Chapter 57: FIRE!!!!
As I finished the last of my Coke, I noticed Dylan carefully folding the wrapper over the remaining half of his chocolate bar.
He stood up from the bench, held the remaining half out to me with both hands, and looked up with a serious expression. "Here, Big Brother Seth! I ate half, so I’m saving the rest for later. Mom said I shouldn’t eat too much at once."
I blinked, genuinely surprised by his self-control. Looking down at the little guy holding out the wrapped chocolate, I couldn’t help laughing.
"Look at you, actually following the moderation rule," I said with a grin, taking the wrapped half from his hands and slipping it into my pocket. "Alright, I’ll hold onto it for you so it doesn’t melt in your pocket."
I reached over and gave his hair another affectionate ruffle. Standing up, I crushed the empty Coke can and tossed it into a nearby recycling bin.
"Well, Dylan," I said, stretching my arms. "I’m about to do a little more sightseeing around the site. Want to come along?"
Dylan tilted his head, his brows furrowing slightly. "Can we? The security guards said lots of areas are restricted because the adults are busy working."
I grinned, pulling Sarah’s silver Master Command Card from my pocket and flashing it with a playful wink.
"Don’t worry about any of that, kiddo," I said. "Big Brother Seth is a very special guest here today. I’ve got permission to go wherever I want. Nobody’s gonna stop us."
Dylan’s eyes widened in awe as he stared at the shiny silver card. A bright smile spread across his face as he grabbed the hem of my shirt.
"Okay!" Dylan cheered. "Big Brother Seth! Let me show you where the cool stuff is!"
I chuckled, letting the little guy walk beside me as we headed deeper into the corridor, ready to see what kind of backstage trouble the two of us could get into.
...
Dylan took his job as my tour guide with absolute seriousness.
As the two of us strolled down the wide administrative corridor, the ten-year-old led me through a maze of side passages and service elevators. It was immediately obvious that the little guy had spent the last few hours exploring every nook and cranny of the facility. With no other kids around to play with, he’d basically turned the entire construction site into his personal playground.
"This way, Big Brother Seth! Follow me!" Dylan cheered, practically bouncing on his heels as he tugged at my shirt.
"Lead the way, boss," I chuckled.
Our first stop was the secondary assembly bay, where the special effects team was assembling the stage pyrotechnics and confetti cannons.
The large industrial hall buzzed with workers in yellow hard hats loading compressed air tanks and sorting through massive bins of metallic foil confetti. As Dylan and I wandered closer, a couple of technicians looked up from their control panels, about to tell us the area was strictly off-limits to civilians.
Before they could say anything, I casually held up Sarah’s silver Master Command Card.
The moment the lead technician caught sight of the glowing executive seal, his eyes widened. He immediately bowed his head and stepped aside to let us through.
"Whoa..." Dylan gasped, watching the workers step aside in awe. He looked up at me as though I’d just flashed a superhero badge. "You really do have special authority!"
"Told you, kiddo," I said with a grin, giving his shoulder a gentle pat. "Now, what are we looking at?"
Dylan’s face instantly lit up. He sprinted over to a cluster of dark silver confetti cannons mounted on hydraulic lifts, circling them with childlike enthusiasm.
"These are the big launchers!" Dylan explained excitedly, pointing at the wide metal barrels. "When the music gets really loud, these go BOOM! They shoot millions of shiny paper stars into the sky! I saw them test a small one yesterday, and it was awesome!"
I walked over, slipping my hands into my pockets as I examined the thick metal barrels. "Hmm... pretty cool. Want to fire one off right now?"
Dylan froze, his dark eyes widening. He looked at me, then at the massive cannon, and swallowed hard. "C-Can we really? Won’t the workers get mad?"
"Leave it to me," I said with a smile.
I walked over to the head technician managing the stage effects testing station. "Hey, man. Mind if we run a quick test fire on one of these units? I’ve got an idea for a custom color-density layout that might look even better on the broadcast."
The crew chief glanced at Sarah’s Master Command Card in my hand, then at the little boy practically vibrating with excitement behind me. He let out a good-natured laugh and gave a relaxed shrug. "Sure thing, sir. We were scheduled to run a pressure test on launcher unit four in a few minutes anyway. Fire at will."
"Appreciate it," I said with a nod.
Stepping back to the loaded cannon, I addressed Paige mentally.
’Paige, give me the optimal color-density and aerodynamic configuration for a confetti burst.’
[Fufufu~ One breathtaking rainbow explosion, coming right up!] Paige chimed cheerfully.
A sudden surge of intuitive spatial calculations flooded my mind. I quickly reached into the material bins, rearranging the metallic foil strips inside the launcher barrel-adjusting the colors, weight distribution, and layering into a mathematically perfect burst pattern.
Once the cannon was ready, I picked up the wireless controller, walked back over to Dylan, and placed it into his hands.
"Alright, Captain Dylan," I said with a grin, pointing toward the open test area. "The honors are all yours. On three."
Dylan gripped the controller with both hands, his face full of concentration. "One... two... THREE! Kaboom!!"
He slammed his thumb down on the switch.
KABOOM!
A deep, satisfying thud echoed through the industrial bay.
From the wide barrel of the launcher, a massive swirl of metallic confetti shot a hundred feet into the air. Instead of falling back in a chaotic shower, it expanded into a mesmerizing three-dimensional helix, a shimmering rainbow of gold, azure, crimson, and deep violet that caught the overhead lights like a curtain of liquid stars.
It hung in the air for what felt like an impossibly long moment before drifting down in a smooth, sparkling wave.