Capítulo 7: The Inferno Battleship
Dante kept his eyes to himself most of the time. It couldn't be helped since she practically walked a few meters in front of him and walked like she was on the runway.
However, the cold cyborgs by her side with their white coating and glowing laser rifles certainly made him not really enjoy the experience. Getting shot by metal was one thing but getting hit by pure energy? Dante feared that even more.
Soon, they reached a teleporter nearby that was cleared for their use by even more cyborgs. There were no living organisms that seemed to be a part of this woman's squad, which was an interesting thing to note.
Beatrice turned to him with that smirk of hers still on her face. "Come on, you know how to use a teleporter right, mister 'my superpower is being able to teleport across planets'?"
Dante shrugged. "I never said that I could teleport across planets."
Beatrice laughed mockingly. "Right, so you, who does not exist in any public or private database, have no citizen registration documents throughout the entire Etranet, and don't even have any documents regarding Planet Etonia, got here from where? The planet's core?"
Dante frowned but remained silent. He simply observed the teleporter carefully and tried to understand what he was looking at. It was a simple circular platform that could house about 3 people side by side with strange energy waves emitting from the base into the air, up to about the height of four men.
"What? Scared? Get in boy, we don't have all day." Beatrice mocked as she unceremoniously pushed Dante into the teleporter, which startled the fellow. But before he could make any reaction towards this, the energy waves swept over him and he felt weightless for a second before landing on his feet.
He almost fell forward due to the sudden change, but threw his right leg forward and stopped himself. Meanwhile, Beatrice appeared behind him, walking out of the teleporter with a laugh.
"Ha! You're really strange and suspicious, you know that? A teleporter is the most basic public amenity in the universe, yet you actually inspected one and almost fell! Are you a child?"
Dante sourly turned to Beatrice and glared at her, but she just grinned back.
"Come on, let's go." Beatrice took the lead once more, but Dante paused as his eyes narrowed.
He was starting to get a dangerous feeling from this woman in terms of her disposition. Her constant smarmy grin, beauty, and sexiness made one feel at ease and interested.
She felt like a fun person to be with and one wouldn't need to feel uptight or worried in her presence. That she was 'chill'.
But so far, her every word and action since Dante met her was not 'chill'. She had constantly been probing past his origins and pointing out his flaws that made it clear he was not familiar with anything in this world.
She also constantly mocked him for thinking his flimsy verbal defenses would work. Not only that, but when he first appeared, she immediately grabbed him by the throat so fast and lifted him up that he couldn't even process it.
She said something about Civilian Bionics and Psionics? Then, were there special military or professional Bionics and Psionics?
As an Admiral, she would likely have top-tier Bionics and Psionics right? So putting aside his low indexes, she probably had stats that he couldn't even fathom as he stood here.
What was most interesting was that the moment she lifted him up, Dante sensed in a split second a tension on his neck as if she was about to squeeze the life out of him.
However, she paused when she identified him as not only a pure human, but a male and a young one. Ever since then, her charm has been turned up to the max, where it was flaunting her chest or her ass when she was walking then and now.
Was this a sort of thirst trap? To keep Dante from running away?
So did it mean she couldn't do anything to stop him from teleporting away? They didn't have technology that could lockdown space? Or even track him to his home dimension and invade?
That was the main reason he hadn't jumped back yet. If he rashly did so and gave them the coordinates to the home universe, rather than take over anything, he would be the one facing a takeover.
Following that same train of thought, could she be acting like this to lure him into using his power out of wariness, and then obtain the coordinates? Maybe the power behind her invaded worlds like his for fun and she would be rewarded?
She was human, and military too. The simple fact was, Dante didn't know shit about this world. The AI had the language, culture, and general history of this world, but it was only enough to make him equivalent to a first-worlder entering the third world for the first time: all you know was that it was bad, but not how bad and why it was bad.
"Hm? What, are you having second thoughts now?" Beatrice asked as she noticed Dante wasn't following her anymore.
Dante glanced at her and made a decision to follow her. She had presented a generally non-threatening front, was of a similar likeness to himself, and seemed to have some vested interest in his survival.
From him, she would gain an understanding of why he was here and whatever else the faction behind her wanted, and he would gain some knowledge of this world.
Dante silently straightened himself and followed along behind Beatrice, who exhaled lightly. He now had time to observe the spaceport he was in and saw that while there were many different spaceships of all sizes and makes parked, there was hardly anyone around.
Only the familiar cyborgs with rifles patrolling the place and cordoning it off.
Dante was awed by the technology here. He saw rows of duty-free shops by the side selling clothes, gadgets, and even weapons. What was interesting was that the items weren't actually put up on display, but rather a holograph of them.
