Chương 108: Chapter Ninety-Two - Formal Invite

"I'm afraid that we have a problem," Ivil said as she watched over her... fleet of companions. They were gathered once more in the main living space onboard the Sappho. Twenty-Six was sitting on a narrow fold-out couch usually pressed up against the wall between Aurora and Pixie. The little mechanic shifted herself a little, then shrugged.

"What kind of problem?"

"I've been invited to a dinner... event, and I need to bring some guests along," Ivil said.

"That hardly sounds too bad," Aurora said.

"What level of formality are we talking about here?"

"I've been to a few dinner parties before, it's not a big deal," Twenty-Six said. That earned her a few looks, and she shrunk back a little.

"What? It's true. My family and I were invited to a few around Saturn. Sometimes on different stations, but usually pretty close. You show up with something tasty to eat, dress up in your Sunday best, and just... don't get too drunk."

"Yeah, gotta say, I agree with the pipsqueak," Pixie said while pointing a thumb at the much taller Twenty-Six.

"It's not that big of a deal, is it?"

"This dinner party is with the Emperor of Jupiter, his wife, and anyone else he thinks to bring along," Ivil said.

"While I would rather avoid the whole thing, I feel like doing so, after receiving a direct invitation, would be... rude. And I'm trying to be polite."

"Oh," Pixie said. She leaned back.

"Wait, how did you get an invitation to that? Why... why would we even want to go? Messing with the emperors is dangerous, and we're already on a straight course to poke at the Emperor of Earth." Twenty-Six half-turned in her seat.

"Pixie... uh, I never asked, and I guess we never said it outright, but you know that Evelyn is actually the Empress of Mars, right?"

"Huh?"

"Anyway," Ivil said. Pixie was having a moment, but the dinner invitation was for tonight and there wasn't that much time to waste on such things. She was certain the little pilot could make it through. She was too tough and too cute to be stumbled for long.

"We need to address how we're going to handle the event."

"No... I thought she was like, an A-classer?" Pixie went on. Twenty-Six was rubbing circles around on Pixie's back while she answered Ivil's question.

"Do we need to go in dresses? I really don't have much that looks nice in that way." Ivil nodded.

"I think dressing up would be the correct thing to do. Of course, I'll go in-uniform, as is only appropriate. Sonic Spectre, Penderghast, would you assist us in preparing?" Sonic, who had been quietly sitting in a corner, bowed slightly.

"I would be honoured."

"Good, good. Now, Aurora... you're the most likely to know what to do in this kind of situation," Ivil said. The woman had a fantastic political pedigree, after all.

"What would you suggest?" Aurora took a moment to glance away from Pixie, who was still having a moment. Pixie had moved on from shock and was now firmly planting herself in the 'denial' range. Twenty-Six was trying to convince her, pointing out things that Ivil did recently.

"Yeah, but I thought she was just... you know, weird," Pixie muttered back.

"I mean, she is, a little," Twenty-Six confirmed. Aurora cleared her throat.

"I think... the best approach would be to treat this like a non-hostile dinner meeting. That means going in with business-formal attire. Professional and clean, but not gaudy and overbearing. Then we can thank the hosts and participate in whatever they have planned out for us."

"I think that could work. We're going to need to either buy something for Twenty-Six and Pixie, or make it ourselves," Ivil said.

"Must they all come?" Aurora asked.

"I mean no disrespect, of course. I... enjoy both of their company. But this feels like a bit of a political minefield."

"Nonsense," Ivil dismissed.

"The only real danger is that the Emperor of Jupiter will see how cute they both are and will want them for himself. In which case, I will turn his atoms into their base constituents and spread him across the system like someone tossing ashes into a river."

"I... see," Aurora said.

"Mostly, I imagine he'll be enamoured... politely, with Twenty-Six's creative personality and Pixie's small yet fierce stature."

