Chapter One
Ilnya groaned, as the bright beam of sunlight stabbed her brain through her eyelids. “I will never do shots with a wolfkin again”, she moaned, cradling her aching head. “I really mean it this time.” Her teeth felt furry as she staggered to the bath, the bright lights coming on around her mirror and stabbing her eyes again when she stepped into the room. “Gah!” she exclaimed, “Room, lower the lights by 60%”
“That’s better, she sighed, as the AI (Aethertech Intelligence) lowered the light levels to a less blinding level. “Room, fill the hot tub and start the massage jets.” She began brushing her teeth to get rid of the ‘fur’ and its accompanying taste as the sounds of the hot tub filling behind her began, and steam began to fill the room.
“Room, set a timer for 30 minutes, I don’t want to fall asleep in the tub again,” she said as she lowered herself into the water, which was right at the edge of being too hot, and groaned as the pain and tensions from her overindulgence the night before washed away in the hot water.
Shampooing and conditioning her hair and tail took longer than normal, somehow she had picked up several tangles and there was something sweet stuck in her tail, which really didn't want to come out. The drying enchantments engraved on the floor activated when she stepped out of the hot tub, instantly drying her.
Stepping from the bathroom, she looked around the expansive penthouse suite she was in, as the automagic cleaning cycle began behind her. “Room, order a full breakfast with black coffee and turn on the Aethercast.”
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The Aetherscreen flickered to life, as she remembered the events of last night. .I’ve always been lucky,’ she thought, ‘all foxkin are, but last night… That was just unreal. I felt as if I could see luck flowing and changing across the entire casino. While it was happening, it was the most natural thing I could imagine, but now, I’m really beginning to wonder just what is happening to me?’
Her breakfast appearing on the table distracted her from her worries, as the smell of bacon, eggs, and coffee began to fill the room. She idly glanced at the Aethercast, and froze with a fork full of eggs halfway to her face. “Room, unmute the Aethercast”
“We repeat; the top story this morning is the awakening of the Oracle of Infinity after being in a trance for over a hundred years. The last time she was awake, she accurately predicted the rise of aethertech and the two aetherwars we have suffered. Without her advance warning, many foxkin would have died alongside the millions of other kindred who died during those horrible times. We may have even gone extinct, like so many of our brethren. The image you are seeing now is a live broadcast from the gates of the Infinity Order. We have gathered here with other members of the Imperial Qui’qin’ahnahe press for an announcement from the High Cleric of Infinity regarding the Oracle’s latest news.”
“We have received word that the gates are opening, looks like the announcement is beginning, we will now cut to our live Aethercaster on the scene, Bob’bi.”
Ilnya resumed eating, no longer registering the taste of the almost perfectly prepared food as the historic events she was watching consumed her full attention.
Bob’bi’s bright blue tail swished excitedly behind her as she said “Her Holiness is approaching the podium now, this is the first time she has spoken publicly in almost 40 years, she’s about to start, I think” The camera zooms to the podium set up in front of the ornate gates as a beautiful, young seeming foxkin with silver hair stepped up and began to speak.
“Fellow imperial citizens, I bring to you a dire warning…”