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Lunar Base

The door opened. "Allow me to introduce Research Physicist 18, my Fuhrer." 18 entered Charlie Wonka's office, glancing around the large room with a stoic appreciation…beyond the curving windows, the blue orb of Earth hung low above the cold gray of the lunar horizon. The Company's move here had not been made lightly, but it had been necessary after the madness of the corporate wars. After Wonka's rival Chadworth elected to go nuclear – quite literally – even the United Nations was forced to recognize the dangers of unregulated chocolatiers. JR Chadworth spent the rest of his life in a padded room, and Willy Wonka began searching for a place to build his next chocolate factory…a place beyond the reach of his industry rivals. The place he had found was beyond the reach of even most governments.

18 stopped in front of the desk and saluted, his face set in an expression of solemn pride. "Hail, my Fuhrer! The Supreme Commander informed me that you had need of my services. Whatever I can do will most certainly be my pleasure."

Wonka acknowledged the newcomer with a respectful nod of his head; while RP-18 had always avoided the limelight, it was no secret that he was among the best physicists the company had ever produced. Unlike most of his alphanumeric brethren, 18 had been in service since before the Lunar Base was even constructed…his career had begun on Earth, helping Willy Wonka design the spacecraft that had first moved Wonka operations beyond Earth's atmosphere. 18's face was lined and worn, his black hair largely lightened to gray, but there was a spark of creativity in his eyes that was still alive and well. OS-22 had certainly picked the right Loompa.

"Well…" Wonka said, not entirely sure how to introduce what he had in mind, "…let me begin by showing you something. I have some blueprints here, which I think might interest you."

18 took the schematics, drawn on several sheets of ordinary paper taped together to create a larger surface. His eyes calmly roved across the drawing, his skepticism at being handed something drawn on office paper evident, and then he paused as he reached the equations written in the lower right-hand corner. His eyes widened visibly, and he stared at the drawing with renewed intensity. Wonka grinned, and glanced over at OS-22, who was also smiling at the scientist's reaction. RP-18 looked up at Wonka. "Where did you get this, my Fuhrer?"

"I drew it up myself, a couple of nights ago," Wonka replied calmly, unable to disguise the look of amusement on his features. "You see, I was having this nightmare about talking marshmallows who were trying to kill me, and I suddenly woke up and decided that I wanted some hot chocolate…with marshmallows in it. So I was standing there, laughing maniacally at the triumph of karma over evil marshmallows…they tried to kill me, but now they were going to endure untold agony as they were dissolved by my stomach acid…and I started turning over a few ideas from our theoretical warp drive in my mind. And that's when I was struck by…well, that. You like?"

18 looked again at the drawing with something like reverence. "Is it possible?"

"You tell me."

18 stared intently for perhaps a minute. "I…" his face split into a broad smile. "Truly, I can't see any problem with it…not that I'm comparing your intelligence with my own, my Fuhrer."

Wonka raised a hand. "None of that, 18. I asked for your opinion, and I want it honest."

"Well, sir, all I can say is that this is the most incredible thing I've ever laid eyes on. I hope you intend to follow up on it."

"Indeed I do, but I want to keep it quiet…just in case things don't go as well as I hope. So, would you like to head the project?"

18 simply stood, his mouth roughly halfway open. "It would…it would be my honor, my Fuhrer. But, surely, there must be someone more qualified than myself…"

"Is that a refusal?"

"No…no, sir!"

"Well then. Phase one will just be theoretical testing, of course, computer simulations and the like. I'm going to have you working in the old science wing to keep this out of the main lab computers. Not to worry…I'm certainly not going to make you use the equipment in there! On the contrary, you're free to requisition whatever and whoever you need. Take OS-22 with you…if you don't mind that is, Commander…he'll get you started. This project is my personal pet, naturally, so you will be operating under my authority and report directly to me. Sound good?"

"It will be my honor, my Fuhrer. In fact, I already know who I want for my research team. We will begin immediately."