Robespierre paused outside the door to Christy's, wondering just how much trouble he could get into by entering here. He knew that Christy's was the regular haunt of off duty BPA personel and hoped that their presence would prevent any ........unpleasantness. Not that he was not capable of defending himself should the need arise, but it defeated his objective in being here if people became ..... unpleasant when they realised that he was Gallic. Still, hiding who he was would do nothing to help his cause, so he quickly glanced at his reflection in the Tea shop windows, smiling slightly at the figure reflected back at him, then he purposefully opened the door and stroll casually inside.
Inside Christy's, the usual gentle hum of conversation died away to complete silence as people took stock at what had descended into their midst. Most were struck dumb in amazement, some waited in anticipation of some sort of public entertainment, while Christy herself who was taking a sip of tea at that exact moment, choked, broke into a coughing fit and had to be pounded on the back as she gasped for breath. As she regained her breath, she gazed with amazement through eyes that streamed with tears from her coughing spasms at the spectacle that had just entered her establishment. It was a young man dressed in such a fashion as to look twice, then a third time and then make one consider whether to rush off and get their eyes tested, just to be on the safe side. He was not ugly or malformed in any way, in fact he was tall, straight and one could say almost handsome, but MY GOD, what was he wearing? Surely he must have lost one hell of a forfeit to have to wear that outfit in public!
Christy's eyes gazed in ever increasing amazement from the gold shoes with the 3 inch heels and apparently diamond encrusted buckles, the white silk stockings that rose to the knee, the gold lame knee britches (KNEE BRITCHES?), with matching gold lame frock coat, cut to the waist in front with long tails to below the knee at the rear. A pearl effect waistcoat with silver buttons, a burgundy frilled silk shirt with a high collared stock and white silk cravat held in place by a gaudy gold tie pin with a ruby centrepiece (that Christy felt sure broke all the rules of good taste, etiquette, fashion and was surely a hanging offence, or at least deserved to be!) To top it all off, he was wearing a gold lame tophat, complete with ruby encrusted hatband (that elevated the crime from a hanging offence to surely demanding that he be at least hung, drawn and quartered!) and after blinking rapidly to focus her disbelieving eyes, it couldn't be could it? Surely no-one would ever...... Oh God, it was true, he was wearing a beauty spot! Feeling unable to cope and gasping like a demented goldfish, Christy slid helplessly back into the chair she had risen from at the entrance effected by this ........fop!
Robespierre paused slightly at the almost palpable hush that had fallen over the establishment, hoping fervently that the court dress that he wore, the height of fashion in Gallia, was not too unrestrained for what might be a more conservative society here in Bretania. Still, it was too late to do anything about his choice of attire now, and using his gold filigreed cane to gently push a vacant chair from his path, he strolled to the counter. Politely ignoring the lady sat behind the counter who seemed to be dealing with some sort of medical condition, he smiled at the open mouthed waitress who appeared to be struck dumb by his elegant attire and in a gentle voice said;
"Bonjour mademoiselle, what a pleasure it is to find such a tres jollie little establishment in which to partake of one's petit dejeuner."
The waitress, overcome by the situation she found her self in, raised her hand to her mouth and started to back away. But before she could even a take the first step backwards, the young man lightly took her hand and bring it to his lips, delicately kissed her knuckles. She suddenly found herself rooted immovably to the floor.
Finally finding her tongue the waitress, reverting to the language of her youth in this surreal situation, managed to squawk, "Yu wat?"
Realising that perhaps such items might not be widely available in Betonia and not wish to be seen as ignorant of that fact, Robespierre hastily said, "Aah mais enfant, but I am sure that anything you would be prepared to serve to this humble one would taste as the nectar of the Gods enhanced by the mere presence of you beauty. Perhaps a une petit pot of tea and a ….pastry chosen by your delicate hand. Madamoiselle, I shall retire to a table and await your offering with bated breath." Then gently kissing her hand once more, he turned and strolled towards an empty table near the rear of the shop. Noticing from the corner of his eye, a formidable looking woman of middle age punch her partner sharply in the bicep and hiss, "I 'ope your takin' notes sunshine. I'll be spectin to be treated wiv similar manners in future. You hear me Bert?"
