Greetings pt.3

But by the time they arrived at the bar, Mr. Dewey was nowhere to be found.

"Congratulations on your election as Arbiter."

It seemed like everyone was only addressing Lobert from behind, so he turned around to face whoever wanted something from him this time.

This man appeared a little more unremarkable than the rest of tonight's guests; he wore a black suit with a white shirt and had brown hair. He could credit impressive sideburns to his beard splendor.

"Thank you, and you are?" Lobert asked.

"Tristheimer."

There was an awkward silence as they both just looked at each other.

"Who is this guy?" Lobert asked over the directocom.

"No idea." Reiko didn't know who that was either. She couldn't be expected to know every politician or business giant, after all.

"I just came to congratulate you, have a pleasant evening." And as fast as the man appeared, he disappeared again among the crowd.

"Strange." Lobert remarked.

"This party is a magnet for strange people." Reiko replied.

Left alone with Reiko again, Lobert noticed the fire show at the other end of the roof garden.

"I'm going to go check it out." Lobert said to Reiko.

Now that it was getting darker, watching the flames the performer on stage was juggling was a sight to behold.

But it wasn't the only thing he was juggling.

To Lobert's shock, he was also juggling blades that had no hilt in between the fires.

"Impressive." Lobert commented over the directocom.

"Yes." Reiko agreed, although she didn't seem all that impressed.

Lobert and Reiko watched the performance until the sun was about to set, but then someone crept up behind them again.

"Mr. Natus?" a man from behind asked.

Lobert turned around once again, and standing in front of him was a man in a white suit and red shirt, just like Lobert was wearing. He had full, white hair, a bit like Santa Claus, only with a smaller beard.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Michael Kleinsel and I am the owner of Brimetz."

"What's Brimetz?" Lobert asked over the directocom.

"They develop and produce pharmaceuticals and chemicals; they also own medical infrastructure." Reiko answered.

"Hospitals, for example?" 

"For example." 

Lobert now knew that he did not like this man.

"Oh yes, Brimetz...Impressive." Lobert said to Mr. Kleinsel.

"Impressive, yes, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. For example, there are still a lot of hospitals that are not yet managed by me. But I'm sure you can help me out with that." Mr. Kleinsel said.

"And why would I do that? We've only just met."

This man was pretty brazen in his attitude, Lobert thought to himself.

"What are you talking about boy; we know each other well enough already. That reminds me...how is your family?"

"Be careful not to tell him too much." Reiko warned over the directocom.

"Yeah, my family's doing alright." Lobert said, trying to remain as vague as possible.

"I heard your mother is not doing so well. Is she going to be fine?"

"How do you know about that?" Lobert asked agitated.

"Don't let him provoke you. You're doing exactly what he wants." Reiko said over the directocom.

"I am ready to treat her with the latest medical technology in one of my hospitals. Free of charge, of course." Mr. Kleinsel put on a smile.

"I earn more than enough now to have her treated without your help."

Even if the public hospitals were free of charge, the immensely long waiting lists threw this advantage right back out the window; provided one did not make an effort to give the doctors there a small monetary favor.

"They can't cure chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in these dumps."

Like the fish in the water, Lobert swallowed that bait despite Reiko's warnings.

"You know what my mother has? Can they cure it?"

Lobert's tone did a complete reversal from mildly annoyed to extremely hopeful.

"At least in regular hospitals, they can't."

"Is she going to be okay?" If Lobert were a dog, he would wag his tail for every one of Kleinsel's words.

"It's too early to tell for sure but...she'll survive. That's...if she gets treatment at my hospital. We could pick her up first thing tomorrow."

"I'll go right now and give my mom the good news!" Lobert said excitedly.

"Wait, you have to know...I'm not a Samaritan, I do expect some form of payment. About the hospitals that aren't mine yet..." Mr. Kleinsel nodded in anticipation.

"Point taken." That dampened Lobert's mood a bit, but it was still great news.

