Frank and Joe waited in the lobby of the administration tower for Sandra to arrive. Joe was sprawled out in a leather chair while Frank stood nearby, his arms crossed over his chest.
Frank sighed and walked to Joe. "Hey," he said, prodding Joe's leg with his foot.
Joe tensed. He swung his head over to look at Frank. "Do you need something?"
"I just wanted to apologize for getting on you earlier. You know, in the elevator."
Joe relaxed. "No problem, forget about it." Joe grinned. "I know how threatening it can be to have someone with my masculine magnetism hanging around."
"Masculine magnetism?" Frank scoffed. "Aren't you five-foot something?"
Joe instantly rose to his full height, pointing his index finger at Frank. "You are one inch taller than me, and you know I am six foot. They measured me in bare feet for the wrestling team."
Frank held his hands up in a "don't shoot" manner. "Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night."
The redness left Joe's face as his anger disappeared as fast as it had come. "Hey, what are your thoughts on what's happened so far?"
Frank looked around the lobby. "I think it's not safe to talk here. I'm sure Swift Enterprises has parabolic microphones the size of a fly that can pick up conversations from a quarter mile away."
Joe nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're probably right. Technology should have stopped with Halo. That was the peak of our civilization. It's all been downhill since there."
Frank didn't agree with Joe's pessimistic outlook on technological progress, but they had already argued over that a dozen times. Frank's attention was drawn to the front doors as a teenage girl walked inside.
Joe noticed her at the same time and whistled under his breath.
Frank groaned. Another pretty blonde for Joe. Great.
"Control yourself," he muttered to Joe as Sandra walked over to them.
Joe elbowed him in the side.
"Hello, you must be Frank and Joe," Sandra said brightly, extending her hand.
"You'd be correct," Frank said, shaking her hand. "Sandra, I presume."
Joe held the handshake a little longer than Frank felt necessary. He surreptitiously stepped on the outside of Joe's foot.
"Ugh."
Frank was delighted at Joe's inability to completely muffle his grunt of pain.
"Tom told me I am supposed to give you a complete tour to let you see our security measures. Is that right?"
"That's exactly right," Joe stated with a toothy smile. "Lead the way."
The boys followed Sandra out of the building. Frank caught Joe sneaking glances at Sandra's backside. His level of annoyance returned to where it was at after the elevator ride.
Typical Joe. She's over sixteen, under thirty, and has a pulse. She's now the most interesting thing in the world.
"Make sure you're paying attention to the things that actually matter," Frank hissed.
Joe ignored him.
Sandra first took them to one of the several security checkpoints that dotted the fenced perimeter of the grounds.
"All personnel have to pass through one of these gates for screening," she explained. "And all vehicles are subject to nanometer-wave scanning. You know those TSA devices that can basically show what you look like naked?"
Frank nodded. A little bit of drool oozed from the corner of Joe's mouth.
"Imagine those on steroids. All the vehicle scans are manually reviewed as well as run through an algorithm to detect any anomalies. They're also all stored for periodic spot checks."
"What if traffic doesn't come in through a gate?" Frank asked, pointing at an air traffic control tower next to a small runway inside the compound.
"I'll take you there later, but, spoiler alert, that's all scanned as well."
"What if someone cuts through the fence?" Joe wondered.
"As I'm sure you can imagine, there are all kinds of motion detectors and other systems to make sure that doesn't happen. But the kicker is these." Sandra pointed to her badge with a proud look on her face.
"What about them?" Joe responded. "The guards just gave us these."
"Every badge is tracked throughout the base. Anyone not wearing a badge lights up the security desk like a Christmas tree."
"Big Brother is always watching," Frank grunted, a little unnerved at the lack of privacy.
Sandra shrugged. "It's a big bad world out there. This isn't a daycare; it's a business. There are a lot of terrorist organization and state actors that would love to get their hands on Swift technology."
"Sounds like they already are," Joe whispered.
Sandra continued their tour, pointing out the various physical, virtual, and biometric safeguards at each one of the buildings. Frank was amazed at everything he saw.
