Opus X

Chapter 6

September 9, 2230, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Nuwa Wedding Planning Center

September 9, 2230, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Nuwa Wedding Planning CenterJia tilted her head, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

The large vaulted ceiling abutted an open strip of beautiful sky with flying birds visible. That slit gave way to something ornate and gothic, but the greatest oddity above them was the spiraling galaxies in the far corner of the room.

She suppressed the chuckle that wanted to come out.

While she’d grown comfortable using nano-AR rooms for something other than training in newer and more efficient ways to kill someone or for piloting, it felt strange to be in a nano-AR chamber and not have a simulated g*n in her hand.

Or for that matter, both hands.

The woman of the moment, Chinara, stood in the center of the room near Jia’s other friend Imogen. Twenty wedding dresses of different designs and colors hung in the air, spinning slowly so she could inspect them from a variety of angles.

A woman in a flattering dark dress stepped into the room. Her elaborate braids put Jia’s sister’s coif to shame, and the same could be said for her perfect skin.

“I’m Miss Wu,” she announced. “It was my understanding that you wanted time to inspect the concepts before I offered my advice.”

Chinara waved her off. “How long do we have this room?”

“Your appointment is for one hour.” Miss Wu offered a perfect bright smile. “Of course, I can help facilit—”

“I’ll call for you when it’s almost time,” Chinara explained. She ran her hand over a green dress with a thoughtful look.

Miss Wu bowed her head and departed, the smile stuck on her face.

Imogen clapped once. “That’s it, Chinara. You take control. You’re planning your wedding and your special day. She’s going to try to upsell you and convince you that you need expensive extras like real food.” She pointed at the four simulated roofs. “They don’t make much on venue decoration.”

YouJia stepped over to her friends. “You’re sure you don’t want a destination wedding? A lot of good packages for Venus right now.”

Imogen folded her arms. “She doesn’t want to get blown up at her wedding.”

“It’s not like that.” Jia waved a hand dismissively. “If anything, Venus is twice as safe now because of the incident. Not saying she has to have her wedding there, only that it’s a good option.”

Jia didn’t want to admit she’d done a little side research on the subject for her own purposes. It wouldn’t happen anytime soon, if at all, but it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared if the situation changed rapidly.

Chinara shook her head. “All that travel and planning? I don’t want my wedding to be stressful. I want it to be a good time. I think this kind of place will allow that, offering beauty with none of the downsides.”

Jia understood. She spent enough time in nano-AR training environments that she would never claim they couldn’t feel real. Part of her rebelled against the idea of a special event like a wedding in a simulator, but it wasn’t her wedding or her choice.

“What does Conrad think?” she asked.

“He says he’ll leave it all up to me.” Chinara moved on to another dress and fingered the sleeve. “I think if he had his way, we’d just get the license, and that would be that. Going somewhere is too much trouble, and I have a lot of relatives who refuse to go into space.”

Imogen rolled her eyes. “What is this, the twenty-first century?”

Jia circled the dresses, finding her mind going to what would be necessary to make them combat-ready. Quick sleeve tears, a slice up the side of the skirt.

A train might be useful to blind an enemy.

A train might be useful to blind an enemy.“There are plenty of beautiful places on Earth,” Jia replied. She almost mentioned Victoria Falls before remembering she had traveled there using a fake name. “And plenty of beautiful places in Neo SoCal.”

“Why go to all the trouble?” Chinara stopped and smiled at a flowing green lace dress. “We’ll figure out somewhere nice for our honeymoon. Maybe Venus. Oh, we did set the date. That took a lot of planning because everyone’s relatives and friends are busy doing something. Announcements will be going out soon.” She rolled her eyes. “Set it aside now. June 15, 2231.”

“That long?” Jia’s brow lifted. “I thought since you’d decided on a place like this, it’d be sooner.”

“A little anticipation never hurts a woman.” Chinara nodded firmly. “And I’ve found my dress.”

Imogen giggled. “It’s strange when you think about it.”

Chinara turned to her friend. “What is? I like this dress.”

“No, it’s beautiful.” Imogen smiled. “It’s that they’ll have the dress made and brought here, but imagine if they just simulated the dress, too.”

“It wouldn’t feel right,” Jia complained. “Trust me, I spend a lot of time in nano-AR. More than is healthy. It can feel very real, but the fine details are off. Clothes that are moving are the worst.”