"I will try to fulfill your demands."

Reiko gave Lobert a subtle kick.

When it came to his mother, Lobert was as easily manipulated as a child.

Lobert was about to leave, but Mr. Kleinsel stopped him once more.

"Just a moment Lobert, don't be in such a hurry. The profession of arbiter can be quite dangerous you know. And if your companion here should fail for some reason, my personal paramedics might still be able to save you."

"Okay, whatever. I'm leaving now." Lobert said, wanting to break the news to his mother as soon as possible.

"Wait!" Mr. Kleinsel seemed to be slowly losing his patience.

"Take this capsule with enough water so the paramedics can find you before it's too late."

Lobert grabbed the capsule from his hand and sped off.

"Let's go home Reiko." Lobert said via the directocom.

By the time they arrived at the landing pads, their car was already waiting for them.

×

When they arrived at the landing site in front of Lobert's apartment, the lights inside were still on.

His mother was watching the news again and didn't seem to notice that Lobert had just arrived back home.

...fiery, but mostly peaceful protests after the announcement of the Arbiter...

...many taking to the streets...

...demanding reinstatement of the old political system...

"Hey Mom."

His mother turned away from the TV.

"Lobert, you told the truth!" She was all excited.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

Lobert had never really lied to his mother, but his explanation just seemed too far-fetched.

"People don't seem to approve of you." She added worriedly.

"That doesn't matter now mom, you can be cured!" exclaimed Lobert joyfully.

"I know someone who owns a hospital, and get this, he wants to treat you!"

"I guess being the arbiter comes with its benefits." His mother smiled warmly.

"They'll stop by tomorrow and take you to the hospital, doesn't that sound good?"

"But will you be okay here without me? I know you get lonely easily. I'll rather keep you company and stay here than let you get lonely, that's the most important thing."

"No mom, your health is the most important thing. And besides, I have Reiko here, don't I?" Lobert smiled like a little child and nudged Reiko on the shoulder, she didn't seem to mind.

"All right." His mother agreed.

"Reiko, take good care of Lobert while I'm gone." She added.

"Will do." Reiko assured.

Lobert really wanted to spend some time with his mother before she would leave, but it was already late and her sleep was more important.

"It's late mom, tomorrow will be a busy day for you. Let's get some sleep."

Lobert's mother nodded in compliance and went to her room to nod off.

Lobert washed up and then went to his room, where he found his VR setup from the old apartment.

"Ahh...how I've missed you guys, my little kids are back with daddy."

Lobert was already preparing everything to start a VR session, but then he decided against it.

"Reiko, do you know how to use the holographic display?" he asked.

"Like a normal one, as far as I know. Weren't you going to go to sleep?"

"Before going to sleep, I always browse the Internet for a while."

"Uh-huh, okay."

Lobert plugged the holographic display into his computer and it came to life.

"Coooool!" Lobert marveled; it was way out of his budget to buy a holographic anything, let alone a display.

Instead, he just looked at them on shopping sites and read reviews on various models.

"Is there anything you want watch?" Lobert asked.

"Mmmh, I've never really had time for that. But I like dogs."

Lobert tried to do something with the information and after careful consideration decided to turn on a compilation of cute dog videos.

"This is so much better than a regular display." Lobert announced.

It wasn't the same as his VR setup but it had its advantages.

Some time passed and Lobert had to go to the bathroom, but when he came back he noticed that Reiko had not accompanied him to the bathroom.

She was still sitting on the bed the way he had left and was still watching cute dog videos.

She briefly noticed Lobert's return and turned back to the video.

"Cute." A soft whisper came out of Reiko's mouth.

Now Lobert realized a second thing, with his mother gone, he, a man, would be living alone with Reiko, a woman.

The thought of this made him nervous, so he anxiously lay down in bed, trying not to think about it.

He finally fell asleep while Reiko continued to watch the dog videos.