The very essence of romance is uncertainty.

[Mogar]

Ms. Hau had inspired the CEO, their tryst in to the point she was given the respect of an honored guest. The Baalshamin was sent to Tomainia to pick up the VIP. Lene would be given a star treatment in the luxurious craft, tended by synthetic waitresses, just about anything she could possibly want could be provided within a few moments. Not that she had much time to relax before arriving though, the hypersonic craft making the trip back to The Cape in just under an hour.  All the while, Mogar sat nervously pacing, having already planned out quite an adventure for their meeting, it would be one part diplomacy and another part romance, mixing the sights of the endless city with views that would display the technological prowess of the corporation and by extension their leader. 

 

Finally Angelina, his secretary and personal assistant in the spire entered through the solid wood door into his makeshift office. The tall and lankey pale girl with long black hair and blue eyes stood there for a moment watching him pace before putting her hands onto her hips and saying "You should get going, being late wouldn't make a very good impression." The words finally broke him from the train of thought and he turned to her, "I suppose you are right, everything is ready?" he asked, She shook her head, "No, obviously things changed dramatically in the 10 minutes since you last asked, get out of here." As he huffed at her and began to talk out the door she snapped her fingers, "Forgetting something?" she inquired, grabbing a  giftwrapped novel from the ebonwood desk he was just pacing in front of and handing it to him. "Thanks, always glad to have you thinking for me sometimes." he teased, putting the large book under his arm and making his way to the elevator

 

The final fifteen minutes of her flight an endless city appeared out the window, stretching beyond the horizon as the aircraft descended, a single building standing far above any others on this tier, though there were hundreds of pylons reaching into the sky, the second layer nearing completion and its roof to be added soon enough. A narrow patch of tarmac appeared underneath the Ballshamin as they circled to make their landing.

 

A Bentley Mulsanne would be awaiting her aircraft as it landed at Central Cape International with Mogar leaning against the side of the car waiting, a bright smile as she stepped off the aircraft, "Welcome to MoG[Corp]."

 

Edited June 26, 2017 by Mogar

[Fuckface Larry]

Lene stepped off the plane and took a look around. She had decided to go with a more casual look today than when she last saw him, her long silver hair in a ponytail, wearing tight grey pants and an orange blouse she had always loved.

This place was strange, but it intrigued her. She saw only gray, wherever she looked. There was nothing here that reminded her of nature. She had never seen any place like it, and it would be interesting to see how this plays out. Mogar was leaning against his car, an air of arrogance surrounding him. He looked handsome as ever, she thought to herself, as she walked up to him, giving him a little kiss on the cheek. "Hi, glad to see you again." She bit her lip a little because she thought she sounded too formal. "So, show me some of that city of yours." She smiled at him. 

[Mogar]

"Always a pleasure, I suppose the view from the top ought to be our first sight." he reckoned, opening the door for her and gesturing her in. After they both got into the car and comfortable, a few finger movements with his right hand as though he was typing on an invisible keyboard and they had set off, with no visible communications to the driver since the partition had stayed closed the entire time. Opening a bottle of Krug Clos d’Ambonnay 1995, he poured them two glasses and after handing one to Lene, there was another slight finger movement and the roof turned transparent.

As the view became clearer, holographic advertising for everything from colas to exotic clubs danced in the sky above them. The metallic spires of various sizes covering most of the sky which was turning purple and red, the sun setting behind them as they raced through the city. Of course there was numerous synthetics working upon buildings or walking the streets to another job. Best part of the artificial workforce was that they didn't require sleep, so construction was endless and eternal.

Taking a long swig from the glass he turned to her with a smile and remarked "I have this belief that our species is destined for so much more than we allow ourselves, the only thing that holds us back is hanging onto primitive tribalism, "They're the bad guys!". In reality we're all more similar to each other, whether black, white, native american, than various breeds of cats are to one another. Through science I have learned anything is possible, and I hope by the end of our little tour that I can talk you into a partnership of sorts. With our combined minds I bet we can create things that even those magical civilizations on this planet have never dreamed of." In the distance one building stood well above the rest, the top appearing to blend into the sky itself as the east got darker.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Mogar

[Fuckface Larry]

Lene took a sip from her glass and watched her surroundings closely. There was so much to see. This city really took technology to the next level. While she herself believed in a certain symbiosis between nature and technology, this city seemed to exist solely on electronics. She watched everything through the roof of the car and marvelled at the tall building appearing in front of them. "It is quite right that tribalism hasn't brought us anywhere as a species. Especially poliically motivated. Finding a scapegoat for one's problems is both wrong and weak." She was admittedly distracted by her surroundings and lost her train of thought for a second or two, before turning her head to Mogar, drinking in the very pleasing view he certainly was. She smiled at him "This is quite a marvellous place. It is so different from any place I have ever seen. I grew up in a small village, where we didn't have much. I still remember the time electricity was introduced to our little place. I must've been around 10 years old. We were self-reliant farmers and hunters. It was a simple life, but it has taught me a lot. University changed my life, I was so hungry for knowledge, I took 8 classes a day to learn as much as possible. To see this city is something I could've never imagined. While my view for my country's different, I admire what you have built." She ran her fingers over his arm slowly as she spoke. "If you don't mind me asking, how do you keep this city powered?" 

