It had been many years since Baron and his group had finished the Sun Alliance tournaments, and while they were busy with training and whatnot, the 20 year time was up. These 20 years were the precondition that Matron Fu Hao, one of the most senior research and development specialists within the Chinese community, would accept Roxi and be her teacher for anything and everything R&D related that she knew and was willing to share.
Baron and Roxi went to Madam Zheng so that she would be able to introduce Matron Fu Hao to them. Unfortunately, Baron was not allowed in as the matron was only willing to see girls. Once Baron left, Madam Zheng escorted Roxi to someplace that was quite far removed from the rest of the Chinese community, and for good reason. Roxi marveled at the sight in front of her, mansions as far as the eye could see. Houses so large and luxurious that the average person on planet 4 would never be able to in their entire lifetime. Something that she was not all too unfamiliar with.
After going and looping around all of the obstacles along their way, Roxi and Madam Zheng arrived at the house of matron Fu Hao. At first, they were not given any clues as to whether or not anyone was home at all. The more they knocked, the more embarrassed Roxi became. Until finally, the matron showed herself and as soon as she opened the door, she eyed the two.
(FH) "Who are you two?" Matron Fu Hao asked.
(MZ) "Madam Zheng and Roxi. I've been sending you a letter for the past 20 years. Remember?" Madam Zheng answered.
(RB) "Hello," Roxi said meekly.
(FH) "Oh, is the time up already? Fine, come in both of you."
(RB) "Thank you."
(FH) "Here, have a seat."
(MZ) "Alright, let's get down to business."
(FH) "I agree, my time is precious. So tell me, little girl, what do you know about R&D? Have you received any tutelage? You don't seem to have seen what the planet has to offer you yet, you must be quite new here, aren't you?"
(RB) "Uh, yeah. You could say that."
(MZ) "Enough with the questions, matron."
(FH) "Fine, fine. As per the request, I will give her tutelage, but if I find her unsuitable then i will not. Understand?"
(MZ) "Yes."
(RB) "Of course."
(FH) "Zheng, you are excused. I will take it from here. If she is acceptable then she will stay with me for a couple of decades. If not, she will be gone in a few days."
(MZ) "Good luck, Roxi, she is quite hard to convince."
(RB) "Thank you for coming all this way for me, Madam Zheng. Have a safe journey."
With that, Madam Zheng left the two of them together. Roxi was still a little weirded out from meeting someone that Madam Zheng regarded so highly, but that feeling subsided a bit.
(FH) "So, what year did you die?"
(RB) "Around 2080 AD."
(FH) "Interesting, according to my estimates, that makes you one of the newest in terms of people who get transported here. Tell me, how has the world changed since the times when I lived."
(RB) "My ally Baron told me that you lived quite a long time before I did. Almost 4 or 5 thousand? Well, the universal measurement for time is the second, minute, hour, day, week, month, and year. It goes further both ways but those are the most common measurements."
(FH) "Tell me, on what basis do any of these measurements have here on planet 4? We do use them here as well, but we always have. Even when I first got here. Tell me, how is that possible?"
(RB) "Well, at first we based these off of the sun, and Earth's position and tilt relative to it. Then, we do make a metric definition of a second. One Second is defined as 9,192,631,770 oscillations between the two hyper-fine levels of the ground state of a Cesium-133 atom."
(FH) "Atoms? That is something that we here at the Chinese community have only begun to recent research, it is truly a shame that not more scientists are here to guide us along."
(RB) "Really? Then this must be your lucky day. I am quite the scientists, especially of the weapon kind. I have a basic understanding of these kinds of things, but I do believe that it will be a help to you and every other R&D specialist."
(FH) "You have finally piqued my interest. I have technically never had a student before, but after seeing what you know, I think I will finally make an exception. Be glad that you have the privilege of getting a senior specialist to personally guide you through all of the trials and tribulations of the world of R&D, it is a tough one to get recognition in."
(RB) "Thank you."
(FH) "Don't thank me just yet, I can only teach you so much, much of this will be up to your own creativity and ingenuity. You will have to pass an exam before you can be certified as an R&D specialist, but with my help, you will be able to get that in no time. Let's get to work."
(RB) "Yes, lets."
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Baron had waited for Madam Zheng to come back so he made small talk to some of the elders, by now he was already quite the celebrity there. Before, many treated him with contempt, but after the tournament, that all changed. Once she came back and got Baron up to speed on what she had witnessed while she was there, she requested for the deepstrike blueprint that Baron promised her.
Of course, Baron was not going to let such a huge favor go unrewarded and immediately gave her what she wanted. With this, Baron was confident that Roxi would be able to convince matron Fu Hao to take her in. Now that all that was taken care of, Baron could focus on the faction selection tournament with no worries.