Pizzas Thrown Into the Maw

[Jessica Med-Beq]

For a while, the actual person at the head of the much-reviled Ringovinda conglomerate has been in hiding; the public business is headed by Marcia Halpern. She might not have had the charisma of the actual head, but at least she isn't a complete liability for negotiating business deals. Not like one-dimensional Julie, who can test-fly ships just fine (and perhaps the relationship between piloting capital ships and naval engagements) but is clueless in other areas of business. Marcia thus inherited unfinished business from other people. Pizza Hutt has had difficulties expanding outside of traditional Hutt space: here Marcia had to address that weakness. Then and only then Pizza Hutt could be able to truly become the same as it used to be back in Jabba's days. Well, not quite: in Jabba's days, it was owned by a crime cartel; the Ringovinda conglomerate isn't, and not just because it is formally state-owned. Marcia drew a datapad to send a message to Maw Construction Group:

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Dear [member="Heveticus Maw"],

I have a business opportunity I would like to discuss with you. Pizza Hutt is expanding business beyond Hutt space, and, for that opportunity to materialize, construction of additional locations is required. Let me know whether an in-person or a HoloNet meeting would work for you.

Marcia Halpern

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[Heveticus Maw]

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Dear Heveticus Maw,

I have a business opportunity I would like to discuss with you. Pizza Hutt is expanding business beyond Hutt space, and, for that opportunity to materialize, construction of additional locations is required. Let me know whether an in-person or a HoloNet meeting would work for you.

Marcia Halpern

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A request from Hutt Space was unexpected by Heveticus Maw. He shouldn't have found it unusual considering the variety of contracts he had been receiving lately.





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Dear Marcia Halpern,

I am pleased that you have contacted me. At the moment due to my location, I believe a HoloNet meeting would be most appropriate. I myself am glad to be expanding my operations further and I can begin preparations and designs immediately.

Heveticus Maw

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[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

So Marcia was somewhere in Hutt Space? Probably in some penthouse-grade hotel room on Nar Shaddaa. As is the case for any C-suite of a corporation that big. The main locations for Pizza Hutt business are Nal Hutta, Tatooine, Toydaria, Nar Shaddaa, with a few locations as far to the northwest as Dulvoyinn or as far to the northeast as Ringo Vinda. But then Marcia would be starting the HoloNet conversation with [member="Heveticus Maw"]. Sure, she needed to run board meetings with holoconference, due to Jessica being on the run, Might be a little expensive but Jessica would expect Maw Construction to be around for a while, she thought, while being reminded that Jessica wanted her own frozen wasteland of a planet-wide kingdom to be hosting some Pizza Hutt locations. Yet Jessica was the Princess Consort of Glyss, to which she went only once, when Jessica was wed. Despite this, she decided to refrain from ever mentioning the relationship between Jessica and Glyss, knowing that it might betray the fugitive's location.

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Let's preface it by saying that Glyss, the prospective location, might be at the other end of the galaxy with respect to Hutt space, but as with most cold-climate planets, hot meals will sell without fail. That said, perhaps building a few 100-seat restaurants on the planet should be a fitting order to place.

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[Jessica Med-Beq]

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[member="Heveticus Maw"] Oh and before I forget, good insulation is key because the planet is in a cold climate. If my estimates are correct, a 100-seat restaurant should take up about 500 square meters, of which 2/3 would be devoted to the dining room and 1/3 to the kitchen and other auxiliary stuff that is required of a restaurant, like the managerial offices, the washrooms, to name the most critical. An example of what we would like built on Glyss is in the attachment below. And it should come with a takeout counter as well as a drive-in counter, too.

Attachment: Sample Pizza Hutt location on Nal Hutta

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Oh, Heveticus wanted more details before actually responding to a statement of scope? That's understandable; several builders, in her experience, wanted varying details, especially those who want to avoid the problems with the local construction codes. Sure, Marcia doesn't have much experience with the restaurant industry, because that's ordinarily under the purview of Lorca the Hutt. Or even with planetside construction; yet she knew enough about planetside vs. orbital construction to tell that the standards for spaceworthiness are not the same as planetside construction codes. But Lorca the Hutt was far more focused on the Hutt space operations than actually expanding out of Hutt space. Yet she knew few would even trust Hutts enough to do business with them outside of Hutt space, and those who do, usually have connections in Hutt space. She feels nervous because, while she knew that insulation was important on planets where snow and ice are the order of the day, never would she be made to make customers suffer while they eat; Jessica wouldn't even forgive Marcia if local construction codes were violated.

 

[Heveticus Maw]

Heveticus was glad to hear that the construction site was going to be on a very cold climate planet, as he had experience building on several planets of that type. Insulation and temperature control would not be an issue. He had just finished insulation upgrades on a structure recently, which he had surplus materials from that he could use to cut manufacturing costs.

