The next room they came to had a four lane bowling alley on one side and a private theater through doors on the other. Ralph quickly dashed into the theater and looked at the chairs and grinned.
"These have special actuators to emulate things you see on the screen." Ralph said excitedly as he popped out of the door.
"They do. Would you like to experience it?" Walter asked them both.
They both nodded and Walter walked into the theater with Paige and had them sit down and instantly they felt super comfy.
"The system I'm going to show you is just a proto type. The actual system will be in an enclosed unit that will look like a vehicle of sorts, depending on the program. It's a short demonstration." Walter said as he walked over and adjusted a few controls and then walked down to Paige and Ralph. He quickly got the special seat belts out and hooked them around them. They looked like a five point racing harness. As he sat on Paige's right side he got his harness out and strapped it on.
"Walter?" Paige asked, a bit concerned.
Walter pointed at the screen with a grin and they watched as the screen came to life and their chairs began vibrating a little as they heard an engine type noise. The screen showed them sitting in what looked like a small compartment of some kind with what looked like a door on the left side of the screen and a sign saying exit on it. Suddenly part of the wall straight ahead on the screen turned transparent as they saw a futuristic looking cockpit with two humans, a man & woman, each in some kind of spacesuit. Through the window at the front of the cockpit they could see a large hangar-like environment with a number of people moving about as well as equipment.
"Alright then, I'm Capt Rachel Everybee." The woman said as she looked back at them. "We've been given priority clearance to depart. Our flight time will be about ten minutes to the colony on Proxima Centauri b. Total travel time should be about fifteen minutes. If traveling at faster than light speed makes you feel nauseous, use the sick bags. You puke in my shuttle and you'll be scrubbing it clean before you are allowed to disembark." She told them.
Ralph and Paige both grinned and then the vibration of the seats got stronger as the engine noise ramped up.
"Antigravity thrusters online and ready for departure." The man told her.
"Very well helmsman. Engage." Capt Everybee told him.
The helmsman reached out and pushed a few buttons and they felt themselves rising up even as the shuttle seemed to rise up in the viewscreen of the cockpit. Lights in the hangar began flashing and strobing giving guidance to the shuttle and the helmsman followed them meticulously. As the shuttle moved forward they could feel a breeze blow across them helping to give the impression they were actually moving. The shuttle dipped for a second as it moved and the seats dropped them a few inches and then brought them back up.
They saw people standing behind glass walls looking into the hangar deck and they were waving as the shuttle approached the door that was opening.
"Take us out." Capt Everybee told the helmsman.
"Aye Capt." The helmsman responded and hit three places on the screen. The engine noise ramped up and the shuttle shuttered and the seats jerked about in time with it. And then the shuttle took off drastically. The seats kicked backwards even as the screen rose up in sync to maintain the same view as the wind blowing across them increased. They saw beautiful mountain side forests and to Ralph it looked like the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. The seats rotated back until they were all at a forty-five degree angle from the floor. The screen continued matching their positioning to keep the illusion.
They could see the various clouds high in the atmosphere but at the speed they seemed to be moving they weren't very far away for long. The shuttle experienced a few shutters along the way even as the seats matched the vibration. They grinned watching as the beautiful blue sky began to darken and then faded into a jet black night and then all the wonders of the cosmic starlight became vibrant before them.
"If you notice, the viewscreen color codes the light of the stars based on the type of star projecting it." Capt Everybee explained.
The seats gave an upward lurch that kind of simulated for a brief moment a sense of weightlessness and then they rotated back so they were once again looking parallel to the floor. The screen had moved with them the entire time.
"FTL is online and at full power Capt." The helmsman told them.
"Punch it." Capt Everybee said.
"Aye Capt." The helmsman responded before tapping a different section of the screen. The sound of the engines changed to something quite different but got even louder and then they saw like an orange energy forming before the viewscreen. Then as the orange energy changed clear it was like the nose of the shuttle began elongating. Just as the transparent wall separating the crew from the cabin began to elongate there was an explosion of colors and then all the beautiful stars ahead of them grew tails as the effects emulated a concept of traveling at faster than light speed.
"How's everyone doing back there? No one is feeling sick are you?" The Captain looked back at them.
