CH 74

Two weeks before Zel's time travel...

"Good morning, sir!"

"Good morning."

A man in his prime raised his hand in greeting as he replied back to the young officer who passed by. His brown hair was cut short, slicked back and tidy. That's just the way he's always kept it, even when he was younger. His sharp blue eyes looked forward, however, as he didn't face the young man when he replied.

The facility here on Kanada was established eight years ago. It was Mark Linton's father, Raphael Linton, that took it upon himself to finance this operation. Now, it is the Linton Industries' research and development headquarters. With 'Linton Diamonds' being the most focused topic of research.

Inside this facility was the main laboratory of Chief Research Officer, Dr. Leonard Prime. A man who has been here since the beginning. His research on 'Linton Energy' has advanced the projects associated with Linton Diamonds by decades. For the last half-decade, he had been focusing on one specific task. To find more Linton Diamonds.

"So? How is the progress on the prototype going?" 

"..."

Mark waited for a moment to get a response, but Dr. Prime was acting as if he hadn't heard him. Looking at the man's focused expression, Mark couldn't help but smile.

'If he's this concentrated, then it must still be going on. That's good.'

Mark wasn't about to disrupt his best employee. In fact, he stood still and patiently watched on as the man fidgeted with the shoebox-sized machine in front of him. The man's hands kept on changing equipment that ranged from a Chippy Splitter to an Oishi Wrench.

When he finally placed the wrench he held on the table, removed his gloves, and took a seat, Dr. Prime heaved a sigh of relief. He was satisfied with his work until he realized that the president was here, looking curiously at his new product.

'Geez. He could have told me he was here.'

"President Linton! The locator is finally complete! The device is able to read the energy signature of Linton Diamonds within a kilometer radius!" As he enthusiastically patted down the machine he had just built, Dr. Prime smiled. He had been working on this project for a good five years now. If he was to be asked what he feels right now, it's that he doesn't feel like a failure anymore.

"Good! I expected at least this much from you, Dr. Prime. You have not let me down." Mark smiled back while patting the man's back. He was finally able to expand his work, which meant he can now release the product for commercial use. Even if only for a local market, though it would only be like this for the beginning.

"I would like to test it out first, sir! We cannot be sure of its performance until we have done rigorous testing. I can finish it in three weeks!" A solemn expression was displayed on Dr. Prime's old face.

The fat old man's face was actually quite handsome, but his resting bitch face made him hard to approach. His gray hair was tied up in a ponytail, having stopped taking haircuts a few years ago. He wore an old lab coat over his casual shirt and black pants, one that had a strangely clean smell, courtesy of his 'Smart Clean' spray. A signature product of Linton Industries. 

"I'll give you two! Get it done!" Even when the man was already running behind his schedule, Mark thought that he could at least lessen the time he needs by cutting a few 'safety' procedures.

'Hehe, I knew that he'd lessen it. I actually only need a week, but now I can take my time.' But Dr. Prime was just a studious man who likes to take his time. He calls it, 'waiting for an inspiration'. But it's mostly just him wanting to take a break every once in a while. He had experienced a lot of crunch times in the old President's reign, he's going to take it easy with the new one.

"I-I see. I won't let you down, sir!" Pretending to be taking a loss, Dr. Prime gave Mark a wry smile. One that Mark didn't miss.

"Then I'll leave you to it. When you've finished your work, go to Hilda. She'll get you your compensation." 

Waving his hand, Mark went out of Dr. Prime's laboratory. The usual 'compensation' is just bonus money, something that Dr. Prime never turns down.

"Thank you, sir!" Dr. Prime gave a grateful smile while bowing his head, but he was having a snarky laugh in his mind.

'Should I sell this to 'them'? Nah, I'll lay low for a while. They'll come to me when they find out.'

...

At the present...

A group of young researchers were monitoring the data gathered by the now named 'The Radar'. The past two weeks had been pretty smooth, as they have already discovered a few pockets of Linton Diamonds. Though they have only taken a small quantity from those findings, it was already much more than they could have gotten without it. 

'A total weight of five kilograms worth of LD's can produce more than a thousand of those vials. When taking into consideration that the supply is never over a kilogram, I'm sure those at the top are celebrating right now.

"Sir, a large energy fluctuation is coming in from the North-West sector!" Dr. Prime was keeping his thoughts to himself when he heard a subordinate's report. A fluctuation had only happened twice over the past two weeks, and those have been in locations they cannot easily pass through. Hopefully, this one is more accessible.

"Show me." He hurriedly checked his monitor for the details. Finding it hard to believe that this could be happening.

"What in the world is going on?!"

The whole section thirteen of Kanada was lit up. Energy signatures like this should never happen or just never happened before. He never even thought that it would be possible. Dr. Prime himself didn't understand why this was happening. He placed his right hand over his face, covering his eyes and thought in silence.

'A pocket of LD's are identified by small, minute pulses that have an interval of five energy pulses per second. But this, it's not even quantifiable by our current equipment!'

Looking back at the monitor, he found no extraordinary detail that can be used to find a lead on this new phenomenon. He was about to give up when he heard the doors to the laboratory open.

"Dr. Prime. Please tell me that there's more good news." Mark Linton walked over to Dr. Prime's side with two men on both his sides. He wore a tailored black suit with a white shirt and black pants. He seems to be in a good mood that was impossible to hide from that expression on his face.

"We found a strange occurrence at section 13. We don't know what it is yet, but I will send a few scouts to find any changes in the area. We have also found three more pockets or LD's. However, the only 'Large' deposit of LD's is still the one underneath the St. Legaspi."

A week ago, the Radar had detected an energy signal from the location of the St. Legaspi's third building. This was still the same level of energy, which means that the quality of the LD's isn't anything special.

The point of interest, however, was the size of it. A whole acre of Level 1 LD's, right under their noses. Taking into consideration the average density of a Level 1 LD, the whole load could possibly weigh in the tons!

"How exciting! Finally, we get to have progress! Good work, Dr. Prime. Your name will forever be in the Linton Industry's Hall of Pride."

Mark was happy with Dr. Prime's work. Having taken over just half a decade ago, he had to take risks to stand out. If he didn't, then he'd probably lose the position in a decade's time. But if he failed, he'd lose not only the position, but even his place in the family.

Thankfully, his bets have paid off. First was taking Dr. Prime's word that he will find more sources of LD's, then there was also the development regarding the inheritance transferring to his branch of the family. Things were going swell for the young family head.

"Hehe. Thank you, sir. It is my honor."

But just as things were going good for Mark, Dr. Prime was also having a good time. His research being stagnant for five years has certainly placed quite a burden on his shoulders. Ones that have been dropped in a couple weeks, while also bringing him many 'inspirations'. His next project would probably take much fewer time than his last one, possibly taking just a few months. 

The two men laughed in delight as years of their hard work were now paying off. Even if things go wrong now, it would definitely not be bad enough to make their gains into losses. Too bad things were going to be disastrous in the coming few months.