Tempest: The Champion

Phase 10: Disclosure, part 1

The largest wharf in the harbour, apparently reserved for this sea king, now comes alive. Several hidden limelights start to shine, creating a magnificent, holographic gate above the wharf. It reads: Board the HEIMDALL ship right now and experience the future in Demilitarized Industrial Alliance of Northern Areas! The regular cruise Newcastle - Bergen, 9:00, is arriving at the wharf. Current delay: 0 minutes.

"Wow, the DIANA guys like to have things fancy, right?" I stare at the transparent gate made of light.

"And this is only the beginning," Ryan smirks.

The ship arrives at the wharf and the passengers start to board it using several escalators leading to the main deck. There are probably much more people than usual because of the tournament in Norway. Even though the lines are long, they advance surprisingly quickly.

At the end of each staircase, a robot awaits us. I'm already used to robotic clerks and assistants, but it's still a bit unsettling sight - the robots still aren't perfect enough to overcome the "" effect, but they're pleasing enough to interact with.

The robots at the end of the staircase are here to check our tickets. They are sitting on a floating chair fueled by a Counter-gravity engine which resembles a white seashell with cushions inside. The robots themselves are made to look like Diana, the fictional girl which serves as an embodiment of the northern alliance. She has pale skin, tomboy smile, shoulder-long black hair and blue eyes, one of them covered with an augmented reality visor. She's wearing a black top revealing a few centimeters of her midriff, black hot pants with blue stripes and a white jacket with the DIANA flag pattern on the both sides of its chest area.

The robot starts its scripted sequence. She playfully crosses her legs and smiles at us. "Greetings, welcome on board of HEIMDALL! May I, please, see your tickets?"

The artificial girl's voice is perfect enough to not sound distorted. Ryan shows her the tickets on his pentop. Diana just looks at it - her eyes probably contain a scanner. Then she smiles again. "All clear! You may procceed. Have a great trip and enjoy your stay in DIANA!"

The whole proccess lasts for about thirty seconds. After we leave, another passenger approaches the robotic girl and she starts her sequence over again. I have to admit, it's an effective way to dispatch passengers. Before half past nine, the escalators disappear in the ship's hull and the vessel leaves the wharf.

"Okay, I have to get inside," Ryan says. "The larger ship, the better I feel. But I have to stay inside."

I laugh. I almost forgot about Ryan's seasickness.

...

The cruise is nice and peaceful, even though the weather gets colder the further we travel to the north. I taste some of the amusements the ship has to offer (for example a virtual reality gaming zone), eat in its restaurant whose glass-filled walls offer a great outlook on the sea and make some new friends among the Champions and my fans who recognize me.

"You almost kicked the soul off Nightingale!" one of the fans praises me. "You got this one. Ya better since I placed a bet on your victory in the Bifröst Challenge."

"I'd hate to disappoint you," I smirk. "I'll try my best."

I'd love to just shout out the truth about Nightingale. That she's a fraud who uses her beauty and sex-appeal to seduce her opponents and inject a toxine inside them. But since we don't have enough evidence yet, all I can do is remain silent and hope we'll gather enough evidence to be able to say it out loud without being accused of spreading defamations.

I don't see Ryan until we're about to land in Bergen. His skin is pale, but he doesn't look too devastated. But I still guess socializing with other Champions and giving away autographs was way more fun than the things Ryan had to go through.