Joe flicked his ear. "Wipe that dopey grin off your face. You look like the world's biggest nerd."
When they arrived at the Android Research Center, it was Joe's turn to look like a kid in a candy store.
"Check it out Frank," he whispered, gesturing around. We've arrived."
"What are you talking about?"
Joe pointed to an autonomous battlefield machine. "Secret lab with killer robots."
Surprisingly, Frank found his childlike wonder turning slowly to dread as they observed more and more military technology. If the wrong people got a hold of some of this, they could make 9/11 look like nothing.
Still, there were more than enough civilian uses for all the tech for Frank to shove his nagging doubts to the back of his mind.
The tour moved to a large asymmetric curved structure painted a light pastel pink.
"I see we've reached the breast cancer awareness building," Joe quipped.
"Not quite," said Sandra with a playful smile, slapping Joe on the shoulder.
Frank was pained to see her beginning to flirt with Joe. This is absolutely ridiculous. Every time. I don't get it.
"This is one of our fabrication facilities," Sandra explained as she ushered the two inside. All three had to scan their badges to pass through the turnstile.
"You'll notice we didn't have to pass any biometric security measure to come in here," Sandra added. "No iris scan, palm readers, or PINs required."
"Why is that?" Frank wondered.
"This is considered a level one security building," Sandra explained. "We only manufacture items in here considered to be low risk."
"These look like giant versions of those geek machines Frank uses to make plastic junk," Joe commented.
"That's right," Sandra replied. "They're basically enlarged 3-D printers and milling machines."
"If this is a low security building, why are we touring this one?" Frank asked.
"Because right now it's producing something created by yours truly!" Sandra beamed with excitement. "It's the first production run of my fire protection suit."
Joe raised his eyebrows.
The two Hardys turned to stare at the assembly line which was covered in shimmering garments.
"Fire protection suit?" Frank asked.
"Ok, sorry, I just had to show off," Sandra gushed. "It's made from buckycloth, a proprietary material that's made up of billions of molecular ball bearings. It can completely insulate the wearer from heat up to three-thousand degrees."
Joe's eyebrows met his hairline. "Wow!"
"It also has a communications link and a filtering mechanism combined with a breathing apparatus that allows up to two hours of oxygen even in the worst fires." Sandra continued, still full of enthusiasm.
"This could save a lot of lives," Frank said as the impact of the invention sunk in. "Fire departments must be lining up to get it."
"Why don't they put you on the billboards?" Joe asked. "I see news stories about your dad and brother all the time, but it sounds like they aren't the only ones changing the world."
Sandra blushed. "I'm not in the same league as Tom or my dad. Don't get me wrong, I'm a great engineer. I'm already more than qualified for a dozen different entry level positions here, and I'm still in high school."
"Do you want to work here?" Frank asked, detecting a note of hesitation in her voice.
"I don't know. I definitely want to do something in STEM, it's where my talents and interests are. Swift Enterprises has the resources. . ."
"But you're afraid of being in your brother's shadow." Joe finished. "I know what that's like. Teachers at school are always comparing me to this guy." He slapped Frank on the back much harder than necessary.
Sandra smiled wistfully. "Not really. I'll always be in his shadow no matter what. I just don't want to be called a 'nepo baby' and Swift Enterprises has a lot of restrictions on employee's flexibility." She looked up at the two of them. "Sorry, I don't want to drag you into my personal problems. I was just excited about the suit."
"You should be," Joe said earnestly. "It will really change the world for the better."
"For sure," Frank agreed.
Sandra's spirits lifted. "Come on, there's one building left and it has the tightest security. We call it the Bomb Palace."
"You had my curiosity," Joe noted. "But now you have my attention."
Sandra led Frank and Joe out of the Bomb Palace after their inspection.
"That was insane," Joe murmured to Frank. "No wonder The Network is looking at this so closely."
"You could take down nations with what's in there," Frank whispered back, worry etched across his face.
"Yeah, and not just small ones either," Joe added.
Frank looked up to see Tom and Vanessa walking their way. Suddenly, Frank's retinas were scorched by a blinding flash. His body was then pummeled by the concussive force of an explosion.