heavy for her so she ends up stopping in her tracks.
“Geez, that is because you are wearing heels. Obviously, you’re going to hurt your feet. Take your shoes off and hop behind my back.”
“Eh?” Tiffania mouthed, her mouth forming a small o at Alexander’s words. He simply ignored her surprised face as he faced his back in front of her and kneeled down.
“It’s kind of my fault anyways since I didn’t consider us walking long distances inside the headquarters.”
“There’s no way brother…that’s embarrassing, a lot of people are going to see us.”
“They are not going to mind us,” Alexander replied in an unbothered tone.
“I’m heavy…brother, if that’s okay to you then…” Tiffania said hesitantly.
“Heavy? Tiffania, I may not look like it but I used to bench 200 pounds,” Alexander said and turned around to face her. “Are you going to hop on or not?”
“I will brother…!” Tiffania stepped closer and leaned as she wrapped her arms around Alexander’s neck. He stood up and lifted Tiffania by placing his hands under her legs.
Tiffania let out a soft startled gasp. Alexander is touching her thighs right now. She started to feel nervous as she started thinking of some doom scenarios like what if she sweats and he notices it? It is surely going to be embarrassing. ‘Please don’t sweat, please don’t sweat Tiffania prayed inwardly.
“See, you’re not that heavy,” Alexander said as they began to walk forward. Philip grabbed her heels from the floor and followed behind them.
“Hold on tight. You don’t want to fall do you?”
Tiffania hummed a soft response and rested her chin against Alexander’s shoulder. And there, her nose subconsciously moved to sniff Alexander’s scent. It had a sweet smell, like roses mixed with vanilla but also a bit spicy and earthy. She closed her eyes, enjoying the scent until they finally arrived.
“We’re here. The Department of Chemical Engineering of the Imperial Dynamic System,” Alexanderdeclared as they stopped in front of its main hall where people wearing lab coats were moving around.
“I will put you down now, Tiffania,” Alexander informed and Tiffania was saddened by the news. He put her down gently and beckoned Philip to bring her her shoes.
“Chemical Engineering Department? I wonder what products you are going to show me, brother.”
“Let’s go, they must be waiting for us,” Philip said and led them toward the door. They walked inside and greeted a plump middle-aged man wearing a lab coat.
“Your Majesty…Oh, pardon me for calling you that. Sir Alexander, you graced us with your presence.”
“Nikolay, drop the pleasantries for royal families. You know the rules in the IDS, right? Inside I’m not an emperor but your Chief Executive Officer.”
“I deeply apologize,” Nikolay responded and proceeded to open a door that led to another room.
Before going inside, Alexander felt his arm being held by a hand.
“Who’s that?” Tiffania asked curiously.
“He’s the head scientist of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Nikolay Semyonov. He’s a talented and brilliant scientist I know in the field of chemistry. Today, we are going to see the latest product of the department.”
“I see, most of the scientists and engineers working in the Imperial Dynamic Systems are prominent and brilliant scientists huh? Someday, I would like to work here,” Tiffania said dreamily but shook it away when she heard Alexander scoffing softly. That’s definitely something that will never happen as she is part of the royal family. Meaning she can’t pursue higher education as it wasn’t the role of a princess of a nation.
Honestly, she is tired of that system. Imagine from the day you were born you are destined to do one thing and you can never get away from it. You have been stripped of your right for having the freedom to choose and pursue what you love because of where you are born.
But then, Alexander’s next word surprised her. “Well, if you work hard, you may become one of our engineers here.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Is it really possible brother? I’m a Grand Duchess of the Ruthenia Empire and it’s not supposed to do things like this.”
“Ruthenia Empire is adopting a progressive policy and it’s about time we start changing things. If we want to be ahead of our rivals, this is a necessary step we must take,” Alexander said ambiguously. Does he intend to change the social fabric of the Ruthenia Empire, from its roots?
“Sir Alexander, are you coming?” Philip hailed to get Alexander’s attention.
“Coming. Let’s go Tiffania.”
“Okay.”Alexander and Tiffania entered the room. Nikolay placed something on the table, it was a pile of yellow fabric.
Alexander recognizes it easily but Philip and Tiffania didn’t. For them, it looked like a fabric woven from a material.
“What you are looking at right now is a synthetic fiber known as Kevlar. Or if you prefer the long name, poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide. It is synthesized through the copolymerization of monomers benzene-1,4-diamine and terephthaloyl dichloride. Its tensile strength is ten times greater than steel. As you are aware, plastics are polymers composed of molecules made of many identical parts joined together….”
“Nikolay, they won’t understand what you are talking about so let’s skip the boring part and get to the exciting part,” Alexander interrupted.
“Of course sir,” Nikolay said and continued. “If I may ask for Her Imperial Highness, Tiffania to step forward and grab one of this fiber as I will show her something.”
Tiffania looked up at her brother. “May I?”
“You may,” Alexander granted and Tiffania stepped forward and grabbed one sheet of Kevlar.
“Now, Your Imperial Highness, please stretch it as hard as you can and tear it.”
“Are you sure? Isn’t that going to damage your…Oh I see,” Tiffania just remembered Nikolay’s words where he stated its tensile strength is ten times stronger than steel. She’ll see if what he said is true.
Tiffania began stretching it with her full power but the sheet won’t tear. She passed to Philip who did the same and he failed.
“So what’s the use of this Kevlar?” Tiffania asked.
“That’s a very good question. Kevlar’s primary use is armor. By armor, I mean anti-ballistic armor.”
“How’s that going to be anti-ballistic armor? It’s thin,” Tiffania raised a point.
“Yes indeed but if you add more layers, it’ll become impermeable from low-caliber rounds. Let me show you,” Nikolay whipped out a pistol from who knows where. At the same time, a man wearing a black vest entered the room.
“Cover your ears, Tiffania,” Alexander warned and Tiffania did just that.
Nikolay fired three shots and hit the kevlar. The man groaned in pain but raised a thumbs up, telling them that he was okay.
“See?”
Alexander clapped, impressed by the performance of kevlar. Though he already knew the kevlar would sustain successive shots. “Recently, the Ministry of Defense signed a one hundred million deal to acquire kevlar. So the next part?”
“Ah, this one is easy, Sir Alexander. Allow me to introduce you,” Nikolay grabbed something underneath a table and placed it on top. It was transparent plastic shaped like a bottle.
“Polyethylene terephthalate bottle. Or PET bottle for short. It can hold a pressurized drink and is cheaper than its counterpart, the glass bottle.”
Alexander rubbed the bridge of his nose. At last, they are introduced in this world but it also means he has to plan in advance on how to soften the environmental effects the plastic poses. He is now imagining himself writing drafts in regard to plastics as the demand for them in the future will soar exponentially.