** Date: 08.06.1029 PNT // Saturday **
** Time: 00:24 // 0:24 AM **
** Location: Ecosystem Mika // Habitat Melissa // District 7 // Sector 12 // Entricht Street 12 **
** The Time Machine // Ground Floor // VIP-Lounge **
“Hey guys.” Imilia said while her face did not move a single muscle. “Hi, Joel…” She tried to catch his eye, but Joel was already on his phone.
“Yeah, hi.” He replied and walked straight towards the bar.
Vikka put on her usual face. Her eyelids almost closed as if she was about to fall asleep, a half smile with a slightly open mouth. “Grumpy as always.” She rolled her eyes. “Hey queen, sorry we let you girls wait for so long.” She turned to Rey and gave her a kiss.
After a little rant about Reji, her boyfriend, Vikka left because he wanted to make up. Rey and Lua went outside to have a cigarette. Imilia followed Joel to the bar.
** Ground Floor // VIP-Lounge // Bar **
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked Joel. A young woman in her early twenties, with long dark hair and pale skin.
“Maybe your number?” he replied.
“Nope.”
“Then a gin tonic please.” He pulled out his phone to pay when Imilia suddenly appeared with a big smile in front of him. “Fuck, where do you come from?” He almost fell from his stool.
“Hey, what did you order?” she asked him.
“A gin tonic.” The bartender put the drink in front of Joel. “As you can see. Why aren’t you with Vikka?”
“What can I get you, sweetie?” The bartender turned to Imilia with a smile.
“White wine with a Beast Energy Drink, please.” She turned back to Joel. “Vikka left to see her boyfriend.”
“Where did Lua and Rey go?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied, now also with a drink in her hands. “So, how is uni going?”
“Good.”
Imilia rubbed her palm with her thumb. “Did you start studying for the finals yet?”
“Nope.”
She bit her lip. She took a deep breath. “Do you-”
“Look, we don’t have to talk.” He didn’t let her finish. Joel chugged his drink and ordered another one. After another ten minutes of silence, Imilia left quietly.
“You are a dick.” The bartender said to Joel and slapped his shoulder.
“Ouch.” Joel turned around and saw Imilia leaving. He opened his mouth to say something but then just shrugged it off. “I’m not being a dick.” He replied nonchalantly.
“She was just trying to talk to you, and you were so rude.” The woman looked outside. She made another drink and followed Imilia. When she came back, she walked straight towards Joel. “You are going to apologise.”
Joel immediately put away his phone. “Only if I get your number.”
“Dude…” She let out a big sigh and rubbed her eyes. “I like women.”
“Oh.” He pulled his phone back up. “Yeah, sure, I’ll apologise.”
“Good.” She hesitated for a second. “So your redhead friend, you know, freckles, tall, dimples-”
“Rey? Yeah, she is single.”
“Cool.” She reached for his hand. “Izbell.”
He shook her hand but didn’t take his eyes off his phone. “Joel.”
** Ground Floor // VIP-Lounge Outside Area **
“So I applied for an internship at the District 5 Government Office a couple of weeks ago.” Lua said while lighting her cigarette. “And they accepted me!”
“Shit, that’s amazing, congratulations!” Rey exclaimed.
“I know, right?” She closed her eyes, put her nose up, and smiled triumphantly. “I haven’t told anybody yet, but they will be so jealous.”
“You mean envious.”
“Don’t nitpick; focus on the big picture.” She danced towards Rey. Lua put her left arm around her shoulder and used her right hand to gesture into the sky. “From the gutters of District 1 to an internship at a district office.” She paused. “And one day, Habitat-Seer.”
“District 1 is not a gutter. It is upper middle class at its worst day.”
“There you go nitpicking and ruining everything again.” She pulled out her phone. “Look, look!” Lua showed Rey a selfie with Rodric W. Falkenstein. The current mayor of District 5. “Apparently he was really impressed by my work and resume. At least my professor told me so.”
“So he personally picked you?” Rey started to smile.
“Yeah, me and this other guy.” Lua started to jump up and down. “AND!” She stopped jumping. “For the last ten years they always picked five to eight people. This year they only wanted one, but they were so impressed by us they accepted us both. I haven’t told anybody, except you, of course. I really needed to talk about this.” She put on a serious face. “Can you keep this as a secret for now, please?”
“Yeah, sure, don’t worry.” Rey said.
“Hey guys.” Imilia appeared next to Lua.
“Oh hey, what happened? You look sad.” Lua said.
“Joel is a dick.”
“Yep, he is.” Rey replied promptly.
