Chapter 2: Shopping with Mimi

Chapter 2:
Shopping with Mimi

 

“THIS PLACE is quite different from Tarmein Prime,” Mimi said as we walked the streets of Arein Tertius. It was no longer the city of eternal night; today, everything was illuminated.

“That it is,” I said. “It feels a lot livelier here, and the people walking around have a different aura to them.”

No two people we passed were alike. People in Tarmein Prime, especially the Third Division, tended to dress similarly. However, here in the Underground Division of Arein Tertius, variety ruled the day. We passed people in suits just as often as folks wearing full-on gothic lolita dresses. Skintight body tights contrasted with bulky robotic attire—though I wondered if they were secretly the robots that Elma had mentioned and not people at all.

It wasn’t just the clothes either. Even among the strictly humanoid beings we saw, there were more amphibian, reptilian, and mammalian features than I’d ever thought possible. Animal ears poked out of people’s hair. A blue-skinned girl with horns caught my eye as she strutted past. I certainly wanted to get familiar with somebody like that, if you know what I mean.

Then there were the outright monsters: flying jellyfish with lightbulb-tipped appendages, tentacle monsters like something out of a hentai game, and so much more. How should a man even react to that? Could they even understand me if I tried to speak to them?

No. Don’t think about it too hard or you’ve already lost. I shoved the questions aside. Dwelling on it would endanger my sanity.

“I can’t believe it’s brighter underground,” I said to divert my whirling thoughts.

“The aboveground area is called the Surface District,” Mimi explained, “and it’s always kept as dark as night. Underground districts such as these are where people typically live. The lighting inside changes to mimic morning, midday, evening, and night.”

Mimi offered all this without so much as a glance at the aliens striding past us. Was this normal for her?

“That building goes all the way up to the ceiling,” she said.

I craned my neck to peer up a high-rise, still trying to clear my mind. That’s huge. How many floors is it?

“It also works as a pillar to support the overall structure of the colony,” Mimi explained. “The lowest floor sticks out into space.”

“Oh, yeah. I do remember buildings sticking out of the colony’s outer walls.” I’d spotted them when we’d first docked. The colony wasn’t a flat structure, but rather a multidimensional cuboctahedron with protrusions like this building. “What is that even for?”

“They have a lot of different tenants! Restaurants, shops, clinics, and even company offices and hotels.”

“Wow, that’s a lot for one building. Could be fun to wander around in there.”

“Yeah,” Mimi agreed. “We could spend the whole day in there and still not see all of it, I bet.”

We continued our amicable chat as we walked through town. Since we’d just eaten breakfast, neither of us was hungry. What to do, then?

“Hey, Mimi. Wanna look for some new clothes?” I proposed.

“Hmm. We could, but I think my current clothes should be enough for me.”

“C’mon, let’s get you something fashionable just for fun,” I said. “I’d love to see you in one of those dresses.” I gestured toward a girl in one of those gothic lolita dresses, and Mimi instantly went red. “What? Did I say something weird?”

“Oh, no. I just, um, I’m not sure if I could pull it off.” Mimi flicked furtive glances between the girl and her own feet, pointedly ignoring me.

“Pssh, no way,” I said. “You’ll look great. Come on, let’s give it a try.”

“Umm…”

“You did the research. Do any of the shops in there have stuff like that?”

“Yes, but…”

I grinned. Mimi’s smile turned into a tight wince. Give it up, Mimi. You’re gonna look great!

 

***

 

“Is this it?” I asked as we stepped into a shop named Atelier Pure.

“Yes,” Mimi said.

The moment we entered the store, I regretted pushing so hard to come here. To be honest, I’d forgotten what lolita fashion retailers tended to be like. It was not exactly my thing, what with all the frills and lace everywhere. I stood out instantly, like soot on a fancy white doily. We beings known as men did not belong in places like this; the anti-male energy here was palpable.

I turned to Mimi. “You can’t go in alone, huh?”

“R-right…”

“Then let’s do this!”

“Y-you don’t have to force yourself.”

I took Mimi’s hand, and we plunged into the forbidden garden. Instantly, all three employees swiveled toward us, their very first customers of the day. They were identically outfitted, and I gulped at their intense, watchful gazes.

“Welcome!”

“Is this your first time here? Thank you for coming to see us.”

“We’re honored that you’ve chosen us. Our staff will do all that we can to drag you into the swamp. We aim for your satisfaction!”

The employees circled around us like sharks going in for the kill.

What was that about a swamp? These people are scary!

“Huh? Uh, th-thanks?” I stammered as Mimi clung to me in terror. Ooh, there’s that lovely yet evil chest. I, for one, feel better already. “You know what we’re here for, right?”

“Absolutely!” All three employees replied in unison, flashing customer-service smiles. At least it seemed my aims were aligned with theirs, though maybe for different reasons. Glad they’re making this easy, I thought.