Sitting elegantly at the table, Robespierre awaited his breakfast with a mixture of hunger and dread for what might arrive before him. All the while smiling aimiably at the other customers, who hastily found the contents of their cups and plates to suddenly be of overwhelming fascination.
While he pretended aimiable indifference to the other customers, in reality Robespierre was really studying them all carefully and the first thing that he noticed was the fact that everyone was dressed in what would be considered sober and drab colours in Gallia. "Mon Dieu" he thought, "I stand out like a phoenix among crows. What must they all think of me and the way I am dressed?"
As he considered this and wondered whether he should beat a hastly retreat from this tea shop, the young lady from behind the counter approached his table and expertly slid an elegent silver tray onto the table and began to arrange its contents before him. There was a beautiful little tea pot, with matching cup, saucer and milk jug, all in a delicate rose pattern. There was also a plate with two small cakes of a type that he was unfamiliar with, domed like little hills rising out of the paper cups that enclosed them. As the waitress started to pick up the tray to leave the table, Robespierre once more took her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles, before fervently thankiing her for the repast before him. She blushed prettily and hastily backed away before fleeing to the safety of the counter once more.
As he gazed at the breakfast in front of him, Robespierre heard a polite cough and looking up, found himself looking at the lady who had appeared to have some sort of medical problem. "Would you mind if I joined you young man?" she said. Rising quickly to his feet, Robespierre politely waived the woman to a seat and said, "Mais oui madamoiselle, please to join do you." then waited until his guest sat down before returning to his own seat. "You are obviously not a native Bretonian young man and since I pride myself on assessing my customers and their needs, I am curiously at a loss since I cannot even guess where you might be from. You are not Kusari, Libertonian, Rheinlander, Corsair nor Outcast, yet you do not have the mannerisms of the Borderworlds or Edgeworlds. You intrigue me and it my overwhelming curiosity that prompts me to impose myself upon you during your breakfast. So, would you care to tell me where you do come from?" said the guest.
Ah, thought Robespierre here is my chance to start my true mission. "I am from the kingdom of Gallia madamoiselle .......?" he said to which the woman replied "I am Christy sir, the owner of this establishment". "Ah, madamoiselle Christy, honoured meet you is I. C'est une bon chance mange mon petit dejeuner avec vous .......pardonez madamoiselle, aah ...... lucky chance share mon breakfast you with." said Robespierre smiling at Christy, who hastily rearranged the words in her head as she struggled to find what the young man was trying to say. Leaning forward slightly, Robespierre asked, "Pardon madamoiselle Christy, le gateaux they are?" , glancing quickly down at them, Christy replied "Muffins". Robespierre filed the name away in his memory as yet another outlandish word these strange Bretonians used, then asked, "So madamoiselle Christy, le Bretons like to eat muff?"
Just then the man Bert seemed to start choking and fell off his chair. As Christy rushed to help him, Robespierre couldn't help but wonder why these Bretons seemed so prone to coughing fits, was there some sort of infectious virus afflicting them all at the moment?
Kiriko opened the door to Christys, her single weekly visit gaining her much needed confidence around her fellow policemen and women. The doorbell jingled playfully and Christy looked up from her magazine at Kiriko, rolling her eyes and giving her a little smile. "Konichi.. mm wait.. Cly what time is it?" she said interupting herself, ::It is 6:48 in the evening:: the AI responded promptly "ah.. Konban-wa Christy-sama" she said with a big smile and a little cheerful voice.
Christy shook her head and smiled at Kiriko, "what are we gonna do with you ey? ..Don't forget your Bretonian language too.. although you are making me understand more Kusari the more you come here.. so, instead of Konban.. What is it?"Kiriko blushed a little and smiled.. "Good evening Miss Christy". Christy smiled a warmer sort of smile, "that's better.." she chuckled quietly looking at the Inspectors embarrassed expression. "Good evening Inspector Hidamari what will it be then?'
Kiriko lit up a little, she climbed onto a stool at the front counter and looked behind Christy at all the goodies, she was beside herself deciding what to pick. 'umm... umm...' she pondered thoughtfully and swam in the scent of all the sweet pastries.
