[[ NINE ]]
The Coin Rush Casino was a location mentioned in the game that I played before coming to this world. I never interacted much with the Casino itself, and, as far as I know, had no way of visiting the place unless there was a story scene I missed. In addition, I didn’t play the event that introduced the location or the NIKKE duo that ran it, but I did unlock one of the two NIKKEs in the duo, and she was perhaps my most powerful NIKKE… With that in mind, I certainly was entering even more new territory getting ready to meet this woman in this place.
At this time of day, the Casino isn’t necessarily packed full of guests. In fact, it’s rather calm at 1 o’clock, and it’s probably the better time to set up a date. It’s because of this low crowd that I’m able to be guided to my table without much fuss, led by a bunny-eared woman who is entirely checked out mentally -- I can’t tell if she’s a NIKKE, though. I realize as I’m following her that I am not feeling dizzy despite being in a big to-do place. In my previous life, I’d grow dizzy just in a group of seven people, or in a large place like an auditorium or even a department store, so feeling perfectly aware in such a big place is entirely liberating to me. I feel more aware than ever.
I’m brought to a private table with synthetic leather cushioned seats and a countertop that looks granite, and this is the first time I’ve seen my date. As I approach, I spot a woman sitting with perfect posture, which looks like a battle considering her breasts are probably about H cup size. She’s slim despite her large chest, with a proper adult woman’s body with an evident fitness regimen. The long, light brown hair on her head is partially pinned up in a half-bun at the back of her head, and her hair looks really soft. She has to be of some distant Asian descent -- as I’ve noticed with a lot of humans in the Ark, their ethnicities are harder to tell apart than back in my world. It’s possible all these years, the mixing of cultures as a result of the equivalent of an apocalypse got to this point. I digress. There’s one last thing I notice; amazingly, a maroon dress hugs her body, and a white coat keeps her warm in the Casino’s cool air.
Our outfits somehow wound up matching.
When I sit at the table, I’m able to get a better look at her face. Blue eyes encapsulated by a heart-shaped face and healthy cheeks, her lips wear a constant gentle smile, as though she was simply just happy all around. She had an air about her that was very light, and despite my expectations that the old Commander chose someone incredibly intimidating to ask out on a date, it’s quite the opposite. This woman’s entirely welcoming, with a good enough humor to honor the Commander’s invitation to such an early dinner at such short notice. She’s not wearing much makeup as far as I can tell, but for some people it just isn’t that necessary. Her eyes are locked on me. I have to do this right.
“...” My mouth is agape. I can’t think of anything to say. So, I just kind of… “I can’t think of anything to say…” Say that.
She breaks into a good-humored grin at that. There’s something about interacting with a kind-looking human that has me a little more at ease, but only by a little bit.
“I’ve never been good at opening lines myself,” she says, and I feel my shoulders ease a bit at her relaxed reply. Truly, Clear had built this up as though this would be life-or-death… It was almost like meeting up with an old friend. “Do you remember my name?”
Uh… Oh, shit.
“... I, uh--”
Come on, old Commander, give me something. Her name, what was her name?!
“... You were quite inebriated. Maybe I shouldn’t have opened with something so mean?”
He was sloppy drunk when he asked her out?! Oh, of course!
“... Ah…”
Oh, God, I was so wrong. Is she actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing?! I feel a new cold sweat wash over me. I praise the heavens that deodorant has apparently gotten better in the future, because I’ve sweated enough from nervousness today to fill a kid’s pool. In a fleeting sense of humor I go for the negative space in the painting presented to me.
“... It’s definitely… not Jennifer,” I manage to say, somewhat confidently.
‘Not Jennifer’ wasn’t expecting that one. Her face lights up slightly in surprise at what I’ve said, before delightfully breaking out into a grin once again, a fit of laughter escaping her glossed lips.
“Commander, you’re sharp when you’re sober!” She says once she clears her laughter. “Don’t have a drop of liquor. I already like this version of you much better.”
“Thanks,” I usher the word out of my mouth before I can evaluate if I really should be thanking her for being passive aggressive, which I’m slowly recognizing to be the case. She must have set the bar low here after whatever the old Commander said to her at the New Year’s party, not to mention how messy he must have been, and believed she could get away with being like this. Maybe she was mad that someone asked her out like that? I probably would be, too. She couldn’t come up with an excuse in time, huh… “... I really mean it. Th-thank you. I have no recollection of my behavior, and I’m sure it was… S-subpar. To still attend this outing despite that is incredibly nice of you.”
