Chương 68: Bonus Story : The Kingdom's Phone : Part 7 : Alarms

Emma and Aldric resumed their walk.

"There's still one important app I haven't shown you." She opened an application displaying a clock.

"This one is called Clock." A large digital clock occupied almost the entire screen. The seconds continued ticking by.

"It never seems to make a mistake." In his former world, telling the time accurately was often a matter of approximation. Sundials became useless whenever the sky was overcast. Hourglasses had to be turned over regularly. Mechanical clocks were rare, expensive, and required constant maintenance. Even in royal palaces, they sometimes lost several minutes in a single day. Emma then swiped to another tab.

"But that's not its most interesting feature." A new page appeared. Several times were displayed, each accompanied by a small switch.

"What do these times represent?"

"These are alarms. If I want to wake up tomorrow at seven o'clock, all I have to do is set one." She turned on the switch.

"At exactly seven o'clock, the phone will ring to wake me up."

"Even if you're sleeping deeply?"

"Yes."

"Even if no one else is there?"

"Yes."

"It will wake you regardless."

"That's exactly its purpose."

"So this object stands watch while you sleep." In his kingdom, waking a king before a battle or a commander before an important march was a responsibility entrusted to a trusted servant. A single mistake could delay an entire army. Emma continued her demonstration.

"And I can create several of them." She added different times. 8: 30. Noon. 5: 00 p. m.

"Some people use one alarm to wake up, another to leave for work, and a third to make sure they don't forget an appointment."

"So they organize their entire day with this object."

"Many people do."

"What a remarkably reliable servant." Emma switched to another tab. A circle appeared in the center of the screen.

"This is called a timer." She selected a duration of thirty seconds before pressing the start button. The numbers immediately began counting down. 00: 29 00: 28 00: 27"This time, it isn't measuring the time that has passed. It's measuring the time that remains."

"Exactly." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"How ingenious. A cook can prepare a meal without constantly watching the time. A craftsman can work until the object warns him. An alchemist can devote himself to his mixture without fearing that he'll forget a step."

"That's exactly what it's for." Emma opened another tab.

"There's still one more feature." She pressed a button. The numbers immediately began racing upward. 00: 00. 14 00: 00. 37 00: 00. 59"This one moves much faster."

"It's a stopwatch."

"It measures the duration of an action with great precision."

"How precise?"

"Down to one hundredth of a second."

"One hundredth..." In his world, no one could have measured such an infinitesimal interval of time. The greatest swordmasters spoke of lightning-fast reflexes, scholars of fractions of time too small to perceive, yet no instrument offered such precision.

"So your world doesn't merely observe time. It measures it with a precision far beyond anything I ever believed possible." After spending several hours discovering new features on his phone, Emma suggested they take a break. They stepped into a bakery whose display cases overflowed with loaves of bread, pastries, and cakes. The scent of warm butter filled the air as several customers waited their turn. Aldric studied the shelves while Emma picked out two drinks and a few biscuits for their afternoon snack.

They then walked up to the counter. The cashier scanned their items before looking up at them.

"That will be nine euros and sixty cents." Aldric waited for Emma to open her bag. Since arriving on Earth, he had already used coins and banknotes. He now understood that people exchanged this money for goods, just as merchants did in his own world. Yet Emma reached for neither her wallet nor her purse. Instead, she took out her phone and held it near a small device sitting beside the register. A soft chime sounded. The terminal immediately displayed a message: Payment Accepted"Thank you very much.

Have a wonderful day," the cashier said.

"Thank you." Emma picked up the bag before leaving the bakery.

"I believe I've missed a step. You handed over neither coins... nor banknotes."

"That's right."

"And yet the shopkeeper gave you the goods. Then she thanked you. I must admit... I no longer understand." Emma couldn't suppress a smile.

"What is it that's confusing you?"

"I thought I understood your currency."

"Until now, every purchase involved an exchange. One person handed over money or a card. The other handed over the goods. Today... I only witnessed the second half of that exchange." They sat down on a nearby bench. Emma placed the paper bag between them before taking out her phone once more.

"Do you remember what I told you about banks?"

"People deposit their money there so it can be kept safe. And they can withdraw it whenever they need it."

"Exactly."

"What you just witnessed works because of the bank. Imagine an enormous ledger. Every person has a page bearing their name. Written on that page is all the money they own. When I held my phone near the payment terminal, it asked my bank whether I had enough money to pay."

"And the bank answered. It confirmed that you were allowed to make the purchase."

"Exactly."

"So the cashier received no coins."

"No."

"No banknotes."

"None at all. She simply received confirmation that my bank would transfer that amount to hers." In his own world, a merchant always inspected coins one by one before placing them into his strongbox. Money physically changed hands. Everyone could see it moving.

"Your world seems to enjoy making objects disappear. Your libraries now fit inside this device. So do your maps. Even your bells. And today, I discover that..."

"... even your wallet has become invisible. If someone steals this artifact from me... will they be able to use my money?"

"There are several layers of protection." She took her phone back, locked the screen, and held it out to Aldric.

"The simplest one is a passcode." A numeric keypad appeared. Emma entered a few digits, and the screen unlocked immediately.

"So anyone who doesn't know this combination cannot open the artifact."

"Exactly."

"Like an invisible key." This first safeguard seemed perfectly logical to him. In his kingdom, some doors could only be opened with a key, while others required a password known only to trusted officers. Here, the key seemed to have been replaced by a sequence of numbers known only to the owner. Emma locked the phone again. This time, she didn't touch any numbers. Instead, she placed her thumb against the screen, and it unlocked at once.

"What just happened?"

"It recognized my fingerprint."

"My fingerprint..."

"The patterns on every person's fingers are unique. The phone records them, then checks whether it's the same person trying to use it."

"So no two people ever have exactly the same fingerprint?"

"No."

"Not even two brothers?"

"That's right."

"Not even twins?"

"Not even twins." Emma locked the phone once more before holding it up in front of her face. The screen lit up. No numbers had been entered. No finger had touched the device.

"And this time?"

"It recognized my face."

"So it can distinguish every face... and refuses to obey anyone else. What an exceptionally vigilant sentry." All of these protections now made far more sense to him. This object had not been designed merely to make its owner's life easier. It had also been created to prevent anyone else from using what did not belong to them. The idea immediately reminded him of the royal treasuries he had known long ago.

They were built deep within fortresses, protected by multiple doors, guards standing watch day and night, heavy locks, and sometimes even secret passages known only to a select few. The more prosperous a kingdom became, the greater the effort it devoted to protecting its wealth.

"In the end... your world isn't so different from mine after all."