The door opened again and a man walked in his short hair and stubble relatively more becoming of a military soldier, or a convict. Lightning struck outside the rumble was heard dully though the shop as the door was closed. 'Welcome to my shop, I am Christy' Christy said as she turned to the man that just entered. The man took out a long cigarette and then stopped, his gaze looking at the young Kusari Girl a few meters away, still looking star struck at all the sweet food.
Christy coughed to get his attention, the man looked at her with a raised eyebrow the cigarette dangling freely from his lips, 'No smoking sir... go outside if you want to do that', the Man looked back out into the rain, he watched it for about a minute as if contemplating going back outside just for his cigarette, then he sighed and took the cigarette from his lips and put it back into the packet. 'Now what can I get you..' Christy said inquisitively. 'Nothing at the moment.' The man said at last, 'Names Justin.. Justin De'Havilland ma'am' he said holding out his hand to Christy, she shook his hand briefly. 'What rank are you then sir' asked Christy politely. 'Sergeant ma'am...' he said with another quick glance at Kiriko, who was conversing with her palmtop computer in a most unusual way, laughing as if it were telling jokes.
Kiriko spoke suddenly and loudly 'Miss Christy! Can I have this?' Christy walked over to Kiriko -who was bubbling over with excitement at having made a choice-, 'what's all the excitement hmm? You decided?'Kiriko turned Cly's display screen to face Christy, *an image of a coffee flavoured Doughnut from the Sunbucks Net Page is shown*, Christy twitched a little but remained calm at Kiriko's delighted face. 'sorry hun', look I'll get you something, since you never can choose what you want'Kiriko deflated a little and looked at the doughnut on the screen, then a Plate with a delicious dessert was placed in front of her and she lit right back up again, Justin stood leaning against the wall watching her, he took the cigarette out again and placed it in his lips.
Christy smiled at Kiriko '2 credits please Miss Hidamari' she said looking at Kiriko's excited face, 'haai.. Cly you handle the money ok?'::confirm amount, Jack in to commence secure transfer::'2 credits Cly.. Here Christy-sama.. Be gentle ok' Kiriko held Cly out and gave her to Christy who took the computer and plugged in a cord to the back of the palmtop. ::Connected, Hardline established, confirmation from recipient required::, Justin looked most interested at the small spectacle taking place at the counter. 'Just tell her how much you want Christy-sama..' Kiriko spoke confidently.
Christy frowned mildly in a momentary confusion, 'Two Credits?' ::there is uncertainty in the recipients voice, please commence final confirmation::, Kiriko smiled 'don't worry Christy-sama... just talk normally Cly understands you', Christy looked at the screen and spoke again much more certain, 'Two Credits please..' the AI spoke immediately almost before she had finished ::done, Credit transfer completed, hard-line can be disconnected:: Christy pulled the cord from the back of the palmtop and handed it carefully to Kiriko, who smiled and placed her down on the counter.
Christy returned to the counter where Justin stood, she coughed again at the cigarette that had found its way back into his mouth. He rolled his eyes and sighed in discomfort, 'I'm not making you stay inside sir.. ' she said plainly, 'no.. of course not' Justin said almost sarcastically as he put his cigarette away again glancing back at the unending rain outside the shop front.
There was a momentary pause and then Justin turned to the counter to face Christy, he gestured at Kiriko with a swift head movement, and spoke in a most distasteful and sarcastic manner 'What's the Kusari brats story?... didn't think we served their kind here... or, wait.. In Bretonia at all... something to do with, oh that's right a wa- ', Christy interrupted him swiftly with a scornful look on her face 'if you want to know about inspector Hidamari you need only to ask her, im not her mother' Justin spluttered a moment to himself, covering his mouth as he coughed. 'Inspector you say, that little brat?' he looked at Kiriko as she ate her dessert making a mess as the flaky pastry covered her top, 'can I get you anything.. Sir?' Christy spoke in a stern voice and was rapidly running out of patience with the sergeant.
'uhh..Black coffee for me please.. ma'am, and make it strong.. I got a long patrol ahead of me' he said thinking it better to order something before the woman became aggressive, she looked like she could knock anyone out if she wanted to...
