II - Iris Station

After five days of uneventful travel, the Viento Frio finally arrives at the gigantic domed colony of Iris Station, located on a huge former mining asteroid that has been stripped of all its valuable minerals over a decade ago and that these days is almost purely a pleasure colony for everyone ranging from the super rich to the poor with its hotels, bars, theaters, museums, casinos and strip clubs.

The docking and boarding of the station proceeds without difficulties. The papers that von Eltik provided for the ship and crew check out and the mercenaries are allowed onto the station.
They don't have many clues to start their investigation: Szymon von Eltik checked into his hotel suite so someone there must have seen him. His security guards are also still at the hotel and while they were not suposed to investigate his disappearance, they might know something. There is also the mercenary that he was supposed to meet with. He disappeared before their scheduled meeting but she could still have been involved since she knew that he was supposed to be here and when he would arrive.



The mercenaries arrive at the Sapphire Hotel, the last known location of Szymon von Eltik late in the morning, just before noon, by local time. It is located in one of the better districts of the station, although not in the most luxurious. Von Eltik could have definitely been able to afford an even better hotel for his son if he had wanted to but he most likely didn't want to draw more attention to the scheduled meeting than necessary.

The hotel's entrance hall is large, open and crowded. If a shooting were to break out here, there would not be a lot of cover available. There are also lots of vantage points that snipers could make use of, although the risk of civilian casualties would be high in this busy environment. It's not the best place to start a gunfight in.
Towards the back of the hall, there is a row of check-in desks. Only two of them are actually staffed with people while the others only have a computer standing by. There is a short queue of three people waiting to talk to the desk attendants while most of the computers are free.

According to von Eltik, his son was staying in room number 1903, on the second highest floor. His bodyguards were ordered to wait there for further instructions and haven't called in since then so they should still be there. Von Eltik did not have a room key to give to the mercenaries.

Carlos steps into the lobby and tries not to stare. He is wearing his set of fancy clothes. They are nice enough, but probably a year or two out of style. His pistol is in a holster under his jacket. He has no armour. There is not much that would make him stand out.

Lain enters the Sapphire Hotel on her own, wearing her usual white "pilot" L-grav suit, clearly trying to signal she just arrived. She carries her rifle strapped on her back and a gun on the closed holster ion her right leg. As she approaches the check-in desks, the staff can see her dragging her luggage, with a teddy bear on top of it, as she approaches them. "Good morning! I'd like to check in to one of the rooms. Do you have anything available? Does this hotel has a place to store the tools for 'space travel'?" she says as she touches her "pocket" gun.

Carlos heads to the bar first. He grabs a seat at the end of the bar and orders a beer. He makes sure to tip well.

After drinking half the beer, and when the bartender is in a lull, he calls them over and shows the picture of the missing son.

Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you have seen my friend here.

When passes the picture he will pass the price of ten drinks as well.

He likes to play poker, but doesn't like paying what he owes.

Don't worry, I have no intention of hurting him, I just want my money. If I get that money, I will have a lot more to spend in here.

ANDREW enters the lobby in flight overalls without a firearm. He walks with purpose to the unmanned terminals that serve as check in desks and begins busying himself to make it appear as though he is checking in. He is actually trying to access the hotel's messaging and charges system to see what charges had accrued to von Eltik's room and if any messages were left for him at the hotel.

Lain has to wait a few minutes until the line has cleared out in front of her and she can talk to the desk attendant.
A young woman - or a woman that went through surgery to still look young - with a blonde ponytail greets her. Her eyes wander from the weapon to the teddy to the girl's face. "You haven't reserved? Most of our rooms are unfortunately already booked out" She turns towards her computer screen and then, after a brief pause, adds with a fake customer service smile: "Lucky for you, there are a few options left, all of them with personal safes in the rooms as well as the option to store your belongings in the shared hotel vault. What price range are you looking for?"The barkeeper looks at Carlos with narrowed eyes but then pockets the money and looks at the picture. Without hesitation, he says: "I know this guy. Simon, right? He came down here a couple of days ago to get wasted and pick up girls. I think he left with one of the professionals. Generous guy, gave pretty nice tips. He told me he's staying here for a few more days and asked for tips on what to do on Iris. I expected him to come back here the next day but he didn't. Must have found a better place to get drunk." He looks past Carlos towards a corner of the bar. It's empty. "The ladies of the night aren't here yet. They usually come in around lightdown. If you come back then, they might be able to tell you more."Nobody pays any special attention to ANDREW. Although some people scoff at the idea of machines living in a hotel room when they could just as easily power down in a small storage container, many Androids enjoy staying at luxurious hotels for the same reasons humans do. After all, they are sentient creatures just like everyone else. There are even a few Androids in the crowd so the sight of ANDREW approaching one of the computers and presumably booking a room doesn't draw any attention.

Unfortunately, his attempt to get to the information on Szymon of Eltik is unsuccessful. Every time he attempts to access functions outside of booking and reservation, the computer displays an error message. After a couple of attempts, the console locks him out and displays a message: If you are having trouble at this console, please talk to one of our front desk employees
The tone of the pop-up is professional and helpful but ANDREW understands the implication. If he messes around with the computers any further, security will get involved to stop him.

