by Simon Archer
“I simply can’t believe we are here!” Kennedi squealed. She was sitting beside me, and I felt her tail come up over my shoulder to rest. Charlie raised his glass as well.
“This may be a short trip, but I think you are all going to love it here,” he said. “This is festival season, too, so we’ll be seeing a lot in a short amount of time.” He smiled and nodded his head. Ellie started nodding along with him.
“I found that out in an update I did before we left!” Ellie told Charlie. She looked over at Kennedi and me, and said, “I’m not sure if Kennedi told you, but we did a manual update for her. Now we both can speak Japanese if needed.” I looked at Kennedi. She hadn’t mentioned it.
“Now that will most likely come in handy!” I put one arm around her shoulders and pulled her a little closer. With the other, I finally took a drink of my whiskey. It had a smoked cherry aftertaste to it and was absolutely delicious. We had an hour's drive before we’d arrive at the Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho hotel. I remembered that Charlie had mentioned he had been there.
“Charlie, I got the impression that you have been to our hotel before,” I said inquisitively, raising an eyebrow in his direction. He was just taking a drink of his whiskey, so I waited. When he swallowed it, he started nodding.
“Yes, I have been there,” he started. “You are in for a treat with that one. The building design is stunning on its own, but there is a bar in the hotel that will blow your mind. It looks out over the entire city, and at night, you’ll never see anything else like it.”
Ellie started clapping with excitement and said, “I’ve never been in a building higher than two stories before!”
“That is about to change, Miss Ellie,” Charlie said. “The Prince Gallery takes up the top seven floors of the thirty-six story Kioi Tower.” Ellie clasped her hands together and started wiggling in her seat like excited girls sometimes do. I felt Kennedi’s tail tighten up around my shoulder, and her body stiffened slightly.
“We are staying in a tower?” Kennedi asked quietly, looking down at the floor. I squeezed her a little tighter.
“No, we won’t be in an actual tower. Don’t worry. That is just the name of the building,” I told her. I don’t know why she had such a thing about towers, and people getting locked up in them. I felt her relax a little.
“Oh, good,” she said. “In that case, I can’t wait to see it either.”
Charlie started chuckling and said, “Kennedi, I don’t know why you don’t like towers, but I promise you, this is going to be a wonderful experience for you. Trust me.”
“I believe you, Charlie,” Kennedi said and took a drink of her wine. When she was finished, she asked Charlie, “If you had to name one thing to go see while we are here, what would it be?”
“That’s a tough one,” Charlie said. He looked lost in thought for a few moments before saying, “I would recommend simply going out to the markets and shops. The people who live here are really what make it so amazing. Taking a little time to interact with them is definitely something you should do.” Kennedi looked at me and back at Charlie.
“Will we have enough time for that?” she wanted to know. Charlie and I exchanged glances.
“That is up in the air,” I answered. “I honestly don’t see why not, but I don’t want to promise anything.” Charlie nodded in agreement, and Ellie moved forward in her seat just a little. She was looking at the window behind Kennedi and me.
“Look at that!” She was almost shouting. Charlie moved forward in his seat, and Kennedi and I turned around. I pushed the red curtains aside further than they already were and looked out the window. I immediately saw what had caught her attention. It was the sky. The sun was going down, and the entire sky had turned a shade of pink so vibrant that it looked unnatural. The few wispy clouds that were floating here and there were lit up and looked like glowing, gold mist.
It was breathtaking. The four of us just sat and stared out the window in silence for a few minutes. Then Ellie turned to the window behind her to see if the scene was the same in the other direction. Charlie turned with her. When she pushed the curtain open, it looked like there was a sky from a completely different place. Instead of pink and gold, it was an even, soft orange shade. There was a dark orange outline where the sky met the ground. If this was what the sky looked like in the city, I couldn’t wait to see it from atop Mount Kita. I sat back in my seat, took a sip of my whiskey, and looked at Charlie.
