Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/Step…/

"Mr Houston?"

"...?"

Dale turned around as he heard his name being called, his eyes sharpening as he met face-to-face with the newcomer, a woman in a formal black suit.

Or at least tried to, as Dale was around three palms higher than her and at least twice as broad.

He already knew someone was approaching from behind, but in this kind of place, he didn't quite pay that much attention to it.

When he thought about it, he realized he dropped his guard considerably, and no matter what, he had already been 'ambushed' once, he couldn't let his future opponents get the better of him.

So he renewed his focus.

'This must be it, my guide.'

'Finally, I was getting a bit concerned.'

In front of Dale was a fairly pretty woman who seemed to be in her late 20s... Or mid 20s depending on how much makeup she was using.

She had tied up dark hair and a sharp stare behind a pair of rather slender eyes, and together with a thin face and body, following up with her rather modest height, Dale assumed her to be Asian.

Although from where, that was hard to say.

"You are?" He asked formally and calmly

"Pardon me for the sudden approach, I distracted myself due to a sudden call and ended up missing you as you crossed the entrance."

"No harm given, we're still rather early, aren't we? Enough time to roam about if we wish."

They were scheduled to take off at around 10 Am and reach South America at around 11:11 Am, they still had close to half an hour to walk around if they wished.

All thanks to the fact transit didn't hinder them much.

"Of course, thank you for understanding." She said as she bowed

She was overly formal, but it was understandable, as although he did not know what she did, she was likely paid exceptionally well.

Either way, he didn't push her too much by being too humble, saying instead:

"Now now, it's all behind us. Instead, may I know your name? Or should I call you Miss Secretary?" He asked with a light chuckle

"No need for that Mr Houston, I'm Mei Lu, from the International Department, I'm here to accompany you on your trip and resolve any mishap in Mr Roger's name." She replied with a smile as she looked at the sweet shop behind him

"I saw you looking at the sweets shop, are you interested in any? I'm tasked with all of your expenses, just tell me what you wish for and I'll get it done."

"Thank you for your hard work Miss Lu… Wait, is it Miss Mei? I apologize if I was informal…" Dale said a little awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head

"Both are fine, it's way beyond me to push for such excessive formalities, it's bothersome even back home… Ahem…" She said as she recovered her formal gaze again

I got slightly carried away…

He's quite laid back, this VIP.

"I guess it's the same whenever we are." Dale said as he took a step forward

"Hum? Aren't you going to order something?"

"Not from this shop, I'm not interested in eating metal you see, I'll leave that to them."

"Instead, do you know of any sweets shop like this one? I'm in the mood for a blueberry muffin, maybe something we can eat on our way to the gate."

"Oh? In that case, I'm fairly used to this place, follow me." She said with a smile as she turned around

"Also let me take care of your luggage." She said as she raised her right hand to a nearby wall, snapping her fingers as she flickered her wrist

/Cathing!/

/Fuom…/

"?"

To his surprise, the ground next to them parted open and a large tube rose next to them.

/Beep boop!/

The tube opened very much like his gaming pode, and from within, a strangely shaped floating drone smoothly slid next to them as it beeped cheerfully.

/Extend…/

Two small metallic arms extended into the air, and Dale immediately knew what to do.

He raised his suitcase to the robot, and it snapped to it as it floated in between them, levitating through magnetic forces.

'That's rather neat… Damn, rich people and their overly extravagant ways…'

'I thought something like this was only used in the space stations…'

"Mr Houston?" Mei asked as she saw him gaze at the robot

"Hm? Apologies, I was surprised by this little guy." He replied as he tapped its head

/Beep!/ .

"Oh? They're quite new in fact, they were recently added in after the prototype phase ended around three years ago…" She said as she began telling him their story

Like she said, she was really used to this place.

…

For the next ten or so minutes, they quickly moved about the airport with the help of a floating disk, dashing around at high speeds.

The scene of dozens of people moving around in floating apparatuses truly displayed they were in the future, something he often forgot due to living in a semi-medieval Village for most of the last few months.

With her help, Dale successfully bought five muffins of several flavors and a large drink before making his way to their designated gate.

It was almost time for their flight, and Dale didn't want to cause trouble.

