Chapter 8: Wardrobes
The stuff in the closet didn’t fit Emma and in fact, most of it didn’t really fit Tori.
“Where did all of this come from?” Tori wondered out loud as she slid back into the dress that she had on before her shower. Emma did the same with her jumpsuit. She knew that it had been washed, but didn’t know when that had happened.
“I have no idea…” Emma said, looking at the clothing. “How do we even get stuff, we don’t have jobs and are basically slaves…” She glanced at Tori.
“Not slaves,” Tori said, giggling. “We are Florets, specifically Floret Pinnates… We are cats and dogs to the Affini…”
“Yeah,” Emma said. “But we still don’t have money…”
“Something tells me that doens’t matter…” Tori said. “I remember seeing something about no need for money and that nothing would be scarce again in one of the propaganda videos. I suspect there is just a shop we go to and get clothes…” She looked at Emma. “And if not, that complier thing can probably create clothes out of nothing…”
“How do we use that thing?” Emma said, taking Tori’s hand as they walked back out to the main common area of the hab unit. They walked up to the couch, sat down, and started cuddling.
“I have no idea…” Tori said. “We’ve never had anything similar. We will have to wait on Mistress to show us…” I wonder what all we can get on our datapads…” Tori pulled hers out and tapped a few things. One of the first things she discovered was a vast library of electronic books. “I’m going to send you something…”
It took little while for Lavandula to return to the hab. By the time she had, both Tori and Emma had fallen asleep, both of them with their datapads in their laps. She let them sleep and sat on the larger sofa in the room. She pulled out her own data pad and started to go through stuff that had been piled up in the time that she had left her post that day and now. Nothing was overly pressing so she put her datapad away and just watched her florets sleep. They were both wearing the same things that they had on before their showers. She would have to take them and get some clothing While she watched them sleep, the random thought of only allowing her two precious pinnates to only wear skirts and dresses passed through her core. The purple flowers up and down her body twirled in delight at the idea.
By the time that Tori and Emma woke, Lavandula had organized the hab unit and was working on making something in the kitchen.
“Hi,” Tori said quietly to Emma; they could hear Lavandula moving about in the kitchen, doing what could best be described as humming…
“Hi…” Emma said, blushing. The two of them peered up over the back of the large couch and looked at Lavandula.
“Hi Mistress…” Tori said.
“Did you girls get your showers?”
“We did…” Emma said.
“But the stuff in the bedroom doesn’t really fit me or Emma…” Tori finished the statement. They watched as Lavandula’s pink and purple flowers twirled and the vines that weren’t involved in making whatever she was cooking on the cook top flittered around wildly.
“After you girls eat this soup that I’m making, we can go shopping…” Lavandula said. “Besides, we need to get a collar for Emma…”
“A… Collar?” Emma squeaked. “I, uh…” She blushed bright red. “I’ve never had a collar before…”
“It feels…” Tori said. “Safe.” Tori reached up to feel her own collar. It was snug, but not overly tight. She gave the ring for leashing a tug.
“It also will tell everyone that you’ve already been spoken for…” Lavandula said, “Can’t have someone thinking you’re an independent and stealing you…”
“If someone were to try, I’d go crazy…” Tori said. “This is my girlfriend, after all…”
“If someone tries to steal me, I’m going to tell them that my owner is Lavandula Trell, Fourth Bloom…” Emma said. “And I’m going to make Mistress’s datapad go nuts…” They watched as Lavandula chuckled; the vines not involved in cooking wiggling around.
“Come and get food, girls. After we eat, we will go get Emma’ collar and and find you girls some clothes that fit you…” she pulled some bowls down from a cupboard and sat them next to the stove and then poured soup into the bowls and then flipped what looked like grilled cheese sandwiches onto a pair of plates. Tori and Emma sat at the table and Lavandula brought the food over and sat the bowls and plates on the table. Lavandula grabbed a bottle of brown liquid and reconfigured her body to be able to sit at the human sized table.
“We don’t get silverware?” Emma asked.
Lavandula chuckled. “I was unaware that tomato soup and grilled cheese required silverware, you can drink it out of the bowl.” Her eyes had a twinkle to them. “Act like kids, it’s ok. I already know that what I’ve made is comfort food for the two of you.” Tori and Emma looked at each other and smiled. One of their favorite things to do with soup was to slurp it out of the bowls. It was something that they only did on the station at Proxima 20 when they took their food that wasn’t synthcubes back to their bunk room. As they were the only two people that were stationed there that idenififed as female, they were assigned the same room. “Tomorrow, you both have appointments with a xenovetinarian, as well as a xenovetinarypsychariiast.”
