The (Intermittent) Journal of Natsuki Hashimoto

29^th April 2013

Generally I do not make much use of my journal, but then not much of interest happens to me. Today, is it the same day or does crossing dimensions using a Trump portal make the concept irrelevant, has to date not been one of those days. As I've previously commented Miss Chan's summons did not have a responders address but neither did it have any indication of exactly how I was to be collected, other than I was to have my invitation on me.

The Invitation turns out to be the key to how I was retrieved, or to put it another way, it allowed Miss Chan to locate where I was and create a Trump portal through which to arrive. Although I had experienced Choki's memory of her previous departure, the actual reality of the formation of the gate was much more dramatic and as I wasn't expecting it more than a little surprising, even if Choki did bark to warn me of it's imminent appearance. It was interesting to note that once she appeared not only did he stop barking but he also approached her for affection as he does a number of my friends who he is intimately familiar with. I had wondered if taking Choki along was going to be an issue and tentatively asked the question. Her response was a little odd "not at all, I'm sure he'll enjoy meeting Mikato" especially as she didn't then explain who Mikato was. It turns out he is her most unusual Japanese Akita, although he's the biggest dog I have ever seen and at least 3 times as big as the largest Akita I have encountered.

Having established that Choki was welcome she then asked if I was ready, which I was, where upon she took a trump from her jacket pocket and formed another gate ushering me through. We arrived in the foyer of what I initially thought might be a hotel, but it turns out to be her private mansion in this dimension. Waiting for us and obviously rehearsed where her household staff, her butler of Korean descent Hui-Jin Sun, her PA, also of Korean descent Choi Lee, and a selection of others of Oriental descent, one of which was to be assigned to me as an assistant for the duration of my stay. There were 5 girls and 2 guys. Purely because she appeared to be of Japanese descent I picked Jasmin, although her real name is Liu Choa-Fang, and like the others is employed by the Purple Dragon, a nightclub owned by Miss Chan. She like the others applied for this assignment and was selected from a shortlist of 35 candidates following a 30 minute interview with Miss Chan (Cordelia as she prefers to be called). What she and the others were unaware of at the time was that the assignment would be in a different dimension where the time rate is faster than that of Earth. However, they are being paid by the day here which means they will earn the equivalent of 5 weeks wages for 2 weeks of Earth time, plus they all have a $10000 clothing allowance for their stay, but that does include needing 2 dresses, one for each of the 2 balls that are due to take place on the Saturday of the Expo, which is 14 days away local time.

Introductions over I was then given a tour of the Mansion. It consists of 3 wings, North, West, and East, with the Northern wing being the rear of the house, and is pretty much the kitchens, servants quarters, offices, and Hui-Jin's and Choi's private quarters. The ground floor of the East and West wing are a huge ornately decorated Ballroom and a similarly appointed dining hall respectively. The second floor of the west wing forms a house floor, consisting of a library (incompletely stocked with books), games room, relaxation room, and a smaller more personal dining room. Above the second floor up to and including the roof is Miss Chan's personal space.  The first and second floors of the East Wing are guest rooms, with the first floor allocated to males and the second floor allocated to females. My room is the Emerald room, although it is not decorated in green. It is a curious mix of old and very modern like a lot of the mansion appears to be. There is a lot of glass and steel forming the shell, but it is all counter pointed with varnished and stained timber frames and decorated wooden tiles reminiscent of old Japanese palaces.

The third floor is more permanent suites, one for the Queen of Amber, and the other for Miss Chan's daughter. The fourth floor is apparently space and machinery to support the roof top swimming pool and hot tub. The roof in itself is not conventional in any sense of the word. Aside from the swimming pool, which is covered by a glass roof, the whole roof being enclosed by a glass screen, the roof is a luxurious garden. There are trees, shrubs, and plants of numerous varieties, all in a natural setting as the roof above the pool only extends for about 3m around it's edge, and does not therefore cover the area above the hot tub. The roof above the West wing appears to be similar, but there is no access from the roof level.

