I've got a lot of sympathy for those who idolize a celebrity then find out they have a fatal flaw. It's terrible when you discover some dirty secret they've kept from the public. It destroys your faith. Makes you think you can't trust anyone. I share your pain having felt it myself. I know how awful it is to find your adulation has been abused. You've been duped into worshipping someone you believed was perfect. Believed in them and all they stand for. At first you try to cling to your faith, but as the evidence mounts it dies. A piece of you dies as well. I to have contemplated suicide. For me this happened when I found out Hitler was a vegetarian. That's right. Up to that point I was more than happy to love him. I tried to deny the truth, but in the end I had to let go. Months of depression followed. The feeling of betrayal gnawing away inside me. How could this be? My favorite person on the planet was a vegetarian. I blamed myself. How could I have been such a fool? The clues were all there. When he banned fox hunting, I should have been suspicious. When he outlawed animal experimentation and insisted all medical experiments should be carried out on mental's, retarded's, Jews, Gypsies, Slav's and other inferiors. But my love for him rendered me blind to the signs. Of course he did a great deal of good. Brought joy to millions of people, but the disgusting aberration of vegetarianism ruined all of that. The wounds have healed, but the psychological scars remain. I don't know whether I'll ever be able to love again.
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Time had lost what little meaning it had possessed. This was a nonstop party, as advertised. The personnel altered as time went on. People left, others arrived. Some were doing what could be described as a party crawl. Going to as many of these as possible. Always with the proviso that you had to have an invite. No gatecrashing, except in the room they set aside for gatecrashers. Those who wanted to have been seen at the Matriarch's Kameerah. Even when she wasn't there. The other area's or rooms had different dynamics. Atmospheres might have been a better word. There was the dance floor, the huge drinking area, a nice restaurant. Then the kind of chill out area where the guests could relax. And off these side rooms were other rooms. This was the Matriarch's Palace. Built and maintained for thousands of years without a matriarch.
Did these people have jobs? They must have. Even though almost every facet of their economy was mechanized. Not as nihilistically hedonistic as the earth Jake had left behind when entering the Never. Back there the only meaning life had was the amount of entertainment and experiences you could fill it with. They had immortality and no idea what to do with it. Though lifespans were very long here, on this other earth, the People hadn't lost the will to do and create. More importantly to procreate. They'd spread out across their solar system, instead of leaving it to robots to do all the work. Maybe there was a lesson here. Possibly it was purely random chance which signified nothing.
There was even a hotel of sorts. Daisy had been living large in her absence. The uninhabited palace complex was huge. Most of it open to everyone. Jake had nothing but admiration for the kind of individuals who could construct and maintain this, then wait generations for it to be occupied. Pass through its empty splendor and still keep their faith.
He'd lost Pip a few times. Been joined by other friends like Ursella and Gungthor. Sade and Fetu. The couples tending to be be more restrained. Unless Scarlet got hold of them. She'd made a few appearances. With Toopher and his wife Amara, mostly. She'd not been stingy though. Having personally dragged the magic users into the dance zone. Picking up Pip on the way. The counsellor and his wife had been catching their breath in the relaxation zone. They were quite animated. Catching their breath before returning to the fray? An entire civilization shutting down for a month. They deserved it though. If only for being so patient.
Truthfully you couldn't lose anyone. Not unless they wanted to be lost. All you had to do was summon one of the droids and they'd project a display showing where anyone you were looking for was situated. Even if privacy was requested that could be bypassed. All you had to do was say it was urgent. It was more a hint that the one who'd requested not to be tracked, wanted to stay off the radar for a while. You could accept that and message them. Either with text of a voice call. It did seem that along with advances in technology there was always a price to pay in privacy.
The Wanderer wandered. He engaged with the friendly and the now familiar. Drifting from room to room. Cut a rug, busted some moves and threw some shapes. Ate a very nice meal with Morag and Hermes. Plus the entourage they'd picked up on their travels. The AI was a celebrity himself. A machine consciousness in a human body, was fascinating. No one mentioned the Clown Wars, even though there were several openings. It was possible Hermes was leaving that part of his life behind him. Jake had to negotiate some questioning over what it was like to have a computer personality inside him. Overall, he admitted, the experience had been a good one. The civil conflict in Fafindi was glossed over. Mainly it illustrated how ill advised it was to combine humans with cybernetics. It was a contradictory discussion over good food. Like every other such meal. You ignored the blatantly apparent logical conflict. To the extent that no one even noticed it. Nodding along and agreeing with every diametrically opposite inconsistency.
