I think I went a tad overboard.

I’d gone all the way up to the 12th guest floor because I saw that there was a bakery there. Its interior wasn’t much larger than mom-and-pop shops you would see out in the city, but it certainly did not have the same budget as those.

Inside were displays of ornate wooden cases, holding different confections in each. The entire bakery smelled of baked bread and sugariness. I grabbed two maple-glazed hazelnut scones. However, one thing led to another, and my cravings got me an entire bag of pastries by the time I got to the cashier.

Although I hadn’t, in actuality, used up a large chunk of my funds, it didn’t mean the price wasn’t expensive (I’m starting to see a pattern here). Like seriously though—just 5 items here totalled up to a whopping 132 AE (tax included)!

But I digress; I’ve got movies to watch! Of course, it’s all in the name of “reacclimating myself to social life”. Yeah. We only do productive things here.

…

After reaching floor B2, I was greeted by a collection of private mini-theatre rooms. Interestingly enough, this floor was unmanned by any staff. Instead, all one had to do was scan their keycard and “purchase” an allotted time for the room. For 10 AE (purchases are paid at the end of stay), I was able to acquire 5 whole hours of time; not bad.

I sat down on one of the recliners and began to scroll through the selection of movies:

[Starcross]

[Mack Candela 3 - Renatus]

[Normal Home]

…

The catalogue featured all sorts of films of diverse genres. I took a bit before I came across a title that caught my eye:

[Galactic Battle: The Saga]₍₁₎

I wasn’t quite sure why, but out of all of the strange movie titles, this one struck a chord with me. It was a collection of 6 films, which meant that I would only likely be able to get through some of it given the length of each was just over an hour and a half.

…

The movie opened with a short crawl of text that definitely tried to make itself sound serious, but the moment the first scene unfolded, I couldn’t help but notice how shoddy the movie was—the first two characters, Hogi-One and Pierst-Gone, were wearing almost-transparent sheets for robes… The one saving grace for them was that the effects masked their awkward movements during fights pretty well.

‘...Or is it that they’re using that “Sethnine” thingy?’ Their weapons were clearly not designed to fire off sparks and glow as they did, but they integrated well into the stylized nature of the fights, which made me want to find someone who could get me one of those.

To still give it some props, the first episode did give me a pleasant surprise. The child actor for Glankist, Farthington Redsworth, gave an earnest and endearing performance that honestly kind of hyped me up for his growth.

However, my excitement was squashed as I realized that the later installments didn’t feature the same actors, but different ones for when the character “grew up”; their performance fell terribly short from the initial build-up of Glankist as a hopeful but humble protagonist to someone who fell into the middle of a soap opera and decided to just go with the flow.

But damn it! I’m gonna use up my time for all its worth!

…

I somehow ended up tuning out a large portion of the exposition and other parts of the third and fourth episodes all the way until the long-awaited clash between Glankist and his son, Ruth, occurs.

“Why are you standing in my way?!” Ruth roared.

Their battle raged, their Sethnic Sabres ringing throughout the torn spacecraft, until Glankist was knocked down by a powerful propulsion.

BAM!

The impact was felt as tremors rocked my chair subtly. ‘Wow, 4D huh?’

“No… You can’t…” Glankist held his chest in pain,

“You can’t marry her… She’s your sister!”

Ruth was completely stunned by the reveal, “What...?”

“WHAT?!”—As was I. I nearly jumped out of the recliner as I pushed myself up using the armrests,

‘That means those two were siblings the entire time? Is that what they’re fighting over? And how did we get here???’

I grabbed the remote that fell to the floor and started to rewind the film.‘Gosh, that makes all the previous scenes of Ruth and Maya so much worse!’ I murmured frantically,

“I didn’t miss anything crucial, did I?”

In the middle of my skimming, however, the screen suddenly blackened and large white texts were illuminated on it: “ALLOTTED TIME OVER. RE-SIGN CARD FOR MORE TIME.”

‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me…’

I wasn’t about to buy another hour just to rewatch parts; it was already getting late. I got off of the chair and started kicking my legs (tired from not standing for too long).

After some time of stretching, I finally noticed that my inattentiveness was due to me being severely sleepy. It felt like a blur, but I managed to drag myself through the theatre lobby to the elevators and back up to my room.

I quickly changed back into the robes, and flopped onto the bed.

Poomf~!

I turned off the lights, and within a few minutes, I was sleeping like a log, blissfully unaware of what tomorrow would bring me.

…

…

I woke up like a complete mess the next morning. I’d been sleeping on my stomach with my face going to the side. I was also straddling the side of the bed with one of my legs, yet somehow I hadn’t fallen off overnight.

“Ugh… What time is it?”

I sat up straight, my hair drooping down and draping all over my face. I parted my hair from my eyes as I tiredly watched the sunlight dispersing into my room. I then looked to my side.

[12:39 PM]

“Oh kuso!”

My eyes were wide open now. I sprang off of the bed, tossing the covers to the side and haphazardly putting on the hotel’s slippers. I yanked the dresser-closet, pulling out my clothes and Nanik’s business card.

