Journey: 1

Chapter 17: Tyrone

Ty and Bianca spent the evenings in silence, enjoying each other's company. There was quite a lot to admire about their little projects. Between learning more about all the Jupiter planets and learning more about each other, Ty felt more grown in his overall knowledge and character as a person. That being said, it was dawning on him that he was soon to begin his first real project, The Venus Project, which was why he had been recruited by a secret society of geniuses hidden in another planet in the first place. The project involved using Venus as a battery and simultaneously making it as habitable as possible. It was truly awe-inspiring what was being done on Jupiter, and what was even more impressive was how much of the technology back on Earth was just a watered-down version of everything on Jupiter. Faster electric cars with little recharge time, electric interplanetary shuttles, the houses on planets 1–3 were more magnificent than those on Earth, and it was even harder to believe this whole society used such basic artificial intelligence—less developed artificial intelligence, actually. However, Ty threw all those thoughts aside and turned to Bianca, who was lost in the perfectly painted skyscape.

"The so-called Innovation Championship is coming up. What are your thoughts so far?" Ty asked. Bianca took a moment to answer, letting some silence settle, her strawberry scent wafting aloof in the afternoon air

"I don't think i wanna join it. It sounds too...epic. I'd rather be in a lab or a room with you rambling on about science and mathematics while I write some code for some epic idea of yours. I'd much rather spend time calling you out on your mistakes and watching you try to humanize yourself. The epic stuff just isn't my cup o tea." she sighed. " But I'll gladly cheer you on from my little corner of the world," she said, leaning on his shoulder 

"I hear that, and I also respect your decision. I guess I'll have to do all three categories myself," he sighed. "And have all the glory to myself." This earned a giggle from Bianca.
"I'm not you're sister, Tyrone Parker; the prospects of you having greater scientific glory than me don't scare me." they both chuckled.

 A moment of silence was shared between them, a light breeze ruffled Bianca's white hair. They spent a few more moments enjoying natural beauty before taking a shuttle back to their assigned home on Planet 2. With no form of currency governing the Jupiter system, anyone could live in a mansion or a shack. The only limitations were your creative ability, and seeing as there were 18 planets in total, they were far from being short of resources. The shuttle docked, and Ty drove them home. Having a super-powerful, efficient electric vehicle had its perks—heck, it was the perk. Smooth driving and fully automatic gear-shifting made for a scenic drive home through a Beverly Hills-esque neighborhood. Their house was huge, to say the least, and extremely fancy, in no way lacking technological advancements. It had what you expected from any standard contemporary-esque house. A lobby, stairs leading to upper rooms, and stairs leading down to a basement-like place that had been modified to a laboratory for working from home purposes. A massive tv with a massive sofa within a minimalistic design. It was really all state-of-the-art, which is the standard for Jupitian society. There was no reason to steal or break into someone's house if everyone would always have more than enough, no matter what. Jupiter was more than a successful secret society of geniuses; it was thriving more than any other known place in the solar system.

They settled in, and Bianca was headed upstairs for a shower. "Joining Ty?" she asked as she slipped out of her clothes. Ty took a glance at her and sighed.
"Would absolutely love to, but I have to go down at the lab and see what I can do about those three categories of the Innovation Championship." 
She pouted her lips and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ty found it hard to resist her, already in her panties and braless. "Well, I was going to perform for you in the championship if you performed for me in the shower but alas," She faked a sigh as she walked slowly upstairs, giving Ty some time to admire her model-shaped body, especially from behind. He let out a silent whistle
"Well, if you put it that way..." he quickly bolted after her after pondering the prospects for a while. 

*******
Ty was sitting in the lab scribbling down stuff on a desk, equations swirled around his head in the form of holographic projections. He stopped for a minute to acknowledge Bianca walking in.
"Hey, you making progress?" she started.
"Yeah, mostly" he said distractedly
"I see. Well mostly see" she replied
"You want me to rant on about how I'm planning on making these nanites to kill two birds with one stone?" he asked
"I do love a good rant," She said, leaning on the table 
"Oh yeah, about last night..."
"I absolutely enjoyed it," she interjected
"Yeah, you don't have to do the Championship with me. I understand it was a spur-of-the moment thing. He continued scribbling down equations and drawing boxes and spheres
"Oh Ty, on our way home, I was thinking. Maybe I do want to do this with you...I want to be involved because it's how we bond. And I know you kinda only believe in science or whatever, but us doing science together has brought us closer. Wouldn't you agree?"
There was a heavy silence in the air as Ty realized how Bianca felt about him; however, he wasn't sure if he was going to feel the same way about her. Bianca searched of an answer in his now distant gaze and in his writings. She could almost see the gears turning in his head.  
"I enjoy having you as my science partner as well..." he said, unsure of himself. Bianca wasn't convinced but she let it slide for now.