camilla and rinka

Set around 2300 A.D

“Mia!! Kissing is forbidden today!” Rinka sits on the edge of the bed, a slight blush visible on her cheeks. She stirs Camilla awake.

“...mmmm,,,mmm,,,mm,... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT!?” Camilla jumps, half-asleep. “AH, Ahem, good morning… Rinka-chan. I just had one of the worst dreams in a while, something about you not wanting to kiss me anymore. You’re so mean sometimes y’know?”

From the look on Rinka’s sleep-deprived face, you could tell she just went through amusement, sadness and disappointment in a span of two whole seconds.

“Mia… We’re being interviewed today, remember? BEST BEHAVIOUR. W-wait no, don’t look at me like that! Me not kissing you for an entire day isn’t the end of the world!”

Chalk it up to the one and only Ziyun Zhi for throwing you in a lion’s cage full of the world’s hungriest journalists - two relatively unknown graduate students of the University of Luna, who were granted access into the most secretive course in the world, suddenly kindly requested to go public by Zhi herself.

“Why does our professor have to be so brutal… Damn old hags…” Rinka saysid to no one in particular as she watches Camilla sink in dread.

“Dear Camilla was right, you really are mean sometimes, Rinka-chan.” Thine Old Hag Appears! She attempts walking through the cramped apartment in her rather ostentatious navy uniform; even while overencumbered she manages with dignity.

“Why do you never knock on our doors? Nevermind that actually, you don't even walk through doors in the first place.”

“My my, you girls really have no taste for grand entrances do you…”

“You call barging into random places a ‘grand entrance’? Doesn’t sound like a particularly grand entrance when you barge in on the two of us having se-”

“Ahahaha… Let’s not worry about that right now. We have vultures to feed today, so please be on your best behaviour! But don’t be nervous, big sis Zhi will support you! Go ahead and get dressed. Meet me at the foyer of the faculty building before one o’clock.” Zhi characteristically falls backwards into a slip, and disappears.

Rinka sighs, getting out of bed. The slip hag is always a handful, isn’t she?

“Why does she always insist on acting like our ‘big sis?’ She’s more like our mothers for god’s sake. Should really act her age for once.”

“Who knows, Rinka-chan?. She might be going through a late onset midlife crisis…”

“Look, Fumi-san, you’re a great friend and all, but could you please forget about being a journalist and leave us alone for a bit? Pretty please?”

Camilla and Rinka were not having it right now. Running from vultures already sounds theoretically impossible, but actually trying it really puts the idea into perspective. Literally flying beside them as they ran back to their apartment was Fumi Meio, a member of the University of Luna news publication. Glancing backwards just made them abandon all hope in humanity, if the stampede from five minutes ago was any indication of human nature.

“Rinka-chan, if I don’t make it out alive today I just wanted to let you know my family fortune is all yours!”

“How is that even important? Shouldn’t we be declaring our vows right now or something instead?!”

Where was their dear professor at testing times like these? They would have gladly chosen slip travel than bear the terrible pain of running from a zombie horde. Fortunately though, their apartment tower is actually in the university complex. Their total sprint time was only about two whole minutes, which says a lot about the state of their cardio.

While Camilla reaches for the fingerprint reader on the entrance of the building, Rinka looks behind. Yep. Hope in humanity has officially been lost. Well, at least they’ve made it in the building.

“Haaah…. Huh...haha...hahahaha…. That was… really… something else…”

“Haahhaha… God dammit…. Where’s our professor... when you actually… need her?

The horde is still damn persistent outside the building, but luckily they aren't able to get in. Just hope to god that no one opens the doo- oh fuck.

“Ah SHIT!! RUN MIA!!”

Thank god for them the elevator was on their floor; they would have been trampled on otherwise.

“You know, you girls should have just slipped out of there. I mean, I have taught you how to do that, no?”

“Look doc, you left us to die out there. You could have at least, I dunno, tried to help us rather than disappearing the moment your part of the speech was done?”

How the hell does Ziyun not break a sweat in her unnecessarily showy navy uniform? Actually, it’s a wonder why she’s even wearing it for this occasion. She usually only wore the navy uniform in official Triumvirate events, or during active duty. The cramped elevator was the literal definition of humidity, with two girls panting their lives out after a near death encounter drenched in sweat. Looking at Zhi’s stuffy uniform only made things worse.

“This is the time I conveniently say that it was a test for you girls that you ultimately have not passed! Hahahaha! Or something like that.”

“That sounded really forced, doc. Are you sure you’re okay right now?”

“Oh wow professor, that really sounded off for some reason. Are you doing alright?”

“Of course I am, dears. Nothing like a nice and refreshing corporate child abuse scheme to start your week.”

“Oh yeah, that. Sounds awful. Are the children safe now? I don’t really want the juicy details, but…”

“Don’t worry about it, dear. Us bigwigs have it all under control now, and the kids are safe.”

“I guess that explains why you’ve been wearing that uh… uniform…”

The elevator dings on their floor. The singular person waiting outside perks up and instantly cowers at the sight of Ziyun.

“Ah, excuse us.”

The man stares at them as they walk past, and he misses his elevator ride.

“Actually, you girls haven’t eaten lunch yet right? Why don’t I take us somewhere nice?”

“Yeah, I’m down. Dunno about Mia though, she said she was tired before.”

“I was thinking of taking a nap, but I was also going to make something for lunch first, so I don’t mind. As long as we don’t have to come home ourselves....”