[Mogar]

He listened intently, the only distraction her silver hair in the rainbow on lights that shined down upon them. "A mix of various sustainable sources, the usual solar and wind, wind being rather easy to collect due to the design of the !Xu itself, channeling airflow where we want it so it can be used most effectively. Geothermal was also a relatively easy energy supply to reach considering the tremendous depths required to keep this thing stable, drilling down another mile or two to where the planet's heat itself could add to our energy requirements was trivial in comparison. The majority though comes from nuclear power plants, which we've found most effectively to sustain from magneto-inertial fusion, hydrogen-3 as a fuel source. The cost of such research was... well beyond what I suspect most economies on this planet could afford but thankfully I have access to more resources than anyone else upon Orbis." He remarked, quickly changing the subject.

"I was raised in a city, and learned quickly it's not always about what you know but who you know as well, and a lucky mix of both allowed me to graduate high school at 13, attend a prestigious tech institution, and manage masters in electrical engineering and physics to be able create my own company by age 22. I was involved in weapons manufacturing to begin with, and a timely war allowed me to expand my influence to greater reaches than I had imagined. By that time I had begun experiments into more radical science, and the fruits of one of those is what eventually led me here." He said with a smile, downing the glass in what seemed like a single gulp and pouring another, refilling hers as well.

"Perhaps we shall take a visit to my hideaway before this adventure is over, but for now, the Tower awaits." He bragged. "There's only several structures taller than my Headquarters upon this planet, and even still the space elevator is taller than any of the Akaatans spires." The car had pulled into the long driveway to the main entrance to MoG[Tower], currently 700 stories and still climbing. A large garden made up a semi circle in front of the building, similar in scale to central park of New York City. As he opened the door and stood there to let her get out of the car, he continued "I don't think we'll be here very long, I just like to provide a level of perspective before guests experience the other side of the !Xu."

Finally reaching the entrance to the facility, the entire quarter of the structure a transparent wall ten stories high looking into a welcoming center containing several floors of assistance and elevators ensure everyone only reached the floor they were destined for.

Edited June 30, 2017 by Mogar

[Fuckface Larry]

Lene was feeling quite overwhelmed with sensations. It was the strangest thing, that she wanted to see everything and she watched so closely, but still this man had a presence to him that... she couldn't even explain it herself... that made her aware of him. Like she could physically feel him being around even when she was looking the other way. She wanted to see all of this. It held a strange fascination. She had studied nature so closely, this was completely different. It wasn't like her and that'swhat she liked about it the most.

"This tower, it looks impressive. What is it made of? How tall is it?" She didn't even give him time to answer, she had so much to ask, that she stumbled over her words, asking question after question "...where does the name !Xu come from? how does the space elevator work? The fusion, do you work with a plasma liner? And..." He looked at her looking quite amused and she noticed that she had stumbled on for quite some time and haven't given him a second to say anything. "I'm sorry", she put her hand on his knee "I sometimes get ahead of myself. I always want to know everything. 'Neugierde ist nichts als Eitelkeit' my mum always said to me. It means curiosity is nothing but vanity. She was one of the many who mistook having read a book for understanding it." She looked at him and blushed. She didn't know why she shared that with him. He was so strange to her, so far removed to what she knew, but he felt familiar in a way she couldn't explain. 

[Mogar]

Taking her hand from his knee and squeezing it as she unleashed the assault of questions, and they began their journey into the solid white room and he, three floors with several dozen reception desks specializing in particular sections of the spire, though most on the main floor were to guide newcomers to the proper receptionist. Quickly making their way through the thousands of people of all colors in dozens of queues or finding their way to one he began to articulate a response. "A mix of various titanium alloys and carbon nanotubes for the most part, as well as a bunch of materials with names I'd rather not attempt to butcher." he summarized with a wink. "As for the !Xu, it is the creator god of the San religion, one of the several indigenous people that make up the original south africans. I felt a sky god was an appropriate name for a structure that blocked out the sun."