Paige shook her head even as she still was grinning.
"Good. If you've never traveled at FTL speeds before we'll be slowing down three times as we travel to adjust our course. Then we'll take off again. It is an annoying effect of cosmic motion. You can't really change direction by much more than one degree in FTL." The Captain explained and then turned back to face the viewscreen.
Three times the simulation changed, bringing them out of FTL and altering their course before re-entering it. As they came out of the last trip they saw a sun that looked like Earth's but obviously was different.
"Right on course Capt. Colony quarantine station straight ahead." The helmsman announced, as a blue square appeared on screen highlighting the station in orbit over a planet.
"Even though you have been cleared you still need to stay on the station for twenty four hours before taking another shuttle to the surface." The Captain told them. "I'd like to thank you for not making a mess and…" Suddenly the shuttle was jostled hard and the seats threw them about a bit.
"Capt. We're under attack." The helmsman announced.
"Shields and take evasive action." The Captain commanded. "Hang on back there."
The shuttle on the screen did a barrel roll. The entire platform the chairs were on suddenly came to life spinning the entire area three hundred and sixty degrees to keep the sensation in time to the action on the screen. Paige screamed and Ralph began laughing as did Walter.
"Shuttle Endeavor to Colony Proxima, we are under attack. Requesting immediate assistance." The Captain called out.
"Shuttle Endeavor we copy you and interceptors are enroute. Try and maintain your current course." A voice echoed from the speakers.
"Easy for you to say." The helmsman cursed as he banked hard and reset their course again.
"Steady as you can helmsman." Captain Everybee told him.
Another explosion and the shuttle shook violently even as the chairs shook them.
The helmsman performed another barrel roll and they all spun around again.
"This is so cool!" Ralph shouted as he continued to giggle.
Walter just grinned at his excitement. Paige on the other hand looked a bit green and Walter reached over and took her hand.
"It's almost over." Walter told her softly.
Paige flashed him a brief smile.
The helmsman had them doing steep dives, hard banking turns and sudden upward pitches as he tried to keep their attackers from getting a solid hit on the shuttle.
"Here comes the calvary." The helmsman announced and they saw twelve gleaming silver shapes moving at incredible speed towards them.
Whoever was attacking them broke off and ran at that point.
"Well, that was more than we bargained for." Captain Everybee said as four of the interceptors formed up as an escort to lead them to the space station. A few moments later the shuttle landed inside the station, Walter began unbuckling his harness and then moved to help Paige. Ralph quickly got out of his and he nearly launched himself into Walter's arms.
"That was the best. Thank you!" Ralph said.
"You're welcome buddy." Walter smiled at Paige as he hugged him back.
"I think I would have liked it more had I known about the barrel rolls." Paige said as she stood up holding her stomach. "Where did this come from?"
Walter smiled as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
"Some people I know were developing the basic package and I invested in their business. The chairs, screen and fans that help to emulate the feeling of movement is part of that. The barrel roll is courtesy of one Happy Quinn. She designed and built the mechanics. She also retooled their designs giving it an extra kick and I re-programmed the system to account for it." Walter told her as they walked out of the room. "They thought they were ready to go get a patent on the design until they saw what Happy and I had done with it. So they went back to the set, brought the actors in and added the attack scene to make use of the tech Happy put in. Then they added us to the design team as well as the patent paperwork so they can include the entire experience."
The final area of the main floor they found a small gym with a sauna and jacuzzi as well as a giant swimming pool. The pool was half inside and half outside of the house. Walter explained the giant six inch thick piece of plexiglass that opened and closed, sealing the house off.
Paige lay in Walter's arms as they were growing sleepy.
"So, just how many people are you employing?" Paige asked.
"Hrm? Oh…Typically I have ten maids and two cooks as well as Agnes. Then we usually have a couple of temporary maids, might as well be full time. Add in my mechanic and the landscapers. I pay around fifteen million a year in compensation for everyone." Walter told her quietly.
Paige sat up and stared at him.
"Something wrong?" Walter asked tiredly as his eyes opened.
"You promise me, all the money you have is legal and what you are earning right now is legal?" Paige asked quietly.