… But sometimes, it came after him.

…

"... What?... Ridiculous!... Sigh…"

"Hum…"

Standing in front of the gate, Dale awaited patiently as Mei seemed to discuss something with a guard frantically in the distance, her patience clearly being tested, albeit the guard seemed as tired and fed up with the situation as she was.

"Seems like something bad happened, great, just what I needed in a day where I have no time to waste." Dale complained out loud as he tapped the table he was sitting next to

/Beep beep, boop? Bip bip bip/

"Truer words have never been spoken."

Why did they give this guy a Virtual intelligence but not a communication module? He can make these sounds so why not just speak?

/Step step…/

It didn't take long for Mei to return, hopefully, she brought back good news…

Albeit that didn't seem to be the case.

"Something's wrong?"

"... Yes, there's a chance our flight was taken over." Mei replied awkwardly as she adjusted her glasses

It seemed even such a situation was strange and complicated for her, causing her demeanor to break a little.

"Taken over? How is that even possible? Didn't we book the flight months in advance?"

"That is correct, however, we booked the Orbital Cannon, had it been anything else the airport might've been able to fit us in somewhere else, but not that."

"Even then, why?" Dale asked as his expression began to tense

I don't have time for this.

"Well… As you know, the Orbital Cannon is the fastest means of civilian transportation in the world, and it requires quite a significant infrastructure for it to operate properly."

"Yes, that much everyone knows."

In simple terms, the Orbital Cannon, also known as Low Orbit Craft, is a means of transportation that involves catapulting a spaceship directly into Orbit.

For that to work, a massive track is used, filled to the brim with powerful magnets and other things Dale had yet to even begin to comprehend in university.

Because of its design, only one craft could be loaded at a time, and it took quite some time to load another.

Besides, each Low Orbit Craft was extremely expensive, this entire airport likely only had a few and they were there to run at a deficit.

They were a privilege, not an actual means of transport, the Civilian part as Mei described was only formality, no one would be using it anytime soon because to make it profitable would be making it unaffordable.

Even then, the Low Orbit Craft was booked for months on end by rich businessmen wishing to travel the world in the blink of an eye, people too bothered to wait a few more hours to use the space elevator and descend from there or to simply take a subsonic airplane.

Technically speaking, Dale was one such person, but he was working with a tight schedule.

For him, four hours more of wait were twelve in Azimuth, he didn't have the privilege to wait that long while his body stood in bed.

And he couldn't push this matter to another day, especially when it was about uncovering the truth.

Dale could board an airplane, but one wouldn't have a game pod, at least not one as good as his…

If he could, he would stay in the airport and wait for another Orbital Cannon to be available, after all, in such an expensive place, there was bound for such pods to be available.

As for his clothes, there were likely some that would do the trick, using undesirable equipment once or twice isn't going to kill him.

He could even go back home and wait for another opportunity, as long as it was near.

The problem is that…

"I imagine there are no more Crafts available."

"That… Would be correct."

"The next entire month is fully booked so if we pushed someone from there then this problem would only persist, which the airport does not wish to see happening."

"... So they can push us out but we can't?" Dale asked as his mood took another drop

"..."

"Let me ask you something." He said as he tapped on table, crossing his legs as his gaze became cold

"We booked an entire Craft for ourselves, yet we were kicked by someone else."

"Is there no room for negotiation? I can allow someone on my flight if necessary, there should be enough space available for that. Why can't this individual do the same?"

"Or are we talking about an entire group?"

"I'm… I'm not quite sure."

"Do be, I'll await here, we'll discuss the rest once you're…"

"No need, I got the answer." She said as she swiped the air in front of him

"..."

'She's really efficient, she must've been communicating with someone by typing in with her eyes, no wonder they were moving around so much.'

'In any case… What the fuck is this?'

Dale's mood took another plunge as he finished reading what Mei showed him.

Despite all his attempts at keeping things civil, it seemed that he would have to resort to other means in the end...

He had something to do today, and no one would be stopping him, that was definite.

In other words, he wasn't asking questions for the sake of achieving a common ground, no...

He was asking questions for their sake, because if he can't civilly solve things... If there is no common ground in-between them...

Well...

Then he'll force one open.

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