“Mr Swarrenson, we have Mr Edison on line now. Shall I launch the connection here, Sir?”
“Yes, Alice, please do so.”
The Council was all seated staring at the screen, including some streams coming from other parts of the country where statesmen had been during the crisis. When Jacob's face appeared, Swarrenson began, “Thank you for joining us Mr Edison under these extreme conditions.”
“Thank you Mr Swarrenson, I wish it was under much better conditions. Thank you ladies and gentlemen.”
“Please let me first introduce the President and along with his closest advisory council members.”
“Mr Edison, thank you for joining us. We are in a state of nothing less than pure hopelessness as we continue to receive information that the situation is far from improving. However we received a brief report from your office during the beginning of the..how to put it...events..but some of the information in there seemed rather incredibly impossible – but we also believe that you have allowed some citizens in some areas to access some of your company's “bunkers”? Can you please let us know what the details and realities are at present?”
“It is my pleasure, Mr President. Yes, the reports are true, and I am very happy to say that not only is it very incredible, but we have proved it to be not impossible. As you know, we had very great success with some of our technologies and upon which we heavily invested in certain unusual technologies. One of these was an idea that our very excellent Japanese scientist developed which was to build living units on-demand. Originally, we had planned to make these available to the world's poorest regions and those devastated by natural disasters, but the more we tested and developed, the more we realised that the perfect conditions for not only building these units but also providing a level of self-sufficiency could only be obtained by placing them underground. It is much to do with pressure, water evaporation, heating and also a level of protection from the elements together with the endless amount of space available that made the underground passages the perfect solution. I am cutting a very long story very short, but what we have done at our own cost, is build a tunnel system under every major city in every country across the globe, completely fitted with what we call “bunker cabins” and as of last week, have the ability to provide self-sustaining housing for 90% of the world's population.”
There was stunned silence in the room. They stared up at Jacob, jaws dropping, many speechless for the first time in their lives.
“Mr Edison, you must understand that this not only takes us by complete surprise, but it is also an incredulous feat if true. How is it possible that you could have engineered such a momentous feat without any of the world's governments in the know?”
“Well, it might seem that way now – because we have suddenly allowed access to what has been a publicly unknown project, however we had planned to release this project upon the world sometime this year as an alternative, cost-effective way of life for the needy. It was supposed to be a grand moment in our company's growth from not just a technology company making zillions of dollars, but a company providing countless inexpensive benefits to the worlds' people. And as far as governments are concerned, you would find that all our plans have received approval where required – although, I think you will agree, that issue is far from the most important we face now. Please, ladies and gentlemen, watch the following presentation we had prepared for our grand release for later this year,” said Jacob as the conference members' video screens were replaced by one central video.
The screen filled with a green field under a blue sky, with animals feeding, water streams running clear water. The camera was gliding towards a small building, also roofed with green grass. There was a voice narrating in the background, explaining to the audience what a wonderful life they could have, free of all the usual daily problems. At the door was an Asian man dressed in what appeared to be a uniform and as the camera approached, he bowed slightly and opened the door through which the camera entered. Immediately after entering, numbers flashed on a dial-pad on the wall as some numbers were “dialed” resulting in a silver doorway opening into which the camera entered. It appeared to be a cylinder room large enough to fit one person. Once inside, the door swooshed shut and lights down the side showed that this “elevator” was shooting downwards.
When the shuttle reached the end of its trip, the shuttle door opened to an empty passageway that lead along a very long row of what appeared to be housing units, numbering in the thousands, side-by-side, one after the other. The camera moved along passing each unit, all perfectly identical, all seemingly empty.
The camera faded into a new scene as Jacob's voice could be heard, replacing the pre-recorded narration, “As you can see, the housing units are real, but what we didn't have when shooting that film, that which we have right now is real, live footage of the citizens of all the major cities in the world..” he explained as the camera appeared in various rooms with the various countries' citizens, most of whom were huddled around a central monitor relaying news and information in their languages. “At this stage, every bunker house is completely closed off to others, but as you can see, it has a central monitor that also acts as a communication device for each bunker. Right now, we are relaying information of the nuclear disaster that has taken place and information about how to survive within the bunker.” The camera glides in closer to a Japanese family holding each other, sitting quietly watching the monitor in front of them. The youngest girl was holding her teddy bear, while the father and mother were holding each others hands tightly. The monitor now showed a young Japanese lady, explaining in Japanese the Cabin's features like some kind of Television advertisement.
“Each cabin comes fully equipped with its own pump-powered recycling device. It will recycle your sewage, waste food and water. But please be very careful not to use too much water and food, as you cabin's storage and resources are limited...” The camera began to fly through the room, showing the details of the rooms and furniture – all which seemed strangely molded in plastic.
“Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, you will soon be receiving a full report of these details, the same which have been relayed to every government chamber across the globe. All the answers lie therein, however, I will be available for any discussions very shortly.”
“Mr Edison, this is astounding,” Swarrenson breathed lightly, “we will surely want to discuss more soon, but we really have a lot to absorb right now – and it seems you have a lot on your plate, too. It seems not only America, but every country owes you a heavy debt of gratitude.”
“Our goal for building these housing units was to give back to people in need, and the fact that we were able to provide this successfully is enough gratitude for us to be sure. Now, I must check on some things, I look forward to discussing with you more in the future. Good bye.”
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