"Five, four, three, two, one. Happy New Year!" The patrons of the Brass Lantern shouted in celebration. The Brass Lantern was loaded, wall to wall patrons celebrating the new year. The stench of alcohol, sweat and burnt Yao Guai filled the air. The floor was covered in white marble tiles, windows covered the outer walls. The counter was curved, a single section on the left side of the counter folded up so the bartenders could get behind it. Behind the counter in the center of the wall there was a Dutch door. The wall was covered with shelves, filled with various alcohols. Jenny Stahl stood at the counter. She had aged well since the time the Capitol Wasteland was still the Capitol Wasteland. She had no wrinkles and her only sign of having aged was a single lock of gray hair on the right side of her bangs. She wore a yellow silk outfit similar to the one she had worn nearly 20 years ago.
Delilah chuckled at their celebration, taking a sip of her Punga wine. She drank using her modified spine implant with a tail. It had extended to six feet to hold her bottle. She leaned against the bar and took the bottle from her tail with her hand. She took another swig, careful not to break the bottle over her white silk dress. So, 2295, how do you feel about the new year? Corbin asked in her head. She looked over to her brother, he wore only a black tank top and baggy white silk pants. He had gotten bigger than her by a few inches and he was very muscular. He was tanned from working the punga fields all day compared to her fair white skin. He was shaved bald as he didn't like fussing over hair. He drank a punga cola.
"I feel like I'm a 16 year old virgin because guys are too afraid to approach me." Don't let dad hear you talking like that. He gave a rasping, thin chuckle, "Yeah right, dad would be happy. Remember how he was when he found out you were boinking cure girl?" Her name is Marie, and he was happy that I am breeding at such a young age. "See..." She stood up straight, "The first man to approach me with the intent to fuck me will get to come with me to the Forge!" She announced. The bar went silent. She squeezed the bottle in her hand, shattering it, "I'm never gonna get laid in a civ bar... I'm gonna go to Nirvana on Swarga. Care to come with?"
Corbin shrugged, Sure, Marie is probably there right now, and it will be interesting to see who takes you up on your offer. He turned to Jenny, Sorry about the mess...
"No problem Corbin, I'm gonna have one hell of a mess to clean up anyways... I can't wait until my kids are old enough to take over the shop, how about you Flash?"
Flash smiled, sending a mister handy to clean up the mess, "Eh, it's not so bad, they just want a friendly face here. Pouring drinks ain't that hard."
Delilah walked over the broken glass as the mister handy was cleaning it up, scattering more shards onto the floor. Corbin floated over the mess, sipping on his punga cola. They walked out to the secondary beacons which would teleport them up to Swarga. They touched the beacon and felt themselves being pulled up to the alien ship.
They appeared just outside Nirvana, next to the military registration. There were double doors with glass portholes which led into the bar. The military registration door was painted black with an image of Harold pointing a wooden finger outward. The rest of the long hallway was bare with chrome plating from floor to ceiling.
The bar was full of army men and women on their off time enjoying themselves. The air was full of the smell of fermented punga fruit, woodsmoke and savory Yao Guai meat. The floors and walls were chrome plated and on the back wall was a giant Elysium Empire flag, Harold, holding out a punga fruit to a man kneeling on Harold's roots, on a field of gray. There was a circular bar in the middle. In the center of the bar was a large spherical robot hanging from the ceiling. Eight arms came out of the robot, each with a tube leading out to the hand at the end of the arm. Next to the bar there was a grill set up, an android stood at it with a smile, an oven mitt on his right hand and a chef's hat on his head. He wore a pair of white silk pants and a white apron which said "Kiss the Android." Whenever a burger or a steak would be finished he placed it on a plate on the bar. A man by the bar noticed them, he wore black silk pants and no shirt and had his registration number tattooed across his chest. AAM000000001. On his back was the tattoo Bhairava2, written around his spinal implant. He had a dyed blond mohawk and no facial hair. He climbed up on the bar and whistled loudly, "Hey, kill the music, kill the music!" He shouted. One of the robot's arms extended under the counter and the music stopped. The bar went silent, staring at the man, "We have here... The children of the Emperor!" A cheer went through the bar, "What can we do for you? I'd offer to buy you a round, but thanks to your father, everything is pretty much free!" He turned his head up and howled. His howl was followed by laughter and cheers.
"I need to get laid." Delilah replied. Hoots and hollers went throughout the army in the bar. The man with the mohawk leaped off the counter and began making his way through the crowd. As he got closer, Delilah noticed that he was very short, just over 4 feet.
"Well, my lady, if you would allow me the honor of deflowering you, I would be happy to oblige." He said, bowing, his breath thick with the smell of alcohol.