“You didn’t mention how beautiful this place was,” I said. “I always pictured Tokyo as a high-tech, fast-paced, mega-hub for all things futuristic and advanced.” Charlie grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
“Wouldn’t have had the same effect if I had given you an idea of what to expect,” he said. I actually appreciated his point of view on that.
Kennedi sat back next to me and laid her head on my shoulder while she continued to look out the window. A minute later, she started to purr. Ellie looked over at her and smiled.
“I wonder if we will see any other cat girls while we are here,” Ellie said offhandedly after sipping her wine. Charlie glanced over at her.
“You will,” Charlie told her. “Not as many as you would think, however. The technology that led to the eventual production of cat girls was originally developed here. Omnicorp had purchased the tech and wanted to open operations in Tokyo, but they wouldn’t agree to local government programming guidelines. Basically, they wouldn’t have been able to data-mine the way they wanted, and they weren’t willing to simply produce an AI product that they couldn’t benefit from after the sale.”
“That should’ve been a red flag right off the bat for our own government,” I said. Charlie nodded just as we all heard a small beep sound from the front of the car. Then the pane of soundproof glass that was separating us from our driver began to roll down. When it was fully open, our driver called back to us.
“Will you be dining in the hotel this evening, or should I take you elsewhere for dinner?” He was a polite, clean-cut gentleman in his forties and had a far less prominent accent than I had expected from a resident.
“The hotel will be fine, thank you,” I told him. He dipped his head once to acknowledge my answer.
“We are fifteen minutes out,” he informed us, then he promptly rolled the window back up.
The next fifteen minutes were quiet inside the limo. A hush fell over the four of us as we watched the sky change outside the windows, and the city lights grow brighter. The further into the city we got, the more the sky scene was replaced by lighted signs and buildings. We watched as the roads became more filled with traffic, and soon the sky wasn’t visible because we were completely surrounded by buildings. It wasn’t until we pulled up at the Prince Gallery hotel that someone spoke again. As the car was slowing in the dropoff area in front of the hotel, Charlie sat forward in his seat.
“Alright, ladies,” he said, addressing Kennedi and Ellie. “Are you ready for this?” He was suddenly energized as though he was a little kid who’d just woken up from a nap. Kennedi took her head off my shoulder and sat up. She and Ellie scooted forward on their seats as well.
“I can’t wait!” both girls said in unison. As soon as the driver opened the limo door, Charlie climbed out and offered his hand to Ellie, then Kennedi. I followed up last. When I stepped out of the car, into the now-dark night, I saw both girls staring straight up. I looked up to see the vast building in front of us. The side of the building looked like there were large squares tiling it all the way to the top. The illusion had been created by smartly separating the windows into blocks and putting a border around them. The light from the windows contrasted sharply with the now-dark night sky behind the building. I looked at the girls again and stepped up to them. I linked arms with them, one on each side.
“Not too shabby, is it?” I whispered. Both girls looked at me, wide-eyed, and smiled.
“If the outside is this pretty, I am very interested to see what the inside looks like!” Ellie said loudly
.
“Well, let’s not keep you waiting then,” Charlie piped up. He walked ahead of us, and the girls and I followed while the concierge helped our driver load our bags onto a cart to be delivered to our rooms. We walked across a strip of beige cobblestone and onto matching beige tile under an overhang. The lights above us looked like large, white tiles and were so bright that it almost seemed like daylight again. We went past two stone pillars, through the front doors, and directly to a bank of elevators that took us to the hotel at the top of the tower.
When the elevator doors opened, there was no more beige. In front of us, instead, was an artistically decorated lobby. The floor had been treated with a technique that made it look like we were walking on yellow liquid as we headed towards the check-in desk. There were four off-white couches with colorful throw pillows set up to make a square sitting area. Throughout the room were royal blue and dark blue chairs that looked like a cross between a bean bag and a scoop chair. Each one had a pleated white poof sitting in front of it for elevating your feet. At the back of the room, opposite the elevator we’d just stepped off, were three floor-to-ceiling windows, separated by mirrored columns. We could see the entire Tokyo night-skyline. I knew it was a tad late, but I was surprised that nobody was there.
