An Average Day at Laminax

Chapter 20

It has been nearly a month since I had been captured. In fact, the seasons had changed, and it was now summer. I arrived here in late May, and now it is late June, coming close to July. Through the time I had been here, I accepted my fate and felt more relaxed. Richard had never so mentioned about whether or not I was allowed to roam freely or not, so I assumed that Gustav gave Richard the notes, the meeting was held, and they ultimately decided that I couldn't roam around with a security guard, so I accepted that as well. During this time, I had managed to finish multiple movies that I had wanted to see but never gotten the chance to see, such as Django Unchained, Top Gun, both of the Bladerunner movies, Full Metal Jacket, Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan.

I was also watching the news every night, seeing if there would be any news about me. On varying nights, there was a brief report on the ongoing investigation, but that stopped after I was declared a missing person cold case. Around the laboratory, I was often silent and kept my thoughts to myself. In fact, Gustav stopped visiting me for the checkup, which I was fine with. Without Gustav's visits, I found solace in my own thoughts and the movies I watched to keep me company. The days slowly started to blend together, and I fell into this routine of watching movies, reading books, and occasionally going outside for some fresh air. This laboratory that I was now confined in became my own isolated world, and I had finally accepted it as my new reality.

One day, as I woke up and had my usual daily breakfast, I strolled over to the couch and turned on the TV. It was on the news channel, and it was showing a familiar man in a tailored suit and tie, shaking hands with a young man in another suit and tie. The man in the tailored suit was Adam Cambridge, and the title below the video of Adam and other middle aged or elderly men sitting in a conference room together said Laminax to set up operations outside of the Austian cities of Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck. The footage then cut to Adam speaking to a crowd of photographers and reporters outside a hotel. He said "Despite the multi-million dollar price tag that comes with this deal, this is another significant milestone for Laminax. Our power generation is 100% eco-friendly, and it doesn't hurt the environment in any way. This deal is also a great way to improve our relations with both our Austrian and European counterparts. Our operations and many fields of work have reached all corners of the globe, and we are incredibly glad to have another country to help us advance further into the future, as we help them advance into the future as well. From Greece to New Zealand, the laboratories and power stations operated by Laminax have been proven to be a success numerous times, cutting down global emissions by nearly 20 percent. We plan to meet again in Zürich, Switzerland for another conference with members of both Laminax and the Austrian government to further explain the importance of this deal." I watched the news report with varying mixed feelings. Laminax expanding to Austria? I mean, Adam did mention that to me a month ago in Denver, but I didn't know that it was actually going to occur. It wasn't a surprise at this point. If they operated power stations from Samoa to Russia, than it was certainly possible for them to build both laboratories and power stations in Austria.

I continued to watch the report, and the footage then cut to a reporter standing in front of the planned construction zone for a power station outside of Vienna. The reporter said "Behind me is where one of three power stations would be built outside the three Austrian cities of Vinna, Salzburg and Innsbruck, along with three laboratories. These power stations will not only power the three major cities, but also small towns and villages across Austria. Along with that, Dr. Adam Cambridge said this to a crowd of people outside of the conference centre after the meeting was held." The footage cut to Adam speaking German, and a translated audio came up, saying "This deal will not only further strengthen the present economy of the country, but will also bring changes that will shape Austria's economy for the future. Laminax will bring about jobs, increased employment, easier access to power and even improved road access to rural parts of Austria. Another one of our aims is to strengthen our already strong bonds of friendship, and many efforts have been made and succeeded to have better business and economic relations between us. Here, we hope that the construction of the three laboratories and power stations will help attract more investments and enhance the import and export relations between us." I turned off the TV, with some mixed feelings about this. I was happy that Adam was doing well for himself, but did Laminax really needed to spread their influence even more than they already have? I sat on the couch, lost in my thoughts as the news report continued in the background. It'll be interesting to see how this new expansion will play out, and what kind of impact it will have on both Austria and Laminax.