21 Preparations

In the days that followed, Henry continued to take me to practice. The first explosion had left a radius of destruction of more than a hundred yards around the place where I had been. The poor birches unfortunately had not resisted and fell broken and burned.

"It's good for you to see this, to understand why it's important to stay in control" Henry said at the sight of my shock, "but do not worry... the destruction capabilities will eventually be in your control once you learn to use it. Then you should no longer lose consciousness."

On the fifth day of practice, Henry was satisfied with my "discharge", and considered it a success all the training I was doing. So we began to prepare to go back to Sátie. I was too nervous to go home. I no longer had friends at school, and according to Henry, I was strictly forbidden to expose the fact that I was still alive to others there. The only person we were going to see was Daril, my father.

We should really have to attend such a New Year's Eve party in the palace to consult the older keepers of the secret. But Henry was very concerned about that. He had planned to schedule a meeting with them all, once I was ready to return to normal life. He warned me every now and then to be careful of Marco's intentions, who was certainly planning something.

"He certainly took the initiative to mark the meeting because he is up to something," Henry repeated it over and over again.

As we arrived at Sátie, Henry clandestinely entered the atmosphere again. I made mental notes to appreciate how easy it seemed to him. Then he took me to the address of Daril's house, parked the ship, and waited for my father's return from work in a nearby square.

The day was cloudy and quiet. However, as Henry had once recommended, we did not go out in public with our eyes on display. The glasses we were wearing were specially made to disguise the silvery color of our eyes, which were not natural, but synthetic prostheses. Not that this was really a problem, but it would attract unnecessary attention, and normally people without a proper ID had to come up with other forms of identification. Which I, as a legally dead person, had no one.

"The civil identification is done through retinal recognition and the technology is not very functional through colored contact lenses, since no one has used this type of prosthesis for centuries, so whenever you look in someone's eyes, it is certain that you will see the original color" he explained to me "and the technology used today for artificial eyes still does not allow another color beyond the silver."

Daril arrived just before nightfall. As soon as he got out of his own vehicle and looked at Henry's ship parked shamelessly in front of his garage, he turned and scanned the street for us. I was immediately excited and rushed to his arms, and we both walked in. Henry was waiting outside. He did not want to meddle in our family moment.

"I can not express how relieved I am to see you again, my dear," Daril exclaimed, pouring some refreshment with dumplings for the two of us, "Siever kept in touch with me during this time, but it's been... two years! You still look like the same girl, except for those long hair and eyes."

"Yeah... I didn't even see the time go by... actually, if I go and tell it, it seems like a few weeks only" I then began to explain to him what I had seen and understood of all the operations that Henry had submitted to me "...and now at least it does not feel so unbearably cold, but it's still somewhat uncomfortable."

We both talked for a few more hours. Dad told me about everything that had happened after my "death." Alya had remarried, and Alan had moved to another district to attend college. He had chosen to study spatial and mechanical engineerings.

"But what are you going to do now? It does not look like he's going to give you back," Daril asked.

I took a deep breath, and still tried to think of something better to say, but that was the only chance I had to take it off my chest.

"Sincerely, I do not know. Henry is cool, he treats me good and he's being a good friend, but... but they're Jomons... their own way of thinking about things is different. They treat me like a baby in their midst. I'm afraid of doing more nonsense in front of then…" I held my father's hands and pulled them to my cheeks, as if hoping he could hold the weight of my soul by holding my face, "I know there will be nothing left for me while I'm there, but it's frightening... I do not seem to have any personal perspectives or goals to achieve anymore."

"Don't worry, my dear... I'm sure you'll do well in whatever you try. You're stubborn," Daril encouraged me, "if you want something for real, there will be no one to stop you."

I let out a slight groan as I remembered Marco, trying to decide whether or not to mention him to Daril.

"Thank you father... I just think I made unnecessary enemies…"

"What? He asked confused and worried."

"I slapped the emperor's face!"

Daril was even more shocked than Henry and Cásira had been. But hearing the details of the story, he also gave me a rebuke, torn between shock and admiration. Although I emphasized that it was something I should not do again, he laughed and agreed that I had done it once.

Then we started talking about random things, about what Keret looked like and what I had seen and liked. The different foods and the beautiful cliffs and valleys on the edges of the birch plateau — I certainly remembered to not tell him what I was doing there.