“A Xenovet-a-what?“ Tori asked, very confused. “I thought we had already been seen by the doctors…”
“You were given a cursory check to verify that you had nothing majorly wrong after we had brought you aboard.” Lavandula said. “The appointments tomorrow are to give you a complete workover and make sure you are healthy and stable enough for the Haustoric Implant…”
“The what?” Emma asked. “That sounds… unpleasant…”
Lavandula chuckled. “Little one, the haustoric implant is one of our greatest achievements… It can help deal with urges that come from intrusive thoughts, or any other thoughts of things that may cause you to harm yourself. It will also let me communicate with you without talking out loud. You will also be able to control computers and your datapads without even looking at them.” Tori and Emma looked at each other. That would be a really cool thing to be able to do. “And I know what you struggle with, little Emma… it wasn’t as undocumented as you think it was. I promise the two of you that I will take care of you and that anything that I request that be done to you, such as the Haustoric Implant is done for your own good.” She looked at the two of them, her purple eyes twinkling. “Are you done eating?”
“Yes, Mistress.” Tori responded, this caused the purple flowers on Lavandula’s body to spin.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Emma said, with a smile. They watched as she carried the now empty plates and bowls over to the chute that led to the decompiler and dropped them in. She would compile new ones the next time that they needed some. “Can I ask a question?”
“You just did, little flower…” Lavandula chuckled… “What’s up?”
“Can you teach us how to use the atomic compiler?” Emma smiled. “We have never had anything remotely like it…”
“I sure can…” she replied. “Do we want to do it now or do we want to do it when we get back?”
“We can do it when we get back, Mistress.” Tori said, smiling. “I want to go get new clothes. I’ve never actually walked into a shop and have been able to pick out the clothing that I want for me…”
“I can work with that…” Emma said, smiling as well. “I’m just curious as it would be an easy to compile little things that we discover we need so we don’t have to go anywhere…”
“I bet if you searched the intranet abroad the ship, you’d find instructions. It’s not like they are a secret or are restricted to Affini only…” Lavandula said. “It’s a pretty simple thing, honestly…” She extended two vines, each one looping through cuffs and into Tori and Emma’s hands. The hands that didn’t have vines joined. “Once we get Emma a collar we will use the collars for leashing instead of the cuffs…” Tori glanced over at Emma as she blushed. She was still adjusting to the idea that she was an owned person and that she would forever be taken care of. The florets pinnate looked at each other and followed their owner out of the hab unit, ready to face whatever happened and ready to face it together.
“So…” Lavandula said as they walked into a shop that looked like it was mostly clothing. “I am going to make a statement and give you a chance to state your case in opposition…” Emma and Tori looked at each other as they felt the vines that Lavandula had used to not loose them on their way to the shop retract. “I would prefer to see the two of you be in skirts and dresses…”
“I have no opposition…” Tori said quietly. “I really haven’t gotten to wear skirts and dresses… The uniforms of the TCN were always pants, I suppose I could have opted for skirts because I was technically OCNI, but that would have made me look different from the rest of the staff on Proxima 20…” She looked at Emma. “I mean the only other female stationed there never wore skirts or dresses so…”
“I was forced to wear them growing up…” Emma said. “My family was very strict in enforcing what they considered to be traditional gender roles, so when I enlisted I only wore skirts when I was required to…” Lavandula looked at Emma.
“Petal,” she said gently. “That didn’t answer the question…”
“I’d rather wear pants…” Emma said quietly before looking at the floor. “But if that is your wish, then I will obey, Mistress…” Emma watched as a vine slid under her chin and raised it.
“If you’d rather wear pants, that’s ok.” Lavandula said. “I would still like to see you get some skirts and dresses, but you may have pants as well. Now each of you grab a cart and go start looking, I’m going to also browse and see if there is anything that I want you girls to have as well.” The three of them grabbed carts and started to wander the store…
Tori and Emma were led into a different store that looked like the only thing they had were collars. There was a floret behind the counter that smiled at the trio when they walked in. “Good afternoon, Lavandula, It’s been a while.”
“Good afternoon, Emily.” Lavandula said, smiling at the floret. “How are you?”
“I’m good, Ma’am.” She said. “Are these your florets?”
“They are,” Lavandula’s flowers spun. “I’d like to introduce Tori and Emma Trell, First and Second florets pinnate. Girls, this is Emily, she would be the floret of Tito that I mentioned when we were talking to Penny…”
“Aww! Pinnates!” Emily squealed. She visibly bounced a bit. “You two are lucky that you belong to Lavandula.” Tori and Emma blushed. They might eventually get used to being called pinnates and being gushed over.
“I need a collar for Emma who doesn’t have one yet. I’d like it to look like Tori‘s” Lavandula said.
