10 Terran Civilization Sphere Observatory (1/2)

Technology in the 23rd century wasn't completely developed for pure utility, unlike what discontent pundits online claimed. Whitewood was the perfect example for that. It used god knows how many billions in credits just to keep up an antique appearance.

Another perfect example of that would be the domes covering towns and cities on the moon and Mars. They came pre-installed with Earth-like day and night cycles. Some also applied weather pattern technologies, emulating the 4 seasons perfectly.

Even now the day outside in the dome was nice and sunny. It would be a waste not to take a long nice walk and admire the marvel of the moon.

So, it was much to Zoe's discontent when Arthur completely disregarded her opinion. The lad just waved his hand and hailed for an auto-shuttle to the dubious street named 'World's End'. He was even too lazy to come up with a proper excuse, just replying with 'Ugh's and 'Hmm's.

Of course, as a result he now had trouble holding the juice can.

Grumbling inwardly, Arthur noticed some youngsters riding xtreme hoverbikes in the neighbourhood. They were the local troublemakers, each with a haircut weirded then the other. Their hoverbikes were modified to the limit. Arthur even doubted if some of those mods were legal.

The Whitewood Powerbiker Gang. A self-proclaimed xtreme sports study group, leading local teenagers wayward since the 22nd century.

Arthur waved his swollen hand towards them, and they waved back.

He had some history with them.

'Ah, Good times.'

A lot of people didn't care to own private transport on the moon. Arthur himself only had a hoverbike. He was reminded of it after noticing the teens riding their heavily modified ones.

He bought the thing on Mars, and only because public transport was really expensive there. It was currently collecting dust in his garage.

After a few minutes of waiting, the shuttle arrived. It would take about 30 minutes for them to reach the town center.

For context, shuttles on the moon usually traveled around 100 kmph. They had their own express lanes which private cars could not use. So, it could be seen how large even a medium sized moontown was.

The distance from the train-station to West Orchard street was quite small in a straight line. But the distance from West Orchard street to town central was about 45 kilometers, with most plots of lands in between used as Lunar farms.

The population of Whitewood might've been low, but when the domes were being built, they didn't forget to make it as vast as economically possible. The leaders at that time claimed it was for future expansion.

Now in the future, Arthur could confidently claim there was no expansion to be had. Only autonomous factories and sky-high Lunar Farms.

The duo spent the whole ride chit-chatting, because there was nothing else to do. After a few rounds of complaining about Arthur's laziness, Zoe wanted to hold a strategy meeting about their upcoming interview.

However, because of how little information they had on the other party, she realized it was pointless. So, she could only give in.

”Right, you should know the fridge is almost empty. We have to buy some groceries on the way back.” Zoe said.

”Eh? Why? Can't we just order them online?”

”No! You can't trust those people. What if they actually send you Egyptian onions when you ordered Burmese?”

”… I don't care about onions. Besides-”Arthur was about to start an argument, then he noticed the dangerous glare in Zoe's eyes.

Her realized; it wasn't about onions at all.

”Fine” He grumbled out a reply.

Zoe beamed, ”And fish! We gotta buy some cat food. I searched online and apparently it's better to an automatic cat food and water dispenser too.”

”…Okay. But don't we have fish at home? I remember you fed her some this morning.” Arthur asked.

”Ah, that wasn't fish. Well, it was kind of a fish. It was an offshoot actually.” Zoe nonchalantly replied.

”… A what?” Arthur thought he heard wrong at first. He turned to Zoe with a bewildered look and asked, ”You're what?”

”Hmph, don't make me repeat myself. It was an offshoot. O.F.F.S.H.O.O.T.

I turned a cell into a fat Tilapia. Why do you ask?” Zoe replied, still not comprehending what the issue was. She quirked an eyebrow at Arthur, as if it was him who was lacking common knowledge.

”…No reason in particular. Just, don't feed me or others your 'offshoot food' without asking first, please.” Arthur realized that the common sense for a human differed from that of a Cthulhu monstrosity.

He pleaded, raising up his hands in prayer, ”We can just buy the damn groceries. So please, no more of your cells in the fridge.”

Zoe had not qualms eating humans, or letting humans and cats eat her. He gave up. He didn't wish to argue with her when they had no common ground to reason on.

”Hmph, so you're saying you like supermarket fish better than me?” Zoe pouted.

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

'Here we go again. Why the hell does she always concentrate on the wrong thing!' Arthur was speechless. He clenched his fist, trying his best to hold in his temper.

