Traveling Time! Getting vaccinated

Buzzing around the house, Sazzy was checking things off in the suitcase using the list in her personal terminal.

[Toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, 3 sets of clothes...what else am I missing?]

You would almost think that these items were for her. But she had interrupted me this morning when I had just started to take out the luggage bag stored in the storeroom.

[Since I am a system, I do not follow the basic needs of people. This is why there will only be one passport! So, we really only need to pack your suitcase. And since I have already made a list for that, you can just rest at ease and cook breakfast while I pack the bags!]

Pushing me to the kitchen, Sazzy started running around the house collecting items while mumbling to herself. While she was busy with that, I had already prepared some omelet and tofu for breakfast and was going to call her to eat.

To get me vaccinated, we both went shopping at the AT center. Compared to the last time we went there, the crowd was visibly larger and noisier. Especially near the local cafes. There was a very long line coming out of each store, although the one with the longest line would be the store where we bought Vine noodles from last time.

[This should be the direct effect of your livestream.]

She said as we passed the stores to go all the way to the back, where the airport section was. It was also where the small vaccination clinic was.

[Since you became quite popular by using the poisonous ingredients from this planet, it allowed more people to feel safer when consuming the food here. And since they already had a first taste of the food through the livestream, if they liked it then they would of course travel here to eat it. Interplanetary travel is incredibly cheap after all. Sometimes it's even cheaper than traveling within the planet!]

When I shot a confused glance at Sazzy, she just sighed and said.

[It's the convenience. All the AT centers are quite well connected, while rural planets like this one don't really have roads, or even many vehicles to rent. And if they are that rural, it's hard to find a reliable map, especially if you do not know any locals. For tourists, it's a nightmare to even travel out of the safety of the AT center. Both because of cost and because of safety. Adding up the cost of renting a vehicle, the cost of hiring someone to either drive or guide the way, etc etc, it adds up pretty quickly. But for AT centers, it's just a short ride here and there and the Headquarters for Intergalactic Travel already have such a good reputation that they make sure that security, even in the most rural of areas, is quite strict. The AT centers are even considered one of the safest places on some planets.]

As she explained, we entered the area where the vaccination center was. It was a pretty plain building, with a simple double glass door and a sign above that read out 'Vaccination center'. Walking up to the vaccination center, we entered through its doors to see a machine with a smiling face who greeted me.

Its face was a very simple screen, with a pixelated smile and eyes. Underneath its screen for a head was an empty space big enough to fit an arm. The rest of its body under that was a thick rectangle.

[Please put your arm inside the hole!]

It said in a really robotic voice. Throwing a look at Sazzy for assurance, I took a deep breath and placed my hand in the hole right under its face.

[Please ensure that your elbow is in line before pressing to proceed.]

Its face disappeared and was replaced with the footage of the camera showing the inside of the machine. There was a glaring red line in the middle. Calming my beating heart, I made sure the line of my inner elbow lined up with the red line before using my other hand to press the proceed button. Instantly, the screen cut to black and I felt a cool material enclose that part of my arm only. Then after only a couple of seconds, the material released my arm and the face of the machine returned.

[The vaccination has been completed! Thank you for your patronage!]

While observing my arm, which showed absolutely no change, we left the AT center and went home.

Now on the day we were going to leave, Sazzy was busy shoving down food into her stomach without care as she went over the list with her eyes again before nodding in satisfaction.

[We should have everything essential packed! If there is anything missing, we can always buy it from the AT centers. Aquarius has a much more developed AT center than this planet due to it being a popular source for certain fabric made from sea plants. They should have stores that sell clothes as well as any items that tourists forget to bring!]

Hopping down from the counter seat once she finished the entire plate, she used her entire body strength to close the luggage bag and drag it upright.

[Ok! We can start to leave! Our flight is in half an hour so we will be able to make it with tons of time to spare. The waiting time for boarding the flight is 5 minutes and the flight itself will probably only take at most 20 minutes. We should be able to reach Aquarius before 1 hour is up!]

Attempting to drag the luggage bag, Sazzy seemed to be glowing with excitement. Taking pity on her strength, I took over moving the luggage bag and we entered the car and headed to the AT center.

Once we reached the AT center, instead of parking at our usual parking lot, Sazzy directed me to drive to the other side of the AT center near the airport side. Following her directions, we entered what seemed to look like a very big industrial warehouse for vehicles. Looking around for empty spaces, which to be fair were everywhere, Sazzy chose a spot very near the end tucked away in a corner for us to park. Then once we exited the car, she guided me to pay a small machine nearby and reserve the spot for a month. Once we made sure we had brought everything we needed out of the car, I pressed the confirmation button for our reservation and metal walls seemed to come out from the ground and enclose the car.

Leaving the warehouse, we headed up a lift towards the airport waiting and loading room, and headed towards the one which had our destination indicated on its overhead sign. It was a little crowded so I held the handle of my luggage tightly and we got in line in front of one of the many black double doors.

Soon, a charming little bell sound rang out throughout the room and the doors slowly opened. Finding a nice spot to sit while Sazzy stood in front of me, we waited for another sound, indicating the doors were closing, and just waited for the ride to be over.

Our travel vehicle, a 'space bullet', had a rectangular interior with the seats against the wall and facing each other. It kind of resembled the modern trains in my previous world. But it was definitely much larger in width, with enough space for me to leave my luggage bag in front of me. There was also a space underneath to store your luggage.

Sitting on my seat with my luggage bag underneath, I chatted with Sazzy for the rest of the duration of the ride.