Chapter 11- Gold Dreams

Airic was ecstatic to begin his exploration.

Once he stepped through the doors to the outside, he took in a deep breath of the crisp unpolluted air of Reynor and stood to enjoy the sunlight peeking through golden leaves.

He moved to the side once he was aware that he was blocking the entrance, and stood to marvel at the sight of a bustling alien city.

Airic turned to B'tlar and asked for a list of tourist attractions, in order of popularity, while asking him to plan a tour through the sites. He was giddy with anticipation, thinking this to be his first of many holidays on various planets before the thought of souvenirs crept up as he thought on the activities people did on holidays.

He suddenly became very aware that he had no funds from the present time, only a few hundred from the past, neglecting the fact that his cards would be obsolete by this time.

The 'I see it I like it but I can't afford it' meme from back home was on a loop in his head.

"B'tlar?"

"Yes sir?"

"Cancel the plan," AIric says as he walks back into the hovercar, watching as the doors shut before facing B'tlar.

"Sir?"

"It's nothing, I have just realised that I have no money to get into any of those attractions...nor do I have a job"

"That would be incorrect sir, you have approximately 500 thousand credits deposited in your account from General Runes referenced as seed money, as well as the other 500 thousand from your parents' savings."

"In terms of comparisons, how much is that exactly?"

"Does sir mean the value of 1 million credits?"

"Yes, but related to what I would need or be interested in."

"Sir, a million credits would be enough to buy a mid-sized plot of land available, and enough to build a basic house," B'tlar says as he types in coordinates, before sitting back as the hovercar AI drives to the location.

"Explain."

" Currently there is a system where travellers, who travel as a job and not a lifestyle, can reintegrate with society after years of travelling.

"These people are to use the funds amassed during their travels to buy land on a planet of their choice, with some of the newer planets discovered by them included in their choice and then build a home to live in before giving up their issued cabin.

"As the price of land is relatively stable, 500 thousand would be the equivalent to the smallest plot available on a new planet like Coree, without a house on top. Larger sized plots are priced from there.

"I see. So what would be the average salary earned by travellers? Also, how much would it cost to build a small house on the mid-sized plot of land?" Airic asks curiously.

"That would be 50 thousand credits annually, though most of it goes towards their hospital fees, so roughly 20 thousand credits are left to be budgeted and saved. As for the cost of a house, a very basic house via contractor would be 200 thousand credits.

"This is usually a 2/3 bedroom house unless one uses various lifestyle technology which can cost an additional 100 thousand credits or more depending on the brands, design, etc; Or if they desire a garden on the plot and not just the house.

"However, this does not include furniture and other finishes."

"Wait a minute! I thought that I would need a junior school diploma for most jobs, so how can I be a traveller?"

"Yes sir, a degree is necessary, and you are technically not a traveller sir, but you are listed under travelling without a valid address. This means that you will be under the travellers' law until you buy the land and build the house, especially as your parents were travellers themselves."

"I see... B'tlar? "

"Yes sir?"

"Where are we going?" Airic says as he realises that they have been moving for the entirety of their talk, chiding his lack of awareness, he looks around as the surrounding gets dark.

"We are going on the tour that I had previously mapped out, sir."

"What's the first stop?"

" The golden mirage. It is a location that is said to create a golden mirage, similar to the Aurora Borealis on Ancient Earth, but this is present at all times of the day. The area there is dark, at all times of the day but for the small beam from either the sun or the moon, which creates the golden mirage. Reviewers say that it is like walking in a cloud of gold, as the light reflected by the leaves of the Reynor Gold trees surrounds visitors in a golden sea."

Airic is excited to go there, though he feels that it would be boring unless there were other activities available for the guests. He asks B'tlar if there are any activities available there, and was surprised to find out that there were none.

Sceptical, he uses his newly acquired comm-link to gather information on the mirage.

He was surprised to notice that they would be going outside of peak time, meaning that he would most likely be with B'tlar and a few people. He also saw that no one used it for anything, not even for movies or any media, which he found odd as movies from Earth used the natural landscapes for the best quality scenes.

Curious about how media is recorded and broadcast, due to what he privately thought of as wasted resources, he asked B'tlar. At the end of the explanation, which boiled down to CGI and green screens, Airic was horrified. He decisively looked through clips of some famous scenes online and was shocked by not only the technology but the quality of the scene with it.

He asked B'tlar for their estimated time of arrival (ETA) and was told that they would arrive in an hour.

Airic was resolved to watch a movie, to take advantage of the time left. He first looked for the most popular movie currently trending, and after paying the 4 credit fee proceeded to watch the hour-long movie.

Time passed quickly while he was watching the movie, he found that the script was average on Earth but phenomenal here and that the scenes looked over complicated for a rather simple scene. Altogether he was happy to put it out of his mind once they arrived and he was left staring at the Mirage with awe.

Soft golden light greeted him on arrival, which slowly brightened the further he walked. The golden light illuminated the clearing and looked almost solid like clouds gently drifting though there was no wind present. The grass also looked golden under the light, reminding him of the old Aztec legends of the city of gold.

Airic felt like a giant overlooking the golden world from above the clouds. He was reminded of his favourite song, titled golden dreams. He felt like performing a cover of the song, using the scene here.

He first looked around and saw that there was no one else there. Then, he wrote the music scores for the cover, which he had memorised, as he used it for his audition into the Entertainment company. He downloaded an app that would synthetically play the accompaniment from the transcript and began his performance.

As he wanted to watch the effects of the background, he asked B'tlar to record it. At first, he made some mistakes, then he decided to have fun with the lyrics to make it a bit more era-friendly, enjoying himself as he danced in the golden mirage to the beat of the song.