Simple Virtual Reality headsets were available all over the cruise ship area of Terminus and were used for a variety of experiences from simulated bird watching to interactive movies for the guests.
Nico grabbed a headset from the kiosk as they passed with a wave for the staffer who was shocked out of reading a book to pass the time on the mostly empty floor.
Despite the low number of guests, the whole area was staffed, to avoid the feeling of a ghost ship. They were also expecting a number of additional visitors over the next few days, on what the Innu were dubbing an "Extreme Adventure".
To them, this was like watching a movie about the history of the Valkia in real-time. They had been warned of the dangers of Terminus being destroyed, but they decided the risk was minimal to go on a vacation in hostile territory and have a chance to see species that had been deemed too dangerous for interaction up close and personal.
It seemed that despite their peaceful cultures, the universe still had its share of adrenaline junkies and war buffs present.
"Lulabeth." The one dry word from the High Chancellor stopped the entire group of Innu students in their tracks, right at the entrance to one of the gravity slides.
"Father, hello. I didn't expect to see you here. Might I ask what brought you away from council meetings this fine afternoon?" One of the girls asked with great trepidation.
"Let's see. Possibly a daughter who didn't come home after school? Or a missing pleasure yacht that cost five hundred million credits? Or could it be the slew of missing person reports, or possibly the signature of my private portal activating to send someone to a restricted zone?" The High Chancellor asked with no emotion in his voice.
"Oh. Well, as you can see, we've been found." Lulabeth said with a hint of desperate hope.
"I can see that. Of all the harebrained stunts you have pulled, why this one?" The High Chancellor asked.
"There were Insectoids and we wanted to see them. Only they were not only highly aggressive, but they actually destroy the planets that they are on. We didn't expect the new ship to break down, and there is a whole exploration fleet in this Galaxy that could safely send us home before break ended." His daughter informed him, while her friends trembled in fear.
"Oh, so it was a matter of insufficient education on the dangers of an S Ranked threat. How wonderful, as I have just finished modifying this device for exactly that purpose.
The rest of you may enjoy your afternoon. Your families will no doubt have a few choice words for you when you eventually return home. Lulabeth, come with me to your suite." The High Chancellor demanded.
Nico led the pair away while Max remained behind to calm the rest of the group.
"Do you think she will be alright? The High Chancellor is terrifying. We didn't think he would notice at all. At worst, we thought the nanny might be notified and send someone to come look for us, but we can deal with that level of scolding." One of the students asked.
"She is in no danger of physical harm, though I suspect that by the end of the day she will wish she was." Max chuckled, hearing Nico and the High Chancellor's thoughts as they exchanged data messages silently.
"What does that mean? Will she get a time-out?" One of the students asked with a shudder.
"Worse. He modified a virtual reality headset to force her to do homework until she learns her lesson." Max informed them, and all the students made a complicated gesture that their thoughts identified as the schematic of a circuit breaker.
"That is horrific. Only the High Chancellor would do such a cruel thing with a technology that could show us fluffy Otters and bunnies. Have you heard of the Bunnies? Three kilograms, fluffy, long ears?" One of the girls asked.
"They actually have them in the world that I grew up on. They're quite friendly most of the time." Max informed them, and all of the Innu sighed.
"Our world is covered in technology, there are no wild animals left on the surface, only in museums, and most of those are replicated holograms, not the real thing." One of the students informed him.
That explained their fearless love of all things animals. They had never actually interacted with one before, so they didn't fully understand that they could be dangerous, even when they went sightseeing to the Klem worlds.
"We were thinking about bringing some live animals aboard but decided that it was too much of a problem to maintain the balance on the ship when we had so many species of plant from different planets and climates. The risk of accidental poisoning is too high, not to mention the cleaning." Max explained.
"That's probably for the best. Some of the other species are petrified of fluffy creatures. On the Northern edge of the alliance territory, there are galaxies full of small furry creatures that use a form of spatial technology to devour entire worlds down to their cores and then float around in space until they get hungry again." One of the students explained.
Nope, that wasn't horrifying at all.
Nico would probably want one as a pet.
"Well, enjoy your trips through the slides. We are expecting more guests over the next few hours, so these might be the last peaceful moments you will get before the cruise ship is in full operation." Max informed them, then returned to his duties, returning to his office to check the sensor logs for incoming vessels and reservation requests.
From what he could tell, they should have about ten thousand visitors, far from enough to fill the ship, but more than enough to make it feel occupied, and to give the employees the stress test that they had been training for, with an extra twist.
The requests would be coming from species they had never met, so nobody knew what they would want.