‘Not Jennifer’ seems surprised by the notion I’ve given her. In fact, she’s silent for a moment, her lips slightly parted.
“... That being said, can you tell me your name?”
“Oh. Yes, it’s Magnolia.”
“Oh! Magnolia flowers smell lovely!” I find myself saying without thinking, feeling a moment of familiarity with the word magnolia. It reminds me of home, for better or for worse.
“You’ve smelled the flowers?!” Magnolia looks fascinated, and I’m immediately alarmed at what I’ve said. It’s too late to backpedal. “I thought they were extinct! My papa told me I was named after them after he read about them in a book! Do we have those trees in the hydroponics area? I’ve never been…!”
I have her attention, but not in the way I want. I have no idea if the Ark has magnolia trees. I don’t even know what region of the world the Ark was built in. Not to mention, on the surface, I doubt there’s proper plantlife that isn’t destroyed by Raptures, so I can’t say I found it there. Instead, I struggle to find an explanation. Luckily, I don’t struggle that much… I’m a decent liar. “I came across a perfume claiming to replicate it in the shops today, but I don’t remember which shop it was. Wh-what a coincidence, huh?”
Magnolia seems satisfied with that answer, and begins clearly daydreaming about it. “Ah, Royal Road! I need to shop there soon, I’ll hunt that perfume down…! I want to know what a magnolia flower smells like~!”
She’s really intense about this. I hope she finds it. She probably won’t since I made it up, but praise be it’s plausible somewhere like Royal Road… So maybe she’ll find it after all. Good luck, Magnolia. A somewhat cheery silence falls over us before a server comes to hand us some menus on tablets. It’s not uncomfortable, and despite everything building up to this, I’m finally somewhat relaxed. I’m shaking from hunger though. So I open up the menus to see what they have. Is it all just Splendamin? I find myself eager to try out this fictitious post-apocalyptic food building block.
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“...”
“..."
We spend some time in pleasant quiet, the sounds of the casino games and music whirling around us peacefully as we tap through the menu interface. Magnolia chooses something rather quickly, and I’m left for several minutes picking through the menu alone. Everything on this menu passes as normal food, and I don’t know the value of credits realistically in the Ark, so I can’t tell if they’re expensive or not. Filet mignon, ribs, ribeye steaks, salads, burgers, they all look real, so I just shut my brain off and pick a good looking serving of steak and potatoes. It was kind of my favorite meal in my previous life, so I’m sure it’ll serve me well here. I’m also starving considering I haven’t eaten in nearly 24 hours, so anything will do. I sent in my order and set down the tablet that was given to me, looking back up at Magnolia, who has been studying me intensely since I’d become so focused. It catches me off guard, and I find myself nervous again.
“... How long were you staring at me?”
“Are you a foodie?”
“... I’ve got a soft ‘yes’ to that…”
“You didn’t order any alcohol?”
“You told me not to drink.”
Although it’s all Splendamin here, the pictures look fantastic. I’m also… very… much… starving. How long will it take for them to get the food out? I need sustenance. Magnolia laughs, and perches her chin on the backs of her hands, which lace together to prop her head up.
… Is it just me, or is Magnolia kind of giving me… eyes?
“You look good, by the way,” she says, and her voice is a bit softer at that. “We even wound up matching. Are you spying on me?”
“I don’t think I have the funding to do that even if I wanted to,” I reply.
“We could fix that.”
Oh, no, she totally is giving me eyes. I feel a lump in my throat, so I work to swallow it at least once.
“Go on,” I invite, and she simply replies with a laugh.
“Let’s see how the food tastes first.”
On cue, the food is served by a rabbity employee. Their ears -- and chest -- bounce softly as they place steaming hot plates of probable imitation food on our table, Magnolia having ordered a salad where I was served meat and potatoes. Come to think of it… Magnolia likely managed to order the one thing on the menu not made out of Splendamin. I have no doubts the hydroponics of the Ark are capable of supplying real greens to the Coin Rush of all places… Real meat is entirely doubtful, though.
We both begin to eat without concern of giving thanks to any higher power.
…
…
…
The steak is the plainest thing I’ve ever eaten…
…
…
…
But it’s still delicious on an empty stomach.