Thank you. I think I will stick around until they show up.

He takes a look at the menu.

I will have a coffee and whatever passes as steak. I don't want to know what it is, I will just pretend it is meat I am familiar with.

Lain look sat the girl, clearly unpleased with her suggestion that all the hotel is booked. Before she can speak, the girl announces that she found some option and Lain forces a fake smile to this "surprising" costumer services manoeuvre. "Definitely a room that can keep these tools safe" she says, knowing that the room she needs is far too expensive for her "I can do with a basic room. I'll be just taking a quick break from my last delivery job"

This interface is quite frustrating. ANDREW stares at the terminal for a long time before turning and making his way to the nearest concierge.

"Hello, what facilities do you possess to house artificial beings? I must be available at the shortest notice." He implies that his operator is staying in the hotel.

"You'll be waiting a good couple of hours then", the barkeeper says to Carlos with a shrug. He pours hot coffee from a tab behind the counter and hands it to Carlos. "Steak will take a couple of minutes. Sit down somewhere. I'll bring it to you."
At this time of day, the bar is still mostly empty. Most of the people here are eating and drinking something similar to what he chose - coffee and some hearty meal. He does notice some people who are already drinking alcohol as well, though. There are enough empty spaces for Carlos to sit by himself if he wants to. Or he could join someone sitting alone or an existing group to talk to them.

The woman's eyes wander over Lain's clothes and gear again as she tries to determine just how basic of a room would suit the girl. "Certainly", she then says with a smile. "I need you to fill out this form and you will have to either pay in advance or leave some sort of collateral with us that you will receive back after payment." She hands a small hand tablet to Lain with a contract for the room booking on it. The selected room number is 187, the price per night is high but Lain can afford it for two or three nights before her funds would start running low. The form asks for her name, date of birth, home planet/station and expected duration of stay.
Lain gets the distinct impression that the customer service would be a lot better if she was richer and had asked for a more expensive room.

While Lain is still talking to one of the attendants, ANDREW moves to talk to the other one. The woman looks the android over, seemingly trying to establish whether he is sentient or not.
Either deciding that he is or just veering on the side of caution to not offend, she replies: "All our suites and rooms are fully equipped for artificial guests. If you simply need a power station and safe storage, we also have more affordable and less luxurious options." After a brief pause, she adds: "We charge for rooms by the bed. If you are with a human and don't require a bed of your own, you can stay in their room for no extra charge."

Carlos sits by himself and waits. He picks a corner that allows him to watch the room and entrance.

Lain looks the girl up and down, trying to match the snobbish look "For a day that will do. I guess the price includes food, from what I checked on the ship". She grabs the papers and starts filling them with the fake information: Lara Ina, Viento Frio... . Whule she is writing she turns to the android "Hey ANDREW, come here!"

ANDREW turns to Lain, "Oh, hello there LARA INA." He bends at the elbow to bring his open palm in front of his shoulder. "How good to see you."

Lain whisper to the check-in lady in front of her, in case someone notices later that they came together, "Old model, you know..." she tilts her head in Andrew's direction with a smile and continues to fill the forms.

Shortly after he sits down, the barkeeper brings Carlos his food. It's actually pretty good. The meat is almost definitely lab grown but it tastes real and, while no culinary masterpiece, is prepared well.
Not much interesting stuff happens in the bar at this time. People come in, order food, eat and leave. Nobody seems to be paying any attention to Carlos. He's just another human, drinking coffee and having breakfast.
Just when he is about to finish his food, however, Carlos notices something happening. A woman walks up to the barkeeper and starts talking to him. She's not wearing armor or carrying any weapons as far as Carlos can see but the large scar on the side of her face tells Carlos that she's probably no stranger to violence. After a moment, the barkeeper hands her a coffee but with the way the woman takes it, it seems almost like an afterthought. She's not there for the drink.
After the woman and barkeeper exchange a few more words, he subtly nods towards Carlos. A few seconds later, the woman turns her head, making it look random and casual, and her eyes focus on him for just a second before she turns back to the barkeeper.

The two front desk attendants look from ANDREW to Lain and back, then the one that had been serving Lain smiles a meaningless customer service smile in response to Lain's explanation. She then asks: "Do you two belong together? Will the room you selected be enough for you then? You can still upgrade to a larger one.""

"Is it not fully equipped for artificial guests?" she smiles as she returns the forms. "I'd expect an establishment of this quality to have this sort of situations thought through."

Carlos takes a close look and runs through his memory to see if she matches any photos we saw in our briefing.

Carlos tried to remember if the woman was in any of his files but he comes up empty. He is almost certain he would remember her though if she was in there. She has a pretty distinctive face.

"As I just explained to your artificial companion", the woman ANDREW had been talking to explains. "all our rooms are fully equipped for guests of his kind and he can share your room for no additional charge. My colleague was just asking if you would prefer an upgrade"

"Well if he fits, then no need to fill more paperwork. It’s just one night. But thanks for asking

"The current accomodations are likely plenty adequate." ANDREW replies. "LARA INA, did you disembark with luggage that you would like carried?" He looks at her feet, noting nothing, then turns back to the front desk worker, waiting for a keycard or other authorization.