The Bluejay Fleet all had warp travel capabilities, so it took little time for the powerful mecher warships to arrive in orbit of New Constantinople VIII. As Ves looked down on the beautiful globe from a considerable height, he wondered whether he should stick to his original plan and stay here for the long term. He certainly made steps to do so. He gained an entire first-class military outpost in a trade when he attended the conference. He already made a deal with the Terrans to deconstruct it and move all of the pieces back to New Constantinople. This was an expensive and cumbersome process as the cost of shipping bulk materials had risen considerably. The transportation of expensive materials and components needed to be covered by an escort at all times in order to deter any sort of Interception. What mattered was that Ves would be disrupting a lot of plans if he decided to leave shortly after his arrival. "I guess I'll stay." There was no compelling reason to leave the New Constantinople System other than the fact that he did not want to reunite with General Axelar Streon. Once Ves managed to get past this ordeal, his life in the months to come should proceed a lot smoother. He decided to reserve his judgment and see how the next few days would unfold. An hour passed by as various parties made a lot of preparations. The arrival of a rising star was treated as a big event in the Terran Alliance. While a lot of ordinary people were confused why the higher ups attached so much importance to a second-rater, those who were better informed all paid serious attention to this spectacle! The way Ves interacted with the first group of Terrans he visited in person would set the tone of his relationship with the powerful first-rate colonial superstate. There were many interests that benefited if Ves became chummy with the Terrans. There were also many other interests that would rather see the opposite happen. This was the price for becoming such a famed and controversial figure. Ves could no longer do anything big without attracting an excessive amount of attention and scrutiny. A few minutes passed as Ves remained in thought. Eventually, his wife and children entered the teleportation chamber. Each of them dressed at their best. The mechers had done a good job at fitting them with refined outfits that would not look cheap or tacky to Terran sensibilities. His wife wore a variation of her favorite deep blue dress speckled with soft pulsing stars. The fabric was deeper and complex patterns became visible when they reflected the light. Aurelia and Andraste looked like princesses. Their gold and black dresses did not lose out in complexity, but their small sizes made them look adorable as well as elegant. The ribbons on their heads were a nice touch. They were folded in a way to give the impression that the children had cat ears, though the ends of the ribbons also trailed down a fair length for a bit of extra flair. Marvaine was the youngest of them, so he wore a tiny and considerably simplified version of a Larkinson dress uniform. The resemblance between his current appearance and that of his father was clear, though the brown-haired boy did not need any ribbons to make him look exceptionally cute. "Meow." "Miaow." Of course, their cats couldn't be left out of the party either. There was no need to weigh them down with too many accessories. Lucky wore a tuxedo collar that made him look a little less out of place in a formal setting. Clixie wore her usual resplendent collar but also gained a cute pink bowtie on her head. Aside from that, both cats had colorful ribbons tied to their rails, which added a touch of playfulness ro their appearances. "Make sure to behave and keep an eye on our children, alright?" Ves addressed his two pets. "I don't want to impose too many rules on you, but make sure not to do anything that will cause the Terrans to think less of us. It is best if you act cute and win the hearts of our audience with your impeccable charm." "Meow!" "Miaow miaow!" Seeing that his cats had gotten the message, Ves turned to Gloriana. His eyes immediately became clued to the brand-new handbag hanging off her forearm, "That's new." He remarked. "What did you expect, Ves?" Gloriana placed a hand on her hip. "Did you expect me to parade my old Isolde Zhu or Pop Cult bags today? That is absurd! These bags are decent enough status symbols In second-class space, but here? They are worth less than dirt! Carrying them Is no different than presenting myself while dressed In rags!" Although her logic was sound, Ves couldn't help but wonder how much it cost to purchase this bag. He was not familiar with the billions of brands in existence, but according lo Vulcan's craftsmanship judgment, the dainty deep red handbag looked like a bespoke job from an exclusive boutique. Although the artisan had tried to be restrained in the design of the bag, the materials were all natural, hand-processed and devoid of any but the tiniest flaws that couldn't be removed without resorting to industrial means! This caused the relatively conservative design to exude a refined sense of personality. Ves could even sense that this touch was feminine. Apparently, the craftswoman was very good at her job, because the handbag had become a masterwork product In the end! "How much does this bag cost?" Ves asked in a suspicions tone even as he formed his own estimate. "5 million MTA credits." "What?! That is one-fortieth the price of a high-quality first-class multipurpose mech! Where did you get the money to buy a bag that expensive?!" "Pff. Do you think this is expensive, Ves? Your taste is too poor! It is only average to the distinguished figures that we are about to meet." "Even so, how can you possibly get a masterwork handbag that is so expensive? Did you waste your precious MTA merits on this frivolous purchase? This bag costs many times more than the total price tag of all of the