Villain Retirement

"You get down there this instant, young man!"

Like a son embarrassing his mother, or like a wife being embarrassed by his husband's childish antics, Aerith's frustrated screams echoed throughout the tarmac. It was a good thing that no one was here yet, if not, then the calm, reasonable, and peaceful image that Aerith wanted to project would be completely flushed down the drain.

She was here as a representative of the younger themarians… but now she was raising her voice and violently waving her hand at Riley, who was very slowly floating higher and higher into the air.

"I was only kidding, Aerith."

Fortunately for her, a chuckle whispered into her ears as Riley's feet touched the ground.

"I have never imagined I will be dreading the time someone learns a sense of humor," Aerith could really only sigh as she grabbed Riley by his sleeves, making sure he won't go anywhere he wasn't supposed to,

"Anyway, I am aware that Ahor Zai is completely run by AI, but this…"

Aerith then looked at the floor of the tarmac, only to see a trail of light blinking toward a certain direction, "...Is it telling us to follow this light?"

Aerith scanned the entire tarmac to see if there were any signs of someone else being there, but no. And so, the only thing she could really do was follow the light, dragging Riley along with her.

The Ahor Zai was not necessarily colossal, as the size of its plateau is really only as large as a very small city—or a very large airport, even. Even from the tarmac, one could already see the entirety of the plateau; the 7 buildings, as well as the dome at the center that connected all of them. 

It seems Ahor Zai was capable of adjusting its size according to how many Elders the Common Council currently has—and as they only have 7; 6 now since Elder Tedi just recently left, the Ahor Zai of today is fairly small.

"It's able to reduce its size, Aerith?"

"Hm, I am not entirely sure. But I think those rings are the ones responsible for that," Aerith said as she pointed at the four rotating rings encapsulating Ahor Zai.

"Interesting, the universe truly is a mysterious place, Aerith."

"Mysterious enough to not want to destroy it anymore?"

"There are no criteria in destroying everything, Aerith," Riley shook his head, "When it happens, it just happens because of me. But I have grown curious, just how many species—how many civilizations are out there in the Known Universe?"

"No idea, a million? I do know the population is at the higher trillions," Aerith shrugged as she continued to follow the light while dragging Riley, "I think they have some sort of library here that has access to your questions—I'll come with you to visit it if we get the time. For now, you behave yourself, got it?"

"Hm," Riley also shrugged as he looked around. 

The entire design of the Ahor Zai was similar to the brutalist infrastructure one could find on Earth; simple, blocky, and completely gray. There were hints of plants, but they were scarce and apart. In fact, the most significant sign of plant life that could be seen in Ahor Zai was the ship of Vera's mother.

Even then, however, the place did not seem like it was dead or devoid of life, no. It felt the opposite for some reason—as if Riley could feel the Ahor Zai breathing. Well, maybe not, but it sure was moving.

"..." Riley blinked a couple of times as he saw his surroundings shift; the large stairs that led down from the tarmac, becoming smaller to accommodate his and Aerith's size.

"They could have just made a hovering platform or something," Aerith didn't seem too impressed, however, as she just rolled her eyes when she started walking down. As soon as she said that, however, the steps they were on turned into a disc.

Aerith slightly heightened her senses to see if something unfavorable was about to happen; after all, she was carrying with him one of the Known Universe's top outlaws. Instead, however, the disc platform they were on just started to hover, and almost as if it heard her words, the platform started flying them to their destination.

"You hurt its feelings, Aerith."

"Shut up."

"I suppose it is true that the entire place is ran by AI. Are they not afraid of what the Norinlad, or someone like father can do to it?"

"Why are your thoughts always so grim?" Aerith sighed as she looked in the direction where they were heading—straight to the dome at the very center of Ahor Zai, "Huh… I guess they want to hear what I have to say as soon as possible."

The large dome, like most of Ahor Zai, was also completely gray. It didn't look cement-like, however, not even metal—it was similar to a turtle's shell, if a turtle's shell was completely devoid of any color, that is.

"...If Ahor Zai changes according to the number of members in the Common Council, why are there still 7 buildings, Aerith?" Riley asked as he looked at the 7 large buildings surrounding the dome, "I killed Elder Zora, and Elder Tedi quit her position. There should only be 5."

"They probably haven't gotten the chance to change it," Aerith shrugged before her eyes started to squint, "...How did you know this Elder Tedi quit?"

"She told me on Steam 4587, while you and Vera were busy being duped by the pirates, Aerith."

"...Wait, what? Wait… Elder Tedi as in the giant Norinlad!? She hacked into the ship while we were away!?"

"Yes, we discussed the device that could potentially trap me. The device you and Princess Vera were talking about, Aerith."

"...You heard that?" And even as the platform they were on landed on the ground in front of the entrance to the dome, Aerith did not step down as she just looked at Riley.

"I was telekinetically tethered to you, Aerith."

"...And?" Aerith looked Riley in the eyes.

"I am excited to see if it will succeed, Aerith," Riley nodded as he was the first to step down, "But from what I heard from Tedi, it is still not ready—unless you want something else coming out of it."

"...Like what?"

"Nothing, Aerith."

"...What?"

"Shall we?" Riley then lifted his hand, stretching it toward Aerith as he gestured to her to step down the platform.

"..." Aerith was still looking Riley directly in the face to try and gauge what he was thinking; but aside from the subtle smile, there was nothing else. And so, with a sigh, Aerith just stepped down, completely ignoring his hand.

"Hm," Riley did not seem to think much of it, however, as he just shrugged and followed behind her to the large, and once again gray door.

"..." Aerith looked beneath her feet, only to see the light that was guiding them very slowly fade away. And as soon as it did so, the door slid open—and even with its sheer size, it created absolutely no noise. However, the same could not be said from what was on the other side of the door.

Aerith was here for a meeting, and yet what was in front of him could only be described…

…as a party.