Jia didn’t like Imogen’s huge grin.

“You and Erik like to spend a lot of time in nano-AR?” Imogen asked, waggling her eyebrows. “Participating in…fantasies?”

Jia’s cheeks heated. “Uh, for training! For training. Security contractor things, nothing, uh…” She waved a hand, trying desperately to come up with a way to get out of this verbal mess. “Nothing fantastical.”

trainingFighting Leems didn’t count as fantasy, though the bikini squads of the past might qualify.

Imogen snickered. “Whatever you say. No shame.”

“We’re here for Chinara,” Jia insisted firmly. “Let’s not lose focus.”

“It’s okay,” Chinara offered softly. “I don’t think I’m going to decide much other than this dress today, and I still am going to go home and spend the next week looking at minor variants. The problem is I thought I knew what kind of wedding I wanted, but now I don’t. Having it here provides more choices.” She motioned toward the galaxy above. “I’m tempted to do something very exotic.”

“Leem waitstaff,” Imogen suggested, taking a sip of the champagne the wedding center had provided for the three of them.

“How much have you had?” Jia gave her friend a questioning look. “Unless Chinara’s family is a bunch of Grayheads, they probably don’t want Leem waiters.”

Chinara laughed softly. “No, but she does have a point. There are a lot of options. My head tells me to do something conventional and normal, beautiful but boring. My heart suggests something crazy, something that might get my grandmother shaking her finger at me.”

“Really?” Jia’s gaze ticked up to the galaxies. “Are you sure Imogen hasn’t hypnotized you?”

Imogen gave Jia a dirty look. “You make it sound crazy.” She put down her glass.

Had she ever been such a drinking lightweight? Yes, yes she had. “It’s not…that, Imogen. I’m surprised is all.”

Had she ever been such a drinking lightweight? Yes, yes she had.that“It’s the thought of change,” Chinara explained. She walked over to where different data windows floated, filled with sliders, buttons, and text boxes displaying different wedding options. “I’m not prepared to be a wild woman, but I don’t mind experimenting.”

Imogen put her hands on her hips. “I’m not a wild woman. I’m fun.”

funChinara tapped the data window and ran her finger along the slider. A wall appeared to her side, the color slowly changing along a gradient from red to blue with the slider’s position.

“Does this alter anything you thought about marriage?” Chinara asked, pulling her hand away from the data window.

Imogen shrugged. “I’m not sure. Part of me wants to throw Michael down and demand we get married, but another part of me wants to continue dating for ten years.”

They both looked at Jia, their gazes heavy and expectant. She tried to ignore them but gave up.

Friends.

Friends.“I’m hoping it’s in the future for us,” Jia admitted. “But our work situation is complicated right now. Things aren’t stable, but there’s a chance they will stabilize eventually, maybe even soon.”

Nothing wrong with keeping hope alive.

“You so sure?” Imogen raised an eyebrow in challenge. “What if things get all normal and easy, and Erik decides he’s bored?”

“He’s not like that.” Jia shook her head, no doubt in her mind about Erik. “Trust me. If this weren’t real, I’d know it. Like I said, it’s just a matter of the situation changing.”

“If he’s not going to ask you anytime soon, why not just ask him?” Imogen prodded, inclining her head at Chinara. “If she can wait a long time to get married, you can get engaged now and set a date way off.”

“No, not yet. We’re in a good place. Besides…” Jia sighed and averted her eyes. “It’s stupid and old-fashioned, but…”

“But what?”

Chinara and Imogen stepped forward, their faces alight with eagerness. There was no way Jia could dodge the question now.

Stupid, great, annoying, persistent friends!

friendsJia eyed them. “The truth is, I was the one who forced things initially. I don’t think Erik was looking for anything, and I don’t blame him since he was in a weird headspace. I don’t always want to be the one pushing. If we’re going to have a future together, I want to know that it’ll happen without me going all Full Control Lin on it.”

Chinara smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting him to ask you, Jia.”

“True.” Imogen bobbed her head in eager agreement. “Nothing wrong with that at all.” Her breath caught. “If you get married, is it going to be on Venus?”

“I have no idea.” Jia had to admit, just talking to her friends about the subject could and did bring a huge smile to her face. “I’d honestly prefer something small, but I don’t think there is anywhere in the galaxy I could run if my mother didn’t get to plan the ultimate wedding.” She winked. “For now, I’ll see what works for you two and adjust accordingly.”