designer baby formulas for our children!" Gloriana shook her head at him, "I do not own this bag If you must know. I conveyed my handbag problem to one of the Terrans on the surface. This young teaching assistant of yours has graciously loaned this bag to me. I shall have to return It once the public spectacle has passed." "Oh. That... sounds alright." "I expect you to compensate me by purchasing a proper bag of my own while we are staying in New Constantinople." His wife continued. "I cannot keep borrowing bags from the Terrans, and it is beneath my new status to go without one. The advantage of stopping in a Terran port system is that there are many shops In the main commercial districts that sell adequate enough products. We should go shopping as soon as you have completed all of your immediate obligations." "What? No! That's way too expensive!" His wife shook her head in disappointment. "You have yet to adjust your mentality. You are not a second-rater anymore, Ves. It is much easier for you to earn millions of MTA credits than in the past. It should take little to no effort for you to raise the required sums. Even if yon are having difficulties, you can easily apply for a loan. Any bank will be happy to receive you as a client." Ves' expression had gone flat. "You only borrow money In order to fund essential Investments or cover serious business expenditures. I seriously do not think that you are supposed to take a loan just to squander it all on luxury purchases." "This is not a luxury purchase! This is an essential investment that improves our impression of the Terrans!" "I don't think the Terrans are shallow enough lo base lheir enlire impression of us by looking al lhe bag lhal you happen lo carry around." "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" The two continued to argue with each other until they finally received a notification of an impending teleportation event. Both husband and wife quickly regained their composure and made sure they looked impeccably presentable. While Ves preferred to descend onto the surface of New Constantinople by riding a shuttle, the risks were way too great. Riding a shuttle in the air gave too many opportunities for powerful enemies ro intercept it from many different places. From a security standpoint, it was best to skip the journey and just arrive at the end destination right away! For various reasons, it was not suitable for Jovy Armalon and Saintess Ulrika Vraken to accompany Ves and his immediate family. While the mechers had already teleported a few units of guard infantry and first-class multipurpose mechs, few people cared about them as they served a boring but necessary function that had little political implications. Though the Terrans didn't like mechers showing up on their turf, Ves strongly insisted on their presence. He had learned his lesson too many times to grow complacent. Who knew whether the Terran guards would turn against Ves or abandon him for whatever reason. Although Ves did not trust the mechers that much more, they at least belonged to a different group, which meant they added a lot of redundancy. Still, in order to guard himself against the powerful high-tech weapons that were regularly employed by first-raters, he had opted to wear his galactic citizenship badge. It was not only a real status symbol that carried much more weight than a trivial handbag, but also offered a huge amount of protection despite its compact design! The emergency five-use teleporter embedded in the object could save him from the vast majority crisis. Its range was so impressive that it could easily teleport him back to the Bluejay Fleet in high orbit. Ves inspected his equipment one more lime before he nodded in satisfaction. "Ready!" His entire body seemed to melt, only to reform onto a red carpeted surface in an entirely new location. just as Ves became preoccupied with the different air and smells, a large crowd of people cheered as they reacted to his arrival! Ves had showed up in the middle of one of the expansive gardens of the campus of the Eden Institute. A large crowd of students who all wore their assigned uniforms looked incredibly enthused to greet the arrival of the most famous professor of their Institution! Of course, aside from tens of thousands of students, the crowd also featured plenty of other people, though the Eden Institute had made sure to limit their numbers. From professors to high status visitors who came from afar, even the adults displayed varying degrees of approval towards Ves. A familiar figure rose up in the air and flew closer until she settled down in front of Ves. The 310-year old Master Mech Designer wearing a ceremonial suit and robe made a dignified but sincere bow. 'Welcome to the Terran Alliance, Professor Ves Larkinson. The Eden Institute of Business & Technology is honored to receive you and your family. Every citizen of our colonial superstate is grateful to you for doing your part in preserving our culture and heritage from those who conspired to erase them both. We consider you to be our savior, so we have ensured you will receive a reception that is commensurate with your deeds. Is there anything you would like to say to our Terran population?" Though much of this had already been planned In advance, Ves was still overtaken by the scale and the emotions of this event. Fortunately, this was not the first time that Ves had been put in this kind of position, so he quickly took control of his racing emotions. He raised his arm towards his audience and kept his words simple. "Thank you for allowing me to be in your company. I come here as a guest in order to experience the famed hospitality of your superstate. I look forward to experiencing your culture and forming new agreements with local business partners." Though his speech was bland, it was more than enough to arouse another cheer of appreciation from the predominantly adolescent crowd!