Adam woke up the next day, and it was still raining. He got himself ready, went to the kitchen, and grabbed a coffee before going to the admin. It was still early, so the kids had not arrived yet. He asked the computer to transfer all the reports to his pad and then went to the lift. He took it to the observation deck and sat down as he watched the rain, enjoying the coffee. He slowly went over the reports.
It had become his morning routine now, and this was how he had discovered all the hidden projects his employees had. The rain stopped around seven, and he looked at the wet ground. If he had been a kid, he would have loved to jump in the puddles. He thought momentarily, then headed down to his storage and opened his seed bank. He found what he was looking for, grabbed a shovel, and walked out. After he got into the suit, he walked out, found a nice spot about five hundred meters from the base, and started digging. WD-40 came over and looked at him.
“May I help you, Sir?” It asked. He looked up and chuckled at the number on its chest.
“Naw.. wait, yes. A small fence around this plant and make sure it gets some fertilizer. Hopefully, it will grow up to be a nice tree.” He finished up and looked around. “I think we are doing a nice job. Hmm, maybe we should start a plant-spreading program.”
“Start the program by searching the database for the best method. We need a plastic oxygen tent and fertilizer and better soil.” It replied, and Adam chuckled. “I’m changing your designation to Druid. I will tell Jork and Vorts to help you with your mission. Oh, and not only apple trees like this, be diverse within logical parameters.”
“Affirmative. We're building a small fence before starting a new program.” As he spoke, his designation vanished and became the words druid. Adam nodded to the droid, grabbed the shovel, and returned inside. When he returned to the administration, he found the two working kids were leaving as they had finished their duties. Vorts had seen him outside and asked what he had done, so he explained that he had planted an apple tree, and a droid had asked to help. He told them to add Druid’s new mission into the system and give it the resources, just as an experiment. Vorts started working on seed cloning as Jork launched a science droid to report Druid's work; he named the droid pet and gave one of the engineers the job of creating a storage unit they could use. After that, they promptly forgot to give instructions on how to plant trees for two droids with a ten thousand-year lifespan.
Instead, they focused on the coming day, the student's presentation, and Adam‘s daily swim with Miker. They had a short meeting about the different projects and a few new ones that were being suggested. Adam had to hold back on a few as some got a little too excited about the oxygen in the air. It was still only 0.5% a long distance from the 21 to 22% they were aiming for. It was a good beginning, and the algae was starting to produce oxygen, as suspected. Vorts was working hard on the cloning process and requested ten more machines. Adam was going to look into it. He was, after all, going back to the Hub soon to pick up goods and return the professors.
Vorts suggested they should ally with the university, allowing them access at a price. Adam told him he had already thought about it, which was one reason for Min-Na’s presence. Any deals could quickly be hammered out. After that, he contacted Min-Na and told her he would like a meeting with her after the presentation. She agreed as she was now tailing the professors and her granddaughter and enjoying the sights.
Adam then went to pick up Miker to go swimming. It was a happy reunion, and he was happy showing off his new swimming skills. Then they went to check the fish that had hatched in the other pool. The little boy showed him all the new things until they ended up in the kitchen, making Pizza for lunch. After lunch, He had to say goodbye to the boy, change, and meet with the professors and students. Besides them, a few others wanted an update and to understand what was happening. The new crew was curious, and some were highly educated.
The students did a great job with the information they had, showing the state of Dirt when bought, the scans done by the survey and Adam, and how they matched up. Then, they went into the difference in mindset and how Adam, with a relatively low budget, had managed to change the planet. If the same survey team had arrived now, they would have definitely marked the planet as potential for colonization.
They followed up by reviewing the major projects and their impacts, discussing ideas considered stupid, such as activating the volcanos and taking nitrogen from Onic. They still smiled at the name, how it had actually worked, and how they had adjusted when finding out seeding the sea and making fertilizer was a better method as it started the photosynthesizing process, creating oxygen and distributing nitrogen into the soil. Not only that, it removed the CO2 from the atmosphere as well. They might be able to make the air breathable much quicker than first assumed. All they needed was more algae and aquatic life. They also talked about mushrooms and moss to help with the process, which could be spread through drones as they spread the fertilizer over the land.
Adam was impressed as he listened and took notes; they then went into the production part of the terraforming. The system had an abundance of the common metals but little of the rare ones, making it not ideal for mining, but it gave them access to materials for construction.
Then Jork came up, which surprised Adam. He spoke about what he had the potential to do on the planet out of the limelight of the university and mentioned Adams's new company, which produces ships, drones, and now androids. Then Jork turned to Adam.
“Boss, are you okay with engineer students coming here for an internship?”
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Adam chuckled as he facepalmed for a second, then looked at him and the professors who were looking at him.
“Hell, if the university wants to rent the wing, they can decide themselves what kind of internships and research projects they would like to do.”
He could see Professor Jayko eyes brighten at the thought. Min-Na smirked as she knew what would happen, so Adam continued. “I also plan to build a few more bases around the planet. You could be allowed to rent one as a department.”
“We will definitely look into that, yes.” Professor Jayko replied.