“Of course not dear. You wouldn’t be able to come home yourselves in the first place, since...”

Their world faded to pitch black with subconscious hints of red and violet. While it might have only taken a moment, it felt strangely eternal, as if all locations in space-time collapsed into a single point. The girls were used to it though.

The bridge on the Purveyor of Boundaries has a unique design in comparison to other starships in the Triumvirate. While most bridges settled for a circular window facing the bow, the entire ellipse-shaped bridge of the Purveyor is made of glass. Currently stationed in orbit above Tairngire parked by the Amerhinn spacedock, the view from the bridge is spectacular - a view witnessed only by the lucky few who had access to Ziyun’s personal starship.

“...you are in orbit after all.”

“Ah, you two haven’t been up to space have you?”

Unique doesn’t really cut it as a relative descriptor of Ziyun’s personal starship - it’s design doesn’t remotely look alien or even ahead of its time, although something about it feels strangely disconnected, perhaps even exuding the aura of an entity that has existed throughout all of time. The edge-adjacent interior is generally spacious and open extending more than a few hallways widths in, with more than half of most surrounding walls and roofs being made of glass.

Currently walking through the starboard walkways, Rinka zones out as she views Amerhinn Spacedock in all its glory.

“Oh, we’ve been on the second International Space Station under the pretense of ‘club activities’. That trip really put a dent in our club budget…” Camilla deadpans. At least the trip was fun for both of them, right?

“Ah yeah, that trip. We tried doing some weird occult-y things on it but it didn’t really work out… Although that wasn’t the main highlight for sure. One of the more cooler trivial things was we were served Space Coffee… which tasted like pretty normal coffee to me.” Rinka’s face is still glued to the window, but she somehow answers coherently.

“Oh! And ummm… ahhhahaha…” Camilla suddenly turns bashful.

“Don’t you dare say it.” Rinka snaps her attention to Camilla with one of the most funniest expressions she’s ever seen. She looks serious, although the blush really puts it off…

“My my… I wonder what you girls were up to in zero gravity…” Rinka turns her attention to the window again as Camilla laughs awkwardly.

“W-well, we had to try it… nobody said it was against any rules.”

“Now now girls, I’m only teasing. Let your curiosity run wild! Fufufu…”

Ziyun bathes in the awkward atmosphere. It’s always so much fun teasing the pair for their surprisingly naughty antics - they do a good job of keeping it to themselves.

“God, this ship is so damn long! What do you even use this thing for doc? Looks like an enormous waste of resources to me.” Ah Rinka, ever so pragmatic.

“Might I prudently remind you that we have practically infinite resources? We are in the 24th century after all. And to answer the former, the ship is mostly for showing off, of course!”

Ziyun looks really smug. A slap to her face would be oh so satisfying and maybe even justifiable, but Rinka didn’t want to risk the gap fever.

“We’ll be at the dining hall soon. We took the long route so you could appreciate the view. It's not everyday you get to see a sight like this.” Ziyun walks ahead in front of the two, as they trail behind due to the distraction outside the window.

“I keep forgetting that we’re in the future now. It’s kinda crazy to think that we just skipped a century where we would almost be guaranteed to have died earlier than we should have.” Rinka grabs a hold of Camilla’s hand.

“Yeah… we really are lucky, huh?”

Lucky enough to bask in each other’s warmth, looking out at the scene of a lifetime.

Ziyun hated the concept of mess halls. They carried the implication of barbaric, chaotic and downright subhuman behaviours of consumption. Of course, as a more dignified being, she decided to part with the concept all together in the design of her starship. As a result, her ship felt more like a luxury cruise liner for the upper echelons of the world - about a dozen fine dining restaurants of different cultural cuisines scattered the Purveyor’s common hall. Near the stern behind the common hall, a beautiful botanical garden graces the ship with its range of exotic flora.

All in all, the starship didn’t feel like it was built for its purpose. Although technically, its official Starship Commission designation is a multi-purpose dreadnought, so it doesn’t actually have a purpose. Right now, it's as harmless a public cruise liner as any.

“Fine dining places do take out as well? I have never heard of that before…” Sitting amidst the spider lily feature of the Purveyor’s garden, Camilla and Rinka dig into their high-class pasta.

“I prefer eating my meals in my private quarters or here in the gardens. I requested the restaurants that are able to add “take out” as an option.”

“...That’s a whole lot of wrangling just to make yourself out to be some sort of shut-in, doc.” A look of pity crosses Rinka’s face. Ziyun is not amused.

“It is unfortunate that I have much work to attend to, and that I would much rather work in the confines of my personal space.”

The food is probably the best Camilla and Rinka have ever eaten. The poor university students haven’t had the luxury to escape cup noodles and take out fast food, after all. Being the nerd she is though, Rinka’s thoughts are instead flooded by the ship itself - never in her wildest dreams would she ever have the chance to step in an enormous starship from the future.

“Hey doc, personal starships aren’t a thing yet, right? How do you guys deal with time dilation in conventional interplanetary travel when you can’t use warp drives for them?”

Camilla looks unapologetically confused, but ignores the nerd talk and enjoys her food.

“Most personal interplanetary vehicles use Lunarian warp drives. They have a theoretical velocity of around ten lights, although most commercial drives are limited to one. Lunarian warp drives manipulate spacetime in the same way as any other drive, therefore something inside its bubble does not experience relativistic effects.”