Late at night, Henry knocked on the door, and said he would take a walk to anywhere afar. The next afternoon he would be back to pick me up. As it was the weekend, Dad and I could spend the day together. The next day, we did just the things that I liked. Daril made an order for my favorite food in a restaurant that I loved, watched movies and played some games. We toured the neighboring district, and we strolled a lot. Much had changed, and much remained the same.

Gradually I noticed Henry's absence. This was the first time we'd be apart since he took me away to Keret. I could even estimate that it would not be within the range at which our cores reacted to each other, and the cold was much larger than usual. But it was not intolerable. I felt strange walking around in a place of such a mild climate. In fact, this was my second time walking in public, wearing the clothes I had bought with Henry, which were by far, of a quality superior to those sold in any super brand of Sátie.

In the afternoon, Daril took me back home, and we found Henry propped absently on his parked ship in front of the apartment. He waited for us to finish saying goodbye. We both got into the ship and left Sátie back to Keret. The next day would be the so-called Imperial New Year Festival, and we should go to such a reception that Marco would prepare in the palace.

The prospect of seeing Marco again after he had attacked him did not cheer me up at all. As soon as we got back to Keret, we did not even stop at Henry's house. He led me right into Kalanit Square, which was teeming with tourists, and we went into a luxurious hall crowded with bustling customers.

"Good afternoon!" the receptionist greeted her with a grin full of teeth "In whose name was the reservation made?"

"No reservation. We're just came now. I would like to hire a package for her…"

The attendant glanced sideways at me after hearing Henry. I was sure her smile wavered slightly.

"Sorry sir, we have no vacancies available until the tenth day of the first month, because of the Imperial New Year Festival. But if you want to leave a scheduled time, we can arrange a vacancy for…" Henry sighed, and took out of his pocket something I could not identify what it was, but to the attendant must have made sense, for she widened her eyes and stopped talking at the time.

"Can you check it again?" Henry said.

Surprisingly, the clerk apologized, bowed to both of us, and ushered us in an epiphany to a cozy room separated from the mainstream meeting room, and left us there. Shortly afterwards, three women in a beautiful dark green uniform entered with their heads bowed and greeted solemnly.

Henry spoke quickly to them, and I could barely follow the instructions. It seemed he was asking for a complete beauty care for me, and he said that he would bring a dress soon so they would combine a hairstyle and makeup, that everything should be ready by the eleventh hour of the day, and prepared to leave.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, startling the smiling women, "None of you are allowed to use any kind of translator next to her. She does not speak our language, but she can understand what you say, just ask if yes or no, which she can answer."

"Henry, wait!" I called in a daze, but he already left knocking on the door.

I wondered if it would have any problem removing the sunglasses in here, but I soon noticed that no one really looked directly at me. They all seemed very respectful, distant, and euphoric at the same time in my presence. I began to wonder what Henry's object had been to the attendant, for whatever it was, it was being very effective.

In this world, the doors would certainly open to those who had more power, and as I waited, the service there was much better than anything in Sátie. The attendants took me first to an immersion bath, where I was completely submerged from the neck down by a liquid that resembled milk, but with an excellent floral scent, and left me there for half an hour.

I was pretty nervous at first. It was the first time Henry had left me here since he brought me to this planet, but soon I was able to relax and enjoy it. When I came out of the tub, my skin glowed beautifully, smoothly, perfumed, uniform, and hairless. Even my color became slightly more pronounced, almost touching a soft copper. Then they took me to prepare my face. They put on me masks and more masks of different colors and textures, while four different people prepared my nails, and two other people began to apply creams to my hair.

The masks were removed occasionally and when they had finished removing the last, my nails were ready. A brief diminution of the cold I felt let me know that Henry had returned, and that he should be waiting somewhere else nearby.

My hair still lingered a little longer. Apparently they'd already seen the dress Henry would bring to inspire hairstyle and make-up, so they came up with several different options for me to choose from, ranging from shape, texture, cuts and paintings to the latest fashion trends, which were appropriate for the occasion that I would have to attend. I was going to say that I would rather just trim the ends and use it loose, but one of the attendants came and told me that Henry had suggested a hairstyle, and asked if I would accept it, but they would not let me see what it was.

I accepted, not knowing what else to say, and all the girls prepare me gently, but very efficiently. They painted my makeup and dressed me. Punctually on the eleventh hour of the day, I was ready, admiring myself in the dresser's mirror. I, at a minimum ... looked like a constellation.