Chương 195: B2 Chapter 194: Product Feedback

The private jet was trash. Compared with Morlando's ultra-high-end one, the aircraft Aurelia had managed to charter on short notice felt like a normal luxury jet stripped down to the minimum required to keep calling itself luxury. The flight from Vernova to Skyline took almost two hours, there was no champagne. At least they had salted cashews. For 55, 000 credits one way, that was the bare minimum.

Thorn spent most of the flight grumbling about missing the beach, while Aurelia fell asleep less than five minutes after takeoff and stayed curled against the window. Meno took several selfies with all three of them visible, posted one to Connect, then left it there. If anyone watching him wanted to believe he was hiding something, they were going to have to work for it. Meno spent the rest of the flight planning. Walking into Hyperion and asking whether they knew where Rina was would get him nowhere.

He would look like exactly what he currently appeared to be: a streamer with too much audience and not enough sense trying to manufacture drama. He needed to prove he belonged in the conversation before asking for anything, which meant giving Hyperion something they could not dismiss. Something only a real Phantom pilot would know. By the time they landed in Skyline, Meno had most of the approach worked out. Meno got Karmabeast's address, then hired a VTOL to carry them through Skyline's skyscraper hellscape.

The city had one redeeming feature: nearly every serious tower had a rooftop landing pad, which meant Meno could skip street level entirely. Karmabeast lived toward the outskirts in a smaller tower that was slowly losing its durability check against age. Replacement panels left different shades across the upper exterior, and several maintenance drones crawled along one side as their VTOL descended.

The door opened to Karma in a tank top, his long black hair messy enough that he had either just woken up or spent the last hour fighting his pillow. The apartment gave Meno immediate flashbacks to his old place. Karmabeast lived in a fancy shoebox.

"Yo!" Karmabeast said.

"Come in, make yourselves at home."

"Why is your apartment so small?" Meno asked.

"I thought you had the money."

"It's not me, it's the city. Do you know how much a proper flat costs in Skyline? Anything worth upgrading to starts at ten mill. I don't want to buy anything cheaper. Bad investment."

"Hey, that's true," Aurelia said as she stepped inside.

"You are smarter in real life than I gave you credit for. I expected you to be at the level of a bonobo."

"A what? PBG, why is your ex-wife trash talking me?" Aurelia pulled off one flip-flop and threw it into his stomach.

"Ouch." When she reached for the other, Karma raised both hands.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Sorry."

"Stop. I need a beer," Thorn said.

"Do you have any?"

"I don't drink that crap. I have a jug of mojito in the fridge. Don't drink it all. I made it for Arayu." The apartment opened into a small living room with a kitchenette along one wall and a TV mounted opposite the couch. The only other room had to handle both office and bedroom duty, with Karmabeast's streaming setup taking one side, his capsule the other, and a bed shoved into the remaining corner. Even the bathroom barely had enough space to turn around.

The view from the eleventh floor was not terrible, but in Skyline that barely counted as elevation. The haze swallowed most of the lower city, hanging between the towers in thick gray layers that looked much more like smog than fog. Meno did not understand why Karmabeast lived here instead of Vernova. People who actually worked for Skyline's corporations had a reason to stay, but Karma streamed from a capsule. Give him good internet and food delivery and he could live almost anywhere.

They settled onto the couch while Karmabeast supervised Thorn's mojito consumption.

"Arayu coming soon?" Meno asked.

"Yes. She should arrive in an hour," Karmabeast said.

"Meno told me you bought clothes for me," Aurelia said.

"Show me. I'm expecting either a bikini or yoga pants with a sports bra."

"Oh, come on. Don't stereotipilogize me," Karmabeast said.

"That is not a word," Meno said.

"Of course it is. It comes with a built-in apology for when she realizes how wrong she was." Karmabeast leaned back.

"I called my mom like you said. She handled it. Express suits are stupid expensive, and those green glasses you wanted only come in two tiers: landfill or jewelry store."

"So you cheaped out?" Aurelia asked. Karma clutched his chest, then noticed Thorn had nearly buried his face in the mojito jug and ripped it away from him.

"They were ten thousand each. Fancy jewelry crap. I have never spent this much on clothes in my life." He pointed at Meno.

