 Do you think there is a romantic connection between Brian and Crystal?
MONOPOLY By Vic Phillips and Scott Roberts Sheer efficiency and good management can make a monopoly grow into being. And once it grows, someone with a tyrant mind is going to try to use it as a weapon if he can— [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Astounding Science-Fiction April 1942. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Brian Hanson looked disgustedly at Pete Brent, his lanky assistant. "Get your notes straightened up. Run those centrifuge tests and set up the still so we can get at that vitamin count early in the morning." "Never mind Myrtle, just have that equipment set up for the morning. He strode out of the huge laboratory, but his mind was still on the vitamin research they had been conducting, he barely heard the remarks that followed him. Brian Hanson wondered dispassionately for a moment how his assistants could fail to be as absorbed as he was by the work they were doing, then he let it go as he stepped outside the research building. Out here, alone, he let his only known emotion sweep through him, pride. As head of the Venus Consolidated Research Organization, he was in large part responsible for the prosperity of this vigorous, young world. Venus Consolidated had built up this city and practically everything else that amounted to anything on this planet. True, there had been others, pioneers, before the company came, who objected to the expansion of the monopolistic control. But, if they could not realize that the company's regime served the best interests of the planet, they would just have to suffer the consequences of their own ignorance. Anything involving executions had to be referred to the Interplanetary Council on Earth. This walk was part of a regular routine of physical exercise that kept his body hard and resilient in spite of long hours spent in the laboratory. He was making that walk in precisely seven minutes, four and four-fifths seconds.
 Unlikely. They both have known each other for a short period in which no thoughts about romance were genuinely addressed.
 Absolutely not. They both hate each other, they're only working together out of necessity.  Probably. Both share similar personalities that work well together.  Unlikely. They both have known each other for a short period in which no thoughts about romance were genuinely addressed.  Definitely. They've been through a lot together and care about each other deeply.