Silicon Valley's Next Superstar

California, United States.

A mansion in the Bel-Air District.

Elon Musk took two bottles of champagne and half a box of pizza from the fridge. Humming an off-key tune, he put the pizza in the microwave, returned to the sofa with the champagne, and turned on the television. Then he settled in to wait for the show.

In about an hour, America's most popular football game would begin.

But that wasn't what he was waiting for.

He was waiting for the Columbia Television news before the game.

Most people working in Silicon Valley tech got their news from more fashionable sources, like Twitter or Facebook. For Musk, though, the broadcast about to begin held special significance.

In one minute, the SpaceX logo would appear in the center of the screen.

The Columbia Television anchor would report on his speech at the SpaceX press conference and the interview he had given afterward.

By the end of the day, the BFR super rocket and its forty-two Raptor Engines would be the talk of Silicon Valley. Liquid-oxygen methane engines would rewrite the history of spaceflight, and Franklin-covered bills would drift in from Wall Street like snow.

The thought felt better than becoming an international superstar.

Not that he knew what being an international superstar felt like...

"To victory." Musk twisted the cap off the champagne, filled a glass on the living room table, and raised it with a smile as the Columbia Television news began. "Cheers!"

The broadcast began.

Just as he had expected, a rendering of the BFR rocket appeared in the center of the screen. After quoting an interview with a NASA expert whose agency worked with SpaceX, the report got to the point, showing viewers SpaceX's lunar base concept and the Mars Colonization Plan, set to begin in 2024.

He