Mark put on his denim jacket and left his room. The young man wanted to clear his thoughts; a stroll outside would hopefully help. He had no destination in mind, but a change of scenery could serve as a distraction until it was time for lunch with his father and Rowan. Once on the first floor, he exited through the main entrance and wandered about.
Riggan's Point was as lively as usual. The streets were packed full of people shopping and walking about. Mark's favorite meat skewer stall had just opened, and he walked over to get one or two. The smoky flavor of the grilled meat will do wonders for his mood.
With a meat skewer on hand, he sat on a bench overlooking the lower levels of Riggan's Point. The sound of people going about their day brought some comfort to the young man. For some reason, the sight calmed him down. His comm-pad sounded with a call, distracting him. It was Mr. Johnson from the real Estate office.
Mark answered the call. The young man hoped for good news; his mood needed to improve further before meeting his father. "Hello, Mr. Johnson, I hope you are doing well."
From the other end of the call, Mr Johnson's voice sounded. As always, he spoke with a professional tone. "I am doing well so far. Thank you for asking, sir. I am calling with good news."
The Real Estate agent spoke with an upbeat tone. "I got in touch with the Bank, and they accepted an offer equal to 15% of the property value. Apparently, they are desperate to get rid of the asset. As soon as you pay the agreed amount, they will begin processing the transfer of ownership. I am sending you the link for the transaction."
This information brightened his mood. "That is indeed good news." Without losing time, he quickly tapped the link. He saw the offer Mr. Johnson made. The man managed to purchase the property for 300 million credits, which was a fraction of the actual cost. Mark paid the money without hesitation. In a few days, he will be the proud owner of a 12-square-mile junk yard. The young man chuckled with sarcasm. "I am now the king of a junk pile."
Mr. Johnson's voice came from the comm-pad. I'm sorry, Mr. Warren. I could not hear that. Can you repeat?"
Mark dismissed the man's question. "Don't worry, Mr. Johnson, it was nothing. I will send your payment once the transaction is completed. Thank you for everything."
As the call ended, Mark resumed his stroll. His mood improved significantly. With the new disposition, the young man remembered he had to call a lawyer. The bad memories of his old life caused him to lose focus. With his comm-pad in hand, he searched for the contact information Akaji had given him.
The call rang a few times, and a woman's voice came from the other end. "Thank you for calling Quad and Myers legal services. How can I help you?"
Mark hesitated at first. Getting a lawyer involved could escalate things, but this GACT fellow seemed like a problem in the making. "Yes, hello, I was wondering if I could set up an appointment to meet with Mr. Quad?"
The woman at the other side spoke with a pleasant tone. "Well, of course, but first, can you tell me more about the issue? That way, Mr. Quad can prepare to discuss the matter."
Hesitating no longer, the young man told her about the issue. "It concerns a production contract for a virtual product. One of the people who contracted sold the production rights to a third party without consulting me, the product's creator."
She recognized the need for a lawyer to get involved. "Well, that is a cause for concern. At the moment, Mr. Quad is busy with a case. I can set up an appointment for you in three days. Is that acceptable?"
Mark remembered that the institute would resume classes the next day. "Yes, it is. However, I'm busy that day until the afternoon, could we set it up after four?"
The woman proposed a time for the appointment. "Is four thirty a good time?"
Mark decided to agree. "That is a good time. Can you send me the address of the office?" He set up an alarm as a reminder. Having set up the appointment, the young man resumed his stroll through the commercial district.
The day went by as he walked about, and soon, it was time to meet with his father. The young man took a taxi to the restaurant where they agreed to meet. As he entered the establishment, Mark found his father and his friend along with a face he did not expect to see. It was Phantom Pain, Rowan's daughter.
Mark was pleasantly surprised at the sight of the young woman. He met her for the first time a little over a week ago at the smugglers' mission. Both she and Bait had made an impression on him. The young man sat beside his father.
Marcus introduced his son. "Rowan, Hanna, this is my son Mark." With his hand, he tapped his son's shoulder. The man had a proud expression as he spoke.
Rowan looked at Mark and smiled. "Mark, at last it is good to meet you. I'm a fan of your work." His father's partner spoke with an eager tone.
Mark felt flattered; he returned the man's greeting. "Thank you. It is good to meet you and phan... I mean Hanna as well."
The young woman chuckled. Mark almost called her by her Game ID, "It's nice to meet you, Guardian." She added his game ID as playful banter. The four of them laughed. With the introductions behind them, they prepared to order food and have a good time.
On the other side of the city, Alex was in her room with an unlikely visitor, Livia. At the moment, Alex's guest was raiding her closet, looking for a proper outfit for Alex to wear. The lively girl was having little success.
She poked her head out of the walk-in closet. "Alex, all I can find in this closet are T-shirts, jeans, and coats. Don't you have a nice dress or a cute blouse?"
Alex was sitting on her bed with a reluctant look on her face. Her unkept black hair cascaded down from her head, covering most of her face. She spoke to the lively girl with her low, shy voice. "I don't want people to look at me."
Livia looked at the overly shy girl on the bed. "It's your First date with Mark, you have to look pretty. Besides, it will be a chance to tell him how you feel." She looked at the time on her comm-pad, and her eyes popped when she saw it. "We only have two hours before you need to be there."
Alex's mother, Kara, entered the room after hearing the commotion inside. She was surprised to find that Alex had a female friend in her room. The woman recognized Livia from the night they spent at Rachel's apartment. "Hello Alex, can you tell me what's going on?"
Livia saw Kara, and her eyes filled with enthusiasm. Surely the elegant woman could help get her daughter ready. "Mrs. Lambert, Alex is going to meet with a boy she likes, and I'm trying to get her dressed. Yet, she has nothing to wear. Can you help us?"
