"Yumi!" a man in a business suit called from outside the girl's room. "Please come out! Your father is waiting!"
Yumi jerked out of her slumber suddenly. She barely caught the last bit of the man's call. If her father was waiting, she would be as quick as she could. "Hold on! I'll be out soon!"
She immediately began sorting through potential garments. Many things passed by, to be piled messily on her bed, before she ultimately settled on a simple vermilion skirt and soft white blouse. She dressed herself as quickly as she could manage, though took great pains to make sure she looked perfect. This, of course, involved some few minutes of deciding on how to wear her hair (ultimately settling on a simple pleated braid), and what color eye shadow she should wear. Pale red won out, and she also painted her nails in a similar color. It was a process of nearly fifteen minutes before she finally ventured forth from the confines of her bedroom.
She found Tetsukana-san outside, dressed in a white suit with a pink shirt and white tie, the traditional outfit for the Takehara clan for business purposes. The man was an older Geshrin of Japanese descent, with combed hair that was black on top but grayed on the sides, "Yumi-chan," he said in the stern voice she'd become familiar with. "You've got to be more responsible. We're holding up a whole starship for you. Come on, now."
Yumi bowed her head and nodded, briefly. "I'm sorry, Tetsukana-sama. I won't be late again." She looked up, as what he had said fully sank in. "What do you mean, starship? I've never seen a starship before..." She tilted her head, laughing softly. "Why would a starship be held up for me?"
"Yumi-chan," Tetsukana put his arm around Yumi's back, and started leading her down the hall at a quick pace, "Takehara-sama has been planning this trip to the Fenyar Cloud for over a week now. He wants to inquire into creating a business partnership with NovaCorp and get into the civilian market for small space vehicles. I know we haven't been around much lately, but it's been important to the business, and well, we did mention this trip to you a week ago. It's not my fault if all the time you spend chatting with those boys on the holo-denwa is eating away at your mind." the man let out a short laugh. "Your father wants you there at the meeting so he can show you off. You know how proud is. I am, too. You've become such a lovely young woman."
Yumi immediately began protesting. "But... but I don't have any extra clothing packed! I don't even have my eye shadow and nail polish! Not even a hairbrush!" She stopped speaking, smiled, "Yes, I like being at daddy's meetings... except everyone is so old! And their always kind of creepy..." She sighed wistfully, not really resisting that she had been led away with nothing packed. It was against her nature, but she would have given an arm and a leg - literally - for her father.
"Look, Yumi-chan, you shouldn't worry. You can always buy new things on the ship. It is a luxury liner and it will have all the best stores. Unfortunately, each minute we taking getting there increases the chance of us missing it and having to take a shuttle to catch it...and the lack of personal shuttles is of course the same problem we are on the way to address at the meeting," Tetsukana told her. "So, let's hurry."
"But I don't have any money with me either... and they... never have silver lipstick!" Yumi was now arguing more for argument's sake then out of actual concern. She could get any money she needed from her father whenever she wanted, and she hadn't worn silver lipstick for almost two years. Indeed, her current style demanded transparent lip-gloss, which could be located almost anywhere. But she enjoyed arguing with Tetsukana, and also enjoyed talking... whether there was a subject that needed discussion or not.
The older man couldn't help but let a smile slip into the features of his slightly wrinkled face. "You know, there's a well-reputed spa on board," he mentioned, letting her absorb the information, "It has a large number of simulated hot springs, big saunas, and expert massages that go on for as long as you'd like, as well as the latest treatments for beauty and aging...not that you have to worry about signs of aging just yet, of course." He led her out of the house and into a glossy white luxury sedan that was running outside. The driver opened the door for him and the girl.
Yumi thought it over, and smiled. "Yes... that sounds agreeable..." She liked the idea. One could never go wrong with excessive luxuries that cost nothing! Acupuncture was probably her favorite, though saunas and massages came very close. She was still, however, somewhat perturbed that she hadn't remembered the trip... she was usually very good about such things. Especially when her father asked her to remember something.
Once they'd got into the car's back seat the vehicle raced through the streets of Kyoto towards the spaceport. The shuttle service to the ship was being provided by some of the Ketsurui clan's craft as a courtesy to the wealthy and privileged families that were allowed on the luxury liner. The ship, Tetsukana told her, was named the "Queen of the Stars" and was currently doing a tour of all of the Yamatai Star Empire, to include its latest destinations, Tami and the Fenyar Cloud. As always, Tetsukana's cologne pleasured Yumi's nose with its masculine aroma, subtle yet powerfully charming. It was a little stronger when the man felt he was doing something important; today she could tell he had been generous in applying it.
