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Lunar Base
In another time, in another place, a very different Oompa-Loompa looked up at a far more benevolent overlord. This Oompa-Loompa was a clone, created from one of the lucky few that had survived the loss of the first Chocolate Factory, and the man standing beside him seemed to be a clone as well. Willy Wonka could not still be alive after all of these years and, even if he was, he was far too old to be this man. Up close, however, the subtle differences could be seen, the result of the splices where the senior Wonka's DNA had been artificially combined with that of Charlie Bucket. This man, like his smaller associate, had been created in a laboratory; he was a genetic hybrid of the two most important figures in the history of the Wonka Company, gene-crafted and psycho-imprinted to be the perfect leader. Both Willy Wonka and Charlie Bucket had been dead for years, long before the Company had moved its primary offices off of Earth. In their honored place stood their mutual successor: Charlie Wonka.
The Oompa-Loompa stared at the datapad in front of him, politely baffled. "Are these numbers correct, my Fuhrer?"
Charlie Wonka craned down to look at the pad, his top hat leaning forward precariously. "I'm all but certain. I checked them three times myself."
"Sir, you do realize what you have in your hands…this will mark a revolution, not just of our technology, but the technology of…"
"Which is why I want this kept in the strictest confidence. All testing will be kept under the table until we have proven my idea one way or the other. I want funding taken from one of our slush funds, under the guise of a personal project…which is really what this is, anyway. If I release this to the regular laboratories, it would be far too easy for someone to mention it over lunch…even with loyalty conditioning…and then the cat's out of the pie, so to speak."
"Out of the bag, my Fuhrer?"
Wonka paused. "What?"
"Uh…the expression is usually 'the cat is out of the bag,' not the pie."
"Oh, thank you! I never thought that 'easy as bag' made much sense either! But, moving along, I insist on this being kept secret. I don't imagine that we have spies within the factory, but you know well how rumors spread. And all I would need is for this conversation to be overheard by someone outside the company…I don't even know that we would be in any danger, but I can't take that chance. Assuming we're successful, we will hold a piece of technological leverage which, if I may say so myself, will be nothing short of remarkable. And if we're unsuccessful, I don't want to be publicly ridiculed when my little brainstorm comes to nothing."
"I understand completely. If I may make a suggestion, my Fuhrer, the old science wing would be an excellent place to set up a laboratory for simulations and whatnot; it is awaiting remodeling, but could easily be restored to functionality."
"An excellent idea, Commander. I was thinking the same thing. But I still need a chief scientist…someone with the necessary qualifications, and whom I can trust to be discreet."
"I think I have just the man, my Fuhrer. I'm certain you know him, if nothing else by reputation…he's one of our best, and old enough so that he doesn't feel the need to boast about his work. With your permission, I'll see that I find my way down to his lab."
"Certainly, OS-22. Just tell him that I wish to see him…and that it's important."