With ten thousand new Angels chomping at the bit as volunteers, you can definitely shift up a gear and also schedule a few things for fun.
Alexander emptied his glass and lit a cigarette before speaking.
"Samael, Haniel, Laia, and all the others I want to thank you again for your offer because we could damn well use the help. The group going along now can make it, but it would be at the very limit. After those five hundred years there will be eight more years of hard work. With your help, we will be able to drastically reduce the workload so that everyone will also have ample time to relax and enjoy themselves."
Samael said:
"What do you need from us and where do you need us MyLady, MyLord?"
Alex looked at Sam for a moment and she said:
"The way we are working now is running like a train so let's shift up a gear love."
He nodded and took a few sips from the new glass Celine had made appear.
"Okay, Haniel I know you are working on that project for the ceremony. If you have any people left, they can join Q, he will brief them on what to do. Your people will have their fun because it's all technology. Architects join Mercury this way we can significantly increase the number of plans for flats and houses. Builders and maintenance join your counterparts, please. Raffa, brief Fuzzy and his people on what awaits them once we start the Hell Project. Micky, your people join Michael and Celine. Arts join your counterparts because we are going to need a lot of relaxation on Terra Nova. Azrael you have enough people to take with you, remember we are only a few hours away."
"I have plenty of volunteers MyLord, but upon returning I could use about five more volunteers. If we are back four hours later then there will be a little backlog built up that needs to be cleared."
"Sammy would you, please select five Angels to lend Rae Rae a hand once we are back?"
The latter merely nodded. Alex pointed to Sam's Laila:
"Laila your people join Azi and Micky and you too after the ceremony. I'm absolutely sure you will love it. Azi and Micky will brief you. The rest of you please join your counterparts for a while to help get this Heaven ready for the move. Your counterparts will brief you on the chaos we are currently in the middle of and what the mission and plans are for your departments. Gabe and Gabriel, please introduce everyone to everyone. You, Gabe, remain my messenger and Gabriel you will be Lady Samantha's messenger. Chasson you are going to support both of them because now things are about to get really crazy. I'm going to activate the portals tomorrow so everyone will be able to go to their destination. We are going to work department by department until I have enough energy again to make new portals on both squares so that we will not get in each other's way and get misery from the start. That way you can get directly to the department you need to be without getting in the way of the rest of the circus."
He emptied his glass and said:
"Folks I urgently need to sit down somewhere quiet and catch my breath. Mom, Robert, Celine, would you please follow us to my office? Micky, Michael when you have finished briefing your people will you please come to my office."
Alex stood up shakily and had to be supported by Celine to reach his office. He dropped into his chair with a thud. Salome and Robert also sat down. The moment Celine wanted to take a seat Samantha said:
"Celine would you please come with me to my office I want to discuss something important with you."
The two disappeared through the connecting door. Robert who saw the warm smile on Alex's face asked:
"What does that mean?"
He replied:
"If I am not mistaken you will hear that very soon and probably very loud Robert."
The three sat quietly waiting until suddenly a scream echoed from Sam's office. Less than a minute later, Celine came flying back in and simply plopped herself on Alex's lap. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she buried him with kisses. Celine tried to speak but the emotions she was feeling right now didn't allow that for the moment. Alex took her firmly in his arms and let her recover on his shoulder for a moment. After a few minutes, he said:
"Celine darling, this is not good for your reputation as a tough Demon. If anyone sees, you are sniveling like this they will never be afraid of you again."
"Shut up you little brat or we'll see who whines when I kidnap your pen!"
With those words, she got off his lap. With a blush, she took a seat on her chair and got a few tissues from Samantha. Salome had enjoyed watching everything unfold and asked amused:
"I take it this wasn't bad news Celine?"
She shook her head and swallowed a few times. She wanted to answer but failed so Sam answered in her place:
"Mom, Dad, Alex found a way so Celine and Michael can have babies together."
Salome flew straight and ran up to take Celine in a firm hug. Robert looked at Alexander amused, shook his head, and said:
"Is there anything you two can't pull off?"