Yumi shook her head softly. She liked the cologne well enough, but as it sunk in, she realized it was too much. She maintained her composure and chose not to say anything about, or make any note to her own irritation at it. It was polite, she had learned to be polite but slightly flirty in the presence of businessmen, all for the sake of her father's sales. She had brought him astronomical profits, but sometimes she felt it was a little bit wrong. "Tetsukana-sama? Why are personal shuttles actually necessary?"
"People use them to get from place to place. Today's Yamatai Empire is vaster than ever, and not many people can afford to travel on a large passenger ship like the Queen of the Stars. Instead of having to buy tickets for travel, people who find they going planet to planet or ship to ship often would benefit from having a personal shuttle. And beside, your father thinks there is a lot of potential to market shuttles and robots together." Tetsukana gave her a polite smile, "Your hair looks nice," he commented, knowing she was probably concerned about it being too plain.
The girl painstakingly inspected her fingernails, and sighed. "I painted them unevenly..." She blinked. "But I don't understand why many people would ever need to travel through space... it cant be much of a market. Most people live stationary lives. And are there not cheaper ways to travel than the ship we're to travel on?" She didn't know much about the workings of the world, she had always lived a very sheltered life. "And why does the Empire grow as it does? Aren't we at peace?"
Tetsukana frowned ever so slightly, not really feeling like explaining the intricacies of the Star Empire's policies on colonization, conquest, and peaceful adoption of new worlds. While it was partly true most people lived stationary lives, there were a lot of businesspeople, travelers, and professionals that could use shuttles and small starships to travel and perhaps even live on. And this of course was where the money was. "We are not at peace, dear. The Star Army has been fighting the SMX for some time now..." Of course, Yumi led a sheltered existence and was far more concerned with her appearance and her friends on the holo-phone and at the mall than the millions of lives being lost out on the frontier.
She tilted her head, blinking. "Why are we fighting the SMX? What did they do?" She had some interest in political and social happenings... so long as they didn't get in the way of her social life. Right now, she had no way to contact any of her friends, and thus it was her immediate reaction to try to pry some of life's little mysteries out of Tetsukana before she could fall asleep again. She wanted more sleep, badly.
"Apparently," Tetsukana explained, "They want to enslave us and use us for food and reproductive purposes. Not to mention they're quite ill-tempered from the descriptions I read in the papers." The car pulled to a stop outside the last shuttle to the cruise starship, just as the flight attendant was started to close the door. The chauffeur got out of the car and waved both hands at the attendant, who, luckily, noticed him. "Come on, Yumi-chan," Tetsukana prompted, hastily exiting from the other side.
Yumi blinked, and followed as quickly as she could. However, she was not done asking questions. "And what about Elysia? Are the treaties permanent? And I heard about that rebel group! It must be so exciting being out there like that... but, I wouldn't want to break my nails." She laughed. "I love hearing about it, though... and what's it like on Nepleslia?"
Tetsukana waited until they were both on the passenger shuttle before answering, "Elysia seems to be running smoothly, rebuilding its economy. There's still a great deal of less-fortunate people there, however. As for Nepleslia, it is a very...competitive place. I've been there many times. There are a lot of nice places there, but all the wars have left the place with a lot of wreckage and soldiers without jobs. In the larger cities, there are problems on the streets below. I try to stick the buildings. It's a horrible, horrible tragedy what the rebels did to that skyscraper and the hospital it fell on." The shuttle was one of the large types, with around 80 seats onboard, divided into four rows, two on each side.
Yumi looked a little shocked. "Why would anyone attack around there? What's there to gain?" She tilted her head, followed the man onto the shuttle, still showering him with one question after another of a social nature, not realizing how much his answers were watered down. In some cases, untrue, though it was doubtful Tetsukana knew he was speaking the lie. "And I heard there's a new treaty to be signed with Gashmere! What's it do? Why do people fight so much? Will the SMX try to negotiate with us?"
