Welcome to Students Incorporated, a podcast exploring the topics of business, education,
technology and design.
I'm your host, Mr. Jason.
Join me weekly as my team and I produce content that's informative, positive, fun and uplifting.
Episodes include student conversations, interviews with thought leaders and inspirational stories
with an international flavor.
This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok.
Hello and welcome back.
I'm Mr. Jason and today I'm joined by our guest, Mr. Joe Run, a technologist who works
in the fields of AI and data science.
Then for segment two, we'll continue with part six of our story, The Secrets of El Dorado.
But before we get into segment one, let's get our quote of the day and hear some headline
news.
Our first story of the day comes from Smarty Pants, which is an AI powered chatbot Mr.
Jason created using OpenAI's LLM API.
We asked Smarty Pants to give us a quote about the impact that smart machines and AI have
on our lives.
So it's just talking about itself here.
Now here's what Smarty Pants said, artificial intelligence is not here to replace humans,
but to complement humans and enhance human abilities.
Together we can achieve unimaginable feats and create a future where a man and machine
can work seamlessly together in harmony.
This quote suggests that the relationship between humans and AI will be somewhat symbiotic
and highlights the potential for AI to augment and extend the range of human abilities rather
than serving as a replacement for human labor and thought.
It seems that Smarty Pants suggests that the integration of AI into various aspects of
life and work can lead to unprecedented levels of achievement, innovation, and efficiency.
Harmony suggests a future where humans and machines can collaborate and leverage each
other's strengths.
And that's our quote of the day.
Now onto some headline news.
With the rapid development of AI and concerns regarding it, the US and UK governments have
signed an MOU to develop rigorous testing for AI systems.
The joint collaboration between the UK's AI Safety Institute and the US's new AI organization
will exchange research information regarding AI testing and the capability of their technology
as well as sharing research on the capability of current and new AI technologies to further
both parties' understanding of AI.
Alongside both the US and UK's decision to regulate and restrict AI models, this agreement
will help determine which AI models pose a threat to national security.
On our next news, featuring special guests such as the CEO of OpenAI, Her Majesty Princess
Beatrice and Japanese Vice Minister for International Affairs, the annual AI for Good summit this
year on May 30th to May 31st in Geneva will focus on the topic of meeting the UN SDG goals
in time through the help of AI technology.
Through workshops, keynotes, discoveries and many more activities throughout the summit,
participants will be able to learn about how AI can be utilized for the betterment of life
on Earth and connect with like-minded individuals or leaders in the AI industry.
Onto our last news for today.
Microscope and OpenAI have announced plans of a supercomputer they are developing that
could cost up to $100 billion.
The supercomputer, named Stargate, would be the final part of a five-phase series of supercomputer
installations and could launch as early as 2028.
Stargate would have an astounding amount of computing power but would require several
gigawatts of power as a consequence of its power.
Microscope and OpenAI have considered nuclear power as a way of powering their supercomputer,
showing how much money and effort these companies are willing to sink in in order to further
their AI technologies.
And that ends our headline news.
We are back for our first segment and we have a special guest named Mr. Jaron with us today.
We will get to hear his journey into technology and then get into the topic of AI and where
the future may be heading.
Premi will get us started with our first question.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do for a job now?
Um, yeah, my name is Jaron.
I currently I am a director at CJ Express Group.
I run this technology innovation group at CJ.
We are working and building things related to data AI to help with the retail business.
Can you share with us what initially drew you into the field of technology and more
specifically into artificial intelligence and machine learning?
So I like to play with toys.
When I was younger I tried to break things and then it started off with when there was
basically I have to pick the screen that I have to attend during the college.
So that's when I picked the electric engineering.
So hoping that I could get to play with different kind of technology.
Over the course of time I guess my work has been related with my senior project.
I did something with the Eero network which at that time I don't even know what that
AI was about.
But it was interesting to see how I became right at the simple mathematical model and
the idea of learning using algorithms to learn from data and then evolve into something.
It becomes embedded everywhere in the application around us.
What have been some challenges you've faced so far in your career?
So I think it's at a different stage of my career right in the past if I were in the
technical.
Right now I'm more in the management.
When I was doing the technical most of the time I pretty much just try to pick up and
learn things so that I can work on the thing that I get assigned to do.
But when I become more doing more management I think a lot of the issues that I have to
deal with on a daily basis is a little bit more on trying to clear the blocker, try to
deal with different people issues, try to make sure that all the coordination is sorted
out.
It's just a different stage of your career where you have to deal with most of the time
I think eventually I guess the underlying thing is dealing with people.
That makes sense for sure.
And on the flip side as we've talked about challenges you've faced so far in your career,
what would you consider to be some of the achievements or milestones in your career
so far?
Achievement I guess is more about getting to learn new things and getting out of it.
One other thing that I kind of think might be the highlight of my career was pretty much
when I was working in the US as a part of a team to do IDF detection modeling to detect
fraud, basically people stealing somebody else's ID and then try to get tax return.
So we kind of saved the IRS which is basically the tax agency in the US, a number of millions
of dollars.
I think that was pretty much I would say that's the highlight.
The other part was pretty much when I came back to Thailand in 2016, I basically kind
of helped build the team, the data science team.