There were many terminals in the ships where buyers could likely input what they wanted, pay for it with their AI chips, and then have it either delivered to them here or wherever they wanted it to go.
Dante wanted to browse through the various items desperately, but he did not even have a single cent of their currency. He did not even know what currency was used on Planet Etonia and it definitely wasn't in the basic information the high-dimensional lifeform gave.
What the AI chip was given was basically a confirmation of this universe's structure, concepts, laws, and most importantly, its science. Biology, chemistry, and physics were confirmed to be the same as the home universe with some slight differences.
It was given a universal language translator and some basic cultural knowledge like dressing, music, food, and basic philosophy across all races.
Dante continued to inspect all corners of the large and magnificent spaceport that was straight out of the best CGI sci-fi movie and then noticed that Beatrice had stopped.
She then turned dramatically to face him and gestured behind her.
"Say hello to your new prison- uh, I mean home, The Inferno!" Beatrice exclaimed grandly.
Dante looked up to take in the sight of the floating mega battleship that was about as large as Dante could fathom. It was painted blood red and seemed to glow with scorching flames.
In terms of design, it was most similar to the Falkenhayn Dreadnought from the earth. The sheer amount of mounted guns and engines on the goddamn thing gave Dante a surreal feeling, especially the giant thruster at the back which was big enough to swallow a whole city with ease.
While Dante admired the beastly machine, three cyborgs came over and greeted Beatrice.
"Admiral Portinari, the ship has refilled and is ready to move. What are your orders?" The cyborg asked in a standard masculine voice with a deep edge that was clearly AI-generated.
"Send down a shuttle to pick us up. Also, prepare for launch, we don't plan to stay here once we board." Beatrice answered, her usual smile thinning significantly and an element of seriousness entering her tone.
"Understood. What about the restriction?" The cyborg pressed calmly.
Beatrice glanced at it askance and smiled slightly. "Naturally, release it. You don't need me to teach you the obvious, now do I?"
Beatrice then ignored the cyborg that left with its other fellows and looked up to the left with her arms folded. Dante followed her eyesight and saw a small ship hurtling towards them, coming to a stop before Beatrice and opening its compartment door.
Beatrice clambered into the white shuttle and then turned to Dante with her smarmy grin right back where it used to be.
"Come on in, it's pretty comfortable, trust me."
Capítulo 8: What It Means To Be A Pure Human
Dante obliged and got in, sitting opposite Beatrice. The internal of the shuttle was like a train compartment, or like the inside of a carriage. Due to the limited space, Dante's and Beatrice's knees were touching.
She placed her hands on her lap and smiled while staring directly at Dante. Dante stared back with a neutral expression, wondering what kind of game this woman was playing now.
Beatrice patted the pace beside her. "Why not come and sit beside me? That way we can be closer."
Dante shook his head. "You are an Admiral, it is improper to treat you in such a manner."
Beatrice snorted unhappily and looked away, making Dante sigh internally with relief. Very few people on earth could boast about having a staredown with an attractive person, but those who did could tell you right away that it was as difficult as hell.
The longer you stared, the more intrusive thoughts would enter your mind and the more you would be tempted to do something that might get you a slap and a sexual harassment charge.
Why do you think in those romantic movies, the male and female would stare into each other's eyes for a few seconds before slowly closing in?
Fortunately, Dante's time in the shuttle was short as the compartment door opened and revealed an airlock. Dante was surprised as he didn't even feel the thing accelerate, move or even stop.
Beatrice took the lead once more and deliberately bent down and arched her back when coming out of the shuttle. Dante could only sigh and follow her with a tired expression, feeling like he had to do something, but didn't know what the do exactly.
When they entered a decontamination chamber, the door behind them closed and sealed itself. Then, a wave of red light covered them from head to toe as a female AI voice declared them to be safe.
After a second, the other door opened, revealing the observation deck of the battleship. Beatrice walked in confidently while Dante slowly entered while looking left and right carefully, as if expecting an ambush.
To his surprise, there was no organic life in the observation deck. Apart from an empty pilot's seat, there was an open lounge with various seats and sofas, as well as the captain's chair at the back, overseeing the entire room.
Rather than doors, Dante saw two teleporters at either end of the room, which likely allowed one to come and go from this area and to other parts of the ship instantly.
Beatrice moved straight to the pilot's seat and bent over to handle the consoles without sitting down. After pressing a few buttons, the entire ship came to life, and from the porthole, Dante could see that the battleship was beginning to move, detaching itself from the railings and magnetic clamps.
It turned around slowly and began to accelerate into space as it left the spaceport, but Dante did not feel even a lick of it in the ship, despite seeing it move. This discrepancy caused a slight cognitive dissonance and panic, forcing him to lower his body to touch the floor.