"It's a very densely populated area, so I'd say the rebels were just trying to take as many lives as possible," Tetsukana told her. "Gashmere is a world with sentient bear-like aliens and their own space technology. I don't know very much about them yet; then again I suppose not too many people do. Taisho Yui herself is out there to...Ah! There's your father, Yumi." he pointed to the man sitting next to the window. The seat next to him and the one across the aisle were both empty.
Yumi had one more question to ask. "Couldn't an attack like that hurt the economy? Maybe they have a grudge against Nepleslia?" She laughed, almost wistfully, and quickly took a seat by her father to think about something other than death on other worlds. "Daddy!" She hugged him rather suddenly. Although he had been using her as a deal-closer for years, even going so far as to promise her body as a reward for the deal, she refused to realize that he used her. She loved her remaining parent too much to see basic sense. She grinned. "What's Fenyar like?"
Tetsukana replied in his usual collected manner. "Yes, it did hurt business...as for their true motives, I cannot say." The man moved for the seat next to her father. At least the two of them could pretend to sleep on the other side of the aisle and let Yumi bug the Nekovalkyrja lady in the window seat on the other side.
Seeing Tetsukana move for the seat she had taken, Yumi quickly rose and moved to the other open seat. "Do you need to discuss the business?" She took the seat by the strange woman. She had seen Neko before, but had never spoken to one, or really acknowledged that they existed. Which was a little ironic, considering how many of them there were on her homeworld. She looked towards the catgirl and tilted her head. "Hi! I'm Yumi!"
Tetsukana smiled politely, "Yes, business," he lied to her with a friendly smile, taking his seat next to his identically-dressed partner and superior, Takehara-san. "I swear, if she'd had another toe to paint we wouldn't have made it," he told Yumi's father in a quiet, slightly irritated voice. Meanwhile, the Nekovalkyrja smiled politely and waved to the girl, "Hi Yumi, I'm Kistessa," she introduced herself.
Blinking, Yumi mouthed the name a few times. "Kistessa?" She smiled. "What's it like flying in a shuttle?" She was a little more cautious in addressing the Neko than she was with Tetsukana. After all, she had no idea how the Neko would react if she were bombarded with questions that had little significance, and that it seemed any idiot should know. Yumi really was interested in learning about the universe. She just didn't devote herself to it enough to ever really master any knowledge.
Yumi jerked out of her slumber suddenly. She barely caught the last bit of the man's call. If her father was waiting, she would be as quick as she could. "Hold on! I'll be out soon!"
She immediately began sorting through potential garments. Many things passed by, to be piled messily on her bed, before she ultimately settled on a simple vermilion skirt and soft white blouse. She dressed herself as quickly as she could manage, though took great pains to make sure she looked perfect. This, of course, involved some few minutes of deciding on how to wear her hair (ultimately settling on a simple pleated braid), and what color eye shadow she should wear. Pale red won out, and she also painted her nails in a similar color. It was a process of nearly fifteen minutes before she finally ventured forth from the confines of her bedroom.
She found Tetsukana-san outside, dressed in a white suit with a pink shirt and white tie, the traditional outfit for the Takehara clan for business purposes. The man was an older Geshrin of Japanese descent, with combed hair that was black on top but grayed on the sides, "Yumi-chan," he said in the stern voice she'd become familiar with. "You've got to be more responsible. We're holding up a whole starship for you. Come on, now."
Yumi bowed her head and nodded, briefly. "I'm sorry, Tetsukana-sama. I won't be late again." She looked up, as what he had said fully sank in. "What do you mean, starship? I've never seen a starship before..." She tilted her head, laughing softly. "Why would a starship be held up for me?"
"Yumi-chan," Tetsukana put his arm around Yumi's back, and started leading her down the hall at a quick pace, "Takehara-sama has been planning this trip to the Fenyar Cloud for over a week now. He wants to inquire into creating a business partnership with NovaCorp and get into the civilian market for small space vehicles. I know we haven't been around much lately, but it's been important to the business, and well, we did mention this trip to you a week ago. It's not my fault if all the time you spend chatting with those boys on the holo-denwa is eating away at your mind." the man let out a short laugh. "Your father wants you there at the meeting so he can show you off. You know how proud is. I am, too. You've become such a lovely young woman."
