He had received an anonymous tip that a person had gone missing in Terania Gates. At first, he assumed it was one of the usual rich guys over there who had gone overboard with a little toy entertainment and forgot to pay his dues and let others know about the case. But when he logged in to the local news and saw the people involved, he knew he had to get there in loco. This was anything if someone with a vendetta.

Terania Gates, also known as "The place where you can forget anything", was an old Earth Colony from the times when humankind was desperate for extra planetary resources and set such places around asteroid belts to just about get their mineral needs in there and later dispatch any surplus elsewhere.

Nowadays, those who lived there were rich heirs of a company or two still exploring minerals, their servants or a rare unfortunate technician who had to maintain the whole infrastructure functional in case of a catastrophic failure of the likes of the last humanity wars.

Most of its population was robotic, self-sufficient in its own production. It had been one of the first fully mechanized private owned mining colonies back in its time, and it still had a few of the big companies "headquartered" there.

It was now famous, however, for its tourist attractions, hence its moniker.

Few places were as lawless as a fully private owned, floating piece of metal and rock. Especially when said coordinates were owned by some very rich people who still had very old ideas of what was considered to be right and fun.

Getting there was easy. It was not like he was going to really go physically there. Ban those thoughts from his mind. Such a trip was reserved for those with money and connections. It was why that place was a paradise.

Going to a place nowadays usually meant simply moving your Avatar to somewhere. There were enough reality augmentation apparatus deployed in the physical world that it deserved being called such: “Physical World”. The implications of this was that he could always visit that closed-off rich world and have a bit of its pleasures. Just not the very exclusive ones like the ones he first thought had happened before.

Anyway, back to the case in question.

The thing different this time was: why was that "omniscience" was involved in this?

"Omniscience," or rather, “The Laboratory for the Studies of Cognition and Science” was a research division from “Omni”, a private corporation whose main activities were the development of artificial intelligence, virtual reality integration and automation of realities.

The Laboratory was famous for its development of “Persistent Intelligences”, or how they liked to sell it, “Authentic Intelligences.” They were AI that was capable of, when left to themselves with a single set of meaningful instruction, find ways of automating a task through trial and error at speeds hardly seen before.

The mining operation developed at Terania Gates had been started by humans and later, the protocols to keep the operation going were handed over to the AI Such Persistent Intelligences were said to be able to, through self-analysis of a single instruction, assemble their own rudimentary assembly lines of workers for perpetual self-replication, self-improvement of the line of the instruction and later expansion of the deployment of the instruction. All of this using materials found on the location they were deployed whether they had access to other databases with plans for better implementations.

He wondered if Omni wasn’t playing “God” with such AIs, but plenty of federations, alliances and even religions who banned anything that could be man-made life authorized the use of such technology within their borders of influence.

However, why would a person, a real one in this case, he had made sure of that before coming this far, have relation to Omniscience? As far as he knew, not even its own studies were done by people anymore. Years ago it had been handed to an AI designed from the very beginning to further those researches, and all people did these days were making sure that its answers were still making sense. They did not want a repeat of something that happened somewhere in the past, it seemed.

As soon as his Avatar appeared in the Lobby of the Terania Gates Administration, he was greeted by a neutral voice and a robotic mascot avatar floated in front of his eyes.

“Hello, Citizen $X*7 Y@, would you like to apply under the system for new access?”

“Yes.”

“Of course! We are always happy to accept new people. Would you please tell us your reason for this visit?”

“Business.”

“What kind of Business may I inquire?”

“I’m a reporter.”

“How long will you be expecting to stay on the network?”

“12 hours.”

“Understood! Please, await a moment while we verify your identity and credentials.

– Thanks for waiting, Tsuauiba iwi Txeshesa. You have been registered in our network, and you have been granted Tourist Access as well as Media Access as requested.

You may stay in our network as a Tourist for the next 67 hours, or local 3 days. After this, you may request for further extension of your access at any time for 3 more days. As for your Media Access, so long as you have your Tourist Access granted, it will be made available.

Since this is your first time in Terania Gates, a Guide has been made available to you. You may request its services anytime you desire. Its services are free of charge for the duration of your stay.

Do you have any further questions?”

“No, thanks.”

“We, the Terania Gates Administration, would like to wish you a happy stay.”