Suddenly he saw sadness appear in the eyes of both Samantha and Alex. By the subject of conversation, he knew immediately that he had made a big mistake. The three were rescued from this somewhat painful situation by knocking on the door. Alexander called for them to come in as he sensed three Angels and a human soul standing at the door all excited. Haniel, Casiel, Molly, and Sam's Laila just about stormed into the office. He looked at them with sparkling eyes and a smirk and asked:
"Can we maybe do something for you guys?"
Haniel spoke first with a broad smile:
"My people have everything needed and a little more which we will not reveal. How many, where and how do you want the screens, MyLord?"
"We need twenty screens in both halves of the city and then another twenty screens in both halves of Dis."
He snapped his fingers and four maps appeared on the conference table.
"Start with both halves of the city and then both halves of Dis. I still need to make portals toward Dis but that will definitely not work today Hanny. Tomorrow, I want to prioritize other portals first so the new volunteers can get to their destination and only then Dis. Hence the city first."
"Will do MyLord."
Alex nodded gratefully and asked Laila:
"And what can we do for you, Laila?"
"MyLady, MyLord, nothing. I just wanted to thank you for allowing us to participate in this."
Samantha replied with a warm smile:
"No Laila, it is our pleasure to be able to let you loose on this project. Enjoy it!"
Alex looked at Casiel and Molly mischievously and asked:
"I assume you two are here to beg me to review your punishment?"
"Absolutely not! This is the way you may punish me every week."
"Careful, Cas, I might stick to that."
The young Angel was just about trembling on her legs and asked:
"Does this mean we can go all out?"
Sam replied:
"Yep, but not too crazy Cas it has to stay a little classy okay."
"Don't worry sis we'll make sure the party is perfect!"
The four quickly made their way out and the five sat amused watching them. When the door was closed Robert asked:
"I take it that with the unification, not everything went as planned. That you imagined it differently."
Alex said:
"Yep. Every time we have a solution to a problem another problem pops up."
"What do you mean Alex?"
"Robert, Mom please allow me to just outline the highlights now because I don't feel like, and I really don't have the strength to explain the whole story ten times. Tonight, when everyone gets together, I'm going to tell it in detail."
He then briefly outlined their problem with the unknown entity after which Robert leaned back in thought. He sighed deeply and asked:
"How can we help you?"
"To be honest, I have no idea. There are questions that only Mams and Paps can answer. So, we're going to have to wait until they get back. What I do want to do is bring the inner circle up to speed already."
Alex had adjusted the living room area of the suite a bit so that the nineteen guests they were expecting could sit comfortably. As usual, Lucifer and Ella were the first to arrive. The Devil said:
"I take it this won't be a cozy get-together to toast the unification?"
Alex said:
"Nop."
He still hadn't recovered from the tremendous energy loss and it was slowly starting to get on his nerves that his body did not want to do what he wanted it to do.
"Where is Sam?"
Ella asked and he said:
"Just out in the garden with the kids. I would have gone with them to fool around a bit, but my crappy body won't cooperate yet."
Before anyone could say anything else Michael came flying in as he practically yanked Celine with him.
"Alex, this better not be one of your pranks!"
"Michael, I never joke about things like that. Do I want to prank people from time to time? Absolutely. Do I pull pranks that can hurt people? Never!"
He looked at Celine with his typical smirk and asked:
"So when you broke the news, did he look at the blue screen of death for a while?"
She laughed:
"Yes, for a moment I thought I had broken him!"
With that, Alexander got a rather wide smile. Ella asked:
"What happened Alex?"
"That's not for me to say Ella. It's up to Celine and Michael to make it known if they want to."
Celine was looking at Michael pleadingly. The latter got a smile too and nodded. Celine pretty much rattled off the news:
"AlexfoundawayforMichaelandItohavebabies!"
Lucifer just about choked on his drink as Ella had jumped up and grabbed Celine in one of her typical hugs. The Devil asked:
"Bloody Hell Alex, how is that possible? An Angel and a Demon having babies together?"
"The how is the easy part, Dad. Those two will have to do the hard part."