We ventured to the right side of the room where we were to check-in. I had to let go of Kennedi and Ellie as they had slowed to turtle speed because they were in complete awe of the room.
“Look at how large those mirrored columns make the room look!” Ellie was saying to Kennedi as I walked away to the check-in desk. Charlie was standing at the desk already when I got there. He was chatting with a young Japanese girl behind the counter. She had pitch-black hair that was short and had been styled to look slightly messy. Her lipstick was bright red. The contrast between her lipstick and pale white skin brought a lot of attention to her pouty, full lips. She smiled at me when I approached the counter.
“Good evening, sir,” the girl said. “You must be Clark Watkins?” she confirmed.
“I am. Good evening,” I replied. The girl looked down at the computer in front of her and began typing. A moment later, she reached under the counter and pulled out four small envelopes. They were individual key cards that looked like credit cards. One by one, she took the cards out of their envelopes, ran them through a scanner, and put them back in their envelopes. She placed the cards on the counter in front of Charlie and me.
“Here are your room keys, gentleman,” she said politely. “A concierge will be out momentarily to escort you to your room.”
“Thank you,” Charlie said. We both took two room keys and turned around. The girls were over at the window-wall, looking out over the city. We walked over to them and followed their gaze. The city was a vibrant map of colored lights stretched out in front of us, with a black sky background.
“This is…” Kennedi trailed off as though she was having difficulty finding the right word to describe how breathtaking the view was.
“It is!” Ellie agreed with Kennedi’s incomplete statement.
“I’m happy you two like it,” I said. “Mr. Sato is very good at booking travel plans, now isn’t he?” Both girls nodded. They were smiling like they were in a candy shop with an unlimited budget.
“Excuse me, sirs,” said a voice behind us. We all turned around. Our concierge, a young boy with short black hair, very correct posture, and white gloves, was standing with his hands clasped behind his back. “My name is Reo. I’ll be escorting you to your rooms.” I was a little stunned when Kennedi stepped forward and bowed slightly.
“Wisdom, yes?” she asked the boy. I looked at Ellie. She took hold of my hand and smiled. I looked back over, and the boy was smiling slightly.
“Yes,” he said to Kennedi. She smiled big and bowed again.
“I like it!” she said.
“Thank you, Miss,” Reo replied. That was when Ellie leaned over and put her mouth right next to my ear.
“His name means wisdom, in Japanese,” she whispered.
That gave Kennedi’s behavior a little more context. Because she was astonishingly quick at learning new skills and information, a skill she’d honed due to her defect, Kennedi didn’t update very often. In order for her to update, she had to connect manually to Ellie.
That process wasn’t the most convenient. They would both have to cut the back of their necks where their nano-cord ports were and then connect to each other via a cable that was similar to an HDMI cord. Then Ellie would transfer the update to Kennedi, and she would have to install it. The process wasn’t difficult. It was just cumbersome. So, when Kennedi did update, there was always a period of time afterward that she reveled in the new information she’d received that she hadn’t had to learn. In this case, it was the Japanese language and customs.
I looked at Ellie and then back to Kennedi. She was still standing in front of him. I stepped forward and pulled Ellie with me until we were in line with Kennedi. I bowed to the boy, and he did the same.
“Thank you, we are ready now,” I told the boy who immediately turned around and started walking to the elevators at the opposite end of the room. The four of us followed him. We boarded the elevator, and Reo pushed the button to have us taken to the fortieth floor. He was silent on the ride up, and so were we. The silence was a little uncomfortable, which was strange because I had no idea what about Reo made us feel that we couldn’t talk.
When the elevator dinged, and the doors opened, we stepped out into a bright hallway. The walls were white, and the carpet was an off-white with yellow tiger-stripes on it. The lights were strung across the ceiling in chrome, track-lighting fixtures. Reo turned to his right and began walking. We followed until he was standing in front of one of the hotel room doors. He pulled a master key out of his pocket, slid it into the card reader, and waited for the little light on the lock to turn from red to green. He got it in the first try which I’d honestly never seen happen before when it came to hotel room keys. Once the room was unlocked, he pushed the handle down and swung the door open, stepping aside, and looking at Charlie.
