"You forgot to give me the keys."
"Oh, you don't need a key here," replied the receptionist. The doors will only open for the people registered to them."
"Uh… okay. Thanks."
Their group of four made their way over to the other staff member, who keyed in '26' on a metal slab. Once she was done, the steel frame turned a brilliant blue, and the corridors of a plush hotel opened up in the middle of the frame: a portal.
"To return to the lobby, press 'L' on the panel opposite your room," she said. "Enjoy your stay!"
Ophelia held onto her mother's elbow as they stepped through the portal. It felt just like walking through a curtain of water, except she remained just as dry on the other end.
"You two get room 21," said Mr Katori, eyeing the kids sternly. "Behave yourselves. We don't want to get thrown out."
"Sure thing, Dad. You're being such a Mom right now."
Nero placed his arm on the door gingerly, not sure what he was supposed to do. To his surprise, the door whirred and unlocked without so much as a confirmation message.
He turned to Ophelia, who had an expression of utter confusion. "Facial recognition?"
"I don't know, and I don't care. All I want is to get showered and go for dinner."
Galaxace Hotel wasn't a premium hotel - in fact, it was amongst the more affordable options in the city. However, nothing about the room said 'cheap'; the floors were carpeted and thick, and a lemon-scented diffuser sat in between their two plush beds. The windows overlooking Meridian Primus had recently been cleaned, and the bathroom looked like someone had taken a brush to it just moments before they entered the room.
"I call dibs on the window bed!" shouted Ophelia, diving headfirst into the pillows. "Nero, look! I can see Alcaster Academy!"
Nero had glimpsed the Academy through his trawl through the internet, but nothing prepared him for seeing it in person.
Even from a distance, it was clear that Alcaster Academy was modelled after another galactic body: Jupiter. The school itself was encased in an enormous, orange-tinted dome that kept the rain away, and a massive ring was rotating around its midsection. Even Jupiter's Great Red Spot was reflected on the dome, although it was difficult to make out the source of the vermillion hue from so far away.
"Can you believe it?" whispered Ophelia. "We might be studying there next week. As espers."
"I don't want to get my hopes up."
"What kind of powers do you think we'd have?"
It was a good question, and one that Nero had tried his hardest not to think about. There were a total of six hundred recorded esper powers, and not all of them were very useful. Fortunately, the most common esper powers were also the most sought after - the manipulation of the elements.
"I don't know. I wouldn't mind something like hydrokinesis, to be honest - it'd be pretty cool to take a bath anywhere you want and dry yourself instantly."
"I was thinking the same thing! You'll never be thirsty, you can't drown - washing up after meals would be a breeze too."
"And maybe you'll even be able to make perfect poached eggs!"
Ophelia scowled. For all her genius, Ophelia happened to be a horrible cook. She had a tendency to follow instructions too closely, and not trust her own judgement. If a recipe called for her to poach an egg for 3 minutes, Ophelia would watch the clock like a hawk, ignoring how the pot continued to heat up more and more. She could never quite get a perfectly poached egg, which was especially annoying because she loved eating them.
"If I get hydrokinesis, I'm going to wet all of your socks the instant I learn how."
"I surrender," said Nero, laughing. "Go take a shower, we gotta head out soon."
Nero began to run through Ophelia's to-do list in Meridian Primus, which had been recorded down on a little notepad. There was a lot of sightseeing involved: visit Siren's Bay, the Moon Bridge, the Park of Eternal Day, and of course, Alcaster Academy. She also wanted to visit a place called the Anomalic House - no idea where that was - and attend an esper match at the Trempolis Arena - no idea what those two things were either.
On top of that, there were also a ton of restaurants Ophelia wanted to eat at, and places where she wanted to shop. When paired with her parents' own to-do lists, that was a lot of activities for a week.
In the time that they had here, it was just about possible for them to visit all these sites if they hurried from place to place, and the reason was obvious. None of them really expected to have a legitimate chance of entering Alcaster Academy.
Perhaps it was just as well. With his only form of exposure to espers being bullying, Nero was already at a disadvantage compared to people who grew up around espers. He didn't know anything about the limitations and applications of any powers, which meant that he'd be starting from rock bottom.
"Kids! Are you ready?" came Mr Katori's voice through the walls. "We're leaving in fifteen minutes."