The suite slowly began to fill up. Samantha came in with the children and left the four youngest to Maila and Jasmine. Freya came out of the kitchen with tea for Samantha and Alex's favorite mix. She wanted to retire to the kitchen, but Sam said:
"Feel free to join us Freya. What we have to discuss is equally important to you."
After Freya found a spot, Alex spoke:
"Okay folks, I'm not going to stand up because I'm afraid I'm going to fall flat on my face after a few seconds. Well, the unification did not go the way it was supposed to as you can see from my condition. It has taken a lot more energy out of me than I thought possible. I am going to give you a picture of what is going on and please don't ask your questions or give your comments until I am done, okay."
Everyone continued to look at him in silence and most nodded. Alex told his story as he had discussed it earlier in his office with the two Michaels, Celine, and Samantha. Afterward, most sat there stunned or anxious. Robert spoke:
"We can assume that Aisha and Franklin have no knowledge of this entity or entities, or they would have warned you when you announced your intention. Alex, if this is happening in this multiverse and they have never been noticed by your mom and dad where the Hell are they supposed to be?"
"The only thing I can imagine is the nothingness between universes. Should they reside in a specific universe they would have been noticed by Mams and paps a long time ago."
Lucifer asked:
"Can we assume that Jasmine manipulated me so that there would be a new Nefilim?"
"Yep, Sam and I talked to her just now and she did indeed make sure that you would take a vacation in the right place at the exact right time."
"But I can't normally conceive a child with a human."
"True, but you are not the only Angel who has fathered a child dad. Every few thousand years it has happened. Sodom and Gomorrah, Jesus, the little community."
Ella asked:
"How does Jasmine know which Angel can procreate?"
Samantha answered this question:
"That is a question Jasmine cannot answer. She herself does not know why she specifically selects one Angel or another. So, we can assume that Jasmine too was manipulated to some extent."
Salome said:
"If Lucifer could procreate with a human being shouldn't that have happened much earlier? Surely his lifestyle, or previous lifestyle, should indicate that. With us, there was never a Nefilim for reasons you made very clear to us Alex. A Nefilim is needed to remove a God or the Gods from the throne if they are turning as bad as Godfry did. There can only be one Nefilim at a time so after the death of your Jesus a new one could be born. Since there was no need for a Nefilim with us, our Jesus was only a prophet, well yes kind of knowing humanity."
Alex nodded and said:
"That's why I think it was waiting for a moment when the perfect storm would occur. That this was a way of trying something new over and over again each time until it worked. The King of Hell and the Goddess of the multiverse produced a Nefilim who has the powers of the Devil and the powers of the Goddess in him. With this, I am incredibly more powerful than my predecessors. I will have to talk to Mams and Paps. There is a question I never actually asked. We know what conditions the baby she chooses must meet. What we don't know is how she chooses a destination. Either way, we keep going around in circles. Everything comes down to how it is possible that she ended up in the wrong body. The second question is why every so often there is an Angel who can conceive a child, with a human being, and that only once."
Everyone was silent for a while until Robert asked:
"What is the next step?"
Sam answered:
"We have no choice dad, we must move forward. Preparations have progressed to the point where there is no turning back. We owe it to everyone to try. Because it is our only chance to save everybody."
Celine asked:
"What could go wrong?"
Alexander sighed and said:
"We don't know how strong the entity is going to push back next time. If it is already so opposed to me linking two universes, then I suspect it will be seriously pissed if I want to attach a third. This results in the destruction of two universes instead of one. The old one is imploding anyway and where the souls in Heaven and Hell have no possibility to be evacuated and the people on Earth have no chance of survival. The new universes where a few hundred thousand souls we want to take with us won't stand a chance because they are lost anyway even if we bring them back. Everyone can look at me angry for the rest of eternity but I'm not giving up on Samantha. Being separated from her a second time for thousands of years is something I won't survive. I'm only going through that Hell once!"
Michael asked:
"Okay, suppose we do what Sam said because we have no other option but to try. What's your backup plan if you can't connect?"
"Then we are back at square number one when we had the meeting with when Mams and Paps when they came to tell us that fucking Godfry had created a booby trap so he could still destroy the universe even after he was gone. All we can do is evacuate all the Angels and the selected Demons and disconnect the old universe."
