Felix made good of his word and Luna Services was completely revamped within a month. All necessary legal and administrative matters were taken care of, all I needed to do was sign some agreements and the company ready to be incorporated as a monolith that occupied an entire Area district beside Felix's company. The news of T.C. and Felix joining hands for this new giant that emerged overnight had taken the Inner City by storm. It wasn't difficult to call for a press interview and Felix had opted to take a backseat saying people would like to see a handsome young face for a change of pace.
That leads us to what we were doing now. The wheeler halted and I got out, waiting for Ignacio to do the same. We were at Lisa's boutique ready to make new suits for the press interview scheduled after a brief meeting with Felix.
The electronic chime went off as we stepped in, alerting Lisa of our arrival. The small woman emerged from the room behind the counter and adjusted her glasses. "Dear me! Isn't this my favourite customer?"
"Lisa! I'm so happy to see you too!"
I gave the petite lady a hug and she giggled. "What can I do for you and your handsome friend today?"
"We need some suits ready for a press conference."
Lisa blinked owlishly and scrutinised me. "That's new. You usually ask for glamorous suits."
I gave her a sheepish laugh because that was the truth. Ignacio raised an eyebrow and I shook my head with the unspoken promise to explain later.
"Any colour preferences?" she asked as she guided us to the fabric section.
I scanned her new fabrics and instantly fell in love with the zesty orange silk. It looked very appealing but I couldn't wear such an unprofessional colour. Sighing in defeat, I turned to her. "Anything but black. Please make it appropriate for the event, I'll leave the design to you as usual."
Lisa smiled when I wrinkled my nose when I mentioned the colour black. The dear woman knew my preference well enough to know how I abhor anything dull and boring.
"Do I need to retake your measurements?" she smiled.
I shook my head. "I doubt it. I haven't changed."
Lisa tutted slyly. "You wouldn't know since you're still a growing boy. Better safe than sorry since you're already here. Now off to the measuring room! Your handsome friend can come too so that I can do the both of you at once."
Ignacio blushed at her choice of words but Lisa took no notice, already tugging at the measuring tape on her waist. Although there was a model scanner to take accurate three-dimensional measurements for clothes, Lisa still preferred the old-fashioned method.
The shirt came off easily and I dropped it on the plush couch in Lisa's workshop. It was a place not many get to see. Lisa hated doing customised clothes and would often refuse unless the customer sent her measurements. I don't think I'll ever understand why she made me an exception.
"Raise your arms outwards."
I raised them and allowed Lisa to pull the tape around my torso as Ignacio watched attentively. Once Lisa had finished recording all my measurements she cleared her throat.
"You've grown slightly more muscular especially around your biceps. Your height did not increase by much but the pants length definitely needs some addition. I'm assuming you would still have some room left to grow in the few years so do drop by the shop when you can."
Ignacio gulped when Lisa's eyes trained on him. "You! You're a new customer. Usually, I don't deal with measurement taking but seeing you are a friend of Titus, I'll make an exception. I don't have your details in my database so I would need you to grant me access."
The prodigy glanced at me with a silent plea for help. "Just hold out your right wrist to the equipment she brings later," I whispered. "She will scan the identity chip embedded there. It's been a while since you've been a citizen, have you forgotten how things worked?"
Ignacio flushed scarlet. "I'm just not used to the privileges yet. It's all thanks to you that my family and I have found jobs as citizens in the Inner City."
Rolling my eyes at his dramatics I told him to thank Felix just as Lisa stepped in. "Bring out your wrist, young man," she ordered and Ignacio did as told.
The process was quick and Lisa told Ignacio to remove his top while she put the equipment away. Ignacio made it to the second button before he froze. "Could you not stare please?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Why not? I don't see you having a problem ogling at me while I was having my measurements taken."
Ignacio stuttered but Lisa's snappy comments about his inefficiency had him moving faster. Before he knew it, Lisa was all over him and barking out orders. I snickered in the corner as Ignacio yelped when Lisa tugged at his waistline.
It wasn't long before I got kicked out of the workshop. Standing like a fool in the middle of the empty boutique, I decided to browse at some of Lisa's newer creations and as expected, every dress was stitched to perfection.
Ignacio came out a while later with pink still dusting his cheeks.
"I will send it to you when it is ready," the old lady snapped. "Do you want me to send it to your residence or the office?"
I glanced at Ignacio and then replied, "Send it to the residence, please. You can send his suit along with mine since we will be living together for a while."
Lisa raised an eyebrow at that remark. "Make sure to lubricate well if you're going to do it."
I blinked once, then twice before yelling at the woman for suggesting such a thing. "We're not in that kind of relationship!"
That had us kicked out of her shop and I exchanged baffled looks with Ignacio before the man grinned at me.
