SAISHO17-CC pt.3

Lobert took a moment and looked around and he found the sight amazing; he couldn't fully believe what he was seeing.

He had never thought he would ever stand here, on some sort of shopping street that connected various skyscrapers, all high up in the sky.

Just a few steps away was a chasm that made his knees tremble. Lobert was not good with heights, even though heights thrilled him.

The gap was not very wide, because the shopping streets, which ran along completely different skyscrapers, were so close together. But these streets were not limited to this height; there were many of them at vastly different heights.

Between the streets, cars flew around, and occasionally even small helicopters.

All of the skyscraper facades were covered with holographic advertisements, and the neon lights of these advertisements made the skyscrapers illuminate each other, making for a bright sight that could blur the lines between night and day.

But these were not all the sensations that came over Lobert.

The air was absolutely clean and felt fresh, and it was pleasant to breathe.

Lobert inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled slowly through his mouth.

"Ahhh, what bliss." Lobert said, deeply relaxed.

The atmosphere was also a lot livelier than at his home, chatter could be heard from everywhere.

If a bodyguard who knew no privacy was the price of living here, he wouldn't hesitate for a second.

"Are we leaving then, or are you going to pitch a tent here?" Reiko asked with a semblance of impatience.

"Oh, so you're not a robot after all." Lobert joked, so she did have a little personality after all, "As far as I'm concerned, we can go."

The professor led the way and Reiko walked to Lobert's right.

To their left were some expensive-looking restaurants; the waiters there were actual robots who deftly served the tables with their multiple arms. At a later time he would ask the professor if they could try a meal there.

Lobert was quite distracted by all these new things and accidentally bumped into someone.

He stopped and looked behind to see who he had just bumped into.

In front of him was a man wearing a white suit, gold chain and leopard print shirt. He was dressed expensive but tasteless and looked stupidly at Lobert.

Before Lobert could apologize, the man complained angrily: "Aren't you going to apologize you hobo? Haven't you been taught any manners?"

Lobert didn't like the way the man talked to him, but an apology was appropriate.

"I'm sorry-" but again, the man didn't let him apologize.

"What are you doing here anyway? Go beg somewhere else and don't bother the people here."

The man shoved Lobert by the shoulder, a clear sign to just leave and to not argue with the man.

Fist fights could easily end in tragedy.

"I don't know who you are, but I suggest you go on about your day and drop the matter." the professor proposed - his attempt to defuse the situation.

But Lobert refused to let that slide: "What do you want from me, you slimeshitter? Don't take your frustrations about your constipation troubles out on others!"

The man turned red with rage; the red of his face went well with the white of the suit.

He lunged to strike, but before he could follow through with the blow Reiko stepped in.

It all happened faster than the blink of an eye.

Reiko grabbed the guy by the arm, threw him to the ground and knocked him unconscious with a quick jab.

Bloody hell, the professor really hadn't lied, thought Lobert.

Wee woo, wee woo, wee woo.

A police siren sounded and a police drone came over to check out the situation.

"There was a complaint of disturbance of the public peace. One person is lying unconscious on the ground. Aggressor is identified...Reiko Hazama, bodyguard. Appropriate action was taken... fine will not be issued. Have a nice day."

The drone flew off again.

"Don't get yourself into more trouble than you have to." Reiko said annoyed.

She pressed her index finger on Lobert's chest, it almost hurt.

"You almost made me pay a fine! I would have charged you extra."

"Well now, let's calm down again. Nothing happened to us." the professor said.

"If my advice is dear to you Lobert, then you'd best not deal with such people, they’re more trouble than it’s worth. I suggest we go to the hair salon now."

Lobert left with the others, leaving the man lying on the street; no one seemed to care about the situation or the unconscious man.

Fortunately, nothing happened the rest of the way and Lobert was able to savor the area to the fullest.

They passed a store that sold androids, GINKEN.

Deceptively real, friend or worker, purchase four and get the fifth one for free.

When Lobert saw how lifelike the androids looked, he could only wonder if maybe the people around him might actually be androids.

×

A little while later, the three of them were standing in front of the Rayonnante hair salon.

Holographic heads were floating in front of the store, turning in different directions and presenting the wildest hairstyles.

"But I don't have to have one of these?"

Lobert pointed to one of the heads with a spiral hairstyle on it.

"As long as you look well groomed it doesn't really matter." Professor Rheintal replied.

They entered the salon and were immediately greeted enthusiastically by a man with a hard-to-describe hairstyle and a two-piece pencil mustache, "Welcome to Rayonnante, are you the esteemed ladies and gentlemen who have reserved this establishment for today?"

The man had a slight accent, but Lobert couldn't quite place it.

"Yes, that's us." The professor replied.

"Give the young gentleman here beside me a decent look - and nothing too exotic please."

"Very well Monsieur, if the young gentleman would please have a seat in this chair."

The man pointed Lobert to the seat.

Lobert sat down on the chair and looked in the mirror; he only had short hair and a three-day beard, so there were not a lot of options that could be done.

In the mirror Lobert saw himself, except he was displayed with a wide variety of hairstyles.

Lobert was able to press on the mirror to select a different hairstyle, but he didn't find one that really caught his eye.

"Just make me something normal." Lobert said.

"Very well sir. Don't worry, I have exquisite taste."

He took a device from the rolling table and put some of Lobert's hair in it.

The device flashed briefly and the man said, "Wait a moment, I'll be right back." He then disappeared into the back room.

After a short while he came back and lowered a kind of drying hood that was above the seat onto Lobert's head until it covered his head completely.

He briefly felt something pulling at his face, it was somewhat uncomfortable, but then it stopped.

"All finished monsieur, look at yourself in the mirror and tell me whether you like it."

Lobert looked in the mirror and his three-day beard was gone and replaced with a neat goatee. His hair looked thicker and was combed back. He could have sworn that his hair had not been long enough for this.

However he didn't question it further and informed the barber of his satisfaction, "Yes, works for me."

The professor gave a satisfied nod.

"Even you are able to look good for once." Reiko remarked.

Lobert prepared to leave.

"Thank you for your visit, please give us the honor again sometime." The man bowed politely.

"Now all you need are proper clothes and you'll look like a new man." The professor remarked.

Lobert and his companion left the store and walked back to the edge of the shopping street, where their car was already waiting for them.

Since the cars could leave on their own, there was no need for parking.

Convenient, Lobert thought.

They got into the car and the professor announced the next step over the voice channel: "Take us to the final stop of the day, please."

The car promptly obeyed the command and started to move.

During the drive, Lobert didn't know what to say, so he remained silent.

Neither did the professor say anything.

Time went by and Lobert thought about what had happened.

He? The arbiter? It all seemed so unreal to him.

What would that mean for him?

Would he be sitting in some office, telling people what to do and signing some papers?

He could not quite imagine himself doing that.

The artificial intelligence Christina mentioned something about her goals.

What kind of goals did an artificial intelligence have?

Lobert could not think of anything concrete.

World domination perhaps? The machine revolution?

He would find out one day.

How much power would he actually have, now that he was Arbiter?

Lobert was deep in thought the whole trip and then they finally reached the last destination of the day.