A few days have passed after the events at the black site. With a clean bill of health, the entire family was sent home. Mark suspected that the doctors and nurses wanted to get Melly out of the hospital. He could not resent them; the young man understood their fears.
Bart is preparing breakfast for the family at Rachel's apartment. A talk show is playing on his recently acquired comm-pad.
"Welcome, everyone. This is The Hot Seat. My name is Valentina Tracy, and we are here to discuss the recent scandal involving The Evolugen Corporation. Sitting here with me is the company's spokesman, Mr Manas Dimitrov. Let's give him a warm welcome." The sound of applause comes from the crowd at the show. The woman looks over to the man sitting next to her.
"The man returns her Greetings. Thank you for having me here, Valentina. I love your talk show."
After the presentations are done, Valentina starts with her interview. "Now we all know about the horrific events that happened just a few days ago. These events have been pretty much the talk of the town. We are here today to answer the concerns of the population of the Rapal System." She pauses before her question. "Is Evolugen Responsible for the events that happened in Berant City?" Once she finishes her questions, the reporter gives the man a sharp look.
With a calm expression, the man answers her question. "No. A lot of people have blamed the company because some of the technology used at that horrible place was created by Evolugen. However, the company has nothing to do with the criminals who operated that clandestine facility."
Valentina pressed an incisive question. "But Hans, some have even claimed to have seen Dr Parker, the founder and majority shareholder of the company. Yet the Doctor is not present for comments. Why has the good Doctor decided to stay quiet?"
The man smiled with confidence. "Look, Valentina, these are but the forgeries of jealousy. The good doctor is not even present at the Rapal system. The man is actually in the Milcheam System, helping develop a cure for the Milcheam plague. Millions of people can attest to this. That is the strongest alibi I have ever seen." The man caught the reporter off guard with this statement.
He took the chance to pounce with a statement of his own. "Now, Valentina, going back to my previous argument, Evolugen did not produce the weapons or armor worn by the Criminals of the abandoned factory. Those weapons were actually produced by a company named Lishean Elite Armaments. Yet I don't see anybody holding the L.E.A. responsible for the events that resulted in the death of 6 police officers and wounded another 23..."
Bart cuts the feed in frustration. "All the people at Evolugen are full of shi..."
"DAD Language!" Rachel interrupted her father's cursing. She came out of her room just in time to hear her father swearing.
The woman casts an angry look at her father. "Remember, Melly can hear you. I don't want her learning that language."
Bart smiles at his daughter. "Well, if what Mark says is true and she can hear our thoughts, she's going to hear a lot of cursing from me," the man chuckles after his statement.
Rachel looks around. "Where is Melly? She went to sleep with me last night, but after I woke, she was not there."
Bart put his daughter's doubts to rest. "I saw her going to Mark's room with her hover chair, while I was preparing breakfast. That girl follows him like a lost puppy. Hah!"
Mark woke with a satisfied look on his face. Last night, after a 30-hour session, he finished the design for the new McCain Reaper just in time. The sales for his old version started to wane.
As if on cue, the message of the system appeared. "Your Daily bonus for today is 10,262 TP. Your New Balance is 87,262 TP. Your bank balance is 0 TP.
Mark felt a light tug on his shirt. Looking at the corner of the bed, he spots Melly's hover chair and smiles. "I wonder what kind of surprise I will find under my covers today." With a swift motion, he lifted the covers, revealing the girl underneath.
"Aha!" Mark started tickling the girl in a playful manner. She giggled and looked at him with her golden eyes.
She spoke again without moving her mouth. "Good morning, big brother."
Mark looked into her golden eyes. "Melly, remember to use your mouth to speak. I don't mind if you speak to me like this, but other people will feel uncomfortable."
Melly nodded reluctantly and used her mouth to answer. "OK..."
Mark stood from the bed and placed Melly in her hover chair. He noticed that in the past days, the girl had gained a few pounds. "Come, let's see what's for breakfast."
They moved to the kitchen, where Bart and Rachel were sitting at the table. As Mark and Melly started to eat their breakfast, they started discussing their plans for the day.
Rachel spoke to her son between bites. "Mark, I will take Melly to see the physical therapist Mr Lambert recommended, and your dad will be joining me. What are you going to do?"