"So⦠what's with the glamorous suits?"
***
"Thank you. Dearly beloved gathered today, some of you may recognise me as Titus Crowley the infamous playboy of my year in the Academy. However, today I come to you as the man who has taken the financial world by storm β T.C."
Cameras continued to flash and murmurs got louder at my next statement.
"Today I will announce that T.C. and Felix Riggs are launching a new company in joint ventures called Luna Services. Ignacio Cross is the Vice President of Luna Services who will be working very closely with me in future."
As rehearsed, Io presented the question. "Mr Crowley, could you share with us how you had Felix β the wealthiest man in Luna, to agree to this joint venture?"
I smiled at the platinum blonde beauty. "The economy in Luna has been stagnant for the past hundred years. Luna Services is the only company in history that will introduce a new untapped market β the Slums."
Many gasps were heard and outraged cries emerged from the crowd. "Everyone knows that we make credits from the people living in the Inner City. The rich continue to get richer while the poor who couldn't afford to keep up with the ridiculous standard of living were forced to join the Slums. The only connection between the Slums and the Inner City is the sale of low-grade Pantiumite."
Ignacio displayed a chart for all to see. I pointed to the graph and continued. "This is the trend of Pantiumite being purchased by the people in the Slums over the years. The Slums have their way of keeping credits circulating in a healthy way as people adopt a system called bartering for what they need. Only Pantiumite is bought by Special Pass Workers who can afford it."
"How do you know all this?" a male reporter asked.
I motioned for Ignacio to step forward.
The man stepped forward as practised and took the spotlight. "I was from the Slums."
That single line inspired drama that ensued as people started shouting and throwing accusations. I fiddled with the terminal and played an edited clip. It was the clip about Raoul's affirmation that Ignacio worked for him to develop a new type of Pantiumite. The original clip had been really different but with pro video mastering, I managed to cut out snippets of Raoul's original conversation to twist the recorded message.
Once the short message ended, the crowd was stunned to silence at the new revelation. I cued for Ignacio to take the chance and proceed as planned.
"As you now know, I was working alongside the late genius, Raoul Harper, to create a new type of Pantiumite that was said to be thirty percent more efficient. I left the Inner City voluntarily previously because of financial issues and joined my family in the Slums. He was the one who offered to pay for my reinstatement to an Inner City citizen after he recognised my talents while I was working as a Special Pass worker."
Reporters were busy recording what Ignacio had to say. The next journalist's question was predictable and I had to remember to keep the straight face.
"Do you have any leads about Raoul's murder that night?"
Instead of denying, Ignacio admitted he knew there was going to be a murder. Thanks to my foresight, I had Felix contact Spencer asking for the Patrol Guard's involvement to protect the next potential victim the day Ignacio re-entered the Inner City as a citizen.
"Raoul had many enemies who were envious of his talents. He was constantly receiving death threats, which was why I worked behind the scenes. I didn't know why he transferred a huge amount of credits into my account that night but Raoul's last words scared me into hiding in the Slums. He said 'destroy everything, they are coming for you too'."
The crowd fell into a stunned moment of silence before murmurs came out. More shutters clicked but Ignacio braved it all. The questions came fast and relentless, lasting several hours.
By the time the event ended, both Ignacio and I were looking worse for wear. Felix had congratulated us for surviving the conference and offered us a lift back to our run-down apartment.
***
The weeks passed quickly and every day the work pile became higher. Felix was busy meeting potential partners and I was busy running to and fro between the Inner City and Slums coordinating logistics. Ignacio was stuck in the office handling all the legal procedures and fighting with the Parliament on my behalf about the rights to provide goods and services to non-citizens of the Inner City.
Both the Slums and the Inner City reacted strongly to Luna Services. Many Inner City citizens and Slum dwellers were supportive of it. However, members of the Parliament and monolith owners weren't thrilled with the idea. They were more concerned about competition and the loss of power over the market prices than anything else.
It didn't matter if they were causing trouble for us on the legal side of things as business boomed with no sign of stopping even after only a week of operation. Company stock price increased by seven hundred percent after the press conference and was still increasing steadily. Centurion, the company that had rejected Ignacio's application many years back, was now desperate to arrange a meeting with him for dibs on the new potential market.
Ignacio had it tough. However, Nash had it worse. Going around the Slums spreading the news and educating people about the credit system and getting their support for the company wasn't an easy job. The people in the Slums could offer goods or services for more credits without being a Special Pass worker now but many were still sceptical about it since they had been scraping by just fine with the help of Red Rumble.
Sighing heavily, I buried my face in my hands. I was exhausted having to play Titus and T.C. with the business boom. Now with Red Rumble coming into the picture, the Night Walker must come into play too.
Can't a man have a day off?