“Alright, let’s see what little thing is making you panic so much.” Nico sighed, pulling a pair of uniform pants and a tank top on before padding barefoot out of the bedroom to see what was going on.

Max was sitting at the dining room table with a copy of the footage from the speech pulled up, and Nico took her seat across from him with a big smile on her face.

“Very pretty. Did we set this up, or is it a natural phenomenon from the city itself?” She asked.

“It appears to be a natural phenomenon. The entire thing was live streamed by multiple groups and analyzed by billions of viewers, and they all think this is a mystical Shrine World, formerly populated by powerful energy beings, who left behind some small remnants of themselves.” Max explained.

“So, should I put out a press release thanking them for so graciously welcoming the human population to their planet and add it to the travel brochures advertising vacations in the city?” Nico asked.

“You don’t see the problem with causing an uprising of superstition among the militantly scientific Alliance planets?” Max reminded her.

“You’re missing the natural genius here. It’s brilliant marketing. Not only do we get the tourists who want to come to see the illusions, for whatever they believe them to be, we will also get to host the ones looking to disprove them as a scientific phenomenon, and they are all paying customers.”

“So what you’re saying is. . .” Max asked, encouraging her to finish that train of thought.

“I have no idea how it works, only that this is the perfect environmental situation where it will. But inviting a million alien nerds here will almost certainly give us enough data to not only replicate it but modify it to make even more beautiful cities in the future.” Nico finished.

“You think you can do better than this?” He asked, gesturing to the crystal spires shimmering in the sunlight, which were making small images of flying creatures dance above the surface of the buildings at that moment.

“Almost certainly. I mean, I’m not sure how yet, because that city is pretty awesome if I do say so myself, but now that it’s there to serve as a reference, why shouldn’t I be able to improve on it?”

That was valid logic, so Max went to the replicator in the kitchen to get some breakfast while he thought about it.

During his walk back, a private message from his Illithid Advisor appeared on his wrist device, a rare occurrence since they preferred to communicate directly.

[Did you get it? I haven’t sent an official message in a while] The Illithid asked.

[I did, but I haven’t read it yet. What’s up?]

[The Illithid Council has a theory about what the unknown substance that isn’t made up of individual atoms and the City of Spirits have in common. They suspect that the crystal array might be psychoactive, meaning that it resonates on the same frequency as brain waves, and the city is projecting the collective mood of the residents.

If that is the case, then they believe that they also know how the strange material was formed, and it’s an old Illithid superstition. Supposedly millions of years ago, there was a species that could create matter with their minds. They built great cities that couldn’t be destroyed by the weapons of the time, and then one day, they just vanished as if they had never existed, not even leaving behind a clue about their existence, save for some ruins.

The preliminary findings are that the relics from those ruins kept in the Illithid and Hunter’s species museums are the same material that was identified on this planet.

That makes two independent species who have verified that there is something off about the ruins here. They don’t match the known timeline of this section of the universe, and the Illithid is one of the oldest species, which makes them very, very interested in being here.]

[So you used all those words to tell me that there will be Illithid among the guests?] Max asked.

[Royal Illithid among the guests, to be precise. They request clearance to open a portal in our area since their entire home solar system is off-limits to outside travellers. Oh, and more Hunters. There will be more Hunters.] The advisor informed him.

Max wasn’t sure how to prepare for a Royal Illithid arrival, but it seemed like the Advisor had things well in hand. They didn’t like big ceremonies, so he would only have to assemble a small group to meet them at the hangar when they arrived. Their ship would require the closest hangar to their sleeping area, which also wasn’t a problem, as he had arranged that the last time an Illithid vessel was here.

As long as the ship fit in that smaller cargo bay, it could stay there as long as they liked.

“I got the rest of the bookings sorted out. We have rearranged the schedules for the staff of the Cutters to serve as a ferry service to bring people to and from the surface until replacement ships are made to remain here.

I have entered plans for a permanent portal location to be built and informed all the incoming guests that we are not completely open for visitors yet, but that they can get very limited early access for a premium rate.

That cut down the requests to about a third of the original, with the rest asking for a deferral until such time as all amenities were online.

I have placed an order for an orbital station to be built and delivered, charged to the planet’s account, and prepaid by our Alliance visitors already.

What else was there? Oh yes, the Portal location rotation will need your approval, and there is a list of questionable guests identified either by myself or the computers who want to stay on Terminus. Most are just shock journalists known for their hit pieces, but I checked the regulation, and deciding what guests get denied simply for being who they are is firmly within the realm of your problem, not mine.” Nico informed him with a huge smile on her face.