252: Silent mourning

Inside the Research Institute.

"Look, look, everyone, my 60-degree dive! Cool, right? See, I can even do a spin, whoosh!"

The young researcher Fan Jiaping proudly showed off his maneuvers to everyone.

The drone was a novel new toy in everyone's eyes, but currently, only one drone was available for them to play with, so everyone had to take turns.

Fan Jiaping had the least seniority among the Research Institute assistants, so it was his turn to play with the drone last.

While others were playing before him, he had been playing along in his mind. Now that he finally had a chance to get his hands on it, he was extremely excited.

Because no one had ever touched this before, most people could only make the drone move horizontally. So, by the time it was his turn, not much time had passed.

He confidently took the remote control into his hand. He didn't want to play the drone uncreatively like others; he wanted to shock the entire room.

After holding the remote control for a moment, he quickly mastered it. It felt just as he imagined, so he began his maneuvers.

Just as he was showing off triumphantly, he didn't hear the expected exclamations of praise. Instead, there was a complete silence.

What's wrong?

Even with his thick skin, he realized something must have happened.

But he was still controlling the drone, with his back to the door, unable to spare a thought to turn around and see what was happening.

How could he see behind him while controlling the drone?

I've got it!

Fan Jiaping thought of a method: let the drone fly over, then he could turn with the drone and look with his peripheral vision.

He acted on his thought.

Fan Jiaping silently maneuvered the drone to turn.

Following the drone's flight path, he also turned his body around.

It was then that he saw the Administrator of the Research Institute looking at him.

To be precise, the Administrator was looking at the drone's remote control in Fan Jiaping's hand, but at that moment, Fan Jiaping couldn't notice that detail.

The Administrator's gaze lingered on him for less than five seconds, but for him, it felt like more than ten minutes had passed.

He got goosebumps.

Although he hadn't done anything wrong, he still felt a little guilty for some reason... "Pay attention to what's in your hands, don't get distracted."

Fang Mu saw that the drone was flying in the wrong direction and immediately called out a warning.

Fan Jiaping immediately snapped back to attention and looked at the drone.

But the scene before him made his heart almost stop.

His colleagues next to him were also holding their breath for him.

Because the drone was heading straight for Researcher Sun's forehead.

Although the Administrator had the highest status among the people present, Researcher Sun was their direct superior. They were currently only temporarily seconded to Researcher Xu.

So, if the drone hit Researcher Sun's forehead, Fan Jiaping worried if he would be given a hard time.

( . ŏ _ ŏ )

What should he do at this moment?

Stop?

No, stopping might still cause it to lurch forward due to inertia.

Retreat?

No, the speed is too fast now, it's hard to retreat.

Turn?

The turning angle is also wrong; it might still hit Researcher Xu's head. That would be hitting another snag.

Are there any other methods? Fan Jiaping stared intently at the drone and the remote control in his hand, his eyes red.

Right, since it can dive downwards, it should be able to ascend upwards.

Having thought of a solution, Fan Jiaping immediately began extreme maneuvering.

All this thinking and action actually only took one or two seconds; many people hadn't even reacted yet.

Many people were already silently mourning for Fan Jiaping.

But things did not develop for the worse. The drone merely grazed Researcher Fan's hair as it flew upwards, avoiding a collision.

Thank goodness, thank goodness!

The problem was solved; no accident occurred.

At this point, Fan Jiaping dared not look elsewhere, and at the same time, he dared not continue playing with the drone. So, he silently maneuvered the drone to land.

Only after it stopped did he have the energy to look at the person involved's expression.

He saw Researcher Sun clutching his chest, breathing heavily.

"I'm so sorry, truly very sorry, I didn't do it on purpose."

After the drone stopped, Fan Jiaping immediately apologized.

Although no actual harm was done to Researcher Sun, the incident had startled him.

"It's alright, it's alright."

Sun Puge also knew that the other party didn't do it on purpose, but at this moment, he couldn't focus on that. He walked forward, picked up the drone that had landed on the ground, examined it carefully, muttering to himself, as if lost in his own world.

"This is a drone, right! Why can this thing fly?"

...Xu Bai also breathed a sigh of relief when no accident occurred.

"Elder Sun, you and the Administrator please take a seat and wait for a moment. I'll have them tidy up."

After reassuring them, Xu Bai turned to the research assistants and Fang Mu and said, "Everyone, quickly tidy up. We'll go outside for testing soon."

"Okay."

They responded and immediately began tidying up.

Fortunately, Elder Sun didn't mind what had just happened. Everyone switched to work mode and immediately began gathering the items needed for the outdoor test.

After giving his instructions, Xu Bai walked back.

He found that Elder Sun and the Administrator had not sat down, but were standing together, looking at the drone.

"Xiaobai, how does this fly?"

This question was a bit broad. Xu Bai couldn't simply say that it flies because lift is greater than gravity.

Sometimes, what seemed like a simple question to Xu Bai was indeed incomprehensible to others.

When Xu Bai taught them to make cardss, they only worked on individual parts, and he didn't give them an overall explanation. Only Fang Mu knew a bit more, but it didn't involve too much of the theory.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Xu Bai cleared his throat, intending to start from the beginning.

"Elder Sun, look, I jump, but I always fall back down, right?"

Elder Sun and the Administrator both nodded.

"But why do I fall down and not stay in the air? Have you ever thought about this question?"

"So, I think I fall down because I am subjected to a force, a downward force, that makes me fall. As for how this force is generated, I speculate it's because the ground has an attractive force on objects on it. I call this force gravity."

"All objects on the ground are subjected to gravity, which is why we fall to the ground when we jump instead of floating in the air."

"How large is this force you speak of?"

"I believe its magnitude is related to the object's own weight and its gravitational pull (G = mg)."

Although the magnitude of gravity and an object's weight are often equated in spoken language, they are completely different in physical definition.

Xu Bai felt that he should be considered a scientist in this world now, so it was better to be careful with his words.