“Welcome to the WonderDome, Myra.”

The Museum of Human Ingenuity has always fascinated me. It’s so different from anything else I’ve ever seen, and I literally fly to school in a jet pack. Yeah, that’s right, a jet pack. See, my mom, Annika,  is a world famous inventor. (She’s the one who invented the jet pack.) Annika’s absolutely amazing, and recently, she was offered a chance to showcase some of her designs in the museum. That’s why, on Saturday, May 17, 2122, I found myself staring at the very building that I’ve always been mesmerized by. 

What’s so special about the museum? Well, I’m glad you asked! The museum has all of today’s most fascinating and unique human achievements on display. It’s a huge, sprawling palace of glass domes and spiraling towers. Oh, and it’s in the sky. The museum is the world’s first floating building, anchored to the ground by strings of diamond wire. It’s got full hologram travel, and thousands of WonderDomes, rooms that can run basically any type of holo-program imaginable. You can be given a tour through the aviation exhibit by Amelia Erheart, or have quantum physics explained by Albert Einstein. The world in all of it’s digital glory becomes open to you in the WonderDome!

As a special treat from the museum directors, while Annika stayed late at the museum to work on her exhibit, I was allowed to stay the night. They set me up in the travel room, giving me a cozy sleeper pod as a bed. My mom, Annika,  gave me a loose bedtime of 12:00, and I was allowed to roam as I saw fit.

I was drawn to the WonderDomes. They were the pride and joy of the museum, towering yet graceful as they poked out of the museum’s ceiling. I took the elevator up to one, and powered on the wide empty space. A warm glow filled the room as I stood there in awe, watching as the dome was filled with swirling light. 

A robotic female voice filled the room, soft but authoritative. 

“Welcome to the WonderDome, Myra.” 

I gasped, looking around wildly. How did it know my name? I studied the doorframe, noticing a small machine embedded in the top. It must have been a scanner that picked up my temporary ID card. Wow. This place really is an inventor’s dream, and as an aspiring inventor, you can bet that I was in paradise.

I studied the digital board that listed all the available programs. How could I choose‽ I tried to think logically. I wasn’t interested in sports or art. What I needed was-

There. Right in front of my eyes! Random inventor generator. Who better to tell me about becoming an inventor than a historical inventor themself? Or, I thought, studying the details, up to three! 

I pressed the button, and the computer spoke again.

“Please state the name of the program you would like to run.”

“Random inventor generator, three figures, live interactions.” I thought for a second. “Please and thank you.”

“Now generating, George Washington Ferris, inventor of the Ferris wheel; Chester Greenwood, inventor of the earmuffs; Lonnie Johnson, inventor of the Super Soaker.”

Three specks of light formed at the center of the room. I watched as they grew bigger, bigger, bigger, and bigger, the light getting brighter the longer I watched. I closed my eyes from the brightness, and when I opened them again, three men were standing in the room. 

Each was carrying or wearing an item related to their journey, as it said in the description of the program. The teenager with the flannel and wire contraption was Chester Greenwood, I guessed. The African American man, who was in modern clothing, had to have been Lonnie Johnson, leaving the man with the drawing to be none other than George Washington Ferris.

I strode up to the men, amazed at the realism of the holograms. They looked like real people, with the only exception being the fact that they glowed and were slightly translucent, like ghosts. 

A slight tremor shook the room. I wasn’t concerned, though.The natural disaster room was directly below the domes. Someone must have triggered the earthquake simulator.

“Um, hi,” I said, suddenly feeling a little shy. I’d never actually met someone, let alone three someones, who had invented anything as big as what these men had built. Even my mom’s jet pack was based on another one just replicated using household materials. 

The three holograms looked at me. One of them, Lonnie Johnson, reached his hand out for a handshake.

“Hello, Myra! Welcome to the Museum of Human Ingenuity’s WonderDome. I’m Lonnie Johnson, and this is Chester Greenwood,” he said, gesturing to the gangly teen, “and this is George Ferris. The three of us are inventors whose creations represent the inventiveness of mankind. We have entertained, amazed, and excited mankind. Would you like to receive a tour of the museum from us?”

I sighed. Clearly, this was an automated response. “Sure?”I said, resignedly. I wasn’t about to pass up a chance to explore the place of my dreams. Maybe then I’d get to gain some advice from the true interactions.

“Great,” said Lonnie Johnson. Chester leaned in, motioning as if to tell her a secret.

“Forgive him,” He whispered. My eyes widened in shock. “He’s the one programmed with the initial protocol. Don’t worry, though. He’ll loosen up soon. My name is Chester. I take it you’re Myra?”

“Yes!” I said, relieved. “I was so worried that you would just be automated tour guides. I have so many questions for you! See, I was trying to-”

Another, louder rumble ran through the dome. The holograms flickered momentarily, then blinked back to life.

George Washington Ferris looked concerned. “That’s not good,” he said. “Let’s get on with the tour. If that happens again, we’ll need to alert the anchor patrol. It should be fine.”

We walked through the museum, and I quickly forgot about the tremors as I got to see all of the amazing creations in the halls. The museum had everything from the history of cooking and agriculture to live art installations and music performances, which, despite it being afer hours, were playing in the form of recordings through the orchestral hall. I learned about government, tools, architecture, and ancient civilizations. It was like the biggest, most fascinating history lesson I’d ever experienced! Finally, we reached the end of the tour, and took hovercarts back up to the dome, where I could finally ask questions. 