Kara decided to ask for details later. The girls appeared to be in a hurry, or at least Livia was. Alex seemed indifferent, but her mother knew the teen tended to close up whenever she felt anxious.
Kara thought for a moment, perhaps falling in love would help Alex overcome her traumas. To her, this date felt like an opportunity in disguise. She looks at Livia and Alex. "Follow me, and I will get you ready in no time." As she exited the room, the two girls followed behind her.
The three of them moved to another room in the house. As Kara opened the door, the two teens saw Alex's mother's personal salon. It was fully equipped with makeup and hairdresser droids and even a personal seamstress droid. Livia's eyes sparkled as she gazed upon the wonders inside.
Back at the restaurant, Rowan spoke to Mark. "Hanna showed me the two mechs you designed. They look amazing, especially the Nova Star model. By comparison, our team has worked for months on a Variant, yet you have pumped out four in two weeks. How did you do it in such a short time?"
Mark smiled awkwardly. Rowan's inquiry had caught him off guard, and he had to come up with an explanation quickly. "I think the fact that I am working on old mech models helps me a lot. ...Additionaly, I use the virtual world to design my mechs, with the accelerated perception one hour becomes five."
Rowan ponders for a moment. Mark's words sounded logical. So far, he had only used mechs from the early period of the Lishean Commonwealth. These machines were crude and simple; modern mechs were a whole different game.
Yet the young man's explanation felt lacking, as if he were holding back more. The man decided not to push for answers. He might accidentally kill the goose that lay the golden eggs. "I see, because of the sensitivity of our work, we can not use anything connected to the comm-grid. But perhaps we can use a private network and set up a virtual design lab."
Hanna spoke next. "The Nova Star looks interesting. Do you think it can be used as a Sniper Mech?"
Mark welcomed the distraction from the timing issue. "I think it can be possible, unlike the McCain design, the beam star has attachment ports. These ports give the machine more versatility. Adding a small sensor backpack is not out of the question."
Marcus joined the conversation. "Tell me, son, why have you decided to work with older mechs instead of the more recent machines?"
This lunch meeting felt more like a job interview for Mark. With the correct answers, his father and Rowan might hire him. After a slight chuckle to himself, he answered. "I accidentally found a market for my products. The low neuronal load of the mechs that I work with caters to a group neglected by the mech industry. That has been one of the factors in my success."
Marcus looked at his son with pride. Besides being an excellent designer, his boy was also a shrewd businessman. "I see what you mean, newer models use a different technology that increases the neuronal load."
Rowan nods in acknowledgment. "That is part of our current project. The L.A.F. has a special grant program to produce good-quality mechs with low neuronal capacity. If we manage to get this grant, our company will grow exponentially."
In his mind, Mark saw a hint of the war. The grant Rowan mentioned was part of the war preparations. If he helped his father's company develop a better product, the war's outcome might change. He made up his mind. The young man was going to help his father get that grant. "What mech are you using?"
Rowan and Marcus hesitated a bit. They had worked on the Humphrey revival project for several months and were concerned about leaks. While they were not worried about Mark per se, there could be people listening in on them. However, Mark's current streak of successes pushed them to seek his help.
Rowan confided first. In six months, they had to present the improved model. "You might have heard this before. It is a mech model used in the last war. Since it is 50 years old, the model has been released to the public. It is called the Humphrey. It was produced by a company called Humphrey & Mintz, which went bankrupt a few years back when the lead designer passed away."
Mark used his comm-pad to search for the model. He found the mech easily. The model was even used in A.M.S. for the fifth pilot level. Perhaps he could give his father a hand, but he had to be careful not to do it too fast, or he would arouse even more suspicion.
As Mark examined the mech, he noticed elements of the McCain series along its chassis. These similarities made a lot of sense. The McCain series was known for its ease of use and low neuronal capacity. "I see why you opted for this model. The creator chose to use actuators rather than S.M.T. That indicates he had people with low neuronal capacity in mind."
Rowan looked at Mark with excitement. "Do you think we can use your solutions?"
Mark looked pensive for a moment. "This is a military model. They don't use the same materials as the civilian mechs. We will have to look for equivalent materials. They also use signature components; a list of those is needed as well.
Marcus hoped his son could help them out of the slump they found themselves in. "What do you think can be done?"
Mark scratches his chin."I can make a variant, and you can then look for equivalent military components and materials. For example, while you can use the actuator package I created, you need to make it using other materials. If you use them as is, the actuators will tear apart."
Rowan contemplated Mark's answer. While the initial testing with the actuators was successful, the stress and metal fatigue were through the roof. The testings matched the young man's projections. "Let's do this, while you design a version of the Humphrey, Marcus, and I will hunt for the best materials in the list that we have."
Mark added another point to the conversation. "Besides helping you with the Humphrey, I would also like for you and Dad to fabricate my mechs in real life. We had talked about the McCain Reaper version 2, but I would like to add my two new models. I think they will work for the para-military market."
Rowan and Marcus were both intrigued. If the new mechs were of the same caliber as the McCain Reaper, there would be demand for them. Both of them decided to agree.
Hanna protested from the other side. They had been leaving her out of the conversation. "Why don't we leave the work talk behind and enjoy the rest of the Lunch?"
After a pleasant lunch, Mark left the restaurant; it was nearly 12:30 pm. The talk with his father and Rowan went very well. After the testing phase, he would send all data to his father's company, and they would figure out the rest.
As he arrived at the small park near Tina's Sweets, he sat on one of the benches and waited for Alex. His mind wandered about the Humphrey and the war preparations.