Chapter 146: The weight of the future consequences
Then, after mere two hours of quick, cuddly nap, we've already moved on through the phase of setting a blueprint, shattering the finished design into all the necessary steps. And by the time we went back, the place was already bustling with activity as close to fifty workers moved around to arrange every last thing.
"I had the outer shells of the parts modified," Chihiro informed as soon as he raised his eyes above some sort of a blueprint he was discussing with an architect. He then took a quick glance at the clock and then the foreman, only to receive a raised thumb in response.
"It appears they are done with the main stack," Claire's father added as he turned his eyes back to the old and somewhat rustic factory behind them, in the full view for both the architect and the foreman… but also Chihiro himself, the wallet behind the whole operation.
"That's good," I replied while casually stuffing my hands into my pockets, throwing curious glances towards the building.
'Thinking about it it, isn't this the first time I can see my vision given form so readily?' I thought, helplessly admiring the actual meaning of power that I've now held at my fingertips.
'To say I've married rich would be an understatement…' I gulped my saliva as yet another avenue of my circumstance revealed itself to my eyes.
"If all goes well, you should be free to go back to work in an hour or two," Chihiro added after taking another glance at his elegant match, perfectly matching the man's picture of the 'middle-aged, energetic scion of a big family actively partaking in the business he was investing it'.
"That was a clever way to deliver both good and bad news at once," I countered with a small, slightly sleazy smile as I paid no mind to hide the exhaustion from my face.
But such was the nature of life.
Opportunities came to pretty much everyone.
Sometimes, one fails to grasp the opportunity because of the lack of means. Others didn't have the talent while others simply failed to grasp the timing of it.
But right now, I had absolutely nothing I could shift the blame to if all those efforts failed to produce a fitting result.
I had all the means I could ask for. I had talent the limits of which even I myself couldn't really fathom yet. The only thing missing was time.
And so, the only way to truly make the most of this moment in my life, was to squeeze as much as I could from my day and spare absolutely no effort to make my goal happen!
On the other hand, however, it meant working nearly around the clock, and turning those short naps from a form of relaxation to a desperate attempt at getting some rest in the rare opportunities to find a proper excuse to take a break!
'I think my five years at the institution already proved it, but…' I gulped my saliva down before closing my eyes and holding my breath for a while, only to then slowly sigh as I opened my eyes and looked ahead again… this time from a slightly different angle.
'Effort will never be the one thing that I will hold back on!'
Wasting no more minutes, I simply nodded the high-tier group on the outside off before heading towards the factory.
By now, the trenches were manned, and the barriers were getting set up as I moved towards the entrance of the factory proper. Inside was even busier, with a small horde of workers doing their best to complete the project, a dedication only seen when there was enough cash to fuel the engines of those damn expensive experts.
Following after me first, Claire soon took over and, as soon as we stepped inside, dragged me by my hand as she eagerly pulled me to one of the corners of the compound.
After navigating a complex labyrinth of staircases, corners, and corridors, she brought me over to a room fitted with a large window that took over the upper half of the entire wall, revealing a wide, elevated view of the factory stretching out below.
"You can watch over as they work from here, while already thinking about how to deal with the next part," Claire happily announced as she let go of my hand to run into the room and spread her arms open as she twisted on her legs and turned to face me with that lovely, beaming smile of hers.
"This looks like one hell of an office space," I thought, recalling the time when I ended up working the most boring job imaginable, doing nothing but packing small boxes into bigger boxes while under the constant watch of the factory foreman whose office hung over the central point of the factory floor.
And as petty and… small-person kind of a feeling as it was, I just couldn't help but enjoy the prospect of leisurely sipping on an expensive tea while overlooking a busy crowd of workers eagerly working their assess off for a fair and generous wage… While still greatly contributing to the growth of my wealth!
'I guess this is going to be the next step, once this place becomes one hell of an ace for Chihiro to hold in a sleeve…'
Moving over to the window, I looked down at the factory floor… Only for my thoughts to move over to the distant side of the issue, one that I generally tried to ignore. The politics of this whole mess.
'It's going to end up either as a place for rent for the VIPs he will want to coax, or a stand to promote the new technology within the elites before the actual launch into the wide world.'
Even though we were still merely taking the first step on this path, I could already feel the tremors the change we heralded would cause as the weight of my discovery would drop onto the pages of history and cause the ripples from where and when it drops.
'The moment the world finds out about this thing…' I thought, only to let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Why so troubled?" Claire asked as she scooted over to my side and, as usual, wrapped her hands around my lower arm, quickly hiding my hand between her palms as she pressed herself into my shoulder. "I thought things were going well?" she stated as she leaned her head to the right so that my shoulder wouldn't obstruct her view of my face as she gave me her iconic, inquisitive look.
"Just looking at how it will end, is all," I responded absent-mindedly, struggling to face the weight of the consequences this whole process that I've started and now was overlooking would bring in the future.
"Is that so?" Claire raised one of her eyebrows, only to pull her head back before following through with her upper body as she leaned back while still holding onto my arm. "Then… You know…"
Her voice faded a little, prompting me to look over, only for her arms to rise and then slide across my back and chest as she locked me in a tight, side-ways hug before raising her eyes and sheepishly staring right into my eyes.
"You see, I think you are just tired," she stated as if it was a matter of fact, only for the corners of her lips to then raise in a small, playful grin. "And I know just the way to get you started for the day!"