Chapter 69: Bunkmates

Lusac did a careful scan of the room. Not that he expected to see anything, obviously, but because some part of him remembered all too well the Shaquine back on Aschir Alpha and the Argo, and he had to be absolutely sure that what he was dealing with this time was not the same thing.

After a thorough examination of the still busy space, Lus was fairly confident that it was not a Shaquine setting off his [Sixth Sense], but something more normal. It disappeared in the next minute, and he told himself that it was just some security guard using [Invisibility] to scout around in the quarters and check out the new hires without drawing suspicion. The thought wasn't the most comforting since it meant the Senator might already be on the lookout for people who were infiltrating the ranks of his house staff for some nefarious purpose, aka, people exactly like Lus and Vlqtrn.

Thinking of the Kremel, Lus hoped he would get the chance to see his friend soon and warn him about his theory. Another glance around the line confirmed that Vlqtrn was nowhere in the vicinity so that would have to wait. Hopefully the tech-guru wouldn't accidentally give himself away before Lus got a chance to speak with him.

Lusac's whirlwind of worries was interrupted by someone coming to escort him and the other four upper queuers into the quarters to get them set up with rooms and everything. He tried to seem at ease as he followed the escorting Nemarian out of the waiting room.

It was the same wooden floors and white walls as they went, though this hallway was rather short before coming to a set of stairs down. From there they entered a maze of corridors, all full of doors leading to rooms to be shared by the various servants. Apparently Senator Grwtln was generous in putting "only four" people to a room, but for someone like Lus who'd had his own space while on the Argo, it seemed rather cramped.

They were divided only by gender, so Lusac ended up taking the last bed in a room which already held two Kremel and a Nemarian. Since he was the final occupant, he ended up with the least desirable position, right next to the door.

The room did have carpet instead of wood floors, but it was short and prickly while the walls were cement. Instead of a window, it had a permanent holoscreen displaying a fake outside view on the wall opposite from the door with lofted beds lining the other two walls. Under the beds were a combo wardrobe/dresser and a small desk with an uncomfortable chair. After marking his bed, Lusac was taken to get a set of uniforms and an identification card.

The work uniforms were all fairly similar, light red in color with a collared shirt and stiff pants that would pass as professional wear for any of the species in the Collective. Lusac was given five sets, one for each day of work, and then taken to the photo booth to get his chip scanned and a special card given to him that would mark him as part of the staff. As a security measure, it would be used alongside his chip to grant him access to the mansion at all. Losing it also meant a dock in pay.

Lus had finally gotten his id chip fixed so it displayed a proper fake identity instead of the elderly Kremel woman from the prank, so there were no problems going through this final layer of security.

After getting his card, he was given a holochip that contained the entire employee handbook on it with a strong warning to read it, and then they dismissed him to return to his room to unpack. Instead, Lus ducked through the hallways in hopes of bumping into Vlqtrn so he could inform his friend about what happened back in the line and see if there was an update on the status of the other Runners.

It took several wrong corridors and randomly knocked on doors until he stumbled across the Kremel who was happily chatting away with some bunkmates. He looked more than a little perturbed at Lus's interruption, but he followed him out into the hallway anyway.

"What is it, Lus? This had better be important. You're making us look bad," the Kremel warned.

"My [Sixth Sense] went off while I was waiting to get my room assignment. I'm worried that they have people watching us in secret. I also got a strange [Quest] in regards to the manor having secrets. Be careful," Lus explained simply.

Vlqtrn blinked his orange eyes in surprise. "Your [Sixth Sense]? The thing that warned you about the Shaquine back at the mines and the Argo?"

"Yeah. Do you know if Prwls made it in? If so, we need to warn her. And you're absolutely positive Cewi-Bano and Zer-Dasht failed? Because they should also know this if they're going to be around."

The Kremel nodded. "We'll know for sure at the general training this afternoon, but I'll double check. As far as I can tell, it's just you and I who made it in."

"Okay," Lusac replied. "Stay sharp. I'll give you any updates I figure out about the [Invisibility] and the [Quest]."