It was at that time it was quite early in Thailand to have that kind of capability.
We became sort of like a good brand, you know, a company that helped with the service.
We became better known among the people in the industry about like if you want to build
data like AI, then people know what service is about.
So those are probably two of the highlights that I had.
Along the data science field of what you talked about, what would you say are some common
misconceptions about AI and machine learning that you encounter?
Well, people probably get a lot from the movie, right?
AI could do everything for you, could solve everything.
I think that's a lot of my misconception, right?
You have to define the problem for AI to solve.
You have to provide the data on that specific domain for the machine learning to learn from.
So it's not like the ready, everything is automated, everything.
Most people still have that notion from the movie, right?
It can work a lot, it can do everything.
Yeah, for sure.
I do think that's definitely a misconception that we do see that most people still believe
in everyday life.
And moving on, what do you believe are some important ethical considerations in the development
and application of AI and machine learning?
Yeah, I think that AI technology is one of the technologies that deal with decision making.
So when you add AI and empower as part of your decision making, it sometimes could buy
at your decision.
For example, if you have a model where you want to give the loan to the people, right?
If your data has, say, for example, like a race or nationality, the data in the past
might tell you that, you know, like in the past majority of the people who got loan rejected
are the people who may be African-American, right?
If you use that type of data into your model, you're going to get a lot of respect.
And once the model sees that the person is African-American.
So that's the kind of thing that, you know, it's a buy-ass that could happen.
And even some of the application could be like, so for example, the diagnostic of cancer.
If you say you have a model that predicts that, yeah, this looks like this particular
skin, this piece of skin looks like a cancer, would you let that, you know, would you, if,
say, when you try to build it, you know, if the accuracy of the model say it's 80%, would
you just let the model tell you that this is, you know, 80% chance of being having a
cancer?
Or would you have it with the judgment of the people?
So I think how you use it come into play as well on how you manage the ethical of the
AI machine.
How do you see AI and machine learning transforming our everyday lives in the next five years?
I think it's already there, right?
That's kind of your life, right?
When you do a Google search, all the data that underlying is under the Google search
engine, it's pretty much, it's basically built by, you know, it's the machine learning
and AI is running behind it.
Or you take a picture and then you, you know, I think we tried one time, right?
We take a picture of a flower and then all of a sudden it just went out and then searched
for the name of the picture.
It's not also AI, right?
Autonomous driving, right?
You could drive a car, you let the car drive by itself, that's AI.
So it's already everywhere, right?
So I think the thing that will change in the next five years, I guess it's probably the
role of the new like all this GPT related thing, right?
Anything with language, anything with this new model that will become, make your search
for knowledge or understanding around the world become easier.
And also, it's going to give you a lot more to explore, I guess.
There's a lot more that you can do.
Yeah, for sure.
And I think it's like really impressive to think back to where we were, say, like five
years before and to see like how much we've come now.
And it's definitely an exciting age that we live in.
And how do you envision the future relationship between humans and machines involving, especially
in the workplace and in our personal lives?
It will become more interesting.
I guess the interaction of people, human and everything will become more intertwined.
I still hardly imagine that, you know, soon you'll be talking to a bot that could answer
or have a character, just like the thing that you've seen in the movie, right?
Kind of like, you know, whatever that is.
A dog can speak, a robot dog can speak.
The intelligence, the thing that could interact with you around.
So you were saying how soon intertwined technology would be with humans.
Are there any emerging technologies or innovations within AI and machine learning that excite
you the most and why?
Yeah, I think that GBT thing is quite exciting.
I think in general, I'm just hoping to see more on how this becomes part of your life,
right?
And I'm still waiting to see how the sum of those augmented reality, all these meta worlds
come to play.
I think it's been quite a hype last year, but I haven't seen anything materialized yet.
I guess it's because of probably the infrastructure readiness is not there.
But yeah, I think the current general class of what we call this generative AI, right?
Chat, GBT, all this thing that could generate, you know, and could convert text to image
to video or could either convert video into text, whatever that is translation.
I think this is actually how you utilize it and application of this is actually quite
an exciting area.
Yeah, for sure.
I think generative AI or like especially like the different mediums of information that like
technology has allowed information to be processed by the different mediums is definitely very
exciting.
And finally, usually like to end our segments by seeking advice from our guests.
So our last question for you is, what advice would you give to young professionals or students
who are aspiring to enter the field of AI and machine learning?
We're going to be living in a world where all this embedded robot or embedded Internet
ends around you, right?
You probably will.
When you go to school, you definitely will get to learn all this outside.
It's by different kind of things, you know, calculus, statistics, programming, these are
the three core at least subject if you're going to be doing anything with AI machine
learning.
But at the same time, don't forget that you need to learn how to communicate, right?
The soft skill, how you learn about the society, how you understand the psychology, because
everything at the end of the day, what if you're going to be in this area or whether
you're going to be in this area or not, right?
What you should try to understand is what would this type of technology would have an
implication in your life, right?
Because it changed the way people live.
It definitely is going to change the people how individually will live.
But when you look at it as a whole, it will change the whole, how it will shape the whole
society as well.
So how would that affect every piece of things?
Those are the kind of areas.
