the sole source of semen power

        It was a Saturday meeting, which was inconvenient, but if the Commissioner of Energy calls one to Xining, one goes.  In their best suits the four of them, Principal Huo, Vice Principal Tung, Maintenance Director Ku, and Assistant Commissioner Wong, waited in the forty-third floor corner office.  Through the big window they could see below them the city of two million, with the Qilian Mountains in the distance.

        “I must admit,” Mr. Ku said, “it seems odd to me that they would allow an American engineer onto their team.”

        Mr. Wong said, “I don’t really know, but I think there is an element of flaunting involved.  He will of course report to Washington.  Can you imagine the American reaction to the Maik-ya?”

        “With their level of maturity about such things,” Ms. Tung said, “they will not be able to digest the news with a clear head.”  There were smiles and a nodding of heads.

        “Also politically and culturally it would be impossible for them to imitate us,” Mr. Huo said, “should they ever produce a Maik-ya.”

        “If only there could be a second Maik-ya,” said Mr. Ku.  “Or a third.”

        “If there is one, there might come others,” Mr. Wong said.  “We are a populous nation.  The appropriate searches, and I might add extensive ones, are ongoing.  In the meantime we have one, the Maik-ya, to which we direct our energies, no pun intended.”

        The Commissioner of Energy entered with his assistant and they stood up.  After everyone bowed they sat down.  The Commissioner was an overweight man of about 60, contrasting with the female assistant, who was young, thin and pretty.  She handed him some papers.

        “We have brought you here to announce the changes that will be taking place.  To begin with, we greatly appreciate your stewardship of the Maik-ya.  Stability is key, so any changes, such as we will effect, must be done carefully.  Ms. Jong?”

        The secretary said, “It has been noticed that the Maik-ya’s draws over the last few weeks have become more voluminous and potent.  By potency, I mean that the mixture of fluids has gravitated to a more useful ranyou.”  She was using the term for the “fuel”.  Colloquially around the Commission, Zui-da was referred to as the “fuel boy”, though officially he was always called “the Maik-ya”.  “As to the increase in volume, that is no surprise; I’m sure you’ve noticed that his testicles, already outside the normal human range, have gotten even larger.

        “At first,” Ms. Jong went on, “we thought the increase was due to exercise, the four draws per day, but in fact it is just part of the normal maturation process.  Which of course is good news.  We expect the increase to continue.”

        The Commissioner then said, “Thus far the Maik-ya has been powering only the school plant.  If that was the limit of his capability, the Party would not be taking much interest.  But this is only the beginning.  The use of his powering function is to be expanded.

        “Notice here the new generation of converter.”  He passed around a photo.  “It is smaller than the present model yet is ten times more efficient in converting ranyou to electricity.  It is currently in production.”  He let his visitors absorb this information.  Then he passed around a sketch.  “And this, is the third generation converter, in its planning stages.  Through a circuiting technique, which is too complicated to describe right now, it can ramp up, so to speak, the efficiency to over a hundred times times, to be specific, one hundred twenty-eight times.”

        “A circuiting technique?” Mr. Ku said.

        “Yes . . .”  He smiled at Mr. Ku, who was even older than himself, from the Deng era.  “To be brief, you and I are old enough to remember when computers were limited to physical RAM, maxing out at 640 kilobytes.  The circuiting is similar to the development of virtual RAM, which increased computing power exponentially.”

        “So, this means,” Mr. Huo said, “that instead of powering just one school . . .”

        “Yes, the boy can power one hundred twenty-eight schools.  And this is not taking into account the increase in ranyou output.”

        The Commissioner gave his guests a few moments to think about the implications.

        “That is about the number of schools in the entire city of Lanzhou,” Ms. Tung said.  “Are you talking about a hub-and-spoke setup, with Zui-da -- I mean, the Maik-ya -- powering from a central location?”

        “In a manner of speaking, yes,” the Commissioner said.

        Mr. Huo was, like the others, trying to grasp what was being presented.  “How could the ranyou be piped such a distance?  You know that it degrades within a minute or two after it’s drawn.”  The “half-life”, arrived after extensive periodic measurements, seemed forever limited to 46.8 seconds, no matter what the diet, or the season, or even the application of ice, externally or internally.

        “There would be only one converter, fed from the Tiquqi,” Mr. Ku pointed out.  “After that it would be just pure electricity, with the usual network of capacitors and boosters.  Am I correct?”

        “Yes, you are correct,” Ms. Jong said.

        “Now about the wider prospect,” the Commissioner said.  “Powering schools is all very well, but to be truthful they have never had a problem as far as energy goes.  The Maik-ya’s power capabilities are a higher priority in business, industry and government.”

        “What do you mean by that?” Mr. Huo said.

        “To be truthful we are not so sure ourselves,” the Commissioner said, “at least not yet.  One assumes that converters could be fitted onto any type of system.  Adapters are currently being tested.  We are formulating a summer program.  The Maik-ya will be taken to various locations to see if he could power a variety of applications.”

        “A ‘variety’?” Ms. Tung said.

        “Yes.  It may be a very busy summer for him.”

        “I would imagine so,” said Ms. Tung.

        “I don’t mind giving you a preliminary list.”  The Commissioner took out his glasses and read.  “Mind you, this is tentative.  June 26: powering a 24-story office building in Wuwei.  June 29: powering a nighttime sporting event in Baiyin.  July 1: powering a 33-story building here in Xining.  July 7: powering a light show for the Chairman’s birthday in Lanzhou.  July 11: substituting for that small dam on Qinghai Lake. . . as you know, the lake has been drying up, due to that dam.  July 13: powering the Wuwei commuter line.  July 16: powering the University of Qinghai, including extension campuses, during its summer session.”  He took his glasses off.  “This is only a partial list of course.  With proper scheduling, the Maik-ya can provide power several times a day, of course.  We will give Ms. Zhu-yi leave from her job so that she can accompany him.”  Ms. Zhu-yi was Zui-da’s guardian; he had been orphaned while still a baby.

        “Where does this lead to?” Ms. Tung said.  “The boy can’t be everywhere at once.”

        “Of course not.  We see his role as a roving generator, on special assignments, providing energy where there is a one-time need.  And there is something else you should know,” the Commissioner said.  “Some of the more ambitious and important projects . . . might require more than one draw.”

        “Well that shouldn’t be any problem,” Mr. Huo said.  “Zui-da is drawn from four times a day, possibly increasing to five now.”

        “No, I mean, one draw right after another.  Consecutive draws.”

        There was a confused set of glances around the table.  “But -- I thought draws had to be carefully spaced.”

        “Yes, that is true,” Ms. Jong said, “ordinarily.  But the applications requiring more than about 500 kilowatts might need more than the 8 cc’s or so of ranyou that the Maik-ya delivers in one draw.  It is just a conjecture, but we believe that further draws, done immediately after, would still be potent enough to be useful.  Afterwards there can be whatever recovery time is needed.

        “That is why Mr. Wong will be supervising an experiment to see how many draws can be elicited from the Maik-ya, one after the other.”