I have to go to the Johnson Real Estate office. I managed to talk to Mr Johnson and convince him to move the timetable. If all goes well, we can start moving by tomorrow.
Bart spoke next. "I will go with you, Mark. After doing your business with the Johnson guy, let's go visit the company of a friend of mine. He owns a private security company. We need to get some bodyguards and security for all of you. "
Mark knew his grandfather was right; he and his family needed bodyguards. "OK, but I would like to get a quote from the company Mr Lambert uses. They have good bodyguards."
Rachel agreed with her son, "Marcus was also checking the company Mr Lambert uses. But I think is best to move first and then get the bodyguards." After speaking, Rachel looks around. "I will miss this apartment. I have so many memories here."
Bart placed his hand on Rachel's arm, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry, little bird, I will take good care of it."
Mark wanted to keep his grandfather close. "Grandpa, are you sure you don't want to move in with us? There is more than enough space."
Bart's decision was pretty much certain. "No, besides, once your father moves in, there will be less space."
Rachel protested. "Dad, we are taking things slow. For the time being, we will keep our living spaces separated."
Bart laughed. He decided to tease his daughter, "I have seen your face when you talk to him through your comm-pad. That will not take long." Mark saw where his mother learned to tease people.
Rachel's Face blushes. "Dad, could you stop with the teasing, please?"
Bart smiles. "OK, I'll stop. But I have to say, Marcus looks to be a good man. He is willing to treat you properly. Unlike his father, who is a piece of shi..."
The woman cuts him off again. "Dad, Language, we talked about this." Rachel scolded her father again while giving Melly vitamin pills. These pills were dietary supplements designed for Melly's metabolism. Mr Lambert made this for the golden-eyed girl.
After breakfast, they all went their separate ways. Mark and Bart left the apartment first. Using Mark's favorite mode of transportation, they quickly reached the Johnson Real Estate office.
The personnel at the real estate office were very accommodating. After all, Mark was spending a large sum of money on them. After a few hours, the two men exited the office with the deeds and keys to Mark's new droid boutique.
Without delay, they moved to Riggan's point. Walking through the crowded place, Mark and Bart reached the Office of J&H Security consultants. An attractive young woman greeted them at the entrance, "Welcome to J&H. My name is Kaylee." The woman led them to a small but comfortable meeting room. As they sat at the table, she began a presentation.
In the presentation, Kaylee showed what J&H had to offer. The company had multiple options to fulfill its client's needs. Ranging from bodyguards to armed escorts for transports. Their cybersecurity department was a well-oiled machine with cutting-edge artificial intelligence and trained analysts.
Mark was impressed by the company's presentation. Once the presentation was done, Kaylee provided quotes for different services. Mark, however, decided to wait and consult with his parents. After all, Rachel will also be living with him.
The two men moved to the droid boutique after visiting J&H. Mark wanted to show his grandfather the place. Inside, Mark found the building in the exact conditions since his last visit. However, the young man saw on the system's map function some basement levels that he had not visited during the property showing.
Looking through the property deeds, Mark saw that the original owner had purchased the underground rights for the property, but no structure was listed. The young man decided to look for the entrance to the basement levels. After telling his grandfather about the suspicious purchase of the underground space, Bart decided to help him.
The two men started their search on the ground floor. The area where the shop was had nothing out of place; this was to be expected. The workshop area was a vig place, but after an hour of searching, they found nothing out of place. Mark observed the system map. He noticed a set of stairs going to the floors above. When Mr Johnson showed him the property, he used the elevator to move from floor to floor.
As he entered the room housing the staircase, it took him no time to spot something out of place. In his minimap, the young man saw that there was a fake wall. He started to look for a way to open it.
Bart noticed his grandson's behavior. "Did you find anything over there?"
Mark answered while looking for a way to open the secret entrance. I think this is a fake wall. Help me look for a switch or something to open it.
Bart started to look around. While moving in the small space, he stepped on one of the floor tiles. The man hears a hollow sound. Noticing the sound, Bart stepped on the tile a few more times. "I think this is it, Mark."
Mark bent down and touched the tile. Discovering it was somewhat loose. Bart handed him a pocket knife. With the edge of the knife, the young man pries the tile open, revealing a keypad with numbers. Observing the pad with his augmented vision, Mark saw that the number zero was worn out more than any of the other numbers.
