3/9/12020 – Audio Journal: Dinner Conversation, Pt. II
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Maeter: Wow! This looks amazing, mom!
Linck: Green bean casserole! My favorite!
Lily: Corn bread!
Dominic: Roast beef, mashed potatoes, spinach artichoke dip-
Anemone: Dominic, shut up! You're making me even more hungry.
Dominic: I'm just looking at what's on the table!
Axel: Wow! I gotta say, young lady. You sure know how to cook one hell of a feast!
Eureka: *giggles* Thanks, Axel.
Renton: Well, come on guys… eat up!
Amber: ROAST BEEF!
Ao: Hey! Cool it, sis!
Linck: Dibs on the casserole!
Eureka: Linck! Don't forget to leave some for others!
Maeter: Yeah, I'm just going to wait until everyone gets their share…
Maurice: Don't mind me… corn bread. Mmm.
Lily: Mama, can I get some roast beef?
Anemone: Sure, baby… Dominic, get Lily some roast beef.
Dominic: Uh, I mean… It's over there, dear.
Anemone: You're closer to it, damnit!
Dominic: Yes, ma'am!
Ao: Mashed potatoes… ooh, bacon bits inside.
Amber: Did you say bacon bits!?
Renton: Hehe, Amber, eat slowly! There's also dessert coming up.
Amber: Yeah, yeah, yeah, let me get these mashed potatoes really quick.
Renton: Hey, slick? You good?
Ao: Yeah, I think I'm good. Thanks, mom!
Eureka: Mmhmm, you're welcome, dear. Eat up, guys, There's a lot on the table!
Renton: So… how's military life treating you?
Dominic: Uh, well… not bad. I mean, it's been a bit quiet since South Aires, but at least they got us working on other things.
Renton: Such as?
Dominic: Well, PLF forces are still occupying major cities like Doha, Borealis, Nambassa, and Vostok, so General Blanc had us on the frontlines for that.
Renton: Must be dangerous considering you have Lily.
Dominic, I mean, we don't go into the frontlines directly. Anemone and I stay in command of the Pied Piper. Our IFO pilots do all the heavy lifting.
Renton: Still, it's the frontlines…
Eureka: Yes, and what about Lily? How is she holding up when you're out fighting?
Anemone: The military wants us for the big jobs, the dangerous missions. But we always get it done as quick as we can. So getting back isn't much of a hassle.
Dominic: And we don't stay outside New Geneva for too long. Actually, we sort of spend most of our lives in the base doing training and running tests.
Renton: I dunno… high-level ops in a city like Borealis sounds like a big hassle.
Dominic: Renton, we're the elite Special Operations Force of the Republic. We've got the best IFO pilots in the world, and some of the highest-ranking specialists in the military. And you know us, we've dealt with much worse things before.
Anemone: Yep. South Aires, the Tragedy of Doha, Battle of Tien Shan, you name it.
Amber: Wait, you guys were involved in the Tragedy of Doha?
Dominic: We've been involved in a lot of things… like your mom and dad before the Second Summer of Love.
Amber: So you participated in the Doha evacuations?
Dominic: Yeah, the Pied Piper was one of the few military ships that helped rescue thousands of citizens and soldiers in the battle. A lot of the rescuing part were thanks to civilian vessels. It was pretty tense.
Amber: Yeah, I mean, you got enemy KLFs raining down bombs and gunfire on those civilians. But don't they also have tanks and destroyers?
Dominic: They do, but they got cocky and only sent KLFs to finish the job. Why pick us off from land when they can pick us off from the sky?
Anemone: And it was pretty stupid for the PLF forces to give our boys and civilians four days to evacuate. Pretty damn surprising considering Antari Johannson's track record.
Amber: Isn't she the last surviving member of the Ageha Squad?
Dominic: Yep. The last of Colonel Dewey's henchmen. Most of Ageha were either killed during the later days of the Human-Coralian war, arrested afterwards, or went AWOL. Antari was the latter and founded the PLF as a means to finish what Colonel Dewey started.
Anemone: But compared to the old Federation days, things aren't really as tense as they once were. I mean, not everyone's on edge over Colonel Dewey or a Coralian event.
Renton: Good times…
Anemone: Still, after what happened in South Aires, we're still doing what we can to keep the peace between humanity and the Scub Coral.
Dominic: To think I'd be fighting for a right cause when I was with the Federation.
Amber: Hold the phone! Uncle Dom, you were in the Federation?
Dominic: Was. Well, were. Anemone and I used to fight your mom and dad. Then we found out what Colonel Dewey was doing, and then we helped fought alongside Gekkostate in saving the Command Cluster. Man, I was such an idiot back then.