"I promise." Walter nodded with a smile. "I have so many investments Paige, it is ridiculous to be honest. I have many collections that could be sold if I needed. If I really needed money I could sell this place for over one hundred million. But I don't need to. Trust me when I say there is nothing to fear financially. I've gambled on all kinds of things and almost everything has always paid off. One thing I wouldn't gamble on is making this investment a gamble by doing something that they could seize it for. As an example, one of my more lucrative investments…I was a principal investor in the movie Ironman. Even though I sold the stock I got for part of my investment when Disney bought them, the movie still pays me back in royalties." Walter smiled.
"Wait…you know Happy and you employ a mechanic?" Paige frowned.
"Being a mechanic full time would be a waste of Happy's talents and abilities. But if she had wanted to do just that, I would have gladly hired her to run the garage. Sometimes she came over to help restore a car." Walter smiled.
"You have that many cars?" Paige frowned.
Walter smiled as he reached over and grabbed a remote.
"Show me the garage feed." Walter said to the remote.
The large screen TV turned on. Once the TV booted up Paige was able to see four cameras that sweeped the inside of the garage. Paige gasped at all the cars.
"I think Jay has a few more than I do. But then I got a few more that are rarer than his." Walter grinned. "Some of the newer ones don't even have five hundred miles on them. Actually if one of them really speaks to you, if you'd like it, it's yours."
"Seriously?" Paige frowned as Walter nodded. "I wish you could have met my Dad. He'd love you just because of the cars."
Walter laughed.
"Why do you have a rental then?" Paige frowned.
"Trying to be more modest." Walter smiled.
"It isn't working." Paige grinned and kissed him.
Ralph ran through the Garage door the next morning and saw Happy talking to Toby and Patrick. He ran full bore at her and then slammed into her as he threw his arms around her waist hugging her.
"Thank you." Ralph said softly.
"Uh, o…kay…you're welcome?" Happy said, clearly puzzled.
Walter and Paige started laughing as they came through the door and saw Happy's expression.
"They experienced Proxima Centauri b last night." Walter told her.
Happy blushed but nodded in acknowledgement.
"Glad you enjoyed it." Happy told Ralph.
"What's Proxima Centauri b?" Patrick asked.
"It's a type of amusement experience. Walter had invested in a group of guys designing it. They installed a prototype in Walter's house. Walter and I punched it up a few notches and they were so impressed they made a deal with us to include the changes into their designs." Happy explained.
"Happy punched it up. I just tweaked their system to take advantage of what she did. But in the full model it will give people a thrilling roller coaster type experience without using a huge space to accomplish it in." Walter told them.
"Since you said it was okay, both Dad and Toby will be going with me next week." Happy told him.
Walter nodded.
"That's fine, but, if you see or Happy tells you what the surprise is, you keep it between the three of you. I will be very unhappy if you spoil the surprise." Walter told the two men.
"No problem Walter." Toby and Patrick both told him.
"I'll be back, I'll take Ralph on to school if you really must get started on work now." Walter said before kissing Paige.
"Hurry back." Paige smiled after they broke their kiss.
Happy walked over to Paige's desk after the door closed behind Walter and Ralph.
"So, does this mean you saw his art room?" Happy asked softly.
Paige smiled but shook her head.
"I can't believe Walter is my favorite photographer. But I only saw his studio. Walter locked the art room down because Ralph really wanted to see the main house. Have you changed your mind about me seeing it?" Paige asked quietly.
"No. I just worry what you'll think after you see them." Happy told her.
Paige smiled but shook her head.
"Happy, I'm an artist and I love all expressions of it. I won't think anything bad about you. As long as what you did was willing, I'm sure I'll love it too." Paige winked.
"It was consensual." Happy nodded.
Walter was laughing as he came back into the Garage.
"Well, what is so amusing?" Paige asked as she looked up at him.
"Ralph. He wants to have a sleep over as soon as possible, so he can show off, our movie theater." Walter grinned.
Paige smiled.
"Not the house, just the theater?" Paige laughed.
"His words." Walter shrugged. "I told him we'd talk about it this weekend."
"He's never really talked about the other kids before. Of course before you he didn't do a lot of things he does now." Paige sighed.