“Honestly, I don’t know how much these getups usually cost, but we do have a budget,” I said.

“Mm? How much is it?”

I tried to come up with a number, but even back in Japan, I’d never shopped for this sort of thing. I was totally in the dark.

“How much does the average full outfit cost?” I said.

“Hmm. It depends on the manufacturer, but on average, it costs about 1,000 Ener,” an employee said.

“Okay, then ten… No, 20,000 is our budget,” I said. “Could you find something you think would look good on her?”

I flashed my current funds at the employees via my terminal. They blinked, stiffening up straight before sharing mischievous smiles.

“Might I also show you some things outside of your budget?” one offered.

“Sure,” I said, “as long as you don’t go too overboard. If you only show us the expensive stuff, we’re going somewhere else.”

“You can trust me. Come right this way.”

Two employees had started measuring Mimi, but they stopped when the third bent down to confer quietly with them. Every eye then turned to Mimi.

“Huh? Um, wh-what’s the matter?” Mimi said.

Two of the employees whisked her away while she was still babbling adorably. The last one led me to a waiting room at the back of the store.

“Male customers spoil the ambience,” the employee said, “so we would appreciate your waiting here. I’ll bring you a drink.”

“Thanks.” I definitely didn’t mind stepping back and letting the experts work. A fancy, frilly place like this was a high-difficulty environment for yours truly.

“Just leave her to us,” the employee said. “I swear that we will find her the perfect outfit.”

“I’ll trust you pros.”

The employee grinned before sliding away. Seriously, what is that walk? She didn’t step so much as disappear entirely. A moment later, she slid back into view and poured milk and sugar into a coffee cup. Wait, where did she come from? Is this supernatural stuff? Horror? I’m actually shaking.

I shuddered but sat there quietly sipping my coffee. Back on Tarmein Prime, we’d gone to a cosplay shop that offered a virtual dressing room app. I fiddled with it here too, to test out Mimi in various outfits.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” an employee chirped.

“U-umm…” Mimi stammered.

An angel descended before me. Mimi now wore a soft, white dress fringed with light-pink frills. A large ribbon adorned her hair, and white stockings smoothed her legs. Her light-pink shoes matched the faint tinge of her frills.

Mimi fidgeted, her pink cheeks the perfect accessory to her ensemble. I, however, was in heaven. Somehow, Mimi had become even cuter.

“Why, you’re so precious that he’s speechless,” an employee said. “I’m glad to see that he has taste.”

“The theme here is sweet and cute. Wanna buy it?” another employee asked.

I nodded and handed them my terminal.

“Thank you, sir!”

Once we paid, I used the camera to film Mimi at every angle. Later, I could extract individual images from the video file.

“D-don’t record meee,” Mimi protested, bashful.

“I need to preserve the memory of such a lovely angel.”

“Sir, I must ask you to be calm,” an employee warned. “We have more to show you.”

“Okay.” I released Mimi from my full-body video recording. “You’re seriously an angel, though, Mimi.”

“Th-thank you…”

“Hee hee. Shall we prepare the next change of clothes?”

“Come right this way, miss!”

Mimi was yoinked away yet again while I settled back with some tea and cookies. I couldn’t remember anyone bringing the snacks; they’d kind of just appeared. Creepy.

It didn’t take as long for Mimi to change this time. She returned shortly in a plain, stately getup that exuded classical, upper-crust beauty.

“Wonderful!” I said. “It almost looks like everyday wear.”

“Doesn’t it?” one employee agreed. “It was made with that in mind. We have a few other pieces like it if you’d care to see those.”

“Yes, please.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Um, this is too much…” Mimi said.

I shook my head. “I like this stuff, and I don’t compromise on my hobbies.” We were still well within our budget. Besides, this was a small price to pay for such a wonderful sight.

“Hee hee, what a lovely couple you are. Let’s get to the next one, miss.”

“O-okay…”

Mimi vanished again.

I wonder what’s coming next? I’m just dying from excitement. Oh, I should send that video to Elma.

I opened my texting app and shared the video. Elma’s response pinged instantly: Aww, that’s cute! Did you buy it?

I replied: Yeah, already bought it. I also bought a few less fancy ones.

Good. You could buy me some clothes too, y’know.

I figure something more mature would fit you better. But hey, you’re right. Wanna come here sometime?

Nah, I’m just kidding. I can’t pull off that frilly stuff.

When you put it like that, you just make me want to see it even more.

Yeah, I figured you might say that.

Our chat continued throughout the Mimi Fashion Show. The employees tried out a few more designs, including an anti-laser hyperweave dress, but this last idea was simply too expensive. We left with a simpler hyperweave dress instead.

 

***

 

After that little diversion, we made directly for the mercenary guild. Mimi had switched to a black lolita dress for the journey, but she clung to my jacket as we walked, bashful in her new getup.

