Schools of fish swan in mesmerizing patterns over our heads. Coral jutted out from the walls and ceilings. The hotel lobby looked as if it sat at the ocean floor, a coral reef built into the building.

Small tropical fish darted over to us, dancing around Paris in a storm of multicolored entertainment. Paris reached out to touch one of the creatures, the fish holding still as her hand passed through it.

Holograms, Paris’s smile faltered a moment but still held itself in place. The sight was still quite beautiful despite its basis in deception.

“This is the famed Aquamarine Lobby, the largest live aquatic display on the planet.” The concierge told us as we stood in spectacle.

“But they aren’t real.” Paris muttered under her breath.

“Of course not,” the woman replied unconcerned, “Most of the species you see are long extinct, though we do have an aquarium located in the dining area holding some fine salmon and lobster!”

The concierge stated these facts proudly.

Paris didn’t look very impressed but smiled at her, nonetheless.

“Your room is right this way ma’am.” The concierge motioned towards a large glass elevator.

“After you are settled, I would be delighted to show you around the hotel’s critically acclaimed amenities and various festivities. A personal chauffer has also been assigned if you would like to travel out onto the greater strip to celebrate.” The woman continued; her smile ever present.

It unnerved me slightly.

“That is very considerate of you, though my trip has left me quite famished.” Paris responded.

Oh no you don’t.

“Perhaps it would be best if I ate first, a small lunch?” Paris asked, her question coming off closer to an order than anything else.

“Oh yes of course! Forgive me for not considering your travel, you must be exhausted after your flight.” The concierge said, bowing low.

“Would you like to be seated in the dining area or have the food delivered to your room?” The woman asked, eager to fix her ignorance.

Paris hesitated a moment, glancing back at me quickly, most likely weighing how far she could take this game of hers.

She didn’t want to push her luck apparently.

“The room delivery sounds quite nice. I am quite tired after all.” The little girl stated politely.

“Wonderful! I will have the chef custom craft you a small lunch and send it up to your room. Now, let us continue to the room.” The concierge replied.

The woman motioned to one of the many waiting servants and then entered the elevator. She motioned us inside, the crystal panes allowing a clear view out to the lobby.

We started to move upwards, the true beauty of the ‘aquatic display’ showing itself as we were dragged through it.

Fish of all kinds swam and danced in front of us in the replicated underwater environment.

Coming close to the elevator, sharks chased down smaller fish just to spit them out once they had been caught.

Paris’s face looked very disappointed when that happened, the little psychopath likely wanting to see the fish actually eaten.

The concierge noticed her look and tapped at her watch. The display grew dark then black.

“What happened?” Paris asked further disappointed with the change.

“The hologram is just changing to a different show. I think you might enjoy this one better.” The concierge responded, a sly smile on her face.

The display slowly came back to life, little glowing lights appearing in the dark.

The world exploded into color, hundreds of florescent jellyfish bobbed up and down. The image reminded me of the first time I say the night sky, an uncountable collection of lights.

Paris’s jaw dropped in awe, the gorgeous display fully captivating her.

I noticed the concierge tap at her wrist again with the sly grin still marring her face.

A single jellyfish floated over to Paris. The girl extended her hands, the creature bobbed over top of them. The jellyfish held its position over them as Paris pulled it back to her.

The jellyfish started to shift color from blue to green to yellow before settling on red.

“Toss it out into the group.” The woman told Paris, now leaned down close to her ear.

Paris looked between the group and the creature in her hands.

She tossed it out into the dark, the jellyfish flew towards the group of others.

It collided and the display flashed brightly. The group of jellyfish rocketed away from the blast center, their colors shifting rapidly.

Paris was in awe again, completely forgetting her disappointment in the previous displays.

“Wow.” Paris said softly.

“I knew you would enjoy that.” The woman said.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The elevator came to a stop, I looked at the floor number.

It was one hundred exactly.

The elevator’s doors slid open to reveal a luxurious entertaining room with lavish seating and dining areas, various doors leading to side rooms.

The whole floor was meant to be our room.

“Welcome to your room Miss Reu. This floor was selected for you in accordance to your preferences. It is my honor to inform you, as the security of our establishment is top of the line, that the door will only open for those you give access to and if accessed without permission our private security can respond to this floor in under ten seconds.” The concierge stated in one long breath as she looked into the room. She obviously took great pride in the establishment.

“Thank you so much for the escort,” Paris responded, “I will be sure to tell my father of the wonderful kindness the Rilo has shown me.”

The concierge just smiled in content and bowed for her response.

I stepped into the room first, taking Paris by the hand as she daintily stepped over the crack between the room and the elevator.

The doors shut behind us and we were left alone.

“That was amazing!” Paris shouted as she turned to look at me.

The little girl waved her arms around as she tried to explain the display to me despite the fact that I had witnessed it as well.

“Paris, I know, I saw it too.” I said, the girl finally taking a moment to breath, “I also saw, well heard, you ask for room service... Why?”

The question emphasized slightly and pointedly.

“We didn’t eat before we left you automaton. I need food if I’m gonna be a good spy.” Paris replied with her usual sass.

I noted the unnecessary robot racism but felt somewhat embarrassed. I may have forgotten that food was a thing for a while.

I conceded the argument and went to explore the absolutely massive hotel room, Paris followed close behind me.