"PBG, I need financial aid. I am not built for your economy." Meno pulled out his phone. Karma was ready instantly, touching his device against Meno's with enthusiasm. 100, 000 credits transferred. Karma looked fully recovered. He vanished into the bedroom and came back carrying the haul. Dark suits, clean shirts, burgundy ties. Nothing offensive. Then Meno saw the sunglasses. Oversized green lenses sat inside thick gold frames, with coiling dragons running down both sides. Perfect.

He put them on immediately and turned toward Aurelia.

"Cute," she said.

"You look like a drug dealer who owns two strip clubs and bought tinted glasses so he wouldn't see the floor stains." Meno picked up another pair and slid them onto Aurelia's face.

"Cool, right?" Karmabeast asked.

"This is what the kids call drip these days."

"Thanks, senior," Thorn said.

"Awesome," Meno said.

"No need refill the makeup. I prefer you this way anyway." Aurelia adjusted the ridiculous glasses.

"Oh, I aim to please. It's great that your lordship finds my wretched appearance pleasing." The clothes Karmabeast had bought for her were much better than Meno expected. The call to his mother had clearly carried the shopping quest: beige silk blouse, fitted pencil skirt, and a matching blazer that looked expensive enough to belong in whatever meeting they were about to fake their way into. That was the only stat Meno needed. They had to look like they belonged inside Hyperion long enough to get taken seriously.

"Why do we need to wear these again?" Thorn asked.

"Where are we going?"

"Skyline field trip. Checking potential sponsors. We need the set bonus so they take us seriously."

"It's seven in the evening," Aurelia said.

"This city never sleeps," Meno said. Aurelia looked at him over the oversized green lenses for a few seconds, then let it go. Whatever Meno was doing still beat going home to stare at a dead Veyrath capsule.

"Whaaat?" Karmabeast said.

"You should have told me that sooner. That's a great idea. I could use more cash. Without Veyrath, my monthly is going to plummet."

"I don't want to negotiate contracts without my manager," Thorn said.

"You won't have to," Meno said.

"I'm negotiating." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Okay, I think I need to quickly sign up for some insurance. Karma, can I use your PC?" Thorn asked.

"Funny." Meno looked at Karmabeast.

"You got Arayu something too, right? We need the full set bonus."

"Of course. Hers cost even more than what I got the blondie."

"How generous," Aurelia said.

"Call me blondie again and I will attack you." The cover was stacking nicely. They took turns changing in the bathroom while waiting for Arayu and raided Karmabeast's refrigerator along the way. The available loot was sausages, ketchup, and not much else. Karma claimed he was on a low-carb diet. Meno upgraded his earlier assessment. The guy desperately needed to move to The Pearl. Arayu showed up about an hour and a half later with her ten-color hair freshly redone, the colors brighter than Meno remembered.

Karmabeast spread his arms. She walked straight past him. Arayu hit Thorn at full speed and wrapped herself around his torso, leaving Karmabeast stranded behind her with his arms still open. Thorn went rigid as she squeezed him, the top of her head barely reaching the bottom of his beard. Aurelia folded over laughing on the couch.

"Sooo comfy," Arayu said, rubbing one hand across Thorn's chest.

"Your chest is so hard. Can I touch your arms? They look super-duper." Karmabeast was still standing there with his heart-shaped box of chocolates, although his arms had dropped noticeably since Arayu discovered Thorn.

"Uh, Arayu, I got you this. Every chocolate is a different flavor. Lactose-free, gluten-free, no preservatives. Full synthetic. Very expensive."

"Keep going," Aurelia said.

"Read her the ingredients. Extremely romantic." Arayu detached from Thorn just long enough to take the box. She tore it open, grabbed four different chocolates at once, stuffed them into her mouth, then passed the rest straight to Aurelia and wrapped herself around Thorn again. Aurelia looked down at the half-empty box.

"Thanks, I guess." Meno reached for one. Aurelia slapped his hand away, so he withdrew, feinted from the same side to draw another swat, then switched angles and stole a black cube before she could recover.

"Get good, Heavy Striker. Glacial. I am used to capped Movement Speed. You can't stop me." He put the chocolate in his mouth. Immediate debuff. It was brutally bitter, exactly how Meno imagined asphalt would taste. He spat it out. Aurelia made a sharp hum through her nose and said nothing.

"Please let go of me," Thorn said.

