“Wow, how did we manage to get this swanky place?” asked Galileo. “Most of the city we passed through getting here from the spaceport looked dystopian, but this is really fabulous! I mean, JE's limited resources would never allow us an upscale urban hangout like this....”
Olympia smiled, then explained their fortunate situation: “Well, now that we're back here on Earth, I can finally let you know what happened. Seaplane told me the whole story before we left Mars, but asked that I keep it quiet until we reached Earth safely – just in case a Hyde Rival spy managed to get aboard the Starship. Now it's just us here, let me explain....”
“Earlier you heard Jekyll Rival promise Seaplane that he would try to make up for Hyde Rival's bad behavior in capturing Jonson Outpost and destroying Jonson Station. Initially we thought this might be limited to consultation and advice, such as the timely warning that enabled JE to safely evacuate Jonson Station without a single loss of life. Only later did we find out that Jekyll Rival intended a much more substantial gift – he's given JE this luxury penthouse suite! Apparently he inherited several valuable properties from his wealthy family after the last human survivor died; he kept the hidden bunker complex (for use as an android lab, now under construction); but he had little use for this penthouse, so donated it to JE.”
Galileo responded: “Ah ha, so that's what Seaplane meant when he referred to JE property back on Earth, but only very vaguely. I can see why he'd want to keep details under his hat while we were still out in the asteroid belt and then on Mars, since spies seemed to be everywhere out there. So...what will we do with this penthouse?”
Olympia continued: “Well, it includes quite a large complex, actually – this spacious lounge we're enjoying right now, but also several smaller spaces that we can convert to JE functions as needed. There seem to be enough to take care of many work and living needs for our team, but we can expand into other spaces within this massive skyscraper should that become necessary. Oh, and of course, I should mention that Sarah is already working with Jekyll Rival to develop a new android lab – that lab occupies a hidden underground bunker not far from here, and when complete, will be functionally integrated with our JE operations here in the skyscraper.”
“Excellent! Thanks for the good context, now I can better understand the overall picture, and indeed it looks very promising!” Galileo concluded, then turned to gaze out the windows. “Now if I can just get used to the ongoing heavy rains here, which I presume result from all the climate change....”
Comments