Chapter Five: First Day

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The late dinner last night was wonderful, to say the least. The Callistan soft bread with the local soft butter went well with the sausages and potato soup, and the tiny amuse bouche-size meringue pie went well with the rich arabica coffee and the nightcap (which was some imported port). But if I was being totally honest, Altara in her little nightie-and-apron combination was the most memorable thing last night.

It was predictable that I would be tongue-tied, and it amused Altara, though she tried to be polite and hide it.

Still, it went well. Well enough, I suppose. At least I didn't embarrass myself much. In any case, I'm afraid I over-indulged a bit with the port, and I overslept. But my electronic... concierge, Samantha, woke me up.

With a couple of slices of toast and coffee, I was mostly okay, and had a quick shower and shave, and brushed my teeth with the conventional-looking toothbrush that was provided.

Returning to my room, I found Altara had laid out some clothes on the bed for me.

On the whole, it looked like a conventional suit, except that the tie was very wide by today's standards, or rather our standards, and the shoes were more slim-fit than the men's shoes I was used to, and this one had a heel that was higher than normal.

I decided not to question her selection and just put them on.

I found that the socks were more like knee-high stockings, the underwear was more like very tight but also very stretchy and comfortable Speedos - what my friends in my college swim team would have called "banana hammocks" - and the white shirt and dark jacket was also very form-fitting... I was worried about my little pooch, but the cut of the shirt and jacket camouflaged my stomach well enough.

I knotted the striped, red tie and then put on the pants. The pants turned out to be more like women's leggings but, looking at my reflection in the mirror, I guess I didn't look half-bad (though my package was faintly outlined in the relatively thin material of the pants). I then slipped on the feminine-looking shoes-slash-low boots over my... stockings, and I guess I was ready for the day. I got all my pocket junk, like my comb, wallet, keys and other things, but, because of the tightness of my... leggings, I put most of them in my jacket pockets. As a final touch, I went to the bath, picked one of the atomizers randomly, and spritzed a bit of the cologne in the hollows of my neck and my wrists, as Teddy taught me to do.

As I stepped out of the bath and moved to the mirror to check myself out, a quiet female voice cleared her throat. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Samantha, my little electronic helper said. That made me smile, amazed at the sophistication of the app - at least I think it was an app.

"Sorry, Samantha," I said, and got my combination TV remote control-slash-security lock-slash-house remote-slash-phone, and pocketed her in my jacket's right front pocket. I saw the little colored kerchief that the queen gave me on the bed. It was flat and smooth, like maybe Altara ironed it out or something. I guess I was supposed to bring it as well since she put it on the bed. So I got it, folded it and dropped it in my jacket's inner left pocket.

I looked at myself in the mirror and moved around a bit in my new outfit, and it seemed comfortable enough.

When I turned around, Altara was there watching me. She was in her butler's uniform.

"If I may be so bold, Master Timothy," Altara said, with a small smile flitting around her lips, "I think you look quite attractive."

I blushed. "Thank you, Altara." I cleared my throat and tried to change the subject. "I guess we better go?"

"Very good, sir."

I picked up my briefcase from the bed, and Altara, acting like the butler to the hilt, went to my closet and got what looked like a tweedy kind of gray trench coat for me, and waited for me to precede her. I gestured for her to go ahead, and she led the way.

As we passed the "library," I noticed that all the stuff we had boxed and packed last night were gone, including the ones meant for the royal family.

Noticing my glance, she cleared her throat. "All of the packages have been carefully packed into the car, Master Timothy," she said.

"All of it?" I said. "Did they fit in the car?"

"Why would they not fit?" she said quizzically. She led me through the front door and then to the limo I rode in yesterday, which was parked in the front of the house. I recognized my driver and my footman, standing beside the car, and they smiled and bowed to me. But the limo was changed a bit: the back of the car seemed to have been elongated (it was now about a third longer than before), and I could only assume that all my stuff was there now. No wonder Altara blithely asked why shouldn't my stuff fit.

Smiling, my footman opened the back compartment's door for me. I thanked her and stepped in. I was half expecting Altara to follow me, but the footman closed the door.

I was about to protest but then noticed Altara climbing into the front with my footman, making them three in front. I have to say, this was one roomy car!

