Devil's Bargain: San Francisco
June 2, 1851 - N Street Cafe - 12:30 PM
After speaking with Governor Newsom and the implications of what Newsom had said, Clay, Douglas, and Webster went out to find out what to do with this revelation and where to go next. Obviously, they needed to have lunch, so they had to find a place.
And that led them to the N Street Cafe.
Armed with a laptop and charger, they took a spot in a corner of the cafe and Douglas started looking over the menu with Clay. Meanwhile, Webster was on the laptop it was his turn.
"I'll take a bagel with salami and parmesan, Clay will take the Baguette with roast beef and cheddar, and Webster will - wait, what did you want Webster?"
"I'll take the wheat bread with bacon and swiss cheese."
"Yeah, that"
"Okay, that will be $23.50."
"Here's the cash" Douglas said as he pulled out the odd rainbow money.
As Douglas and Clay made their way to where Webster was, Webster had made a significant discovery regarding Wikipedia, or rather, the phenomenon associated with it.
"Henry Clay, you will not believe what just happened. I was looking up my name on this Wikipedia, and clicked on what was it called"
"a hyperlink?" replied Douglas.
"Yeah, that. So I clicked on a hyperlink that took me to a page with other things with the name Webster, then clicked on the article about another Daniel Webster, and clicked more hyperlinks. Eventually I ended up here."
Webster rotated the laptop so that Clay and Douglas can read the title.
Clay spoke up.
"How the hell do you even go from your article to an article on Exploding Whales?"
June 3, 1951 - Silicon Valley - 9:30 AM
The trio of senators had started their tour yesterday with the visit to the governor, and an Internet Cafè near an apparently historic site.
The Cafè was also the site of their first true look at California's population. Large numbers of diverse looking men, women, and children were walking around without any ethnic tension.
And of course, lots of quadricycles - or cars as the Californians call it.
Just like the large black one(Clay was informed by the driver that it was a Cadillac) they were in right now.
So they toured Sacramento, and are now going back to San Francisco to see what it has to offer.
Their first stop was at Silicon Valley, apparently a haven for new companies like "Google", "Apple" or "Tesla".
The Cadillac pulled up at the front of what looked like an unorthodox looking building with stranger looking fixtures and people in Jeans? Why Jeans?
As the door opened to let the trio disembark, one of those Jeans wearing men came over and introduced himself as a Sergey Brin.
This Tour was only the start of a strange day(although every day in California is strange for them).
June 3, 1851 - Googleplex/UC Mountain View - 1:00 PM
"What is that large winged craft?" asked Douglas, pointing to the large craft hanging off of the ceiling. "That doesn't look like any aircraft we've seen, including the large airliner we flew here on.
"Oh, that?" said the guide. "That's SpaceShip One."
"SpaceShip One? So that thing went into space?"
"Yep. It was built as an experimental spacecraft to test to see if privately funded space flight was possible. It was made to launch from a specially designed airplane called White Knight One."
The trio of senators were introduced to Sergey Brin, one of Google's founders, who explained what Google does. He then led them to an employee, who served as a tour guide for the senators.
Clay, Webster, and Douglas were impressed at what Google has to offer. In particular, Clay was interested in Google Drive for being able to freely edit documents or make a presentation quickly, Webster was interested in Youtube for its library of videos and the ability to record and watch events as they actually happened, and Douglas for the internet and was already trying to find out how to spread it to the rest of the world.
The senators also got to view how a 21st century business works, or at least how a 21st century Californian business works. Apparently, having an interesting work environment and plenty of fresh air does wonders for productivity and morale in the workplace. To the downtimers, the Googleplex felt more like a university than the headquarters for a large corporation. Fittingly enough, the complex was beginning its transition into becoming UC Mountain View during their visit.
The trio made their way to one of the cafeterias, this one known as "The Big Table". As they sat in the rainbow colored chairs,many employees went over to the trio to ask some questions. This time, it was Clay's turn to stay at the table while Webster was getting the food and Douglas was socializing with some other employees in the cafeteria.
"So, you're saying that by using large antennae and satellites, I can access the internet and talk to my colleagues in other parts of the world? That sounds unbelievable. When we return back home, I'm going to—wait, something's happened to Senator Webster."
Douglas ran over to where Henry Clay was, only to see Clay on the Laptop on Wikipedia, with Webster on the floor in a fit of laughter.
"I think the term for this is the wiki walk according to my new friend Jackie here" Douglas said while failing to hide his mirth. "It's the only reasonable explanation as to how you got from your article to an article on ducks."
Webster laughed even harder while Clay remained unamused by Douglas' comment.
Clay then spoke up with a serious tone.
"By the way, when we get to our next hotel, we need to talk. It's about Calhoun."
June 3, 1851 - Intercontinental San Francisco -9:00 PM
Henry Clay, Stephen Douglas, and Daniel webster were at the Intercontinental San Francisco. After touring the Golden Gate Bridge, the Googleplex, and other San Francisco sites, they chose the hotel for it's unique look. The senators made their way to Clay's room for an important meeting.
"There may be a serious problem." said Henry Clay.
"You mean with Calhoun?" asked Douglas.
"Yes." Replied Clay. "It mainly has to do with how he may react."
"He is a staunch Southern Democrat," said Webster. "possibly to a fault."
Clay spoke up. "I doubt that even if he came here, he'd accept what California stands for. What if a civil war breaks out sooner? In the future where California came from, a civil war did happen with disastrous results."
"But the benefits of California's arrival are too important not to make use of." Douglas countered. "God has given us California to help the world become better and more united. Why not use it?"
"That is what the Californians call the million dollar question indeed." replied Webster.
"Let's turn in for tonight. We are going to Los Angeles next and we are taking a flight there."
"I agree" said Douglas, as he and Webster exited the hotel room and walked towards their respective rooms.
