Crossed Roads

Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea
August 29th

The day had finally arrived, the Alliance summit in South Korea would take place tomorrow, so we left today to arrive before the other important guests. Not that my mother was not, on the contrary, it was in events like these where she did what she did best, making agreements between important people, what better way than having a meeting with all the important politicians of the world in one place.

The place will have the best possible security since what happened in New York, the probability of the Empire launching an all-out attack on this meeting should be close to zero, no one is that stupid. But that doesn't mean that it couldn't send dangerous people to take the life of the president or prime minister, which in turn means that we wouldn't let my mother go to the event alone, after all, well, something always happens every time we leave the house. Since the trip was quite short, Adelis decided to rent another private jet so we wouldn't have to sneak around with a mermaid, a demon, or the glass angel in economy class

During the trip my daughters helped create and organize a good schedule to get the most out of the international meeting itinerary.

The first day will begin at 9:00 a.m. with the registration of delegates and attendees. As well as the welcome by the South Korean Government at the Seoul Convention Center. Then there is the opening ceremony, speeches, and the presentation of the agenda, this is where the journalists take pictures of the presidents shaking hands and all that. At 10:30 a plenary session on the current status of the Alliance and defense challenges, then a break for lunch. The important part comes right after that because in the afternoon several thematic sessions will be held simultaneously behind closed doors among the rulers, this is where my mother will participate as an advisor in conference room 3: Improving the interoperability of allied forces, but in reality, it is a cover to talk to several presidents and agree on the power of the Empire to attack at any location and find ways to counter it. In the end, the day ends with a gala dinner in honor of the delegates and leaders present, which again is an ideal opportunity to meet with the leaders my mother was unable to talk to in the evening.

The second day will be a little different, as it will be the day when the different heads of state travel to Busan, where the naval home port of the fleet that bravely confronted the Empire was located, despite the huge disparity of forces, the fleet fought valiantly to delay the enemy as long as possible. It was thanks to this delay that the Wunderland fleet was unable to surprise attack the Carrier Strike Group 5, which led to the counterattack that recaptured the island back, saving countless lives. The Prime Minister of Japan will be present at the ceremony to honor the fallen.

Due to the distance between the cities of Seoul and Busan, the leaders will take the bullet train on the second day at 9:00 a.m., the Gyeongbu high-speed railway, a trip of approximately two hours that my mother will be able to take advantage of to have more meetings. At 11:30 a.m. there will be a visit to the Busan Naval Base and a memorial ceremony to pay tribute to those who fell in the battle against the Empire's naval fleet. After lunch, everyone will return to Seoul for the third day.

The third and final day will be a plenary session on military cooperation as well as efforts in cyber-intelligence and electronic warfare defenses, with the final topic being early warning systems. Then there will be concluding remarks, agreements, another closing ceremony, and a farewell dinner, some presidents will go home while some will stay a little longer to explore the country. If we are lucky and everything goes well, we will spend the final day of our vacation here, visiting some traditional places like Hahoe Folk Village or Gyeongbokgung.

One of the advantages of using a private jet for international travel is that there are fewer controls and formalities. But when we arrived at the international airport in Seoul, due to the importance of the meeting we were forced to enter the air terminal and go through the controls with the rest of the normal people. On the bright side, thanks to my mother's post it made the wait much faster, the best part was skipping the security inspection of our bags because they were full of weapons and secret equipment like the twins' flight kit, but since in theory, we are their "security team" they left us alone after proving that we were associated with the Carrier Strike Group 5.

But destiny had a horrible masterstroke against me when the biggest stroke of bad luck that ever existed hit me full on, well actually I'm exaggerating, it's not that big of a deal, not that this was Atlantis and their bullshit. But still, what happened was so ridiculous that the only thing I could do was panic and take Momo's mask to cover my face as fast as I could.

"Elise, what are you doing!"
"Give that back to me! I need it!"

...

"Mom?"
"Is it really you?"
"Adelis! Here, by the wall!"

