"All right, here is the game plan. We'll set up the fabs here, and have them connect directly to the new port and shipyards here. These nuclear power plants will power the entire complex, and we should be ready with the first chips, cargo ships and naval escorts by the end of the quarter," said Aaron, showing Friedrich Hajime and Saladin his plans on a massive map in the construction shed that they had erected on the main site.

"Impressive in scale, but do we have the drones and manpower to even pull this off?" asked Friedrich.

"We have the drones, and Saladin is bringing the manpower. We can get this done," said Aaron confidently.

"We're building this piecemeal right?" asked Hajime.

"Yes, we start with one fab node, one terminal and one shipyard., and we scale from there," said Aaron.

"All right, let's get cracking then," said Hajime.

Saladin gave a signal, and a series of explosions rocked the area as the foundations for the new complex were blasted out of the earth.

In a synchronized ballet, hundreds of construction drones swarmed the area, clearing rubble, and laying down the foundations for the new complex.

"Look at them go! It's like watching a colony of ants at work," said Hajime, as he observed the drones at work.

"Yeah, it's pretty impressive. I just hope we can get this done before Goldberg's people figure out what we're up to," said Aaron.

"I wouldn't worry about that. This is Libya's sovereign territory, nobody is stopping us here," said Saladin.

"All right. While the drones are building out the complex, I'll be working on finalizing the chip designs and the software stack," said Aaron.

"You really think we can pull this off in three months?" asked Hajime.

"I was planning on doing this anyway, Monica's shenanigans just sped up the timeline a bit," said Aaron.

"All right. In the meantime, Friedrich and I will be working on getting the naval logistics in place," said Hajime.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get to work," said Aaron.

----

"Dad, I need a few interns to rebrand a Linux distribution for our new hardware platforms. The rest of my dev team is working on the low-level stuff," said Aaron, as he worked on the driver code for the new HellFire GPU that was planned to be produced in the new fabs in Libya.

"So you really are going whole hog on this huh?" asked Ivan silently impressed and proud of how Aaron was handling the situation.

"It was something I had planned to do anyway. This three month timeline has changed a few things though. I wanted to build my own custom OS and software stack, but now I'll have to make do with a Linux distribution fork. The heavy stuff is already done, what I need from the interns is to rip out the UI elements and themes, and replace them with ones adhering to our visual design rules," said Aaron.

"All right. I'll put out some feelers at MIT," said Ivan, chuckling at Aaron's petulance that he had to settle for a Linux fork.

----

"No, no, no! You cannot, under any circumstances, advertise an internship at Sirius Software on any MIT affiliated bulletin board or website. Do you understand me?" asked the dean of student affairs at MIT, as he glared daggers at Ivan.

"Yes, crystal clear," said Ivan, trying to keep his cool.

"I'm serious Ivan. You so much as breath a word about Sirius Software, and I'll personally see to it that you'll never teach here again!" snarled the dean.

"I get the point," said Ivan through gritted teeth.

He left the dean's office, and marched straight to his car, fuming.

"What the hell is this institution coming to? It used to be more neutral," he muttered to himself.

The clip-clop of high heels pulled him out of his brooding.

"Bye Professor Zakhrov," said Kristen, waving as she walked towards her car.

"See you tomorrow, Ms. Ford," said Ivan waving back.

He cocked his head thoughtfully as he watched her open her car door.

"Um, Professor Zakhrov?" she asked, noticing his gaze.

He smiled and shook his head.

"I'll tell you later," he said cryptically, before getting into his own BMW M5.

----

"Keep calm, keep calm," said Kristen to herself, as she drove home from MIT.

She arrived at her house in Fenrir Township, to find Ivan already there, standing in his driveway.

"What were you about to tell me, Professor Zakhrov?" she asked, as she got out of her car.

Ivan hesitated for a moment.

"This is strictly off the record, so please don't tell anybody about this. Sirius Software is starting a three-month internship program. I wanted to post it on the MIT boards, but the dean of student affairs put the kibosh on that," said Ivan.

Realization dawned on Kristen.

"Count me in Professor. I don't care what the dean or other students think," she said firmly.

"All right, then report to the Sirius Software compound tomorrow after class. I'll be there to meet you," said Ivan.

"Thank you, Professor. I won't let you down," said Kristen, before going inside her house.

