Page 397 of Light Leech

“I think we will both learn momentarily.”

It took what felt like ten minutes to reach the palace. It appeared large from a distance, but truly palatial as we approached it. It was akin to a skyscraper with the base wide enough to cover an entire city block. It was white with multiple spires forming a futuristic depiction of an ancient pyramid.

The airlock entrance to Hadrian Palace made the one in the resort hub seem like a storage closet. White steel like marble surrounded us with violet light lines running across the wall. The hisses of pressure changes were muffled and sounded like nothing under the peaceful synth muzak.

We exited, stepped off the floating panel, then removed our spacesuits with the help of silver skinned ands who took them down the hall. A notification popped up on my interface to indicate that my suit was in a safe storage and would be returned whenever I wanted to leave the building. We stood in a long, capacious white hallway of the same design as the airlock chamber with clouded glass doors at the end.

“Would you like to change into something more stylish or comfortable?” my and assistant asked.

“What? I…” I was wearing my typical tight jacket and pants we wore while working, but Ralia was wearing skin-tight white spandex that covered everything except for her hands, head, and feet. “Do you want to change?”

She checked herself. “Nah, I think this’ll be good. I was already hot inside the spacesuit so it’s nice to breathe a bit.” As she stretched, I could see slits where her shaved armpits were. She turned, revealing a bare back and openings on the backs of her appendages. “What? How did you not cook in yours?”

“You weren’t wearing that when you put on the space suit.”

She shrugged. “I know how to strip when I need to.”

I squinted, then shook my head. At least Ralia was being Ralia, despite Sha’s influence.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll put more on if we have any special meetings or anything of the like, you plug?”

“Sure.”

“May we take your luggage to your room?” one of the ands asked.

“No,” I replied.

“Calm down, babe.” She rested her hand on my shoulder. I could feel the heat of her grip radiate through my clothes.

She faced the and. “Yes, you can take it. Thank you.”

The ands bowed, then took our luggage and spacesuits onto a panel slightly larger than our own.

I stepped back onto the panel, Ralia followed, and we proceeded down the hallway as the ends entered through a hidden doorway that opened in the otherwise white wall.

The passageway shut behind the ands and silence returned to the hallway. I listened to the muzak, noting that the subtle synths created an atmosphere less like a shopping mall and more like a meditation lounge. The sounds were ethereal, matching the style of a distant realm instead of a luxury hotel.

The glass doors at the end of the hall opened to allow us through to the main lobby. Giant, crystalline stalactites hung from the ceiling like giant gems in a cavern. Each pulsed with a different color of light to contrast with the otherwise white walls. The music continued with no other voices or sounds to interrupt the peace besides the subtle trickle of water running down a golden panel with the name Hadrian Palace printed under the icon of a pyramid.

An and stood behind another reception counter while other disks-shaped automatons floated around to clean any speck of dust or serve drinks to the silent guests who sat on the spotless couches. The few people in the lobby wore white robes that looked too ceremonial for bathing. Everyone was either in their neurospace or reading without noting our arrival.

We left the main hall, passing by a few guests on their respective panels, who didn’t even look our way as we gawked at them. I looked at Ralia, shrugged, then grabbed onto her as our panel came to a stop. I readjusted my stance and turned to see elevator doors open.

The doors started to close, so Ralia stepped forward with my hand in hers to stop it before it could. Our panel remained behind, which was a nice change to our automated tour.

She tapped the button next to the thirty-eighth floor and the elevator began to ascend. I looked around, trying to sense what was off. It was clean and white, but it matched the rest of the hotel, which should not have been as off-putting as I felt.

“Oh my,” I said under my breath.

Ralia looked at me and raised her eyebrows as if she also felt the pressure to maintain peace.

“There’re no advertisements!” I pointed at the bare door before us where a screen would have played an ad anywhere else in the world. I had to remind myself that we weren’t in the same world. This was not Republic property. No country had direct ties to the moon, which had always left me confused by its capitalist purpose as a resort, but now I knew why. Maybe the other hotels had ads, but this place was an exception. Were the other people here guests? Or were they members of the Correction as well? Their robes were certainly fitting, but then again, all we knew about the Correction was based on rumor, brief mentions, and guesses.

The doors opened to yet another silent corridor with ethereal synth music.

White. Empty of life. Violet lines of light were the only sign that I had not been sucked into some madness-inducing white purgatory.

Ralia laughed under her breath.