Chapter 142
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The inside of the small building was completely covered in various game, movie, and cartoon memorabilia. There were dozens of large, stuffed animals that were as big as fully grown men that were placed tastefully within. Several bookshelves were covered in collector's edition comics and movies that were produced in limited quantity as everyone could simply store the data on their communicator. The walls were covered with posters of cute girls in innocent poses or gorgeous women in stimulating poses or hot guys in intimate embraces. There was a large couch in the center of the room with a huge pillow that had a man that looked a lot like the man who called the bike for them. There were no windows in the building and it had only two doors on opposite ends.
In front of the couch was a large Holodisplay that hovered over a camera that faced the couch. Conveniently, all of the posters of hot men in intimate embraces with each other was behind the camera and out of view.
Once the woman went inside, the man from before quickly followed them and closed the door. The moment the door was closed, a hissing sound could be heard in the room as the sound from outside was cut off completely. It was as if they were on a completely different world from where they just came from.
Altair slowly uncovered her ears as she was placed in the center of the couch. The man then sat on one side of her and the woman sat on the other. Altair was effectively sandwiched between them. The woman stretched her arms and legs when she sat down.
Altair was finally free of her grasp and wondered what was supposed to happen next. Thankfully, she didn't have to wonder for long as the man began to explain what was about to happen. "In a few minutes, the camera there," he pointed at the camera ahead of them, "will broadcast to the Spacenet everything that happens in this room. Billions of people will be watching everything that you say and do, so I strongly suggest that you don't do anything dumb because everyone will remember it."
Altair's face paled when she heard the number of people that would soon be watching her. She looked at the man with a pleading gaze and was about to ask him to not make her go through with it when he continued to speak, "If you do not want your face to be known to everyone, we can give you a mask to wear. It isn't uncommon for people to want to keep their anonymity on the Spacenet in these events."
Just as Altair heaved a sigh of relief at this, the woman beside her added, "You will have to tell everyone your Spacenet handle though, at the least. So there is that much."
Altair looked at her with a confused expression, which caused the woman's face to stiffen slightly. "…You do have a Spacenet account, right? You're at the age where you would have one…" Seeing Altair's confused expression only become more confused caused her to send a strange look at the man next to Altair.
The man sighed and said, "If you don't have a Spacenet handle, then what do we call you when we introduce you at the start of the show?"
Altair instantly replied, "Anything is fine."
The woman next to her shook her head immediately, "That's not acceptable. But, seeing as how you haven't been on the Spacenet before makes me wonder just why you are even here in the city to begin with…" She looked over Altair with a critical eye which caused Altair to panic slightly.
Altair quickly responded by saying, "I-I'm looking for something."
The woman gazed into Altair's eyes and went silent for a few moments before she finally asked, "Hey, what's your name anyway?" Altair blinked at her with a blank look. The woman didn't mind at all when she continued, "Just your first name is fine. I don't need your surname. You can call me Marianne." She pointed at the man and continued, "He's Sible."
An awkward silence descended on the room for a full minute before Marianne grabbed Altair's chin and forcefully turned her face to look her in the eyes. She then spoke coldly as she said, "Tell me your name, girl." After a few moments of silence she went on to threaten Altair, "If you don't tell me your name I will hand you over to LEO services and they will make sure that whatever you are hiding from finds you. They're very good at that."
Marianne had experienced her own share of times when she was running from people. She was extremely famous at this point and she could see the spark of nervousness that was brought about by anxiety in Altair's eyes. She had that same spark many times on her own and could easily identify it.
"LEO services?" Altair asked with an odd expression. She had never heard of such a group of people or whatever they were. She barely had any contact with the people of the Empire. This was the most contact she had with anyone outside of the Marnithok family.
Sible thoughtfully answered her question from behind her with an at-ease smile on his face, "LEO services are law enforcement officers. They're the people who keep the civilians mostly safe from harm in the Empire. They have access to everyone's information that lives in the Empire and work very closely with the government to ensure that everything runs smoothly." He placed a comforting hand on Altair's shoulder as he continued, "Since this is your first time GIzmotech City and, given that you know nothing about the city or its customs and have even never heard of Marianne or myself, while not having a Spacenet account for yourself as well, it's very obvious to use that you are trying to hide from someone. There's really not many other options given your age."
He shifted his hand to her wings as he rubbed them for the first time. He then said, "You know, these wings really are impressive. It's like they're actually real." He leaned in to whisper into Altair's ear, "I suspect this has something to do with why you are running? They don't appear to be clothing and you seem to be able to control them without any external device." He deceptively shifted the back of Altair's dress to the side as he spoke while distracting her. He saw that the shadow wings were connected to her back and his eyes widened slightly.
