Hailey pulled away, and I was left standing outside the imposing front of the hotel entrance. Glancing around as I cautiously walked forward, I entered the building, and wouldn’t you guess it—the interior was just as glamorous as the exterior.

The marble-tiled flooring took me to a sleek reception desk, which took center stage of the area. As I approached, the receptionist’s gaze changed from the screens to me, his expression smooth. He had his brown hair combed back and his face was clean-shaven. He was also wearing the same attire as Hailey.

He adjusted his monocle before offering a cordial nod to me, “Welcome to Annual,” he greeted, his tone refined but also somewhat stale,

“My name is Segis. Are you checking in?”

“O-oh yes, hello. Um, I was told to come here by a man named Nanik; he said to show this at the front desk.” I pulled out Nanik’s business card and displayed it to him. He glanced over it quickly, and then gestured with his gloved hands for me to turn the card over. But, when I did so, the other side appeared to just be blank.

“Thank you. Allow me to check the customer list…” From the counter-side, he pulled a scanner of sorts, and ran it over the card held in my hand. Automatically, the dark look of the card receded, revealing a strange pattern. It took me a while to realize that it was a QR code.

Beep—

“Nanik, you say..? Ah, found it. It appears your referrer’s quite the regular here. Since you’re his first referral, you’ll receive a 600—”

“600 AE for a night?!”

“No, madam. What I was about to say is that it would be a 600 AE discount from your original 2000 AE stay.”

“...” I nearly choked at the absurd price.

“Now, are you paying with Card or Coin?”

“Coin, please…”

“That will be 1400.”

I fished out 14 of the octagonal-shaped currency and gave it to Segis, leaving a little under half of the batch; it looked like Nanik gave me more than what was needed.

‘Thank goodness, I have some money to my name now!’.

Segis gave it a quick inspection before nodding approvingly. “14 Aero; splendid.”

With a practiced motion, he retrieved a matte black card from behind the desk, inserting it into a sleek device before shifting his attention to his keyboard and monitor. A few keystrokes later, he withdrew the card and handed it to me.

“Here you are, madam. This card grants you access to certain provided amenities for the duration of your stay and also serves as your room key that you can scan to open your door—Room 269. If you need any guidance, there is a touch-activated button right here,” He pointed toward a dim blue, circular discoloration on the card,

“Pressing it will display a holographic map showing your current location, your room, and other available facilities.”

His professional smile never wavered as he concluded, “If you have no further inquiries, I bid you a warm welcome to Annual, where years pass in a moment.”

I took the card, turning it over in my fingers. The surface was smooth, almost unnervingly so. Beside the button, there were no visible seams or markings beyond a faint engraving of the hotel's insignia—a stylized crest resembling interwoven constellations. The weight of it in my hand felt heavier than expected, making me feel like it was made from some expensive material.

“Right… Thanks.”

Segis gave a curt nod before returning his attention to his screens, my presence to him fading into the background as if he had never talked to me in the first place.

I saw a few other guests moving about the lobby, some of which engaged in quiet conversations, and others simply passing through. One thing I noticed, though. I was definitely getting some curious glances every now and then.

‘Is it because of my attire, or something on my face..?’ I decided to not bother further with these thoughts, and instead focused on getting to my room.

I flipped the card in my hand and pressed the small, barely visible button Segis had mentioned. A soft chime sounded, and a translucent blue map popped to life above the card’s surface. ‘That’s cool…’

My current position was marked with a small, glowing yellow dot, and a dotted path illuminated the route to my room—Room 269—leading toward a set of elevators across the lobby.

Other icons appeared on the map, each labeled with a functional little legend in the bottom left corner.

‘Hmmm… what other things do they have here?’ I scanned through the list, my eyes widening slightly.

‘A spa, a restaurant, bar, personal theaters, karaoke rooms… an in-hotel Hank’s House? What even is that?’ Turns out, I could just “tap” on the holographic screen to see what it was.

‘So it’s a retail warehouse… That makes no sense as to why it would be here of all places.’ I blinked,

‘Though, there are quite a lot of amenities. Maybe that’s just one of the few weirder ones.’

I turned my attention back to locating my room. After an elevator ride and a quick walk through the vast hotel building’s second guest floor (G2), I had finally arrived at Room 269.

I scanned the room keycard on the door pad. The door cracked open with a quiet hiss, revealing a space in which I was going to spend the night. I placed the card into the card holder that also was the on-and-off switch for power to the room. Warm, recessed lighting casted a soft glow over sleek, dark wood paneling that complemented the neutral-toned walls. A plush, large bed with white linens and a neatly folded throw blanket sat centered against the far wall, flanked by nightstands embedded with a telephone and some touch-sensitive controls for lighting and climate adjustment.

A floor-to-ceiling window stretched across one side of the room, offering a stunning view of the cityscape beyond, its shimmering lights reflecting off the glass like distant stars. Against the adjacent wall, a minimalist desk with a built-in interface gleamed under the soft overhead light, a single ergo chair tucked neatly beneath it.

To the right, a sitting area featured a low, glass-topped coffee table surrounded by a sleek, charcoal-gray sofa and a matching armchair. A large discreet black panel on the wall hinted at an entertainment system, seamlessly integrated into the room’s design.

The air carried the faintest hint of something clean and fresh—subtle, unobtrusive, yet undeniably pleasant.

After taking in the room’s details, I checked the closet and found that there were a few robes hung up by the hangers. I made it to the bathroom, leaving the uniform on the rack of the closet to take a shower.

The bathroom had a typical shower head, which was accommodated by a variety of hygiene options. I didn’t know what was good, so I just went for the 4-in-one bottle.

…

Tsss~... Twist.

I turned off the water. I stepped over to the bathroom countertops and stared at myself in the mirror. The face that looked back at me was a nice (if I don’t say so myself) young lady with natural dark purple hair that shifted into brighter hues near the ends of my hair strands as well as a slender face. Water was trickling down my face, which made it seem like I was crying. ‘This is me…’ I smiled wryly. This would mark the very first time I’ve “seen” myself.

…

After drying and combing my hair and changing into the robes, I flopped onto the bed with a long sigh from the refreshing after-feeling. ‘I should probably just go to sleep, right?’ I shifted against the plush mattress, sinking into its softness.

‘This does feel really nice…’

Pulling the covers over myself, I commanded the lights off, leaving only the faint ambient glow from the city beyond the panoramic windows. I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to take me.

But… Nothing. The minutes dragged on, and I didn’t feel any sense of drowsiness taking over. ‘Guess I’m not as tired as I thought…’ I stared at the ceiling before turning to look at the bedside clock.

[8:25 PM]

‘Maybe I’ll just go around to burn myself out. What to do, though…’

My thoughts moved towards the front door, ‘Didn’t the hotel have “personal theaters” or something?’ I vaguely recalled the list of amenities and services,

‘That could be good, yeah.’ I pulled the covers off of myself and went back to the closet to change back out into my black and white clothes, as I didn’t have anything else to change to. I then grabbed the card from the key holder and opened the map. After scanning the layout again, I pinpointed the personal theaters; they were found on a lower floor (B2).

‘Maybe I should also get something to eat or snack on while I’m at it.’

…

Footnotes:

1. “Annual Hotel” is a parody of the real-life “Four Seasons Hotel”. Other references will be omitted for the sake of maintaining clutter