A sci-fi serial in 69 parts featuring original art with every chapter.
Braggadocio between American and Japanese robotics engineers on social media becomes serious once corporate backers join the fray and commission build teams for an international...
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Eldridge Roundstone waved Lumin over to his jet-black chopper. Lumin approached him tentatively, ready for bad news--whatever it may be.
"Lumin, hop in!" yelled Eldridge over the roaring rotors as he handed her a headset.
Fuck it, thought Lumin, climbing inside the helicopter. My headache couldn't be any worse. She put on the headset and slid into a leather seat next to Eldridge. "What's this all about, Eldridge?"
"Hey, babe! I missed you!" called a voice in Lumin's headset.
No. Lumin did a double take as she peered into the cockpit. A familiar grin shined beneath the pilot's headset. "Jesus, Andrew? You're flying this thing?"
Andrew nodded, bobbing his wild mop of wavy hair. "Yeah, Eldy's been teaching me. I've logged quite a few hours now, so no worries!"
Eldridge leaned closer to Lumin. "This thing is state of the art. It practically flies itself."
"Take me somewhere with alcohol," said Lumin, annoyed that her life was suddenly in the hands of a balloon artist.
"Actually, that was going to be my suggestion," said Roundstone.
Remarkably, Andrew proved to have a steady hand with the yoke. The helicopter touched down minutes later in the tiny town of Fields, just east of the middle of nowhere .
"Would you mind taking off those heels? They're lovely but a touch impractical out here, I'm afraid." Eldridge pulled a pair of large, ugly galoshes out of a metal compartment and slipped them over Lumin's feet before she could protest. He put on a matching set of his own. "I built my cabin on old pasture land. I'm afraid a proper landing platform is still in the works. We may have to traverse a few cow patties."
"The dry ones make pretty good fuel for campfires," said Andrew.
"Wonderful," said Lumin, as Eldridge carefully lowered her from the helicopter. She could feel herself blushing at the sensation of his large hands on her waist. Andrew led the way as they trudged a few yards through the field to the cabin. Luckily, the pasture was dry as a bone, making the galoshes ultimately unnecessary.
"Cabin huh? This place is massive!" said Lumin, marveling at the structure as they approached. It was rustic but modern, with huge exposed logs arranged in complex, interlocking patterns.
"Calling it a cabin may be a stretch but it's only six bedrooms; I really didn't see the need for more than that all the way out here. I had it built so we could have a place to meet, away from prying eyes."
"You cut down an old-growth forest for me? How sweet," said Lumin, sarcastically.
"These redwoods were genetically engineered to grow at an accelerated rate. We can produce a log with a five foot diameter in less than a year. All the building materials were shipped over from my plantation in Northern California."