We pulled out smoothly from "my" driveway, and went down the long street, passing what I assumed was the Visitors Village, because there were several humans milling about and climbing into several... tour buses. It was slightly embarrassing to see how noisy and comparatively unruly my fellow... humans were compared to out Arcadian hosts, but none of the Arcadians seemed to be bothered by it much.

"Wonder where we're going," I mumbled.

"We are going to your office in the Capitol Building, of course," Samantha said.

I smiled and brought my AI concierge out.

"Of course," I agreed, looking at her animated face on my "cellphone's" screen.

"Would you happen to know our itinerary today, Samantha?"

The little anime face in the screen nodded.

"Of course, I do." The face looked like it was looking down at a list that was off-screen. "We are to go to your office where you will meet your staff, and you will be briefed about what the government is expecting from you."

"Ahh, good. Will I have some time to distribute some of my gifts?"

"A moment, Master Timothy." And the little cartoon face brought up a cartoon headset and put it on. She then appeared like she was talking to someone.

"Sorry about that," she said. "Yes, indeed, Master Timothy, I'm sure you will have time to give away some of the packages. I will signal you when it is appropriate to give one of your packages."

"How?"

"I will vibrate discretely, and if you keep me in your jacket pocket, you will feel it. Also, Altara will be on-hand to help you with that as well."

"Ahh, good."

"Afterwards, during the mid-day break..."

"Do you mean lunch?"

Sam-the-AI paused for a moment, as if thinking over the word "lunch."

"Yes," she said. "During 'lunch,' we will be going to Lyssium, where you will share a meal with the Royal Family."

"What! But, but..." I was surprised, to say the least, but I couldn't do anything now. "Am I dressed properly?"

"Very appropriate. Altara selected your attire for today very well."

"Ah, good. Whew..."

"'Whew?' ... Ahhh! Indeed. Very droll, Master Timothy." Sam made a very genuine-sounding giggle.

That made me laugh. "Afterwards?" I asked.

"After your meeting with their highnesses, we will then return to your office, where we can begin work, and then in the evening, we are to go to the Papillon Gardens for a small evening garden party."

I remembered that place. "A party, Sam?"

"More like a reception, so that you can meet the people you will be working with socially, as well as meet some of the city's celebrities and other important people"

"Master Timothy," Altara said via a cabin intercom. I pressed the blinking button.

"Yes, Altara?"

"You can look out your window and see the Capitol Building."

I eagerly looked out and saw that we were approaching a very high-tech multi-level structure. It vaguely resembled the Lyssium Palace, or rather just "Lyssium," except this one seemed to be a smaller though a more high-tech version - but instead of marble and glass, it was made of cement, granite and steel, and instead of graceful lines, it featured straight and functional ones. And it was horizontally wider but vertically lower, and it only had a few spires and towers.

All around the perimeter of the building were multiple picture windows, and I could see people through a few of the nearer ones.

In moments, though, I couldn't see anything anymore since we seemed to have driven into a tunnel that went right underneath and through the Capitol.

My driver deftly drove us through a long underground parking structure, and then onto a long spiralling ramp inside that went up. In seconds, we came out into what looked like the top floor of the building. There was sunlight here - the topmost floor was open to the sky. But after a second look, I was wrong - seeing some reflections, I now knew it was covered by a glass ceiling.

We slid into one of the slots marked against the wall, and I stepped out as soon as Altara opened my door.

"If you will follow me, Master Timothy," she said, and led the way into the building.

The two of us walked down several hallways that were lined by what looked like nothing more than office spaces and a few meeting rooms (well-appointed office spaces, to be sure), and as we passed, everyone stopped what they were doing as they watched us walk by.

This was probably the first time they've seen a human, so that was understandable. I tried to be polite, like any good guest in their country should, and said "good morning" to the nearest ones that we passed. These girls (I hoped they were girls, although some of them were too tall to be girls) acted like I was some kind of celebrity, and giggled and smiled shyly.

Perhaps I am a kind of celebrity, sort of. I mean, there must be no other humans around for miles, which made me unique. And they probably heard I was specially requested by their king, making me even more special.

As we walked down the hall, I had this distinct impression that they were, ummm, giving deference to Altara, and I also felt this from my driver and footman. I mean, they weren't bowing to her or anything like that, but I had this feeling. Was it because she was my, ummm, butler?