A short asiatic female stood at a desk near the center of the room, greeting them with a slight bow as they walked by and to the waiting elevator that opened as if it were expecting them.pressing his hand into the scanner that served as one of several security devices in the only elevator in the building that had access to the entire structure. "As for the space elevator, I will admit it took far longer than you'd believe to perfect such a feat, but once I did I was able to replicate it where ever I have traveled if I had enough time to do so, the benefits almost always outweigh the cost."

The elevator shot upwards with a feeling not unlike that of a plane taking off, an additional G or two pushing them into the floor of the metal box before dampeners returned the feeling to that of a traditional ride. "A tungsten layer on top of a molybdenum layer on CFC tile seems to work best, but I'm unsure as to the specific details of every individual reactor, I much prefer the geothermal power myself, unlimited energy without the energy costs that fusion has. Personal opinions though, of course. My darling, never apologize for questions, Wissen ist Macht."  With every moment he was growing more intoxicated by her, enjoying her inquisitiveness, while there was plenty of scientists of the fairer sex, there were few that had an aura of power like he sensed from this one. The several minutes left of the trip went by in a moment, the time spend with their lips exploring one another like high schoolers.

With a soft trill the elevator suddenly reminded them of the world outside of their cage and beckoned them into the luxurious office. Floor to ceiling windows covered all four of the walls, giving those in the office a beautiful view of a rapidly darkening sky, a soft rain pattering against the glass as lit windows from other buildings made artificial stars to make up for the cloudy sky above. Bookcases filled with all sorts of written word that varied in their appearance from brand new to thousands of years old made half of the room not look out of place in a college library. A massive desk made from an ebonwood sat covered in blueprints and paperwork, angled at forty five degrees to maximize the views behind him. Opposite the desk a white grand piano stood off to one side, covered in candelabra.

A panoramic fireplace sat in the center of the room surrounded by glass with a small blaze prepared just before they had arrived. He did not intend on spending very long here, but the view had never failed to awe him at least a little bit, he figured the same would be said for his guest. "Only a temporary office, I tend to move up the building as we continue to grow, but I always ensure I have a few amenities at the very least." He proclaimed, meandering over to the desk and taking a bottle of whiskey out of a chilled drawer, pouring it into the pair of glasses waiting on the table. Gesturing her over to him they stood together with glasses in hand admiring the view for several breaths before offering a toast. "To you, Lene, it must have been centuries since I last felt this way."

Edited July 18, 2017 by Mogar

[Fuckface Larry]

When she had walked into the room, she was breathless. The view was simply stunning. It looked so nice with all the lights from the city. She had stood there just staring, taking in every detail of the skyline before, when Mogar's presence demanded her attention again. She took the glass of whiskey and smiled at his toast "And to you, a man who can pry my attention away from this" She nodded to the window as she spoke, then gave him a slight smile and took a sip. The whiskey was smooth and burned just a little. It was very good. Just for a second she thought that she should have dressed a little more formal, but the city just captivated her, taking her mind off things. "So, is this where you actually work? Tell me what all these high buildings and structures are. I'm just wondering, do you enjoy any plants or green? I don't think I've seen a single plant since I arrived here. It's a strange question maybe, but how do you feed that population? I understand great effciency can be achieved in the production of food.... Do you have animals around here?" She noticed she was getting ahead of herself again. She just wanted to knwo everything about this country, in a way it felt like understanding this country might make her understand him, and she had wanted to know him since they had exchanged words for the first time. He seemed so sure of everything he said and did that she found interesting.Most people have a sense of insecurity about them, maybe not even a very pronounced one, but it was there. She had always been good at finding people's weaknesses, with him she had nothing. She had never met anyone like that and it made her curious. "How do you know my native language? I am quite surprised to hear it around here. It brings up some memories. Sometimes I feel like I'm forgetting it slowly...." Lene's eyes glanced off into the distance for a second, before finding Mogar's again. "What do people do for fun around here? And more importantly what do you like to do for fun?" She smirked at him. 

[Mogar]

He took a moment to admire the view himself, though she always managed to take his attention off anything else before too long. "This is my main office, I probably only spend maybe an hour a day here, dealing with the day to day paperwork and other nonsense that goes with being the boss." He took a swig of the glass and continued, "I spend most of my time in the lab, assisting our scientists in their latest projects. I just wish I had more me's to split the workload sometimes, you know?"

Pointing in the distances to the closest pylon, appearing similar to the buildings surrounding it with the exception of the lack of windows and darker metal. "That, is one of the pylons in which we shall build the next floor of the !Xu upon, they are mixed in with the traditional buildings to the point most resident's don't even notice them. I couldn't tell you what half of these buildings are, the ones closest to this one are diplomatic and extended government offices." He bit his lower lip for a moment at her next question. "We have plenty of food supplies, almost certainly too much of it, else we'd have a billion starving residents. Every Arcology class structure, the ones with over a hundred floors and a potential population of 40,000 or more, all have mandatory vertical farm levels to ensure they are self sustaining when it comes to food. Meat is a bit trickier but we've found ways to grow it artificially in labs or in specialized buildings that recycle the animal waste into either power or sustenance for the vertical farms that don't use hydroponics."