Cabe walked in a few minutes after Walter.
"Good morning Cabe." Paige greeted him.
"Better than you know." Cabe grinned as he pointed a device at the monitor tree. One monitor clicked and changed to a news station.
"And as we reported a few minutes ago, Homeland Director Merrick has resigned his position. We've also learned according to inside sources that he is facing criminal charges. Including conspiracy, attempted murder as well as questions about his involvement with the bombing of Iraq back before 9-11." The reporter announced.
"Merrick's goose is cooked." Cabe grinned.
"Who will be taking over Homeland?" Paige frowned.
"Temporarily it will be Adriana Molina." Cabe smiled.
Paige frowned as she looked at Walter.
"And you are sure it was Merrick that arranged for Drew to be attacked?" Paige asked him.
Walter nodded.
"Positive. Why?" Walter asked.
"It just seems weird that the one person who arranged for you to be here and take over Centipede Partners is also the person who gets moved into that position." Paige told him.
"Huh." Walter said. "I see your thoughts on that. It does seem a bit coincidental."
Walter grew silent and it seemed as if his eyes grew distant.
"Walter?" Paige asked with concern.
Happy looked over and nodded.
"He's running probabilities. He'll be like that for a while depending on what he's calculating." Happy told her.
"So he's okay?" Paige asked.
Happy nodded.
"Thanks Happy." Paige smiled at her before trying to go back to work. Her eyes kept looking up periodically but Walter was still sitting there with that look on his face.
"Okay." Walter said suddenly about thirty minutes later. "I've replayed everything I searched and I am positive that we got the right man. Even considering my feelings about him. Maybe Adriana wanted this to happen and thought this would be the best way to get rid of him so she could move up. If I recall correctly, Toby had some questions about her total truth at one point. What we uncovered is the truth nonetheless and he's guilty of what happened."
"That's good enough for me." Paige smiled.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! One last teaser for the new story today! It comes from a future chapter of the story and gives no reference to who it is said ri or who said it. The passage actually comes from a very good movie/book called "The Stand".
Lucy - hehe That could be a lot of walking for sure! There is an elevator that helps with some of that. Don't have to worry about not getting your steps in for the day. lol
Railman - Ah...it was easy to forget. hehe When Happy and Cabe went with Walter to his place to get the "Demon" Happy told Cabe he was a photographer who went by the nom de plume of Flameur! Well considering I'm a Waige Shipper, the odds of that are incredibly high! lol And now you know almost how many Walter employs or at least how much he pays out in compensation a year. Paige said she wouldn't want to replace William, but cooking some family meals is very appealing. The bottlewasher can totally keep his/her job. She seemed to think about her hands like Toby did on that subject. lol And it seems Happy is okay with her Dad going.
LouBe - Nope, Paige didn't know. She just knew he had photographic art of Happy and then Richard said he sponsored some of his exhibitions (which he really didn't have to do). You are thinking of chapter 19, when Happy told Cabe while they waited for Walter to come out of the mansion. Ralph is a wonderful "tool" as well as character for the story! lol Walter had been staying in the guest house, you reasoned correctly! But looks like they are changing addresses now. lol Seems like Walter wasn't interested in letting her stay at the Garage today either. lol I guess when you are the boss you can do that. But Paige wants to feel like she is actually doing her job. LOL The coffee maker wasn't quite that expensive, $2700 as I recall from the research I did. Cabe is not going to be too happy about it...lol My guess is he'll bring in a Mr Coffee machine to set on the counter for himself and maybe Paige unless she wants to ask one of the geniuses to make it. lol I tell you it is weird how I despise coffee and yet I write about it an awful lot! I must be a sicko! lol
JerBr23 - LOL Maybe! lol Man could you imagine that kind of room playing H & S? Growing up, late evenings, sometimes the older kids would play with the younger ones, didn't happen often but we played a form of H & S/Tag. But we used the whole neighborhood. Would probably be something like that. lol Yep, that art room would have to be locked down tight! lol
To the Adventure! -Tim
"Sorry, it's just that, it's just that we made such, such a business of you. And it turns out, you're nothing more than another cockroach, scurrying around, running little roach errands."