"Alright. Let's try to meet tomorrow sometime, but in a less obvious manner. I don't want people thinking we're buddies," Vlqtrn said.

"Roger that. Good luck."

"You too."

Lus turned away and left Vlqtrn to his new friends. It was a bit difficult to track down his original room again, and it took more than double the time it should have thanks to the maze that was the quarters. When he walked in, he found the other three guys chilling in their desk chairs and chatting about what they did before coming here.

"Hey. New guy," one of the Kremel greeted him. He was rather short for a Kremel, only six foot or so and had dark gray skin that might've looked black under the right lighting. Lus estimated him to be young for Kremel, around 30 or so, not too long after they reached official adulthood. "I'm Frpl. This is Hwwnlv." He gestured to the other Kremel who shared the same skin tone but was several years older and a few inches taller.

"And I'm Swali-Shie," the Nemarian said. He was the oldest of the four, middle-aged for his species. His scales were a deep shade of orange, similar to the fruit, and his fins were a strong indigo.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Lus Andrews," Lusac replied as he shook hands with each.

They all briefly reshared a bit about themselves. The two Kremel were brothers who'd come from Anettol, one a groundworker and the other a security officer. The Nemarian was a cleaner. Lus kept up with his cover story of working on a merchant ship before seeking a chance to settle down in hopes of keeping away from the war.

"There are sack lunches being offered back in the common areas. You guys want to check them out?" Frpl asked as he stood from his chair. He was short enough that he could comfortably stand under the bed frame.

Everyone agreed and followed him out of the room. The corridors were bustling with the other workers.

"Interesting that they house the workers at the mansion," Lus noted. "I'd assume that it'd be more economical to just let everyone fend for themselves for room and board."

"Ah, but then you have unsightly apartments and things for us lower class," Swali-Shie pointed out. "Keeping us at the manor means the neighbor remains pristine."

Lus shook his head. "Of course. I should have thought of that."

Back up the steps they arrived at the rooms which had been originally used for interviewing and organizing applicants to discover a more relaxed scene. Hwwnlv said furniture was supposed to be moved in at some point to create some spaces for everyone to relax. Lusac still couldn't believe the Senator needed this large of a group to serve around his mansion, but he recalled Fresa discussing just how many people would be living there. From what he could recall, the mansion was exceptionally huge, probably more than half the size of the Argo.

They moved through the narrow room where Lus had only recently competed in the cooking hiring event to grab brown paper bags with food in them. Everyone got the same thing: a cured prak and charda cheese sandwich with kixi on the side. It wasn't great honestly, and Lus hoped that it wasn't representative of the quality of all the rest of the meals they'd serve to the staff.

Food in hand, the group of four returned to one of the other common rooms to try and find a place to eat. Things still weren't quite set up for this many people, but they were able to catch a large enough spot for all of them to sit down in the center of the room.

While they ate, Swali-Shie started up a discussion about the professional hyperball league, something Lus only loosely followed. He didn't participate much since he was fairly less knowledgeable than his other three bunkmates.

He was about halfway through his sandwich when it hit him again. His [Sixth Sense] activated. It was a quiet sensation, just the uncanny knowledge that someone or something he couldn't see was now in the room. Lus casually looked around as if lost in thought, getting a brief glance at the door his [Skill] directed him too, but all he saw was another group entering. He did a double take when he realized he recognized one of the Nemarians in it.

Fresa-Ersht.

She'd just been leaving the last time his [Sixth Sense] activated. Was it mere coincidence that she was there this time too? Or was his new friend under investigation? If that were the case, that would be bad news for him, and he'd have to nix their budding friendship before it could jeopardize his own mission.

"Lus?" Frpl asked, drawing his attention away from Fresa and whatever was triggering his [Sixth Sense].

"Huh? Sorry. Got distracted," he said quickly as he shoveled another bite of kixi into his mouth.

"It's alright. I guess hyperball isn't really your thing," Hwwnlv pointed out.

"No. I've always been more of a gladiatus guy," Lus replied.

"Who's your gladiator?" Swali-Shie asked.