He enjoyed the slight fidget that she was unable to hide, her nervousness showing as much as she wished it did not. He paused for a long moment at this question, emptying his glass and leaning his behind against the desk, looking over her and building up the tension before finally answering. "I'll give you an honest answer, I have nanites within my saliva that allow me to learn languages from anyone I happen to kiss, I did find it interesting that I did not notice any accent before but as you said, perhaps it just has been too long and your accent disappeared with time, it is at the very least the language you "think" in, which surprised me but I suspect you have at least a few more of those left."

Walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist he pulls her against him and looked out the window at the holograms dancing in the rain. "My citizens do what most do for fun, party and enjoy their lives. Easy access to most intoxicants and likely the largest club scene upon this planet makes partying our national pastime." He let the back of his left hand run up her stomach, across her breast, her chest, and across her neck to lift her chin up for easier access to her lips. "As for what I do for fun my darling, we'll reach that part of the tour in due time, but spending time with you certainly makes near the top of the list." her host professed, kissing her once more, their touch electric as always.

Edited July 31, 2017 by Mogar

[Fuckface Larry]

"Oh, I know that feeling. There aren't enough hours in the day. Well, unless you make more, of course" She winked at him.

She had listened intently to his explanation of this strange country. He talked about it like one would talk about the weather. Not bored, but not excited. Like this was an every day thing. I guess for him it was. "This all sounds fascinating, I'm just wondering why you still feel the need to consume meat. It is so inefficient to spend energy and resources on that. Why expend that kind of cost?"

As he walked over, her thinking focused more and more on him, she was watching him get nearer and had to remind herself to take a breath. His touch felt soft, but so sure of itself, kind of confident, it drew her to him and she followed his directions instinctively, when helifted her chin up with his hand. AS captivated as she was by all of this, him, this strange place, the open questions she still had, she had almost missed it. She ran one hand from his shoulder to his cheek and pushed him away softly and slowly. She bit his lip before letting go and saying "Nanites, huh? Tell me how that works exactly." She couldn't hide being slightly irritated at that level of intrusion. 

Edited July 29, 2017 by Lene Hau

[Mogar]

"Humans just naturally have an attraction to devouring other animals, and cultured meat actually creates a healthier alternative to traditional. Lab standards meaning little risk of salmonella or what have you, along with being better for the environment than farms are, efficiency on the macro scale tends to go into every decision I tend to make." He said, sucking on his lower lip, never having much of a problem with the taste of a bit of blood. "As for nanorobots, they work as you'd expect, once they're able to access the bloodstream and work their way up to broca's area, they send the information back to me, usually dying within about a day or so but once I'm able to comprehend and replicate their spoken language they become obsolete anyway."

Her expression made him feel the explanation wasn't what she was really asking, and he continued. "There's less intrusive methods, hypothetically just skin to skin contact could work just as well, but the quickest route to learn someone's language is to dance tongues, and I've always enjoyed the poetry of that." Gesturing out the window, "But now that you've seen the heights, how about a venture to the depths?" he inquired, showing her back to the elevator, the descent letting her feel a similar gravity to the moon, a careful balance between speed and the physics involved.

Six hundred and more floors flew by in what felt like moments, and the lower lobby was identical to the one that they had already been through, A flashy car as always sat parked out front, with a pair of armored SUVs in either side of the vehicle. Opening her door for her, the holographic display that replaced the original pair of screens came to life and welcomed them to the vehicle, creating a 3D map of the city and their intended route. Getting in the other side they quickly sped off, the security vehicles struggling to stay ahead of them, a VTOL following from above, their eyes in the sky ready and waiting. Glowing neon lights, advertisements for everything from automobiles to recreational drugs covered most of the building sides they drove past, with larger holograms danced above them, every so often fireworks could be seen in between the massive spires of metal and glass. 

"You asked me earlier what we do for fun, welcome to The Cape's nightlife, every night is a celebration that we survived another day. I enjoy allowing people to spend their time entertaining and enjoying themselves, synthetics have meant most people don't have to work more than a few hours a week and can spend the rest of their time doing whatever they want." He took his hands off the wheel, letting the car drive itself as he took out the same vape pen he had when they had first met and took a long drag before turning and offering it to her. "But enough about me, I want to know more about you. It seems everyone who is in power on this world has some sort of gift, what is yours?"

Edited August 11, 2017 by Mogar