^^ Julio ^^

I paid the vender, who was selling Lumpia, a sort of Filipino Egg Roll, and carried away a huge basket of them, walking back down the wharf, to the Repair Shop.

I whistled, closing the warehouse doors, and the workers all stopped, looking up from their various places, replacing my Nautilus's pieces with more updated versions, instead of my MacGyvered engines and instruments.

"LUNCH TIME, BOYS!" I hollered, and set the basket on the only table not covered in parts and tools, snagging two for myself.

They all converged, after making sure their current jobs were stable, and we ate the lumpia.

"So, what have you found?" I asked.

Lucas, the head engineer, shrugged. "Not much. The entire structure is perfectly sound, from what I can find. There is literally nothing wrong with it, except it's slow, and the engines are really weak. We're replacing those, and also the generators, with better ones, the best we can get or make, and that'll be done within two weeks, I'd say."

I nodded. "And the controls?"

"Also being replaced. Your hard drives were sent to your office, and the rest was tossed. Everything is still here, and we decided to leave the pieces intact, in case you want to MacGyver some new thingamajig, and need parts. The eels are dead, unfortunately." He hummed.

"Ah, yes. I forgot to lock the water in. Whoops. Well, I can get more, they grow around here like rice." I shrugged. "Go on."

"Well, we're replacing with everything state of the art, and also fitting the front with a drill, like you asked... Who do you need that, may I ask?" He asked.

"I'm going to be drilling a cave wall, underwater. I plan on expanding it, an making it my Nautilus's dock. No better dock for a sub than a sub-marina Cave." I said simply.

He chuckled. "Well, a giant drill isn't the way to go for that, then. Ask Jave."

Jave nodded (Ha-vey). "It's better for your structure to drill slowly, from several points, to prevent the creation of fault lines."

I hummed. "I see... Then scrap the drill, but I'll need something to haul the stones up above the water... Maybe a crane? Yes. As strong as you can, and make sure it can function above water, as well." I said.

He nodded. "That can be done. It'll lay along the backbone while it's not being used, it'll provide some streamlining."

I smiled. "Perfect. Let's get back to work." I finished my food quickly, and stood, slipping on thick gloves. "Where do you need me?"

--- two weeks later ---

I watched as the crank and crane was operated. After a few mishaps, we'd redesigned the crane. It was operated from under the right wing, and the metal cord ran under the belly, along a metal beam (to prevent any crumbling problems), and then hanging off the left side.

That way, the weight was on the left side, but it was pulling the right side, which meant the weight was evenly distributed. A rock as big as my apartment was lifted, and then the ship turned slightly, and set it down.

I cheered. "Alright, great work, boys!! Now let's get to work on that upgraded buoyancy system, okay? Just Two weeks more, and those bonuses are yours!"

--- one week later ---

I hummed, walking through the ship, inspecting everything. Lucas stood to the side. I looked at him. "Weight limit?"

"Uhm, weight limit is 45,000 pounds, with your new buoyancy system, that's after the proper equipment, and, because you don't have to tote your own air, that is raised a bit, to around 60K." He nodded.

"Diving depth limit?"

"That's where it gets scary, sir. We took the scales and specs to the lab, at NASA, for the pressure reading, and we didn't hear back for a few days..." He seemed uncomfortable.

"And?" I prodded.

"They asked us how they were made, and they wanted exact details. I asked why, of course, to protect your privacy, and they said the material was groundbreaking, and they wanted the recipe." He grinned.

"I'll make a contract with them, maybe. Now what were the specs?" I asked.

He nodded. "Okay. The specs allowed for pressurization, and they said that the Nautilus could survive, easily, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and even further, if there was such a thing. It can withstand the pressure of almost 15 miles of water on top of it, which is a little over double the depth of the Mariana Trench."

"Oh? I can see why they wanted her... Hmm... Alright. And are there any other things I need to know?" I asked.

"No sir. You're set." He said.

"Good. Apply another coat of my custom Latex, and after that dries, get her into the water." I nodded. "Ah, and how are her flight capabilities?" I asked.

"Fully functional, sir." He replied. "She's got some speed on her, and her maneuverability is... Wow. The Air Force guys tested her out yesterday, and she's a thing of beauty. She's even capable of vertical take-off, sir, what with your adjustable jets."

I smiled. "Good. Then apply that last coat of latex, like I said, and have a pilot fly her down to the docks, it'll save time from having to haul it on a trailer."

He nodded. "Yes, sir. Oh, and one last question, sir... Are you sure you don't want a crew? A sub this big usually has a crew of 20..."

"I'm fine." I said. "I don't need anyone else. But if you're asking to tag along, I'd ask why."

He rubbed his neck. "Well, I mean, I always wanted to be an astronaut, so this is the closest thing."

I laughed. "Wow. A pilot would be the closest thing... And I do need a pilot." I hummed. He brightened, and I held up a hand. "A professional, pilot. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I'm not letting you pilot my precious ship without the proper training. In fact, I'll get it down to the docks."