Anyway, Altara led me to a large open common area that reminded me of a kind of office pool, with tables and chairs where a lot of people worked. No cubicles, though - just tables and chairs. Later, I would find that this was how most Arcadians preferred their office work environment, and that they didn't like private offices, even those who were managers or senior personnel.

We walked to the far wall which had a kind of projection screen on it, plus a low platform about two feet high just below it. The screen faced the rest of the office, with the tables facing towards it. I suppose the platform and screen were for presentations and speeches.

I looked at Altara with growing dread.

"You're supposed to make a speech, sort of to introduce yourself," she said. I gulped. "No need to worry - everyone here knows how to speak English."

I gulped again. Climbing up, I turned to face the office people who had gathered and were now looking at me.

"Microphone?" I whispered to Altara.

"Use your AI," she whispered back.

It goes without saying that all of them were gorgeous. I still had some trouble with that fact. I suppose, after a few more days of being surrounded by them, I will eventually get used to this, but for now, I'm still not there.

I took out Sam, my AI, and spoke into it, I mean her. Apparently, she was also useful as a microphone.

"Ummm, good morning," I said. "My name is Timothy Barlowe, but please call me Tim or Timothy. I am from the United States.

"I am a diplomat, and a specialist in commercial and diplomatic relations with other countries, and I was sent by my government, at His Excellency, the king of Arcadia's request, to assist Arcadia in its commercial and economic dealings with other nations.

"I am quite unfamiliar with you and your beautiful kingdom, but I hope to get acquainted with all of you in the coming days. I also hope that you will shepherd me along as I learn your ways, and, in turn, I will do my best to help your people in working with other countries."

I paused, trying to think of something more to say, but the people around me took it as an opportunity to applaud my little speech... Well, if nothing else, Arcadians were very polite.

"Any questions?" I asked.

A very beautiful Arcadian girl raised her hand. Her gesture was a little different than what I expected - instead of holding her arm straight up, she sort of bent it over her head, putting her hand directly over her head, and with the palm facing outward towards me. Not really weird, but, well, unusual.

"Yes, miss?"

"Sire," she said, "may I ask if you've been enjoying your time in Arcadia so far?"

I didn't expect that. Sire?

"Well," I said. "I only arrived yesterday morning, and I have not yet had an opportunity to really see Arcadia much, but I did have a wonderful drive from Crescent Bay to Lyssium and saw a little bit of your beautiful city and countryside, and had an opportunity to see the beautiful Lyssium palace... I mean Lyssium, and saw his royal highness and the royal family."

They ooohed at that. Maybe not many get to see the Royal Family.

"Did you and the royal family have a nice chat?"

Eh? "Well, not really. We didn't really meet," I responded, embarrassed.

"Well, what was it that you did in Lyssium?"

This is a strange kind of Q&A.

"Well, not much... We drove in and our car stopped in the courtyard. I saw the royal family, and we sort of waved at each other from across the courtyard. And her royal highness gave me a handkerchief."

The people in the room gasped. Huh?

Another Arcadian, this time a tall one - a male - raised his hand just like the first one.

"Yes?"

"May we see it, sire?"

There it is again - "sire." These people had weird notions about which nouns to use.

"May you see what?" I asked.

"Her highness's handkerchief."

That was yet another surprise. Why would they want to see the little handkerchief? I shrugged, not really understanding why, and brought it out. I had it folded so I shook it out. As I did, I noticed it was plain white again.

As I shook out the little white kerchief, everyone gasped.

That made me pause, and then everyone applauded. I suppose these little pieces of cloth had some meaning for these Arcadians that I didn't know about, which was probably why they like to give them away as gifts.

And then I noticed that everyone had similar kerchiefs, either folded neatly like pocket squares in their front shirt pockets, or tied around their necks like a bandana or a scarf used as a choker, or tied around one of their wrists. But the Arcadians I've seen back home didn't wear any scarves and kerchiefs this way. In any case, I guess I need to follow that style while I'm here.

All of their kerchiefs were colored in rainbow-pastel colors (that is to say, they were in rainbow colors but faded). I noticed that some of them had kerchiefs predominantly in reds and pinks, while some were in shades of blue. Others were in shades of green, and yet others had ones in shades of yellow and pastel orange. Maybe they stood for family lines, or perhaps it was connected to their positions or titles.

