Chapter 99: The Height of Luxury

Chapter 99: Chapter 99: The Height of Luxury

In contrast with the bustle of the riverside town district or the plainness of the garden house district, the pale orange electric cart carrying the three guests who had won VIP tickets turned off onto a road entirely set apart.

The road, paved with slabs of stone polished smooth, was shaded on both sides by rows of towering pines, leading straight up to the summit of an isolated hill with a view taking in the whole Northern Hemisphere along with the river below.

The three VIP guests consisted of a wealthy Omega young lady from the Orionis star system, a first-year student of the Capital Military Academy and a young man who worked as an art critic. Although all of them belonged to the elite class and had experienced countless of the most luxurious services in the Galaxy, when the electric cart stopped in front of the gate of the VIP area, they still could not hide their astonishment.

The wooden gate slowly opened.

Inside were independent villas built following the mountainside, hidden away half-glimpsed beneath the canopies of enormous ancient trees. The architecture of the villas was a perfect combination of the wild beauty of natural stone, fine wood and enormous panels of toughened glass that let in natural light from every angle.

A butler in elegant dress smiled and bowed in greeting: "Welcome, three honoured guests. You are the first to experience Sirius’ VIP service. Please follow me."

The young man was led to the villa standing in the highest position. He had barely stepped through the exquisitely carved wooden door when he had to let out a cry of amazement.

The floor was spread with pile rugs woven from plant fibre, soft as velvet. The furnishings inside all gave off a rustic agarwood scent, gentle enough to relax the mind immediately. In the middle of the sitting room was a tea table hewn from the stump of a single ancient tree, and on it a pot of chrysanthemum tea was coming to the boil, steam curling up.

But that was not yet the most wonderful thing. The butler smiled, going over to draw the turmeric-yellow curtain to one side, then pressing a control button.

The enormous transparent glass wall slowly slid open. What struck the young man’s eyes was a wide roof terrace jutting right out over the mountain face. In the middle of the terrace, a natural bathing pool hewn from boulders was steaming softly.

"A natural hot spring pool?" The art critic stammered.

"That is right, sir." The butler answered: "The water is led directly from the hot mineral spring running underground. During the three days you are here, you will have a private chef serving you around the clock with the finest grade of food freshly harvested. You can soak in the hot spring while enjoying wine, looking out over the whole view of the sunset falling across the terraced fields."

The young man walked towards the hot spring pool, reaching out to touch the warm water carrying the faint smell of natural minerals. The cool mountain wind blowing past tossed his hair, below was scenery magnificent as an ink-wash painting, beside him a tray of fresh fruit without a single blemish.

He drew a deep breath, feeling that the frightening sum of money he had been meaning to lay out on a monthly pass for the next round had all at once become entirely worth it.

"Tell your owner," the young man turned to look at the butler, his eyes shining with the utmost fervour, "that however much the VIP tickets for the next six months may cost, I will be buying a standing place!"

The butler nodded with a smile, then added: "Would you require a permanent domestic service? That includes a butler, a cleaner and a private chef."

The young man waved a hand: "I would like to bring my own people, would that be possible?"

"It would, sir. You need only pay the additional residence charge and register the identity of each person."

The young man nodded in satisfaction, then could hold back no longer, going swiftly over to the hot spring pool to enjoy this life at the height of luxury.

The wealthy young lady and the first-year student of the Capital Military Academy had a similar experience. They were delighted to the point of booking tickets in advance for the three months of the summer holidays.

The three in the VIP area posted no images at all, which left people curious as to what sort of experience they had actually received. Of the three, the rich girl and the art critic paid no attention whatsoever to the outside world, leaving only the first-year student to answer with one line under the hashtag of a post, #WhatIsActuallyInTheVIPArea#

[I am one of the three, and I want to say one thing: so long as you have enough money, you will enjoy life at the height of luxury!]

This answer made people more curious still. But being VIP, naturally it was both expensive and scarce, and anyone not rich enough could only sit looking on in longing.

The explosion of the accommodation districts swiftly created an earthquake on the Interstellar Connection network. The phrases "This much in this life is enough" from the Streamer Kay, "I have smelled soil" from Elian, and "life at the height of luxury" from the first-year student climbed straight up to sit squarely in the top three positions on the search rankings.

At the same time, at the central villa set aside for the owners of the planet Sirius, which stood in the highest position.

Liam sat at his ease on a swing seat of woven bamboo out on the veranda, sipping a glass of warm soy milk while watching the broadcasting rooms through a virtual screen. Hearing the deeply moved exclamations of the tourists, the corner of Liam’s mouth curved slightly into a radiant smile.