He then continued, "From what I can tell, these wings aren't part of any costume. This means that they were probably the result of some illegal experiment. I have no doubt that the Empire has a hand in that kind of thing." He leaned back to a reclining position, not that Altair could see because her face was still being gripped by Marianne, before he continued, "The Empire usually has hundreds of illegal experiments that they run on people. If you've ever found yourself in a small room with a crooked table while a man shouted at you for information or something, that's a sure sign that it's the Empire that's behind it."
Altair immediately remembered the small room she found herself in a few days. It was basically exactly what happened to her. 'So the government here has an idea that I exist now then.'
Marianne continued for Sible as if she could read exactly where the conversation was going, "If we hand you over to LEO services then they will hand you over to whoever is after you. You'll get an express ticket right back to where you started. I imagine that they'll put you under far tighter surveillance as well." Marianne rubbed one of Altair's hands while she shifted Altair's gaze to look down at the hand. "I could even see them removing your arms and legs so you cannot run again."
A chill ran down Altair's spine as her face paled. It would take weeks for her to be able to regenerate any lost limbs with the amount of Mana she had. It would also be basically impossible to do so while she was being watched. If that happened, it would become far more difficult to get to somewhere safe and she would probably wind up living out the last of her days in whatever small hole they placed her in.
Marianne forced Altair's face to look back into her eyes before she continued, "I suggest you tell me your name unless you want that to happen." She paused for a moment and added, as if it was an after thought, "Oh and don't bother trying to force your way out of here. Sible and I are actually very dangerous when we need to be. We've had extensive training to take care of ourselves."
Altair bit her lip and went silent for a long moment. She considered if it even mattered telling these people her name. She couldn't use the name she gave to the people who were after her as it would be too easy for them to find her. She also couldn't give them the name that the Marnithok family gave her. Since that was the case, it left her real name as the only real option since she didn't have a creative bone in her body for names. Then again, she probably wouldn't see these people again so what did it matter?
Thus, Altair answered honestly, "My name is Altair."
Marianne let go of Altair finally with a smile. She then leaned back as if what happened just now didn't happen and said, "See, that wasn't so hard was it?" She put her hands behind her head as she continued, "You don't have to worry anymore. We won't give you away to LEO and, whoever is after you won't be able to take you from us for the time being. So, you're effectively safe here."
A small yellow light started to flash on the camera; this caused Marianne and Sible to sit up at the same time. Sible spoke quickly as he said, "The livestream is about to begin." He reached around the side of the couch and rummaged through a box that was placed behind a stuffed animal. He quickly pulled out a cat-like panda mask and placed it on Altair's face. It covered everything except her eyes and the lower part of her mouth. "Remember, don't do anything dumb and just go with the flow. If we ask you something, try to answer as smoothly as you can and don't hesitate to answer or you may arouse suspicion if your pursuers are watching."
Sible doubted that they were watching. He actually wanted Altair to act natural more than anything, thus he used her circumstances against her so their broadcast wouldn't be as awkward.
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The inside of the small building was completely covered in various game, movie, and cartoon memorabilia. There were dozens of large, stuffed animals that were as big as fully grown men that were placed tastefully within. Several bookshelves were covered in collector's edition comics and movies that were produced in limited quantity as everyone could simply store the data on their communicator. The walls were covered with posters of cute girls in innocent poses or gorgeous women in stimulating poses or hot guys in intimate embraces. There was a large couch in the center of the room with a huge pillow that had a man that looked a lot like the man who called the bike for them. There were no windows in the building and it had only two doors on opposite ends.
In front of the couch was a large Holodisplay that hovered over a camera that faced the couch. Conveniently, all of the posters of hot men in intimate embraces with each other was behind the camera and out of view.
Once the woman went inside, the man from before quickly followed them and closed the door. The moment the door was closed, a hissing sound could be heard in the room as the sound from outside was cut off completely. It was as if they were on a completely different world from where they just came from.
Altair slowly uncovered her ears as she was placed in the center of the couch. The man then sat on one side of her and the woman sat on the other. Altair was effectively sandwiched between them. The woman stretched her arms and legs when she sat down.
Altair was finally free of her grasp and wondered what was supposed to happen next. Thankfully, she didn't have to wonder for long as the man began to explain what was about to happen. "In a few minutes, the camera there," he pointed at the camera ahead of them, "will broadcast to the Spacenet everything that happens in this room. Billions of people will be watching everything that you say and do, so I strongly suggest that you don't do anything dumb because everyone will remember it."
