//File 0.1 - Hotaru//

As none of the potential tails he identified reacted or followed, Hotaru was starting to wonder if the stress of the sudden situation was getting to him. Still, to be on the safe side, he gave a command to his drone to warn him when he detected again the smell profile of those people, including the sweaty orc. He walked around, taking some random turns while waiting for his plane, keeping an eye out for potential dangers, like signs of people, cameras or security drone keeping him purposefully in their sights.

He also had the dog check for any new smell on them indicating someone could have put a bug or tracker on him or his equipment.

Near the moment of boarding, he found a discreet spot to overview the boarding room and looked for anything or anyone suspicious before getting ready to board the plane himself.

Hotaru had taken many precautions to get to the boarding gate. The attendants had begun to invite passengers to board. Hotaru saw the business woman walk towards the lane for business-class, after which she disappeared through the gate for boarding. A while later he saw the dwarf and his bodyguard, who was also a business-class passenger. Hotaru only had an economy class ticket.

"Last call for flight GX8799E2 for boarding."

Hotaru will board the plane and keep on eye on on people who pay specific attention on him entering the plane.

"Sir, we will need you to deactivate your drone, and also any active cyberware you currently have running. Standard security protocols on all flights." The attendant as the gate explained the procedure for all passengers registered with such legal devices and gear.

Hotaru deactivate and pick up his dog. "Can't I use my commlink? Its gonna be a long flight.

"Yes of course sir, you may connect your commlink through the flight interface. Our aircraft will serve as the host portal for all your communications needs while you are on the flight. We will be able to store your drone for you until we land." The attendant indicated towards an automated trolley system to assist Hotaru.

"I'd prefer to keep it with me, thank you. It will help me stay calm, you see, its actually my first time being in a plane."

"Why certainly!" The attendant smiled at Hotaru, and motioned for another to come forward, "Now that we know that it's your first time flying, let us make your journey as pleasant as possible. This is Helen, she will show you to your seat and help you settle in." Helen smiled even more brightly as she began to walk Hotaru down the aerobridge and oversaw his stowing both the anthrodrone and his backpack into the appropriate compartments, and she then brought him all the accoutrements necessary for him to plug into the flight, including the network key which allowed him to connect to the integrated commdeck built into his seat.

With his cyber equipment all powered down, Hotaru felt cut off from his usual heightened sense of perception and awareness. Used to being able to mentally visualise the icons and rigging possibilities of everything around him, and also to see and hear through his own drones, being forced to use his meat eyes and ears and traffic through the flight network made everything seem slow and distant.

The transorbital took off promptly, the journey taking no longer than three hours from London to neo-Tokyo. Throughout this time, he didn't catch a glimpse of those whom he was suspicious of, as both the dwarf and the woman were further up in business class. He wondered if there was anyone in economy class whom he ought to be wary of, but without his gear active he didn't know whether he ought to try to scan them.

Hotaru had often turned off his AR to record as pure a SIMRIG experience, however he was discovering that it was quite different when the only available experience were so ... banal. His sharpened senses, even in meatspace, came from his outstanding intuition, trained mind and bioware augment that, unlike a wired reflex or a cybereye, could not be turned off anymore than you could turn off your own feelings.

In the enclosed space of a economy airplane section, Hotaru felt like he was hearing every conversation simultaneously, noticing every movement, smelling every perfume. Dozens of stranger sitting, breathing and fidgeting in his personal space. With his situation, escaping by sleep or sim seemed unwise and he was at a bit of a loss as to the best way to navigate the situation. When the plane started moving his growing unease worsened. As it happen, flying without the power to feel and control every articulation of the airplane was not as enjoyable as his usual aircraft experiences... Every turn and shake of the plane was a reminder that he was not in control of his life anymore.

Sensing a budding panic trying to take over his brain, Hotaru took his last dose of Psyche and did some breathing exercice waiting for the drug to kick in. Despite the discomfort, he was regretting missing the opportunity to record this new experience, it would have been interesting to review after things settle. After of few minutes, he started feeling the familiar detached awareness. His senses were becoming at the same time sharper and easier to compartmentalize.