Celine remarked:
"Alex you went back in time to your universe without knowing that unification was possible. It is thanks to your stubbornness and resourcefulness that we are now all in one room without having to translocate from universe to universe. We can simply do it on foot, we step through a door, and we are in another universe. I don't believe in failure when you two lead us!"
The two Michaels looked at each other and nodded at each other. Micky said:
"Fuck it, brother. Like I said in our first conversation. Failure is no big deal. Not trying on the other hand. No one here will blame you if you fail. Sam and you have given the utmost of yourself."
Alex said a little peeved:
"What do you think Micky, that Red and I wouldn't try? Failure is not in our dictionary, and we'll never fucking write it in. Whoever or whatever is waiting for me out there doesn't know what they started. I'm just going to go Old Testament at the first attempt to stop us. Simple as that, brother. If something wants to stop me from saving everything, I'll just fucking destroy it!"
With these words, everyone in the room got a big smile on their face. When the boss says he is going to go Old Testament he does so, and it never ends well for the other party he is pissed off at. Gabriel asked with a broad smile:
"What do you want us to do to help out boss and lady boss?"
Samantha answered:
"With the new volunteers coming in, we can have the preparations completed much faster so everyone can take a day or three of rest before we make the jump. I have advised Alex to take one day to recover. He will only deal with the new portals and sit down with BAM for a few hours to start planning. So, all other departments must be kept away from his office. We are simply going to do the impossible people!"
Suddenly, everyone heard Crowley say:
"And now we have two little shits who take pleasure in giving us headaches after which we reach for a few bottles. They don't know the word impossible any more than they know the word failure. I don't want to know what other words are missing from their dictionary!"
With this, everyone laughed, and Alex and Samantha sat there like the cat that had eaten the canary.
The next morning, Alex walked leisurely to his office. He felt a little better but was glad that Sam had more or less forced him to take it easy for another day. At the door of Samantha's office, he saw Belios and Bearus standing there. Alex got a wide smile and said:
"B&B come in."
Bearus looked at him with a smirk and replied:
"No can do boss. The lady boss has exercised her veto. No one gets to see you today except the little group you have an appointment with."
Belios seemed to find the situation equally pleasant.
"And to be honest Alex we are more afraid of her than of you."
He muttered:
"For fuck's sake, it's going to be one of those days I just feel it. After six thousand years, she still bosses me around! For fuck's sake..."
He walked into his office and heard the two Demons laughing behind him and absolutely at his expense. The six he would spend most of his day with were already waiting for him. They wanted to stand up for him and he said:
"Remain seated, we're going to do this as informally as possible."
He dropped into his chair and asked:
"Everyone is familiar with everyone by now I assume?"
He heard assenting voices from everyone. Freya came in and brought coffee and tea for everyone. To his surprise, he also saw twelve of the special mugs he had commissioned from Kasha in Dis years ago on the conference table. Freya poured a mug of coffee for him but this one was blue and then turned the side with his seal toward him. It was not the green diamonds he had ordered placed in Sam's mug, but blue ones incorporated into the gold seal. He looked at Freya with wide eyes and she said:
"Kasha wished I would give you this now that you are back from your epic trip and if I could ask you to stop by in Dis soon."
"If you were to see our friends would you thank Kasha and Eloch for this beautiful mug and tell Arbus that I might need a sword for our son?"
She nodded and disappeared in the direction of Sam's office. Alex turned to those in his office.
"Well folks, it looks like we are going to get to know each other very well in the near future because you will become the main focus of my workday. The first thing I want to know is whether you six can work together without friction over who is department head and who is not."
The new architect wanted to say something but hesitated. Alex could already guess why and said:
"It's just Alex guys. Like I said Fred as informally as possible."
The architect nodded and said:
"After we were briefed yesterday and assigned our people, we spent some time with our new friends. The way you have merged the three departments and the autonomy you have given BAM we are happy to be part of that. We think we can work together perfectly. All six of us are confident that there will be no hiccups."
Alex got a smile:
"What do the two ladies and the four gentlemen think of a little healthy competition with emphasis on healthy?"
