“Those panels draw in the heat,” Sanay explained, walking away to show them. “Here,” she pointed up at a huge cylinder, “is where the heat travels into a filament. Like a giant lightbulb.”
“A giant what?” Francis asked, crowding in beside her. He wasn’t sure what he was looking at.
Hasim said something in Turkish.
“Ah, okay,” Sanay said. “The filament is…a coil.” She made a circular motion with her finger. “The heat goes around, becomes hot, and our generators convert that heat into energy. We store the energy in these power banks.” She led them along a metal walkway, showing them pipes and more silver panels. “And send that energy into the city. There is no smoke from burning a fuel source, like coal. No steam, no pollution to the air. The air in our great city has never been clearer, all thanks to natural energy from the sun, wind, and water.”
“It sounds very impressive,” Francis said, glancing back at Hasim. “I can grasp how the wind and water are harvested,but I’m afraid I’m still not sure I understand how you capture the sun so.”
Hasim smiled at him. “She can show you a lightbulb. Same machine, but smaller.”
“Yes, they are where this all started,” Sanay explained. “Come.”
She took them deeper in among the glowing generators, rooted around in a box and handed Francis a bare lamp that cradled a glass ornament on top.
“What is this?”
“Watch,” Hasim told him.
Sanay flipped a switch on the lamp, and the glass bulb shone brightly.
“Oh!” Francis exclaimed. “Like magic!”
“See here?” Sanay leaned in, switched the lamp off, and carefully pointed a finger on the bulb’s glass surface. “That small glowing coil inside, that is the filament. In the case of powering lights, once the filament reaches a certain temperature it produces this slightly yellow colour to our eyes. And captured within glass, it can be contained safely. Solar powered light for your home, for the streets, even for the palace.”
“Oh, I understand,” Francis said, peering in at the miniature marvel. “May I?”
Sanay smiled and gestured for him to go ahead.
Francis flipped the switch himself to watch the bulb turn on and flipped it off again to watch the filament still glowing even after the bulb went dark.
“And this is all powered from the sun?”
“Yes,” Sanay said. “Every day, charge in the sun. It runs all night.”
A ringing sound went off, and Sanay excused herself before walking away.
“Hasim, this is extraordinary,” Francis said. “Thank youfor showing me.”
He was so engaged that it took him a moment to fully realise Hasim had gone quiet.
“Hasim?” Francis turned to him, admiring for a moment how the glow of the turbine just beyond gave Hasim the appearance of a golden aura.
Hasim had been staring at the ground, hands tucked behind his back. Now he looked up, his dark eyes troubled.
“Archie.”
Francis almost looked around, half expecting to see his dear friend approaching, before he quickly rememberedhewas supposed to be Archie.
“Yes?”
“I wish to tell you something,” Hasim said. He remained standing as he was, hands tucked away. Neutral, unimposing.
He’s about to deliver bad news, Francis assumed, bracing himself.
Before he could reply, Hasim continued. “Some years ago…my heart was broken. Ever since then, I have…struggled.”
Oh, Francis thought, immediately feeling bad. This wasn’t what he’d expected Hasim to come out with at all.