Yumi immediately began protesting. "But... but I don't have any extra clothing packed! I don't even have my eye shadow and nail polish! Not even a hairbrush!" She stopped speaking, smiled, "Yes, I like being at daddy's meetings... except everyone is so old! And their always kind of creepy..." She sighed wistfully, not really resisting that she had been led away with nothing packed. It was against her nature, but she would have given an arm and a leg - literally - for her father.
"Look, Yumi-chan, you shouldn't worry. You can always buy new things on the ship. It is a luxury liner and it will have all the best stores. Unfortunately, each minute we taking getting there increases the chance of us missing it and having to take a shuttle to catch it...and the lack of personal shuttles is of course the same problem we are on the way to address at the meeting," Tetsukana told her. "So, let's hurry."
"But I don't have any money with me either... and they... never have silver lipstick!" Yumi was now arguing more for argument's sake then out of actual concern. She could get any money she needed from her father whenever she wanted, and she hadn't worn silver lipstick for almost two years. Indeed, her current style demanded transparent lip-gloss, which could be located almost anywhere. But she enjoyed arguing with Tetsukana, and also enjoyed talking... whether there was a subject that needed discussion or not.
The older man couldn't help but let a smile slip into the features of his slightly wrinkled face. "You know, there's a well-reputed spa on board," he mentioned, letting her absorb the information, "It has a large number of simulated hot springs, big saunas, and expert massages that go on for as long as you'd like, as well as the latest treatments for beauty and aging...not that you have to worry about signs of aging just yet, of course." He led her out of the house and into a glossy white luxury sedan that was running outside. The driver opened the door for him and the girl.
Yumi thought it over, and smiled. "Yes... that sounds agreeable..." She liked the idea. One could never go wrong with excessive luxuries that cost nothing! Acupuncture was probably her favorite, though saunas and massages came very close. She was still, however, somewhat perturbed that she hadn't remembered the trip... she was usually very good about such things. Especially when her father asked her to remember something.
Once they'd got into the car's back seat the vehicle raced through the streets of Kyoto towards the spaceport. The shuttle service to the ship was being provided by some of the Ketsurui clan's craft as a courtesy to the wealthy and privileged families that were allowed on the luxury liner. The ship, Tetsukana told her, was named the "Queen of the Stars" and was currently doing a tour of all of the Yamatai Star Empire, to include its latest destinations, Tami and the Fenyar Cloud. As always, Tetsukana's cologne pleasured Yumi's nose with its masculine aroma, subtle yet powerfully charming. It was a little stronger when the man felt he was doing something important; today she could tell he had been generous in applying it.
Yumi shook her head softly. She liked the cologne well enough, but as it sunk in, she realized it was too much. She maintained her composure and chose not to say anything about, or make any note to her own irritation at it. It was polite, she had learned to be polite but slightly flirty in the presence of businessmen, all for the sake of her father's sales. She had brought him astronomical profits, but sometimes she felt it was a little bit wrong. "Tetsukana-sama? Why are personal shuttles actually necessary?"
"People use them to get from place to place. Today's Yamatai Empire is vaster than ever, and not many people can afford to travel on a large passenger ship like the Queen of the Stars. Instead of having to buy tickets for travel, people who find they going planet to planet or ship to ship often would benefit from having a personal shuttle. And beside, your father thinks there is a lot of potential to market shuttles and robots together." Tetsukana gave her a polite smile, "Your hair looks nice," he commented, knowing she was probably concerned about it being too plain.
The girl painstakingly inspected her fingernails, and sighed. "I painted them unevenly..." She blinked. "But I don't understand why many people would ever need to travel through space... it cant be much of a market. Most people live stationary lives. And are there not cheaper ways to travel than the ship we're to travel on?" She didn't know much about the workings of the world, she had always lived a very sheltered life. "And why does the Empire grow as it does? Aren't we at peace?"
Tetsukana frowned ever so slightly, not really feeling like explaining the intricacies of the Star Empire's policies on colonization, conquest, and peaceful adoption of new worlds. While it was partly true most people lived stationary lives, there were a lot of businesspeople, travelers, and professionals that could use shuttles and small starships to travel and perhaps even live on. And this of course was where the money was. "We are not at peace, dear. The Star Army has been fighting the SMX for some time now..." Of course, Yumi led a sheltered existence and was far more concerned with her appearance and her friends on the holo-phone and at the mall than the millions of lives being lost out on the frontier.