"No, I can't be that stupid," Pixie muttered to herself with balled fists and a deep frown. She'd moved on from denial to anger, but it was mostly aimed at herself.

"Wait! Why didn't you tell me!" Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Mostly aimed at herself.

"This is funnier," Ivil replied. Pixie's jaw worked while Ivil wondered how she would do with the bargaining stage. Or was she off the mark. This wasn't grief they were dealing with.

"Anyway... this calls for emergency dress shopping," Ivil said.

"Oh no," Twenty-Six said.

"Oh yes," Ivil said.

"I don't wanna," Twenty-Six replied sensibly. Ivil nodded, equally sensible.

"If you don't, this might lead to an international incident and the start of the fourth inter-system war." Twenty-Six stopped rubbing Pixie's back so that she could bury her face in her hands and make a loud'uuuuu' sound. It was quite pitiful.

"I'll go with you," Aurora said.

"In the meantime, Ivil can explain to Pixie what's going on."

"Pixie also needs a nice dress," Ivil said. Probably from the children's section, on account of her smallness. That was okay. She imagined that Pixie would be very cute with bows in her hair and a poofy dress on.

"In that case, you should stay here and let me take care of everything," Aurora said.

"And why would I stay here?" Ivil asked.

"As punishment for pulling this on me at the last second," Aurora said.

"Did you think normal people are just... ready to head out and meet an Emperor at the drop of a hat."

"I was prepared," Ivil pointed out." Normal people," Aurora repeated for emphasis. Ivil rocked back on her heels, but couldn't help the smile that snuck up on her.

"Alright, fine," she said. Do you want Sonic to accompany you?" She gestured to the tech maid. Aurora eyed her for a moment before nodding.

"Might as well. I imagine that a Tech Maid of Mars might stand out, but if I'm there then our group is diplomatic, and she won't appear to be a guard at first glance."

"And she can keep you all safe," Ivil said. An upper B-Classer wasn't an empty threat. Sure, there would be a number of people with cores on a station this important, but most of those she'd crossed wouldn't stand up to someone like Sonic Spectre.

"I will endeavor to keep everyone safe," Sonic replied.

"Good, good," Ivil said.

"So, when is this dinner?" Aurora asked. Ivil hummed.

"In about four hours."

"Four... four hours?" Aurora leapt to her feet.

"That's barely time to shower and put on makeup!"

"Do you need funds, for transportation, and for dresses and the like?" Aurora choked, then glared.

"No, I do not. I'm not without some resources. Goodness, four hours, we're going to have to buy off-the-shelf and you can forget about any sort of tailoring."

"It'll be fine," Ivil said.

"It might be," Aurora replied.

"Come on, girls. Twenty-Six, put those long legs of yours to good use. Pixie, you can have an existential crisis later, once we're back." Twenty-Six nodded quickly and hopped to her feet.

"See you later!" she chirped before pulling Pixie out after her. Aurora seemed satisfied with herself before she gave Ivil a stern nod.

"More warning next time. I don't handle surprises well."

"I feel like you've been handling them admirably so far," Ivil replied.

"Flattery won't work on me, Empress," Aurora shot back before she went off and followed the others. Sonic merely bowed on the way out. And so Ivil found herself alone for the moment, though Pepper was in the ship somewhere as well. She shrugged and made her way up towards her room. Prepared as she may be, there were certain formalities to such a meeting, and there was no harm in a proper shower before showing up. Besides, she liked showers.

They gave her time to sit back and think, something she needed at the moment. The dinner would be... interesting. Bringing not one, but three dates along? Well, that'd certainly show up that smug Jovian fool! At the same time... well, she didn't have anywhere near as close a relationship with anyone as what he had with his wife of... how many years now? A decade, at least! Maybe two? That was okay. Envy was a familiar sting, but it was one she could well live with.

Besides, with three times as many wives she'd have as much married time as him in a third of the time, and then she'd be ahead once more. Ivil smiled smugly, even if she was the only one who could see it. She was always winning.