Delilah smirked, grabbing his hand as gently as she could, "Come on then." She said.
He looked up, "Oh, you were serious?" He looked back at the bar, "Guys, I get to fuck the princess!" He pulled his hand from hers and held them both over his head, extending his index and pinkie fingers, "Whoo!" She grabbed his hand again and forcibly pulled him along, leaving the bar with him. Corbin stayed behind, chuckling in his own raspy way.
Marie made her way through the crowd, walking up to Corbin, taking his hand in hers. She had black hair and dark skin like her father and bright green eyes. She wore a black tank top and silk pants, "Hey there." She said, holding up a wine bottle with her extra hand, "Can you warm this up for me?" Corbin touched the bottle and quickly withdrew his hand. She swirled it around and took a sip, "Aww, my little pyrokinetic, always keeping me warm." she chuckled, the left shoulder of her tank top falling off, exposing her breast. Corbin mentally fixed her top. Ok, I think you've had enough. He physically picked her up, cradling her in her arms, "Ooh, my big strong psychic is going to take me back to our castle." She said, giggling.
The patrons of Nirvana cheered as Corbin closed the doors out to the hall behind them. He walked over to the teleporter panel and pressed a few buttons, entering in authorization code, they were teleported to their living room.
The living room had a blue carpeted floor, with a teleporter pad in the center of it, and two hallways leading out from it. The halls were covered in plain red curtains. One wall was painted black with a brown leather couch pressed against it, the other was covered in a large TV. They lived in the top five levels of the VSS facility. The top five levels, unlike the lower parts of the building, were circular. The 90 story building was square with a conical top. The entire building was covered in tinted windows. He carried her to their bed two floors up and set her down.
The bedroom had black curtains covering all the four hallways. The walls between the hallways were painted black, each of them having a door. The floor was covered in gray polished stone tiles, there were three yao guai rugs, one at the foot of the bed and one on either side of the bed. There was two bedside tables, each with an aluminum bowl filled with fire rocks, neither of which were lit.
Corbin set down Marie with her bottle. She took another swig and he took the bottle from her, boiling it with his mind until it was all gone, I wish you would drink less, with how much we've been having sex lately, you're likely to be pregnant, and I want the baby to be safe.
"Please, it's fine, your dad installed a toilet that does a pregnancy test every time I pee in it and alerts him when I'm pregnant." She said, rolling over, burying her face in her pillow.
That bastard... When will he learn that I can take care of matters myself and I don't need his interference? He thought to himself. He floated above the bed, looking down at Marie's sleeping form.
She sighed unhappily in her sleep, he heated up her covers and she groaned appreciatively.
He floated over to the teleportation panel in his living room and teleported to the Brass Lantern.
The mess had been cleaned up and many of the people who were celebrating for new years had gone home, for sex, Corbin assumed. Corbin walked up to the bar, Punga cola. He thought to Jenny.
"Coming right up." She said, "In the bottle like always I assume?" She asked, passing him the bottle. It froze in midair and slowly floated down to his hand. He transferred heat from the bottle into the air before popping it open. It fizzed, something his father said had only started again recently. He smiled and drank deeply. Jenny began cleaning a glass behind the counter, "You know, since last month, your father has insisted that you have infinite rations, but your sister be limited, why is that?" Jenny asked. You really want to gossip? "What else is there to do around here, really? We don't struggle to survive anymore, the new music and books that have been coming out suck, and the only people who are making movies are making porn..."
Corbin attempted to sigh, but the sound came out as a croak. Delilah doesn't take the military seriously, she enlisted as soon as she was 16, but she hasn't gone out on a single patrol or anything. She blatantly disregards the commands of superior officers and she's been drinking nonstop since her birthday since she can't get drunk past a slight tingly sensation in the tips of her fingers and toes. He wants her to be calm like me.
"I get the distinct feeling that you don't really feel calm as much as you seem." Jenny observed. I'm a pyrokinetic, I don't have much of a choice, if I get angry I blow out fireballs. "Whereas..." When Delilah gets angry, she balls up her fist, curses and goes out to play fisticuffs with a deathclaw. Jenny set aside the glass and leaned on the counter, "You know, there's ways to take out your anger, other than violence."
Corbin huffed, fire spewing from his nostrils and throat. A fire ball came out from each of his balled fists, scorching the floor.
"Relax, you realize how long it will take to replace the floorboards properly?" Jenny asked, "fifteen years ago, we didn't have much for trees in the wasteland, and we're trying to use the trees we've got conservatively." Jenny explained.
I'm sorry... Corbin finished his punga cola and set the bottle on the counter. He walked to the panel and teleported out.