"So what you're saying is.."
"Why? Haven't you been brought up since your youth to fear the lower tunnel?"
"Yes, but I am starting to shed my old preconceptions about the way the world works. The Nodes are a pointless society. Why do we gaurd this tunnel? It's a stupid tunnel that goes underground from the city to a hole outside of the city. Why is this such a big secret we must protect? I think the Masterwizards are a bunch of geezers. I reject their superstitions. I am not afraid of anything they think is scary."
"Well you should, you idiot. There is a very good reason we aren't going to kill you right now, but you can be sure if you were anyone else we would have you terminated immediately."
"Why? And why not me?"
"We are running a very secret and illegal operation down here, funded by a very well respected multinational corporation. We have located our operations underground to avoid detection by the government, and we created the secret society to ensure that we would never be caught. But we also had to train the Nodes to fear the lower tunnel so we would not be disturbed."
"I see, but why not me?"
"We have special plans for you, Kenowal. You are different than the other Nodes, you have noticed this no doubt."
"Um. Not really. I was always told I didn't have the genes for magic, and I never really did well in school. The elders were usually on my back, but I am pretty average actually."
"No, we are not talking about your personality or intelligence or magic potential, which is rubbish too, by the way. We are talking about your physical appearance, no doubt you have noticed you are not quite the same as other boys your age..."
"You mean my height?"
"Yes, you are very short, aren't you?"
"So what! Everyone grows at different rates. I'm just a late-bloomer, so back off."
"No, Kenowal, I am afraid you have already acheived your maximum height."
"What? How do you know?"
"Kenowal, you are one of us."
"What? I don't even know anything about your stupid corporation."
"No, Kenowal. You are a midget."
"What? But my father is huge!"
"Kenowal, it is time you know the truth about your father. Kenowal, I ..."
"You are my father?!?"
"No -- I am your uncle. Your father was killed in a brutal circus accident." A moment of silence lingered in the room before the midget continued. "Anyhoo, we have chosen you for a very special assignment. The corporation we work for, whose name shall remain anonymous, has been producing helpful household chemicals and appliances for over 50 years. However, their monopoly of the market has been deteriorating with the emergence of new, cutting edge startup companies, and the board of this corporation realized that it was a slowly dying behemoth that needed new life pumped back into it. So naturally we used our excess money to hire spies to infiltrate the government and learn all the secrets about alien technology."
"What?"
"Oh yes, aliens exist, Kenowal. And they have been trading technology with the Government for quite a while now. However, no contact has actually been made. Only rudimentary sketches and recipes for new materials has been able to be transfered over the radio waves between the planets. No one has attempted to actually reach them."
"So what you're saying is.."
"We plan to go to these aliens, take their technologies, bring them back, and use them to snuff the competition."
"Okay, first, do you know where their planet is?"
"Yes, we have determined the location of their planet."
"Okay, how far away is it?"
"Thirteen light years."
"Okay, how are you going to get there?"
"On a new invention we have developed called the Rocket Ship. It will lift us out of our planet's gravitational pull and accelerate us toward the alien civilization."
"Look, man. I know I was only in school for a couple weeks and I failed out, but I did learn a few things including that based on Smorgenstein's theory of special relativity, it is impossible to accelerate an object faster than the speed of light."
The two lower midgets squirmed in their seats as the head midget raised one eyebrow inquisitively. "What?"
"Duh, man, it would take 13 years to get there traveling at the speed of light, which you'll never reach or even come close to."
"I believe the boy has a point," pointed out the mustached midget. "Tell us more about this 'relativity' theory. Is there anyway we can get around it?"
"No, absolutely not!"
"Oh... come on, there must be some way..."
"Nope."
"Please?" All the midgets got on their knees and begged.
"Okay, fine! The general version of the theory allows for some interesting space-time anomolies such as strange folds and intersections in space. You could reach a distant planet by traveling through this folded space in a 'wormhole.'"
"That is the answer. We will create a wormhole from our planet to theirs and send a pilot through to acquire their technologies and bring them back!"
"What? You can't just..."
"Quiet! Kenowal, it is time you learn your special assignment. You will create this wormhole for us and then travel through it and acquire the alien technology. Then you will bring it to us."
"But.."
"If it is pay you are concerned about, then you shall receive 10,000 units of currency for your time, plus stock in our corporation for your contribution."
"But sir..."
"Enough. You have been given an unlimited credit line from which you can pay for your expenses. GO. And make your father proud, it was his dying wish that you fulfilled this destiny."