Anemone: Honey, you're still an idiot.
Dominic: Uh, thanks?
Anemone: *giggles* But you're my idiot. Just because you stuck with me no matter what.
Amber: Whoa, whoa, whoa… you used to fight mom and dad?
Dominic: I mean…
Anemone: I… I fought them. I fought the Nirvash.
Amber: Whoa, holy shit!
Eureka: Language!
Amber: Uh, holy crap?
Renton: Better.
Anemone: Yes, Dominic and I fought them and… uh, I got my ass kicked.
Renton: To be fair, we sort of got our ass handed when we fought you for the first time.
Anemone: Yeah, I don't know what the fuck happened when I fought you guys the second time.
Lily: Mama!
Anemone: Hmm?
Lily: No f-bombs!
Anemone: Whoops! *giggles* Sorry, sweetie.
Eureka: *sighs* Well, it's all in the past.
Anemone: Yeah. For better or worse.
Eureka: No. For better.
Anemone: Jeez, Eureka… loosen up a bit!
Eureka: The last time I loosened up, I had a dream where I was a spy robot and Renton was dying in my arms!
Anemone: I forgot. What the hell did you drink that night?
Eureka: Something "Fairy," but I'm not drinking any of that stuff again.
Amber: Umm…
Anemone: Alright, fine. I'll bring something safer next time. You like Tequila?
Renton: Anything that isn't Balkan Vodka or whatever Eureka had, I'm fine with.
Linck: If I were you, I'd just stick to rum and coke.
Renton: Yeah, I'll just stick to rum and co- WAIT, WHAT!?
Linck: Come on, dad. Everybody drinks in college!
Eureka: Wait, you drink during college!?
Linck: Only in, like, parties!
Maurice: HEY, GUYS!
Renton, Eureka, Dominic, Anemone: What?
Maurice: *munching* Anyone want some cornbread?
Renton, Eureka, Dominic, Anemone: …
Renton: Eh, what the hell?
Eureka: Honey, can you pass me the corn bread?
Anemone: Wow! Eureka, did you make these yourself?
Dominic: Yeah, let me get some….
Amber: *sigh* Saved by the cornbread…
Maurice: Yep.
Ao: Ugh… I'm full.
Axel: *chuckles* Man, I don't think I can finish all of this. Still, this is all fantastic food, young lady.
Eureka: Thank you, Axel.
Dominic: Oh, Amber!
Amber: Hmm?
Dominic: By the way. I bought some old souvenirs and gifts I think you and Ao might be interested in. I'll unpack the stuff when we're done eating.
Amber: Cool, thanks!
[END RECORDING]
Alright, one lengthy dinner conversation and a number 2 later, Dominic gave us some nice gifts from one of his luggage. Maurice got what's apparently called a DSLR camera. Maeter got herself a flash drive full of pirated games and programming software from Dominic's older brother (shocking…). Linck got some old Federation-era vinyl albums (a bit jealous, to be honest). Ao got a model of the original typeZERO Nirvash and theEND, which is pretty freakin' sweet. And, well, I got some old mementos and history books about the Federation days and the Second Summer of Love. Which could come in handy for my essay. And hell, I guess it's for my own sake.
Some of these books are pretty interesting, too…
– 15 Years of ray=out: Timeless Cover Photos
– The original issue of ray=out's 12007 Person of the Year
– The Great Migration: True Stories of the Tragedy of Doha
– From the Ashes: Stories of the Vodarac Reconstruction
– The Secret of South Aires
– The Times' Complete History of the World
And a bit more where that came from. So much to read, so little time. I still got to schedule an interview for Uncle Dom and Aunt Anemone for some time next week, since they'll be busy this week. Then again, the essay isn't due until, like the start of June, so I guess I can kill time by reading all of this stuff.
Hoo boy. This is gonna be fun.
Still, I want to make it up to Lily for what I did. There's a nearby pet store near the main square. Dunno if they have any Dohan Sloths in the pet store, but they sure as hell have kitties and puppies. Sometimes when we're out to do some shopping there on the weekends, I like to swing by for stress relief. I mean, puppies make you feel good right? It's scientifically proven. Also, they got other exotic animals like lizards, chameleons, pygmy skyfish, and other stuff.
Now, as to why we don't have a pet… the Gulliver incident is why. So, yep.
Hopefully, I can get Lily to come to the pet store to see what she likes there. In the meantime, I got some reading to do.
Man, that's totally something Maeter would say…
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