Using the focus of the drug, Hotaru used his time to observed and listen to every other person in the section one by one, taking not to draw attention of course. Noticing speed of breathing, listening to conversations, analyzing body langage, he learned more about the meta-humanity in those few hours than he did in his almost 20 years of life. The experience left him with a nudging feeling that his new found lack of control was actually something that most of meta-humanity was dealing with on a daily basis.

The passenger next to him simply thought that Hotaru was taking some medication and trying his best to close his eyes and relax into the flight. As he tried to settle in, the hyper awareness began to kick in. At times he could hear the family several rows behind, with a fussy toddler, this was interjected by loud conversation, or at least it seemed loud to him, of a number of friends who were chatting to pass the time. The hydraulic sounds of the service columns next to him which dispensed food and drink as needed were sharp and jarring. All in all, it was as if without his augmented filters, sorting out the various stimuli was so much harder.

At one point he noticed the dwarf's bodyguard enter his zone, crossing to the back of the craft, where he spoke to a smartly dressed orc at the back, before returning to business class. Two Japanese businessmen were discussing the latest corp news and the stock market. Somewhere along the line he figured out who the Lone Star air marshal was; standard security on the flight. He was probably the only personnel with his cyberware fully operational. However, Hotaru could not sense the goings on in business nor first class.

The bodyguard, powered down as he was, still cut a sleek and imposing figure as he moved down the aisle to talk, and then back again later, always on the lookout around him even in as restricted a space as the aircraft cabin.

Noticing the bodyguard immediately as he enter this section, it is easy to see that he is constantly alert. Hotaru closes his eyes and focuses all of his others sense on the bodyguard's presence. He cut through the ambient noise to follow the guy's footstep and breathing and, hopefully, conversations.

The bodyguard's vigilance meant that he was quite sure he was being watched, trained as he was to always be wary. So while Hotaru could hear the conversation he had, the conversation did not revolve around anything significant, merely some pleasantries. Whatever the bodyguard had planned to talk about, he decided not to. On the way back, he gave Hotaru a confrontational look, aware that Hotaru had been paying attention to him.

Surprisingly, the bodyguard antagonistic behavior reassured Hotaru. While it was not his specialty, he had participated in enough races to be confortable in a competitive environment and that man acted like Hotaru was the one messing with his race. While the young rigger still intended to be ready for trouble, it was good to have a reminder that the whole world was not after him.

Having been obviously noticed, he answered the angry look with a half smile, half sorry expression. Then relaxed and enjoyed observing "normal" people with their "normal' behaviour and worries for the rest of the trip.

The bodyguard met Hotaru's eyes as he passed. He make sure that Hotaru understood his stern look, as if to warn him off attempting anything else. It was after all what he was employed to do, to notice threats and protect his employer from them. Hotaru was a threat, simply because he had been too obviously nosy. With that established, the guard returned to place, and made no further contact with the orc he spoke to.

The rest of the journey continued to be a flood of sensation and perception for Hotaru. The hyperawareness from his drug still focussed his senses far and wide throughout the cabin. He could hear the music his neighbour was listening to through the neighbour's jacked in link. The teenage girl from two aisles away noticed him, but tried to pretend she wasn't checking him out, even the landing announcement in his own commlink sounded too loud.

Their flight finally descended into Narita International Airport, one of the largest airports in the Sixth World. While suborbital flight takeoffs were near vertical, their landing followed a circle and glide pattern to bring them safely onto a modified super runway. The landing was painless, and at disembarkation, the two parties Hotaru had been suspicious of in business class had been allowed to leave earlier, so Hotaru did not manage to catch a glimpse of them. Perhaps he could spot them at baggage claim later.

At the immigration counter, the scanning entryway Hotaru stepped through seemed to have signaled an alert which sent an officer over to where Hotaru was. "Sir, could you step this way please?" She directed him to an office room nearby.

"Sure" Hotaru head calmly into the office.

Through the immigration office, Hotaru was shown into a bare room with a table and white walls and led to a seat. "Mr Jacques Etienne." The officer read his name and details off a small wrist mounted display, "We need to ask you a few questions. Are you in possession of any drugs or illegal substances, on your person or in your belongings? Are you currently using any such substance?"