"Second question, are superpowers hereditary?"
"There is a chance, but it is very low," Beatrice answered calmly.
"Final question, what is the Unique batch and how does it differ from other batches?" Dante inquired.
"Hmm, how do I say this… do you watch high school shows? The Unique Batch is basically the topmost elite who also happen to be special needs, who also happen to be misfits, and also happen to be incredibly gifted." Beatrice explained with a smile.
Dante was speechless.
"So, what's your choice?" Beatrice asked finally.
Dante pondered for a little before glancing at Beatrice sharply. "No one gives out things for free. What am I expected to do on my side of the deal?"
Beatrice clapped her hands. "Good question!'
She then pointed to herself. "Me!"
Dante was confused. "You?"
Beatrice nodded and folded her arms with satisfaction. "Me."
Dante looked her up and down. "Why you?"
Beatrice seemed unhappy. "Why not me?"
Dante scoffed. "Why should you?"
Beatrice snapped. "Because I want to."
Dante was shocked. "You want to?"
Beatrice nodded shyly. "I do."
Dante's eyes fell on wrongful places. "Do you?"
Beatrice took a step back but firmed her expression. "…Do me."
Dante seemed puzzled. "Secretary?"
Beatrice folded her arms behind her back with a confident smile. "CEO."
Dante turned his head to the side and blushed. "Do the secretary?"
Beatrice leaned forward with a tempting smile. "Do the secretary."
AI chips in their brains: "…"
"That can't be the only thing, right? What other obligations do I have?" Dante asked with a severe look.
"Well, what else do you have to offer?" Beatrice asked bluntly as she looked him up and down.
Dante was left speechless.
He sat down and thought for a bit with his eyes closed. Beatrice also sat down and moved her attention back to the holographic screen before her, lazily browsing through it at speeds that the natural earth human eye couldn't follow.
After about 30 minutes, Dante opened his eyes and sighed deeply.
"I agree."
Beatrice paused her scrolling and then looked at Dante skeptically. "You do? Wowww…. The almighty Mr.Dante who is the most valuable superstar in the universe finally agrees to the overwhelmingly beneficial offer he barely deserves!"
"Aren't you going to continue asking me questions, or are you not going to try and change the terms?" Beatrice asked with a teasing voice.
Dante didn't even bother to reply to her snark. He just pondered his fate in this new world and what he would do next.
Soon, his eyesight was blocked but two huge mounds that were hanging off an impossible cliff.
Dante was amused. "There is no way this should be possible."
"According to all known laws of gravity, there is no way that pair of breasts should be perfectly horizontal from the base. Its shape and fat, as well as the fact that it protrudes, prevent it from staying airborne. The breasts, of course, hover anyways. Because breasts don't care what humans think is impossible." Beatrice scoffed as she pushed a screen before him.
"Ha." Dante laughed dryly.
He then focused on what was put before him. "And what the hell is this?"
"Contract. You don't think we make agreements by word of mouth here, do you?" Beatrice blinked.
Dante shrugged. "Okay."
[I have scanned the contract and found no loopholes, twisting words, or altered terms from what was agreed upon verbally.]
And before Dante could even ask Beatrice to send it to the AI chip for a review, it already connected to the interface and did it. Well, it certainly did live up to its task of taking one step before its user.
Dante then shrugged and sighed by dripping a drop of blood… *cough*, by using his signature like a normal, sensible person.
Beatrice seemed satisfied by this and retracted the contract. She seemed obviously relieved and Dante couldn't help but feel like he should have taken her up on her offer to haggle.
But whatever, better to have a good deal and be in her good books than sucking her dry and then incurring dissatisfaction. She was, after all, the first person he met here and his link to the secrets of the Eternal Universe.
"Right, so when do I enter the academy?" Dante asked curiously.
"Pretty much as soon as we get your identity squared up, which should take about a day. After that, you'll have to first head to earth to receive your property, open a bank account, and do some other miscellaneous things before going to the Eternal Academy." Beatrice answered cooperatively as she plopped into her seat.
"That's good. Has the school year already begun?"
Beatrice paused and looked Dante up and down. "Of course it has. Do you think the universe will miraculously spin on an axis that revolves around you, conveniently making it so that when you appeared from nowhere, you would get to enter school on the first day?"
Dante rolled his eyes. "If there is one thing you're good at, it's putting words in my mouth."
"There are many things I'd like to put in your mouth." Beatrice snorted and muttered under her breath.
Dante shivered at that. He got up from the lounge and walked towards a teleporter near the right side of the room. Beatrice tracked him with her eyes, wondering if he was trying to run.
Dante then turned to her right in front of the teleporter. "Right, which quarters are my own?"
Beatrice sighed with relief. "The vice-captain's. Make yourself comfortable for as long as possible. It will take 12 hours to reach the Central System from here and about 3 minutes to reach earth after that."
Dante nodded and stood on the teleporter. His AI chip was prompted as to where he wanted to go and it was one step ahead of him, downloading the ship's internal map and teleporter network before issuing a command to send him to the vice-captain's quarters.
He disappeared and felt weightless for a second before reappearing in front of a door. He looked behind him to see that it was a dead-end corridor with only the teleporter behind him, leaving Dante speechless.
Hey there, if the ship was attacked and the teleporter system was damaged, how would the vice-captain escape?
Of course, Dante did not know that the level of Bionics and Psionics of a Vice-Captain of a Dreadnought-class battleship like this would probably be strong enough to punch his way out of the ship and even survive in outer space for a long period of time.
Dante stood before the door and was scanned from head to toe. The AI announced that he had the requisite clearance, and so could enter.
When he did, his jaw dropped.
Quarters? QUARTERS?
Dammit, this was a goddamn ultra-modern house! No, it was a top presidential suite!
From where Dante stood, there was a wide hallway with doors on either side, one for a washroom with a WC and the other for a shower. At the end of the hallway, the entire left side was a kitchen with various appliances that Dante absolutely had no idea how to use.
This was not because he didn't know how to cook, but because he simply couldn't easily tell what these appliances were for. He could only tell that this should be a kitchen area because of what looked like a disintegrator for rubbish as well as a floating, glowing sink.
In front was likely the living room, because there was a lounge-like area similar to what was at the Observation Deck. Rather than a TV, there was a terminal to which one could connect their AI chip to access the ship's intranet or the Etranet of the entire universe.
Dante's eyes flashed as his AI chip immediately connected… but he could not access the Etranet because he needed to log in with his Citizen ID.
He did not have one yet.
So he could only access the intranet, of which he had a vice-captains authority, so he learned the whole layout of the ship as well as its mission, its make, and its crew… of which there were only two.
Just him and Beatrice.
Dante saw that there was a set of stairs nearby and went up. Here was the bedroom which was wide and grand, with a large bed that could change from leather to water, to foam, to whatever type you liked.
The lighting in the room could be changed to represent a holographic projection. In other words, it was like a 4D cinema, but real.
You could set it to be a grassy plain and you would be lying on a comfortable bed in the middle of a grassy plain, feeling the full effects of the breeze, the sun, and even the various scents.
Dante guessed that for staff who were space bound all the time, this was a way to replicate their sleeping environments at home and would significantly reduce fatigue and stress.
Dante jumped on the bed and lay down while staring at the ceiling, which he made to replicate his home on earth.
He eventually fell asleep after thinking about his future.