Beatrice turned back to look at this and her eyes narrowed for a second. She then left the terminal and walked up to Dante with her arms akimbo.
"Hmmm? Have you never been on a spaceship before? No scratch that, on any ship before? Not even a hoverboard? Otherwise, how can you react like this to anti-force technology?"
Beatrice walked around Dante and looked down on him with an expression of interest, like a scientist seeing an exciting specimen.
Dante ignored her and let his mind and body adapt for a while before shakily standing up and absolutely refusing to look out the porthole.
Beatrice chuckled and walked to the lounge and sat down on a sofa.
"So Mr. Dante, why don't you have a seat and we can talk?" Beatrice prompted as she gestured to the seat opposite her.
Dante took a deep breath and moved to sit opposite her, which was facing toward one of the portholes. However despite moving, space was relatively still and he couldn't see much of its acceleration, so he was fine in this regard.
Beatrice swung her legs upwards, displaying her supple thighs that were squeezed by her uniform before crossing her legs elegantly. Dante also leaned back in his seat and crossed his legs the male way, his arms folded before him.
Both sides remained silent and observed each other for a short while.
Beatrice eventually chuckled. "I seriously don't get you. At times, you behave like the most ignorant country bumpkin, far more ignorant than even the most isolated child, and other times you seem quite clever despite your poor indexes."
"Alright then, I'll be the one wearing the pants and rise to the occasion. Sigh, how tough it is to be a man nowadays." Beatrice shrugged dramatically.
She opened her right-hand palm and a light emitted from it, forming a holographic image in the air. On the image was a bunch of documents and databases that flashed by rapidly while Beatrice watched boredly.
"So Mr. Dante, if that even is your name, you have no file in existence, anywhere. By law, every species in the universe is to be registered in the Etranet Registry at birth or they will not be able to receive any public welfare, protection, or even any legal rights." Beatrice began in a slow drawl without even looking at Dante.
"So then, do you understand, Mr. Dante, that you are basically at your most vulnerable anywhere in the universe? That was why I had to blockade that entire backwater planet, otherwise, they would have had every right to deal with you as they saw fit."
Dante felt a chill. No basic human rights without registration? Very brutal but utterly sensible. When your territory spans galaxies, it became so hard to track individual lifeforms and if any government or controlling authority wanted to maintain control, they had to up the surveillance.
Now that Dante thought about it, the free AI chip they gave everyone was the best way to track every lifeform. It was indispensable if you wanted to interact and live in society, but it also allowed the powers that be to know you and where you go.
"No answer? I'll take it you're aware then. Do you also know that every pure human is a precious resource in our universe? I assume you don't." Beatrice continued lazily.
"When humankind first stepped into the wider stage of the galaxy, then the universe, we were but the weakest race. However, technology and reproduction allowed us to expand rapidly and become the strongest power in the universe."
Beatrice opened her hands helplessly. "However, by that point, more than 79% of our race no longer had pure human genes. Many had cross-bred with aliens to forge diplomatic ties or to hijack their genetic composition, causing many quadrupedal and other special races to become majorly humanoid."
"By the time we realized, 8 out of 10 humans sported unique genetics and visible features that marked them as demihumans at best. Apart from the top elite who maintain bloodline generation after generation, as well as a few commoners who were averse to cross-breeding, there were few others."
"However, the ones who held the reins to power were the pure humans, so you can imagine how the mixed ones felt. Were they no longer human anymore? But then you had to understand how the pure humans felt. Were those mixed breeds truly 'humans'? Or were they the other race they mixed with? Where did their interests lie? Who took priority between the two?" Beatrice paused here.
"And now, it's only gotten worse as the years have passed. Only less than 0.1% of the googol numbers of the human race being pure. That might seem like a lot, but compared to the opposite number, we are a minority of minorities."
"That's only within our own race. There are many species that we cannot breed with or breed out of extinction because they also kept pure-blooded members. They are not happy that humans have power over them and glare at the entire race. Within the entire race, mixed breeds are not happy that pure breeds have power over them, so glare at the entire minority."
Beatrice looked at Dante whose expression had become solemn and grave.
"Do you understand now, Mr. Dante? Whether it is you or me, our situation is as tenuous as can be, held up by a certain level of deterrence that you will come to learn of later if you don't already."
"The human race has already issued a galaxy-wide bounty reward for each pure human found and reported, but the other species have even higher bounties for the capture and trade of pure humans on the black market."
Beatrice snorted. "The amount of money paid out is enough for a civilian of any species to become the top 1% in their race immediately. That's how valuable we are."
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