The hubbub inside the buildings echoed across the vast room. It was apparent when you compare the traffic in the central port against this one, but it was not all that crowded. There were dozens of people going here and there, sure, but there was still plenty of space around.
"What? Why would ya want somethin' like that? What do ya even need that for?"
"As I said, a missing person. I'm looking for someone, boss. You know how it is. Someone went on a journey to who-knows-where and never came back."
After reaching this terminal building, Milanor immediately looked around for the one in charge. He could perhaps try to make do with some random workers, but that would take too long.
With some incessant prodding at a desk worker, the freelancer was finally led to this hulking mass of a man.
Director of East Port Authority, Mr. Hein. He was more than 2 meters tall, which reminded Milanor of Boss Einzel, another walking monstrosity of a man.
Wearing a grey company suit, he looked far more presentable than any of the workers here he had seen, though the director still appeared way roughish for someone in an administrative position.
"Laviria Newmann. A young woman who came here around six or seven years ago. I wouldn't assume anyone would remember anything from that long ago, and that's why I want to see the records from back then."
"Forget it, kid. I'm hella busy here, managin' this place. Go skulk around somewhere else."
"C'mon, boss. Why not be a little more approachable? Doesn't look like you there's much going on, at least to my eyes," he looked around the room. Or maybe what you would call a lounge.
"Bah, what do ya know about runnin' a place like this? Where in the void do you come from anyway?" Boss Hein finally deigned to take a look at him.
"What? From far away, if you want to know," Milanor told him in defiance. The director narrowed his eyes when he noticed the freelancer's appearance and gears.
Turning his head to a window nearby, he looked somewhere outside. "…Ya got somethin' to do with that gaudy yacht?"
"I'm the captain and owner. And don't call it a yacht, you galactic bumpkin. It's a state-of-the-art, latest, custom model star cruiser. Nothing like the rusty bucket of sloops you got around here."
"Hmph. So a rich kid from the glimmerin' inner worlds has come to our filthy colony, then? What's your name, kid? I wanna know the sort of oblivious brat who dared to brave the void to come to this place."
"Milanor Milestone, boss. And for your information, I'm not an oblivious brat who doesn't know what he's doing. Just let me a bit of access to your records and we'll be on our way."
At that point, Milanor felt a tug on his sleeve. It seemed Naya had something to say to him. "Why're you being so contentious with him?" she whispered.
"Oh, I'm familiar with this sort of hardy dude. I met a lot of them in my field. You have to act though or they won't give you any time of the day," he whispered back.
"What're ya hussin' about? I ain't going to waste my time watchin' you fool around in my base, so go do that somewhere else," said Boss Hein while giving them an ornery glare.
"Like I keep saying, boss, we're looking for someone. Important stuff, yeah? She could be in danger and we want to make sure she's safe."
Milanor wasn't sure about what he was saying himself, considering the professor was last seen six years ago.
But maybe by making it sound urgent it would let this persistent bloke relent, even for a bit.
"And so what? Can't just let some strangers take a look at our documents, can we? What if you 'ave some of those malicious motives or somethin', eh?"
Nope, didn't work on him at all.
"Really? You have to go that way? We're all civilians here, the missing person included. Why don't you give us the benefit of the doubt, boss?" This man had more integrity than this place would suggest.
"I can only do that if there's a guarantee, ya got that?" the bastard said.
'And Holy Betelgeuse did he say malicious just now…' Milanor had thought of him wrong. He was as crooked as this place would suggest.
"Tch. You saying that I have nothing backing me up? How about this, then?" He pulled out something he had prepared back in Koilingen from his pocket.
A 10 thousand credit check card. Having ten million leeway in monetary capability led him to be able to prepare diplomatic weapons like this.
"Hmph. What, silver card? Takin' a look at your wardrobe and that pretty girlfriend you have there, I had thought you were fancier than that," the director scoffed.
Milanor dealt with his type often enough that he could feel the subtle implications of what he said.
"Hard to bargain, do you boss?" Shrugging his shoulders, Milanor put his hand inside his coat. "I think I will find two more cards in my pocket if you let me search your database. And heck, I might drop one or two more cards if I find something in there. This coat's pocket can be problematic sometimes."
"Hoh, that so, kid? You should go fixin' that fancy coat of yours soon then," he gestured with his wide chin toward somewhere on the upper floor. When he started walking toward a staircase, Milanor and Naya followed him.
"…Is that something you should do? Are you fine with spending so freely like that?" Naya scooted closer and whispered this.
"…Trust me when I said this is the first time I have this much money in my hand. All those credits you transferred yesterday were the biggest income I ever had."
"…If you say so."
"Hey, stop whisperin' around and follow me. I can't deal with you all day," Boss Hein shouted as they reached the second floor. He pointed toward a room at the far back.
"The archives should be there," he told them in a low voice.
"Must be there… do you mean?"
"Should be there. Why would I give much care to somethin' like records and registers? It ain't even my responsibility."
What a truly crooked man. The bastard opened the door to the aforementioned room. Several computer terminals were messily placed around inside it.
"Use that one," Boss Hein indicated at one terminal in particular. "It's the one that worked most of the time. The others usually have these random errors and malfunction nobody could fix."
"…"
Milanor already had low expectations before arriving but what he said made him doubt this port's—and the whole city's—facilities even more.
They approached that one terminal Boss Hein pointed to. "Can you use it, Naya?" he dubiously asked.
"…It's a very old model. Or maybe more like ancient. Still, if it works I can figure it out."
"Yeah? Let me help, then." He wasn't as tech-savvy as the other two inside the ship but Milanor knew enough to not be considered embarrassing at least.
Just as Naya said, it was an older model. Well, that probably was an understatement. The damn thing was based on a design 200 years old.
"Should we simply search by name? I doubt either 'Laviria' or 'Newmann' are common names around this area," he suggested.
"Yeah, I'm sure," she agreed.
As she typed the professor's name, something came to the captain's mind.
"Hey, Bossman. Is this archive just for this port?" he asked him.
"Hah? Nah, it's connected to the, uh, what do they call it… mainframe or somethin' in the central port. That's what those guys always explained to me, somewhat."
What an unreliable guy, Milanor thought. Still, this meant they didn't need to search every port in the city. Just this one was enough.
"…I found it. S.D. 10.115/2/17, or six years and two-hundred twenty-nine days ago. From the civilian liner MCL Braum. It landed at the central port around midday local time. Among the 231 passengers aboard, there was a young woman named Laviria N bound from Runanthor."
"…N? The professor was hiding her last name?" Milanor didn't expect that. If they only searched by her last name probably no one here was going to recognize it.
As he silently praised their lucky break, he heard the boss mutter something from behind them, though Milanor didn't hear it clearly.
"The date matched the time when she left Runanthor and the time it would take for her to come here. Milanor, this is…"
"Yeah. That's definitely the professor we're searching for. I didn't think we would find a clue this early—"
"Professor Lavi, is it? That's the person you're searching for 'aight?" a sudden voice from the boss cut him off.
"Bossman?"
Milanor turned around to question him, and so did Naya. "Young woman, early twenties. Wearing some fancy lab coats around?" the director said, his tone sounding like he was looking for confirmation.
Naya stood up from her chair and fished through her sling bag, pulling out the familiar holotablet. "Medium height. Brown hair, shoulder-blade length. Speak the imperial accent and in a strange, carefree way."
"…Aye, that's what I remember," he confirmed. Naya then showed him a picture of the professor. "Aye. That's the woman, alright."