She tilted her head, blinking. "Why are we fighting the SMX? What did they do?" She had some interest in political and social happenings... so long as they didn't get in the way of her social life. Right now, she had no way to contact any of her friends, and thus it was her immediate reaction to try to pry some of life's little mysteries out of Tetsukana before she could fall asleep again. She wanted more sleep, badly.
"Apparently," Tetsukana explained, "They want to enslave us and use us for food and reproductive purposes. Not to mention they're quite ill-tempered from the descriptions I read in the papers." The car pulled to a stop outside the last shuttle to the cruise starship, just as the flight attendant was started to close the door. The chauffeur got out of the car and waved both hands at the attendant, who, luckily, noticed him. "Come on, Yumi-chan," Tetsukana prompted, hastily exiting from the other side.
Yumi blinked, and followed as quickly as she could. However, she was not done asking questions. "And what about Elysia? Are the treaties permanent? And I heard about that rebel group! It must be so exciting being out there like that... but, I wouldn't want to break my nails." She laughed. "I love hearing about it, though... and what's it like on Nepleslia?"
Tetsukana waited until they were both on the passenger shuttle before answering, "Elysia seems to be running smoothly, rebuilding its economy. There's still a great deal of less-fortunate people there, however. As for Nepleslia, it is a very...competitive place. I've been there many times. There are a lot of nice places there, but all the wars have left the place with a lot of wreckage and soldiers without jobs. In the larger cities, there are problems on the streets below. I try to stick the buildings. It's a horrible, horrible tragedy what the rebels did to that skyscraper and the hospital it fell on." The shuttle was one of the large types, with around 80 seats onboard, divided into four rows, two on each side.
Yumi looked a little shocked. "Why would anyone attack around there? What's there to gain?" She tilted her head, followed the man onto the shuttle, still showering him with one question after another of a social nature, not realizing how much his answers were watered down. In some cases, untrue, though it was doubtful Tetsukana knew he was speaking the lie. "And I heard there's a new treaty to be signed with Gashmere! What's it do? Why do people fight so much? Will the SMX try to negotiate with us?"
"It's a very densely populated area, so I'd say the rebels were just trying to take as many lives as possible," Tetsukana told her. "Gashmere is a world with sentient bear-like aliens and their own space technology. I don't know very much about them yet; then again I suppose not too many people do. Taisho Yui herself is out there to...Ah! There's your father, Yumi." he pointed to the man sitting next to the window. The seat next to him and the one across the aisle were both empty.
Yumi had one more question to ask. "Couldn't an attack like that hurt the economy? Maybe they have a grudge against Nepleslia?" She laughed, almost wistfully, and quickly took a seat by her father to think about something other than death on other worlds. "Daddy!" She hugged him rather suddenly. Although he had been using her as a deal-closer for years, even going so far as to promise her body as a reward for the deal, she refused to realize that he used her. She loved her remaining parent too much to see basic sense. She grinned. "What's Fenyar like?"
Tetsukana replied in his usual collected manner. "Yes, it did hurt business...as for their true motives, I cannot say." The man moved for the seat next to her father. At least the two of them could pretend to sleep on the other side of the aisle and let Yumi bug the Nekovalkyrja lady in the window seat on the other side.
Seeing Tetsukana move for the seat she had taken, Yumi quickly rose and moved to the other open seat. "Do you need to discuss the business?" She took the seat by the strange woman. She had seen Neko before, but had never spoken to one, or really acknowledged that they existed. Which was a little ironic, considering how many of them there were on her homeworld. She looked towards the catgirl and tilted her head. "Hi! I'm Yumi!"
Tetsukana smiled politely, "Yes, business," he lied to her with a friendly smile, taking his seat next to his identically-dressed partner and superior, Takehara-san. "I swear, if she'd had another toe to paint we wouldn't have made it," he told Yumi's father in a quiet, slightly irritated voice. Meanwhile, the Nekovalkyrja smiled politely and waved to the girl, "Hi Yumi, I'm Kistessa," she introduced herself.
Blinking, Yumi mouthed the name a few times. "Kistessa?" She smiled. "What's it like flying in a shuttle?" She was a little more cautious in addressing the Neko than she was with Tetsukana. After all, she had no idea how the Neko would react if she were bombarded with questions that had little significance, and that it seemed any idiot should know. Yumi really was interested in learning about the universe. She just didn't devote herself to it enough to ever really master any knowledge.