Lus smiled. "Ryker all the way. But if I'm choosing a non-system fighter, I'd have to say Bwnr is another good pick. In general, I'll watch any match that's bronze rank or above."

"Ryker, really? I think you're just saying that since you're both Humans," Frpl said before chomping the last bite of his sandwich.

"Yeah. Ryker's nothing compared to Lxt or even Wipov-Gad," his brother confirmed.

"Lxt is way past her prime. I can't believe you two would even consider her in the same class as Wipov-Gad or Ryker," Swali-Shie argued.

"We've only seen the start of Ryker's abilities. He's the fastest leveler we've seen in thirty years," Lus added. With the sports debate drawing his attention, he was no longer wondering about Fresa or his [Sixth Sense], though the [Skill] remained active throughout the rest of his meal. It wasn't until he and the other three cleaned up their bags and left the room behind that he realized he could finally relax. As nice as the [Skill] was, it could be a real pain when he wanted to think about anything else while it was triggered.

Hwwnlv suggested they all go get their seats at the training early, and since he didn't have anything else to do or anywhere else to go, Lusac went along with the two brothers and the Nemarian. The training was taking place outside to accommodate the large number of staff, and a huge field of chairs had already been set out. Almost a fourth were taken, but the four roommates were able to get a decent spot that was comfortable for everyone.

Lusac once again silently cursed his "fancy" coat as a breeze blew right through it. Swali-Shie seemed even less comfortable than him and was burying his face deep into the front of his coat to try and keep warm. As expected, the two Kremel were completely unperturbed by the cold.

They ended up sitting there for another hour as the other new staff members filed out of the basement and into the chair field. All in all, Lusac estimated there were over a hundred and fifty of them, and even with Fresa's estimates, that meant there would be at least two servants per a regular household member. That kind of wealth used to be unfathomable to Lus. On Treft, rich used to mean having an ID chip and traveling to the resort moon in the system. But this kind of money? Lusac didn't think he could ever be this wasteful, even if handed a valer the size of a planet.

He was sick of trying to force conversation with his three new bunkmates, and so it was a relief when the training finally started. Of course, to make matters worse, his [Sixth Sense] went off again, this time for multiple targets.

Pretending to stretch, Lusac scanned the whole field to see what he could tell about the locations. Someone was off to the front of the stand where the heads of staff were presenting the training, and two more were on either side of the crowd of chairs. One last target was at the back, and when Lus looked back there, he noticed once more that Fresa was within view of where he estimated the [Invisible] person to be. She had to be wrapped up in this. Even at 1 [Common Sense], Lusac recognized that three times was too many times to be a coincidence.

Knowing that she had [Invisible] people following her wasn't enough to complete his [Quest] unfortunately. With that in mind, he decided that he was going to have to do his own little investigation to figure out what was going on with her. He couldn't reveal how he knew she was being followed obviously, but he trusted his stealth skills to figure it out in other ways.

As the different managers went over expectations of employees, including when they would be allowed to leave the mansion grounds and curfew, Lusac laid out his own plan for a subtle interrogation of Fresa alongside some following if necessary. The hours passed slowly with the people at the front able to conjure more words to describe the most basic rules than Lus could have imagined. Was there a reason they had to say "rooms, including beds and desktops, are expected to keep to the same level of cleanliness and tidiness as the rest of the mansion" instead of "clean your room and make your bed?"

The worst part was that everything they said had about double the amount of words Lus thought necessary to convey the message. What should have taken perhaps an hour went on for three.

Once it was finally over, the entire group seemed to heave one collective sigh of relief. But of course the managers couldn't just let them all go. Instead, they had to dismiss the crowd in groups to keep things "orderly."

At last, Lusac and his bunkmates were free to go. They all planned to go back to the room to watch a hyperball match. Lus was eager to get his chance to speak with Fresa, but he decided to wait until kitchen training the next day. He didn't know where her room even was, and wandering the corridors in hopes of bumping into her seemed like a poor plan. And so Lus settled in for the evening to watch sports and hang out with his new friends while trying to figure out why Fresa was being watched and if it was going to impact his mission.