"Okay!" replied Nero. "Oi Ophelia, hurry up, we're leaving in fif-"
Before he even finished his sentence, Ophelia came out in a towel, looking absolutely radiant - and utterly bewildered.
"You're done already?!"
"I - I don't know how to tell you what happened. Go take a bath and find out. I need to research something."
Nero wasn't sure what other surprises awaited him; the portal and front door had already threatened to short out his brain. With slight trepidation, he stepped into the bathroom.
It didn't look very different from the bathroom of his own house, apart from the 'WATER NOT SAFE FOR CONSUMPTION' sign on the shower stall. Nero quickly got undressed and stepped into the stall; curiously enough, there was no shampoo or soap to be seen anywhere.
Then he turned on the showerhead, and instantly realised what Ophelia was talking about.
There was something very different about the water - it felt… energetic, somehow, as though the water molecules were vibrating. Nero wasn't even sure if it was water. The liquid that came out of the showerhead was transparent, but the instant it made contact with his skin, it changed colour. Within five seconds, Nero found himself standing in a pale brown puddle.
He also felt cleaner than he had in his entire life. His face no longer felt oily, and his body felt fresh. It was as though the liquid had seeped into his skin, flushing out all the grease and dirt lodged in them.
Nero stepped out of the shower barely a minute after he went in, feeling just as surprised as Ophelia looked earlier.
"Get what I mean?"
"What just happened? What was in that water?"
"It's some variant of ultrapure water," said Ophelia, scrolling through her phone. "They've managed to stabilise it so that it remains in its ultrapure state until the water comes in contact with skin."
"What's ultrapure water?"
"You know how water usually has stuff in it? Minerals, dissolved gases - all of them are absent in ultrapure water. It's usually used to clean electronics, but it wreaks havoc on organic things. Galaxace has put something in the water that helps it to bind to dirt, grease, and dead skin, but only those things, and only when it touches your body."
"Otherwise it'd bind to all the gunk in the showerheads," said Nero grimly.
Ophelia nodded. "Meridian Primus is full of wonders."
After marvelling at the shower, it was time for dinner. Nero and Ophelia quickly got dressed and met Mr and Mrs Katori at the receptionist, where they made their way over to the Moon Bridge.
The tower was made entirely of polished black quartz, which tied in very nicely with the space theme. Little stars seemed to sparkle from within the mineral, and it seemed like the higher floors were filled with lumira - an iridescent glow extended all the way to space, lighting up the dark clouds overhead.
As Nero walked up to the building, his eyes were drawn to a small golden plaque embedded in the wall.
The Moon Bridge was established on October 29, 8102 by Meridian Primus's founder and President Vetra Ignatius, and the Guild of Masonry. It serves as a monument to mankind's longstanding dream of exploring the stars and building an eternal palace amongst the heavens.
"Nero! Hurry up, we're all starving."
The restaurant they were going to was called North Wind, and featured a stunning display of fresh seafood. Nero and Ophelia ordered a bit of everything, resulting in a table with more plates than space.
The highlight of the meal, however, was not the lobster rolls, or the rosé butter steak. It was watching the chefs actually cook.
All the chefs were espers, and they put their abilities to perfect use. One chef would hold a whole row of steaks up in midair while another hit them with a concentrated blast of white-hot fire. Whatever juices that came out were immediately reintroduced into the steak with a third chef, who was multitasking between his feats of hydrokinesis and washing the dishes.
The pastry station was just as incredible. Eight batches of dough were kneading themselves at lightning speed, dividing themselves up, and flattening into sheets of perfect circles, where they were then painted with sauce and lifted into a pizza oven.
"I can't eat another bite," complained Ophelia, lying back in her seat. "I think we ordered too much food."
"You think?" said Nero, looking at the table, which was only half-finished. "We're still gonna be eating this for lunch and dinner tomorrow."
"Let's pack this up and go to the viewing gallery," said Ophelia excitedly. "I just hope I don't throw up all over the place."
"Actually," said Mrs Katori, looking slightly queasy. "Do you mind if you go up yourself? I'm not good with heights, and my stomach's about to burst."
Ophelia's face fell. "What's the point of coming to Meridian Primus if you don't go up the Moon Bridge?"
"Sorry, dear. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow before dinner."
"I'll take Mom back to the hotel first, then," said Mr Katori. "You two enjoy yourselves."