The Shock of the New

Chapter 59: New Moon

After they'd uploaded Babbage to the entire internet, Eleanor and Joel had retreated to a cheap hotel a couple of blocks from the internet cafe. The two of them had spent the rest of the day watching the international situation unfold on their phones. Unsurprisingly they were more than pleased to see that partly (though not completely) because of their actions, the W.E.R. and it's government had been severely crippled. They were so pleased that Joel actually ordered expensive champagne up to their room.

As the two of them sipped their drink, Eleanor laughed and turned to Joel

"So what happens now?"

"Who knows?" Joel shrugged "All that matters is that we completed our mission. Babbage has been resurrected and the cult's message has been spread across the entire Earth."

Eleanor smiled at this "You think the W.E.R. will collapse?"

Joel smiled back at her "If they don't, then this'll still be a day they'll never ever forget for as long as they stand"
At that, a knock at the door sounded out causing Joel and Eleanor to go silent. Nervously Eleanor called out "Who is it?"

"A couple of old friends" replied a voice from behind the door.

As soon as they heard it, Joel and Eleanor rushed over to the door and flung it open. Immediately their faces lit up as they saw the familiar sight of Debbie and Tyrell standing before them

"You guys miss us?" Tyrell laughed

Once they'd been invited in, the very first thing Joel said was "How did you guys even get here? We thought you bit the dust back at Rutherford's place!"

"Oh that guy!" Debbie laughed "To be honest, his goons were a bit of a pushover."
"Yeah" Tyrell "And Rutherford weren't much of a fight neither. Once we'd got rid of his goons, he practically broke down in tears and begged us not to kill him!"
"And did you?" Eleanor asked

"Nah" Debbie waved her hand dismissively "Course we couldn't let his killing of Mike go unpunished"

Joel raised an eyebrow "So what did you do?"

"Well we held him at gunpoint and made him smash up his priceless art collection one by one" Tyrell grinned "By the end of it, he was a sobbing wreck!"
"God I wish I could have been there to see that" Eleanor laughed

"Anyway" Debbie pulled up a chair and sat down "Ain't you heard?"

"About what?" Eleanor asked

"The Lunaville situation" Tyrell explained "All that fighting and anarchy spread to the moon as well. By now, most of the people in power have been overthrown and the moon is under the control of the workers!"
Eleanor and Joel looked at each other speechless. They'd hoped that the resurrection of Babbage would have had lasting effects on the world, but nothing like this.

"That's brilliant!" Joel managed to say

"And that's not all" Tyrell looked especially excited "The same thing happened in Lunaville P.R.E.. They've agreed to join forces with Lunaville W.E.R. and form their own independent Moon state!"

At this, Joel and Eleanor were absolutely ecstatic. Eleanor laughed

"Well it looks like we've left a bigger mark on the world than any of us anticipated!"

The quartet spent the rest of the evening in the hotel drinking and celebrating their victory over the W.E.R. Eventually morning rolled around and the quartet checked out and began their journey back to the new Lunaville W.E.R.

The shuttle to the Lunar Colony was still running and the quartet were soon on their way back to where it all began. As the lunar surface came into view through the windows, Eleanor got her first look at the colony since she'd left. At times, she'd genuinely thought she'd never set foot on the moon again and felt a great sense of relief.