Factory

It was about the middle of the next day when Factory awoke. Max had already seen a doctor for her side and was enjoying a cold beverage while looking out of the large window to their new, considerably more humble hotel room. The hotel was actually at ground level as no tourist attractions laid claim to the area, keeping it from turning into a bustling, cl.u.s.tered mess. They had made their way to a hotel that was right next to the shipyard; a humongous area that was truly something to behold.

The distance the shipyard covered was massive and much too far to see any end. It was an enormous stretch of flat grassland carefully dotted with spaceship liftoff pads and incredibly long landing strips. One such pad was directly in their hotel room's line of sight and sat vacant. Max was in the process of getting the pad fitted with a ship they could use to leave. Without disturbing Misty who was still fast asleep, Factory joined her big sister with a long yawn.

"Did you get any sleep, Max?" Factory asked, rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes.

"I got enough," she replied. "I had to make some arrangements. Things are going to take a little while."

"Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Not at all," Max said.

"Well, how are you accomplishing all of this? I mean, I'm sure you made good money with your own business, but the weapons, the hotel suites, all these mysterious phone calls you make, and now you're going to get us off the planet? This all seems like an enormous amount of power and money."

Max exhaled and puffed out her cheeks in knowing that she had a lot of explaining to do.

"Well, I guess there's no reason not to fill you in," Max said. "Go grab something from the fridge to eat and we'll discuss it here in view of the shipyard."

With a nice breakfast sandwich in hand, Factory sat with Max at the window on a chair she had placed.

"My full name is Maximillia Dracia," Max began. "I am the last family member of the Dracia family, whose legacy lies within the atmosphere technology that presides over this planet and a few others. Never really a large family, the Dracias quickly whittled down to my father and me, partly because I was still young, and also because the family just didn't get very numerous. My mother died giving birth to me. Some weird complication, I don't really know the details of it. My father died of a heart attack. Or at least that's what I was told. As a little girl I became the sole owner of the company and the atmosphere technology, with our butler Coravan becoming my guardian."

Max paused for a moment as she took a drink and stared out the window silently.

"Coravan was a sweet man," she continued. "When I was eighteen I met Misty. Misty was much younger than me. We don't really know where she came from or how old she is, really. She just befriended me one day in a department store. Coravan spent a few months trying and trying to find her family but we couldn't. She seemed perfectly fine with it though. She was happy with us, so Coravan took her in permanently. If anything happens to me, Misty becomes the owner of the company and tech, I just haven't told her yet. She's scared to death of big responsibility.

"But anyway, Coravan died last year, so I've actually been trying to play a bigger role in the business since I'm an a.d.u.l.t already. At his funeral I was so upset that I just lost it and ran away. I've been communicating with the board of directors from our home this whole time, but never wanted to go back to my old life. I was happy being down in the darkness with my best friend, slash little sister. That's why I can pull off everything so far. I'm one of the wealthiest people in the galaxy. It's kind of a pain in the a.s.s but, it's been helping me take care of Misty and you. So, I'm grateful for it. It seems like I attract lost girls."

Factory wasn't sure what to say. All she felt she could do was chew her food and stare wide-eyed at Max.

"I thought you might be a little dumbfounded," Max said with a laugh. "What I'm trying to do now is get us a spaceship so we can leave this place and hopefully lose all of the heat that is trying to burn us. Maybe find a human planet that's much less technologically advanced as this one. Something simpler. The thing is though, sh.i.p.s are a hassle to purchase and equip. We have a lot of paperwork because of all the galactic regulations and permits and blah, blah, blah, blah."

"Oh, okay," Factory said, trying to at least say something.

"What makes it worse is that I actually got us a warship of sorts because I'm so paranoid," Max continued. "I don't want us to be found out in space and just straight murdered, so I got one that can be outfitted with lots of offensive and defensive capabilities. I'm sure I'll have a lot of practice ahead of me, but I at least know enough piloting to get us out of here."

"Wow, you have such an interesting life."

"So do you. In fact, I like yours more. Because of all of the mystery and wonder about it. You only have close to a year or so of memory, you own an incredibly top secret military project that fits in a backpack, and you basically brought us super powers. Oh, and you've made Misty really happy. Thank you for that, by the way. I don't know what your intentions are, or what you feel for the girl, but she adores you."

Factory blushed and was silent, unable to find words to say after something so embarrassing.

"Just another important reason to get us to safety," Max said. "With a little bit of luck maybe we can just hang here until everything is ready and just go. Wishful thinking."

"You know, now that I'm with you and Misty, I've hardly even thought about my mysterious past," Factory said, looking out into the distance. "I'm just so happy now that it doesn't even matter to me. Not at all."

"I'm glad you're happy and I'm sure Misty is too. It's been a real adventure having you in our lives so far. In a crazy-short amount of time too. But I wouldn't change a damn thing."