Arthur realized; he would be stepping on landmines no matter what he said. So he decided to entertain her vanity, even if it meant being dishonest.

With a sigh, he told Zoe, ”Of course not. How could those deep-frozen stuff hold a candle to you? So how about we just ditch the groceries and cook you up?”

Not surprisingly, he now had two swollen hands, and a swollen ear.

***

Before long, the shuttle reached their destination, the street called World's End. Arthur expected it to be located in some dark alleys, with stray cats and half-asleep drunkards all over the place.

Contrary to his expectations, the street looked like every other normal street on Whitewood.

There were some restaurants and cafes, entertainment centers, a clinic, and even a school around the block. Both sides of the roads were planted with ornamental trees, the red, green, and brown leaves giving the street a refreshing look.

Arthur even saw a park with a koi pond through the shuttle window. There were children running around with their pets, and adults practicing yoga and Tai chi dances.

All in all, it looked picturesque.

The Tecsov building was located right beside the park. It was a thirty-story tall pure white edifice, with lines of silver and bronze here and there. The pure whiteness wasn't broken by the crystal windows, rather it accentuated the archaic beauty of the architecture.

Although compared to some skyscrapers on Earth, it may have seemed like a dwarf; the headquarter building was quite tall as far as structures on the moon went.

It must've taken a lot of credit just to get the permit, which spoke of the depth of Tecsov's influence.

Truly, a financial giant.

Arthur and Zoe warily entered the building through the front door.

The lobby was spacious and white, with deep blue carpeting. The walls were decorated with modern artwork and strange metal curtains.

The first floor seemed eerily empty considering how big an organization Tecsov was. Arthur expected it to be teeming with employees or clients. It was not.

There was only the receptionist behind the counter playing with her cellphone, and a buff guard dozing off beside the main entrance, sitting on a perfect air chair.

Arthur noticed the anomaly for a moment, but couldn't come to a conclusion. He felt a tug on his sleeve, and noticed Zoe gesturing at the receptionist girl.

Zoe herself had her guard up to maximum. She had already cast about twenty protection spells, thirty anti-divination cantrips, and a hundred auto-attack mantras.

Arthur on the other hand, gave the eldritch maiden a signal and walked towards the receptionist.

”Hello, sorry to disturb you. My name is Arthur Tullett. I have an appointment today with a Ms. Vileplume. I was told to come here with my companion.” He frankly acknowledged.

The receptionist looked up at him, removing her gaze from the cellphone. The girl was quite young and looked pretty good wearing business casual. It matched her black hair and blue eyes.

Arthur took a quick glanced at the screen. She was playing an anime themed gatcha game. The screen currently showed a top-up menu. Coupled with the despairing yet fanatic glimmer in the girl's eyes, Arthur could only sigh at the lost soul.

”Mr. Arthur Tullett, was it? Welcome to The Terran Civilization Sphere Observatory, World's End Branch Headquarter. Please take a seat and I will confirm your appointment!” She replied. The girl almost instantly switched her forsaken expression to a professional one.

Arthur almost gave her a thumbs up, but he was too stumped by the name of building.

”… The what?” Arthur asked doubtfully.

”The Terran Civilization Sphere Observatory World's End Branch Headquarter?” The receptionist repeated.

'Wow!' Arthur had never heard such a grandiose name. It sounded like something right out of a science fiction novel. Not to mention it was a mouthful to say.

After amending the ridiculous copyright laws of the 21st century, organizations nowadays had more leeway when naming themselves.

However, most of them still used simple names that were catchy. It had a lot to do with marketing too, as they were easier to get a presence out online.

Terran Civilization Sphere, this was apparently the full form of TCS in TCS Observatory. Tecsov was probably the catchy short form the sane people in the company proposed.

Before coming here today, Arthur did an in-depth search on Tecsov online. He didn't see the whole 'Terran Civilization Sphere Observatory' mentioned anywhere, or he would not have been so surprised.

Some people must've worked really hard to keep that name under the rug. He respected those people.

In fact, the company was registered as Tecsov everywhere. The catchy abbreviation had thus become the official term.

Arthur had doubts then, now they deepened. The organization wasn't even an observatory!

Opening a company with a name like Terran Civilization Sphere Observatory would bring shame to ancestors and descendants alike. The founder of the company must've been really drunk when he first named it.

People online were the most merciless bullies. If someone got ahold of the full form of Tecsov, they would be memed to death.