CHAPTER 27

"Welcome to the Peakview Resort! Did you have a reservation with us?" the front desk clerk cheerfully greeted Hiro as he approached the counter.

"Yes, there should be two rooms... deluxe suites... on the 20th floor just below the penthouse. Should be under Kazemora or Sawai Academy."

"Very good... Yes, there you are... how many keys do you need?"

"Three apiece."

A few minutes and some signed documents later, Hiro rejoined his students with the key cards.

"Okay, kids, here's how we're doing this... the girls get one room, me and the boys get the other. The workstation will be set up in the girls' suite, since it's Kari and Hana who'll be subjected to it. This isn't the school, so please be on your best behavior."

Hiro handed the first set of key cards to Saki, and then passed out one key card to Ikuro and the other to Yuka.

Sota stepped up to the front desk, with Caleb, Noah and a couple other friends standing nearby. "Do you have any other rooms available?" he asked the clerk.

"Yes we do! Any personal preferences?"

"Just as close to the top floors as we can get."

The clerk clicked around on his computer. "Looks like we have one available on the 18th floor, will that do?"

"Yes indeed! Do the rooms have video games?"

"Yes, all our rooms are equipped with video game consoles. You can bring your own games or rent them from our concierge."

"Sweet!" Sota and Caleb exchanged high-fives.

"Hey Sota! Are these your friends from Sho-Bizzy?" Saki had just entered the lobby pulling a huge black case behind her.

"Yeah, we just checked in and we're gonna throw our own little party!"

"Cool! Just don't forget to call or text us in the morning!"

Noah laughed and elbowed Sota. "Oooh, what does she got planned for you, bud? Is she into kinky stuff like..."

His remark was cut short by a screwdriver handle hitting his face right between the eyes.

"Jump to conclusions much, you perv?" Saki scoffed as she picked up her screwdriver.

Caleb stifled a laugh. "Come on, my dudes, let's get to our room."

Kari admired the view from the balcony. "So beautiful! This is gonna be quite the luxurious experiment."

Saki set the rolling case on its side and opened the lid. Inside was a console with a keyboard, several buttons and knobs, as well as eight small cylindrical devices and a folded antenna.

Saki removed the antenna first and unfolded it. "This is what we're calling a 'paratransmitter'. Headmaster Hiro gave us the schematics to tap into the new interworld network. We'll place the antenna on the balcony and leave it running all night."

She then pulled out two fistfuls of wires. "You two will need to sleep with these sensors hooked up to your heads. If you get one of those visions with your sister, the console should be able to use that to locate the world she's in."

"Got it! So... what are these other things?" Kari asked, staring at the eight cylinders.

"We won't need them right now, but they're holoprojectors. You imagine a giant cube, and they go on the corners of that cube, and an image is supposed to form in the center. If the transmission is powerful enough, you can have yourself a fully immersive video chat."

Saki cleared off the nightstand between the two beds and set the console on top. She then hooked up the sensor wires to the back of the console and typed away on the keyboard.

"And there you have it! Welcome to your sleep study! I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a nice hot spring bath."

The three girls walked over to the resort spa. A young lady with long blonde hair greeted them.

"Hello! My name is Ushio, I'm the women's bath attendant. If there is something you need, please do not hesitate to ask!"

As they made their way to the onsen entrance, Saki spotted Hiro in the lounge area, reclining on a couch with a cup of hot tea. "Hiro-sensei?"

"Oh, hey girls! Don't mind me, I did my bathing already," Hiro called out.

"Good... we didn't need that kind of awkward situation," Hana mumbled quietly.

Kari noticed that the pathway to the women's side split into two passages, one marked For Our Resort Guests and the other Authorized Personnel Only.

"Wait... there's two women's baths?"

"Yes, the one we're going to is for the real people with souls," Ushio replied. "It's tightly secured and the walls are impenetrable. That other one has nothing but NPC's, and has a controlled entrance, but it was specifically built for those guys who wanted to experience the typical 'peeking in on the naked ladies' trope in your average anime or manga. Depending on their chances, they'll either get shy women shrieking or more casual types waving to you in full frontal glory."

The girls stared suspiciously at Hiro.

"Whoa... that wasn't my idea! Probably some... horny resort worker or Mystic came up with that!"

"I can't answer that question either," Ushio chimed in, "but we've had this setup for about forty years or so. Now, if you'll follow me to the lockers…"

She led the girls into the For Our Resort Guests side. Hiro went back to his phone games.

Five minutes later Ikuro, Yuka and Noah entered the spa.

"Sota didn't want to come?" Yuka asked Noah.

Noah shook his head. "Nah. He didn't want anything to do with spying on his sisters, thought that was gross. And Caleb had his bath earlier."

"Okay, well, let's hurry... they should still be in there!"

Hiro chuckled to himself. They're in for a bit of a letdown.

The following morning, Saki was the first to awaken. She shuffled over to the console.

She poked some buttons, typed away on the keyboard, paused and sighed.

Hana was the first to wake up.

"I guess nothing happened?" Saki asked her. "The screen doesn't show any significant readings."

"No... I had this weird dream where I was playing softball on my school's team. I had hit it towards first base, and when the baseman tried to tag me out, I ate the ball and swallowed it whole like a snake."

"Wow... that was crazy. But no sign of your sister, huh?"

"Nope. But now I'm hungry for a hard-boiled egg. I'm sure it's a coincidence."

An hour later at the breakfast buffet, Kari made the announcement. "I'm sorry, people... Yuri-san didn't show up last night."

"Don't worry about it," Hiro replied, "We still have six days at this place, so have your luxurious vacation during the day and keep trying when you go to sleep."

"In fact," Ikuro added, "don't say anything until five days later, even if you succeed tonight!"

The entire table was filled with laughter.