EDGE OF DAY

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Day had spent two days in the Vanquisher's quarters and she hadn't seen another living soul. On the first day, a droid had shown her to luxurious quarters. Since then, they'd served rare, expensive foods, and her escort droid had taken her to the massive internal shopping center and encouraged her to choose outfits and dress up for a party.

On the first night, they'd thrown her a Vanquisher's party. It was a cliché of all the stories and rumors that circulated on the outside, and it was at the party she realized everyone was A.I. or holographic. Not a human in sight.

By the third day, she'd had enough.

"Good morning!" Room said, as she roused and rolled over in the silky bed-sheets. "Up bright and early this morning, Miss Hollis." The ceiling warmed and admitted soft sunshine rays. Day groaned. She hadn't slept well.

"And what would you like to do on this fine morning?"

"I want to meet with whoever's in charge," she said into her mattress.

"All in good time." As Room spoke the windows in the room switched on and projected a panorama of exotic beaches. The ambient audio played sounds of waves and rocks tingling against the shore. "You've only just arrived. You deserve to relax and enjoy yourself. This is your time. You've earned it. I'm booking you in for a spa, followed by a massage after breakfast. And the planetarium is always popular. Would you like to see it before lunch? Then we have the widest selection of twentieth-century rock concerts available in any Arc in the Northern World, and as you are a Vanquisher, you just have to say the word and tickets will be yours for whatever is on the schedule this evening!"

Day rubbed sleepy-dust from her eyes, wishing she could as easily rub away the sense of déjà vu. Room was pretending it was Day's Vanquisher fame that entitled her to coveted rock festival tickets. She was trying to boost Day's ego when they both knew the experience would be mostly, if not entirely, holographic and put on just for her.

Day fought off the twisted sheets around her legs, leaned over the bed, and gathered up yesterday's shopping bags. She'd never seen such luxury, smooth-coated bags decorated with flashy symbols and aesthetically pleasing labels. She poured out the contents and ran her hands over exotic silks, beads, patterns, and stitches. Dresses, blouses, and skirts that mixed east and western fashions of the twentieth century and earlier.

She picked up a Native American style dress with elaborate beading at the top. The creamy yellow fabric was smooth to touch, printed over with thin strips of colorful patterns and tasseled at the bottom.

"Would you like me to run your shower?" Room asked.

"No."

Day got up and took the dress with her to the wardrobe. She threw off her pajama shirt, picked out fresh underwear, and got dressed. She matched the Native American dress with a pair of knee-length tasseled boots.

"Room," she said. "I am a Vanquisher, correct?"

"Yes, you are one of the rare, extraordinary humans who have broken out of the Uni-verse. You are a Vanquisher and the Vanquisher's World is here to serve you."

"Is anything off-limits to me?"

"Nothing is off-limits."

"Then I want to see the Multiverse."

"Only those who go into the Multiverse, see the Multiverse."

"Then I guess it's time for me to go in."

Room hesitated, and Day knew she'd cornered Room at her own game.

"The Committee has to meet you before you go in."