Chương 22: Ch. 20 - New Plan

How do you find something that does not want to be found? By avoiding fights with exit bosses for as long as possible. Still, with nothing to go on, we were nearing a breaking point. Luna a long time ago had been complaining of being hungry. It was when she stopped complaining that I grew nervous. Somehow, hours of searching didn't find us anything. But we did find a portal. A few hostiles as well that were easy to take down in a distance. But not even a trace of what we were looking for.

"Caddie, at least give me a hint," I said.

"I am unable to answer this query," said Caddie. Even my stomach rumbled, despite the augmentations.

"Maybe we are going about this wrong," I said to Luna.

"Maybe it's not something we find."

"Stefano. I am sorry. I am really hungry. I am trying not to blow up at you and I really need food," she said. I sighed, admitting defeat.

"It's probably best we just head to next floor and try again some other time," I said.

"Whatever gets me to food the fastest," said Luna. It had also been a while since we had anything to drink. She had gone through her canteen a while ago. I even gave her mine.

"Alright, let's double back to the exit portal. Do you remember where it was?" I was asking Luna but Caddie chimed in.

"Yes. Approximately two hours travel. I have pinged it on your map," he said.

"Thanks, Caddie," I said.

"Luna, think you can hold on?"

"I'll take it up with my stomach. One sec," she said.

"Luna I'm-""It said I didn't have a choice, but we'll take it under advisement." Was she getting delirious? She was hungry for a long time and she's already been here longer than anytime I had gone before.

"Alright, we'll head straight to a settlement once we get to the third floor. No fights, just straight there." I had her trot ahead of me. It was the fastest she could move while keeping her balance. It almost felt like were standing still. But still, we kept pushing until the blue portal was right in front of us.

"Check that its a trap first," I said.

"Uh huh," she said. She made a dead stop, analyzing the markings on the circle. Once I got next to her to check them as well, it was clear it wasn't a trap. I had her step in first and a blue zap sent her away. I took one last look around annoyed that a full day was spent looking, then stepped on. [Third Floor] [Bosses: 0] Luna had kicked on her thrusters to max instead of a gradual increase in speed. The Frames could take it but it was important to maintain control. Control that Luna clearly lacked.

Some of the thrusters were pushing hotter than others. Still, catching up to her wasn't hard, even with her head start.

"Where?" asked Luna.

"I'm not sure," I said.

"I haven't been here." My map was completely covered in fog. Falia and Cardamas Island were way too far to travel to. I sighed and picked a direction.

"I guess with enough times coming here, you could get a map of the whole third floor," I said.

"That seems like it would take forever," said Luna.

"It would take approximately 107 stops to buy all the maps on this floor alone. A considerable time would be taken as these territories can exceed thousands of miles in distance," said Caddie.

"It is my recommendation that you find a map and relegate your efforts in that location." The crystalline pillars were radiant as ever as the artificial sun cast upon them. An island wasn't too far from where we were. But Caddie was finding which form of music would annoy me the most, trying to one up elevator music. There was no other explanation to play "Barbie Girl, by Aqua," "What's New, Pussycat," by Tom Jones and "The HamsterDance Song," on repeat.

A little icon appeared for each song with the song name and artist at the bottom of my screen.

"Caddie, for everything that is good and holy, please stop," I pleaded.

"I am attempting to ascertain how these songs were popular with the denizens of your Earth. They instill annoyance, yet they were listened to cumulatively upwards in the range of billions of times."

"It's because they are annoying that people listened to them," said Luna.

"Please, turn it off Caddie." The music mercifully came to a close. It was the closest I got to wanting Luna to deafen me again.

"Very well," said Caddie.

"I assume if I haven't gotten adequate results after the fifth time, the sixth probably wouldn't yield better ones. But you have given me something to reflect upon, Luna."

"Did you save every music file or something?" I asked. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

"I did," said Caddie.

"Cassandra said anything that wasn't classified. The music files were restricted but not locked. Is there a reason music is restricted?"

"I think he means why it isn't readily available," said Luna.

"It's because it's seen as a luxury. Not everyone can afford speakers or headphones. But once you do there are only so many times you can listen to it before reaching a data cap," I said.

"Why is there a cap on data?" asked Caddie.

"Something to do with data leakage or something. There's a cap on everything, unless you live in Z-Block," I said.

"You could say the same thing for X and Y block too," said Luna.

"But Z-Block is the most opulent. Oh, I see something!" An island was coming into focus and it was easy to forget this conversation. Luna accelerated towards it and landed about as gracefully as she walked into the hangar. Luck was on our side and we made it to an ORZ base. The tracks had to fix their alignment to pull her mech into the repair bay. I knew I had probably enough to pay for the repair of the Aegis but I was still in a deficit to pay back the debt.

Going back now meant still being unable to pay it back. I slunk back into the seat and took a deeeep breath. And with the first two floors being unaccessible now, it meant we had to find ways to make money in a floor we were too under leveled and under equipped for. I paid for the repairs and watched my credits shrivel down to just under five thousand credits. Luna was already out of her mech, jogging towards the entrance of the town. This settlement was a bit bigger than Falia just from seeing it outside.

It looked like a honest to goodness town, with dwellings for the NPCs. I stepped out, following behind her. Through the large double doors was a cobblestone town, straight from medieval earth history. But something was off. I wasn't sure if it was the actual stone roads that lit up. Or the globes of light that danced around the street lamps. This was an Elvian settlement if I had never seen one.