Katiel the counterpart of Darel at Maintenance asked:
"And what kind of healthy competition were you thinking of Alex?"
"First let me make one rule very clear. No one works more than the prescribed number of hours, and no one should work themselves to death. After all, it must remain fun and enjoyable. To achieve this, I want the architects to enforce the rules and therefore I expect fair play from every architect. We are going to have a small competition in two phases. In the first phase, everyone keeps their own people. Whoever can build and finish the most units wins. Phase two, here we are going to scramble the occupation of the teams so that they are mixed. Again, whoever builds and finishes the most units wins. The number of housing units completed equals one point for every thousand units completed. The losers will be at the winners' beck and call for a Sunday. But again, fair play. No nasty assignments, all under the banner of friendliness and good sport."
The six at the table sat there with smiles, and Katiel said:
"I see what you want to do Alex and it's absolutely going to work. And all our people will definitely enjoy that."
"Perfect, that's settled then. Once on Terra Nova we'll look to pop in a few more amusing things, maybe a trophy that the winners can keep for a week and other stuff. Mercury now that you got extra people were you able to adjust the numbers?"
"Yes, we are now going to be able to bring with us at least the blueprints for thirty-five different apartment buildings and eighty different houses, perhaps a little more. We can play with those plans later and come up with new original buildings."
"You brought images of the apartment buildings?"
Mercury put a large folder on the table.
"These are the buildings we already have."
"Okay, let's take a look. These will have to suffice to make the first choice. We really don't have time to wait for everything. The calculations we must start making are so ridiculously large. These flats have an average of fifty units?"
"Yes precisely."
"About eighteen thousand Angels are going on this school trip that makes 360 buildings. How many builders do we have in total now?"
"2500 Alex."
"What are the five flats we can build the fastest?"
Mercury took out five images from the folder and put them in front of Alex who looked at them for a moment.
"Well, these will never win an architecture prize that's for sure. As temporary shelters, however, they are suitable. How long does it take to put one of these up and how many builders does it take per building?"
"These five are very simple. They are basically empty shell buildings with a few dividing walls in them. A single builder can erect one in half a day, so two per day per builder, a hundred residential units per day. In doing so, we are also complying with the regulation of a working day with a maximum of twelve hours with an hour of mandatory rest in the middle.
"Dariel, Kate what about you guys?"
Darel replied:
"There are about a thousand of us Alex in total. If our people could work one-on-one with the builders, we could keep pace. Unfortunately, that is not going to be possible because we will soon have to put our people on other projects. From the moment we must put people on projects like Raffa's nightmare island our backlog will start to grow very quickly."
Alex nodded and then looked at Mercury:
"How many buildings can one architect oversee and how many will go with us?"
"There are now a total of 37 of us. Per architect, we can oversee a maximum of 10 buildings."
Alex was jotting everything down in his notebook as usual, did a quick calculation in his head, and then said:
"Good first step, select 400 builders, 400 from maintenance, and 15 architects. They will go with the first group. This is enough to put up 800 buildings on the first day and furnish them easily. That's twenty thousand units, five days' work is 100,000 units. More than enough to house all the Angels while waiting for their more permanent homes in the city. Every new group that arrives will immediately be used to build homes for our Angels. I want those twenty thousand units vacated as soon as possible. That is where we will then temporarily house the first volunteers from Hell. With that, we can begin to get the rest of the projects started."
He thought for a moment and then asked with wrinkles in his forehead:
"Have you guys thought about how and where we will put everything? I mean from the standpoint of urban planning?"
The six shook their heads in silence.
"Mercury, you and your people can make blueprints of buildings your own and then reproduce them. Can you do the same with the layout of an entire neighborhood, for example?"
"Unfortunately not Alex."
He sat deep in thought for a moment and then suddenly asked:
"If you had a drawing of a neighborhood, the top view, could you people work with that? I want to have houses and flats in a kind of living community, a kind of village so to speak. Those villages have to be different from each other, not the same every time. I want variety and diversity."
Fred replied:
"If we have a design or different designs then that is certainly possible. When the pressure is off a bit then we can start playing with the existing designs and create new ones."
Alex's eyes began to sparkle and he said with pleasure:
"Let's make some Angels happy."
