The elevator came to a rest with a ding. As the door opened, it revealed a dark passageway with several offices on either side. Jesse stepped out first, flicking a switch to his right. The corridor lights struggled to flicker on, but eventually, they settled above them.
“Come on,” Jesse said. “It’s quite a way to go until we reach the Bentleigh sector. First, we have to pass through a few offices for conveyancing lawyers close to Carlton.”
“See, this is what I mean,” Redman said. “The fact that virtually every suburb you have said is the name of a place in Melbourne is a bit of a red flag. I might even start to suspect that you’re actually planning a complete takeover of New Melbourne.”
Jesse slowed his steps, then turned to face Redman. “Alright,” he said, “I’ll level with you. I’ll tell you why we have entire sectors and offices for Melbourne conveyancing. Malvern, Carlton, Bentleigh and the rest? It’s because we need experts in that area to get people out of New Melbourne. The housing contracts there are insane. You won’t be able to move from New Melbourne to New Adelaide unless you have a conveyancer on your side who knows the suburb you live in like the back of their hand. Is that a good enough explanation for you?”
Redman shoved his hands in his pockets. “I suppose so. I won’t question it any further, then.”
“Good,” said Jesse, continuing on. “Get it out of your system before we meet with the Director. He won’t like such questions. But for what it’s worth, taking over New Melbourne isn’t something we have any interest in. Gideon wants to topple a society. We want to create one – a new utopia. If you can get on board with that, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
“No problems here,” Redman said. “I’m just trying to get an understanding.”
In reality, however, Redman had to admit he was more than a little suspicious of both sides here.