The Rehydrator
January 25, 2012
[2057] – 45 years later and Dr. Noah Montgomery is still as fanatical, unstable and nuts about his invention. Yes, he is slowly dying, however that does not stop him from absorbing the greatness of what the world is today. What is that you say? The microwave oven, but not just any microwave oven, a microwave that can instantly prepare a meal in the blink of an eye - literally. Dr. Noah Montgomery was very proud of that. It all began during the winter of 2012. Evan and Violet, Dr. Montgomery’s son and daughter always had an enjoyment of watching films with their friends and family. However, Dr. Montgomery never had the time or patience to sit down and watch a film with his kids. He was either too busy mastering his own formulas or watching the Science special on The Whiz Network.
December 17th, 2012 – Dr. Montgomery was snowed in and could not attend to his patients at the Hallow Medical centre, where he was a physician. His kids begged and pleaded him to sit down and watch a movie – there was no excuse for him now. They chose the film ‘Spy Kids’ that came out in 2001. Evan and Violet loved films with adventure and action, which this film seems to catch their attention, considering it was their first time watching it. Dr. Montgomery thought otherwise, he did anything but watch the screen. He was too busy writing down notes that seem to be a new formula. He kept yelling out “Bloody hell!” which he often said whenever he was unsatisfied or irritated. Evan turned around and noticed his father was not paying attention and instantly nudged him on his shoulder. He suddenly looked up at the screen, in trying to look interested to please his children. That was not the case of course. Evan then told his father to quit writing in his notebook and to watch the movie since they hardly ever bond together. A feeling of remorse came over Dr. Montgomery and he then put down his pencil and notebook. Although he was alert, he paid more attention to the screen than the actual movie. Scenes past by and all Dr. Montgomery could think of was his formula. However, a moment in his obscure thoughts, he had become suddenly interested in the movie. He marvelled at the television in wonder and in all fascination. He saw something that could be the most remarkable and challenging project he would ever work on. It was the instant food microwave oven called ‘Rehydrator’. He could not take his eyes off the television now. Both Evan and Violet stared at him in all curiosity, and questioned his strange behaviour. Dr. Montgomery then replied and said “I think I found the next big thing.”
Dr. Montgomery’s mind was corrupted by the thought of creating this fictional device. Although he was incompetent in terms of working with electronics and technology, that did not stop him from pursuing this exciting project. January, February, March and April – Dr. Montgomery did nothing but study and work on understanding technology and learning how a microwave oven is created and functions.
April 26th 2012 – Dr. Montgomery officially started his project. In order to understand the basis of the microwave oven, he learned that the device is used by microwave radiation to power polarized molecules within the food. However, Dr. Montgomery was not creating a microwave, since that has already been invented. He was creating a ‘Rehydrator’ as they called it, to instantly prepare a meal within a second; lasagne, a burger, spaghetti, and maybe even a roasted turkey! There was more to be done. The frustration and anxiety was building up until a moment of realization came over him. He was a Doctor – a physician to be exact. He knew he was capable of creating different medicines and formula’s, so he thought to himself; why not put his talent to use? He took out his notebook, opened it and began reading. “MONDOPHIL ACID” – It was made up of H20 which is water, SiO2 which is Silicon Dioxide and a touch of apple juice since he had accidently spilled it. This was possibly the breakthrough of Dr. Montgomery’s new invention. Dr. Montgomery sat down at his chair and began working.
12:45 am: I tested the microwave oven in the kitchen by pouring Mondophil Acid inside the stirrer of the microwave – Was very unsuccessful. It might be my insanity taking over.
12:57 am: I decided to create my own microwave oven with the pieces of my current one I just took apart 5 minutes ago. It has come to my realization that the microwave is made up of many, many parts. First off, there is a control section that consists of the timer and the high voltage power source. There is also a high voltage capacitor connected to a magnetron and the transformer which is then connected to the diode, which is a two-terminal electronically component – something new, I learned today as with everything else. A long with those parts, there is a cavity magnetron which enables microwave radiation powered by high voltage electrical energy. The rest of the microwave is basic, however still foreign to me.
1:20 am: I drew a diagram of what I would want the “rehydrator” to look like. To view this drawing, refer to the last entry of this diary.
1:25 am: It hit me that in order to make food in the rehydrator, food has to be initially prepared in some sort of way. I remembered in the movie, their food was in a package. I did not necessarily fancy that idea, but it does not hurt trying. I then took some particles of food and put them in a container, labelling each of them by their product. There were four; a bagel, spaghetti, French fries and a pickle. I started simple.
1:42 am: Holography – “A technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system (a camera or an eye) is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present. This was very helpful.
1:44 am: I was determined to test out the holography technique on a burger. I assembled the microwave – this time in my own version. That took about thirty five minutes. I was impressed.
2:19 am: I installed everything except for the control section, the diode, and instead of a cavity lamp, I replaced it with a laser, since lasers are controlled and have a fixed wavelength, as oppose to normal white lights which do not. This then serves as the hologram. I also installed transparent mirrors to each corner of the microwave inside, in which the laser light would bounce off from the mirror and reflect as a hologram. The beam splitter is as well installed, which enables the laser to undergo different elements and aim in different directions, thus illuminating the hologram.
2:50 am: It appears that I am stuck in a pickle. It is not scientifically possible to create edible food using a hologram. Therefore, I must continue working.
2:52 am: I am half-way complete in creating my rehydrator. I almost retired the night until I spotted my formula Mondophil Acid. I pondered on the thought that maybe, possibly this will be the breakthrough of this project. I could not wait any longer – I poured some of the substance in a small little tube I created on the side of the laser. I inserted the particles of the burger in the rehydrator then pressed the button.
2:55 am: Nothing.
3:00 am: I closed my eyes for 5 seconds. I opened them and decided to go with the initial packaging of the food. I put all the particles – and when I mean particles I mean crumbs or even tiny bits of the food - of the burger into an empty package of already made popcorn. Closed it up and inserted it in the rehydrator.
3:20 am: I pressed the button. It began to make noise and produced streaks of what seemed to look like lightning bolts. Evan then screamed my name in panic – I ran to see what was wrong.
3:30 am: Evan was fine. I quickly ran back to my lab. I slowly walked towards the machine in nervousness yet anticipation. I confronted the machine, clicked the button to open and observe.
3:32 am: The aroma of the burger spread throughout my lab. My fingers tingled, my taste buds watered – so did my eyes.
3:33 am: The rehydrator is born.
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