"The effect is better than we hoped, is it not." Daniel stepped out from inside the house, a sheaf of electronic data reports in his hand. He sat down in the chair beside Liam, his eyes glittering with excitement: "The advance booking system for the official opening next month has only been open fifteen minutes, and every VIP ticket for the next six months has already been swept clean. The tickets for the other three house districts have sold out right through to the third quarter of next year!"

Liam raised an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing to lines with delight: "Very good. So the enormous capital we poured into building the infrastructure counts as half recovered in the space of a single morning."

"Not only that." Benjamin’s deep, warm voice rang out. He carried out a plate of sweet cakes made from plain rice flour and pumpkin into the yard, setting it carefully down on the small table in front of Liam and Daniel: "I have just looked at the report from the Luxe Morsel restaurant system, the number of orders for packaged ready-prepared takeaway food has shot up along with our planet’s popularity. The whole Galaxy is going mad for these natural ingredients."

Daniel looked at Benjamin, his eyes brimming with pride and admiration. He reached out a hand, taking hold of Benjamin’s large, calloused hand quite naturally, smiling sweetly: "It is all thanks to you and Liam toiling day and night to restore this planet that we have what we have today."

Benjamin blushed, scratching his head in embarrassment, yet his hand gripped Daniel’s tight without letting go.

Not far from there, in the cool shade of a tree, Isabella was meticulously measuring Sebastian’s shoulder width to knit him a wool sweater for winter. Thanks to Liam’s course of treatment combined with food rich in mental energy, Sebastian was having a long holiday here. Every so often he lowered his head to look at the small girl in front of him, his gaze so doting and so gentle that it could be wrung out like water.

Under the purple flower trellis, Elijah sat leaning back on another swing, one hand holding a grilled sausage, the other sliding ceaselessly over the smart screen before him. Every so often he gave a push with his foot, and the swing swayed gently again, the woollen tassels decorating the swing swaying along with it.

This scene was taken in whole by Julian standing on the second-floor balcony of the house next door. Lincoln had left early this morning, while Julian had stayed, using as his excuse that he was helping the Martinez siblings repair the gap in the protective wall. He had by now become as quiet as a shadow, utterly unlike the naive air of yesterday.

He stood leaning against the railing, his long legs hidden behind its body. His eyes, carrying a little melancholy and carrying a little attachment too, looked at Elijah. Elijah could feel that person’s gaze, but paid it no attention at all.

Liam lowered his lashes slightly, for once without his pregnancy psycho-physiological disorder flaring up. He brought his hand down, gently stroking his own belly that had begun to rise in a small curve. The tiny living thing inside seemed to feel its Papa’s happy mood, giving a light kick in answer.

[Host, I keep feeling that my appearance was quite superfluous.] Nirvana’s voice rang out in Liam’s head. The blue-furred cat set its backside down on the low table in front of Liam, saying mournfully: [Clearly even without me, you could have become the most powerful Omega in this Lumina Galaxy all by yourself!]

Liam burst into a laugh, comforting it: [It is true I could have done it without a system appearing, but it would certainly have taken far longer and been far harder. Nirvana, you are an exceedingly powerful golden finger, able to help me step easily onto this broad, open road. Rather than treating you as an assistant, I would far rather you were a friend of mine.]

Nirvana flattened its ears, its tail stopping its swaying as well:

[The host will one day grow old and die, and I will shut down again to wait for the next host. The Lord God says that feelings like these, outside the code, ought not to appear in a system such as us. He says that after you die, He will help me wipe the data clean, reset from the beginning. Host, I will forget you.]

Liam lowered his eyes, asking: [Nirvana, if you could give up your present office to walk beside me every life, would you give it up?]

Nirvana did not answer for a very long time. It seemed there was no answer for it in its database. It stayed silent on and on, and Liam did not press it to answer. He had only asked idly, without truly wanting Nirvana to give anything up for his sake.

It was already late in the morning, the meal in the house was ready, and Liam propped himself up to sit, meaning to go and eat.

[I would...]

Huh? Liam went still, whipping round to look at Nirvana. Nirvana lifted its chin, the whiskers at its lips twitching. It said the answer over once more:

[Host, if it were possible, I would certainly walk beside you, every life, every incarnation...]

[Why?] Liam looked deep into Nirvana.

Nirvana raised its head in bewilderment, in its eyes lines of code in utter disorder.

[Because... In all the thousands of years since I was created, nobody has ever asked me whether I was lonely, nobody has ever patiently coaxed me round when I sulked, nobody has ever missed me when I was away, nobody has ever counted me a friend, nor has anybody ever asked me whether I wanted to walk beside them as a friend for life after life, age after age. Liam, there is only you. You are my exception...]