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A friend has arrived poyo!
Jestress smirked as she faded into the room, the ends of her lips peeking past her visor. “Did you have a busy evening, yesterday? Oh my, the elusive sigma Mitake Toujirou finally showed an interest in secondary secretaries. Was it the swimsuit? How Japanese of you!”
Not for the first time, Toujirou wished Jestress paid a little bit less attention to him. Seriously, that was what she got out of that obscene party?
He buried the thought and grinned. “Oh, don’t be like that. Jealousy doesn’t suit you. You know you’re the only secretary for me.”
Jestress hummed as she inspected her surroundings. Hmph, tough crowd.
Although they had never met outside the Order of the Wisteria’s virtual room, it was large enough to always meet somewhere new in Toujirou’s ‘home away from home’. It was a verdant patch of paradise made by the naïve man who believed in peace and who deserved the respect his son begrudgingly heaped on him. Befitting the international nature of the order, the garden was an eclectic fusion of Eastern and Western influences. While stone lanterns dotted a slowly flowing river down to a lotus pond, one could also stumble across neoclassical and gothic follies and railings. Above everything, wisteria creepers twined around intricate lattices, binding everything together.
Today, Toujirou met Jestress in a section modelled from an ABN Germany heritage site.
He lounged on a wooden bench facing the lotus pond, shadowed by the ruins of a castle. After Jestress had looked around, Toujirou gestured for her to sit down next to him. She leaned against the ruins instead. Although collision detection for virtual room furnishings cost a premium because of server expenses, she didn’t appear to even consider that the landscape could be only visual.
“Heh, I have quite enough pigs in my life, thanks,” Jestress finally said. “Three of them. And even they can’t pay enough for me to go secondary. I don’t like your odds, even if you can actually hold a conversation without declaring woe-is-me during the daily destroy-the-world circlejerk.”
“Bad day?” Toujirou stifled a smile. At least the world was terrible to both of them.
“They held another philosophical discussion in our meeting today,” Jestess huffed. “That’s the third this week. And they were still LARPing the whole time. If I have to hear another snivelling ‘Your Majesty’ from the cheap seats…”
A commiserating silence wrapped around them like a comforting blanket. Toujirou suspected he was the only person Jestress could complain to. It was only natural, all things considered. On that topic—
“Don’t sell me so short. I’ve heard I’m quite the catch in LATO, you know.”
“Oh my, how bold! Let’s see…” Jestress tilted her head. “Hm, nope. No Mitake Toujirou fanpages in sight on the net. Nor any swooning posts on social media in the last ten years. And looking back any further wouldn’t reflect your… distinguished current appearance.”
She giggled. “Aww! Looks like you’ve been outdone by your son already. There’s plenty of him.”
“Well, he is adorable,” Toujirou said, shaking his head. “Is @OfficialMiyaoMeow still up? I started that page when he was so small. Like this big—” He held his arms out. “Miyao was even cuter back then. He used to hold onto my thumb like—”
“I’ve still got those pics from last time,” Jestress interrupted with a shudder. “Don’t send me any more—they’ll go straight into spam. And yes, it’s still up… God, I can’t believe I actually brought Miyao up in conversation with you. Their senility really is infectious… Anyway, aren’t you afraid of outing Meow with a handle like that?”
“Not particularly. I used to let little-wittle Miyao post cat videos on there. Most people just assume it’s because of that. Why bother thinking when another answer is right there in front of you.” He grinned to himself. You could always bank on human laziness.
“How terribly convenient. Now, as much as I’d loooove to keep chatting about your son, I do believe you have some documents for the Three Kings.”
“Of course.” Toujirou sent a large folder to Jestress.
“Cute kid.” Jestress facepalmed—or rather, face-visored. “Such a cute kid… The documents are among the pictures in here, then?”
Toujirou smirked. He had added a few more files than she requested. “They’re all in the folder. Missile codes, drone specs—you name it, it’s in there. I took the liberty of scrambling the metadata to keep everything secure.”
“Of course you have. And forcing me to see all those pictures was an added bonus?” She pouted and began to pace around with exaggerated motions—an actress to the core. “Have you ever been warned about how unprofessional this is? I could send another liaison for the Three rather than coming myself. Those fogeys give me enough on my plate without you making things needlessly difficult.”
After circling around a few times, she leaned against the handrail and stared out across the lotus pond. With the simulated light catching Jestress’ hair and her mask hidden from view, Toujirou could imagine he was talking to her—if only for a brief moment. It was in the blond hair, in the slumped shoulders that he felt the soft traces of nostalgia almost tangibly in reach.
He began to take pictures with his eye-camera.
“I was once told by a very smart woman that it’s important to switch gears every once in a while. Apparently, no matter how high your P3 levels are, different stimuli are useful for processing and creativity. Its all yet another useful feature of God’s program: it encourages innovation and prevents stagnation. Just think of me like that. Stirring the pot is what I do best. Don’t mind me, I’m just keeping you sharp.”
“She sounds like a genius,” Jestress said, sounding remarkably hollow. She didn’t turn to face him.
Toujirou continued to bore holes in her avatar, collecting and filing pictures swiftly. Jestress’ head was framed by the endlessly tessellating wisteria petals that concealed the limits of the simulation—a handful of pink petals stretched into infinity.
“She is,” he replied.
Looking uncomfortable, Jestress turned around awkwardly. “Stop that, please.”
She cleared her throat. “The Three Kings are grateful for your continued hard work. The Order of the Wisteria has once again proven itself to be one of our greatest allies. I will report that you have conducted yourself with the utmost professionalism and loyalty to the cause. Expect a reward soon, before everything begins.”
She vanished from the virtual room without another word.
For all her voice dripped with sarcasm, Toujirou trusted her. He wondered what the Three Kings could possibly offer a man with far too much money, though.
Alone again, Toujirou watched the wisteria petals and tried to remember the face under Jestress’ visor.