“Mimi, you stand out more when you walk like that,” I said. “Just flaunt it. That makes you less visible, if you can believe it.”

“Ulp… Yes, sir.”

“Also, there’s no reason to be embarrassed. It looks great. I mean it. You’re adorable.”

“Jeez, cut it out!” Mimi only buried her face more forcefully against my jacket. I hadn’t meant to hit her with friendly fire, but I’d already sunk her battleship. She’s just so adorable when she’s all shy!

Mimi—who was still blushing furiously—eventually emerged from hiding, and we continued on our way. The mercenary guild occupied an upper floor in another building in the Harbor District, near the ship port. It was a three-tiered building: the first tier was thirty floors, the second was fifty-two, and the highest was three.

Mimi and I chatted on the elevator up to the mercenary guild’s floor, trying to decide where to go for lunch after this. The elevator interrupted us with a ding. When we stepped out, every eye in the room landed on us.

Once again, I was struck by the variety of this colony. Sure, there were a few of the typical tough-guy types, but I also saw a bipedal reptilian, a tan girl in bikini armor, another girl dressed inexplicably like a maid, a red panda in overalls, and a group of six child-sized mercs in matching spacesuits, just to name a few.

“The place is a lot…livelier than Tarmein Prime’s merc guild,” I commented.

“Agreed.”

The mercs sizing me up quickly lost interest, but an awful lot of eyes stayed glued on Mimi. I dragged her with me to the counter; standing there only made her look more out of place. I half-expected some cliché anime stuff. Maybe some guy shouting, Who do ya think you are, bringin’ a cutie like that in here, newbie? Fortunately, nothing like that happened and we made our way to the counter unharried. She drew attention because of her cuteness, but they seemed to have realized she was a mercenary.

A young woman greeted us. “Welcome. What brings you here today?” She wore a crisp guild employee uniform and sat up primly to meet us. It seemed being pretty was a hiring requirement around mercenary guilds. I eyed her bust, judging it to be somewhere between Mimi’s and Elma’s in size.

“I’m Captain Hiro, and this is my operator-in-training, Mimi. We came from Tarmein Prime, so we’re here to introduce ourselves. We’re planning to stay and work here for a little while.” I presented my terminal, and the receptionist set it on a reader device. With a ping, a holographic display flickered to life.

“Okay, confirmed,” she said. “Captain Hiro, rank silver, two crew members. Where is your other member, Elma?”

“She’s back at the ship, since we’ve got business with Inagawa Technologies.”

“Inagawa Technologies… I see. I’m not sure if your luck is good or bad to run into them as soon as you arrived in this system.”

“I’d like to say it’s good, since it got us some cash.” I shrugged, prompting a chuckle from the receptionist. Yeah, I know. I’m the kind of guy to attract trouble everywhere I go. I have to think of it as good luck or I might just go crazy. “So have they contacted you about us yet?”

“As of this moment, no,” she said. “It’ll probably take them some time to calculate your reward and reach an internal decision. It is a very large firm, after all.”

“Gotcha. If they do say anything, could you contact us at my ship?”

“Of course, sir… Oh?” The receptionist sobered and tapped at her display. “You’re actually right on time. They’ve sent us a message just now.”

“Oh, wow. What’s it say?”

“They have offered 500,000 Ener as a reward.”

“Hmm. I dunno what the right price is. Not that I’m trying to be greedy, as long as it’s not super low. Mind if I talk about it with my crew first?”

“Go right ahead.”

I called Elma, who picked up immediately.

“Heyo, Elma here. What’s the matter? Getting into trouble down there?”

“Nah, we just got to the mercenary guild,” I said. “Inagawa Technologies sent an offer. They said 500,000 Ener. How does that sound to you?”

“Hmm… Well, we didn’t have to tow them, so I’d call that a reasonable price for guarding them until the police arrived. That’s a decent reward for a medium craft.”

“So I should take it?”

“Yeah, I think so. Ask Mimi, just in case.”

“Gotcha. Thank you.”

“No problem. I’m glad you trust me with this stuff. See ya later.” Elma disconnected with a click.

I turned to Mimi. “Elma seems to believe 500,000 Ener is good. Do you have any thoughts?”

“Inagawa Technologies owns general hospitals, I believe,” Mimi said. “Perhaps in addition to the money, you could try to get a recommendation for a medical examination?”

“Wow, really? Good call.” I addressed the receptionist. “Can we set that up?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be sure to communicate that. I’ll get in contact with you as soon as they reply.”

“Thanks a ton. By the way, I’ve been wondering…”

“Yes? Is there something I can help with?”

“Could you direct me to a restaurant where we can eat some of this colony’s specialties?”

The receptionist hesitated a moment, taken aback by my query. Guess she didn’t really expect a question like that at a mercenary guild.

Is it that weird of a question? Everyone needs to eat, after all!