Re: Garda Vilis/Vilis (0308) Date: 243-1107 14:45
The receptionist hands each crewmember a keycard as they register. When Saskia asks about how to find her room, the man smiles, and replies, "All of the rooms are on the same corridor on the top floor, the numbers are on the keys, of course."
He taps once on something hidden from view behind the desk, and there is a faint whirring from an opening above and behind him. A moment later, the source of the sound becomes apparent as a small machine, shaped like a flattened sphere descends from the opening.
It looks to be made of copper, and is studded with a number of lenses, some of which are emitting fans of low intensity laser light. There are four ducts located around the circumference, and the whole thing is perhaps thirty centimetres across.
As it drops lower, a fan becomes visible beneath a mesh which covers most of the top surface.
It hovers in front of the receptionist, who explains, "You can summon a guide from anywhere in the hotel, simply insert your key into one of the marked slots that you'll find in your room, or in most of the public areas. Just tell it where you want to go, and it will lead the way. Like so... Guide: Lobby."
The small robot whistles, but doesn't move for a few seconds, then heads back to the hole it came out of. "Of course, this time it didn't go anywhere, because it was already in the Lobby. They will show you to your room, if you give them the number, as well as to any public location inside the hotel. Their logic and command routines are quite adaptable, so they can usually work out what you mean, even if the name isn't quite right. That one, for example, would have been able to find the Lobby, Front Desk, Receptionist, Reception, or Entrance, as well as any reasonable variation on those."