Was this day two or day three? No one knew, or cared for that matter. Why had he asked? Being a slave to a timetable was one of the things you left behind during Kameerah. He just wanted know when the Matriarch would turn up, Jake advised them. He'd read it was after 3 days. Which was true. In a sense. Their Mother would turn up on day 4. That didn't mean they'd see her. There were a lot of other places she'd drop in on first. A flying visit. Show her face and then off. before attending the essential gatherings. Probably not his fault, he'd misunderstood. The translation program was either at fault or there were words in their language which had no equivalent in his. He'd forgotten all about that. Taken his ability to understand for granted. Of course if he'd still had Hermes buzzing around inside his head, instead of this personality free piece of Artificial Intelligence shit, he'd have known. Unless Hermes had been busy or had decided to play around with him for amusement.
Chaska and Kaisha joined them. His shield sisters. Which brought up another topic of conversation. One he skirted carefully. His membership was honorary and he hadn't read their handbook. Plus there was a risk of getting into all that civil war stuff. How many people had he killed? Peaceful, gentle souls could get very interested in that initially. Then as the details unfolded they'd become more and more uncomfortable. Which was better than the rare times a few wanted to delve even deeper. Explore the darker side of humanity which dwelt in all of them. Unless you'd been there you couldn't understand it fully. Thankfully most never wanted to. The comic book, children's version, was all they required.
Two more meals came and went. He flirted with some beautiful women. One of whom had recently returned from the very edge of the solar system. Half a light year out. They were experimenting with potential star drives for a manned mission to Proxima Centauri. Then he got into a conversation with Matooay, who was exploring the ocean depths. Jake introduced the two of them to one another. They got on like a house on fire. The relationship might not work out long term, but they were interested in each other.
Scarlet joined in the third full meal. Mildly disappointed Toopher and Amara had gone to their beds without her. They'd promised to come back to her though. She wasn't going to give up yet. Nor would she shift target, even though there were far easier ones available. As time went on their number increased and their difficulty reduced. Pip was sitting beside him. Glowing with a near childlike appreciation of the occasion. It could have been all the stims and alcohol she'd consumed of course. They'd been exploring the possibility she was the youngest attendee when Scarlet showed up. A huge hug and a long deep kiss for Jake. She'd got her own lipstick now. The one Amara used wasn't quite red enough. Their skin coloring was different. Pip tried some. Oh Christ, the women were onto gloss now. Make up was one of those blank areas in his mind. He liked the results. He didn't need to understand the intricacies. Nothing would be gained from him having anything resembling an opinion. Other than, that really suits you.
The couple of hours he spent relaxing with Fetu and Sade went by too quickly. The not needing to talk was wonderful. It gave Jake's vocal chords some well needed rest. He was able to stick his brain in neutral. He'd had other breaks on his own, this was way better. Companionship without conversation. It couldn't last of course. They were pulled away by Kaisha and Chaska. Something about someone they had to meet. He was just thinking about going to the bar. He could look at potential things to drink, rather than simply order something from memory from one of the automated waiters. Pip showed up. Holding out her hand for his.
"Come on then. We haven't had a dance for ages. Scarlet's already in there."
He allowed himself to be pulled along.
"Is that important or meaningful in some way?"
"It is to me. I've told you before. I like watching her, to pick up tips. One day I might want to become a femme fatale. She's got Amara and Toopher mesmerized."
"You know you can do that with drugs don't you?"
"That's cheating. Alcohol and seductive ways make it more of a challenge."
"Take it from me. Just looking like you or Scarlet is all you need to seduce any man."
"In most cases yes. Those two have been monogamously married for decades though. They're still in love. That can be a very difficult lock to pick."
He laughed. She had a valid point. He wasn't sure he was comfortable with Pip learning such skills. It was none of his business and there was nothing he could do about it. Maybe he was rationalizing this, but he'd much rather Pip seduced some guy into emotionally meaningless sex, than the other way around. Be a man and get over it you pansy. Subject change required.
"How's auntie Pengelly coming along then?"
"Physically no problem. The memory amendments are the tricky part. Ureniel is reviewing them with some help from Poppy and Norbert."
"Where are they by the way? I've only seen them a couple of times."
"They're in some kind of science conclave with Shazia and Kulathorn. He isn't built for dancing and Norbert has two left feet. I've seen the ladies a couple of times, but they have only stayed for a few numbers."
They entered the room. The lighting had changed. While not exactly bright before it was darker now. More shadowy corners and some lighting effects. Someone had, had a word. Scarlet being the principle suspect. The couple stepped into a slow number. Close hold. Turning around the room. His partner had cornered Toopher and his wife. In a corner of all places. She gave them both a kiss then drew them up to their feet. The trio passed out of sight. On their next turn around the room he glimpsed them in a three person embrace. One that didn't bode well for their monogamous marriage. He advised Pip to take notes. She advised him she didn't have to. Anything she missed she could hack into later. She probably could, but was she joking? For his own peace of mind it was best not to delve.