"Hmm, Janey had a point. These napkin rings are really nice," Sasha said to herself, playing idly with her empty wine glass. It was the first moment of peace and quiet she'd had since arriving; the wedding planning had escalated until it seemed like half of Pandora was invited. Everyone wanted to hear about what the inside of a teleporting rock alien was like, or whether Fiona was still holding out on any secret Vault goodies, or just whether it was really possible to heal someone with a watch.
Loader-Bot passed by with another tray of drinks, and she swapped her glass for a full one.
[You should pace yourself,] the robot said reprovingly.
"Oh, come on. How often do we get to go a party like this? And not to steal wallets, like in the old days," she added with a guilty smile.
His optic glowed a little, but his shoulders eventually relaxed. [Don't get sick. I won't carry you home.] Sasha patted him on the back, and he strutted off in his fresh coat of tuxedo-styled paint.
Fiona was over at the bar, looking dapper in her brand new tailored suit, chatting up an ex-Hyperion middle manager whose name Sasha could never remember. She couldn't even catch her sister's eye – clearly things were going well. "Good for her," she whispered, and she meant it.
"What's that?"
Rhys had emerged from the crowd to stand beside her, slipping an arm around her waist. She leaned into him, sipping her wine.
"Fiona's new girlfriend," she said, nodding towards the pair.
"Oh?" He squinted, trying to get a better look. "Ohhh, that's Sarah de Mercier – well, now I know why she laughed when I asked her on a date that one time."
A small giggle escaped her lips, but he didn't seem to mind. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. I mean, it's pretty funny," he said.
There was a loud roar from outside the hall, and they followed the sound to find Janey hurriedly hopping off her bike and wheeling it to the garage. "Out of my way!" she snapped at the hovering Psychos, who were not very good valets. There was a swipe of engine oil on her cheek that had transferred itself to the sleeve of her white shirt and was threatening to spread to her collar, and her hair had fallen out of its slicked-back style, but in her breathless excitement she looked more handsome than ever.
"Late to my own bloody wedding!" she muttered as she clambered up the steps, the crowd parting to let her through.
"Janey!"
Athena had appeared in the doorway, eyes blazing. "I can't believe –"
The mechanic stumbled to a halt right in front of her fianceé, who stopped short in the middle of shouting, the anger on her face replaced by a dawning awe.
"I can't believe how lucky I am."
The ceremony had been running behind schedule without Janey and everything kicked into a higher gear. The bot team started dragging the chairs into place, occasionally knocking into any guest who was too slow to react, and the Pandorans tried to keep their squabbles over seating as efficient as possible. Rhys and Sasha squeezed into the end of a row with some safe-looking strangers, fingers touching in the space between their seats.
The brides had refused all offers to walk either of them down the aisle, but fell in step together arm-in-arm as they made their way to the front of the makeshift chapel. As the semi-official spiritual guide of the Children of Hyperion, Vaughn had been unanimously voted celebrant. He stood on his toes, stretching his spine just enough to come up to Athena's chin, trying to ignore the sweat running down the back of his neck. Fighting skags was one thing; the wrath he would incur if he messed up a former assassin's big day was another.
A carefully constructed set of vows scrolled past on his Spex. Formality was not the way of things on Pandora, and the scraps Vaughn and his friends had cobbled together from the Helios network sounded more like a marketing presentation than a heartfelt declaration of love. In the end the group had started from scratch, reining in each other's worst excesses.
"And so, by the power vested in me by…well, mostly the people here today, I now pronounce you woman and wife! I – guess you decide who's who out of those…" he trailed off, letting the crowd's thunderous applause drown his uncertain mumbling.
Janey didn't wait for further instructions but pulled her wife in for a kiss. It was several seconds before the two of them parted, Athena unable to hide her blush or her ecstatic grin.
"You wanna toss the bouquet, hon?"
Athena had an unusual collection of glowing flowers, cultivated from the strange inhabitants of the old Atlas dome. (The carnivorous plants now subsisted happily on a diet of insects, having been re-engineered after a spate of disappearances.) She looked around, judging the dimensions of the room, and nodded.
"Who wants these?" she boomed, holding the bouquet up with one hand. "Get to the back!"
"Better watch out, I know how to catch," Sasha whispered with a wink, on her feet and running before Rhys could react.
A fierce tangle of women and more than a few men was forming at the back of the room. More than a few romances had sprung up between the residents and the newcomers, and the excitement of working together on New Atlas had feelings running high. Sasha fixed her eye on the radiant blooms and crouched in preparation, planting her feet and refusing to budge despite the chaos.
At the front of the room, Athena wound her arm back and launched the bundle with all the force she could manage. It soared with impressive speed, grazing the ceiling, but Sasha easily charted its trajectory as if everything were travelling in slow motion. People shoved from all directions, but she knew she had picked the right spot. The bouquet was on its downward arc, and she stretched her hands outwards…
Suddenly, something rammed into her ankles hard enough to finally topple her and she went flying. She flailed wildly, crashing into several competitors. A sigh went up amongst them and the wild scramble subsided, Sasha's neighbours helping her to her feet, friends once again.
The floor began to clear, revealing Gortys with her hands firmly wrapped around the prize. The little robot stood stunned for a moment, then let out a joyous squeal.
[I can't believe it! I won!] She wheeled in circles, brandishing the flowers. [Oh, I'm so happy! Look, Sasha!]
The woman rubbed her legs gingerly, but her smile was genuine. "Good job, Gortys."
Loader-Bot came running, attracted by the commotion. [I told you to pace yourself,] he grumbled. Sasha shook her head and gestured over to the excited ball.
[Look! Look! Look!] she chanted, racing around his feet. He reached down and caught her effortlessly, lifting her to optic level.
[Do you know…what it means?] he asked.
[Nope!] she said cheerfully. [But aren't they pretty?]
If he had blood, he would have been blushing. Instead, he averted his gaze slightly. [The plant material is a sign that you will be the next to make a romantic commitment.]
[Oh. Can I do that?]
Sasha burst out laughing, trying to hold her lungs in place, streaks of mascara running down her cheeks. Her human friends had come to check on her; she held them back and waved them into silence, unable to get any words out.
The big robot placed Gortys back on the floor and adjusted his limbs to an approximate kneeling position, peering down at his favourite friend.
[Gortys. Will you marry me?]
She tilted her head and clasped her hands together. [Well…sure! I mean, you're the best and I love you and we can stay together forever and -]
Her voice was cut off by a plate-crushing hug from Loader-Bot. Sasha gave them a few seconds to themselves, and then she was the first to jump in and join the embrace. The other humans followed suit, and between the cold metal and the warm bodies, she knew things had turned out right.