I looked to Altara, and I noticed that she, too, had one, in the form of a pocket square she had folded and peeking out of her butler's coat pocket. It was multicolored just like everyone else's, but hers had a predominant reddish-pinkish hue.

I suppose, since I was not part of any Arcadian family nor had an Arcadian title or position, maybe that's the reason my own kerchief was uncolored. Or maybe all my guesses were all based on crap...

Anyway, I continued on with this... unusual little Q&A.

Most of it was all personal, as they asked what my opinions were on this and that, or what my personal preferences were for food and other things, or what I thought of topics like pollution and the environment, capital punishment, gender equality, voting rights et cetera et cetera. I felt like I was being interviewed on the Ellen Show.

But I was game and did my best to answer all of their questions politely and honestly. And, soon, this supposed short speech became a thirty-minute interview, which stretched into an hour, and then two, and then three.

Altara had a little stool brought up for me to sit on early on, and then a small table with a little bottle of water. I needed it in order to get through this... interview. But it was a pleasant interview, as everyone was quite polite, and seemed to be truly interested in me personally.

As the interview progressed, many pulled up chairs and got comfortable, and as I sat and held forth on my opinions on things like the global trade, the current styles of clothes back home, the many wars and other things that they have heard about, they even asked about things like elections and religion, and capitalism, and communism and the global economy.

They also asked about my favorite kinds of music, books and movies, and my favorite TV shows and actors. I had to wonder if they were this interested in everyone from the outside.

I also noticed that most of the people that asked about music and TV shows and books and movie stars were the taller males, but I think it was more like the females also wanted to ask the same sort of things but just didn't know how.

I tried throwing back their questions to them, and they were also game. I learned that American, Japanese, Korean, French and British TV shows were very popular on Arcadian TV at the moment, and learned a bit about Arcadian TV preferences. I also learned that Arcadians liked 70s and 80s-style pop music, especially Japanese Anime themes, and most of Arcadian music were very much like them. As for movies, I learned about some Arcadian movies while some talked about their favorite Arcadian "idols." I made a mental note to ask Sam and Altara about getting some pictures of these folks, and maybe samples of their work. I wondered if they had MP3 music files that I could copy, and video files I could download. Guess I'll ask later.

Three hours into the... chat, we were getting pretty comfortable with each other, and my speech became more informal, with everyone asking whatever came into their minds, and me chatting back. But my AI, Sam, started to vibrated. She made a sound like she was clearing her throat.

I put her close to my ear and she whispered that I had an appointment at Lyssium.

I said I had to cut our chat short, saying I had a previous appointment, and everyone went, "awww..." Truth be told, I was very pleased with all this, but I couldn't very well keep the Arcadian royal family waiting. I looked at Altara, and she nodded.

"Are we running late, Sam?" I asked my AI partner.

"Not yet, Master Timothy, but we need to get a move on, as you Humans would say."

Getting down from the mini-stage, a small press of people came over to shake my hand. Some of the braver ones leaned over and bussed me on the cheek, murmuring Arcadian phrases that sounded vaguely French, but clearly wasn't. I couldn't remember everything that they said, but could only recall some of them.

"Tu nue hespoee von avec tu," a perfectly gorgeous Arcadian blonde whispered in my ear as she bussed me on the cheek and shook my hand. Another just said, "tu nue hespoee." One of the girls with midnight-black hair said "tooe nue peereis," while a male that was as tall as me, bussed my cheek, too, and said "nuee t'amo." while the brunette girl next to him gave me a very tight hug, and whispered, "zhe t'ah'mee."

After she released me, I looked into her eyes and saw an earnest, almost desperate kind of expression - a kind of desperate need that seemed to imply that I was the one that held the answer to it. She smiled at me, and she and her friend walked away.

Weeks later, I asked Sam to translate these phrases, and they gave me pause. However, I understood where these sentiments came from. Or, rather, will understand. There was going to be a lot on my shoulders.

For now, though, Altara had me hurrying back to my limo for my lunch at Lyssium, otherwise, I might keep the King and his family waiting.

- - - to be continued - - -
 

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