I think, you know, as you progress in your career, in your study, I think it's interesting
type of questions that you want to explore because one way or the other, it will definitely
affect your life.
And you want to always be prepared, right?
How you navigate this change of basically the technological impact.
So this will be something I would definitely highly recommend that, you know, don't forget
anything about soft skills, communications related stuff that you should explore so that
it will make you well rounded.
Sure.
Thank you so much for that insightful advice.
And thank you so much again for joining us on our show.
And that ends segment one of this episode.
Stick around as we continue with part six of our story, The Secrets of El Dorado.
Part six is titled The Underground Network.
We'll be right back after this short PSA.
Attention all high school students.
Don't miss out on the opportunity to support your fellow classmates at the upcoming High
School Tri-Sport Eagles Night.
Come out and cheer for our talented athletes as they compete in basketball, soccer and
volleyball.
Join us this Friday from four to six p.m. in the arc to show your school spirit and
help lift our athletes to victory.
Let's fill the stands with the sheers, high fives and positive energy to help our team
succeed.
So grab your friends or your school colors and come be a part of the excitement at the
High School Tri-Sport Eagles Night.
Let's show our support for the hard work and dedication of our ICS athletes.
We'll see you there.
We are back for our second segment and we will continue with part six titled The Underground
Network.
But first, Rebecca will give us a quick recap from our last episode.
In the previous episode, we find Ethan and Professor Hawthorne on Rob's Peak.
Their day out exploring three separate old gold mines revealed several significant findings,
which included an unknown element from mine site number three.
Their discoveries hint at a hidden connection between the old mines, the manuscript Professor
Hawthorne has and Chen's handwritten note.
Meanwhile, at the reservoir, Sierra and Ava overhear a suspicious conversation from a
secret group of people that seem to be important.
Staying out of sight, they attempt to discreetly capture a photo of the group while recording
the group's conversation.
However, their spying takes a turn for the worse with the top of the picnic table they
were standing on breaks with a loud noise.
Sierra and Ava have to quickly hide before being seen.
Thank you, Rebecca.
And without further ado, let's get back into our story where we join Ava, Lily, Sierra,
Ethan and the Professor.
We're back with Ava and Sierra having left off as the top corner of the picnic table
they were standing on broke with a loud cracking noise.
The people in the meeting room go immediately silent, now aware that someone is outside
possibly listening to their entire conversation.
Ava and Sierra quickly pick themselves up off the ground and run to the backside of
the small building which faces the spillway side of the dam.
There is a short five foot drop off to a narrow ledge which runs along the entire length of
the top of the dam.
Below this narrow ledge is a 60 foot drop off almost straight down to the bottom of
the spillway.
Without thinking, they quickly and carefully climb down onto the narrow ledge.
They did this to hide from whoever was coming out of the building to see what the noise
was.
The girls have to be careful not to slip.
If they did, they would fall straight down to their death.
Thankfully, the wind is light and the ledge is dry.
They press their bodies firmly against the side concrete.
Ava breathes heavily, catching her breath.
Her feet are firmly planted on the ground and she looks at Sierra.
Look at Sierra, she thinks to herself.
Don't look down, don't look down, don't look.
Suddenly, Ava hears the sound of the people in the meeting scurrying as they walk around
above them and around the building, stretching for the source of the noise.
Sierra presses her fingers to her lips, signaling to Ava to be quiet.
She also hopes Ava knows that they have to be super still and careful not to fall as
their backs and hands are pressed up against the exposed side of the spillway.
Sierra grabs Ava's hands and squeezes it, almost as if saying, We can do this together,
just hold on and don't move.
As Ava and Sierra stand there in silence and not moving for what seems like forever, they
suddenly hear some voices from up above, not for their whip, maybe from the small parking
lot.
Didn't the visuals in the meeting sound like they're all getting into their cars, starting
their engines and driving away?
Ava looks at Sierra next to her and mouths, or my car.
Meanwhile, Professor Hawthorne and Ethan had wrapped up their time on Robb's Peak by
exploring all three old gold mine sites.
They had been on the mountain longer than intended as it was now getting dark.
However, the day wasn't a total bust as the professor had made an interesting discovery
in the third mine.
So he thinks.
After making their way back where the professor had parked his Bronco, they decided to take
the south road back to town, even though it will take an extra 30 minutes.
The south route back to town runs right by the reservoir where Ethan's tracking device
shows Lily to be, and where Ava and Sierra most likely are as well.
Professor Hawthorne tells Ethan, If your tracking device shows that Lily is still at the reservoir
by the time we get there, let's stop and meet them.
Maybe we can regroup and catch up on what's been happening.
While driving back, Ethan keeps an eye on his device screen, which shows him that the
device he put in Lily's backpack is still located at the reservoir.
Ethan also notices that the vehicle behind them has been following them since they left
the mountain.
Ethan thinks to himself, could this vehicle be following us?
Ethan's not sure if Professor Hawthorne notices the car, but decides to keep it to himself,
especially when the professor turns into the reservoir access road and the car behind them
continues straight.
The car does not follow the professor and Ethan onto the reservoir access road, which
leads to a parking lot by the dam.