Altair's face paled when she heard the number of people that would soon be watching her. She looked at the man with a pleading gaze and was about to ask him to not make her go through with it when he continued to speak, "If you do not want your face to be known to everyone, we can give you a mask to wear. It isn't uncommon for people to want to keep their anonymity on the Spacenet in these events."
Just as Altair heaved a sigh of relief at this, the woman beside her added, "You will have to tell everyone your Spacenet handle though, at the least. So there is that much."
Altair looked at her with a confused expression, which caused the woman's face to stiffen slightly. "…You do have a Spacenet account, right? You're at the age where you would have one…" Seeing Altair's confused expression only become more confused caused her to send a strange look at the man next to Altair.
The man sighed and said, "If you don't have a Spacenet handle, then what do we call you when we introduce you at the start of the show?"
Altair instantly replied, "Anything is fine."
The woman next to her shook her head immediately, "That's not acceptable. But, seeing as how you haven't been on the Spacenet before makes me wonder just why you are even here in the city to begin with…" She looked over Altair with a critical eye which caused Altair to panic slightly.
Altair quickly responded by saying, "I-I'm looking for something."
The woman gazed into Altair's eyes and went silent for a few moments before she finally asked, "Hey, what's your name anyway?" Altair blinked at her with a blank look. The woman didn't mind at all when she continued, "Just your first name is fine. I don't need your surname. You can call me Marianne." She pointed at the man and continued, "He's Sible."
An awkward silence descended on the room for a full minute before Marianne grabbed Altair's chin and forcefully turned her face to look her in the eyes. She then spoke coldly as she said, "Tell me your name, girl." After a few moments of silence she went on to threaten Altair, "If you don't tell me your name I will hand you over to LEO services and they will make sure that whatever you are hiding from finds you. They're very good at that."
Marianne had experienced her own share of times when she was running from people. She was extremely famous at this point and she could see the spark of nervousness that was brought about by anxiety in Altair's eyes. She had that same spark many times on her own and could easily identify it.
"LEO services?" Altair asked with an odd expression. She had never heard of such a group of people or whatever they were. She barely had any contact with the people of the Empire. This was the most contact she had with anyone outside of the Marnithok family.
Sible thoughtfully answered her question from behind her with an at-ease smile on his face, "LEO services are law enforcement officers. They're the people who keep the civilians mostly safe from harm in the Empire. They have access to everyone's information that lives in the Empire and work very closely with the government to ensure that everything runs smoothly." He placed a comforting hand on Altair's shoulder as he continued, "Since this is your first time GIzmotech City and, given that you know nothing about the city or its customs and have even never heard of Marianne or myself, while not having a Spacenet account for yourself as well, it's very obvious to use that you are trying to hide from someone. There's really not many other options given your age."
He shifted his hand to her wings as he rubbed them for the first time. He then said, "You know, these wings really are impressive. It's like they're actually real." He leaned in to whisper into Altair's ear, "I suspect this has something to do with why you are running? They don't appear to be clothing and you seem to be able to control them without any external device." He deceptively shifted the back of Altair's dress to the side as he spoke while distracting her. He saw that the shadow wings were connected to her back and his eyes widened slightly.
He then continued, "From what I can tell, these wings aren't part of any costume. This means that they were probably the result of some illegal experiment. I have no doubt that the Empire has a hand in that kind of thing." He leaned back to a reclining position, not that Altair could see because her face was still being gripped by Marianne, before he continued, "The Empire usually has hundreds of illegal experiments that they run on people. If you've ever found yourself in a small room with a crooked table while a man shouted at you for information or something, that's a sure sign that it's the Empire that's behind it."
Altair immediately remembered the small room she found herself in a few days. It was basically exactly what happened to her. 'So the government here has an idea that I exist now then.'
Marianne continued for Sible as if she could read exactly where the conversation was going, "If we hand you over to LEO services then they will hand you over to whoever is after you. You'll get an express ticket right back to where you started. I imagine that they'll put you under far tighter surveillance as well." Marianne rubbed one of Altair's hands while she shifted Altair's gaze to look down at the hand. "I could even see them removing your arms and legs so you cannot run again."
A chill ran down Altair's spine as her face paled. It would take weeks for her to be able to regenerate any lost limbs with the amount of Mana she had. It would also be basically impossible to do so while she was being watched. If that happened, it would become far more difficult to get to somewhere safe and she would probably wind up living out the last of her days in whatever small hole they placed her in.
