Arriving at a modern looking hotel, Aida had a small amount of expectations that they would get to stay at a slightly luxurious location. The exterior seemed to indicate that this was a slightly more upscale location.
Contrary to her expectations, the moment she stepped through the front doors, a frown developed upon her face. She saw rows of females standing in scanty clothes, looking down in fear and shame. She had previously wondered where all the females on the base were and now she knew. Most of the females here were afraid to even move. It was clear they were being placed as goods for guests. On the ground, even in the lobby, there were suspicious white liquids strewn everywhere that no one had bothered to clean up. At each corner, there were a few bulky men who were clearly there to "supervise" the females and make sure they didn't run.
This location was clearly not fit for children. Rose immediately frowned at the sight, her face still unreadable. Aida was endlessly thankful that the children were not ordinary and remained calm despite seeing this scene. She assumed that they weren't at the age they could comprehend what was going on, so relaxed slightly as a result. Aida entirely missed Rose's slight reaction towards this view.
Aida glared at the tattooed guard in askance. He immediately raised his arms defensively, "I-I-I am just bringing you to the best hotel that we got. It's quieter on the next floor so you can stay there."
Aida frowned but gestured for him to lead the way. As long as no one provoked her, she would allow them to continue to operate for now. The guard quickly brought them up to the second floor as he explained where everything was.
"Grub is on the first floor to the right, there is a chef. However, you ain't gonna wanna let them kids eat it," he said this with a glance towards Rose and Little White.
Aida furrowed her eyebrows as she heard this. It seems the guard was subtly indicated to her that there was something extra included in the food. This was such a sketchy hotel.
Walking into the room, it was a single king sized bed with an attached bathroom. It could be seen that the hotel was formerly a 5 star hotel, but now it looked more like a Motel 6. The sheets had weird stains on them and the bathroom had a strange stench coming from it.
The guard scratched his head sheepishly and explained, "We ain't got any cleaners and them females are…. are preoccupied, so this is the best we can do for ya."
He remained near the door as the others walked in, eager to run off as soon as possible. "I'll leave you all here. When the leader comes, I will come to get you."
With that, he shut the door and ran away, eager to get away from Aida. Aida shook her head, the man even forgot to let her know how to contact him. Sighing, she cut him some slack since he seemed to have a good heart.
The first thing she did when she entered the room was to check for wiretaps and cameras. It was common for places like these to have some "extra" pieces of technology for insurance.
Looking through the place high and low, with the help of Xiao Ai and Artie, they found a total of 10 pieces of surveillance technology. Little White and Rose watched on with wide eyes. Aida patiently explained each piece of technology to them and where the common places to hide these items were. She even taught them better locations for hiding the surveillance cameras and mics so they would be less likely to be found.
Seeing that they had understood and absorbed the lessons, she nodded and threw them all into water to get rid of them. Reluctantly sitting on the disgusting bed, she said, "Well, we're going to be here for the night. This isn't a safe place so make sure you stay alert all the time. We have to protect each other's backs."
Taking out one of the bento boxes that Light packed for them, she passed them out to Xiao Ai, Rose and Little White. The room had a slight stench to it so they opened the window to air it out. There also weren't enough seats so Rose made an ice chair for herself and Little White.
Everyone was slightly cheered by the delectable food. "Good thing Light packed us some good food," Aida commented as she ate another mouthful, savoring the flavor. He knew they might not have a microwave, so he prepared food that would taste good both hot and cold.
After they finished eating, it was time to get to work.
"Why don't you all spend this time reviewing the lessons that Light taught you and do some homework." Aida suggested to the kids.
"I'm going to go and check on the situation at this base. Xiao Ai, you will stay here too. You're in charge. All of you make sure you protect each other while I'm away and stay in the room. Don't answer the door for any strangers. Listen to Xiao Ai if anything happens."
They all nodded obediently. Even Little White, who was typically unresponsive, nodded. He was learning and growing at a rapid pace much to everyone's relief. Rose quietly took out the homework from her own and Little White's backpack and pulled him over to study.
Xiao Ai bounced around happily after hearing she was in charge before settling down on Little White's head. She closed her eyes and began her personal assignment. She had to hack into the base's network to find interesting pieces of information that could be useful for Aida to use as leverage against the base leader.
Seeing that they were set, Aida left the room through the window to avoid detection from the guards who were placed outside their door. They had a clear system on how to watch over the "guests" in this hotel.