However, Ethan turns around and looks south the backside window as they turn onto the
access road to get a look at the car behind them as it passes by.
Ethan notices that it is black and dark blue and has a different style license plate than
a standard California tag.
Finally, Professor Hawthorne and Ethan reach the reservoir parking area by the dam and
spilled way.
According to Ethan's calculations and his tracking software, this was the area Lily
was to be.
The professor steers his Bronco into the small parking area and parks it near the small building
next to the dam and spillway.
Meanwhile, Sierra tilts her head, eyes silently questioning Ava whether they were ready to
try and climb out of this position somehow.
But first, they needed to figure out if the people were gone.
Ava gives her a thumbs up, naughty.
Okay, phew, that was close.
We can talk now, I think they're gone.
Let's…
Ava is cut off by the word of a car engine that seemed to just enter the parking lot.
Sierra feels chills down her spine.
Oh no, she thought they were safe with the people being gone.
One of the cars must have come back.
Sierra takes a deep breath before succumbing to the silence again.
They must be quiet.
Ava and Sierra hold their breath as they hear footsteps approaching, crushing the gravel
in the parking lot, louder and louder.
They do not hear voices at first, but as the mysterious people get closer, they're able
to make out what they were saying.
Something about mines and gold, something about drones.
Ava's eyebrows scrunched.
Who are these people?
The voices sound familiar.
Sierra, as it turns out, has been trying to do the same thing, figuring out who the people
were.
Suddenly, Sierra whispers to Ava, I think that's Ethan and the professor.
I think you're right, Ava whispers back with a smile.
Taking a chance, Sierra shouts out, Ethan?
Professor?
We're stuck over here, on the ledge over the spillway.
We can't get up ourselves.
Can't you help us get up?
Ethan asks the professor if he hears them.
Do you hear that, professor?
Ethan says to the professor.
The voices sound familiar.
In fact, it sounds like Sierra.
Professor Hawthorne looks over at Ethan and says, I do hear that, but I can't tell where
it's coming from.
Follow me, Ethan says.
It's coming from that building.
Ethan walks towards the small building, which sits next to the dam of the professor.
They both notice a broken picnic table along one of the sides of the building and then
hear Sierra's voice once again calling out.
Hey guys, we are down here, on the ledge, Sierra says again with confidence as she is
sure she recognizes Ethan's voice since she works for him every day in the cafe.
Ethan cautiously moves around the backside of the building, which overlooks the spillway
and includes a drop off that goes straight down almost 60 feet.
Ethan looks down and sees both girls looking up at him.
Professor, they're here, Ethan says to the professor as the professor rounds the corner
of the building to where Ethan is standing.
Professor Hawthorne immediately freezes as he is looking down at both Sierra and Ava,
who are standing pressed against the ledge wall with a 60 foot drop beneath them.
The following questions enter the professor's mind.
How did they get themselves into this position?
And more importantly, why did they climb down there?
That seems like a very foolhardy thing to do.
How are they going to get out if we didn't show up?
And most importantly, how are they going to get out safely?
Well, we found two of them.
Ethan whispered to Professor Hawthorne not wanting Sierra and Ava to hear him.
The professor nods back and says, we need to help them up before they slip and fall.
This is a very dangerous situation and I don't want it to end up tragically.
The professor goes on, we must not panic.
I mean, I must not panic.
We can't have them falling.
The professor looks down at Sierra and Ava and says, can you turn around on the ledge
slowly and reach your hands up to Ethan and I?
We will grab your hands and pull you up one by one.
Make sure you hold on to our hands really firmly, okay?
Get a strong grip and we'll do the rest.
Professor Hawthorne instructs the girls and Ethan, making sure his voice is level and
calm or at least calm enough.
Do you want me to go first, Ava?
Sierra asked before she remembers.
Oh, you're scared of heights, aren't you?
What's best for you?
If you go first or if I do, I'm good with anything.
Uh, Ava hesitates internally telling herself to absolutely not look down.
I'm too scared to move right now.
Is it okay?
Can you go first?
Sure, of course.
Sierra shoots Ava a reassuring smile before making sure she's pressed against the ledge.
Sierra slowly and carefully turns herself around so she is now facing the wall, pressed
up against it firmly with both her arms raised up.
With her hands and part of her arms reaching slightly above the edge of the ledge, she
is thinking that safety is only seconds away.
She looks up at the professor and Ethan who are standing right above her and says, I'm
ready.
Pull me up.
Ethan raises two pairs of arms, hoist Sierra up.
Sierra looks confident, gripping onto the arms and holding on tight.
Ava feels her heart in her throat.
A blink of an eye later, Sierra is out of sight, safely off the ledge and topside.
Her heart beats even more fiercely.
Your turn, Ava.
Are you ready?
Ethan shouts out.
No, Ava screams inside her head.
Instead, she croaks a smile.
Okay.
She hears her rapid breathing and in a distance, she hears Sierra shouting words of encouragement.
She follows what she saw Sierra do earlier.
Turn around slowly and cautiously raise her arms, hands and arms up high.
Ready?
All right.
The professor says, hold on tight.
Ava swallows, channeling all her remaining strength to hold on.
She lets out a scream as she feels her feet being lifted off of the ground.
Her feet dangle in the air now.