"It can't be!"
"Leon!"
"What are you doing here?"
"I can't believe it!"
"I thought you were working in Los Angeles!"
"Really, what the hell, like, how, when!?"
"How the hell did we happen to run into each other in this part of the world!?"

My younger brother was sitting on a lonely bench, sheltered by one of the walls of the busy air station. His imposing figure stood out in the crowd, wearing an impeccable formal suit that enhanced his distinguished bearing. It had been so long since I had last seen him when I was still a young high school student. Now, in front of me, he was all grown up, beaming with success, and seemed to have magnificently inherited his mother's legacy. Without a doubt, he was the one who had absorbed the most of her unparalleled brilliance. Now, he was a full-fledged man, a family man with a wife and daughter. His very presence radiated confidence and accomplishment. 

Meanwhile, I felt a horrible fear, I struggled to find my own way, feeling overshadowed by his dazzling success. I felt small and vulnerable in the face of his greatness.  What could I contribute in comparison? I felt I could only bring shame and disappointment. I did not want him to know I was there. I was tormented by the thought that he would look down on me with disdain or pity, that he would discover my failures and foibles. 

My mother walked towards my younger brother, the rest of the girls followed her, including the angel who after hitting me stole my mask and walked behind. So as not to be left alone I followed them too, a little further away. Tamamo somehow noticed what I was doing and stepped in front of me to block me from Leon's direct view.

"Leo? what are you doing here?" my sister asked excitedly.

"Oh well, just a business trip."
"Lion Saber will be present at the meeting tomorrow and they want me to give a talk to several politicians."
"After that, I will be in the conference center as a consultant for the attendees at the company's booth"

"Are you really going to give a talk?"
"Me too, in Room 3, although it will be private by invitation."
"I'm glad to see that you are so highly regarded that they have brought you to this important event."
"But weren't you a computer engineer?" How did you end up here? asked my mother, curious.

"Didn't I tell you the last time I called you?"
"I was promoted again, I am now Chief Artificial Intelligence Engineer for Lion Saber."
"We are working on new models of autonomous drones."
"The real ones, without any human intervention."
"Although the project was focused for civilian use in the home delivery market, somehow the company got interested in learning more about it and that's how we ended up invited"
"What about you mom? What is your conference about?"

"Oh well, nothing too out of the ordinary."
"You know, advisor on peace operations cooperation and stabilization."
"We'll just discuss things like improvements in the interoperability of allied forces."

"That sounds pretty good."
"But I'm still wondering what that has to do with a lawyer's firm."
"It also doesn't seem like an issue that should be made a private meeting."

"Well, I only know a few people from different places and they are the ones who chose me as mediator."
"It could be called an international negotiator, but it's just a pompous name for a multinational secretary."

Both my mother and brother were discussing their jobs and careers with excitement, sharing a joyful moment. Important people, using the event as an opportunity to make connections, expand their influence and advance their respective areas of work, were contributing in their respective fields. And what could I contribute? Hi, I'm Cesar, I dedicate myself to being a parasite of my mother's work, I make sure that the money she receives for her efforts goes up in smoke by having to feed and support me, I'm pretty good at killing people, hope you don't mind.

"I see you are not alone, may I ask who are the girls?"
"Is that one there a nun?"

"Oh, well, how shall I put it...."
"It's... it's... it's a little... it's a little... it's hard to explain...."
"They.... they....."
"They're part of my team.... yeah that's..."
"It's... hard to explain without knowing the context behind it, but they're pretty good at their job....."

"Sorry, I'm sorry but I didn't understand you."

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"The nun is Momo, actually she is not a nun, she is an engineer who worked for the Empire, she doesn't like to reveal personal information"my mother began to explain 

"Hello hello, it's nice to meet you"
"Please be patient with me."  Said the angel bowing as a gesture to present her greetings.

"The girl in the wheelchair is Levia, she recently lost her family and for now she lives with me."

"Although my mobility is different, I am here to live life to the fullest and take advantage of every opportunity" The mermaid in her place, just shook her head a little.