Marianne forced Altair's face to look back into her eyes before she continued, "I suggest you tell me your name unless you want that to happen." She paused for a moment and added, as if it was an after thought, "Oh and don't bother trying to force your way out of here. Sible and I are actually very dangerous when we need to be. We've had extensive training to take care of ourselves."
Altair bit her lip and went silent for a long moment. She considered if it even mattered telling these people her name. She couldn't use the name she gave to the people who were after her as it would be too easy for them to find her. She also couldn't give them the name that the Marnithok family gave her. Since that was the case, it left her real name as the only real option since she didn't have a creative bone in her body for names. Then again, she probably wouldn't see these people again so what did it matter?
Thus, Altair answered honestly, "My name is Altair."
Marianne let go of Altair finally with a smile. She then leaned back as if what happened just now didn't happen and said, "See, that wasn't so hard was it?" She put her hands behind her head as she continued, "You don't have to worry anymore. We won't give you away to LEO and, whoever is after you won't be able to take you from us for the time being. So, you're effectively safe here."
A small yellow light started to flash on the camera; this caused Marianne and Sible to sit up at the same time. Sible spoke quickly as he said, "The livestream is about to begin." He reached around the side of the couch and rummaged through a box that was placed behind a stuffed animal. He quickly pulled out a cat-like panda mask and placed it on Altair's face. It covered everything except her eyes and the lower part of her mouth. "Remember, don't do anything dumb and just go with the flow. If we ask you something, try to answer as smoothly as you can and don't hesitate to answer or you may arouse suspicion if your pursuers are watching."
Sible doubted that they were watching. He actually wanted Altair to act natural more than anything, thus he used her circumstances against her so their broadcast wouldn't be as awkward.
The inside of the small building was completely covered in various game, movie, and cartoon memorabilia. There were dozens of large, stuffed animals that were as big as fully grown men that were placed tastefully within. Several bookshelves were covered in collector's edition comics and movies that were produced in limited quantity as everyone could simply store the data on their communicator. The walls were covered with posters of cute girls in innocent poses or gorgeous women in stimulating poses or hot guys in intimate embraces. There was a large couch in the center of the room with a huge pillow that had a man that looked a lot like the man who called the bike for them. There were no windows in the building and it had only two doors on opposite ends.In front of the couch was a large Holodisplay that hovered over a camera that faced the couch. Conveniently, all of the posters of hot men in intimate embraces with each other was behind the camera and out of view.Once the woman went inside, the man from before quickly followed them and closed the door. The moment the door was closed, a hissing sound could be heard in the room as the sound from outside was cut off completely. It was as if they were on a completely different world from where they just came from.Altair slowly uncovered her ears as she was placed in the center of the couch. The man then sat on one side of her and the woman sat on the other. Altair was effectively sandwiched between them. The woman stretched her arms and legs when she sat down.Altair was finally free of her grasp and wondered what was supposed to happen next. Thankfully, she didn't have to wonder for long as the man began to explain what was about to happen. "In a few minutes, the camera there," he pointed at the camera ahead of them, "will broadcast to the Spacenet everything that happens in this room. Billions of people will be watching everything that you say and do, so I strongly suggest that you don't do anything dumb because everyone will remember it."Altair's face paled when she heard the number of people that would soon be watching her. She looked at the man with a pleading gaze and was about to ask him to not make her go through with it when he continued to speak, "If you do not want your face to be known to everyone, we can give you a mask to wear. It isn't uncommon for people to want to keep their anonymity on the Spacenet in these events."Just as Altair heaved a sigh of relief at this, the woman beside her added, "You will have to tell everyone your Spacenet handle though, at the least. So there is that much."Altair looked at her with a confused expression, which caused the woman's face to stiffen slightly. "You do have a Spacenet account, right? You're at the age where you would have one" Seeing Altair's confused expression only become more confused caused her to send a strange look at the man next to Altair.The man sighed and said, "If you don't have a Spacenet handle, then what do we call you when we introduce you at the start of the show?"Altair instantly replied, "Anything is fine."The woman next to her shook her head immediately, "That's not acceptable. But, seeing as how you haven't been on the Spacenet before makes me wonder just why you are even here in the city to begin with" She looked over Altair with a critical eye which caused Altair to panic slightly.Altair quickly responded by saying, "I-I'm looking for something."The woman gazed into Altair's eyes and went silent for a few moments before she finally asked, "Hey, what's your name anyway?" Altair blinked at her with a blank look. The woman didn't mind at all when she continued, "Just your first name is fine. I don't need your surname. You can call me Marianne." She pointed at the man and continued, "He's Sible."An awkward silence descended on the room for a full minute before Marianne grabbed Altair's chin and forcefully turned