"Expect a call from me in a few days. I'm sure we can find work for you soon."
"Look into what I said, Miss Hera."
"...I do not have the license for Italian Mafia Reborn."
"Then buy it."
"That is an expensive franchise."
"I will help you acquire it, Miss Hera."
"...Please don't threaten anyone."
"I will give you a budget for it."
"You're… going to invest in Hera Entertainment?"
"I suppose. I will see how much I have earned throughout the years in my bank. It shouldn't have been closed since I put it in a different name."
"You… almost sound normal when saying that. Anyway, just leave—the sun's already up and I don't want Empress finding out that I basically hid you here."
"Hm. I'll wait for your call, Miss Hera."
In the end, the two ended up chatting for hours. Riley stepped inside Hera's office when there was almost no one inside the building, and he stepped out of her office with the building now filled with people.
…People who all stared at him the moment he emerged from Hera's office.
Hera's assistant, who also has not gone home since her boss has a visitor, has been trying her best in keeping the other employees and staff from asking questions—the last thing she wanted, after all, was their CEO to be linked to some sort of rumor or… entanglement.
But alas, as Riley just casually stepped out of Hera's office, the assistant could do nothing but watch as everyone started pulling out their phones and pointing them at Riley—but lucky for her; for some reason, everyone's cameras were all just blacked out.
"Hm…" As for Riley, he just continued to casually walk out of the building, not even caring about the people staring at him. He waited for someone to start running away, or even gasp as he passed them… but there was no one.
No one really recognized him.
Of course, he changed the color of his hair to match that of Hannah's—and that was enough to make someone like him unrecognizable from the masses. But still, he was expecting at least one to squint their eyes, but there was no one.
Perhaps it is to be expected. Riley had been gone for several years, and there was also the fact that Earth has been undergoing extreme changes throughout that time…
…as well as the fact that Bernard either deleted or blurred Riley's face in all the media that Earth and the Known Universe has on him, basically erasing his visual data.
According to Hera, humans were now part of the Common Council, with Empress representing the planet as the newest Elder. It would seem the Known Universe couldn't really ignore the impact that humans had from the short time that they've been introduced.
Of course, this was mostly because of Bernard. Throughout the short 5 years, he had become known to the Known Universe as 'The Blacksmith'. A Guardian that was able to replicate, and even improve on tech that he has only seen once—practically replacing Elder Skeem's role as the Common Council's weapons master.
Unlike Elder Skeem and their people, however, Bernard, as well as Empress, has been adamant that they won't be making weapons of mass destruction…
…until otherwise forced to.
And of course, Bernard was also recognized by the Guardian Force as a legit member of their corps. Well, it was more like they were forced to after all that has happened. Bernard was going to be listed as the Solar System's Guardian, but he refused—saying that Earth doesn't need a Guardian because it was already filled with protectors from the start.
And the humans weren't just members of the Common Council, they were also recognized and categorized by Ahor Zai to be one of the Higher Races.
Riley Ross alone was enough proof that they were more than a formidable race—wiping out dozens of planets in a short amount of time. Of course, it could be said that he might just be an isolated case… but that was not the case. As soon as it was revealed that the Pirate Queen, Xra, was also a human—any doubts instantly disappeared.
But it would seem, however, the Known Universe doesn't really remember Riley Ross as a genocidal maniac.
The planets and civilizations he had wiped out? In the vastness of the Known Universe, his victims were nothing but a statistic and the majority of the population didn't really even bat an eye or lose sleep—after all, they were safe far away, why would they care? There was also the fact that Riley didn't even actually make a dent in the Known Universe's population.
He killed more than a hundred billion in a very short amount of time. But what is that number in the face of trillions?
Only the Bounty Hunters truly cared about Riley and Xra.
The Known Universe, however, does remember Riley Ross for torturing and killing two Elders and broadcasting it for everyone to see, as well as killing Elder Skeem's entire people.
But once again, the majority of the Known Universe didn't really care about their deaths—they were just another statistic. But what they did care about, however, was the reason for the massacre.
Elder Skeem, along with the Grand Elder, plotted the genocide of the Themarians.
Themarians, who were considered to be gods by many other races. Themarians, who have shown themselves to be nothing but peaceful through millions of years, even though they were more than capable of putting the Known Universe into their knees.
The majority of the population worshiped people from the Higher Races. Evaniels, Norinlads, Messengers…Themarians were deities for them. Suffice it to say, the Known Universe did not mourn for Elder Skeem and his people.
And now that the humans are revealed to be one of the Higher Races, the people of the Known Universe are calling the genocide of Elder Skeem's people as divine retribution—a reminder to everyone that the Higher Races should not be angered.
A lot was going on outside of Earth, and that reflected through the streets of Earth. Just years ago, Riley and the rest of the Baby Crew were hiding Aerith's clones right in the very city he was walking through right now, inside Tomoe's house.
And yet right now, if the clones were to walk through the streets with him, the people would just offer them curious glances before minding their own business. After all, even just now, Riley has lost count of how many aliens he had seen walking down the streets of Los Angeles.
…Or maybe all of this wasn't real?
"..." Maybe Riley was just hallucinating again? Come to think of it, Los Angeles was also the place where Riley first experienced some sort of hallucination—when he heard Alice's whispers calling for him.
So even then, he was already losing his mind.
Will his mind continue to regress just like Alice's? If so, then how could he stop it…? How could anyone stop it?
He thought that getting killed by Paige would make his death permanent, but no—it just expedited the process of him losing his mind, making his psychosis seem even more real.
…But if he kills everyone here, would it really matter if they were real or not?
"...I suppose it doesn't matter," Riley quickly shook his head off of the thoughts he was having. He needed to wait for Aerith to wake up before he started killing again—there was no point in doing so without her.
For now, he will strive to be as normal as possible—a normal human with a normal life, a normal job… perhaps even friends?
He doesn't deserve any of that, of course. But that is why he approached Hera in the first place, to learn how to pretend even more… to learn how to adapt.
Right now, he should just go home and be with Aerith; like a normal person that takes care of his sick friend.
"..." Riley then turned to look at the normal people around him, only to finally realize that they were all staring at him—some even seemingly wanting to approach him. Riley really only blinked a couple of times, before just subtly smiling at them.
"He… he smiled at me!"
"I recognize him somewhere. Is… he a model?"
"I don't know, he looks alien."
"Quick, let me take a photo with him!"
"Don't embarrass me! You're not supposed to take photos of celebrities when you're in LA."
"..." If Riley turned his hair back to white right now, would these people just start running? His face might have been blurred and deleted by Bernard throughout all sorts of media, but he was sure they would all still quickly recognize him.
And once again, Riley shook off the thoughts inside his head.
A normal human, a normal life, a normal job—he repeatedly whispered to himself.
And so, Riley just continued to walk through the streets, trying his best not to cause chaos as he just smiled and nodded at the people. Perhaps because LA was a tourist destination, there were a lot of people from other planets—some even species that Riley recognized.
It truly was a wonder to see Earth like this. It almost seemed like a different planet entirely. There was—
"..." Riley then blinked a couple of times, before glancing back at a group of aliens that walked past him. And it wasn't only him—the group of aliens also turned their worm-like heads back as they looked at Riley; their humanoid bodies that were clearly robotic, causing a slight whistle.
"..."
"..."
"Wai—"
And before the aliens could even say anything, a bus suddenly rammed through them.
"Oh... I didn't check if they were real."