“Uh, I’ll need to measure Emma’s neck,” Emily said, tapping on the keyboard in front of her. A cloth tape measure was pulled out from under the counter and Emily walked around and stood in front of Emma. Emma stood there, arms at her side, defaulting to standing at attention as Emily measured her neck. She left the mark on the tape and went back behind the counter as Emma relaxed again. Emily typed a few things into the computer and a few moments later, Emma’s collar appeared on the counter behind her. That didn’t look like the atomic compiler in the hab unit, but they could be adjusted to blend in with the décor that they were surrounded by, it seemed. Emily handed the collar to Lavandula, who turned to Emma. Emma turned to face Lavandula and returned to her stance at attention. A vine came around and lifted Emma’s brown hair up and out of the way as her hands brought the collar up and placed it around Emma’s neck. There was a soft muted click as the collar was closed around the girls neck. She was now marked as a pet and she knew that she would be taken care of until the end of her days…
The three of them walked back into the hab and Lavandula released the vines that held onto the girls collars. “Go put your clothes in your room, and then come back out here so I can show you how to use the compiler.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” The two of them carried the clothing into their bedroom and came back out into the common room. Lavandula sat near the Atomic Compiler and gently patted her lap. Emma and Tori sat in Lavadula’s lap.
“So the compiler is pretty simple, really.” She said, her voice containing a smile. “You can use your datapads, your voice, or the display on the compiler itself.” Lavandula pulled her datapad out and tapped a few things. It was set to standard Terran English so that they both could read it. She tapped on an app called ‘compiler’ and it opened and selected the compiler in the hab. “Your datapads have this application, and I think yours will only work on the compiler in here…” She typed hot tea into the search box and a list of various teas that she could select came up; she selected a black oolong and was presented with further customization options, including how much sugar and cream she wanted in the cup. Tapping on the ‘compile’ button a cup of hot tea appeared. Steam was rising from the cup as Tori looked at it, her mouth watering. It had been a long time since she had a good cup of tea. “Take it…” She watched as Tori picked the mug up, and carefully took a sip.
“It’s…” Tori said, her face lighting up. “It’s perfect!”
“You can also request things to be compiled with your voice…” Lavandula winked at Emma.
“Wait,” Tori asked glancing around the hab. “We… we can talk to the compiler?”
“You can talk to most the stuff in the hab…” Lavandula giggled. “Hab, what is your current mode?”
“My current mode is Affini.” came a soft, cheerful voice that seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
“Hmm” vibrated out from Lavandula. She switched her datapad from Terran English to Affini. She tapped a few things on the screen. A single flicker of orange light from above the compiler caught Tori’s attention. “Hab, what is your current mode?” Lavandula asked again.
“My current mode is Affini and multiple florets.” The hab said. “No florets registered; Shall I register a floret, Lavi?”
“Yes.” Lavi said watching her datapad.
“Please have the floret speak their name and status.” the hab said.
Lavi reached out and tapped Tori on the shoulder. “Victoria Trell, First Floret.”
“Stand by…” the hab said, “Victoria, please state your pronouns.”
Tori smiled. “She, Her. Hers.” There was a few moments of silence before the hab spoke again
“Victoria Trell, First Floret, She, Her, Hers has been registered as Floret number one in the system.” The hab stated. “Do you have more florets to add?”
“Yes,” Lavandula replied.
“Please have the floret speak their name and status.” The hab repeated.
“Emma Trell, Second Floret.” Emma said, her voice firm and not shaking.
“Stand by…” the hab said. “Emma, please state your pronouns.”
“She, Her, Hers.” Emma watched the indicator light above the compiler flash slowly as the light indicated that the hab was processing.
“Emma Trell, Second Floret, She, Her, Hers has been registered as floret number two in the system.” The hab stated. “Do you have any more florets to add?”
“Not at this time.” Lavadula said.
“Please select the interface mode for the hab.” Lavandula’s datapad changed and she tapped a few things. “Settings saved.”
“Ok, Emma,” Lavandula said. “Try to compile something by asking the hab for it.”
“Hab, May I have a hot chocolate?” Emma asked.
“What do you say"?” The hab responded.
“Please?” Emma asked, her voice sounding confused.
“Try your request again, little one…” the disembodied voice that belonged to the Hab said.
“May I please have a hot chocolate?” Emma said.
“Good girl.” The hab said and a few seconds later a mug of hot chocolate appeared in the compiler.
“Go ahead…” Lavandula said, stroking Emma’s back. Emma reached out and took the mug of hot chocolate and took a sip, causing her face to light up.
“It’s been so long since I’ve had good hot chocolate...” Emma said, finishing the cup in a few drinks. She sat it back on the compiler and sighed contentedly.
“Once you are done with the items that you've compiled, you can just sit them back on the compiler and ask the compiler to decompile them…” Lavandula said. She looked at the two cups. “Tori, why don’t you try that.”
“Hab, can you decompile the cups, please?” Tori asked, remembering the admonishment from the Hab that Emma had received. They watched as the two cups disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared.
“You can compile pretty much anything unless it’s something that can hurt you…” Lavandula said. “But that’s the basics of the compiler. It can compile pretty much anything, provided that it’s not larger than the complier…”