Precisely what he meant by them becoming famous became apparent the moment that they made it to Uncle Lu's condo and were greeted by his housekeepers, who both stared at Max and Nico in awe.
"Welcome Majors, would you like your luggage brought to your rooms?" The closest housekeeper asked, bowing deeply.
That seemed a little overboard for a couple of visiting soldiers. They hadn't gotten that response anywhere else on the planet. They had met plenty of domestic staff at hotels as well as customer service representatives at various public facilities and hadn't seen anything like this reception.
"It's easier if we show you instead of telling you." Uncle Lu explained, leading them into the living room to sit down and watch the news channel that was incessantly scrolling through random local stories.
Only a few minutes later, it came back to the story of the day.
[Breaking News, Planet Sigmund was heroically rescued from an attack by the brutal alien species known as the Narsians. The heroes of the Noctem Mechanized Regiment, spearheaded by the Phalanx Class Mecha, Carpe Noctem, and the Stalwart Special Tactics Force managed to overwhelm and isolate the invading aliens in time for reinforcements from across the Empire to rally and sweep the surviving aliens from the surface of the agricultural planet.]
It was accompanied by a series of short videos of the Special Tactics force in battle, focusing on a drone-filmed scene of Tarith's Rage while the artillery from Carpe Noctem rained down around it and the Narsians charged Nico in the clearing of the final city battle, then it cut to scenes of Max leading troops from the local academy, making Stalwart look extra majestic next to their partially trained abilities and a final full force barrage from Stalwart as the infantry from the Special Tactics force raced past him and Max eliminated the Narsians that were chasing them.
He had to admit, that it was masterfully edited to make them look heroic and minimize the focus on the rest of the unit. But that didn't explain the fuss from the staff here. Video feeds of Pilots in action were a weekly thing in the Kepler Empire, and the system made more than a few of them handsome young adults. On a normal day, they would only rate a bit of idolization from Mecha fans and a heavy dose of respect from the rest of the citizenry.
[Comor Gazette special investigators have identified the Heroes from the rescue of planet Sigmund as the champions of the local Predatory Instinct pre-release Gaming Tournament. That's right, these mighty heroes of the Empire are currently on leave right here on beautiful Comor.]
That was followed by a short scene of the two of them waving to fans and signing autographs in their casual wear as they left the tournament venue. Then it cut to the scenes from the grand entry of the players, where they were in cosplay, and showing off for the crowd, posing and trying to look good for the photos.
Both characters that they played were sex symbols and suggestively dressed, playing up the appeal, and the media was eating it up. Max could only imagine what the comments sections of the social media feeds would look like by now if this was being leaked all over the Empire by the propaganda department.
"So dreamy." The younger one of the ladies sighed, watching the news, causing the other to clear her throat.
"He's standing right behind you." The other one whispered, not quite low enough that Max couldn't hear her, making the housekeeper blush.
"I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean it like that, I mean, the character, yes, the character you were playing is dreamy." She stumbled over her words and Max couldn't resist the smirk, that spread over his face as hers turned redder and redder.
"I do hope I'm not a disappointment in the flesh," Max told her, copying the character's husky voice.
"Oh my." She stammered and then ran out of the room while the rest of the occupants laughed at how easily flustered she was.
"I see what you meant. With that playing on repeat, everyone on the planet is about to recognize our faces. But if they're starting the heroic propaganda this early into our vacation, either we are going to get called back early, or they have something much bigger planned for the future." Nico pointed out.
"I took the liberty to check the status of Abraham Kepler today. It has been moved to the far end of the pier for maintenance and refit with a minimum departure time listed as two months from arrival. Unless they're moving you to another ship, you should have time.
I likely shouldn't tell you this, but the Comor Mecha Development department, my department, has also requested your continued presence for advanced testing, thanks to the piloting skills data files that were recovered after the battles on Sigmund. If they approve it you could be here for a while." Uncle Lu whispered so that the staff didn't hear him giving out confidential information and speculation on military assets.
"Well, that could change everything. Hopefully, this is just a single shot of propaganda and it will blow over in a few days before we are headed to the resort. I hope you don't mind if we hang out with you for a while. The plans of visiting the floating city seem like they might be a poor idea for the next few days." Max told Uncle Lu with a wry smile on his face.
All his childhood, he had looked up to famous Pilots as heroes, but it wasn't until exactly this moment that he realized just how much annoyance fame could cause.
"It would be a pleasure to have you stay a few days. The game committee will be by tomorrow as well, since the news broke about you they want an extra interview and I've got a generic themed video set in the house designed to look like a hotel conference room. I hold home interviews in there so that my location can't be identified." Uncle Lu agreed easily.
Two guests were no problem for him, and these two were entertaining even without being more famous than he was. It was an interesting experience for him as well, to not be the target of paparazzi while in a group, and he intended to enjoy it as long as he could.
"Sir and Madam, your personal belongings, as well as your hoverboards, are now in your rooms. If you require assistance, please just ask any staff member and we will be happy to assist you with anything you need." The older lady in the silver uniform blouse and black skirt reported with a deep bow.
"Are there more staff here, or just the two of you?" Max asked, wondering if the other one was over her embarrassment yet.
"Yes sir, the cook, as well as the groundskeeper, are currently on the premises, though the groundskeeper is off duty in two hours and will be headed home.
"What can I say, I don't like doing stuff, and I'm almost always at the lab." Uncle Lu shrugged at the look Max spared him over the excessive number of staff for a house with only one person actually living in it.
