Chapter Forty-Eight

"This will be your home for the next few days," The guide told Edward as she opened the front door. When she revealed the apartment that waited beyond, Edward's breath was taken away.

"This is mine?" Edward asked with shock. The guide nodded with a sweet smile before she pulled out a small metal keycard of a similar size to a debit card.

"This is your key. If you lose it, you only need to contact one of the maintenance workers for this floor to get a new one," The guide said, "Otherwise, if you need any help please ask Astrid."

'Astrid? Who's that?' Edward wondered to himself. However, instead of disrupting the guide's time any longer, he smiled and said nothing about it.

"Thanks," Edward nodded. The guide smiled once more before she gave a quick bow. 

"Have a good day, Mr. Colt," The guide said before she turned around and walked down the luxurious hallway. Edward turned back to his apartment and stepped inside. Ikarus dashed in immediately, his gaze turning from left to right.

"This is impressive," Edward mumbled under his breath. When he had been told he would be assigned a place to stay while he stayed at HQ, he was expecting something similar to a hotel room. However, what faced him now would put hotel rooms to shame.

His new home had a total of four rooms and two bathrooms. There was one large living room, two bedrooms— each with a separate bathroom, and a large kitchen that opened up into the living room. Upon entering the apartment, Edward stepped into a small mudroom where he found room for a dozen shoes and jackets in the large cabinet to his left. On his right was a small dresser for a set of car keys— if he had any— and his wallet. 

Upon exiting the mudroom, Edward stepped into the kitchen/living room setup located in the center of the apartment. In truth, the living room and kitchen were contained in one large room— as the two were separated only by one of the kitchen counters. The kitchen itself had three stovetops, two sinks, four ovens, and a fridge six feet wide. Most of the cabinets were white and supported the black granite countertops— of which there were three. The three countertops were each much longer than the average countertop and organized in a U-like formation. The opening was on the right side of the kitchen, where Edward stood now.

As he walked into the kitchen, he first made his way to the fridge and opened it— hoping for a light snack. However, he was disappointed to find it completely. He opened the freezer and found that empty, as well, though he knew the freezer was working from the cold wave of air that escaped.

'No food?' Edward thought with disappointment. He turned to the rest of the kitchen and began to rummage through the cabinets and drawers. However, to his utter disappointment, he only found utensils and dishes. There wasn't a crumb of food anywhere.

'Where's Astrid when you need her, huh?' Edward joked as he left the kitchen.

Upon leaving the kitchen, Edward stepped into the living room. This room reminded him of the stone theater from Dragon's Roost— in the same way that the center of the room was at a lower elevation than the edges. A massive flatscreen TV rested against the wall opposite six couches— each resting at a different elevation to mimic the staggered seats of a movie theater. Luckily, the living room had direct access to the balcony located in the opposite direction of the kitchen. From there, Edward could see the city's landscape from the view of the thirty-second floor.

Once he noticed the TV, Ikarus quickly jumped atop of one of the couches. Edward laughed, then picked up the remote from the small table underneath the TV. The remote was unfamiliar to him and more complicated than he liked to admit.

After he turned on the TV, he looked back to the remote and gazed at it in confusion.

"Why are there so many buttons," Edward mumbled as he pushed in the 'guide' button. A list of TV channels popped up in front of him, so Edward spent the next few minutes looking through the list until he found something interesting.

Eventually, he put on a nature documentary before throwing the remote back onto the table before he continued his tour.

On opposing sides of the living room were the two bedrooms— each of them identical in size and style to the other. Each room had a mattress larger than a king— Edward didn't know the proper name for them, and a TV half the size of the one in the living room. Opposite the windows were the entrances to the two bathrooms. Edward was surprised to find each bathroom larger than his motel room— but his shock was quickly replaced by an even bigger surprise.

"Hello, Edward," A robotic voice sounded from the mirror. As soon as it spoke, a blue hologram of a pixilated woman appeared like a reflection in the bathroom's mirror. Edward flinched in surprise before he turned to look at the hologram, "My name is Astrid. I am your holographic assistant. If you have any questions, I am here to assist you."

'Astrid was the AI assistant!' Edward thought to himself in a panic, 'How rich are these people?'

"Uh, thanks Astrid," Edward smiled.

"No problem, Edward. Would you like me to request a team of employees to collect your personal items? You'll need your headset if you are to play Avalon Online, are you not?" Astrid asked.

"Right, I forgot about that. Yes, that would be very helpful. Thank you, Astrid," Edward smiled. He looked back to his bedroom and found Ikarus playfully jumping on the bed— probably as he pretended it was a trampoline. As a thought popped into his mind, Edward turned around and faced the mirror, "Astrid, could get somebody to bring us some food? Maybe some ice cream, as well?"

"Certainly."