The room consisted of four more separate rooms, the large entertaining area taking up the most space. The rest of the rooms were an office with a ‘full deep’ virtual reality rig, according to Paris, a bedroom with a bed the size of our pickup truck, and a bathroom with a shower and bath, hundreds of nozzles and buttons on the walls.

Paris slapped at all of them, lights, steam, music, and a hundred other things flicking to life as she did so. I took a step out of the room, I wasn’t sure if I was fully waterproof yet, this was not the time or place to test it.

By the time Paris finished pushing every button she could find a P.A. system alerted us that our food had been delivered.

Paris ran over to the doors. She slapped an access button on the side of the machine. The doors slid openly quickly, revealing two waiters pushing large carts.

The waiters waited for Paris to motion them in then proceeded to push the carts inside the room. They placed tray after tray of food on an open table; breads, fish, faux meat, berries, desserts, everything I could think of and then some.

Paris struggled to keep herself from immediately diving onto the table and eating everything in sight.

The men finished placing out the contents and stood silently, their gaze fixed on Paris.

“Wonderful! Thank you!” Paris said, her eyes on the food.

The men didn’t move.

Paris looked back at them, noticing they hadn’t left yet, “Well?! Get outta here!” Paris shouted at them.

The pair recoiled in shock before bowing and excusing themselves from the room.

I swear I was able to see beads of sweat form on their brows the instant Paris yelled at them.

Wonderful work environment, I guess.

I turned to Paris to admonish her for breaking character just to find that she was already stuffing her face with everything she could get her hands on.

“Fat.”

“Shut.” she swallowed a chuck of food, “Up.”

I chuckled and turned away, from the little pig.

With a thought and a quick flick of the wrist I called Kassidy.

“What’s up Cee, you make it in?” Kassidy answered.

“Yeah, we are in our room.” I said.

“I got you the nice digs huh? No need to thank me or anything.” She replied.

I drug my hand across my face, “Yes they are very nice Kassidy, thank you.”

“Aww your welcome,” Kassidy replied, relishing the praise, “So you ready for the step-by-step?”

“Born ready.” I replied.

Kassidy then went on to explain to me the best way to get to the underground access.

I would have to wait until around nine pm, the hotel lobby should be filled by that time. The party was just as important for making business deals and connections as just having fun. That meant that there would be a lot of people eager to meet the daughter of a water baron.

I would use have to use that as a cover to move through the crowd to a set of elevators which would lead to the underground. The doors of which would be opened by Kassidy once I connected my phone to them.

It was a clean cut plan... until I got to the underground that is. We lacked a solid plan once I entered, not enough information to work on. I would have to wing it based on the little I knew of the facility.

“Well, I guess I will see you around nine then.” I told Kassidy.

“You better bolts,” She said, “I would hate to miss my chance to cause some havoc.”

I hung up the phone.

Paris was already passed out on the floor, the meal knocking her out cold.

I carried her to the bed and sat looking out the windows, preparing myself for the night.

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The sky never got dark despite the setting of the sun. Rockets exploded in the sky at an eternal rate, never once allowing the night to encroach. The strip’s buildings were doing their part as well to light the world, using neon spotlights that shone up into the heavens.

It was time.

I woke Paris, ushering her to the bathroom.

“Clean yourself up, it's time to go.” I told her.

She nodded, slightly groggy.

I shut the bathroom door and went over to our bag.

I pulled out the weaponry and hid what I could under my suit. I stashed my rifle along my spine, my pistol in my waist band. I stuck magazines in my vents and placed two grenades under my armpits.

Not to mention the endless supply of knives.

I may have been a little stiff after I had armed myself, but hey, I was a robot, that was normal. I pitied my less mobile brethren.

Paris exited the bathroom, her dress and makeup restored to it’s perfect state.

“How did you do that?” I asked. No kid should be this good at makeup.

“Do what?” Paris asked.

“Your makeup? How did you fix it?” I tried asking again.

“Oh! Stepha taught me!” she replied excitedly.

Figures.

“Well, isn't that nice.” I replied uncomfortably, “You ready?”

“Not yet.” she said.

Paris rushed over to the remaining trays of food and grabbed a cookie. She shoved it in her face and ate it quickly.

“Ohkaay, umm goob tu go!” Paris replied. She stuffed another cookie into her mouth.

“Very regal Paris.” I said.

We entered the elevator and descended.

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Jane entered the Rilo, the next stop on her list. There was a special place in her heart for the hate she held for her task. But being a public figure for Red Door made it a necessity to attend these functions.

A waiter passed by her holding a tray of champagne, little fish circling them. Jane smacked away the fish and snatched one of the glasses, she downed half of it immediately.

Pacing through the crowd she looked for the most important faces, only taking the time to say greet them and spend some time showing face, carefully and skillfully keeping herself from getting sucked into long drawn-out conversations.

The whole ordeal took her less than thirty minutes to meet everyone she had to. The speed of which was a new personal best in Jane’s case. She was proud of her swift completion and headed for the exit.

A shimmer of gold and white caught her eye.

Jane turned to look at the cause, a little girl wearing a fine golden dress walked through the crowd. The girl purposefully dodging conversations as she walked through.

Guess I’m not the only one who hates these things, Jane thought.

She watched the girl a moment longer.

A man followed behind the girl, adorned in a fine white and gold suit.

Jane looked closer at the man, his gait stiff, his skin grey.

A gear clicked into place in Jane’s head.

She started to move towards the girl immediately, tapping at her earpiece as she did so.

“Harrison! The bot and girl are at the Rilo, get down here now!”