Huh.
“What level of work was it?” I ask.
“Heroic.”
“Of course it is.” I rub my chin, considering. I mean, I do have an Altered Storage space. If I could slip one of the works into it and stare at it before a fight, an extra Skill would be nice. Even if it is a Basic Skill. “All right, so we do the gallery opening. We find a place to talk to Katherine in the gallery and hopefully, find out who we can target. Sounds simple enough.”
“You had to say that, didn’t you?” Ali says, and I wince.
Oops.
***
Getting into the third ring requires a little work on my side, an adjustment on the pass restrictions that we received upon arriving in Irvina. The ones we originally received allow us to the fourth ring at most, and that with an additional payment. A minor push with the System Edit Skill changes them so that we can enter the third ring without issue and the second with a permit request.
The actual editing of our passes takes a bit. Partly because whoever designed the System for verification is paranoid. There are multiple safeguards in place, including a check against a central database, none of which I’d have known except for the fact that we had our previous permits. Using that as the basis for our amended permits, I was able to do the System-equivalent of hack the various databases.
Wielding the System Edit Skill is painful, as it floods my body with System Mana. Each time I try to read anything, try to Edit anything, I need to call that particular piece of code into my very body before I can begin the process.
It’s painful and drains me of Mana at an astounding rate, but I get the job done. Once I’m finished, I verify that I’m not being logged before I move on. Thankfully, whoever decided to create Admin positions as Classes didn’t also include a logging function. At least, not for our actual use of Skills.
It’s an interesting factor, meaning that once you change something, unless you keep track of the changes yourself, it’s never possible to go backward. Of course, I’ve got so many restrictions on what I can see or edit that this might only be for non-essential areas.
As I continue to play with my Skill, I learn the extent of my influence, and unsurprisingly, it’s nowhere as large or wide as I’d like. I do wonder how much of that is because I’m a Junior Administrator and how much is because I’ve only got access to a single Skill thus far.
Questions, questions, questions.
“Wake up, boy-o,” Ali sends.
I look up in time for the private bubble car to slide to a halt beside the building. I resolutely don’t look down since the floor is transparent and there are thousands of meters beneath my feet. The gallery we’re visiting is expensive, which means it’s located high up in Galactic society parlance.
In short order, we step out and join the small line of visitors. Wind catches and tugs at our clothing, threatening to blow us off the long balcony leading to the entrance proper with each gust. The constant hum and hiss of arriving flying cars floats down from the roof, where the rich and powerful arrive, and mixes with the whirr of constant video recordings. Muffled words, shouts, arrive in broken sentences, before another twist of the wind carries the words away.
Along with the noise and the cold of the altitude, there’s the smell. It’s floral with a hint of salt and thyme, piped into the open-air bay we stand in, along with a touch of heat to keep the place from being completely inhospitable.
Most of those who stand here don’t seem bothered. I let my gaze flick across the numerous well-dressed individuals—and let me tell you, what is considered well-dressed in Galactic society is jaw-droppingly varied due to the mixture of cultures—and pick out the varied methods used to deal with the cold and winds.
Enchantments, glowing to provide strength and warmth. Deceptively light cloth or fur, taken from creatures in cold dungeons, that negate thermal penalties. Spells wrapped around auras. And in a very few cases, like the pair of us, just incredibly high Constitutions.
In fact, lack of clothing and protection seems to be as much a statement as the expensive materials some people wear. And while most of the clothing is civilian in form, in function, it could easily work as combat ware. Bonuses to Constitution, Strength, Agility are all in play, as well as the softer attributes. The most expensive pieces of equipment even boost Aura skills.
“Does no one understand subltety?” Mikito mutters.
Standing in line, we’re buffeted by multiple Auras, pheromone- and scent-based attacks, and Charisma-based enchantments.
I grunt in reply, handing our pair of tickets to the crocodile-like humanoid attendant. Ali, even when pressed, refused to admit how he got those tickets on such short notice. I am somewhat concerned, but considering we’ve been here before, I take it on good faith they didn’t come with too many strings attached.
“Flaunting your power is important,” Ali says in a not-so-quiet whisper. “Especially since you can’t do it inside.”
“Why not?” I say, surprised as I take the tickets back. I step forward, only to halt as the crocodile speaks.
His voice grates and hisses, but it’s also surprisingly well-enunciated. “Aura Skills would affect the artwork. Especially in large numbers.”
“Ah!” I nod. “Thank you.” And then, on a whim, I offer him a hand and send over a Credit tip when he takes it.
The crocodile-man grins and leans down, whispering, “If you speak to Trez on the third landing, let him know Idz says you’re good people and to let you in.”
I blink, but nod in thanks before moving away from the crocodile. Staying too long would make too big a scene. As it is, our clothing is close enough to being high quality, but I have a feeling close isn’t exactly sufficient.
As we head in, I can’t help but ask Ali for clarification.
“Private viewing. There’s the kind of place you get in if you’re invited. They’ll have the better pieces in there. Or the stuff that has been pre-sold but the buyers still want to show off,” Ali says.
I crane my neck upward as we wander into the gallery proper. The entire thing takes up three stories, with a central open-air area and wide winding ramps that snake around the periphery. Along the walls and sometimes smack dab in the middle of the ramps themselves are the art pieces.
“Now what?” Mikito says as we stare at the central piece, joining the audience.
The central piece reminds me of modern art, if modern art was sculpted in light and sound, in taste and Mana. It’s impossible to see it fully without Mana sense, and even then, the more you stare, the more is revealed as the sculpture shifts and changes. Eventually though, there’s a pattern to the movement. A story perhaps, or just guided fluctuations in Mana.
“We look around. And maybe buy something,” I say to Mikito as we continue to stare at the artwork.
More than a few sapients stop and regard the work. Some take to the sky, floating above us. After a few minutes of regard, I get the buff that increases my Perception by tens of points and even gives me a passive Skill effect for the next hour that extends my physical senses and my concentration levels. Nothing more than a Basic Skill, but I could see a corporation purchasing something like this and leaving it in their lobby to give their employees a boost.
Idly, I look at the price of the piece and choke.
“You could buy a damn warship with that!” I splutter.
My outraged utterance gets more than a few disdainful looks and one fart noise from a ball-like creature. Mikito rolls her eyes while Ali is clutching his sides, rolling around in the air as I finally realize how expensive this work really is.
“You knew,” I state flatly to Ali, dropping my voice as we head away.
“Oh yeah, boy-o.” Ali sniffs. “This is artwork made by a Heroic Class artist! Of course it’s expensive.”