"Are you finished already?!" She asked, shocked at the speed that her Auto-Memories Doll ate breakfast with.
Just ten minutes after the plate had been served, Violet had wiped her mouth with the provided napkin and gently folded the clothe on her empty plate. She replaced her gloves on her hands and nodded down the table, "It is a habit I developed from the War. I apologize if I made you feel awkward, it is a habit I have not been able to break. Please enjoy your breakfast and don't rush on my account. I will be ready when you are"
"I guess that makes sense" She said, cutting her bacon a bit faster this time, "You probably don't have much time to eat if you're fighting"
"That is correct," Violet replied, looking over her notes so far, "Ideally, a squad divides in half for meals. The first half eats, while the second maintains an overwatch to protect the squad from a surprise attack. When the first half of the squad has finished eating, the second will sit down while the first takes their places. Ideally, the whole process should take no longer than twenty minutes"
Violet heard The Client sigh from her end of the darkened table, "Twenty minutes. That's hardly enough time for a proper breakfast. I can't imagine what it must have been like to fight in the War. Are you going to do an overwatch thing for me?"
Violet rose from her chair and held her hands in front of her, "I am unarmed, so I would not be a very effective sentry. However, I can keep a lookout if you'd like"
The Client giggled gently, "Oh that's alright Violet, I don't think my humble house is in danger of being attacked. But I wouldn't mind taking a bit longer to finish my breakfast. I've good idea!"
She tapped her right hand on the table and pointed to a row of bookshelves on the right, "We need to decide a key for our song, and you need to understand how keys work. Down this row is my records collection. Don't worry if you don't know the artist, just pick one that you think is interesting, and I'll explain the key to you. And don't forget, what's our time signature?"
1
2
Violet tapped two gloved fingers twice each on the table and replied, "Two-eight time"
As the Client returned her taps, Violet walked towards the indicated row, closer to the Client. As she walked, Violet tried to see if she could pick out any more details about this mystery woman. The darkness of the Library still didn't reveal anything substantial, but Violet's trained eyes were able to make out some details.
The Client was wearing a dress, of a bright fabric material. The dress held below her shoulders and appeared to be long and flowing, much more elegant than Violet's simple white skirt. There were frills that hung on her arms, and a broach that sat on the middle of velvet band around her neck. Violet couldn't see the Client's face, but judging from her height and posture, Violet confirmed that the Client was a young woman, likely around Violet's age.
Violet picked up a candle from the table and walked down the row. As far as she could tell, the records didn't have any real organization unlike the rest of the library. She walked about halfway down the row and looked at a collection sitting on the shelf about level with her head. She lifted her gloved hand, and selected the middle record, pulling it gently from its place and took a look at the cover.
The title read, Songs of the Blue Ocean, and on the cover was a woman with a red dress, standing on a cliff side with her back to the viewer and staring out at an endless ocean, as though she was waiting for an answer from the sea.
The cover image made Violet think about how Felix had described the ocean to her:
It's so beautiful. The blue goes deep all the way down, and the only noise around you is the wind and the waves. No guns, no bombs. So put me on a ship and take me away, and I'll be the happiest person in this country
And Violet was starting to understand her best friend's reasons for loving the ocean so much. Her trip on Northern Starlight, brief as it was, was calming, peaceful, and beautiful. She had already decided that she'd take a cruise every year, and with luck, she'd find her own peace on the sea.
Violet walked back to the table and placed the record down beside The Client, "I have chosen this record. Is this a good choice?"
"That's perfect," She said, pointing at a record player on a side table to their left, "Go ahead and play it. Listen to the music for a few moments, then tell me how it makes you feel"
Violet put the record on the turn, put the needle on the edge of the black disk, and flipped the switch up. After a moment, she sat back down beside her typewriter and listened closely as the music began to play.
First, the gentle rocking of ocean waves. After a few seconds, a single violin played. The sound was gentle and slow, matching that of the ocean waves, and Violet noticed the violin matched her time signature. Gradually, the tone of the violin changed, raising, and lowering, as though the tone matched the flowing waves of the ocean.
A few moments later, the Client stood up and lifted the needle, bringing the music to pause. Violet listened to her footsteps as the Client returned to her seat.
Tap, tap, tap.
The Client was wearing clicking heels, like those of a pair of ballroom shoes. Once she was seated, she asked, "Well, what did you think? How did that make you feel?"
Violet thought about her feelings as she typed her notes onto the typewriter, "It was an interesting experience. The violin played in time with the ocean's waves, back and forth, raising and lowering. It was not a rapid pace, but it matched our time signature. The player is obviously talented."
"So that's what it is, but the question I asked was how it made you feel, Violet" She said, slightly annoyed.
Violet stopped typing. After a few more moments of thinking she replied, "Neither happy nor sad. More…of a longing feeling. As though I was waiting for an answer or thinking about a place I wanted to return to."
"Very good, Violet, "she said, "That's exactly how I feel when I hear this record. The key is called E Flat Minor, which you can type as Eb, on the same line as our time signature, just before the numbers"
Eb 1
2
"There's a lot more to keys than that, but for our purposes here, E Flat Minor is perfect. It's a key that matches what we want to accomplish with our song. Some musicians think it's a sad key, but I disagree. It's a key of depth, that holds many mysteries. And you can spend your entire life trying to understand those mysteries, and never find out the truth" The Client said.
"Like the ocean" Violet added, quietly.
"Just like it" She agreed.