Oceania: The Underwater City Eliza Taye (classic books for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

Tentatively, Dylan walked over to one of the free printing machines and examined it. On the machine there was a small touchscreen in which to search for an item to print. There were several different categories to choose from, or the option to search for the item. Dylan stared at the machine with wide eyes, trying to take in everything before wildly searching for something, selecting it, using my omniphone to enter the two credit codes necessary for the printing, and pressing start.

Lifting the lid where the objects appeared, Dylan pulled out an exact replica of the Declaration of Independence—animal skin parchment and signatures included. Nonchalantly, he said to me, “According to the menu you can print items containing paper.”

I gawked at him.” You can print physical books with that machine?”

Dylan nodded, running his hands on the 3D printer as he spoke. “This machine is astonishing. I can’t believe we don’t have one this advanced in Oceania. This would be a great invention to have.”

“Never mind that, I’m getting a book!” Pushing Dylan aside, I started searching the catalogue for any books that sounded interesting. Finding one that seemed particularly apparent to my life right now called Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, I chose it and pressed start, anxiously waiting for it to print out.

Looking up while I waited, I noticed Dylan over by another machine scrolling through the various options. A ping sounded and my item was ready. It had taken a couple of minutes, but soon before me was a physical book with real binding, paper, and a detailed, color-filled cover. Cradling the precious object in my hands, I simply stared down at it in adoration. I now had my own physical book just like those in Oceania.

Suddenly, Dylan grabbed my arm and turned me toward him. “Allie, you have to show me more. I’m probably the most knowledgeable person about the world of the Land Dwellers, but I haven’t even scratched the surface—I know nothing. You’ve got to show me more about his world and I’m not returning to Oceania until I find out everything there is to know!”

I grinned back at Dylan, my newest most precious possession clutched in my arms. I, too, couldn’t wait to scour every inch of this museum to see everything it had to offer.

Chapter 20

The doors of the museum closed and locked behind us promptly at seven p.m., as Dylan and I were the last two people to leave. One of the robots nearly had to drag Dylan from the last exhibit about the history of the technological revolution in America.

Gran was waiting outside in a loading zone, the car hovering only about two feet from the ground at rest. Dylan and I approached the car, the sliding door opening for us before we arrived.

“How was the museum?” wondered Gran, swiveling the front chair around to face us in the backseat of the vehicle.

“It was extraordinary!” exclaimed Dylan, fist pumping the air.

“I really enjoyed it too. It was a lot of fun.”

“That’s wonderful…I’m glad you both liked it.”

“So where are we going now?” I wondered, buckling myself in.

“Well, I figured that by now both of you would be pretty hungry for dinner.” Gran keyed in a destination to the car manually and it started moving, completing a U-turn mid-air and traveling in the opposite direction. “So, earlier today, I asked my friend if she could help us get seats to the dining car of the old trolley system.”

Like I was living in slow motion, I felt my jaw drop and my eyes bulge nearly out of their sockets. Riding on the historic trolley cars was a long-time dream of mine. It was one of the things in San Francisco that my father had promised we’d do, but never got a chance to.

“The dining car of the old trolley system?” enunciated Dylan slowly.

I whipped my surprised face in his direction. “Yes! It’s the historic trolley—or cable cars—that were historic landmarks in San Francisco. Well, I guess they still are landmarks, but each trolley was modified and restored to have the ability to last underwater. Because so much of old downtown San Francisco is almost fifty feet underwater, most of the trolley car lines are underwater as well. A station was built above the waterline with a connection to the historic rail lines now lying underwater. You board the trolley above ground and then it dives into downtown, taking you to the old part of the city. It’s amazing and I’ve always wanted to go there!”

“And there is a dining car?” Dylan’s brow furrowed even more.

“Well, what Alexandria here didn’t mention is that a special long car was made for those who’d like to have the experience of eating dinner underwater as they toured the old downtown region. It’s usually very expensive and hard to get into, but my friend used to be one of the head engineers of the restoration project. She found space for the three of us on the dining trolley tonight at 7:30 p.m.”

I anxiously checked my omniphone for the time. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned off the screen. It was only 7:05 p.m.

“Don’t worry, Alexandria, we’ll get there with time to spare.”

Unbuckling myself and launching my body across the small space in the car, I grabbed onto my grandmother, embracing her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Gran laughed, squeezing me back. “You’re welcome, my dear, anything for my one and only precious granddaughter.”

I grinned widely and kissed her flabby cheek, squeezing her waist tighter.

“All right, that’s enough now. Get back in your seat and place your seatbelt on. I don’t want you getting hurt if we’re in an accident.”

“Okay,” I rolled my eyes at the unlikelihood of her statement, but still couldn’t help grinning. The last ever