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She's twenty-three, and this is Audrey's first visit to the Rose Bowers. A two week stay, complimentary through her government job on Arcbright. She's alone.
She's heard stories of the Rose Bowers, of the unrestrained hedonism that's its stock in trade, and its matchmaking, which is reputed to be excellent.
She comes in with trepidation in her heart. Her suitcase rattles as it bumps over the threshold.
"Simpler. Freer. I can go walking with my knife in my hand and meet someone who wants it and not even have to ask. All the rules and protocols get thrown out the window because the magic does it for you. In the Blackberry Gardens there's just desire and the sating of it, that's all." Draw, place.
"It can be, but sometimes it's really not. You can desire companionship or food or snuggles and it'll give you that just as much as it'll give you sex." Place, meeple.
"Well, no, it's not perfect, but it's imperfect in a way that - makes it more real? You can see the seams sometimes because it's built out of real things and not fake things. But... I think it's worth visiting." Draw, place.
"Yeah, that's just required for the whole thing to work. You have to be willing to give your consent over to the magic and let it handle it for you; if you want to live in a world where you can fluidly do whatever you want to whoever you want, you have to accept some surprises." Draw, place, meeple.
"So what about you? Where did you come from, what are you like?" Draw, place.
"I um. I'm a civil servant from Arcbright, I came here as part of my work vacation package, two weeks. I was a virgin when I got here, though by now that's been... thoroughly fixed. But I'm still shy and kind of inexperienced. I haven't eaten a blackberry, you probably guessed." Draw, place, score.
"I can see that actually, everybody who's eaten a blackberry gets a tattoo on their right wrist that only people who've eaten blackberries can see. I've seen your right wrist and there's no marking, so..." She shrugs, and places another tile.
"Huh! Clever. I guess that makes sense, to tell people in the Rosethorn Hotel who they might see again in the Gardens." Place.
"Yeah, the system is pretty slick with how it lets you slip between layers like that." Place.
"By whether I'm in a hotel or a garden? It's pretty intuitively obvious." Place.
"Not all blackberry gardens are the Blackberry Gardens. It'll be clearer to you once you eat a blackberry." Draw, place, get back a meeple.
"I mean, it's just a location tag that gets hooked up to an extra sense like an empathy pendant. Not exactly technically complex." Draw, place.
"I guess that makes sense. Does the Blackberry Gardens do that kind of thing frequently, or?" Draw, place.
"Depends if you want it or not. It's a pretty good guesser." Draw, place, meeple.
"I would hope not to be surprised like that. I like my mind how it is." Draw, place.
"I think you'll miss out on a lot that way, but you do you." Draw, place.
"I mean, I'm okay with basic stuff like an Empathy pendant but some of the stuff in the guide seems like it'd just be... excessive." Draw, place, meeple. The board fills a good chunk of the table now.
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