“Hello, Jaya. What is it?”

“Hi, fatman. Just calling to remind you that you need to arrive at Sentosa Cove by seven this evening. The sky yacht is launching at eight, so make sure you arrive on time.”

“This evening? I thought it was on Saturday?”

“Fatman, what day is today?”

I used my cybernetic to call up the calendar and found to my surprise that it was Saturday!

“No problem. I shall be there on time.”

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t forget. I was just too busy to remember what day was today. Totally different.”

“Toby…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there. This is an invitation to watch the finals of the Gravity World Cup on a luxury sky yacht. I won’t miss it!”

Audibly sighing over the line, Jaya said. “Remember, it’s formal wear so dress appropriately, and I am going to kick your ass if you miss the launch.”

“You won’t have the chance to because I will be there. Don’t worry!”

We said our goodbyes, and I immediately look at the time. I need to go back home for a shower, get dressed, and then get to Sentosa Cove by seven. There should be just enough time for me to do all that. I quickly shut down Dive and drove back home after locking up the workshop. A quick shower later, I put on a suit and drove to Sentosa.

Sentosa Island was a small island less than a kilometer south of the main island of Singapore. In Malay, the name Sentosa translates as "peace and tranquility". In modern times, it should “money and tourists”.

Sentosa was now a popular tourist destination. Home to several hotels, a long beach, two golf courses, several theme parks, a casino, and of course, the sky yacht club. I drove to the yacht club and found that I had six minutes to spare. I accessed the club’s system while I parked my car. The list of yachts came up, and I quickly found the name of the yacht Jaya rented; The Favorable Sky.

It was a silly name, but the yacht was impressive. The Favorable Sky was over thirty meters long and looked luxurious. I really need to investigate my finances, just to make sure Jaya wasn’t taking more money than he supposed to. I made my way to the yacht and was stopped by a cyborg at the yacht berth. Following the cyborg’s instructions, I used my cybernetics to access the yacht registry and the guard only allowed me to board after receiving approval from the yacht club. Jaya was waiting for me at the entrance.

“You’re late.”

Parking the car and walking to the yacht took more than six minutes so technically he was right, but there was no way in hell I was going to admit that.

“We haven’t lifted off right?” Right on cue, the yacht shook slightly, and I could feel us rising. “See? Just on time!”

“Come on.”

Jaya led me to an elevator that took us to the top deck of the yacht. The sign in the elevator said that the top deck was the lounge, but when the doors opened, I immediately saw that calling it a lounge was an understatement.

Beautiful crystal chandeliers adorned the ceiling and there were oil paintings hanging on both sides. These oil paintings depicted different landscape and even to my unpracticed eye, I could tell that they were beautiful. Soft music played in the background. I didn’t recognize the song, but it had flutes, violins, and guitars. It was a beautiful song.

The lounge took up the whole of the top deck and at one end of the deck was a buffet table. A dedicated dining area was located conveniently adjacent to the buffet, and at the other end of the deck were several sofas for people who just wanted to relax. The center of the ballroom was a stage for a live band but there would be no live bands today. A huge holographic projector had taken up the stage. Lounge? It would be fairer to called it a ballroom.

I looked around and counted at least fifty guests. Most of them were gathered in small groups with glasses in their hands. Some were seated while some stood around, chatting about all kinds of matters. Occasionally, someone would leave his group to join another. Jaya really went all out for tonight. It was networking at it’s finest.

“Impressive.” I had to admit. “How much did all this cost?”

“Sometimes it’s not about the money-”

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious. It’s about the eventual returns. You can’t underestimate the value of good networking. Why do you think everyone is here? If I play this right, I could make back everything I spent today in a few months. Now get out there and mingle.”

As the host of the event, Jaya couldn’t stay beside me the whole night and he promptly disappeared into the crowd after giving the order. An order I instantly disobeyed. I was never one for crowds, much less a crowd in a classy setting like this. I was here for the food and the game. Nothing else!

It was bad enough that I had to dress up just to watch a game of gravity ball. I wondered if the other guests had the same thoughts as me. Seeing that most of them were enjoying themselves, most probably not.

I went to the buffet and took a plate of food. I loved buffets, and the spread was decent. I was enjoying myself when the ceiling opened. Everyone looked up at the clear night sky about us and I heard more than a few grasps from the guest. A transparent glass was all that protected us from the night sky above us, but no one was too worried about the environment. The Favorable Sky was a luxury sky yacht, and I had no doubt the glass was made from some strong reinforced materials. I silently wonder just how high we were.

“Wow, look at that!”