The pure humans in the line turned and saw Beatrice as well as Dante. Their cold expressions softened significantly, like seeing an old friend. They even greeted them with respect when they saw their attire.
"Greetings, Admiral."
"Hello, Vice-Admiral."
They greeted Beatrice as an Admiral and Dante as a Vice-Admiral, which left him stunned. He was not even a cadet yet, how did he suddenly become a Vice-Admiral?
Beatrice nodded to them amiably and introduced the two of them. She introduced Dante as the Vice-Captain of the Inferno, and when she mentioned her own name, the expressions of the surrounding pure humans changed subtly.
Even the AI robot that was handling their details with utmost respect paused and glanced at Beatrice for a second before continuing.
Dante noticed this and guessed that Beatrice likely had some other special identity, maybe from a powerful faction or most likely, her clan.
Thinking about it, it should be obvious. Dante may not know her age, but she seemed young enough. Not only was she admitted to the number 1 Academy's Elite Branch, but she was a fucking Admiral of the Prime Fleet and had her own Dreadnought class battleship which she alone managed.
Dante doubted that just being clever would allow one such privilege. She could even fearlessly tamper with his details and sign a contract on behalf of the entire human government, not to mention she could easily produce a serum for him that upgraded his genes without melting him into primordial soup.
He looked at Beatrice's lovely side profile and remained silent. He would wait until she was ready to tell him… as if!
The moment he got access to the Etranet, he would investigate everything about her, down to what underwear she liked to wear. There was no way he would remain ignorant about someone like her no matter how good she was to him.
Surprisingly, they were given priority in this relatively short queue and fast tracked. They even got on the elevator alone, forcing those who passed through the normal line and even pure human VIPs to wait for the next round.
Beatrice seemed to treat this as normal, and Dante did not act out of place. As a bourgeoisie kid, he too was given such treatment in select places in America, especially in his city.
The space elevator was quite large and wide, with seating areas within. Beatrice stood to the side and beckoned to Dante, who glanced at the seats with narrowed eyes.
"Don't bother sitting, that's for the weaklings. Stand like a man and feel the G's." Beatrice taunted with a look of provocation.
Dante quickly scrambled and seated himself before tightening the buckle, making Beatrice chuckle.
"If you had been stupid enough to think you could do something like that, I could have watched you excrete everything within your body all over again."
Dante ignored her and listened to the countdown then braced himself. Luckily, when it hit zero, it wasn't like some rollercoaster or amusement park ride, but rather a feeling similar to sliding down an inclined slope.
When they arrived at the bottom around 30 seconds later, the door opened to show a passageway that led to sunlight. Dante unbuckled and followed Beatrice out and into the world of… earth.
It was… pretty normal? Like, Dante had watched enough scifi and played enough games to see what futuristic earth would be like, and this was like that.
Eerily pristine white coatingon everything, unnecessarily tall everything, most buildings shaped like mushrooms, walkways that looked like tunnels surrounded by glass, and flying cars.
Of course, it was marvelous to see in person, but the very predictable setting made it a bit… dull. Dante was tugged by his collar to see Beatrice pull him into a nearby car that was driven by force propulsion.
It was black and sedan-like, with a comfortable interior meant for high class passengers. Dante and Beatrice ended up sitting opposite each other, and the space here was even narrower than the shuttle.
Dante sighed and ignored Beatrice who was smiling at him provocatively. He then looked outside as the car began moving rapidly, heading to their next destination.
As he noticed the passing scenery and the large volume of cars, Dante couldn't help but ask: "Why so much traffic? Why not just use teleporters?"
Beatrice laughed softly. "Teleporters are banned on Earth. We have used our best space technology to lock down the entire space in the solar system around earth to prevent enemies from jumping in."
Dante thought about it and felt it made sense. "How many wars were won using that method before they developed counter measures?"
Beatrice smacked her knees together, which naturally smashed one of Dante's legs and made him wince in pain.
"All of them. Every war using this method was a massive victory."
Dante was shocked by this. "Then who used it the most?"
Beatrice glanced at him as if he was dumb. "How do you think humanity became the number 1 rulers of the universe?"
Dante was speechless.
As they say, no one hated the taste of medicine more than the one who dished it out. After using this cheap method to invade countless systems and win all their battles, it was natural that humankind would be the first to develop countermeasures for it.
After all, no smart scientist created a poison without making the antidote first.
It was simply toxic behavior to the extreme, bullying everyone with a big stick then later wearing three layers of armor so that no one could use that same stick to beat you back.
Dante was proud to be human.
Eventually the car slowed down and landed before a giant building. When Dante looked at it, his eyes narrowed as he felt it was familiar.
When they got down and walked through the front gate which was heavily guarded by many cyborgs with laser weapons, Dante's face showed shock as he recognized where he was.
This was the White House!
It had been modified greatly and expanded quite a bit, but it still had the familiar shape and outline.
When they walked to the entrance, Beatrice was scanned from head to toe, and then Dante too. The door then opened for the two of them and admitted them into a straight, neat hall with cyborgs standing on either side with weapons low.
Dante looked at the hall and observed many technologically advanced devices and changes that he could barely comprehend, until Beatrice pushed one of the various doors open and took him into a small office.
Seated at the end of the room was a dark-skinned male with square-faced features and a relatively stocky build. He wore a set of navy blue military armor that looked similar to kevlar but had glowing lights all over.
When he looked up from his documents to check who entered, his eyes lightly scanned Beatrice before fixing on Dante and staying there. A frown seemed to appear on his features, but was soon suppressed into neutrality.
"Admiral Portinari, its good to see you. I take it this is the fellow you reported about? Dante, I believe?" He asked with a surprisingly lighter tone of voice.
Beatrice's smile was gone, only replaced by a coldly indifferent demeanor that made Dante feel strange. "That's right. I was informed that his ID is ready and his bank account has been issued?"
The man glanced at her and nodded. "That's right. But before I give them out, I would like to ask a few questions."
Beatrice's face became colder and even bore a hint of hostility. "Director Johnson, are you trying to cause trouble? Remember your place!"
A hint of anger crossed the man called Director Johnson's face for a split second, but he clearly suppressed it and focused his gaze on Dante.
"Mr Dante, I'd like to know if you were coerced by the Portinari family in anyway into signing a contract on behalf of the state?"
Beatrice's face paled as she slammed her hand into the table. "Bastard, how dare you claim such a thing?!"
Director Johnson forcibly ignored her and stared at Dante. Dante's expression was slightly confused but he knew what to do next anyway.
"Beatrice, please allow me to speak to the director." Dante asked Beatrice with a calm expression.
Johnson smiled as if he had won something big while Beatrice froze. She turned to glare at Dante, but he maintained a cold face and looked her back in the eye without any fear.
Beatrice felt her chest become stuffy and stomped to the side, not even looking at Dante any more as she felt her emotions go out of control.
Dante then focused Director Johnson. "Sir, please explain what you mean."
Johnson glanced at the fuming Beatrice and felt things were strange. Why was she showing such a strong emotional reaction just for this guy? Could the rumors be true and the famous xenophobic admiral had found a boytoy?
Whatever the case, Johnson pursued his success further.