"The twins are Kasumi and Charlotte, analysts in information systems and various things, they are constantly helping me in my work."

"Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Leon"
"Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Leon" Said both girls in perfect synchrony.

"The tall girl is Tamamo, she is a good bodyguard and expert in disguises, she works together with Xi'an, do you remember her? maybe not"

"Hello Leon, it's a pleasure to meet you in person."
"Your mother has told me so much about you."
"So much that it's strange, I feel like I've known you for a long time even though this is the first time we've met"
"Please treat me as if I were your cute and curious little sister from the other side of the world."

"The white girl.....is...Ce...Elise"
"Well.... he.... him.... her..... she....."
"She.... is.... another bodyguard.... yes....."
"She's my main security agent...the chief head of security...."
"She's older than she looks and has a lot of experience....."

I preferred not to say anything and just hide more behind Tamamo.

"Ah, mother"
"Not to be annoying or anything, but they look very young."
"I don't think they have the experience you are looking for or need."
"You shouldn't have someone like a Senior Cybersecurity Analyst to say the least."
"I know a couple of people, maybe if I call them now they might be able to come in on an emergency and ....."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing"
"I am the woman who married your father, remember?"
"If there's one thing I learned from him, it's to know the value of others."
"My job is to find the right people for the right job."
"And believe me, these girls are amazing, much more than you can imagine."
"Without exaggerating you have no idea, but to give you an example, the twins alone would make you lose your job in a couple of minutes, if they wanted to."
"In fact I'm sure they are much more advanced than whatever it is you are working on."

"Come on, don't exaggerate."
"Just because they know how to use a cell phone doesn't make them an artificial intelligence engineer."

"There are certain topics I want to talk to you about now that I find you here."
"It's important, quite a lot...."
"It's about the family.... I want to update you on some changes that have happened and additions."
"But this is not the place for that, tell me where are you staying?"
"I would like to arrange everything to stay in the same place."

"!!!!"
"Adelis, what are you doing?"
"You don't have to say anything to him" I said concerned about the possible idea my mother seemed to have.

"Come on, he has a right to know."
"It's one more step to take before going back to the rest of the family."
"The sooner he knows the better."

"What about me? Don't I have a right to privacy?"

"Now you talk about privacy when you are not wearing panties?"

"This is different and you know it!"

"I am staying at The Shilla Seoul."
"I don't know if it's possible though, you know with the meeting and all, almost all the major hotels are full."

"Kasumi, please help me with this"

"Processing request"
"....."
"Accessing the hotel registry"
"Rearranging tickets and reservations"
"...."
"There are three rooms adjacent to room 16-04-A."
"Confirmation of human operator to proceed with registration"

"Yes, of course, please go ahead." Said my mother without a second's hesitation.

"Registration of the three adjoining rooms confirmed"
"Proceeding with the assignment and confirmation of the new reservations."
"Room 16-05-A: successfully assigned and reserved."
"Room 16-06-A: successfully assigned and reserved."
"Room 16-07-A: successfully assigned and reserved."
"Registration and assignment of adjoining rooms has been successfully completed"

"Hey wait, if you want to at least pretend to be a hacker, at least use your smartphone instead of saying fancy words into the air."
"How can you pretend to modify the database without even an interface to interact with" Said my brother in disbelief.

Despite being against the idea my mother went ahead ignoring any opinion I might have on the matter, and since I didn't want to bother Leon by talking too much, I decided to simply remain silent. The cab ride from the airport to the hotel was quite uncomfortable, with my mother and sister talking non-stop. Even my girls were doing their best to join in the conversation. I on the other hand wasn't sure that was a good idea, but despite that, not to spoil the mood I just decided to keep my problems to myself. As they walked through the lobby, my mind was filled with doubts that seemed to grow with every step. I looked at my brother, shining with success and confidence, my mother too, and I wondered if I could ever reach that level. An inner voice whispered constantly reminding me of my failures and weaknesses. Could I find my own way in this distand world of shining stars?

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