The Game Before the Fall

Chapter 22: Greetings (Part 1)

Chapter 22: Greetings

"This is so exciting!" Aria jumped up and down on the spot. "I've never been on an airplane before."

"Aria, relax," I urged my sister to calm down. The airport gate was full of travellers and we were already getting stares due to Vanter's stupidly handsome face.

She took a deep breath, "I know, I'll be calm." Though she tried her best it was easy to see the energy she was radiating. It would be a long flight to the USA and she'd quickly realise that being on a plane that long wasn't all fun and games.

"Hey can you put this on," I threw Vanter a face mask. "You're attracting too much attention."

He held the mask and smirked, "I don't know, it's kind of nice."

Endi who had already covered most her face and head with a hood, punched into his side, "Just do it."

"I was kidding," he placed the mask on but not before winking to a group of female travellers who giggled at his false affection.

It was nice that the four of us could go together. Five actually, but Ana chose to sit in a seat further away. Even now she was observing from a distance, watching for the unlikely chance of danger. Dad and Zen couldn't leave at such short notice due to work but were quite okay to see us off. The two had been flirting far too much for my comfort and could use the alone time. Of course, Aria and I used the free tickets and accommodation while Endi and Vanter paid extra.

Eventually it was time to board but as we scanned our tickets the attendant smiled, pulling us to the side.

"Ardent Friend and party?" she confirmed with a business smile.

"Yes," I answered confused. "Is something wrong?"

"No, on the contrary your seats have been upgraded to business class."

"Oh," I blinked surprised and eyed Vanter who shrugged. "Do you know who upgraded them?"

"Unfortunately no, our system doesn't say so."

"Well we're not going to say no," I smiled, grateful for the sudden change. More than likely the people at Areithia Limited had given us a gift, on the other hand it could easily have been Xavier from GrayTech. Our research had changed direction from their assistance. The Professor was very intrigued about using the VBH as a tool to drive machinery and Magnolia was a perfect test subject and assistant.

The business class seats were much nicer than I expected, with each of us getting out own individual pod like seats. Compared to the Economy class seats I had used after the Merge, they were incredibly comfortable.

Vanter sat on my right and relaxed into his seat, "So what's the plan?"

"We can talk about that later," I replied as I did the same. Aria on my left was busy inspecting the buttons on her seat and Endi was much the same, a full grin plastered on her face. "It's nice to see them enjoying themselves."

Vanter chuckled, "Well it's not a first for us. I kind of miss those days."

"Back when we worked as diplomats?"

"Yeah. It was the first time I actually had to work. It was rough, but rewarding. We did good work back then."

"Could you imagine if they gave us business class seats?"