On the High Frontier

5. Nothing Special (part 1/10)

The coach and horses drives up a long avenue lined with poplar trees. Kimiko peers out the window and cranes her neck to look at the large stately manor as they approach. The detail is spectacular, but she is still unconvinced this is a good idea. "Dear, try to behave as befits a young lady of breeding." Fee is really getting into this, but then Austens are much more her thing. Kimiko was still not sure how she's managed to let herself be talked into this. Apparently "A Summer Beyond" is considered a classic of the Devonish cycle.

"But sister, it's so exciting to be invited to the hunt ball." They're the daughters of a recently returned colonial, and this is their first outing in polite society. The coach pulls up at the Squire's mansion and they alight at an impressive portico with footmen and other attendants.

Fee's avatar looks at her with intensity. "Just remember that Father had to work hard to get us these invitations. We must be on our best behaviour."

"Of course dear sister." Kimiko promised to behave.

They go in, after all how bad can it get?

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"Kimiko!" Fee is already out and glowering at her companion as she removes her VR headset.

"Why darling Fiona, it was an invigorating soiree." At her potentially ex-friend's intensifying scowl she reverts to her normal speech patterns. "I thought it could have been worse." Putting the apparatus to one side, she rises from the seat to go to the fridge in the corner.

"How?" Fee's incredulity is clear. "Five dead, including the Squire killed in an impromptu duel with the Doctor. The Vicar is under arrest, and Father is on the run. This was just the tutorial! What in void were you up to?"

"I was just improvising. Is it my fault if the authorneer can't handle initiative?" Of course the fact that she had looked into narrative disruptive strategies for the scenario is completely irrelevant. She retrieves a couple of bulbs from the cabinet and waves them. "Beer, Energy, or something stronger?"

"After that I may need some neat rocket fuel."

The door opens and Kimiko's flatmate comes in. "If you didn't want to play you should have said. Turning the Havernast's Ball into a minor extinction event was a bit extreme." She looks to her friend's hands. "Rice wine, please."

"Sake for Saki." She lobs a bulb. "I'm afraid tequila will have to do as we are all out of propellants." Another bulb goes Fee-wards. "And I see some whisky with my name on it." She slumps back into a chair and looks at the others. "I thought it was quite exciting. I'd always assumed Austens were boring."

Saki shakes her head and starts on her drink, but Fee gives a short laugh. "Yessssss.  I will admit it was funny when young Dervin passed out into the pool of blood. And who knew about the insanity options for Mistress Golightly; they're seriously gruesome."  She takes a sip of tequila.  "I think the Yokai Bond series might be more your speed."  This elicits a chuckle from Saki.

They talk and drink and abuse the Karaoke machine into the night: Some quiet time with her friends is just what she needs, but even this must end. Fee turns down the offer of a spare futon in Kimiko's room. "I've slept, or tried to, in a room with you. It's no wonder you don't have a partner. Your snoring's like grinding bulkhead plating. I left my plugs at home."

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"Big sister." Kimiko is coming out of the elevator in the atrium of the housing complex. Looking across the small rock garden she sees Sachi waving at her. There's something in her hand, and she seems to have dispensed with the sticks she's been using. Kimiko has been looking in on Sachi whilst she couldn't go out. Though she is loath to admit she's been enjoying the high-schooler's company. "I've got a letter from the Void Scouts!"