The Bamboozle Bar was a tucked-away place. You had to know it was there and you could easily miss it if you walked past. But inside it was huge. It was a lively place to go on a Sunday, but the Professor had picked a quiet corner where they could talk. When Jonathan walked in he was half way through his first black ale, chatting merrily to the group at the next table.
The Professor jumped to his feet when he saw Jonathan. He grabbed his outstretched hand and shook it wildly with both of his own wiry hands. The knuckles were boney, but the grip was strong.
“Hello, Jonathan, young man! Take a seat. So good to see you. What are you drinking?”
“Just a small beer, please,” he replied. He rarely drank alcohol so was unaccustomed to ordering it, but he wanted to join in.
“Jolly good, jolly good,” said the Professor as he punched the order into the table menu. “And how about a bowl of something snacky to nibble on?” Jonathan smiled to himself.
“Now tell me. How it’s going at Sean’s these days?”
“I like it. There’s always a lot happening. Communications project 21 is nearly complete. Nano fibers are taking communications into the last of the very remote places. They’ve used one of my aquatic robots in part of the Siberian wetlands installation,” he said proudly. “Next, all resources are back to energy phase 7. You know, we are 97% renewable worldwide; geothermal, wind, tidal and nano flake solar energy and organic waste recycling.”
“Yes, solar has done wonders for the silver metals market,” he said with a wry grin. His investments in silver had proved very rewarding.
“And I remember the stink that was raised when they made waterless toilets and biogas cooking compulsory, hahahaha. Stink, hahahaha, sorry, laughing at my own jokes. Of course, that was the whole silly point. It was completely odorless. Made a huge impact on saving water. It’s anyone’s guess why we waited so long to use them globally. Have a dump, have a pee, throw in your potato peelings and all your organics. It’s all nicely contained and out the way. Wait a couple of weeks and then use the methane to cook your dinner. Even produces fertilizer so you can use it to grow your tomatoes to have with your lunch. Hahahaha.”
Jonathan joined in with the Professor’s laughter. He thought this was going to be a fun lunch.
“Molly says that when it comes to the history of money, Professor, you know it all.”
“My favorite topic, young man,” he replied.