Sky-Trains/Rapidos

Written by Ken D

When the Old Folk were still in power, the Harbor was the main trade-center for Heimland. To bring in fresh resources from the neighboring Tagaloa, large black boats known as Steamers were used. And to make sure the trading-activities went smoothly, certain Folk would watch over the ships as they entered the Harbor. They watched them from the sky, from the view of Sky-Trains.

Utility

Rapidos were used mainly as surveillance to observe the things going on below. They were used by the Folk to travel across the skies of Heimland in safety and comfort. A Folk could take the nearest Rapido and reach the end of Heimland in a few hours. Rapidos were also used to observe all the activities going on in Heimland, and to scan for illegal doings.

Manufacturing

Rapidos were constructed of Ymirstuff (the same alloy used in Mechs and the gates of Thetmis and Disra) and were composed of 12 cuboid carriages each. Each carriage was 1 beam in length with sixteen wheels and 4 perpetual-motors (motors that pump fuel to the engines as long as the carriages moves) in each carriage. In total there were 48 perpetual-engines in one Rapido. These perpetual-engines absorbed Wild-Magic from the environment and pumped it into the nuclear-generators (six nuclear-generators in total) that refined the WM and fed it to the subnuclear-engines (with 96 subnuclear-engines in one Rapido).
Each carriage was built to hold 200 people (with 2400 passengers for one Rapido in total). Each carriage was filled with warm lighting, medical supplies and heaters which kept the carriages at fluctuating temperatures. The temperature of a carriage would change depending on the location from 20 to 22 °C (68 to 72 °F) in the North, 16 °C to 18 °C (61 to 64 °F) in the East, 1 to 30 °C (34 to 86 °F) in the South, 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F) in the West and a steady 25 °C (77 °F) in the central regions.
Rapidos, absorbing fuel from their surroundings, often had a backup fuel-pack in case the environment was not sufficient enough to extract fuel. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning were of primary concerns within the carriages. As such, circular glass windows (with 700 per carriage, 450 on each side) of 25 centimeters in diameter were built into the Rapidos to be opened or shut every few hours.
Rapidos ran on rails, metal tracks that floated in the air via magnetic pads built into their undersides. These floating rails were connected in a series like chains, and could connect or disconnect with each other at the push of a button. The rails were of utmost importance, as the Rapidos could not travel without them. It is said that the rails were powered by a mixture of Ellektreesitty and Wild-Magic.
It normally took 45 days to build a Rapido, and there was a network of 250 Rapidos functioning when the Folk were still around. Now only 20 are left today, hardly working at all.

Parent Technologies

• Nuclear-Magic

Inventor(s)

Hugo Asimov Popova who also invented the machines.

Access & Availability

Sky-Trains/Rapidos could only be accessed and used by the Folk, since the machines were constructed to reject biological-matter that did not match the genetic composition of the Folk. In other words, you couldn't enter a Rapido if you didn't have some Folk DNA in your blood. Those who tried to force themselves in were burnt with pulses of blue-fire (also known as "Ellektreesitty", an invention of the Folk).

Complexity

Rapidos are composed of subnuclear-engines powered by Nuclear-Magic. This is in turn powered by nuclear-generators powered by Wild-Magic. This dual-engine-system (DES) enabled the Rapidos to travel a top speed of over 900 miles per hour. And since each Rapido was 12 beams in length (with 1 beam being 8/10 of a mile), most Rapidos were about 10 miles in length. To board a Rapido, a Folk would have to wait at the trainstop (places where the Rapidos touched down to recharge their subnuclear-engines and to be repaired by working machines) for the next Rapido to come, and then pay a sum of 20 dollars (this was before the use of Stones). Rapidos were active all day for 90 hours, all day and all night. After the Folk vanished, this all changed.

Discovery

Rapidos were first used by the Folk as a mode of transportation to arrive to Heimland millions of years ago. Their use only diminished when the Folk vanished.