Shrouded in a sea of fog, the grandeur mansion was suspended in it. It was heavenly as well as surreal. In front of the mansion’s left wing was a small garden where Hao Ren and Raven 12345 were sitting across a fine tea table, facing each other. It was poetic as much as mystical. But the mansion owner was a crazy goddess.
Hao Ren felt the lady in front was sticking out like a sore thumb.
"The new tenant was transported by an outsourcing company, and the outsourcing company made a mistake in their astronomical unit calculation, causing the transport vessel to dock and discharge its passenger 895 light years from where it was supposed to land." Raven 12345 with a cup of red tea in hand appeared elegant. "There is CCTV surveillance in the container of the space catapult, everything is monitored. I need you to get there, extract and bring him back."
Hao Ren was riveted. Not until Raven 12345 shot a plasma ball at his head he gave a response. He gazed at the matter-of-fact face of the Goddess, sensing her seriousness he finally came back. "You meant you’re sending me into space?"
"There’s nothing surprising about that." Raven 12345 put her cup down, adding a few teaspoons of granulated sugar from a sugar bowl as she continued. "Just like what I’ve told you, you’re my assistant, and I’m the Goddess of the universe. If the earth is only what I’ve to govern, what for I need an assistant? Since you’ve shown your worth for the last couples of mission, it’s time for more challenges. Before you do, you need to familiarize yourself with the universe, so this space trip’s just that—a paid business and leisure excursion. Nothing dangerous nor conspiratorial. Just free and easy. It’s an eye-opener. It’s a trip every inspector gets to experience before going full-fledged."
Hao Ren was wide-mouthed. He knew Raven 12345 was right but somehow he had got an unreal feeling. But after a while he finally came to grip with it. "Don’t you think it’s a leap too far? I managed to come out alive from fighting a bunch of demon hunters on earth yesterday, now you want me to go interstellar? Haven’t you heard of transition period?"
Raven 12345 took a couple of sips before saying. "It’s not so much of a frog leap. Just an escape from the earth’s gravity. And for you, geosynchronous orbit and extra-galactic objects have little difference, you have never been there. At the same time, you mustn’t neglect your duty on earth. The universe’s your workplace, no matter which planet it might be. Earth’s just your familiar home base where the difference end."
Something was on Raven 12345’s mind. There was a pause. Then she continued. "Everything happens on earth for a reason. A reason of which the purpose and meaning might extend far beyond earth itself. Every plan I have for you has a deeper meaning to it. All things you encounter are interrelated in some ways. For some reason, I’m not going to tell you now. You’ll understand why when you get more matured."
Hao Ren stared at Raven 12345’s serious face in awe. He had never heard her saying such thing. "I’m a little surprised you become so serious."
"Ya, me too." Raven 12345 shrugged as she put aside her cup of tea which had turned mushy. "Someone said acting like that could inspire awe and confidence."
Hao Ren: "....."
"You’ll arrange everything for the interstellar mission?" Hao Ren rubbed his chin. He tried hard not to show his excitement as well as nervousness as to project himself as a mature. "The spaceship you last mentioned..."
"Oh, your personal space vessel? It’s coming soon but you aren’t going to use it. You can’t operate it." Raven 12345 pointed to his MDT which was floating asleep in the air. "There’s now a bidirectional teleporting function in your MDT. Two preset destinations. One being my place—here, it saves you the hassle of looking for public transport; the other is Kuiper station, the first launchpad to interstellar travel. If you have your own personal space vessel, it will dock there too."
No matter how hard Hao Ren tried, his heart was beating faster than he would want it to. He turned and looked at the MDT, tear started welling in his eyes. "Spatial shift? I’m getting the privileged treatment right now?!"
"Privileged what? It’s just standard equipment for inspectors. Every inspector has two basic teleporting authorities. One’s toward the nearest rendezvous point, in your case that means here—this big mansion; a second one is a predetermined star station—by the default it’s the nearest space port from the field of mission. Unless circumstances call for it, try not to use teleporting too frequently during short, or non-time-critical missions. The reasons are; one, it’s not good for your health; two, doing the things the old way is always a good way to increase your experience, especially a rookie like you."
Hao Ren kept nodding. But his mind was already thinking about how he would make use of the new function. The first channel was supposedly a convenient way to report back to his superior, but it would come in handy in a desperate escape just like the battle with the demon hunters yesterday—of course that would turn into a laughing stock for Raven 12345 too. He hadn’t had an idea about the second exit point. His knowledge about space port was only coming from Hollywood’s blockbusters. But that wasn’t the point, all he cared was the teleporting function itself.
He had a few experiences of teleporting and was awed by its convenience. Now he finally had the chance of operating one himself.
"You look excited..." Raven 12345 smiled as she looked at Hao Ren, tapping her temple. "Besides, something about adding favorite points. What I’ve told you about was the two default points of open authority. You can add more points if you want to. It might come in handy, who know? Just tell the MDT, it will do the rest. But there’s a caveat: the MDT must memorize on-site. It can’t set places where it has never been to into its memory."
Shivering out of excitement, Hao Ren plucked the MDT down from the air and shove it back into his pocket. Once again, the thrill of having a new toy filled him. He started to feel surreal: it was a stark contrast to the last ‘paycheck’ which seemed to be in bad shape and was given in reluctance, this time Raven 12345 had been brisk and generous in providing a useful resource with high discretionary power attached. Hao Ren felt it was like finding out he was the kin of a rich Saudi uncle, and the uncle had died.
"May I ask, why the good perk now?
"...In fact I should have given you last week. Just that I’ve forgotten."
Now Hao Ren felt his rich uncle had donated all his wealth before he died.
"Is it capable of ferrying passengers?" Hao Ren seized the opportunity to as many questions as he could as he knew that Raven 12345 would have never elaborated if not requested. He knew too well the b*tch.
"Of course," Raven nodded. "anyone you choose within five-hundred meters radius, the MDT will lock on them. No quantity, quality, or size limitations. But I’ve got to warn you: although the level of teleporting technology of the empire is pretty mature right now, the MDT was meant to be used by the Xi Ling disciples like me. Most of its existing functions are downgraded versions of the military. Though the technology has been refined many times, the teleporting function still pose a health hazard to users especially women, the young and the old, so..."
"So don’t use it on the old and children, right? I know."
"No. I mean you better stay away after the ride in case they throw up."
Hao Ren at a lost for words.
The Goddess was humorous as much as comical.