The Innkeeper

A Lazy river is a water ride often found in water parks, recreation centers and other places that attract a lot of tourists and visitors. Usually, it would consist of a relatively shallow and narrow pool spread across a large area, with a gentle current flowing in one direction which would carry anyone floating in the water along with it.

To Lex, this was an amazing idea because he could incorporate a few more features into it. Firstly, the Lazy river provided Lex with another way to get around the Inn, though not as urgently as Gerards golf cart crew. Whoever would enter the river would be able to receive a small plastic raft in which they could lie and be carried along by the current. Another option would be to ride a gondola, a few of which Lex would have his AI's control in the river.

But if Lex left it like that, it would be too ordinary. While Lex was testing out the river, and planning what he would do with it, an option that was as of yet grayed out suddenly became viable. For any guest riding along the river in the gondola, there was a chance for them to encounter a thick fog. Once they entered the fog, they would be transported and, for a short time, take a ride while viewing sights from a world they were not originally from! The gondola would be transported to another world, and should a resident of the world be lucky enough, they would be able to see the outline of a gondola going by in a spontaneously appearing veil of fog. Of course, guests would be prevented from leaving the gondola by the system, and residents of the world would be blocked from climbing the gondola. But Lex had been inspired; in the future, he planned to have a ship that would travel from world to world, and anyone lucky enough to climb abroad would be brought to the Inn.

For now, though, Lex was focused on the river and the gondola. After a short, picturesque trip to another world, the gondola would return to the river. There were a couple of issues Lex was having with the Lazy river, though. First of all was the path! How large the river should be, and what parts of the Inn it should circle were important to decide because Lex would have to give bridges over the parts that were divided by the river, not to mention build railings so anyone wouldn't accidentally fall in. He would be effectively cutting off those parts of the Inn from being entered besides the built paths.

The second issue was of lifeguards and the kind of staff he wanted. The lake, regardless of its size, was in one fixed position and could be viewed in its entirety from one place. The river, however, was long and narrow, and would require various staff members to keep an eye out for the sake of security for his guests. Hiring staff in itself was not the issue, Lex was earning enough on a daily basis to cover that. The issue was, for the river, as well as for the lake, he wanted to hire a different kind of staff.

"Mary, can I hire AIs that are not human? For example, can I use one of the species I've seen in Nibiru? Or a random one I can think of, like mermaids, for example?"

"Yes, you can hire AIs that are a different species. But there are a few constraints. Unlike what you may imagine, the Artificial Intelligent beings that the Inn provides are actual, living breathing beings who have been provided with intelligence artificially, so that in addition to whatever biological inclinations they may have, they give priority to the Inn and the Innkeeper.

"So, for the system to create an AI of a different species, you must first submit some DNA of the species you wish to choose. There are certain things you may also want to take note of, that while these AI are birthed with the information relevant to serving the Inn, their personalities are formed naturally and cannot be controlled. So, in the scenario that you choose a species with a strong inclination for hunting, for example, you may want to use them in an environment where they do not mistake a guest for prey. Also, any species created by the system will always be at the mortal realm, even if the original species normally started out at a much higher cultivation realm."

This information opened up a whole new array of options for Lex, but also limited him. Some time ago he remembered hearing one of his guests say something about mermaids, though he did not remember what, and thought they would make the perfect AI for his water based attractions.

He worked on the Lazy river for a while longer, before deciding to take a break. He did not need to decide everything in one sitting. After a round of meditation, Lex did some exercise, showered, and then got dressed. Larry had woken up some time ago, and Lex was about to enter the Inn for the first time using his original identity.

After making sure everything was in order, Lex appeared in front of Midnight manor as himself for the first time. He looked around, imagining what first time guests must feel like. It occurred to him that, compared to the rest of the Inn which had expanded rapidly, the manor was still relatively small.

Shaking his head and not worrying about it for now, he asked Mary to guide him towards where Lary was.

After a short walk, Lex found himself behind the manor and in front of an array of lawn chairs and an outdoor breakfast buffet, where he identified Larry piling his plates with waffles.

"Those must be good," Lex said, casually stepping beside him and grabbing a plate. "But I prefer pancakes."

"Lex!" Larry exclaimed, nearly dropping his plate. "You old dog, I've finally understood why you never paid attention to any of the girls I pointed out," he said while laughing. "It's because you've been coming to this little slice of heaven."

As much as Lex would have wished Larry was talking about the environment, his longing gaze towards one of the nearby AI staff let Lex know exactly what was on his mind.

"Let alone here, even if I handed you a key to the underworld, you'd find some girls to gaze at."

"Of course," Larry said, laughing even harder. "Don't you know what kind of girls would end up in the underworld? I'd go there every weekend if I could."

Lex smiled as he looked at Larry. The man was ever in a good mood, or at least, the front he put up was phenomenal. Lex did not think he'd be able to even pretend to be this jolly if he had suffered such a serious assassination attempt.

"Come, fill your plate and let's find a seat. I'm glad I ran into you here, I have something to talk to you about."

"Is it about Sophia?" he asked in an excited whisper. "It's about her, isn't it? That old geezer Marlo, he's having a honeymoon here with his wife and no one even knew!"

Lex listened to the little gossip as they filled their plates with an unflattering amount of food and then found a table to sit at.

"I'd like to talk privately," Lex said to Mary, who then summoned a tinted glass dome around the duo.

"Wow, how did you do that?" Larry asked, surprised.

"If you ask your personal hologram, in case of small stuff like this, they can help you out."

"No way! Hey little fella, what else can you do?" Larry asked, summoning his own personal holographic assistant.

But before he got engrossed in an unrelated conversation, Lex said, "I gave you the key in case you even ran into trouble, so the fact that you're here should mean you ran into trouble, right?"

Larry's smiled skewed. He knew this conversation was coming, but he didn't want to involve his friend. His troubles were more serious than they seemed. Before he could think of how to answer, though, Lex continued.

"Actually, I know for a fact that you ran into some trouble, because just last night I was intercepted by INTERPOL agents who wanted to take me into custody and question me about you."

At this, Larry froze. He did not expect that Lex had already been involved. But, as unfortunate as it was, the timing of their last interaction automatically brought attention to Lex for anyone that may have been watching Larry.

"After I... questioned, shall we say, those agents, they revealed that someone had tasked them to hold me in interrogation long enough for them to arrive on scene. They were very interested in learning more about you, by hook or by crook."

Finally, Larry sighed, and his smile withered off his face.

"The situation is pretty bad. I guess I better explain."