In the realization, she panics.
Ah, she screams.
And in the haze, as all logic and reason slip into pure fright, faintly you registers her
sweaty palms slipping away from the grip, slowly, slowly, slowly, slipping away into
Ava's sides back down on the ledge, her feet barely catching again.
Ooh, that was too close for comfort.
Let's try that again, Ava.
Only this time, dry the palms of your hands off and your pants first.
We got you, professor says.
Sierra can only imagine what was going on on the other side of the ledge.
Remembering how scared Ava can be with heights, she remembers the technique their friends
use when Ava panicked.
Ava, stop!
Sierra yells out.
She hopes this would snap Ava out of her panic.
Calm down.
Listen to me, okay?
Breathe in.
One, two, three.
Breathe out.
One, two, three.
Okay, good.
Stay with me, Ava.
Ava breathes in and out, focusing on following what Sierra tells her to do.
She ignores the sensation of being in air, rising up and up in the possibility of what
could have happened.
No, don't think about that.
She scolds herself, instead focusing on Sierra's clear voice, instructing her to breathe in
and out.
Breathe in and out.
You can open your eyes now, Ava, Sierra says.
Good job.
We're alive.
Ava takes a deep breath and opens her eyes to see her standing in front of Sierra.
She can tell that her feet are firmly planted on the ground once again.
She tackles Sierra into a hug, thanking her for her calm voice and encouragement.
She also thanks Ethan and the professor for their steady hands and for showing up when
they did.
Professor Hawthorne says, I'm really, really glad Ethan and I found you out here tonight
and that everything went well.
Otherwise, I don't know if I would have been able to live with what thankfully didn't happen.
Ethan agrees and is standing there in silence as he's coming down from the adrenaline rush
that still palming through his veins.
Alright, he glances back again to check that Sierra and Ava are safe and says, is Lily
on the ledge as well?
I didn't see her.
Sierra's eyes grow wide.
What do you mean, Professor?
Lily's not with us.
Ava is still a little shaken from earlier but manages to ask, wait, why did you think
Lily was with us?
Professor Hawthorne looks at Ethan as if expectantly.
A few seconds later, Ethan feels the gaze of Sierra and Ava on him too.
Uh, he says, I can explain.
In a few words, he explains how the day before he had slipped one of the small paper clip
tracking devices into Lily's bag without thinking much about it.
He only wanted to test out the range of the device since they agreed that Lily would go
to the college and Ethan and the Professor would go to Rob's Peak.
He then went on to tell them how later on, he received a notification from the tracking
device once he had gotten service on the mountain.
The notification from his tracking software showed Lily's location to be here at the
reservoir.
Ethan then said that he told the Professor about it and that they both then assumed that
Lily must be with Ava and Sierra at the same place.
Together Sierra and Ava, ohhhhh, in understanding.
Before Sierra asks, so where is Lily then?
Does your software show she's here somewhere?
Ethan pulls out his phone and opens up his tracking software and a map of the area around
the reservoir appears.
The map shows a blinking red dot showing Lily's location.
Ethan then says while pointing to the map on the device screen, hmmm, according to the
tracking device, Lily is here a little to our right.
They all glance up to the right, following Ethan's line of sight.
The small utility building that the people had been in earlier stood there.
Ava, feeling much better now, rushes to the metal doors to enter into the small building.
The others follow.
Alright, we should be safe to go in, Ava says.
As Ava said, Ava pushes the metal doors as they slowly creak to open.
Together the group moves into the small space, which is now only dimly lit by the moonlight
coming in through the small side of the half window.
They quickly scan through while calling out Lily's name.
Lily, where are you?
Are you in here?
Ava says with some hesitancy as she looks around.
Ava recognizes the meeting table and the chairs that had been used up earlier by the secret
group who was meeting in the first place.
She also spots the chair that the mysterious person sat in, the one whose face they couldn't
see because of the angled window.
With every growing second, Sierra's worry grows.
Where could Lily possibly be, she thinks to herself.
The room is small, no other doors or spaces to hide, just a square room with some utility
panels on the wall and the table and chairs.
Lily was obviously not in the small room.
Sierra thinks to herself.
This doesn't make any sense.
Maybe the tracking device is not working properly or maybe Lily is there around the building
somewhere and can't hear them.
What if she's unconscious?
Or worse, what if she is…
Sierra's thoughts spiral down and she knows it.
This often happens when she's worried or anxious.
There's got to be a switch that turns on the light, she thinks.
Now where can that be?
She whispers to herself.
She fumbles against the wall until her hand finds the switch.
The light flickers on thanks to the one fluorescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling above
the table.
Now scan the room for anything that could tell you where Lily is.
She sees it, Lily's backpack.
She sees the backpack sitting on the floor in the back corner of the room and quickly
walks over to it and picks it up.
Lily's backpack, Ethan exclaims.
Ethan walks over to Sierra who is holding the backpack and reaches into the side blocking
and says, here it is.
This is the tracking device I put in yesterday.
It works just fine.
Where's Lily though?
Sierra's voice shakes a little as she looks up at the others who are standing there.
Eva is still squinting from the bright fluorescent lights as she says, Lily's not here but
her backpack is here.