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Dear Marcia Halpern,

Thank you for the design and extra specifications. My company has had experience on similar planets, so you can trust us to manage temperature control to a very high standard. We can start site preparation as soon as we arrive and the basic structure will not take long to construct. We can set aside a factory to make furniture if you desire, so we can fully outfit your factory without having to rely on anyone else. I have areas in my factories on stand-by if you desire this extra service. Of course, there will be an increased cost, but I believe the time saved and the compatibility with the structure electrics will be beneficial for you.

From,
Heveticus Maw
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[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Marcia was relieved to learn that [member="Heveticus Maw"] had the experience of building structures on similar planets. One less problem off my back, she thought. Compatibility with the electrical system is welcome for the furniture, but furniture presumably included lighting as well as plumbing; she'd like some steam pipes underneath the floors because it causes less incomfort to the patrons of the restaurant. Yet she is OK with a lot of different heating systems. Increased purchase costs and decreased maintenance costs, direct and indirect, is a tradeoff. Hmmm. I knew that incompatible equipment could be costly to fix, but a ship is not the same as a restaurant in this respect. May be best to accept the tradeoff. Might make the permit a little expensive but that's the cost of complying with local construction codes for you, she thought. She knew that many, many parties land themselves in trouble for that sort of thing.

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I'm satisfied with your ability to cater to construction projects on cold-climate planets. Setting aside some production time in a factory for the furniture: now that's one option I'm willing to exercise! I usually think that time and maintenance savings due to having a supplier with compatible equipment from the get-go is worth the extra cost of acquisition. Once the construction permits are issued you may begin construction immediately: the process should take about a week for commercial building of that size. I am also willing to provide pizzas to all Maw Construction Group facilities in return, for a yet-to-be-specified duration.

Marcia Halpern

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[Heveticus Maw]

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I am pleased that you have accepted this extra service from us. The extra week we have now allows us to have all the parts prepared in very short time. You can expect the building to be completed very quickly after we have arrived. I believe you will be very satisfied with the final product of our construction. I do hope, that if you require any other construction services, to contact us.

On the topic of the Pizza, most of our facilities are automated, so we would not require it for those. However, I imagine my executive staff will be pleased with the offer of food.


Thank you very much for your time,
Heveticus Maw

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[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

If Heveticus has one week to get the components ready, this could mean that the restaurant will go live in two or three weeks. Better post a few job openings now, starting with the manager, and then complete the process when the restaurant goes live, Marcia thought. Also, she proceeded to submit the relevant documents for the construction permits, given the plans they already have, which were used for building locations on Nal Hutta. Satisfied? Perhaps. Again, Marcia, while regularly eating at Pizza Hutt when doing business with clients in Hutt space, can't say for sure how satisfied they will be. Because Glyss residents have different standards from Hutt Space, even though, architecturally, they won't complain: what matters to the clients is whether climate control and insulation actually work as intended, beyond anything directly related to the food. But if there was one thing she knew about restaurants, it's that food is far from the end of the story: atmosphere also counts. Sure Pizza Hutt isn't upscale but even at that level, it counts for something.

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As a token of our satisfaction, the executive staff will receive three Hutt-sized pizzas a day for a year at the head office in addition to the agreed amount for the project. I will let you know when the building permits are issued, at which point the credits will be transferred into your account and a copy of the building permits will also be sent to you.

Marcia Halpern

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[member="Heveticus Maw"]

 

[Heveticus Maw]

The structure was built in record speed for Maw Construction Group. The surplus supplies, the experience building on cold-climate planets and the adequate preparation time allowed for construction to move immediately to fitting out the electrics, then to the furnishings. It was a quiet time for the factories, so the furniture was manufactured fast. This furniture was unique to Pizza Hutt, so he made extra and stored that in case it was needed. Maw believed the interior satisfied the design requirements. Two-thirds of the floor area was devoted to the dining area, which holds the requested 100 seats. The other third held the auxiliary facilities, kitchen and so on. The seating area is modular, allowing for furniture to be moved for events.

The Glyss Pizza Hutt joint was ready to be opened. All the construction mess had been cleaned and the construction droids had been sent back to Maw Construction Group warehouses.


The interior of the Pizza Hutt joint:

Spoiler

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"May you eat the first pizza served at this location, on the house" Marcia told [member="Heveticus Maw"] upon seeing her face-to-face for the first time

Now that's one satisfied patron of Pizza Hutt, while the other patrons that came for the grand opening of the Pizza Hutt location in the outskirts of Glyss' capital city were standing outside while Jessica cut the ribbon, dressed in full princess regalia; it was one of those rare occasions where she would quit the relative safety of the royal palace of her wife. And quickly, very quickly dozens of pizzas are ordered as to fit the wishes of the patrons. Supplying three pizzas a day to the executive offices of Maw Construction Group (or its equivalent in frozen pizzas) for a year, in addition to the standard cost, was well worth the cost of this new location. Nothing exorbitant but a little expensive, Marcia admitted as much. Yet Marcia and Jessica were happy to be reunited with each other for the first time since the Christophsis debacle, and they did so over a pizza, a set of Gardulla breadsticks and Boorka churros. Now that was a happy ending to this story.