He closed his eyes and fired off a message to Gabe:
"Gabe, come to my office will you I need you for a moment."
A minute later, Gabe stepped into his office:
"You need me, boss?"
"Yep, I need Ariel for a moment."
Gabe looked at him questioningly for a moment and then said:
"Lady Boss made it very clear this morning that you are only working with BAM today boss. So..."
With a smirk on his face, Alex said:
"That's exactly what I'm doing Gabe. Like Samantha said I only work with BAM, five minutes ago I conscripted Ariel and her people to BAM for a temporary assignment."
With an equally sneaky smile, Gabe nodded and sent the message to Ariel. The latter knocked on the door a few minutes later and was let in by Gabe.
"Ariel, come sit in for a moment will you."
When the two were seated at the table Alex said:
"Ariel, first this. Thank you for what you are doing with Jasmine and Maila. Those two are so excited and bounce around the house pretty much all the time."
The little Angel got a blush on her face and said softly:
"Mylord, it is our honor. Those two make our people enjoy themselves again. When the girls step into a room they light up everything and everyone with their enthusiasm."
"Well, I think I have something that can make your people very happy and therefore the girls when they see what you are going to do. Interested?"
Ariel was already looking entranced and nodded eagerly.
"Fine, you should go to Earth. There you have to cram the layout of villages, small towns, and small cities into your photographic memory and then put them to paper so BAM can work with them. Note they must be from different communities. Districts that are beach-front, rural villages, and villages that are in the mountains. I would say live it up only condition is that the villages and towns you select meet the standard of living one would expect today."
Now she had gotten very wide-eyed:
"Then how many do you want MyLord?"
"As many as you can gather before we make the jump. Do you think you guys can handle that?"
"Absolutely My Lord."
"Nice, oh yes, and ask if Narel wants to play along with you. It seems to me that models could be very handy. When we no longer need the original sketches and models, they can have a place of honor in the museum we are going to build where the whole story of what we are doing here is going to be told to all who visit."
Ariel had some tears in her eyes. Finally, they had a new purpose, a new reason to serve their community. Alex had gotten up and stepped toward Ariel. He gently pulled her upright and embraced her:
"I told you dear Ariel that I would give you back pleasure in your existence. Now hop outside, go play on Earth, and have some fun."
The seven others sat there smiling. When Ariel had left the office and Alex had sat down again, Gabe asked:
"I take it you only need a few plans and no models at all?"
"Yep."
Fred asked:
"Then why Alex if we don't need it anyway."
"Ariel and everyone in the arts probably suffered the most from Godfry. Perhaps not in the number of people they have lost but absolutely in their core, their existence. With all the art departments combined, there were only 180 Angels, and two Archangels left. The rest were all murdered. Her people have lived in fear, pain, and sorrow for thousands of years precisely because they are such gentle and sensitive beings. If I can make their existence a little better, bring a little more light into that existence, why wouldn't I do that? They deserve it, Fred. Every Angel deserves to be able and allowed to be happy and I'm going to be damned if Samantha and I aren't going to do everything we can to achieve exactly that."
Kate was already smiling, gently shaking her head. He asked:
"What is it, Kate?"
"I was thinking for a moment about ten years ago. When it became clear that you and Sam were a couple a buzz went through the city. Our future Goddess had found a God against all odds, something we had all thought impossible until then. For five years the four of you together rocked the city and Dis. Now you are back, and you just picked up where you left off. Only this time you won't settle for less than three universes. Everyone feels the vibe, and everyone wants to be a part of this. Not only is it an honor.
to be a part of this Alex it will be absolutely fun as usual if you guys have an idea!"
"I am indeed known for the fact that I aim to please dear Kate."
And with this, laughter echoed at the table for a moment.