"This is max awkward. You are ruining my pump." Arayu looked up at him with bright eyes.

"You can pump me if you want." Thorn looked at the ceiling and stayed there, completely abandoning the conversation. Karmabeast had taken enough damage. Anything more risked group cohesion, and Meno was an experienced guild master now. He could not let the raid collapse before they even entered the instance. Meno crossed the room, hooked an arm around Arayu's shoulders, and pulled her off Thorn before redirecting her toward the clothes Karmabeast had bought.

Her outfit followed the same general build as Aurelia's, except the blazer and skirt had gold piping along the edges that made the whole thing look twice as expensive. Arayu barely asked what any of it was for. She was too busy looking back at Thorn. Once she disappeared to change, Meno gave Karmabeast a quick pep talk. Arayu was clearly messing with him because watching him squirm was fun, so Karma needed to stop treating every interaction like permanent damage. This was a DPS check.

She was spamming debuffs, and all he had to do was time Venom Cloak correctly. That put some life back into him. Arayu returned looking ready for a corporate takeover and the group finally had the full set equipped.

"Are you sure you want to go down to street level?" Thorn asked.

"I told you it smells like crap."

"But it's safe, right?" Meno asked.

"Why is it like this anyway?"

"Yeah, there are constant drone patrols. Safety isn't an issue," Karmabeast said.

"I don't know why it's crap."

"The towers trap warm, polluted air near street level," Aurelia said.

"The upper city gets clean air, while everything underneath stays hazy. Cooling plants dump moisture into the streets, exhaust gets stuck under the thermal inversion, and the fog never clears. Smells like wet concrete."

"You are so smart, Aurelia," Arayu said.

"It's perf to have someone that paid attention in school. These guys need you. Very, very much. Except Thorn. He can be a dumbo and still great."

"I am not stupid," Thorn said. They put on the green dragon sunglasses and black breather masks Karmabeast had bought, then took the elevator down while Meno checked the map on his phone. Hyperion was in the downtown core, exactly where he expected it to be. Street level was exactly as bad as promised. It was already well past eight, and Skyline had gone full neon swamp.

Fog clogged the streets and turned every light into a glow effect, so the lower levels of the skyscrapers rose out of the grey while holographic signs burned through it in pink, cyan, toxic green, and gold. The roads were wide enough that Meno could barely see the far side, but traffic still felt thin compared with Vernova even though Skyline was much larger. Almost everything crawling through the haze was an autocab with no driver. Meno did not see a single normal car.

At least the mask worked, which meant no wet-concrete debuff. He hailed an autocab, and all five of them barely fit because Thorn took up about two passenger slots by himself. Meno sent it to a nearby Feltforge building instead of Hyperion. Close enough to work. Wrong enough to hide the route. Naturally, everyone else assumed Feltforge was the stop. When the cab dropped them off, Meno led the group straight past the building and through a string of side streets, taking the long way around toward Hyperion.

Aurelia noticed, but said nothing. Hyperion's tower emerged from the fog section by section as they approached. Black glass curved into a massive tube that twisted upward in a slow spiral, throwing away the perfectly functional square shape in favor of making the construction budget take critical damage. Meno respected the commitment. The bottom of the tower was even stranger. Instead of a glass lobby, dark steel plating covered the entire base.

No handles, no visible doors, no lobby windows, no sign telling street-level visitors where to go. Foot traffic was clearly not part of the build. Cameras watched the approach from several angles, and Meno figured Hyperion decided whether you belonged inside before giving you anything resembling an entrance. Aurelia slowed.

"Here? What is this, Meno? This is one of the few places we should definitely not enter."

"Why?" Karmabeast asked.

"What is it?" Meno and Aurelia both ignored him. Meno pulled out his phone and switched to selfie mode.

"Group up for a photo. Need everyone to know where we are before we go inside."

"This day is getting a bit much," Thorn said.

"If you need proof we were here, maybe we should not go inside at all."

"Looks cool," Arayu said.

"We should. We should." Meno packed everyone together until all five fit in frame with Hyperion's steel-plated base behind them. Nothing else they had passed looked remotely similar. The location would be easy to identify later. He took the photo, opened Connect, tagged everyone in it, then added Hyperion's main account. Big shoutout @Hyperion for organizing a tour for us. Can't wait! PS: If we don't come out you guys know what to do. Meno posted it.

