Page 120 of Crocodile Tears

At the end of the third week, Tyler flew in on his private helicopter from a business meeting in Spain. Striding into the workshop, he looked tanned and fit, wearing a sharply tailored suit, his crisp black shirt offset perfectly by a crimson silk tie. He was clearly dressed for going out. “Have you eaten?” he asked. “It’s getting late.”

“No time,” Alex grunted, gazing intently at the holodesigns he was working on.

“Hmm, you know what they say about all work and no play?”

“It makes Alex a rich boy?” He raised an eyebrow.

Tyler gave a snort of laughter. “Well, maybe it will, one day, but everyone needs to take a break sometime. Also, I’d like an update, sowhy don’t I take you somewhere nice for dinner, and you can fill me in on how it’s going.”

“I really should finish this.”

Tyler gave him an assessing look. “Are you avoiding me, Alex?”

Closing down the holodesigns, he tried to work out how to deal with that question. “No, I just want this to work. I don’t want you regretting your investment in me.”

Tyler laughed. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, but you need a break. Come on – let’s go. I insist.”

Alex sighed, but decided to follow him. Maybe it was time to find out the truth about Tyler’s feud with his father.

It was thrilling riding in Tyler’s helicopter. The man’s wealth was off the scale. “Where are we going?” he asked as they flew over the dark water of a lost zone.

“Well, as I’ve invested rather heavily in this new floating city technology, I thought you might want to take a sneak peek at what we’re constructing. It’s almost finished now.”

As they drew closer, Alex saw a cluster of bright, shiny new buildings, seemingly suspended in the middle of a vast lost zone. When they landed, he gingerly tested the ground with his foot.

“It’s safe!” Tyler laughed at him. “Here – come with me.”

He led Alex to the edge and pointed across the water and down, into the depths below. Alex craned his neck and could just about make out the outline of a huge submerged wheel, lying on its side, its silver body glimmering in the inky depths.

“Do you know what that is?” Tyler asked.

“I’ve seen pictures, but I’ve never been up close. It’s the old London Eye, isn’t it?”

“Yup. Tourists used to go around in it to get the best views of the city. It fell into the water years ago, and since then it’s become something of a landmark. Earned itself the name Ghost Eye. Looks a bit ghostly, doesn’t it?” He grinned at Alex, clearly hoping to spook him.

Alex looked down at the ruined Eye, shimmering beneath them, and shivered. “It does a bit.”

“That’s why we decided to name this place Ghost Eye City.” Tylerbeamed. “It’s slap bang in the middle of London – or, technically speaking, I should say Old London.”

“No – Lost London,” Alex amended softly, looking out across the water to the rooftops of the old Houses of Parliament, with the crumbling old Big Ben bell tower poking up forlornly through the water.

“One day, we’ll build enough floating cities linked by enough floating roads that New London will be a small part of a great new metropolis.” Tyler announced.

“If floating roads happen, then who’ll need ducks?” Alex asked.

“Oh, it’ll take years to create enough floating roads to make ducks obsolete.” Tyler laughed. “The emphasis is on building enough floating cities first. I just wanted to show you where determination and drive can lead you, if you have a vision.”

“You had a vision, didn’t you? When you started Tyler Tech?”

“God, yes. When you look at where the world was at the time of the Rising and where we are now… in tech terms we’re only about ten to fifteen years ahead, because we lost so many years to finding ways to survive and adjust, and because of the refugee crisis, and all those damn wars. Now, we’re finally starting to move forward again, and regain that lost ground. I want to make up for those lost decades, Alex. I want to take us into the future.”

He led Alex away from the water’s edge, towards the tall, shining buildings. “There’s a fancy restaurant over here. It’s expensive, and not many people know about it, yet, but when this floating city officially opens next month, everyone will want to eat here.”

They walked into a huge glass-fronted building with white marble walls, decorated, retro-style, in the finest Pre-R chic.

“Look at this.” Tyler guided him over to a large glass display cabinet.

“What are they?” Alex frowned, on being confronted by an array of assorted oddments.

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