The bartender from earlier walked outside with a drink in her hand. “Here, sweetie, that’s on me.” Lua gave Imilia a cigarette.
“Do you three want to explore?” Rey asked. “I mean, you rarely get a chance to get in here. We should try to look at everything.”
“So get drunk, high, and have an adventure?” Lua finished her cigarette. “Yes, let's go.”
“Can I finish my cigarette first?” Imilia objected.
“Oh yeah, sorry.”
** The Time Machine // Ground Floor // VIP-Lounge Corner Couch **
“Oh, hey Ellis, this is Maik.” Rosa said and gave Ellis a hug.
“Hey, how are you, man?” Maik stood up and reached his hand out to Ellis’. Ellis reached for his. “Rosa told me a lot about you, man. You seem like a great friend.” Maik said.
Ellis shook his hand. “That’s great to hear.” He hesitated for a second and let go of Maik's hand. “Nice to meet you, man.” Ellis sat down next to Rosa. “How long have you guys been here already?”
“I am with the staff, actually. So the whole day, pretty much.” Maik showed his green light. “I was part of organizing this night. Hope you like it.” He said with a smile.
“I just got inside, so I couldn’t really enjoy much of it yet. Well, except for the animals, those were kinda cool.” He turned to Rosa. “And you?”
“An hour ago with Vikka and Imilia.” She fell back deeper into the couch and stared at the colorful lights on the ceiling. “Then she had another fight with her boyfriend. After that we came here, and Maik was here, too.”
“Oh, you two already knew each other?” Ellis said, trying not to sound broken. His voice had a small vibration. Which was thankfully drowned out by the music.
“We had one class together this semester.” Maik said. “Economic Sociology.”
“That sounds dull.” Ellis said with a smile.
“No, it was actually quite interesting.” Maik replied.
“Nope, dull.” Rosa intervened quickly. “It was too short to become interesting. It didn’t feel like I had learned anything new, you know?” She was still at the ceiling.
“I enjoyed Dr. Bastan Myers’ thesis.” He was still looking at Rosa. “You know the one about-”
Rosa came back to reality. “Yes, I know.” She rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I don’t want to talk about uni right now.” She turned to Ellis. “Are you not drinking tonight?”
“I am; I just didn’t have a chance to get a drink yet.” He said, then looked at the empty bar. “Outside is full of people, and when we were here…” He hesitated. “I wanted to talk to you first.”
Rosa smiled. “Let's get you a drink.”
** Time: 00:34 // 0:34 AM **
** The Time Machine // Floor 13 // Private Room 05 **
A soft orange light filled the room with warmth. It found the hidden dust on the top of the old books. The plants seemed to stretch towards it. The golden patterns on the purple glowed like runes. It shone through the memories of an old picture on the RE-Mahagoni table. It revealed the faces of two men sitting at this table.
One young. His skin is olive brown. Thick but well-groomed beard. Long hair, tied into a bun. On the opposite side was an older man in a red suit. His skin looked like the inside of an old but edible pineapple.
“You have done great work with this party. I have to say.” The old man said. “I promise you, from this point on you will have so many new areas of life, love, and taste. You have a bright future, young man, and really a knack for these things.” He buttoned up his red suit.
“I always liked organizing and structuring, you know?” The young man smiled as he leaned back more onto the table.
“Yes, that is how it started out for me as well.” The old man grinned. “While we are at it, how is your house going?”
“Oh, marvelous, I have finished the planning, and I have found the right company to do the job.” He smirked. “I think you would love it. And I am excited for the first party I can have in my new house.”
“And I will be glad to attend.” The man in red laughed. Laughed and stood up.
The event manager did the same. “I do look forward to it.” He smiled. “And I am really excited to meet your friends, whom you are so fond of. How are they doing, by the way?”
The old man’s smile faded into sterile boredom. His left eye twitched. “They have been very occupied with… well, let’s call it a pest.”
“A pest?”
“Yes, however, there is nothing you should worry about.” The old man’s eye stopped twitching. He stopped blinking completely. The corners of his mouth ripped deeper into his cheeks, like a mad cat. “Nothing we cannot handle.” He reached for the manager's hand and tapped on his shoulder. “You just keep doing your great work, and I promise you will bathe in liquid gold.”
The door opened. “Hey, babe.” Vikka sang into the room. “Oh, sorry… I didn’t think you would have business.”
“Don’t worry, darling, Pedro and I were just about done anyway.” Reji said, and Pedro nodded.
“I’ll be off then.” Pedro walked towards Vikka and kissed her hand. “It was nice to finally meet the famous Vikka.” Then left the room.