Higgins opened the door to what he personally considered the best tea and pastry shop in all of Bretonia quite a statment in fact considering that Bretonia is siruian renown for the finest tea. However Kusari verehemently disagrees with this fact often stating that green tea is infact the only way to drink tea.
After waiting behind what appeared to be a seargent. Christy quickley turned to Higgins, "Ah Constable Higgins how nice to see you again" She said smiling reassuringly as ever. "How nice to see you aswell Christy" Higgins replied in kind. "Please may I have 2 scones, a small pot of strawberry jam and a cup of earl grey tea please" Higgins continued. "Anything else" she asked. "No thanks Christy how much was that " Higgins asked "That would be 6 credits Constable Higgins" she replied as sweetley as ever. "Thanks for this Christy" As he nodded and walked past a child like figure whom he guessed was Inspector Hidamari.
So Higgins withdrew into a small little alcove where not only could he see the almost entirety of the of Christys but sense the atmosphere was eletric.
Higgins walked away from the counter after placing his order, not that Justin was paying much attention to anything other than the Kusari girl not even 3 meters away. Justin sat looking at the steam rising from his coffee, listening to Kiriko talking to her palmtop like it was another human. 'hyaha.. you don't like rain do you Cly? It makes you sick doesn't it' Kiriko chuckled and continued to converse with her AI.
Justin steadily became more annoyed at the girls presence by the second. With his elbows on the counter he rested his head on his hands and looked slowly at Kiriko. A large group of constables walked in through the door, one of which nudged Justin, as his seat was at the counter closest to the door. He past a cold glare on the constables, and the officer apologised and swallowed a little, Justin moved his head signalling him to join his friends and the man scurried off, 'pint of your best bitter, bar wrench!' one of the men said as they sat down, Christy looked at them in playful annoyance, 'you know its not that kind of place and call me that again i'll give you a bleeding slap officer', his friends cheered merrily as they all took their seats.
Justin was turning back his gaze to his coffee when he caught a glimps of Kiriko staring at him, she jumped a little and turned back to her palmtop quickly, and making it almost too obvious she was looking at him. Justin snarled and turned to the front, eying Christy's movements. She moved from the counter to take the constables menu orders, Justin decided it was time to move. He stood up and lifted his coffee and walked slowly to where Kiriko sat, she tried to act busy, he brushed her with his other hand and then practically slammed his cup down onto the counter next to her, startling her.
Justin could see that she was frightened, he licked his lip and sat down. 'so.. what are you doin in here?... ran out of rice to farm? Or are we hiring for kamikaze squads now? well brainwash em while they are young eh, always worked for that filthy C**t Kogen'Kiriko smiled weakly, swallowed and spoke to her palmtop nervously, 'Cly.. who, is that?' she turned Cly's Lens to face Justin. The sergeant spotted the Lens focus on him and he batted the palmtop out of her grasp, Kiriko screeched in horror as Cly was slapped to the hard floor, 'Taking pictures of me without permission? No I don't think so, maybe you are a spy?' the shop seemed to quieten down almost immediately, Kiriko jumped down from her stool at the counter and moved to collect Cly from the floor, Justin grabbed her long black hair and narrowed his eyes at her, 'Oi.. I asked you a question you brat', Kiriko thrashed trying to get loose trying to make herself not cry 'Cly!! ..Let me go! Get off my hair! Kono bakayaro! Hanase! Ha..na..se!'.
"how dare you use that disgusting language!" Justin let go of her hair and she fell to the floor and scrambled around in desperation to find her palmtop, 'C..Cly! Cly? Where are you, Tell me!'Cly produced a sound that only the hearing of a younger person could detect. To guide Kiriko to her position near the cloak room. 'Look at you, scurrying about on the floor, you couldn't even Inspect the top of a Fridge Freezer if somebody asked you.. Inspector indeed, I'll be damned if I ever take orders from you. Filthy Kusari Brat."