With that, the mascot was gone. Moments later, his Identity management program let him know that a new registry entry was made for his identity by the name of “Terania Gates Administration.” Seems like he would be able to walk around the area now without much problem.

Once outside the administration, the tourist fame of the place became obvious. Here one could have enjoyed sights of an asteroid belt which overlooked the original solar system of humankind.

Far in the distance he could see the Sun, a permanent feature from this station. Under him were robotic clouds which glinted from time to time in their search for mineral ores that never seemed to be lacking in demand. Which ones they were harvesting right now, he didn’t know. He just knew that the occasional glint of the mechanical spiders fussing around the rock “underneath” him was intriguing.

“Greetings, Mr. Txeshesa. I’m Ayamoe Terania, your assigned Guide. If there is anything I could help you with, please, feel free to ask.”

And for some reason, a female voice sounded beside him.

A robot, a female looking one, wearing a black dress with the logo of Terania Gates stamped smack dab in the center, stood beside him, with a warm smile. On its hands was a tour guide, “The most enticing sights you cannot miss when in Terania Gates!”

When did it arrive? Why was it there in the first place? He hadn’t called for assistance.

“Thank you very much, but I don’t remember requesting assistance…”

“Terania Gates always goes one step beyond it and offers its utmost in terms of services. Would you like me to take you on a tour through our most famous attractions, Mr. Txeshesa?”

“No… Thank you very much. I don’t need assistance. You are dismissed.”

“Is that so? That is unfortunate. Please, take your time and enjoy our sights. If you desire anything from Terania Gates, you can reach me, Mr. Txeshesa. Have a good day.”

With that, the robot offered him a salute of sorts. Did it bow? Or did it try to nod its head? He was not sure, he was too nervous to comprehend what had just happened, but the robot finally was gone, into the Administration building from which he had just come from.

“Talk about a place for rich people… why did they dispatch a robot instead of an assistant avatar since I’m here as one? Freaked me out. I’d better go. I don’t want to stay here for too long anyway.”

With those thoughts, he accessed the colony’s map and did a search for the address he had received from his tip. It was far from where he was, real far. Not in the touristic area, but in an area reserved for the residence of the locals.

Another look and he found where he had to go. A local news agency. A very small one, run by a single person.

With a quick thought, and the local system’s willing, his avatar was gone from the Administration’s common area, and he appeared right outside a room with a door which read:

Hot Sposh! Your Trusted Gossip Teller!

The door looked dreary with pink, blue, yellow, purple and red big round spots of ink splashed on it. The neon-glowing Orange lettering wasn’t very reassuring in his mind, but that was the closest not-big media guy they had registered nearby, and this guy had once swapped contacts with him.

“Thrish, you there?”

He “knocked” on the door, as etiquette mandated in the case of such visits and closed entries. His hands made contact with it; a pleasant “tok-tok” response.

Silence followed.

One minute of waiting, he tried again.

“Thrish?”

With another hand approach. Tok-tok!

…

He checked the office’s status and it was regular. Thrish should be working at this time of the day. Also, the door was glowing. Why bother to pay for decoration if you’re not expecting clients?

One last try! With a bit of gusto this time.

He flexed his hand and banged on the door. A reasonable response.

“WE DON’T WORK FOR RUDE PEOPLE.”

Said the door. It also stopped glowing. Its colors withdrew, becoming just plain steel-gray.

“I guess he’s not here, huh?”

What a waste of time.

He checked his tip once again. It said that “Omniscience” was involved in a case of “People” disappearance in Terania Gate.

From what he had checked, the last person to disappear here in Tirania was a boy, 17, and he used to work as a servant around here.

There was no persistent Omni's deployed around the area. There were, however, plenty of rivals’ persistent products deployed.

He left the building, decided to check where the boy used to live. Surprisingly, it wasn’t far from where his contact had business. He could reach the place in a 5 minutes walk. No need to use the far travel for that. It would also be useful to check the area.

It wasn’t a densely populated area. Blocks of steel were merged one to each other, forming the buildings around here. It did leave the area with very poor ambient conditions, though, but this was a first and foremost a functional area, for those who did not care for pleasure in the physical realm.

Most of these houses, habitats, were home to Augmented ones. Humans who had one way or another been modified to better serve a purpose. The ones here were both done by their own wills and not so much.