…
My tastebuds are different, but my soul can tell where the meat is lacking. Splendamin has an indescribable tinge to it, a processed aftertaste that makes the steak taste a bit plasticky. I can’t pin it right, but the steak just isn’t the same as it could have been. The potatoes, however, are delicious. I ration bites of the potatoes between bites of my plastic steak and begin to make it through my meal easily.
“Magnolia,” I say after swallowing a bite of my food. She looks up from her meal, a leaf hanging from between her lips.
“Mm?”
“What is it that you do?”
“You don’t remember?”
“Hey, now…”
“... I’m only playing. I actually work for Tetra Line, but more specifically, I happen to be one of Mustang’s advisors.”
I hit on someone with that big a job?!
“... And you’re giving me the time of day?” I prod, placing a bite of plastic meat in my mouth and chewing slowly.
Magnolia looks like she’s been caught in the act. “... I had nothing planned on this day and thought you’d be a laugh,” she says, and it’s clear what kind of ‘laugh’ she’s referring to. “Based on how you were acting at the ball, I had you pinned as a fool. I thought you’d be a good time-waster, especially somewhere like Coin Rush.”
“... Well, I’ll commend your honesty,” I tell her, and I find myself feeling somewhat used. Although, the man she met wasn’t me.
“You exceeded expectations already, so I figured I’d at least come clean.”
“Does that mean you’re considering funding Purem?”
“Maaaaybe. Truth be told, I don’t know a lot about your squad’s endeavors. It’s not often a squad needs credits outside of mission payout.”
“...” I ponder why that is. Why, to be more exact, it is that we don’t have a good mission payout. Unless… “Ah. That would be because I am rehabilitating a male NIKKE. We aren’t able to go on as many missions because some days are spent focused on Clear.”
“I see,” she says, and tilts her head. “A male NIKKE? I thought NIKKEs were only female.”
“Models near the year 2050 were incredibly varied. There were even male ones, but it proved to be more efficient to swap to just one type of gender.”
“So you mean this model is from around the 50’s?”
“Approximately. History on Clear’s exact model has been lost to time, it seems, as I have no knowledge of who made him and when. In addition, Clear has limited memory, so he might have deleted that information somehow or lost it at some point, because he hasn’t enlightened me yet.”
Magnolia is fascinated. And yet, she wonders; “What is wrong with him?”
“His legs won’t move.”
“What’s to gain from rehabilitating him when there are modern NIKKE models that might outclass his combat capability? Have you been able to assess his abilities?”
“No, I haven’t. I personally believe Clear is one of a kind,” I say, and it’s true. Clear… I’m already fascinated by him, and I’ve only known about him for under 24 hours. I don’t know his capabilities, but if it could be comparable with the Pilgrims, then there’s something to be gained here. I can’t tell Magnolia this, though. She likely won’t know about Pilgrim model NIKKEs. “I didn’t even know male NIKKEs could exist."
“Perhaps there is a reason they do not anymore,” Magnolia replies, looking philosophical. I feel a bit offended, but maybe I’m just caught up in my feelings.
“There is,” I say, though, remaining logical, because I already know there’s weight to her thinking. “I won’t get into the details of it considering you likely already know what powers a NIKKE’s thoughts, but there is clear dissonance between their brain and their body. It’s the same reason why NIKKEs look so human now, and lack missile launcher arms and jetpack legs.”
“... Hm!” Magnolia puffs, arching a brow in impressment while she returns to her salad. The conversation fades off for a few minutes, and I’m left to gnaw away at my steak.
“... He’s deserving of a good fate,” I murmur at some point, and Magnolia looks up from her salad.
“A NIKKE with a good fate, huh?” She parrots, and it briefly looks a bit silly, what I’m wishing for here, in the eyes of a Big Three worker.
“Is it a bad thing?”
“No,” she says, spearing the last of her salad. I’m craving romaine because of her. “But it’s not something I expected to come out of a NIKKE commander’s mouth. You have my attention.”
“Good, because I think I need it in order to get this rehab done,” I say honestly, and for once, I feel as though Magnolia is taking me seriously. “I’ll accept any funding you find appropriate. I don’t want to be a burden on you, but I also want to see Clear on the battlefield one day. I’m sure my other NIKKE will appreciate the help, too.”
I’m… doing really well here. We’ve already somehow passed an hour and a half just being here, and I’m finally relaxing from the initial shock of this morning.
Suddenly, the lights shut off.
[[ CHAPTER 06 END ]]