He sighed. "Yes sir."

Maia spoke from nearby, surprising me. "So mean, the poor guy is just being helpful."

"He'll get himself, and others, killed, if he pilots a 6 ton flying machine." I raised an eyebrow.

She smiled. "I didn't say I disagreed with you, I just think you should've been nicer."

I shrugged. "Eh. Soon I'll be alone on my island, perfectly happy, with only a few business calls a week, constantly working with my hands, and that'll be all." I sighed, and sat down, waiting for the crew to finish painting my ship.

She smiled. "Are you sure you don't want company?" She asked.

I chuckled. "Who? You and Amelia? You wouldn't be able to handle it. It's not some island resort, it's a wild island. No buildings, no restrooms, no showers, no nothing." I shook my head.

"I'm tougher than you think. And Amelia... Well, she's moving to France soon, for college. I can't go to France, I don't speak French. Learning English was hard enough." She shrugged.

I sighed. "No. I don't want someone to take care of. I'm 27 and I don't have kids, that should tell you something about me."

"That you don't want to settle down?"

"That I can't. I can't take care of someone who isn't me. I don't want to. I've taken care of myself for so long that I've become innately selfish, accidentally." I shook my head.

She smiled. "I'm sure I could turn you around."

"Not happening." I shrugged.

"You say that now." She smirked.

--- five (annoying) days later ---

I opened my door, and frowned.

"So about that island-"

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, OKAY!!!" I shouted, slamming my head against my doorframe.

Maia laughed. "Told you I'd win."

"Damn you. Go make food, I see you eying my kitchen. Leech." I opened my door fully.

She laughed and jogged into the kitchen, and started making lumpia from the spare wrappers I had, and the bowl of filling that I never let get empty.

---

I sat down with my drafting paper, and started to design my cave.

It was going to be accessible through several locations, scattered around the islands, and all would connect to multiple underwater compounds.

They were up on stilts, that would shift according to the ocean floor, in the event of an earthquake, and also they used the same rebreather tech as my Nautilus. They'd be made of my Scales, and therefore nigh-indestructible.

I made windmills, for underwater, that would stick halfway up into the currents, and generate power. They were sideways, to prevent fish from hitting them, and they would power everything on the island.

My whole idea was to make the entire thing invisible, in that it wouldn't be visible from the surface. I wasn't changing the aesthetic of the island, not at all, and I wouldn't be harming the ecosystem, at all.

I'd have about 45 acres, spread around between the islands, that would be seeded with simple produce I knew how to harvest and tend to, like corn, rice, several types of beans to revitalize the earth, and wheat. I'd use cyclical farming, or rather, my workers would. I'd need help, Lucas was right.

The farmers would get paid a fair wage, plus room and board in the secondary Cave/City, but I'd allow for a tour of the facility once it was finished, make a tape, and use that for advertising.

Hopefully some crazy rich people would be interested in their own private underwater home, and would pay me a few millions to design it. And my contract with the international space agencies were extremely lucrative, so I'd never have to work again, if I didn't want to.

The Cave/City would be a cave I carved out of the biggest Island, directly across the bay from my paradise, which held a mountain. I planned to hollow it, mostly, and build a village for the farmers, and their families.

I was happy with my plans, and so I quickly finalized them, and made a list of parts, and also a quickly and carefully drawn schematic, filing that into my underwater building drones' software.

Then I tasked one set of drones to begin making more of my scale mixture, to make extreme amounts of the glass that would be crucial to this project. The glass from that beach, mixed with rubber, was one of the strongest components known to man, at this point in time, and very few people knew anything about it.

Soon, Maia mounted my chair behind me, and began massaging my shoulders. "It's 06:00, Jason, come to bed." She said softly.

"Give me a few minutes, I'm almost done." I said, patting her thigh.

"Hmm. Alright." She leaned against my back, her arms and legs wrapped around me.

I smiled at her, and then began to finalize my formula, from what I remembered of it, including all the testing phases I'd gone through to make sure it was the best it could be.

I saved everything onto my thumb drive, then placed all the paper into a Manilla folder, setting that under my computer.

I turned and picked up the tired Maia, and carried her to bed, tucking her in and laying next to her. She clung to me like a spider monkey, and I smiled, accommodating her willingly.

---

I plugged my thumb drive into the Nautilus' dashboard, and it turned on, the engines going full start in less than two seconds.

Maia buckled up, in her seat behind me, and I laughed. "Alright, prepare for flight."

"I thought this was a Sub?" Maia asked.

"This is the Nautilus, darling. It can be what it wants." I laughed. "We're stopping in Australia, though? Before we hit the Island."

"What for?"

"Remember George, my Aussie friend? He had a family. I think it's high time they know what happened to him." I shrugged.

"Alright... Did he have children?"

"One, a daughter, I think she's about your age."

"Wow, you didn't say he was old." She laughed.

"Ah well." I shrugged, and pushed the throttle forward.