Checking into the capsule hotel involved walking through the front doors. The hotel computers were integrated into the System so that they knew when a guest arrived. They didn’t get to choose their capsule assignments but simply received an address. “Floor nineteen, quadrant two, column fifty-seven, middle row.” Hector read the assignment aloud, wondering just how many people were crammed into this city. It had to dwarf anywhere he ever visited, which included New York, London, and Tokyo.

  The three of them agreed to meet up with each other back in the lobby after dropping their bags off at their capsules. They were all on different floors, so they soon were parted. Due to the prominent signage, Hector had no trouble finding his new home.

  The residential floors of the hotel were dimly lit. The outer hallway held the capsules, which were built into the outer wall. They looked somewhat like rge chrome-faced microwave ovens stacked three high. There were stairs along one side to facilitate climbing to capsules on the second and third row. Hanging at regur intervals was a pcard reminding people that they were in a quiet area. He took a few steps up the dder and pulled on the door to his assigned capsule.

  It opened easily and he looked inside.

  First, the size. The floor area matched a king sized mattress. The rectangur space was tall enough that he could crawl forward without hitting his head on the ceiling, but not quite enough for him to sit upright. To one side were a row of doors that opened onto small storage spaces. He managed to fit his backpack into one of them.

  The mattress floor was what he would consider medium softness. The pstic of the ceiling held a number of LED lights that he could dim or turn off entirely using a knob along the wall. When he closed the door to his capsule, he could just barely see through the tinted window. He supposed that was enough to check if someone was in his way before throwing open the door.

  A bnket was folded in the corner with a pillow on top of it. Everything seemed clean.

  There wasn’t much more to see in his capsule. Hector imagined he wouldn’t do much in there other than sleep and cultivate anyway. He exited the space, closed the door, and went to investigate the central portions of the nineteenth floor. There were the elevators, of course. Eight of them arranged in two rows that faced each other.

  He also found a rge number of individual sanitation rooms. Each one had a sink, toilet, shower, and compact clothes washer. A sign reminded guests that they could purchase sanitary supplies from the vending machines. Those were conveniently located near the elevators. Soap, shampoo, razor bdes, detergent, feminine hygiene products, and dental care products were avaible for a small price. The st amenity in the center region of his residential floor was a computer room. Inside were individual stations he could rent to look up information, make video calls, or py games.

  The elevator deposited him back in the lobby and Hector took a seat at one of the couches. He was soon joined by Zelda, who criticized the capsules for being ‘very basic’. Apparently the nicer ones were a bit rger and had entertainment consoles built into them. Also, she thought the contents of the toiletry vending machine should be free for guests.

  Rodrick then arrived to express the exact opposite opinion. He was excited to live in a tiny capsule, thought having a washing machine inside a bathroom was genius, and wanted credits so that he could py games on the computers. Hector transferred ten thousand credits to each of his companions. As Rodrick jumped up to head back to his floor for gaming, Zelda barred his way.

  “We are checking out the public amenities together, Rod. Remember?”

  “Are we still doing that? Fine. Let’s get it over with.”

  The reluctance of Rodrick did not st. The lobby seemed to exist as a space for people to wait for others. It was a lot of chairs and couches in front of the elevators. The other side of the first floor hid behind a heavy set of double doors. It was three times the size of the lobby and held a full service restaurant. The menu scrolling across a wall screen revealed a rge selection, the cheapest of which came in at ten credits.

  “Alfar raised beef steak!”

  “It’s fifty credits, Rod.”

  “I’ll bet it’s good, though.”

  “Too expensive.”

  “Are you going to be this way the whole time, Zelda?”

  “I wish I didn’t have to be, Rod.”

  They rode the elevators down to sub-floor one to check out the fitness center. Hector eagerly jogged around the byrinthine complex, mentally cataloging all of the equipment on dispy. He was probably too strong to use most of it, but the gym rat in him hardly cared. They had everything he could ever want in a gym.

  Sub-floor two had a spa. Zelda’s fascination matched what Hector felt for the gym and Rodrick for the restaurant, though her excitement was tempered by angst over cost. There were full body massages that could be booked with either an Arahant or Alfar expert. There were steam rooms and dry saunas. They walked past hot tubs kept at various temperatures. There was a long swimming pool and even an ice water tub.

  There was a health bar where people could consume life enhanced Alfar tonics, Arahant rejuvenation potions, Jinn medicinal compounds, or even Xian elixirs. Hector was not tempted by that st category once he read the details. He had no need for something as inefficient and expensive as the blood boiling elixir advertised. Rates for a day pass to the spa were high. Rates for services and the health bar were even worse.

  Going back up on the elevator, the second floor boasted a cafeteria serving rge portions of food cheaper than what was offered at the first floor restaurant. The pce was absolutely packed, making it clear this was where most people in the building ate their meals. One level up on floor three was a department store.