Somewhere inside Feltforge, Code Red had just gotten a Hyperion address. The post pinged everybody almost immediately. Thorn read it and looked ready to reconsider the entire trip, Aurelia stared at Meno over the green lenses, and Karmabeast finally caught up to the fact that this sponsor visit had become suspicious. Arayu looked delighted. Meno headed for the only section of steel with anything resembling a door seam, and the others gathered behind him. They waited. Nothing.

He searched the plating for a camera, waved when he could not find one, pointed at himself, then mimed opening a door with both hands. Cutting-edge military hardware. Zero points in UI design. Nine minutes later, Meno had identified a small flaw in the plan: Hyperion still had to let them inside. Failure had just started entering the probability table when the steel plates split apart and slowly opened. Meno pushed the green sunglasses higher on his nose.

"See? The suit set bonus just triggered." They entered into an enormous, almost completely empty lobby. White marble covered the floor, while huge aquariums filled both side walls with blue water and slow-moving sharks that showed zero interest. For a second, Meno wondered whether they had entered the zoo by mistake. An empty reception desk sat at the far end of the hall with a dark steel elevator behind it.

"Cute fishies," Arayu said.

"Why are these sharks so small? They must be edited."

"Meno, please adjust your settings for this," Aurelia said.

"This is not a joke."

"Yes," Thorn said.

"Fifty percent max, PBG. Fifty percent. Any higher and I will scream." They stopped at the reception desk while Karmabeast kept scanning the lobby like PvP could start at any moment. The elevator opened, and a woman in her forties stepped out. At first glance, she had the full executive-assistant build: sharp dark clothes, controlled posture, no wasted movement. Then Meno noticed the missing ear and a nose that had been broken enough times to sit crooked across her face.

Hyperion had put a DPS player behind the reception desk.

"I am Eyxim," she said.

"What brings you to Hyperion unannounced?" Meno cleared his throat and planted both hands on the counter. The dragon sunglasses were doing serious diplomatic work.

"Product feedback." Eyxim looked irritated immediately. Maybe the glasses were overgeared for the encounter. Meno still liked the green tint. It was soothing.

"Which product would that be?" Eyxim asked.

"KKF Phantom." There it was. Eyxim's face locked down. She had reacted to everything until the exact second Meno named the Phantom. Now she had nothing.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Eyxim said.

"Of course you don't. Get me someone who does."

"I have to ask you to leave. If you refuse, I will activate the automatic security system." Everyone except Meno started checking the room. Ceiling, walls, aquariums. Karmabeast even took half a step away from the desk. Meno kept looking at Eyxim.

"I should not have to choose between using the Phantom properly and turning the passenger into soup." Eyxim stayed completely still. Meno kept going.

"Getting someone out afterward takes too long too. I had to stop, open the compartment, and wait for the passenger to climb out. Free damage. The whole point was extraction, but the second I loaded someone inside, the Phantom got hit with a massive Movement Speed debuff." Eyxim's control slipped a fraction.

"Hard turns became dangerous. Full acceleration became dangerous. Crashing became really dangerous, and the person still came out injured." Meno leaned over the counter.

"Connect the passenger compartment directly to the extraction craft, or make the whole thing detachable. Land, transfer, leave. Simple. Stop being idiots." That finally did it. Meno watched Eyxim cycle through the response tree. Random streamer being annoying. Random streamer talking bullshit. Random streamer describing a classified machine. Then random streamer describing exactly how that machine handled with a passenger during a live extraction. The tree ended there. Eyxim had no dialogue option for that.

Perfect. Now she had to escalate him to someone who did. Aurelia sighed.

"You really had to add that last sentence, did you?"

"Anyone has any clue what he is on about?" Karmabeast asked.

"Where are we?"

"We are so dead," Thorn said.

"Don't worry. I will protect you, big guy," Arayu said. Meno showed Eyxim the Connect post, already at seven million views, just to make sure she did not get any funny ideas. Her eyes flicked from the photo to the view count, and her jaw tightened slightly before she looked back at him.

"Please wait here," Eyxim said.

"This is beyond me." Meno turned away from the desk and pumped one fist. Crowd control successful. Eyxim had no idea what to do with him anymore, which meant she had to pass him upward. The plan was working. It was time to take it to eleven.