[ORZ of Et'ium] Caddie had reformed back into an earring, hurtling itself onto my ear as the notification shined and then went away. The buildings themselves looked simple, but each one radiated a sheen from a film that covered each and every inch of the wooden structures. There were even sigils decorating each door. When I examined them, I expected a description of magic. Instead it was a marker of the family members that dwelled in each abode.

The shops themselves also had sigils, marking what kind of shop it was. It was all so alien but so familiar at the same time.

"Luna, wait up!" I yelled. She was already throwing herself into what looked like an inn. Through the Inn, she was making nice with the Elvian behind the counter. His hair was white, long, and flowy. I was pretty sure my mom would kill to find out how he got his hair the way he did. He had thin features on his face, high cheekbones and ruby red irises. Like all the other Elvians I had seen, he was young and good looking.

"Strentor, Hello," said Luna.

"Where can I find food?"

"As I was saying," Strentor said.

"I am Strentor. My profession is in Hospitality. I am the first child of Yalina whose job was also in hospitality. My titles include proprietor of this Inn, brother to two and father to one. I bid you welcome to my place of business and hope your stay at my bed and breakfast meets the expectations you had placed before entering through the welcomed doors." Luna looked like she wanted to rip the guy's head off.

"Where can I find food, Strentor?" she hissed.

"I swear I will lose my-" I stepped in, pulling her back from the counter.

"What she means to say, Strentor, is that she is Luna. Her profession is pilot and hails from a family of Engineers. She seeks food and lodging. She is a daughter and has no titles," I said. Her neck creaked towards me, having drawn the focus of her ire.

"Of course, Luna Pilot. I can accommodate for lodging. It will require a bit of time. For nourishment, we have a lovely restaurant dedicated to Elvian flavors. When you exit, make a right and it will be the third building down." She stormed out of the Inn.

"And a room for me as well, Strentor. How much will this cost?" I asked. I had to keep a mental tally of each credit. It was exhausting.

"I will be unable to prepare it until you introduce yourself to me." I sighed.

"I am Stefano. I am also a pilot. Only son to Cassandra aboard the Bastille. I have no titles." I couldn't think of anything else to say. He waited for me to continue talking to finish the Elvian introduction. It was an awkward couple of moments.

"I see," he said.

"Very well, I will prepare a different room. It will be available after your dinner. The cost is 20 credits a night." I nodded, appreciative it was so cheap and stepped out to meet Luna at the restaurant. A floating moat of light stopped me at the entrance. A hovering green ball danced in the air. It flashed bright with a pulse and before me was the figure of an Elvian woman with short hair and a skin tight suit. Her form flickered with each word that reverberated as she spoke.

"Hello. How many are joining us?" she asked.

"I have a friend in there," I sheepishly said.

"What are you?"

"I am a hard light, virtual assistant for this restaurant. Thank you for choosing 'A Slice of Home' for your culinary needs." Caddie harrumphed when he heard, "virtual assistant."

"What?" I asked. Caddie didn't answer and a pulse of light forced my eyes closed. The green light hovered overhead, clearing the way for me to enter. Luna was seated, sort of. She was floating in the air in a sitting position. There was no chair. And yet, she wasn't straining herself. In fact, she looked comfortable. The table was elegantly hand stitched with gold leaves on its outer rim. As I approached, she didn't even look at me. Her eyes were trained directly at the kitchen doors.

"How does this work?" I asked.

"Just sit down. It works on its own," she said.

"Are you messing with me?"

"No. I'm hangry. I'm not in the mood to mess with you." I put my hands up in surrender before placing them back on the table. I squat down, fully expecting to fall over. I didn't hit any resistance and my butt touched my heels in a squat.

"I think it's broken," I said.

"Just sit down like you would with a chair," she said with even less patience. I let go and close my eyes. I fell back and met a stop. It was like sitting on a cloud with friction less wheels. I pushed on the table and the seat rose. I pulled and I lowered to the ground. It was by far the most comfortable seat I had ever been on.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Academy," she said. Her fingers tapped on the table in annoyance. Meanwhile, Caddie's silence was out of character. He didn't leave my ear, but it was clear something was going on. Luna's food arrived and it was… interesting looking. A steaming, large red fruit was split in half on a plate. The juices from the strange fruit garnished the sides with an orange color, like an egg yolk. Behind the fruit was what could only be described as a single, very large grain of rice.

Luna stared at the plate just long enough for her stomach to rumble. The food itself emanated a sweet and savory smell, with the sizzling still audible from the inside of the fruit. A spoon-knife thing was placed next to the plate. The edges of the spoon on its left were razor sharp, but dull on the opposite side. From the clues, you were supposed to cut with one side of the spoon and eat with the other. Luna took the spoon-knife with a shaky hand and cut the inner flesh of the fruit.

She blew the steam away and gently angled the spoon to her lips. She bit slow. Her eyes glossed over and she hammered the spoon down.

"What? Is it bad?" I asked. She arched her neck back and took a deep breath.

"It's the best thing I've ever tasted," she said, a literal tear streaming from her eye.

"It tastes like meat. And not the bio-blocks from home. Actual Z-Block meat." I had never had that before. Never.

"Waiter!" I yelled out to the mostly empty interior.

"I'll have what she's having!"