Chapter 256: John pisses off Milo. Milo goes shopping.

Chapter 256: John pisses off Milo. Milo goes shopping.

Milo was annoyed. No, he was highly annoyed, and it was pushing him into a dangerous place where his emotions rarely hit. He furiously typed in commands to search through all of the information he had found in Manpower's email and stored data; six screens were showing surveillance video at high speed while his system searched for certain topics of conversation. He had one eye on the screens while he mostly concentrated on following John and Eric's email for the past few weeks, and then digging into the files of the engineers and accountants. Everything else was forgotten as he looked for the information he needed. Along with a steady stream of anime, he was transferring all of his data down to Rusty and making plans to dismantle his systems in the water tank. It had started with a comment in an email from Belinda. She was complaining about her stepdad and his plans to spend her money after she had access to her trust funds...

Two days before, in the offices of Manpower:

"So we keep expanding downward through H, ten levels at a time, leasing them as we go, but with the option to take more if someone tries to steal them from us. Then, we take over Sections G and I. Both have sparse populations in the top 50 floors and nothing below ground in the manufacturing areas. The leases are dirt cheap, and any upgrades will be charged against our lease. Finally, we grab T. That section is a wasteland, and we pay nothing for it. Some of the corporations need workers with multi-year contracts. We can spend minimal time cleaning the place up and installing enough infrastructure to house the long-term pod workers. Any questions?"

Several people hesitated but opted to say nothing. Earl from engineering was looking at his notes and raised his hand briefly, then started talking. "I've got some big concerns about the structural stability of Section T, but my first question is why we aren't looking to lease Section E? It's adjacent to us, as are the other three, and in much better shape."

John had hoped the engineering guys would stay quiet; they also asked difficult questions that only engineers knew the answer to. "Section E has a higher lease. It has three times the population of G or I, which means three times the costs of running it. And with all those people living there, we have less room to expand into it."

Earl put up a dozen spreadsheets on the screens in the meeting rooms and began highlighting numbers. "But, while there is less room, the cost is actually better, sir. Section E is in amazing shape. It's not surprising because it's the main mechanical hub for the entire habitat. There was obviously a decision to put most of the repair funds into that section. The repair costs will be far less, and the revenue from the government will be much higher since it's based on occupancy. Look at the numbers in red and purple. We could take it over for less than G or I and turn a profit, putting our leasing costs below zero. Then we use the income to refurbish G and start moving people from E to G, then to I. And we end up in control of Section E, which makes it easier to control fluid flow, waste disposal, electrical, and air processing. It might even be worth purchasing the property outright."

John was staring at the numbers, but he only cared about the bottom line, which was maximized by acquiring Section E. "What do you think, Eric? We'll have our financing soon."

Eric spent a few minutes asking questions and getting answers, then put his own sheets up on the screens. "It's quite feasible to go with Earl's plan, and it cuts our variable costs way down. Frankly, I'm worried about the other sections. They might have huge hidden flaws that we'd be responsible for. I say we go with Section E first. Between E and H, we have a good base to expand in several directions and stay profitable the whole time. We just need that special financing at the start, and then we shift funds to the acquisition and repair of whichever section looks best, with plenty of time to look for possible problems. I'll get proposals done for both the purchase and lease options by midnight tonight, and we may hear back in less than a week."

"Excellent, knock that out, Eric, I'll visit Belinda and try to cheer her up with the big plans. I'll bet she'll be excited."

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The more Milo thought about someone taking over Section E, the more agitated he became—especially the idiots in Section H. Time and again, they took shortcuts that caused him problems. Stealing water and power, dumping sewage into the wrong areas, and making more work for Milo. They were motivated by cost, not by doing a good job, and he was tired of it. The thought of Manpower stealing all his hard work made him angry, and he stopped himself a dozen times from purposefully causing problems in their systems. That wouldn't be right. He fixed things; he didn't try to break things. He added a 'on purpose' to the last thought as he remembered a few things that hadn't gone as planned.

"I want Claw Master to purchase Section E of the South Philadelphia Habitat with the intent to repair and maintain it, taking over all of the management of it."

Steven had barely begun to think when Wally replied. "Buy or lease? You gain control either way, but with far less long-term commitment if you decide to do something else."

Milo shook his head. "It needs to be a full purchase: Top floor all the way to the sub-basements and everything below that. I'm not going anywhere, and I don't want anyone trying to take my home from me. I have plans to make improvements and turn it into what it was supposed to be. If it works, I want to take over the entire Habitat, fix it, and rent it out."

Wally smiled. "Coincidentally, your corporation will need a large area for manufacturing and research facilities. You can rent to yourself." The A.I. was frantically crunching his own numbers, gathering data a thousand times faster than Milo could, and doing a cost and profit analysis. It would be hard to make a profit with the Habitat, but that wasn't the point. Milo would have money coming from other things, and this would keep him busy and not causing trouble.

"I can gather information for you and send it over for your research—also a list of preferred contractors and specialists. I think buying that section may come with some strings to assist with managing more of the habitat, but that's your long-term plan anyway. But looking at that building specifically, there are some restrictions. I'm hoping that none of your plans involve digging deeper. There is a moratorium on any further excavation under that habitat. All rail lines, power, and communication lines are routed around it. While it was pronounced safe, the studies showed that digging further with the river that close could make the supports unstable."

Milo blinked. "No digging. That's good. I agree with that completely. I promise not to do any digging. In fact, I want to pour an extra layer of concrete into the sub-basement. Some cracks worry me, and those rooms aren't used. Another fifty feet of reinforced concrete will help the support structure."

Wally noted that and was happy Milo was already thinking of improving safety. Maybe thinking too hard, the A.I. could tell that he was thinking with at least two streams of thought at once, maybe more. After a minute, Milo nodded. "Great. Send me all the information you can, and the contracts. I have to get to work." The screen went blank.

Steven looked up at his friend on the screen. "So Milo is making his Habitat his life's work. That seems appropriate. But I wonder what started him thinking about it."

Wally was shuffling papers on his desk and handed a stack to someone, then turned back to Steven. "Sorry, I just sent off the contracts I negotiated to buy Section E. In doing so, I found something out. Someone currently renting in that Habitat had a similar thought to Milo. I think they spooked him. Luckily, the government was swayed by the Claw Master corporation to accept their offer and not that of Manpower. Buy trumped Lease, and they liked the idea of a lump sum of cash. Milo is four billion dollars poorer—one billion to purchase the section and clear things up legally. Three billion is in a dedicated bank account and earmarked for repairs to the building. He can get started whenever he likes.

Steven blinked. "So he already owns the section he lives in?"

Wally nodded. "A small square of land from the top of the roof and the airspace one hundred feet up, and technically, all the way down for ten miles. Now I want to see what he does with the place."