Most of them had mechanical implants in their bodies to interface with some part of the Colony. They were human labor for the houses of the rich on the other side of the colony. Either it was a metal alloy exoskeleton or they had modified body parts for better function, they all could have been replaced for robotic labor. In fact, they only weren’t because people wanted them to be people here.

The place where his body was, there were no such “luxuries”, however. But it was not unheard of people to go for that in places where robots were still not yet aplenty, or, for some reason or another, simply decided that more Men was the way to go.

In fact, he had stood there looking for far too long. People had started to gather around his Avatar. It seems it was not that common for “His” kind to be around here, huh? This might work his way, though.

“Hey, could you help me?”

He tried asking one of the oversized men who had been standing a few meters from him, equally staring at him just as he had been staring at his exoskeleton before.

“You know how to talk? What do you want?”

That didn’t sound very friendly…

“I’ve heard that a boy has gone missing here recently…”

“Never heard. Ask someone else.”

The men made a dash that was faster than he could have without purposely removing the avatar’s onlooker comfort limits. Others around him were also starting to move just as fast.

Before he could even muster another passer-by, the residential zone was empty of people.

Had he been too naïve with his approach? Obviously! Else there would have been at least someone standing there.

Actually, there was someone! He had just failed to notice it because they were too normal in the middle of so many different-looking people. How come he did not notice it there? That was the strangest of things, he should have noticed!

He approached the normal person, or rather:

“Hello, Mr. Txeshesa. Have you changed your mind about the tour?”

When did that robot show up? It was standing by the wall of one of the complexes, still holding that stupid book in its hands.

“No. I would like to ask for a few questions, however.”

“Certainly! I exist to serve.”

“I’ve heard there was a boy who has gone missing around these parts not so long ago.”

“A boy?

I’m afraid you are mistaken, Mr. Txeshesa. There have been no Boys going missing in these parts for a long while.”

The robot took some distance from the wall it was standing from and started walking toward a door not far from it.

“I have seen in the local news that a resident from this area has gone missing. What about that?”

It stopped right in front of the door and turned toward him.

“You can check for yourself with the locals. There has never been any boys of 17 who have lived in this area, Mr. Txeshesa.”

“What exactly do you mean?”

“There are only adults here. This is a workers’ quarter. Here, only people above 20 can take residence due to the nature of the work that is involved.”

“What about the boy that has gone missing?”

“There has never been any missing boys, Mr. Txeshesa.

People were confused. One of the inhabitants had been housing their master’s child without their knowledge. Hiding them if you desire.

And when the kid returned home on its own, people mistook it for a resident disappearance.

Haven’t you checked the news recently, Mr. Txeshesa?”

What?

How could people mistake a worker for one of their master’s children?

And for one of the residents even!

And that they would “report” a missing rich kid as a resident?

“This unit behind me here is the worker’s dwelling. The child had been here all this time. The child just wanted to play a prank on their parents.”

It approached further the door and it opened.

He didn’t wait to get inside the unit. It was, however, dark. The dwelling didn’t have reality augmentation apparatus.

A few instants later, his sight height changed to that of the robot. It had followed into the residence.

It was a very simple room. A desk and chair were set on the far side of the room. A bed lay just opposite to it. In the middle of the room was a round cushioned mat. The walls had typical incisions on them for wall cabinets, but all the doors were closed.

There was nothing that really said this room was lived in, except for something on top of the mat. A physical notebook with strange letters on its covers.

He found it doubly strange that he could not understand those letters. When was the last time he had communication problems? Ever?

“As you can see, the resident is working, and she has no perspective of returning home. And the boy is gone as well.”

Why did this robot let him in? What was it trying to tell him…?

“I understand… thanks for the help.”

“It was my pleasure, Mr. Txeshesa.”

He looked one more time around. He wished he could wait in there, but he had a feeling that things wouldn’t work for him anymore.

He turned around and saw himself from the robots’ view.

A boring man. Without any remarkable features, his only redeeming beauty points were his not abyssal looking face and his inconspicuous nature.

He was about to leave the place when he noticed something strange on the corner of his view. His view, not the room. A floating infinity symbol was there.

The symbol hadn’t been there before he shared the robot’s view.

He had better go home and forget about this.

(2023/12/28: Fixed for good the name of the character! [At least, it was not fixed in the originals!] Edited more English. Made it less "doory" without losing door.)