Kiriko grabbed hold of Cly and stood quickly to face Justin, she had tears streaming down her face and Cly's screen was cracked from the bottom left corner near to the center of the screen, *A raincloud crossed with an Exclamation mark was displayed on Cly's Broken screen*. Kiriko's hair was a mess after being handled roughly, and she was panting and furious at this unknown man, she felt a little unstable and her arm throbbed like mad, the light on her CM-I plate turning a dull red colour. She reached for her weapon looking down, Justin could be heard laughing smugly, 'Looking for this, eh?' the Sergeant had pick pocketed her weapon as he sat down, 'my my, were you really going to shoot me for ruining your little neural net game, hmm ricer girl? mmm, Kids with guns, whatever will they think of next'
The Sergeant pointed Kiriko's own gun at her, the room was completely silent now, people wrenching their heads to see what was going on, Kiriko swallowed and shouted at the sergeant. 'shut up! Cly isn't a Game, shes my friend! An~..' she felt a little hazy for a second her eyes seemed to mist over, the sergeant capitalised on her weakened state. 'Friends, ha! I wonder, I'm not surprised your only friend is an emotionless machine, because if it did have emotion and actual intelligence it would surely not be a friend to the likes of somebody as weak as you.'Kiriko collapsed after a few moments of silence and a few constables rushed to her aid, as well as Christy."How distasteful.." the sergeant said as he placed the weapon on the counter and turned back to his coffee.
The former LPI officer, Rex Easly, sauntered through the doors of Christy's establishment unaffected by the chaos that lay before him. As he crossed the cafe, he waded through a group of constables, stepped over a fallen Kusari girl and walked over to the counter waiting for someone to take his order.
Once before, months ago, he visited this place. He tried to fashion a donut out of a crumpet, with little success and so had little reason to return. Sunbucks had the best donuts, the best coffee, and, as he looked at the squabble behind him, the best fights as well. With fondness, he recalled the brick throwing chief barking orders at some lowly recruit. He remembered the tazer battles that officers would inflict on one another. And all the...he sighed. That was all in the past. This was his life now. He looked at the display of pastries. A life of tea and crumpets.
At the counter beside him, sat a smirking officer looking quite satisfied with himself. Rex overheard Christy shouting to someone in her employ to get some towels and noticed that this officer wasn't paying a bit of attention to all the hubbub behind him. It didn't take him too long to realize that this particular officer was the cause of all this ruckus.
Rex leaned toward the officer. "Hey", he greeted. "My name's Rex." He offered his hand.
The man looked Rex up and down for the briefest of seconds, appeared to take stock of him, and then shruged. "Justin," he replied.
"Can't believe they let Kusari folk in this place. Don't they have standards?" Rex waited to see if his suspicions about this man were correct.
Justin's eyes lit up at the mention of the Kusari girl. "Don't even get me started with that," he spat. "They should have locked her away with the rest of that Kusari filth."
Rex looked closely at the girl, still lying on the floor. This 'Kusari filth' was an Inspector in the BPA judging from her uniform insignia. The girl was clutching some electronic palm device, speaking to it at times. Rex couldn't tell how much pain she was in, if any, but the thought that a fellow officer would bring harm to a young girl appalled him more than he thought possible.
Reaching down at his belt, he started for his LPI issued tazer, but then had second thoughts. He turned back toward Justin. "Well, it looks like I'm not going to get any service here, so I'm leaving."
Justin grunted a reply as Rex turned back toward the group surrounding the young Kusari girl. He intercepted the employee that was bringing back the towels that Christy had demanded and took them from him. Seeing the alarm in the young man's face, he gestured that everything would be alright. He grabbed his tazer, put the setting on Medium Crispy, wrapped it up in the towels and placed it next to the frightened young Kusari Inspector.
"Here you go, Ma'am." Rex winked at the girl. "I'm sure you know what to do with this." Rex turned and walked immediately out the door, never happier.
Higgins sat watching the horrific event. His facial expression said it all he was utterly disgusted with the action of the sergeant on Inspector Hidamari. He then stood in the hustle and bustle of attending Inspector Hidamari he quickly moved to a empty table near to the thug of an officer and sat trying to get with in earshot of the thug.
When an another officer entered he tried to look busy rather then looking like he was trying to spy on the thug. When he heard the name "Justin". Higgins nodded while taking a mental note of the name.
