“You know, somebody like this Gideon guy would have been really handy back in the surface days,” said Redman, once they’d managed to escape the crazy Lorenzo. As they’d hoped, the guard dog had stopped chasing them once they left the Mornington Peninsula.
“What do you mean?” asked Jesse.
Redman drove with one hand on the wheel, reaching for a pair of dark glasses beneath the stereo. “I mean that a jack of all trades like that would be really useful. You could have somebody come over to do your Foxtel relocation in the morning, then do a sewer repair or something afterwards. It’d be a real convenience. Of course, there’s no need for a Foxtel connection these days, given we don’t have cable television or anything like that anymore.”
“I guess you’re right,” said Jesse. “That would be pretty convenient to have, for example, a wallpaper expert come over and then complete a CCTV camera installation for Melbourne homes. True Melbourne, I mean – I knew heaps of people who would have loved that. It’s a shame Gideon has more sinister plans.”
“Indeed.” With his dark glasses on, Redman could see the dirt road easily. “I’ve never been to Adelaide – new or otherwise. What’s it like?”
He’d heard the rumours, of course. Surface Adelaide was supposed to be a retirement village; a fishbowl of a city with only wineries and churches to brag about. In fact, he’d over heard once that the main road in Adelaide had a speed limit of 60 km/h. How ridiculous! He assumed that was just hyperbole. It couldn’t possibly be true.
“Oh, New Adelaide is the greatest place ever. It’s still under construction, but when it’s done it will be a utopia where nobody is rich and nobody is poor. Everyone will be living equal, happy lives.”
“So it’s a socialist city?” Redman asked, offering Jesse a fist bump, which the young man promptly returned. “Heck yeah, I can get behind that. I’m glad I ran into you, after all.”