Eva frowns, her mind immediately piecing together the puzzle.
Oh no, the people who are meeting in here have her, all the Chen.
We heard them talking about it and recorded it.
Hold on, what people from before?
Professor Hawthorne takes a step back.
Eva explains how they saw the government issued cars and they heard voices eavesdropping on
a secret meeting between several people.
The picnic table, the loud noise from the broken picnic table, the people coming out
to investigate and why she and Sierra had to be rescued from the ledge.
Oh wow, the professor says, I was going to ask you both how you ended up on that steep
ledge but got caught up worrying about Lily and if she had fallen.
And now everything has just happened so fast, it's starting to make some sense now.
Do you remember what they were saying?
Were you able to see who they were?
Even us?
He had been quiet for a while, thinking about the day's events and wondering how compared
to today, yesterday had been so uneventful.
Eva nods, she then glances over at Sierra, Sierra could not stop pacing back and forth
in her worry for Lily.
Eva touches Sierra's shoulder saying, Sierra I know you're worried, we all are, but right
now freaking out isn't going to help.
How about we play the recordings we took and then maybe their conversation will tell us
where they could have taken Lily and possibly Chen too.
Sierra nods and sits down on one of the chairs at the table, the others do the same.
Alright, Eva says, pulling up the recording app and suddenly feeling a shot of gratitude
for having thought to record the conversation before pressing play.
Here we go, this is what we heard.
Professor Hawthorne looks down at the table as he listens intently to the recording.
He then looks up and freezes when he hears a very familiar voice and blurt out, no way.
Eva pauses the recording, asking what?
That's Professor Sharpton from the science department at the college, where at least
that sounds just like him.
In fact, I'm sure it's his voice.
I'd put money on it, Professor Hawthorne explains.
Sierra exchanges glances with Eva, before both of them respond, oh, that's why.
No wonder they thought that voice sounded familiar when they heard it.
They had run into Professor Sharpton two days ago while looking for Chen at the college.
Both Sierra and Eva now realize this is the man who was sitting in the chair below the
window and whose face they were not able to see.
This was Professor Sharpton's.
Professor Hawthorne could not believe his ears, quite literally.
Dumbfounded, he says, what?
There's no way.
He's one of my oldest friends at the college.
He's the chair of the science department.
We've worked together for years.
This is impossible.
This has got to be a mistake.
I just can't believe it.
Professor Hawthorne explains, his voice getting louder and louder into a shout.
Professor, Eva says, turning to face him.
I understand your disbelief, but why are you defending him?
What do you mean by that, Eva?
Professor Hawthorne asks.
Why do you refuse to believe he's involved in this?
It's clearly his voice.
It's almost like you're trying to defend him, Eva rushes, feeling the adrenaline the
way she usually does when she's on the brink of another discovery.
What else are you hiding, Professor?
What?
Where is this coming from?
What would I have to hide?
Professor Hawthorne says, overwhelmed with the thought of one of his closest work colleagues
being mixed up with something like this, lying, kidnapping, and who knows what else.
Eva, calm down a little, Sira says, before turning to the professor, gently explaining
what Eva was getting at.
Yesterday at the cafe, you brought the manuscript with you and you could have just easily given
the manuscript to Lily.
We knew the way to Rob's Peak, so you didn't really need the map.
We were thinking about why you wanted to take the manuscript with you there.
Right, and if your bag hadn't fallen on the ground with its contents spilling out,
would you have shown us the manuscript?
Besides, why did you have the manuscript with you in the first place, Eva asks one question
after another.
Eva and Sira, you can't possibly be suggesting that Professor Hawthorne is a part of whatever
this is, are you?
Eden asks.
Silence fills the room.
They were all looking at each other.
Here, I can vouch for him.
If he didn't want us to know that it was Starb Tend who was speaking on the recording,
he wouldn't have mentioned the name in the first place, right?
Besides, on our way here, he was calling his sheriff to report Chen's disappearance.
If he was involved in Chen's and now Lily's disappearance, he wouldn't have done that,
would he?
Oh, Eva says quietly, before turning to the professor.
Professor, I'm really sorry for accusing you of being involved in that.
I know that when I get heated, I tend to jump to conclusions, even though my job is all
about finding evidence before making any claims.
Though it's always been in my nature to be skeptical of everything and just about everyone
too.
Still though, I'm working on it.
Sorry again, Professor.
That's okay, Eva.
I can understand from your perspective.
The professor says before realizing something, hold on.
Is that why you and Sira didn't tell us you were exploring the reservoir today?
Because you were suspicious of me?
Eva exchanges glances with Sira before admitting yes to the professor's question.
That was the reason why Eva responds.
Hmm, I see.
And that makes sense, I suppose.
Hopefully I've earned your trust by now, and I haven't forgotten that you do work for
the bee and assume you are working on a story as we speak.
The professor responds.
Eva quickly changes the subject and asks,
Ethan mentioned you called the sheriff's office to report Trin's disappearance.
How did that go?
The professor responds, well, to be honest, he didn't seem to be troubled by it.
Almost like it was no big deal.
By contrast, our town had a missing persons case last fall when a woman went missing for
about a week or so.