‘I hope he’s not busy…’

I strode over to the hotel’s telephone. It sat elegantly on the nightstand, its sleek chrome casing reflecting some of the light. I keyed in Nanik’s number and waited for him to pick up,

Beep, beep… Ring… Ring…

[“Nanik Iman. Who is this?”] The quality of the telephone made his voice even more gritty-sounding.

“Hey, it’s me, Tokei. I’m calling from the hotel’s telephone.”

[“Oh. Did you just wake up?”]

“N-no..!”

[“...”]

“Yes…”

[“It’s fine. I’m currently occupied, so remember to go to this address after you’ve had something to eat…”]

I grabbed the hotel’s pen and mini-notepad and wrote down the address that Nanik recited. It sounded like the location he wanted us to meet at was an apartment on an avenue.

“Is that where you’re staying?”

Nanik replied, [“No, it’s a friend’s place. They owe me a favor, so I’m going to have them check on your mana system—and anything else pertaining to you.”]

“Oh, alright. When will you be there?” I inquired.

[“In about an hour,”] Nanik calculated,

[“Actually, could you do something for me while you’re there?”]

Uh oh. Is he finally asking me to do some sketchy deal? I’ve got to refuse while I can!

“I-I won’t—!”

[“It’s very simple. Just ask her how old she is… Were you about to say something?”]

I coughed. “Nope. Just talking to myself.” Sorry Nanik, I was affected by Hailey’s delusions…

[“If there’s nothing else, I’ll see you then.”]

“Okay.”

Click. Nanik hung up.

I stood in thought,‘Perhaps his friend can provide me some leads. Anything is better than nothing, at this point…’

…

I got a clean and simple lunch from the dining hall: seasoned fluffy scrambled eggs topped with crispy bacon on toast alongside fresh fruits and a glass of water. I went to the reception desk with the carry-bag of leftover pastries in tow.

Segis, who received me yesterday, was still present. He looked at me and greeted blandly, “Good afternoon. Are you here to check out?”

“Yes… Do you work here all day?”

“No, madam. I just work afternoon-to-late-night shifts during the weekdays.” Segis held out his hand,

“Card, please.”

“Oh…” I think this guy might be a workaholic. Those are some insane hours he’s clocking in. I handed over the room keycard while searching through my shirt pocket.

‘I’ve still got to pay for the baked goods and movie watch-time… 2 Aero should do, right?’

After I passed along the two coins from my hand, Segis gave me a cursory nod before he inspected and stored them. He then produced five rhombus-shaped cyan coins and eight circular silver coins. “Your change is 58 AE.”

5 Mira and 8 Arin. I could pay for a cab ride with that. Speaking of which…

“Excuse me, would you be able to call a taxi over here? I don’t have a phone with me at the moment.”

“I will call one right now, and you can busy yourself at the lounge. I will bring refreshments over to you in a moment.” Segis replied while continuing to work.

I sat myself down on one of the sofas and crossed my legs as I curiously watched Segis working. His gaze, even from yesterday, always seemed to stay transfixed onto the monitors he was observing the entire time, aside from when other people approached him.

After welcoming and helping out a few incoming guests with their roomings, Segis kneeled down and reached for what appeared to be the cupboards on the opposite end of the desk. From them, he acquired two metallic bottles and something else. After opening the bottles, he poured them into the glass and gave them a whisk with a spoon.

He stood there for a moment before he exited from the reception desk, carrying a cup-sized glass with vertical fill lines in his hand. The glass was filled with a golden orange liquid.

Segis approached my seating area and placed the glass on the table with a coaster underneath.

“Your drink,” he said. He held his black-gloved hand in a downward pinching gesture above the glass. Miniature clouds of mist started forming underneath his fingertips, perfusing subtly into the air as a nice and refreshing breeze.

Three small cubes formed, dropping into my glass. Plink. plunk. plink. They fell without creating so much as a small splash.

“Passion fruit and syrup,” Segis called it.

“Woah… Did you just create ice?”

“No, madam, ‘creating' ice is much more costly on Sethnic Capacity than simply manipulating the environment,” he waved his hand, and mist cascaded behind as a trail,

“Water is nearly always in the air. What I am doing is what you would call deposition with transference magic.” Segis nodded at me like I understood every bit of what he spoke perfectly, and without further note, he walked back to the reception desk.

I tilted my head in wonder at his explanation. ‘It’s very strange: Is Sethnine really magic or just weird chemistry?’

I picked up the slightly condensating glass and took a small sip from it. There was a strong and vibrant taste from it. The natural acidity told me that the passion fruit had been freshly squeezed—it wasn’t overpowering, though, as there was an aftertaste of sweetness that came from the syrup.

After a few minutes of me having finished enjoying my refreshment, Segis called out to me, “Ma’am, your taxi has arrived. I hope you have enjoyed your stay.”

“Yes, see you later.”

As I walked outside and entered the taxi, I realized my mistake, ‘Ugh… Why did I say “see you later”? It’s not like I’ll have the luxury of revisiting this place again…’

I’m sure that one moment is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.