He had a skeptical look on his face. "Don't tell me they used all zeroes for the combination." As he pressed the number zero four times, his face turned into disbelief when the secret passage opened. Disappointed with the previous owner, Mark shook his head.
Bart seemed to be having a hell of a time. "Come, Mark, let's see what's inside".
As they went down the staircase, the two men found themselves in an area as large as the worksop area above. Finding a light switch next to the bottom of the stairs, Bart turned on the lights.
Seeing the machinery underneath, Mark recognized this as another workshop. The machines in this workshop were still old machines, but the quality was leagues better than the two 3D printers upstairs. Even most modern machines could not hold a candle to this equipment.
Mark scanned the machines. There was a 3D printer, an Asambler, a recycler, and various alloy processing machines. Mark found it strange that the old owner hid this place. "Why would the previous owner keep this place hidden? With a place like this, he could have created the best droids in town.
Bart, examining the crates stored on the other side of the room, found the answer. "This is why, Mark. The man was not making droids here; he was making clandestine weapons." Bart lifted a rifle from the box. It looked like an old model, but it was ready for use.
Mark's face went pale. He had just bought a building with a clandestine weapons factory. "When the authorities learn of this, I will lose the building." Now he understood why the heirs of the previous owner were in such a hurry to sell the property.
Bart looked at his grandson's face. "We can always keep this quiet. Let's get rid of all this; no one has to know that weapons were made here."
Mark was a bit surprised by his grandfather's suggestion. However, an idea popped into his mind. They could use the recycler to break down the rifles into raw materials. With the amount of money Mark had spent on the droid boutique, the young man was easily convinced. "We'll do that, but first, let's finish exploring. I see an entrance to another level."
The second level housed various computers and terminals. Mark recognised this equipment. This was a design lab. Accessing the data banks of the place, Mark found hundreds of weapon designs.
The young man scanned the equipment with his eye. "This equipment was cutting-edge 10 years ago, but it's still pretty decent today, better than the design terminals of the droid workshop upstairs." Mark decided to keep it, after a good data scrubbing, no one will know better.
The third and final floor housed around 24 VR pods. Mark wondered why a clandestine weapons factory needed VR pods. At the end of the room, there were more crates containing dozens of weapons.
His grandfather, again, came up with the answer. "It's a virtual shooting range, pretty clever if you ask me. That way, no one will hear a single shot."
Having finished exploring the place, Mark and Bart started cleaning the evidence. While using the recycler, Mark scanned each different weapons to acquire their designs. None of the weapon schematics was particularly special, but all of them were reliable.
With mental commands, Mark used the system's hacking ability to scrub the computers and machinery of any previous records. Mark decided to store any useful design he could find. Lastly, they wiped clean all of the VR pod's memory banks. Mark loved the Idea to use this as his personal VR arcade.
For good measure, they also cleaned the insides with disinfectants. Some of the stains in the interior of the pod looked suspicious. The cleaned pods brought the young man peace of mind.
It took the two men almost all day to destroy the evidence of the clandestine facility. Mark used the system's ability hacking to create and register all of the equipment and the new facilities. After 10,000 TP, it was all legal.
The system message came as always. "Your new balance is 77,262 TP. Your bank balance is 0 TP."
Before leaving Riggan's point, the two men made a few purchases, including two more VR headsets, one for Melly and another for Bart. Even after he acquired a personal arcade for himself, Mark had no plans to stop using his VR headset.
Mark did not really mind. He saw the loss of TP today as an investment. The two men returned to Miller Hills and did not speak until they reached the elevator of the housing complex.
Mark looked at his grandfather. "Thank you for today, Grandpa. This really means a lot to me."
The man chuckles. Bah! That is just one more to the pile. The secrets that I keep are more than a few." Bart takes a breath. "After talking to your mother, I know that you also keep a few for yourself." Bart puts his hand on his grandson's shoulder. "I won't ask for your secrets, I know better than that. But I just want to let you know that I'm here for you if you decide to talk."
Mark felt a bit awkward after hearing his grandfather's words. But they brought him a sense of comfort. As the elevator reached their floor, the two men exited and walked to the apartment.