"Heh."
Lyra Solis let out a light chuckle in response to Jack Hayes' explanation. She then spoke bluntly, "Mr. Hayes, let me be direct. I'll tell you exactly what I need, and you can tell me whether your company is capable of building it."
"First, the shelter must be massive—large enough to accommodate everyone I want to protect."
"Second, it must be capable of withstanding a magnitude 10 earthquake, and be outfitted with sufficient defense and counterstrike capabilities. This includes high-tech systems like laser weapons, automated security drones, and other advanced measures."
"Lastly, it has to be able to support the inhabitants for a minimum of ten years, with everything they need to live normally underground."
After listening to her requirements, Jack furrowed his brow, deep in thought. After a moment, something occurred to him and he asked quickly, "Ms. Solis, may I ask, just how many people are you planning to house in this shelter?"
"How many?"
Lyra hesitated for a moment, silently calculating, before answering, "A hundred thousand."
"My God."
Jack looked absolutely stunned. His tone was incredulous as he repeated, "Ms. Solis, did I hear you correctly? One hundred thousand?"
Lyra smiled calmly. "Mr. Hayes, one hundred thousand is just the minimum. If possible, I'd like to accommodate two hundred thousand, or even three hundred thousand. In short—the more, the better."
She paused to let her words sink in, then added, "And this is just the beginning. In the future, I plan to build similar shelters in multiple cities. This is a deal worth several billion pounds. The only question is—can your company handle it?"
Her words left Jack completely stunned. His mouth hung open for a long moment before he finally snapped out of it. Clutching his chest with both hands, he still couldn't hide the disbelief in his voice.
"Ms. Solis, why exactly are you doing this?"
Lyra brushed a few loose strands of hair away from her forehead, the casual grace of her movement catching Jack off guard. She waited a few seconds before answering, "If I said it was to save the future of humanity… would you believe me?"
"Erm…"
Jack looked unsure. Though he didn't openly refute her, his eyes clearly betrayed his skepticism.
"Mr. Hayes, you can believe me or not—it doesn't matter. I only need to know one thing: will your company take this contract, or not?"
Lyra left him no room to dodge the question, her tone firm and direct.
Jack fell silent for a moment before finally replying, "Ms. Solis, this is beyond my level of authority. Please allow me to make a call for clearance."
She nodded without a word, motioning for him to proceed. Then she picked up her coffee and began sipping quietly, no longer paying him any attention.
Jack stepped outside the café with his phone in hand, calling MineARC UK's regional director.
Inside, Lyra sat calmly, enjoying her drink while watching Jack through the window. Outside on the pavement, Jack was pacing back and forth, phone pressed to his ear, clearly in a heated discussion.
From where she sat, Lyra could tell he was visibly agitated, locked in an intense debate with whoever was on the other end.
And yet, Lyra remained composed. Truth be told, with a deal this massive, it was impossible for the other party not to be tempted.
What she wasn't sure about was whether MineARC actually had the capacity to handle something on this scale. But even if they couldn't, she knew they wouldn't be willing to let such a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.
How they would deliver it was their problem. Lyra had always believed in one principle: leave professional work to the professionals.
MineARC was the most experienced in this field—not just in the UK, but globally. If they couldn't pull it off, she'd have to reassess the feasibility of her entire plan.
…
Time ticked by. About fifteen minutes later, as Lyra was finishing her second cup of coffee, Jack finally returned.
He was drenched in sweat and walked quickly over to the table, picked up the cold cup of coffee in front of him, and downed it in one gulp without hesitation.
Wiping his mouth, Jack sat down and looked at her with unwavering eyes. "Ms. Solis, we at MineARC accept the deal."
"Okay."
Lyra's expression remained calm, but deep within her eyes, a flicker of satisfaction passed through. With MineARC on board and funding secured, there was nothing more to worry about.
She trusted their expertise. With MineARC's reputation, she had no doubt the shelter they built would be more than adequate—something Kael Voss could rely on to survive in the apocalypse.
As they moved into business mode, Jack's demeanor grew noticeably more serious. "Ms. Solis, I'll need you to clearly outline every requirement you have for this underground shelter. The more detailed, the better. Only then can our team draft preliminary designs and calculate the budget estimate."
"Once the design and pricing are confirmed and approved, we'll draw up a contract and begin construction."
Lyra nodded, satisfied with his professionalism. After a brief pause, she added, "Before we get into specifics, I want to emphasize one thing: the shelter's location must be guaranteed secure for at least ten years. That means even if we don't activate it during that time, nothing should compromise its structural integrity or security."
Jack considered her words carefully before replying, "That shouldn't be an issue. We'll select a remote site—ideally, one we can purchase outright. Once it becomes private property, we'll have full control. With our tech, we can build a fully automated shelter run by a central AI system. The reliability will be extremely high."
"Good," Lyra nodded approvingly. AI was perfect—ideally, she wanted the entire place guarded by robots. That way, even in a zombie invasion, they wouldn't panic or fall apart.
"Well then, let me walk you through the detailed requirements for the shelter…"
Over the next hour, Lyra and Jack sat face-to-face in the café, hashing out every idea and blueprint she had for this future sanctuary.
Partway through the discussion, Jack even put MineARC's engineers and architects on a group call, bringing them in to review and debate several of the technical details live.
After a full hour, Jack finally closed his notebook, now brimming with handwritten notes. "Ms. Solis, I'll return to my hotel. Tonight, I'll be conferencing with colleagues from our London and Australian headquarters. We'll draft an initial design and cost estimate within two days, at most."
"Once we've signed the contract, I'll dispatch engineers here. Together, we'll select a site somewhere around London. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"
Lyra thought for a moment, then smiled. "Don't be afraid to spend money. I want this shelter up and running as soon as possible—the sooner, the better."
Jack silently wondered what was going on in this woman's mind.
Did she think the world was going to end tomorrow?
He didn't dare voice that thought, of course. Instead, he smiled professionally and said, "No problem at all. We're professionals—you can count on us."
"Great."
Lyra stood and shook his hand. "Then I'll wait for your good news."
Ring-ring!
Just as Jack left, and Lyra was preparing to head back to the hotel, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen—it was her assistant, Evelyn Ward.
"Ms. Solis, we've got a problem. Wanhai Biotech just called our R&D department. They're terminating our joint contract for the new pharmaceutical development."
Evelyn's voice on the other end was urgent—and the news made Lyra's brow furrow deeply.