The sheriff's department was all over it within 24 hours followed up by a daily news
briefings as they coordinated with the mayor's office.
The woman was finally located safe and sound at one of her family's homes outside the
county.
It turns out it was all a big misunderstanding.
So to answer your question, the sheriff's response was not what I expected.
Maybe he's just being a little cautious so as not to repeat another media blitz without
proof.
He listened and jotted down the information I gave to him about Chen and then thanked
me.
Said he would look into it.
That was it.
Honestly, I'm not even surprised, Sierra says.
I'm only worried this means that Chen, whoever he is, isn't getting the help he needs.
And now what about Lily?
According to what we heard from this group meeting here, they both have been taken.
Sierra continues, Professor, should we call the sheriff back and ask if we can come see
him and bring the recording this evening?
We need to report Lily's disappearance now as well in the evidence what we heard and
saw.
It all points to something larger, something that doesn't really make sense.
Ava and I took several photos of the group's license plates earlier.
We could give the sheriff all of our findings and let them handle it from here on out.
Ava could tell Professor Hawthorne was thinking as he did not respond to Sierra's question
right away.
So she offered another option that may allow them to gather more proof information without
tipping anyone else off.
Ava had very much gone into her investigation zone and was secretly wanting this unfolding
mystery to be big.
She was concerned for the two missing people, but she did not know them personally.
So much of her motivation was taken or was driven by the need to solve this mystery and
write a great set of articles for the beef.
Ava speaks up before Professor Hawthorne could respond to Sierra's question.
Or we could wait until tomorrow to contact the sheriff.
This would give me time to have my colleague at the B look up the license plates we took
photos of tonight.
It seems that people meeting here tonight assumed there would be no other people here.
Otherwise, they would have probably chosen a different location and not have driven their
own cars.
What do we know so far?
Sierra interjects, Chen and Lily are missing, presumed kidnapped by this group or someone
associated with this group.
And Professor Sharpton was in the meeting tonight and did not sound very happy.
Ethan then chimes in, Lily was going to the science lab at the college earlier today to
work on the formula Chen had written on his notes of Professor Hawthorne.
The same lab that Professor Sharpton oversees, and there are two sets of coordinates that
lead to two different locations that seem to be connected somehow.
The reservoir and Rob's Peak and the coordinates were coded using the old Chinese telegraphic
code system.
We seem to be missing something, something that connects these things together.
The professor had been looking up at the half window as he was listening to the group's
conversation, still thinking and contemplating on what to do regarding Chen and now Lily's
disappearance.
He is still very upset at what he had heard on the recording and especially knowing that
the voice he recognized was Professor Sharpton.
It sounded sinister and dark, a tone in the voice of Professor Sharpton that Hawthorne
had never heard before.
Professor Hawthorne looks back down at the group and it interjects,
Ethan, you forgot that we discovered something in mine site number three today on Rob's Peak.
Something that I had never seen before around here, a substance in the rock face.
And the padlock was cut, which gave us access to enter the mine, which is usually not the
case.
I also noticed other footprints in the dirt, and they seemed fairly recent.
Maybe just a coincidence?
I think not.
We should consider that all this is connected somehow.
As the professor is still talking, he pulls out the manuscript and spreads some of its
pages onto the table in front of the group.
As the professor is thumbing through different pages of the manuscript, Ethan looks around
with a slight smirk on his face and says,
Guys, it's kinda weird how we're having our own sacred meeting in the same room the
other group had their secret meeting a minute ago.
So weird, it's like the bad guys meeting and the good guys meeting.
Ava glances at Ethan with a smile and says, Yup, definitely gonna use that in my story.
Ava then asks the professor, what are we looking for in these manuscripts pages?
Before answering Ava's question, the professor says, I think they closed the reservoir's
access road gate at midnight, so we need to hurry as it's already almost 1130.
The professor sends a quick text message to his wife, letting her know he is still out
and will be coming home soon, not wanting to alarm her of what the group had discovered.
He leaves out all the details and why he will be later than what he had told her earlier.
The professor then looks up at the group and says, Ok, the manuscript is not that long,
about 120 pages or so.
If we divide up the pages, it'll go a lot faster.
And if I remove the pages that contain irrelevant lists of materials and supplies, the local
shops carried at that time, and the drawn maps of the three mines on Rob's Peak, then
we are down to about 80 pages total.
So let's divide up the remaining 80 pages, 20 pages or so, give or take, for each person
and go from there.
The professor continues, scan each page as quickly as possible.
We are looking for anything that seems out of the ordinary, information that may seem
important to what we already know, like formulas, mentions of minerals or substances, gold or
names and or places we don't already know about.
I looked at this manuscript several years ago, but I didn't study it thoroughly enough
at that time to remember every detail.
So with the knowledge we already have, it's important we look for more clues in these
pages.
There's a reason this was never published and maybe we can discover why.
The group gets to work.
A short while later, Cira speaks up.
I think I found something interesting.
At least as interesting to me as I've not heard of this before and I grew up in Cloma.
Cira puts the page on the table and points to the paragraph in the middle of the page
and says, this paragraph has mention of a network of tunnels in and around Sutter's
Mill.
It also states that these tunnels were used to store significant amounts of gold that
was discovered during the height of the gold rush in 1849.
