Buck boomer ignored all the sharply dressed representatives that had walked over to try and greet him. He did not even look at Arron or Kix who stood behind the assistant.
Kix continued to talk to Arron over the helmet’s secure comms, “Don’t worry, he seems like your basic corrupt party member. The worst type of politicians are those that are friendly to you. That’s when you need to be on guard because they only want something from you. When they get whatever it is they will ignore you and everyone else involved.”
Before Arron could reply Buck Boomer spoke.
“Azistant, what’s on the schedule for today?”
“We have several reporters that have requested to do interviews with you. We can do them before or after your speech. If you want we can send them away if it is too much of a bother,” said Azistant.
“Schedule it for after my speech, that will give them something good to talk about.”
“Then the scheduled is as follows: your speech for the unveiling of Everpreen college, the interviews, then you will be doing a meet and greet at Barkary collage, and to end the day there will be a special dinner party as thanks for coming to the first level.”
“Huuuu… So much work today,” said Buck Boomer. “Take me to my changing room so I can get ready for my speech.”
Azistant turned around and he looked directly at Arron and Kix, “Stay behind us at least 5 steps.”
With that, Azistant led Buck boomer, flanked by his red exoskeleton and lightly armored guards, into the large building.
The first to enter after them was Arron and Kix followed by the first level dignitaries who didn’t know what to do since they were ignored.
The mismatched group of people all with varying ranks and job descriptions were the first humans to have entered the main building since it had been built by the heavy construction bots.
The bare hallway was well lit and wide enough for at least 100 people to stand side to side which boggled Arron’s mind. This showed the high expectations that Mother and Father had for the college becoming a heavily populated campus.
The group’s footsteps echoing off the parasteel walls was the only sound the group made as they walked to a classroom that had been set up as a temporary changing room.
Buck Boomer and his guards disappeared inside the room with the door shutting right in the face of Arron who nearly hit his helmet against the door.
Ping!
A holo-call appeared on both Arron and Kix’s helmet visors.
It was Azistant.
“Guard the door and keep an eye on those people out there. No one is allowed in unless I say so.”
With that, the call ended.
Arron and Kix both turned around and looked back at the sharply dressed people who were now gathering their courage and inching closer to the door.
Arron’s visor outlined them all in green boxes showing that they all were upstanding citizens with no criminal record.
Upon further reading the more detailed information scrolling above their head he found that the majority of them were low-level party members under Mother. A few of them were Mega-corp representatives.
“What are you staring at me for?” asked a skinny male. The information above his head listed him as a representative of one of the Mega-corps on the first level that had control over many flying car factories.
“Tell us what’s going on!” demanded a female party member with a bob cut.
“When can we talk to party member Buck Boomer?”
“Why do we have to wait out here!”
“Quiet!” shouted an annoyed Kix.
“We don’t know anything more than you do. We were just told to guard the door and not let anyone in,” said Arron.
The dignitaries all looked at Arron suspiciously for a few minutes before turning their backs to him and starting to chat among themselves.
“So this place is a college? This is my first time being at a college,” said Arron over his helmet’s secure comms.
“You’ve never been to college right?” asked Kix.
“Yeah, after high school I joined the Nihon branch army. But even if I did want to go to one, they can only be found here in the Mega-city Neo-Tokeyo.”
“You aren’t missing anything,” said Kix.
“Did you go to college here?”
“Hah! Even if I had the money to pay for it, Mother and Father would not accept an application from someone like me.”
“When I first got here I was surprised that there was only one college on the whole first level. Is it like this for each level?” asked Arron.
Kix shook his head, “Nope. The second to fourth levels all have at least one college for each Sector. We’ve only had Barkary college on the first level ever since the beginning of the megacity. It has always been a place of study only for the people Mother and Father pick such as researchers, Office of Reason agents, and those that want to be low-level party members.”
“Huh, I thought it would be different from all the old media I saw about them.”
“All the real prestigious government colleges are on the higher levels. Barkary has always been viewed as a third-rate college. That’s why I find it odd that mother and father would construct a new college when the only other college we have, has such a bad reputation,” said Kix.
“Why even build a building like this? Can’t they just do holo-broadcasts for classes?”
Kix shrugged, “I guess it’s because Mother and Father want to make sure that everyone who comes here is properly educated. But it’s more likely so they can get them away from their family and keep a close eye on them. They will make sure they are seriously studying the government classes properly.”
Ping!
Azistant’s face once again appeared floating on their helmet’s visor. “Party member Boomer will see you now.”
The classroom door opened allowing Arron and Kix to enter. The dignitaries seeing this, tried to follow them but were shoved back out of the room by the lightly armored guards and had the door shut in their faces.
Buck Boomer was sitting in a cushioned reclining chair getting makeup applied to all of his exposed skin by a female assistant.
He opened his eyes upon hearing the door close and silently raised his hand and waved the female assistant away as he stood up. He had changed out of his expensive flying suit and was now wearing a gray industrial worker uniform that the vast majority of people on the first level wore to work every day.
“You two have never been to a college before right?” asked Buck Boomer. Before either Arron or Kix could reply he continued to talk. “It must be hard to live a life so uninformed about how the real world works.”
“You are such a wise and generous boss. These two do not deserve to have you take notice of them,” said Azistant.
“It is as you say,” said Buck Boomer, nodding his head. “You two are to stand on the ground level in front of the stage. I expect you to make sure that nothing gets past you to disrupt my opening ceremony speech. You do not have to worry about protecting me as my personal guards are far more suited to that task. They will stay with me on the stage.”
“Understood, we will…” said Kix, intending to reassure him but he was stopped when Buck Boomer held up a meaty hand silencing him.
“You are not to speak for the rest of the day! You had better do everything I say or I’ll make a complaint to your Chief as well as the Office of Reason.”
With that, the man waved them away and the female assistant once again started to dab makeup on his face and neck.
