Afterparty 5.0

[forcegalactic]

[There's not much that can be believed about that trial. Or that execution. Still, like before, two hours after everyone leaves, they'll find a note slipped underneath their doors.]

We have to stick together. The dining room is there for anyone that needs a quiet space, and I cooked dinner.

Hibiki made some coffee and dessert for all of us.

-Mordecai Benmont Jiminy and Hibiki Ganaha

[Today's selection includes potato pancakes and a light coffee cake. Hibiki has lit two more candles in the dining hall. It doesn't take long before Mordecai lights a third.]

Comments

[swirlied]

I've been meaning to thank you for that, actually. Your food is really good.

[forcegalactic]

Hm. [dabs it in sour cream] I never had to cook for a huge crowd before. Usually it's just for two people or a tiny party. Good to see that I'm doin' alright there.

[It feels strange to cook two pots of mashed potatoes and not a ten-step dish that involves too many fancy ingredients.]

You're also a king, right? You have servants cook for you, too?

[swirlied]

[ He takes a small bite of the coffee cake. ]

I do when I'm not at home.

[forcegalactic]

Huh. So you're one of those "leader of the people" sorta king?

[More like Cactoid Jim than whatever the Jupiter Queen is called.]

[swirlied]

I guess so? I like to actually meet people and help them personally when I can...

[ Giving orders and having people do stuff for him isn't really his thing. ]

[forcegalactic]

[That's basically Cactoid Jim.]

I would think bein' a kind involves more paperwork and meetin's. Not a lotta time to spend with the common folk apart from publicity events.

[swirlied]

There's a lot of that too. Of course, sometimes other things get in the way. [ Because boy does that ever happen. ]

If I find out something could be a danger to my kingdom, I would rather go out and get rid of that danger myself.

[forcegalactic]

...You know, that makes you sound more like a lawman than a leader. Mars got the Marshal to protect us, but that don't make him the mayor of Mars.

That'd be me.

Which I believes involves stayin' in town most of the time and managin' the businesses and crime prevention and relations to Earth and - well - everythin' that don't involve fightin'.

[swirlied]

You're probably right. I mean, I'm still trying to figure out what a king even does.

[ Plus his advisers mostly want him to stay in and do all of the paperwork, but Yuuri would rather do grassroots stuff. ]

[forcegalactic]

[Any position of power is at least 50% paperwork. Even the Marshal gets swamped with it, not that he ever complains.]

Don't you got family to tell you that? Ain't that how kings work?

[swirlied]

Well... [ It's kind of a long story. ]

I didn't become king through my family, really. My soul was destined to be in this position. [ That's the easiest way to put it. ]

[forcegalactic]

I- [what]

That ain't code for someone pickin' your name outta a hat?

[swirlied]

N-No, it's not! Every king is decided by the first king, and I just happened to be chosen before I was born.

[forcegalactic]

...They don't choose their own kids to succeed them? Mighty progressive of your country, but that's a lotta responsibility for a baby to have.

[swirlied]

They waited until I was old enough. I wasn't taken to Shin Makoku until less than a year ago. While they waited, Lady Celi was the queen in the meantime.

[forcegalactic]

But you ain't nobility, are you? 'Cause that sounds like they took someone from a different country just to be their new leader. Which don't make much sense, politically.

[swirlied]

No, I'm not... I'm actually not even from the same planet as Shin Makoku.[ To make matters even more complicated. ]

[forcegalactic]

...So you ain't a actually a demon? Are you...from Earth?

[swirlied]

I'm only half. My mom is human, but my dad is a demon.

[ He nods at the second question. ] I am from Earth, though. Do you know Japan?

[forcegalactic]

Yeah, we still got Japan on Earth when I'm from. Never heard of half-human, half-alien kids, though. I thought that was biologically impossible, genetics and all.

[swirlied]

I thought it was too, honestly. I didn't even think demons were real. [ Until he found out that, hey, he is one. ]

So, what is Earth like where you're from?

[forcegalactic]

[A little over a week ago, Mordecai would have had an easy answer. Earth isn't too special, it's been modernized by a thousand years. But there's a lot more to his universe than he initially thought.]

Can't say much about it. I was born there, yes, but I've visited it only a few times. It's green, there's a lot more high-tech buildings than on Mars. I'd say it's impressive, but thought I enjoy candy as much as the next person, but I ain't sugar-coatin' my words.

[Yuuri is a king. He should know the truth about how the world works.]

It's dangerous. There's always aliens and robots, sure, but in more recently history, Earth has had an uptake in mad scientists, which are a whole 'nother kind of trouble. Mars got 'em too, but all the mad scientists came from Earth.

...And the government of Earth isn't the most forgivin' kind. About seventy years ago, the folks livin' on the Moon decided to rebel and become independent by relocatin' it. Earth responded by instatin' Punishment Soccer and bloodsports, and they collect teens from all the districts to fight for survival.

Compared to that Mars, is a pretty okay place. Always a threat somewhere, but we're far away from the Earth do not have to deal with politics too much. Out on the frontier, we're a bit more free, you see?

[swirlied]

[ Yuuri's stunned into silence for a few moments, unable to even imagine an Earth like that. ]

That's awful... [ And now he has so many questions, too. He pauses, wondering what to ask first. ] What do these mad scientists do?

[ He thought mad scientists were only in fiction... ]

[forcegalactic]

[Mordecai eats some of his food. It's nothing surprising to him.]

Practically anythin' they set their minds to. Makin' science guns that turn things and people inside-out, science guns that switch bodies, science guns that shrink things, makin' the animals of Mars talk. One we had a war between science and technology beings right on that planet. Took over my saloon AI and nearly turned Mars into a giant metal weapon.

[swirlied]

That's so scary...

[ It doesn't even sound real. ]