Cira continues, this information is contained in only two sentences on this page and the
ink is quite faded.
I mean, at least I think that is what the sentences say.
Someone else can check the writing and see if that is what is actually written there.
Ava grabs the page and looks at the paragraphs Cira is pointing to and says, yep, that's
what it says.
This just got even more interesting.
Kidnapping, the secret group, and now a network of tunnels.
I grew up in Cloma as well and I've never heard of this network of tunnels.
Very interesting to say the least, Professor Hawthorne responds.
If this is true, which I have no reason to believe otherwise, my guess is that someone
does not want these tunnels to be discovered.
I've never heard of these tunnels either, nor have I heard of anyone at the college
having knowledge of these tunnels.
Ethan speaks up, I may have found a connection to the Chinese symbols that were used on Transno
on the margin of one of the pages on the manuscripts etched into the walls of the mine.
Really?
The professor asks.
Ethan goes on, this page mentions that there were two brothers from China who came to America
around 1847, maybe to work on a railroad or to be day laborers of some sort.
Ethan continues, the next paragraph reveals that the two brothers from China who found
work under the supervision of a man called James W. Marshall.
Mr. Marshall, so it seems, was tasked with building a sawmill near a river from the property
of a man named Johan A. Sutter.
Ethan stops for a moment and looks up at the group and then continues, my assumption is
that the river mentioned is the American River as we know it, which runs right through the
heart of Colombo, and the sawmill mentioned is Sutter's Mill, where the first gold was
discovered.
Okay, this is starting to make a lot more sense, the professor says.
This information is not known to any of the historians who have studied and published
books about the Great Gold Rush.
It's not my expertise, but I have read some of those books.
The two brothers from China, a network of tunnels, only one of the three mine sites
that seemed to produce gold, the golded Chinese characters, but how does this connect to the
reservoir then?
Also I found a substance in one of the shafts of the third mine that I couldn't identify.
I collected a small sample, I need to get it tested.
Eva jumps in with something she found, this page I have must come after one of Ethan's
questions, as it also mentions some information about the two Chinese brothers.
This paragraph says that the two brothers, after they found gold flakes discovered at
their sawmill building site, the two brothers built a small cabin on Rob's Peak overlooking
the valleys below.
It goes on and says that between the work contracts, the two brothers would spend a
lot of time on Rob's Peak.
Maybe they were hoping to strike a bridge as well so they wouldn't have to keep working
for someone else, Ethan says.
The professor then interjects, and at that time back then, this reservoir did not exist.
The place where we are now sitting was part of the valley region.
This dam, the spillway, and this reservoir lake was not here.
This all came about after the gold rush.
However, during the gold rush, these valleys were full of makeshift campsites, worker camps,
mining camps, which held all sorts of logistical materials and supplies that the gold rushers
needed and used while looking for gold.
And many of these camps were supported and run by the foreigners.
Many of the workers in these camps came here after working on the railroad crews, many
of which were from China, and they weren't treated well, as some of the other pages in
this manuscript describe.
Professor Hawthorne looks at his watch and says, we need to pack up and leave as it's
almost midnight.
The gate will be locked and we won't be able to drive out of here.
Ava looks around the room and asks, what next?
What's our plan?
I mean, we've got some valuable new information, two people missing, and we also may be in
danger now.
The professor looks directly at Ava, then Sierra, and then Ethan and says, as of now
and with this new information, I am not going to tell the sheriff yet about Lily's disappearance.
My previous interaction with the sheriff about Chen being missing is not sitting right with
me.
So for Chen and Lily's sake, and for our own sake, don't tell anyone what we've talked
about tonight.
Let's meet at Ethan's cafe right when it opens tomorrow morning.
Ethan, can we meet by the back door in the alley and then meet in your office?
Add a view of the customers in the cafe?
We need to be discreet and plan our next moves carefully, as I feel Chen and Lily's lives
might depend on it.
Sir, Ethan replies, come about 15 minutes before opening time at 6.45am and I can let
you through the back door.
Knock three times in a row like this.
Ethan then demonstrates how they should knock on the back door by knocking on the table
they are sitting around.
Sierra looks around and says quietly and a little nervously, cool, we have a secret knock
now.
She then clears her throat and adds, I'll take Lily's backpack with me.
As the group gets up from the table, turns out the light, exits the small room and closes
the metal door.
Eva is quietly thinking to herself of how she can contact Ted tonight and ask for another
favor.
It's a big favor and it's really late.
This favor will involve Ted having to use his contact at the San Francisco FBI office.
Eva really wants to know who the other people were at the bad guy meeting which took place
earlier that evening.
After all, she has photos of some of their license plates and a recording of their voices.
Little does Eva know that the bad guy also has a photo of her license plate.
And that ends part six.
Thank you for listening.
Tune in next episode as we continue with part seven titled Revelations and Connections.
As we end this episode, we'd like to thank Mr. Turan again for coming on the show and
sharing about his journey and work within the technology world.
And as always, this podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our Internet
National Student Production Team.
All music and sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay.com, a vibrant community of creatives
sharing copyright free images, videos, and music.
And we are signing off until next time.
We are your Students Incorporated, because your voice matters.