  One quadrant of the store area was dedicated to clothing. It was mostly the durable synthetic fibers used by the Jinn, but there were signs indicating the special requests could be ordered in. The general aesthetic seemed to be pseudo-military. It was a lot of bck and olive colors, usually in the form of cargo pants and bulky jackets. Another quadrant of the store held consumable supplies for use on dungeon runs. There were items familiar to Hector from his trip across worlds such as hard tack and pemmican. There were also tubes of Jinn food substitute paste. Nothing in that section looked remotely tempting for everyday consumption.

  The camping supply quadrant boasted any number of things. Hiking packs, tents, binocurs, folding shovels, toilet paper, and so on. The final quadrant held weapons. Everything from swords to ser guns could be found there. A big sign as you entered the weapon quadrant indicated that purchased items were not permitted in the residential area. Sub-floors three through five were dedicated to equipment storage for a modest fee, so this wouldn’t be a problem for residents.

  “Zelda! You should get a weapon since you’re done with fire.”

  “The whole point of me being here, Rod, is that I didn’t give up.”

  “Burning things without an insight is too expensive. Since you have a wing externality, you should get a spear. Stab from above.”

  “I’ll manage.”

  “In three months? I know the energy started to flow after we rented space at the dungeon hotel, but we’re not seeing celebrity levels of restoration. We can’t expect a level four to carry us through our first run.”

  Hector interrupted their bickering. “I’ll be level five by then.”

  “That’s amazing,” Rodrick said.

  Zelda had a different reaction. “I think you might be miscalcuting.”

  “The System says my energy reserves are at ninety-three percent. Just seven more to go.”

  “That’s only true if your soul is fully saturated.”

  Hector thought back over Volithur’s memories. He didn’t think there was anything he had overlooked. “I fill my soul to capacity, push a little, and I get the next level. I remember doing this all the way to the eighth level.”

  Zelda rubbed her temple. “The wonderful Xian education system on dispy here. Tell me, Hector, how much does your capacity increase when you go up one level?”

  “It doubles every time.”

  “And how many resources does it take to reach the next level?”

  “It’s factorial. Reaching five will take five times as much as getting to level four.”

  Zelda paused as if waiting for his reaction. “Seriously? You don’t see it? Your energy reserve capacity at level four is sixteen times higher than it was at level zero. The cost of getting to level five is a hundred and twenty times more than your capacity was at level zero. What’s happening with the big difference between those numbers?”

  He looked up at the ceiling as he checked her math. For all his education, he wasn’t as quick with the calcutions as Volithur had been. Finally, realizing her numbers checked out, he found himself completely stumped. “I have no idea.”

  “Obviously. The answer is that human souls are porous. It’s like a sponge that absorbs energy. The walls of your soul need to become saturated before you can move forward. Then when you advance, a small portion of the energy is permanently incorporated. The rest burns off in the process. Your energy reserves being full only means that the central cavity of your soul can’t hold more.

  “At the lower levels, your capacity and the advancement requirement are close together. You can hardly notice a difference exists. Go higher, though, and it takes time for the substance of the soul to saturate. That’s why Sage Evelyn, even with all her prestige, can’t instantly jump to level ten on Maya. She will need time to saturate between levels. And so do you.”

  As Hector thought back, Volithur had spent a lot of time at the ter levels before advancing. Much of that time was split between body enhancement and traveling, where his energy reserves rose and fell with use, making it hard to determine if anything was lost. The ter increases were even hazier, fueled by uncut spirits that left Volithur constantly inebriated.

  “Can the System tell me how far I am from being saturated?”

  “I doubt it. The Sage of Perception is the only person I know who can detect saturation. The rest of us try to break through when we feel enough time has passed. If it doesn’t work, then we know to give it more time.”

  How long since he reached level four? About five months now, Hector thought. Volithur power leveled from level four to level five in closed door cultivation. “How long does it usually take to saturate?”

  “It varies a lot. Over ten variables were identified. A major factor is keeping energy reserves higher. The theory is that the extra pressure forces diffusion. Another factor is aperture development. People who make progress strengthening all six soul apertures advance quicker.”

  Hector nodded. “Well. It’s important for me to know things like this. I pnned to strengthen my aura and domain anyway.” He bottled up the frustration he felt. It could be the emotional fuel he needed for a sustained bout of self improvement.

  “Great,” Rodrick said, “Hector will be spending the next few months in Xian closed door cultivation. What is the pn for the two of us, Zelda?”

  “I’m more skilled than ninety-nine percent of ritualists on this world, so I’ll get some work.”

  “Ritualist work?”

  She folded her arms. “I’m not giving up on my insight. This is my way of building a reputation on Union Central. I won’t conduct rituals myself, just consult on design.”

  Rodrick shook his head. “That hardly sounds like it will boost your restoration rate. Only a small community will even know you exist.”

  “Let me worry about that.”

  “And with you two busy, what am I supposed to do? Blow my ten grand on the games?”

  “I’ll tell you what,” Zelda said. “You can be in charge of recruiting more members to our team.”