“Wow!” I said, enthralled with everything I had just seen. “Ok, that was amazing. Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome,” said Lonnie Johnson, who was no longer operating under protocol. “You can ask us any questions you might have now.” He smiled warmly at me, and I grinned back. 

Best. Day. Ever.

“Ok, so I was wondering,” I began, no longer self conscious. These inventors were just people, like me, and I was determined to find out how I could become like them. “How do I become an inventor? I mean, how do I get my inventions noticed?” 

“Well,” said George Wahington Ferris, “I think we can all say that it takes a lot to get an invention noticed, right?”

I nodded vigorously. “Yes, definitely! I have a sample of my invention here. It’s a synthetic putty I created in my mom’s lab. It’s really, really strong, and-”

Another, deeper rumble sounded. Chester Greenwood paled.

“I hate to ruin this amazing conversation, but do you feel that?”

Wait. Why was I getting the feeling of…rising?

Oh no. Oh no.

Alarm bells sounded.

“The bearings have separated. The bearings have separated. Please remain calm.”

The bearings that kept the museum anchored to the ground were broken. We were currently drifting off into space.

My stomach dropped. I could feel the museum start to drift upwards as panic rose in my chest. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. 

“Myra!” I heard my mom calling. “Myra!”

“I’m okay, Mom!” I screamed.

Lonnie turned to me urgently. “Your polymer. Do you have the formula on you?”

“I...yes, why? Now isn’t the time for a showcase!”

“How fast can you make it?”

I began to realize what he was playing at. “Lonnie! It-It’s not ready! I haven’t tested it yet! I don’t know if it’ll work! I can’t try using it yet! What if it doesn’t work? I don’t know if it’s ready!”

I felt my eyes well up. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”

The three inventors exchanged looks. They stood in front of me, silent. Then, George Washington Ferris spoke.

“The road to being an inventor is never going to be easy. I had my Observation Wheel rejected by World’s Fair committee members twice. Once, they even told me they accepted first, only for them to go and change their minds the next day. They told me I was crazy, and that I had wheels in my head.” He sighed, shaking his head at the memory. “When they did allow me to build mine, it was the happiest day of my life! But I only had five months to complete my design. Do you know what I did?”

I shook her head, wiping a tear off of her face.

“I went for it! The wheel was finished three weeks after the fair opened! It was a challenging road for me, but in the end, I got to see my design featured in the Chicago World’s Fair. Myra, learn from me. Go for it!”

Lonnie nodded. “See this?” He asked, gesturing to the pipe machine he’d been holding in the beginning. “This was my first version of the SuperSoaker. While I did end up selling it to Larami, a toy company, I didn’t just magically materialize a deal! I’ve always been an inventor, and when I was your age, it got me into trouble.” He chuckled, studying Myra so as to try and comfort her. “I nearly burnt down my hbb ouse’s kitchen with some rocket fuel once! Despite all of that, I kept going with my inventing. I created this base by accident, gave it to my daughter to play with, and the rest is history! It took a while to get it approved. I was rejected, turned down and discouraged. It’s hard, Myra, it really is, but if I hadn’t kept going, so many kids would never have gotten the chance to spend time with each other and bond over water guns! The challenges never outweigh the payoff.”

“Agreed!” Said Chester. “I was always bullied for my ears. They would always turn white in the cold! I was constantly confronted with this problem, especially because I lived in Maine. I rose to the challenge of keeping my ears warm. I didn’t just give up because I wasn’t ready to make a change!” He looked at Myra slyly. “I used my grandmother’s sewing machine to create a wire and flannel ear protector, what you now call earmuffs! Everyone who had once teased me now begged for a pair of their own! That first set of challenges and success was what prepared me for the second set of bigger issues that I was confronted with in the industrial setting. See, I wanted to manufacture my ear protectors and sell them! I had to make changes to my ear protectors to make them more appealing, and then I earned a patent. All of the challenging work I’d put into my earmuffs was so worth it. I got to employ mothers in helping finish my earmuffs, and now, in Farmington, Maine, I get celebrated for my invention on December 21st. Or, as they call it there, Chester Greenwood Day!”

I raised my head and stood up. “You know what?”

They all looked at me expectantly, ready for what I had to say. This was the feeling I had always wanted. Knowing that I could change the world, or at least the current situation, for better using my creations.

“I think I am ready.”

And guess what? I really, truly was.

Dear Myra Elm, 

Your bravery under pressure was truly some of the most spectacular actions this museum has ever had within its walls. We commend you and your self-discovered polymer for managing to keep the wires intact for long enough that the repair team could come and fix the issue. As a result, the members of the research team have decided to offer you a very unprecedented honor. They have elected to allow you to use our lab facilities to test and develop your polymer, and will be putting a plaque next to the wires so as to commemorate you and your discovery. In fact, a mini-exhibit will be put there, featuring the original wire sample with the polymer still intact! You are forever welcome at the museum, and we do hope to see you soon.

Cordially,

Newton Scofield

Director of the Museum of Human Ingenuity