Chosen By The Lover's Constellation-Chapter 34: The Highest Bidder, Part Nine

The next day, Lianna and Enverna got up and got ready early in the morning to go to the place Lianna’s benefactor had apparently gotten for them.

Lianna wasn’t sure what to expect. In theory, a gift like this didn’t need to be anything more than a tucked-away dojo, or a quaint, tiny VR spot. But, this was Miss Taylor Lianna was thinking about.

That woman had just sent Lianna over 15000 royals the other day, seemingly on a whim. She was not easy to predict.

"You seem uncomfortable... Does the thought of venturing into a place filled with nothing but aristocrats unsettle you?" Enverna asked.

"Kinda, yeah."

[That’s not all on my mind, though.]

Enverna stepped in front of her.

"Don’t worry," she said. "For once, we’re finally entering a situation I’m familiar with. If we should end up having to maneuver around a field of sensitive egos and high tempers, just follow my lead."

"Does this go for the gala too?" Lianna asked, curious.

"Sure, why not? It feels nice to have you depend on me for a change."

"I wouldn’t mind if you doted on me a little more either."

"What are you talking about? This is simply helping! Not ’doting’ like I’m..."

"Like you’re my wife?"

Enverna’s cheeks turned red.

She didn’t address the matter again.

"Let’s just go find this place..."

"Sure."

---

Walking through Telvan’s streets as a pair, Lianna felt like they would have been the talk of the town anyway, in a more positive way, were they not in their current predicament.

Enverna strode down the road with her chin high, wearing a blue suit with white frills and a tiny blue hat on her head that looked like it should have fallen off at the tiniest kiss of wind but didn’t. As for Lianna herself, she had on a golden miniskirt and a tube top of the same color, liking the way the air caressed her thighs and shoulders as she walked.

Lianna knew they looked good together. So much so that she wondered how much of the staring that was happening around them was owed to the allegations and how much of it was people trying to keep themselves from drooling.

"If I’m reading this right, the place we’re looking for should be just around the corner," Lianna said but it didn’t seem like Enverna heard her. The girl was a bit too busy scanning their surroundings. "Envy, you okay?"

"Hm? Yes," she replied quickly. "I was merely contemplating something."

"What’s on your mind?"

"... When I first arrived at Telvan, I had immediately noticed how, ehm... grey everything looked. Everything, with the sole exception of the lights that illuminate the nighttime streets, felt so dim. Now, I realize it is because this part of the city has sucked the color away," she said with a chuckle. "Gold, white, red, green... I’ve seen more color walking through this one street than I had in my entire first month in Telvan. I was wondering why that might be."

"Is Garriden not like this?"

"Not when it comes to this one aspect," Enverna replied. "The main difference between a middle-class and a high-class house in Garriden is simply the size. Here, you may as well be in an entirely different city in general. Why is that?"

"I dunno." Lianna shrugged. "Just another way to brag, maybe?"

"Doesn’t feel like it. It is a very curious thing," Enverna muttered.

The two of them finally arrived at their designated location a minute later. In one way, it was what Lianna had been expecting. In another way, it was not.

A tiny, tucked-away building nestled in between two other much prouder-looking establishments, it was as modest as Lianna had expected in terms of its size. That was, however, the only metric by which it could be described like that.

Platinum-colored glass doors slid open as Lianna and Enverna walked in. The lobby was just one room with one black door at the back, but the floor was fully carpeted and there were several exotic plants in platinum vases placed beside some chairs, likely meant to make the place feel less empty than it was. Fragrant, cold air hit the pair just as soon as the A.I. that Miss Taylor had talked about in her letter noticed them.

An actual android of some sort walked up to them. It was entirely made of metal, but carried feminine features in its design, as its head was styled to look as though it had bobbed, short hair and its chest protruded like it had breasts.

Interlocking its fingers and bowing to them, it spoke through a microphone in its neck.

"Welcome to The Simulacrum. My name is G.E.M." The android introduced herself with a bow. The visor that comprised her "eyes" was emitting a blue light at the moment. "Please, identify yourselves," she said, before extending a hand that Lianna guessed they were meant to take.

Lianna stepped forward first, placing her palm on top of hers.

"Identifying... Identifying... Identified," the android announced. "Name: Lianna Velcross. Occupation: Player. Affiliation: The Watchful." Then, the android went and stood in front of Enverna, holding her hand out just the same. Enverna took her hand as well. "Name: Enverna Alteri. Occupation: Player. Affiliation: The Watchful."

The android let go of her hand and stepped back.

"First-time visitors, once again, welcome. In case you do not know, The Simulacrum is a zone that exists to allow Players like yourselves to experience various different potentially dangerous scenarios within a safe environment. These scenarios have been crafted as a result of careful analysis of real Players’ memories, ranging from the strongest Players to the weakest."

"That sounds quite useful," Enverna noted. The A.I. did not take its eyes off Lianna.

"Miss Velcross. You qualify for the recently created, ’Velcross Package’. Would you like to hear about this special offer?"

[Heh... The Velcross Package. That name definitely doesn’t beat around the bush, huh?]

"Yeah."

"The Velcross Package allows all users named either ’Lianna Velcross’ or ’Enverna Alteri’ to enjoy full discretionary access to The Simulacrum’s features for a duration of..." G.E.M. paused. "100 years, for a total price of..." She paused again. "0 royals. Would you like to purchase this package?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful. You are now registered as subscriber number 1 of the Velcross Package. Please, enjoy!"

Suddenly, the A.I.’s visor turned green.

"Ah, great, that’s out of the way," G.E.M. said, with an entirely different, far more casual tone. "So, you must be the blooming flower Master Taylor has been watering all these years, aren’t you?"

Lianna blinked.

"That’s... quite the shift in personality," Enverna muttered.

"Forgive me for being so cold just a moment ago," G.E.M. said, "but, I was in Business Mode. It is a setting I operate under any time I am conducting transactions, just so I do not mess up. Now that our business has concluded, I am free to be myself once again. That said, anytime you ask me questions pertaining to The Simulacrum as a business, I will immediately switch back to Business Mode while I give you my answer, so, please, do be mindful. It is... a little annoying to phase in and out of sentience in this manner."

"Huh... So, how exactly does this place work?"

G.E.M.’s visor turned blue.

"Right this way, please."

Lianna and Enverna followed her through that black door, finding that this room was only marginally larger than the lobby. There were two seats with VR headsets mounted on them, along with a couple of vending machines filled with snacks and drinks.

"Put your headsets on and let’s get started."