Alex refilled his mug and then said:
"Okay, upon arrival Sam and I are going to have to immediately go to the thrones to bond with them. Then I'm going to make the first island and on that island forty parks every day for the next five days. The central point of those parks will be a pond and around that pond ten buildings. Two of each of these five flats that we have selected. On that island, we are also going to have to have a building for Ella and her department so that we can help the volunteers integrate into the community. That island is then going to continue to serve as the starting point for all the volunteers that we are going to bring in from the pocket dimension. The palace will already be there on the main island, and it is an exact copy of this one, my mom and dad will take care of that. To the left and right of the palace, I want the buildings of the different departments. Immediately to the right I want the archives and immediately to the left the departments of Michael and Celine. The palace itself is set against an ocean. At the end of the garden, you are immediately at the beach. As a result, the rest of the inner city must be built in a horseshoe around the palace. Mercury do you already have the blueprints for that little special project I asked you about?"
The architect nodded.
"Nice I want it near the palace. How much time do your people need to build and furnish it?"
"About six hours to build. It's only four floors that need to be finished specifically, a piece of cake."
Darel added:
"Furnishing the same Alex. It will have absolutely no effect on the total."
He nodded and said:
"Okay before we start the real misery of this monstrous calculation just this. I want you to schedule your people in a role turn. Not for the first few weeks, after that you are going to get human volunteers for some of your administration like scheduling. I don't want anybody to have to do the same damn job every day for five hundred years. That would drive a person nuts."
BAM's six around the table were nodding. Alex continued:
"Once everyone is there, we need two thousand builders, seven hundred and fifty of maintenance, and thirty architects. The rest we are going to use for the buildings in the city and to support the souls on Terra Nova so they can also start working on the infrastructure on the planet. The simplest buildings as said to be two per day per builder make four thousand buildings. Of those, we can finish 1500 which would give us seventy-five thousand finished units a day. However, we must go with averages here. The more complicated flats will be at half that rate. So, let's assume for a moment that three thousand buildings can be erected, a thousand of which will be completely finished, then we will have fifty thousand units ready to be occupied. That times three hundred days a year times five hundred years makes seven and a half billion units ready and waiting. However, we have a surplus of fifteen billion unfurnished units. If we let the bachelors live together for a while, we will get pretty close. For the rest I was thinking of some kind of refugee camps, tent camps. As uncomfortable as this may seem it is still much better than what a lot of souls have right now. With this, we should reach the final goal. From camp to apartment building to permanent home. On the other hand, five hundred builders have been building permanent homes for five hundred years. After the connection, we have another eight years to continue with two thousand five hundred builders."
Everyone made a quick check of the numbers Alex had just provided. Fred asked:
"What about the layout? Will we keep it as it is now for the human fields?"
"Absolutely not. From what I understand that one is as annoying as it gets. No variety, nothing but flat shit. No, I want to work with islands. Every island has different geographical characteristics on it. From mountainous, to rural, to suburban, to beach communities, and here and there a city incorporated into it. Twenty-five million souls per island is four thousand islands. Gabe and I will do the planning and calculation of the portal system I will manifest. That way souls can go from anywhere in Heaven to anywhere in Heaven. Haniel will develop a system so that each soul will have a tablet with which they can find their way through the portal system with ease and Q will set up a wireless network and with that the entire Heaven can be connected."
Everyone got a smile on their face and finally, Mercury said:
"Yep, that's going to work. A whole lot of headaches because of the planning and calculations but it's going to be something spectacular that's for sure."
"As I have already asked ladies and gentlemen, am I good, or am I good?"
Alexander began to feel better and better. When he stepped into the suite after the workday, he was already moving much better. He dropped onto a couch and was immediately visited by their little Honeybee who climbed onto his lap and by the looks of it had no intention of wanting to leave anytime soon. David, Sarah, and Beatrice were in their play corner and seemed to be having an excellent time. Samantha came out of the kitchen and smiled warmly at the image of father and daughter on the couch. An image of her Alexander with a baby in his arms shot through her mind but she quickly repressed that image, it hurt too much. She quickly made a glass of his mix and came to sit next to the two on the couch. He asked:
"Did you know Freya went to Dis?"
"Yep, Mom told me she had asked Dad to take her for a few hours. The day before she came here, she had also been there for a while. Why?"
He got a smile on his face and said:
"Apparently, she took twelve of my mugs from my old war room and had a new one made in Dis. This one had blue diamonds incorporated into my seal. She also had to ask from our friends if we could stop by Dis soon."