----

"There are way too many pigs here," grumbled Sky as Annette drove them towards the unofficial "border" between Pine Springs and the Sirius Zone.

"Yes well, you're the one who wanted a night out," said Annette, tightly gripping the steering wheel as she stopped at a police checkpoint.

The SZPD officer at the checkpoint tapped the car window, and Annette rolled it down.

Immediately, Annette and Sky were assaulted by the smell of the officer's black leather uniform.

"Evening ma'am. Just a routine check," said the officer, sticking a breathalyzer through the open window.

Annette scowled at the officer, and blew hard into the device.

The device beeped, and the officer waved them through.

"Insufferable," she muttered under her breath.

"You can say that again! I was nearly nauseated by that pig's uniform smell!" scoffed Sky.

"Yes well, the night out awaits," said Annette, as she approached a small French café.

She parked the car and they both got out, only for a waiter to approach them.

"I'm sorry ladies, but you can't come in like that," said the waiter, indicating a large sign that displayed "No Jeans, No Hoodies, No Sneakers."

"You cannot be serious! A dress code? Here?" asked Annette incredulously.

"New regulation ma'am. But don't worry, we have some wrap-around skirts and dress shoes you can borrow," said the waiter.

"Up yours!" snarled Sky, giving the waiter the bird, and stormed back to the car, with Annette quickly following them.

----

"They're everywhere!" gasped Annette, as she and Sky, sat in her car, fuming.

They had tried to enter six other restaurants and cafés, only to be turned away due to their casual attire of baggy jeans, and oversized hoodies with sneakers.

Almost all the establishments had signage either restricting jeans and hoodies to "fitted" variants, or outright banning them, with the more premium looking places enforcing a full business formal dress code.

"Yeah, I don't think this is going to work out. Maybe we should just go back to Pine Springs," said Sky.

"Maybe we can try the park?" suggested Annette.

"Sure, why not. It's not like we can get any worse treatment than we've already gotten," said Sky.

They drove to a nearby park, and Annette breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that the park didn't have any dress code signage.

They walked slowly through the park, looking for food trucks or vendors.

"Hi, you've got any vegan options?" asked Annette, as she approached a taco stand.

"I've got guacamole and salsa," said the vendor.

"OK, two guacamoles with no cheese please," said Annette.

"$4," said the vendor.

Annette handed him a five dollar bill, and the vendor handed her a dollar back.

The vendor handed them their food, and Annette and Sky sat down on a nearby bench to eat.

Sky took a spoonful of guacamole, and immediately gagged.

"Ugh! This has butter in it!" she exclaimed.

"Hey! I asked for vegan!" said Annette, glaring at the vendor.

"A drizzle of butter ain't gonna kill ya, chica," said the vendor dismissively.

Annette stood up, and tossed the guacamoles onto the ground, and stormed off with Sky following her.

----

"An unmitigated disaster," muttered Annette, as she and Sky drove back to Pine Springs.

"Maybe we should stick to Downtown Boston next time. This Sirius Zone is way too uptight," said Sky, sniffling.

"Aww Sky, don't cry! It's not worth it," said Annette, trying to comfort her friend.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But I was just casually misgendered so many times, and that hurt," said Sky, wiping their eyes.

"Next time, we'll just go to Downtown Boston. I promise." said Annette.

"Thanks Annette. You're a good friend," said Sky, smiling weakly.

They drove in silence for a few moments, until the arrived again at the Pine Springs border checkpoint.

The SZPD officer at the checkpoint tapped the car window, and Annette rolled it down.

"Evening ma'am. Just a routine check," said the officer, sticking a breathalyzer through the open window.

Annette scowled at the officer, and blew hard into the device.

The device beeped, but the officer didn't wave them through. Instead, he handed Annette a ticket.

"What's this for?" asked Annette, incredulously.

"Defiling public property ma'am. We've got you on camera tossing guacamole onto the ground at the park," said the officer.

"Are you serious? A ticket for littering?" asked Annette, incredulously.

"Wrong, it's defiling public property. And it's $100," said the officer sternly.

"Hey pig! There's a word for that. It's called extortion!" snarled Sky.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice," said the officer, dangling a pair of handcuffs.

Annette shoved a credit card in the officer's face.

"Give me a receipt!" she growled.

The officer swiped the card, and handed Annette a receipt.

"Have a good night ma'am," said the officer, as Annette and Sky drove off.

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