Thoma's Pursuit

Lily, is the First Lt.... giving us time off?

It.... sounds like it, as far as I can tell...

Their hesitation causing her some small amount of annoyance, Vita snapped, "Well?! Go on! Just do us all a favor and stay out of trouble!"

Lily nodded and eagerly began dragging her partner toward the door by his arm. "I know how we can pass the time, Thoma! Let's go sightseeing!"

Laguna smiled at the pair, before drawing a card from his pocket and tossing it. "Take this, and get yourself something nice!"

Thoma fumbled for the card, but did manage to catch it without falling over. "...you're seriously just letting me borrow this, completely out of the blue? Why?"

Leaning against his desk, the President grinned. "After what you kids have been through, someone needs to throw you a bone. And hey, don't worry about tracking me down to give it back -- you're meeting Squall out on the Salt Flats a bit later, right? If we don't bump into each other before, you can leave it with him."

Lily and Thoma stared at the money card Laguna had given them, before then looking at each other. Slowly, their faces lit up, and the pair bowed profusely. "Thank you very much, Mr. President!"

As the pair of rookies left, Vita turned to face the natives. "They're not bad kids," she grumbled with a sigh, "but they have the worst luck. Can someone go along and keep things quiet for them? Just in case?"

"Selphie and Zell can do it," Squall said after a moment. "You two wanted to see the city for yourselves anyway, didn't you?"
With a twirl and a fist pump respectively, the SeeD duo accepted their new assignment. "Yeah!" "All right!"

____________

Just in front of the Presidential Palace, Thoma and Lily found a circular bench beneath an elevated tube. "Thoma, there are people riding on those, through the tube!"

"It looks like some kind of hovercraft highway," Thoma mused. As he turned to his partner, a grin slowly crept onto his face. "Since nobody's driving them, they're probably automated. And since the sign says it's a free service..."

Clasping her hands in excitement, Lily beamed in response. "Can we?!"

Throwing a hand in the air like he just didn't care, Thoma took her hand and led her to the device. "Let's go for it!"

As the pair seated themselves on a luxury cushion, a computerized voice spoke up. [Good morning citizens,] intoned a cool, friendly voice. [Where may I take you today?]

Driver and Reactor stared at each other for a moment, before Thoma shrugged. "We're not from around here," Thoma explained, "so we don't know where anything is."
Like where you keep your murderers, Thoma bitterly thought to himself.
Folding her hands neatly in her lap, Lily asked, "Is there any way you could give us a tour?"

[One moment, please.]

There was a momentary silence before the computer's voice spoke up again. [Verification received. Welcome to Esthar! Please keep your hands and feet inside the protective bubble at all times,] it intoned as an energy field bloomed over the small craft.

It then rose up into the elevated tube, before shooting off into the city.

[On your left, you'll see the Presidential Library, one of many buildings and services established in honor of President Laguna Loire after his victory over the Sorceress Adel many years ago. The Library is open at all hours, and carries easily-accessible information on a wide variety of subjects that may be more difficult to locate online.]

The Library, a gleaming behemoth of glass and steel, must have been no less than six stories tall. "Wow..."

"I've heard about this... Sorceress Adel a few times," Thoma muttered, "and it bothers me a little that everyone's so glad to be rid of her. I mean, how bad of a person could she really have been?"

[Sorceress Adel,] the transport AI replied, [was Esthar's previous ruler 20 years ago, widely known for her cruelty and ruthlessness even to her own subjects. Using a combination of Sorceress Magic and hyper-advanced technology created by her head scientist Dr. Odine, she attempted to conquer the world. For years, she also commanded Esthar's military to raid cities and villages all over the world, taking young girls from their families in the hope of molding a worthy successor. A former soldier of the Galbadian Army, Laguna Loire, eventually appeared in pursuit of one such abducted child, and rallied the continent's scattered resistance factions into a force that finally defeated the Sorceress, before freezing her solid in a cryostatic prison and leaving her in planetary orbit.]

Images of his own family flashed through Thoma's mind as the AI continued to speak. Both of the parents he was born to on Vaizen, and then of the extended Nakajima clan, who even now were awaiting his safe return.

She tore apart people's families without hesitation or remorse, and hurt so many people.... and for what? She already ruled a whole continent and had power close to what this world calls a god, and she still wanted more? Everyone around here is so happy to know that she's not a part of their lives anymore, and they worship President Laguna at least as much as any hero I've ever heard of.
...is the world really so much better off without certain people in it?
____________

The tour continued for quite some time, passing other landmarks and places of interest including but not limited to Esthar Airstation, Dr. Odine's Laboratory, and the Shopping Mall. At that last, the youths stopped off for a while, more to explore the wares rather than to buy anything -- even if Laguna had told them to 'get themselves something nice', it wasn't like they had a lot of space for carrying anything longer-term.

"Triple Triad! Get your Triple Triad fix here!"

Thoma abruptly stopped walking, his attention drawn to a merchant at a small table, apparently just starting out. The merchant was dressed in the overly-fancy, concealing robes and poofy hat that seemed typical of pretty much everyone in Esthar, but he had a display of cards spread out on his table, each bearing a series of numbers and a well-illustrated picture of what looked like a monster.

[]Squall said to meet him in three hours, right? You've still got some time, and this looks kind of interesting. And a set of cards would even be small enough to fit in a pocket, that's totally convenient!
[]Nah, better get a move on.