Chương 77: Chapter Seventy - Universal Constant

Drama, and the glee gained from it, is a universal constant around humanity, fueled by gossip and speculation and scandal. Pearl-clutchers were omnipresent and obtrusive, like rats on a sinking ship, gleeful that the kitchen was unattended while the cooks found the nearest escape pod. Ivil had once been introduced to the concept of obloquiousness. A strange and uncommonly-used word meaning the ability to sling shit and have shit flung. Metaphorically, of course.

Ruining the Slob's entire year and Mister Aida's afternoon caused the gossipmongers--which the politically inclined usually were, as a matter of course--to start up their game of whispers and stares. Mister Aida quickly apologised and bowed out, the Slob floating after him in a daze.

"Evelyn," Aurora said before she reached back and grabbed Ivil's hand.

"We need to have a small talk somewhere out of the way. Pepper, can you find a space where I, where we, can have words?"

"Of course," Pepper said with a slight bow. She quickly led them along the outer edge of the room and into another entranceway. This one into a long corridor lined by small private rooms. One of these was theirs for the duration of their stay. The door had a small plaque with Aurora Sterlingworth - Phobos, embossed upon it. A quick print-job, but done more elegantly than was strictly necessary. The suite itself was quite spacious, especially considering their location.

A large living area adjoined by several smaller rooms. A small kitchenette, a pair of washrooms, one linked to the master bedroom, and a full entertainment suite in a small room by the rear which had chairs and tables enough for a small meeting.

"Is Evelyn in trouble?" Twenty-Six asked. She was slipping her attention between the room and the others with her.

"Twenty-Six, dear, please inspect the fridge for anything to eat," Aurora suggested.

"Evelyn and I need to talk."

"Um, if it's okay, can I stay?" Twenty-Six said.

"I, uh, don't know if I can help, but I don't want to be pushed out of the loop. Unless it's really important that I not know?" Aurora seemed ready to deny her, but hesitated and looked to Evelyn.

"Do you mind terribly if Twenty-Six witnesses me... pardon my vocabulary, but what I intend to do is best described as 'tearing you a new one.'" Ivil blinked, then smiled delicately.

"I don't mind. Though I think you'll find me rather tear-proof." Aurora's hands quickly migrated to her hips and her lips thinned.

"Evelyn Ville, what in the hell was that?"

"I merely--""I don't want to hear your justification, Evelyn," Aurora snapped.

"I want to be very, very angry at you." Ivil considered that for a moment, going so far as to slow things down a little to consider things. She could understand wanting to be angry at someone. In fact, she'd felt something similar several times in her life. In her later life, feeling angry at someone usually meant homicide was in the cards, but that wasn't always the case. It didn't always have to be the case, even.

Ivil had perhaps acted against what Aurora had wished, but it was in defence of Aurora and also because she really wanted to hurt the man. Also, she hadn't killed anyone, so Aurora had nothing to truly be upset about. There was also the fact that Aurora was unreasonably attractive when upset with her, which Ivil found somewhat confusing. Usually, people who were upset with her were annoying. They made demands, set expectations, and were generally the furthest thing from attractive.

Aurora's big pouty lips, narrowed eyes, and very noble pose--which had her head tilted back and attack nostrils on full display--somehow read as petulantly adorable to Ivil. She had to resist the urge to further tease Aurora, who would likely only find umbrage in such, especially when she was already angry as it was. Ivil decided that if Aurora stomped a foot down in anger, all bets were off.

She was going to pinch the noblewoman's cheek and nothing short of godly intervention would stop her, and only for so long as it took her to kill god.

"Very well," she said as time resumed it's flow.

"Please proceed to be angry." Aurora didn't stomp her foot, but her hands migrated from her hips as she crossed her arms.

"Evelyn, you were supposed to act as... protection. Not muscle, as we agreed, but nonetheless security of sorts." Stolen story; please report.

"Was that not what I did?" Ivil asked.

"You are far more secure now that the Slob knows better than to even look at you."

"He was a little creepy," Twenty-Six said, taking Ivil's side.

"You... you ripped his arms off!" Twenty-Six bit her lip.

"That was kind of rude," she said, flipping sides.

"He didn't deserve functional limbs if all he was going to do with them was threaten you," Ivil said.

"Besides, Aida was clearly using the Slob as a sort of bludgeon to put people in their place." Aurora glared, but not quite in Ivil's direction.

"Yes, he was doing just that. First the snub-fighters and now the Slob."

"The fighters weren't Aida," Ivil said before raising a hand.

"I can't say how I know, but trust me? I don't think they came from him. I could be wrong, my source is far from concrete, but I suspect that he isn't to blame."

"Hmm. If you think so," Aurora said.

"But yes, the Slob was a power-play. A strong B-classer in a place like this is an open threat. With the right cores he could kill every person here, security forces and all. Even if such violence would be... political suicide in the long run, just having the threat so clearly visible is a threat." Twenty-Six nodded.

"Some merchant ships I've seen have modded large anti-ship guns on. I've talked to some mechanics. Half the time, they don't work and have been gutted for weight, but the implicit threat that the gun might work is often a good way for an independent merchant to make sure that pirates think twice and for people on smaller stations to really think about it before re... uh, re..."

"Reneging?" Aurora asked.

"That's the one!" Twenty-Six said with a grin.

"Yes, well, that's a good summary of what Aida was likely trying. All while representing Callisto, no less. It means that the moon is trying very hard to appear powerful, to cow others, and it might well work."

"Might have, did we not just defang his lion?" Ivil asked. Aurora huffed haughty.

"I suppose," she said.

"So, what Evelyn did wasn't bad, then?" Twenty-Six asked.

"It was... unexpected," Aurora said.

"I don't like being caught off guard like that, Evelyn. I like a certain amount of predictability."

"I've made a point of being exceptionally predictable my entire life," Ivil said. Pepper coughed off to the side, but didn't seem to have anything to say. It was true, however. Ivil rarely departed from her usual standard operating procedures. It was everyone else who constantly expected her to treat them as if they were special and immune to her ability to disappear their heads. Aurora's hands returned to her hips.

"Yes, well, I wasn't expecting it. But... yes, the situation isn't untenable. Miss Mint, how long do we have until the meeting begins?" Pepper stared off into space for a moment.

"An hour and a half, ma'am," she replied.

"Good. Evelyn, try to keep the defanging to a minimum, please," Aurora said.

"She did it to protect us, though, right? She's like... the big gun strapped to our ship," Twenty-Six said.

"Is this a new ship analogy, or a continuation of the prior," Ivil asked. Twenty-Six muttered something under her breath that Ivil caught.

"I need new metaphors." Ivil decided to put a hold on teasing Twenty-Six for her metaphors. Otherwise, she might never get new cute metaphors to gush over. Truly, she was sacrificing a lot lately.

"Let's give ourselves a bit of time before returning. Time to freshen up and... I might want to look over my recordings of the day so far. I was scanning faces the entire time. It'll be good to match those to names and histories," Aurora said.

"You have access to something like that?" Ivil asked.

"Every noblewoman worth her salt has a who's who list," Aurora said.

"It's an essential tool for navigating uncertain political waters. It's not just about knowing who is part of which faction and what that means, but also who the individual is." Pepper perked up.

"If you give me your list, I can link you into a private communication's channel during the meeting, if you wish, to bring up relevant facts during the talk." That list might well end up in MINT's hands. Ivil made a mental note to mention that it ought not to Pepper. Still, she figured that the upcoming meeting would be far more interesting if she knew who was who.