her face to look her in the eyes. She then spoke coldly as she said, "Tell me your name, girl." After a few moments of silence she went on to threaten Altair, "If you don't tell me your name I will hand you over to LEO services and they will make sure that whatever you are hiding from finds you. They're very good at that."Marianne had experienced her own share of times when she was running from people. She was extremely famous at this point and she could see the spark of nervousness that was brought about by anxiety in Altair's eyes. She had that same spark many times on her own and could easily identify it."LEO services?" Altair asked with an odd expression. She had never heard of such a group of people or whatever they were. She barely had any contact with the people of the Empire. This was the most contact she had with anyone outside of the Marnithok family.Sible thoughtfully answered her question from behind her with an at-ease smile on his face, "LEO services are law enforcement officers. They're the people who keep the civilians mostly safe from harm in the Empire. They have access to everyone's information that lives in the Empire and work very closely with the government to ensure that everything runs smoothly." He placed a comforting hand on Altair's shoulder as he continued, "Since this is your first time GIzmotech City and, given that you know nothing about the city or its customs and have even never heard of Marianne or myself, while not having a Spacenet account for yourself as well, it's very obvious to use that you are trying to hide from someone. There's really not many other options given your age."He shifted his hand to her wings as he rubbed them for the first time. He then said, "You know, these wings really are impressive. It's like they're actually real." He leaned in to whisper into Altair's ear, "I suspect this has something to do with why you are running? They don't appear to be clothing and you seem to be able to control them without any external device." He deceptively shifted the back of Altair's dress to the side as he spoke while distracting her. He saw that the shadow wings were connected to her back and his eyes widened slightly.He then continued, "From what I can tell, these wings aren't part of any costume. This means that they were probably the result of some illegal experiment. I have no doubt that the Empire has a hand in that kind of thing." He leaned back to a reclining position, not that Altair could see because her face was still being gripped by Marianne, before he continued, "The Empire usually has hundreds of illegal experiments that they run on people. If you've ever found yourself in a small room with a crooked table while a man shouted at you for information or something, that's a sure sign that it's the Empire that's behind it."Altair immediately remembered the small room she found herself in a few days. It was basically exactly what happened to her. 'So the government here has an idea that I exist now then.'Marianne continued for Sible as if she could read exactly where the conversation was going, "If we hand you over to LEO services then they will hand you over to whoever is after you. You'll get an express ticket right back to where you started. I imagine that they'll put you under far tighter surveillance as well." Marianne rubbed one of Altair's hands while she shifted Altair's gaze to look down at the hand. "I could even see them removing your arms and legs so you cannot run again."A chill ran down Altair's spine as her face paled. It would take weeks for her to be able to regenerate any lost limbs with the amount of Mana she had. It would also be basically impossible to do so while she was being watched. If that happened, it would become far more difficult to get to somewhere safe and she would probably wind up living out the last of her days in whatever small hole they placed her in.Marianne forced Altair's face to look back into her eyes before she continued, "I suggest you tell me your name unless you want that to happen." She paused for a moment and added, as if it was an after thought, "Oh and don't bother trying to force your way out of here. Sible and I are actually very dangerous when we need to be. We've had extensive training to take care of ourselves."Altair bit her lip and went silent for a long moment. She considered if it even mattered telling these people her name. She couldn't use the name she gave to the people who were after her as it would be too easy for them to find her. She also couldn't give them the name that the Marnithok family gave her. Since that was the case, it left her real name as the only real option since she didn't have a creative bone in her body for names. Then again, she probably wouldn't see these people again so what did it matter?Thus, Altair answered honestly, "My name is Altair."Marianne let go of Altair finally with a smile. She then leaned back as if what happened just now didn't happen and said, "See, that wasn't so hard was it?" She put her hands behind her head as she continued, "You don't have to worry anymore. We won't give you away to LEO and, whoever is after you won't be able to take you from us for the time being. So, you're effectively safe here."A small yellow light started to flash on the camera; this caused Marianne and Sible to sit up at the same time. Sible spoke quickly as he said, "The livestream is about to begin." He reached around the side of the couch and rummaged through a box that was placed behind a stuffed animal. He quickly pulled out a cat-like panda mask and placed it on Altair's face. It covered everything except her eyes and the lower part of her mouth. "Remember, don't do anything dumb and just go with the flow. If we ask you something, try to answer as smoothly as you can and don't hesitate to answer or you may arouse suspicion if your pursuers are watching."Sible doubted that they were watching. He actually wanted Altair to act natural more than anything, thus he used her circumstances against her so their broadcast wouldn't be as awkward.
