The next day, Kevin drove to Spicy City, the neon-lit metropolis north of Toontownsville. The difference was immediate as floating cars zipped between towering skyscrapers, holographic advertisements danced in the air, and advanced drones delivered packages at lightning speed.
Kevin arrived at FrinkTech Innovations, a massive glass-and-steel building known for creating both brilliant and wildly eccentric gadgets. He was escorted to a high-floor conference room where Professor John Frink was waiting.
The eccentric scientist with wild hair, thick glasses, and a lab coat greeted him enthusiastically. "Ho ho! You must be Mr. Harlan! Glayvin! I've been looking forward to this meeting!"
They sat down, and Kevin laid out his requirements. He needed custom production and packaging machines for his farm products, automated egg sorters and packers for the Abyssal Chickens, milking and bottling systems for the Martian cows, and a high-efficiency jelly extractor and jar-filling line for the jellyfish jam. Most importantly, he wanted a specialized manufacturing machine based on the Thneeds Blueprint to process Truffula tufts into versatile garments once the trees matured.
Professor Frink's eyes lit up behind his glasses. "Fascinating! A multi-purpose fabricator using Toon Force principles? Glayvin! We can do it! The packaging lines will be ready in three weeks. The Thneed machine will take longer, about six weeks because we need to integrate stable Toon Force emitters. Total cost for everything: $1.85 million."
Kevin negotiated slightly and they settled on $1.72 million. Papers were signed, deposits paid, and Frink promised delivery and installation once the factory at Krusty Farm was complete.
With the deal done, Kevin left FrinkTech feeling optimistic. His supply chain and future product lines were coming together.
Next stop was a request from Holli. Kevin steered his car down the busy street until he spotted the familiar storefront, then slowed to a halt right in front of it.
He cut the engine, stepped out onto the pavement, and stood for a moment looking up at the large lettering above the door: LC SIGN. It was exactly the place he'd been told about.
He pushed open the glass door and stepped inside. The shop was bright, lined with samples of all kinds of signs, banners, and displays along the walls and shelves. Behind the reception counter sat a young woman, typing away at a computer. She looked up as he approached.
"Hi," Kevin said. "I'm here for a custom order, the sign I had made should be finished by now."
She nodded, checked something quickly on her screen, then smiled. "Got it right here. Just give me a minute, someone will come take you back to pick it up."
Kevin leaned against the counter, glancing around at the different designs, until a door at the back swung open. A man in a graphic tee and jeans stepped out, grinning broadly as he walked over.
"What up, homie! It's Tony," he said, extending a hand.
Kevin laughed and shook it firmly. "Tony, good to meet you. Heard good things about this place."
"All good, all good. Come on back," Tony said, leading the way through the workshop area, where worktables were covered in materials, tools, and half-finished projects.
At the far end, he picked up a large, polished sign and turned it toward Kevin. "Here we go, exactly what your partner asked for. Custom made, just like she wanted."
Kevin took it carefully, running a finger along the smooth edges and admiring the finish. It was perfect, the lettering, the colors, the weight of it. Exactly what he had pictured.
"This is great," he said, looking up at Tony. "Tell me though, how does this work for future orders? I'm looking to get a few more made, different styles, different sizes. How much does something like this run, and what do I need to decide on?"
Tony leaned against the table and started explaining. "Alright, so first off is design. You can bring your own idea, or we can draft something from scratch: font, colors, graphics, logos, whatever you want. Then the type, we do acrylic, metal, LED lit, neon, wood, vinyl… each one's different in durability and look. Size matters too, obviously, and how you want it mounted. Price depends on all that, materials, how big, how detailed, if you want lighting, shipping… but we keep it fair."
He went on, walking Kevin through every option, from simple flat signs to big 3D lettering, from indoor use to weatherproof outdoor versions, breaking down every cost and choice clearly.
Kevin listened carefully, already thinking about what he needed next. When Tony finished, he nodded.
"Perfect. Actually… I don't just want this one. I want to preorder a whole set of custom signs for another business I run. Different sizes, different designs, some for inside, some for outside."
Tony's eyes lit up. "Now that's a solid order. We can get those started right away."
"Great," Kevin said, pulling out his wallet. "Here's the down payment to lock everything in. Just let me know when they're ready."
They finished up the paperwork, Tony handed him the Holli sign carefully wrapped, and Kevin thanked him before heading back out. He walked out into the sunlight, placed the sign securely in his car, and climbed back behind the wheel.
He started the engine, pulled away from the curb, and turned toward the road leading back to the club.