“Your room, sir,” Reo said to Charlie.
“Thank you,” Charlie replied and stepped into his room and glanced around. “Very nice.” Reo nodded and turned to walk Kennedi, Ellie, and me to our room. Before I followed, I caught Charlie’s attention.
“Meet in twenty for dinner?” I asked.
“Sounds like a plan.” Charlie let the door close as the girls and I walked to the next door down the hallway which happened to be the last where Reo was already standing, waiting for us. Once again, he unlocked the door on the first try, opened it, and stepped aside.
“Thank you,” I told him as the three of us walked in.
He waited until we were in the room before asking, “Will you be needing anything else?”
“Yes. Would you recommend the Washoku Souten or Oasis Garden for dinner?” I had read that they were all top level as far as food was concerned but always felt it prudent to ask.
“For late evening meals, I recommend the Oasis Garden all-day dining room,” Reo said. “They have a full menu twenty-four hours per day.”
“Perfect, thank you. We will do that. Do we need to call down for a reservation?”
“Yes, reservations are required. I will let them know you are on your way so they can prepare the best table,” Reo said.
“We’d appreciate that,” I said. “That will be all, then.” I started to reach for my wallet to tip him when I felt Kennedi’s tail wrap around my wrist. She calmly walked to the door and pulled it to indicate she was going to close it. She paused and bowed slightly to Reo. He bowed back, turned, and walked back down the hallway. Kennedi closed the door the rest of the way and turned to me.
“What was that about?” Her tail was still around my wrist.
“Tipping in Japan is almost always considered an insult,” she started. “It implies to the person who is providing your service that you do not believe they are making a fair wage
or that the business they work for isn’t successful enough to pay them properly. Not only will they not accept it, but it would also make them extremely uncomfortable, especially if they don’t speak good enough English to explain why they are returning it to you.” She slowly unwrapped her tail from my wrist and smiled. Once again, she was enjoying her recent update.
“In all the years I’ve been traveling, I have never been to a place that didn’t accept tips,” I told her. “Thank you for correcting that for me. It is such an ingrained action that I didn’t think to check the cultural norm for it.”
“You’re welcome,” she said. “The only people who will accept a tip, and still only occasionally, are tour guides.”
“Good to know.” I put my arms around her waist, pulled her to me, and kissed her. “Thanks again.”
She smiled as we separated and turned to go further into our room, which turned out to be a corner suite. The entrance opened up into a living area with hardwood floors, dark wood tables, and a writing buffet table set up to look out the floor-to-ceiling window. There were orange and brown throw pillows and sheer white curtains. It was stunningly simple and elegant.
As I slowly walked through it, I saw that our bags had already been delivered. They were sitting at the entrance to the sleeping area. I walked past them, Ellie and Kennedi in tow, and stepped down a small stair into the bedroom. This room had yellow and brown, striped carpeting, a window seat, a small table, and a California King-sized bed.
“It’s gorgeous!” Kennedi nearly shouted as she brushed past me and headed directly for the window seat. The moment I saw the window seat, I knew where Kennedi would be spending any extra time she had. She was in love with window seats, and this one sat in the corner where she would be able to see out in two directions.
I chuckled at her and continued walking. At the end of the bedroom, there was an entrance into the bathroom. I stepped in and looked around. It was sectioned into two parts. The main area had his and hers sinks, the toilet, and a linen closet. The other part was for bathing. There was a giant, white bathtub that looked like it could fit all three of us, and it was surrounded by glass. It’s a good thing we weren’t concerned with privacy because there was no way for the shower area to be shielded from the view of the rest of the suite. I turned to go back into the bedroom area and stopped short. Directly in front of me, both girls were sitting on the window seat with their legs crossed, hands folded, and completely naked.