Jork smiled and continued, going over a few new patents Adam’s company had made, including a new explorer. Then he turned on the galaxy map to remind them that Dirt lay on the edge of a huge part of the unexplored galaxy. As all the planets explored in this direction, the locally known dead part was like Dirt: empty.
The professors suddenly became interested as they could see the potential for exploration and expansion via this new type of terraforming.
When Jork was finished, Vorts came up and started talking about the potential biological experiments they had started here. Showing them the files of all flora and fauna DNA Adam had brought with him, he then talked about how they had unique chances to experiment and find ideal flora and Fauna that could be a template for these barren worlds. Of course, this meant they needed more personnel and access to high-quality cloning programs. While Adam could provide funding, he unfortunately did not have access to the hardware and personalities. Something that the university could help with. Of course, if they thought this too much, then Adam and the company could contact other Universities. Galactic Federation Science and Exploration University (SaSu) was the best, but there would be a less important university that would love to jump on the chance.
Adam had to hide a smile. Vorts was the final speaker, and he was clearly closing the trap. When the presentation ended, the professors retired to the Wing to discuss the matter, as Adam had something to discuss with Min-Na.
They walked towards the administration but passed it and entered an empty office area; an administration droid and a maid droid were there, making the room ready.
“This room will be your company's office next time you decide to arrive here. We will have three guest rooms ready at any time.” Adam smiled, and she smirked.
“Are you trying to buy our company?” She asked, and Adam winked.
“Not buy, but invest. I bought some stocks, but that is beside the point. As you heard, we might invite companies to come here and work. That means more contracts and work for you guys. “
She leaned on a desk, looked at him, and started to laugh. “Mr. Wrangler, be careful so you don’t grow too big too fast.”
Adam smiled. “I know, it's my biggest worry. Now, I'm simply trying to build defense and protection while overseeing their projects. I feel more like a CEO than a terraformer.”
“You are a CEO and a clan leader. Doing pretty well at it as well.” She moved around the table and sat down. “When do you open for normal colonization?”
“When the defense is up, I feel secure enough to keep it. “He moved over to the table and started his city blueprint program. His domed city appeared as a hologram. “I plan to build five of these. Each with a focus on one different type of economics.”
She sat up and stared at it. “You're going to need a lot of people. How many can each city hold?”
“Max comfortable capacity is one million, but it is more comfortable at half that size. There is the possibility to expand as well. It’s how we humans build cities on barren planets. But this system allows for the dome to be opened once the air is breathable. It also allows me to make a city for species with different needs for breathing gas to survive.” She studied the map very interestingly.
“What is the time frame for this?”
The five cities will hopefully be ready within 5 to 10 years, depending on how many colonizers we get. I might get unlucky and badly need one. The build of the first is already on the way before the year is over.” he said, then changed the place to a smaller dome connected to five bigger domes.
“These are the farm projects we have. Each dome has five fields that would be secured from the environment and allow us to grow flora that needs special environments. Once we get more droids, we will start this project. The first goal is two, one for flora and one for fauna so that we can produce our own food. The centre dome is a smaller village type with room for about fifty thousand. And the time frame depends on the amount of people living here.”
“So you, why are you showing me these?” She looked at him curiously.
“Because with more people comes more need for the law, lawyers, judges, etc. And I don’t know how that works in this part of the galaxy. From what I understand, there is a trade union that takes care of intergalactic law, right? But the colonies were free to do as they pleased, to a certain point, like freeing slaves, as it interrupted trade.”
“Yes, except humanity that, due to its trade exceptions, is allowed to free slaves. But only within your own colonies. You guys were willing to go to war against the whole galaxy because of it. Wait.. oh, that’s the reason. But they will arrest you!”
“I will need a good lawyer who can defend me. Why do you think I keep you guys around? I know your company represents several mega-corporations, and I was only allowed to talk to you because of my credit score.”
Min-Na grinned slightly. “Yes, and then you surprised us. We see great potential in you and your growing company.” She looked around the office. “I will assign a lawyer to this department permanently. Just a question: when did you realize who we were?”
“When I saw your branch department at the Surga Hub. You’re the vice CEO of a company that spans five sector hubs. Mr Heri-ro-ro is your employee. Why the masquerade? “
“Because you came from nowhere, had the credits, and bought a dead solar system, yet you acted as if you already knew this would work. I simply wanted to get in on the business before the others. If it failed, you could still pay. You never missed your bills yet. But your potential here. Yes, we are talking billions in income if you can make it right. I saw that the first city is a casino one. That will bring in money if you attract the right people.”
Adam sat down opposite her and switched it back to the first city. “Yes, the easiest way to earn money. There are five casino resorts in that city with a small private hangar. I guess you can attract the correct clientele when it is built. It will be legit, so please, no crime lords.”
“She nodded. I can also set up a few investors, but I guess you don’t want that. So, when should we get this up and running?”
“One year. It needs to be built, staffed, and tested. I will set aside a penthouse for you and an office building. Free of charge.”
“Are you head hunting me? I don’t think you can afford that.” She chuckled, and Adam just smiled.
“Naw, this is just setting up a good business relationship. Oh, find me a judge within that timeframe, somebody who can understand me. There will be a human colony sooner or later, so it can't be somebody pro-slavery.”
She nodded. “It will be my pleasure. Now, let's see if we can get these professors to sign some deals.”