She laid her head on his shoulder and said softly:
"The other twelve are in my office Love. Do you think we can still make it there before the jump?"
His eyes began to twinkle and said:
"I think we can make it twice. After the ceremony, we have four more days. The first day after we're married, I refuse to get out of bed Red and you are staying right there with me. I don't care if our old room is destroyed several times. The kids will have four grandparents to look after them so they will manage a day without us. I'm thinking day two and day four."
"What little idea do you have now Alex?"
She asked with a warm smile on her lips because she could guess where this would go. She had known Alex thinking through and through for a long time.
"I want to have something made for the kids by Eloch and Kasha. But also stop by Arbus. David loves being with Michael and Celine so much, anyway, why not have a sword made for him?"
"A real sword?"
"Yep, but that's for ceremonial matters and a training sword for sparring."
"Like you with Micky and Celine. So like father like son?"
He got a wide warm smile on his face:
"Absolutely yes."
"As long as they leave my boy in one piece and he doesn't end up with Fuzzie in the infirmary every day like you."
"Of course not, you know Celine. It was me who pushed through like that, remember? They had no choice but to be brutally tough. What do you think?"
"I think it's not a bad idea."
She sat up straight and said:
"Hey, kids join us. Trix go get Jasmine and Maila first because this is for all six of you."
A moment later all six were gathered in the sitting area. Alex asked:
"Do you guys fancy a trip to Dis?"
"Five of the six got big eyes but Beatrice looked a little skeptical."
"What's up Sunflower."
Asked Samantha and Trixie replied softly and a little bit scared:
"That's Hell, isn't it? Isn't it scary there?"
Alex laughed and said:
"No Trix it's not scary at all. Sam and I have completely renovated it. Dis is not so different from Paradise City and the Demons who live there are very friendly, like Anna, Maila, Freya, Bearus, and Belios. And to put your mind completely at ease, your friends Bearus and Belios will never be far from you."
"Really?"
"Really Miss Beatrice, I promise you."
After that promise, the girl also got a sparkle in her eyes. Alex asked David:
"Son, you like being around Michael and Celine so very much. Would you like to start training with them? Because if we are in Dis, I can have a sword made for you by my good friend Arbus."
The boy did get very wide-eyed and if he had nodded any harder there would probably have been a neck injury. Sarah said in a timid voice:
"Dad, could I have one too please?"
It was Sarah who answered:
"Do you want to become a warrior then dear girl?"
"Maybe Mama."
Red looked at Alex who said:
"Why not, girls can become warriors too just look at Celine she's one of the best I've ever seen."
They saw Beatrice looking crestfallen. With a smile, he asked:
"And you Sunflower. I heard from Grandpa Lu that you have been training with Mazikeen for a while and you were good. Care to start up again?"
"I don't know if I want to become a warrior, Alex. I want to go into space."
"Dear girl, training doesn't mean you necessarily have to become a warrior. You can also do it just because you love it, for the fun of it."
They saw her eyes suddenly twinkle and she said enthusiastically:
"Then I want that very much, yes please."
"Good, that's settled then. Then I'll have six swords made at Arbus. Celine Michael and Micky will also tell you this, but I warn you now. And I'm dead serious, violate my ban and it won't be your best day! No real swords on the training fields or the dojo. EVER! Your real swords will remain in the sheath until Celine decides you are ready and none other than Celine because she will be your chief instructor, understand? And you will never, ever use those swords to spar with each other!"
The three agreed enthusiastically. David asked:
"Dad did you also train with Aunt Celine and Uncle Micky."
"Yep, for five years to be exact."
"Are you as good as them dad?"
Asked Sarah. Alex replied cautiously:
"I'm pretty good yes."
With that answer, Samantha shot into laughter. The children looked at her not understanding and she clarified:
"Your dad is a little too modest here kids. He's not pretty good. He's just the best. At the end of his training, he just wiped the floor with Uncle Micky and Aunt Celine at the same time. Aunt Celine once told me that she has never seen anyone better than your daddy."
With that, they sat looking at him in disbelief but also admiration. David said with a mischievous smile:
"I want to see that, Dad."