Then after getting that he moved a table closer still trying not look out of place. All the while his anger growing at what he considered a thug no worse then the corsairs or Gaians Higgins encounters quite commonly while on his patrols.
After leaving Kiriko in the care of the waitress, Christy disappeared into the alcove at the back of her store.
Approximately twenty seconds later the door to the Tea Shoppe crashed open revealing a very large, very angry man.
Sergeant Sykes marched directly over to De'Havilland, spun him around on his stool, grabbed him by the front of his uniform and hauled him unceremoniously into the alcove where he pushed him into a chair at one of the tables.
Lucy Silsbury sat at that table, a piece of Christy's Ginger Slice and a hot Chai late in front of her and an impassive expression on her face; her eyes emanated their trademark cold anger.
'Sergeant De'Havilland.' She said as Sykes stood back, folding his huge arms.
'One of the Constables related what happened in the front parlour Mr De'Havilland, did you know that assault is a crime punishable by the law you swore to uphold?'
De'Havilland scowled, 'She's Kusari.'
'And look at the uniform she wears Sergeant, look at the insignia on that uniform. That you as a member of the Bretonia Police would assault anyone without provocation is highly concerning, but a superior Officer in your own organization?'
Justin evidently was starting to realize the seriousness of the situation.
'I have half a mind to have Sykes tear you in half and throw you into a Dunkirk reactor, however, being none too trusting of the Kusari myself I will settle with a written apology to Inspector Kiriko and recompense for any material or emotional damage she may have suffered.'
Silsbury reached for her Chai, 'I'm done with you, make your amends Sergeant, I'll be watching.'
Sykes moved from his position by the alcove door and began to shepherd the recently chastised Officer towards the alcove's exit.
'Mr De'Havillard.' Silsbury's voice came.
Justin turned and violently shrugged off Sykes hand from his shoulder.
Lucy slowly lowered the latte cup from her mouth, 'If anything like this happens again'¦ the repercussions will be beyond severe'¦ Good day.'
Sykes grabbed Justin's shoulder again but was pushed away.
'I can find my own way out!' He spat, and left.
With the sudden spate of promotions; Christy's was unusually full of officers, the usual crew, and some new faces. One of those faces was currently standing at the counter, attempting to attract attention without speaking loudly, waving it's arms, (the face was in fact attached to a body) or indeed performing any action likely to be so rude as to draw the eyes of the bar-staff. Needles to say, this exciting new strategy was proving remarkably ineffective, several constables were taking bets.
The man who had his hopes of a new front lawn riding on a 3 day wait for service, was sadly disappointed, as the subject of their amusement gathered his nerve, rapped sharply on the counter, and quickly looked over his shoulder to search for the cad who could have been so rude. His search in vain, he turned back to the counter to see a tormented piece of gum, surrounded by pearly white teeth, within the bored, bored BORED, face of a waitress.
He looked at the waitress.
The waitress looked at him.
"Uhh, Christy's cafe?" He managed
The waitress continued to look at him.
"Yeah, um right, I'm ah, uhgAHEM"
The waitress closed her eyes, it had been a long day.
"That is, I'm Serge- INSPECTOR Hone Nathan, and-"
Upon hearing actual Human speech the waitress opened her eyes again
"A bunch of us got promoted today and Silsbury said to come here and Rex said that all the new promotions got a coupon at christy's for a muffin"
The waitress blinked prettily at the rush of words, then frowned equally prettily at the envelope thrust at her. Taking and reading the contents, the frown deepened, insomuch as it could almost be called a pout.
"Sir," she addressed the new Inspector, who jumped at hearing a voice from this so far silent servitor,
"This is written in crayon, and it's misspelt Coupon, Christy's, and Muffin. In fact, it seems to be written on..." she turned the doubtful coupon over - "the back of a Sunbucks menu."
The Inspector's face did a remarkable impression of his maroon uniform,
"I'm going to kill that man" He ground out, about turning without perceptibly moving any atom of his body, and striding for the door. The last thing he heard came from a tussle of constables where a voice piped up;
"Well she didn't actually serve him, so really you shouldn't-"
Before the door swung shut, and he was alone in the night. Tea shops he thought, He'd never bloody understand them.
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