With the tour completed I was escorted to my room where I was left with Jasmin, to get acquainted with both her and the Black Shadow console and AI system that  forms an interface to the household AI system, although there are panels throughout the house, including 3 in my room that allow interaction with it without the use of the VR system. As Miss Chan left she informed me that I was expected to be at a meeting in the library in about 90 minutes time. This was listed in the schedule by the AI as "Introductions" and proved to be an interesting event.

By the time I arrived, everyone else was, and I'm excluding Miss Chan here, alreay in the library. I was pleasently surprised not to be the only one who  appeared to be of oriental descent.

Miss Chan, started the meeting by introducing each of the other 8 invited guests, naming each of us in turn, with an indication of where we were from, and what we are all studying, before citing her own lineage, confirming that she was the daughter of someone called Tiberius, and the Granddaughter of someone called Oberon, and by virtue of these facts she was a Princess of a place called Amber. Most of those present obviously didn't believe anything she was saying, although 2 obviously did, the boy from Ireland, Cathal O'Donohughe, and the guy from New York, Edward Pinmillion.

Since I am vaguely familiar with who my father is her story sort of made sense. She then proceeded to revealing her supposition; that we are all sons or daughters of one of her Aunts or Uncles, although she could not prove this using DNA as she could not get to Amber due to something she described as Shadow Storms which have made travel there impossible. The conseuence of the latter is that there is only one way to prove that her supposition is true. We must walk the Pattern. If we are who she says we are then we will survive, if we are not then we'll be dead within a couple of steps.

Miss Chan then took questions from the rest of the group, answering most of them although most of the answers seemed to pass most people by, although notably not Cathal. He seems to know alot about the history of the family, including who his father was, and who his mother was. Given the amount of iron control Cordelia over her emotions during the rest of the meeting, her momemtary loss of self control when talking about Cathal's father's death was a significant event, although I think overlooked by everyone else. Cathal is a "Chaosite" apparently, something I don't yet understand, but he is familiar, at least in concept, with Shadow, or realms as I like to think of them. He also talks about something called the "Logrus" with obvious hatred and distrust, some sort of counterpoint to the the Patterns, although there appear to be 2 Logrus, like there are 2 Patterns according to Miss Chan. He also talked of another place he refers to as "The Courts" where his mother came from, and if he is believe was forced to flee from, and was later the subject of a failed assination attempt by the same peole as helped her escape in the first place. In his view those who reside here are far worse than the "Barriman" family and all of its interal feuds.

After Cathal's intervention in the discussion primarily to confirm a lot of what Miss Chan said, she then used my Choki to confirm who she thought my father was, which was truely done when she produced her Trumps on the roof terrace after dinner. I get the distinct impression she did not like my father at all, but she didn't reveal exactly why. I also have the distint feeling, from what he has said so far, and the questions he has asked, that Takimoto Akio, who comes from Hiroshima, is more closely related to me than any other the others. If it turns out that he is correct then it would make him my half brother.

There were a lot of bits and pieces in what Miss Chan talked about. She appears to have access to some very advanced technology. Realm travel, or Shadow travel as she calls it, is mostly broken, as the Amber Pattern is broken, but she and the other "Familiy" members, which she didn't say alot about, don't know why, and as they can't get to Amber, can't find out. One of her motives in locating us is she needs junior partners to help run the family business, something which if we are family only we can do, and which requires walking the Pattern to confirm. Being able to use the Pattern appears to be a prerequisite to being able to do what may be required of us. It means my initial assumption in relation to the Emporer summoning his subjects wasn't far from the mark.

We have to attend the Expo, and later 2 formal balls, both of which occur in about 14 days local time. This would appear to mean that time must flow faster here, which I don't understand. In attending the formal balls we're expected to be in appropriate dress, evening dresses for the ladies and tuxedos or dress uniform for the men, and this attire can be ordered through the AI system.

Perhaps after I've walked the Pattern, assuming I'm capable of doing it, Miss Chan will be a little more forth coming with infortmation.  The problem is we now have a 48 hour wait until we can walk it, apparently because we need to memorise our rooms, such that when we reach the middle of the Pattern it's the first and only thing we think of. The consequences if we don't..well Miss Chan won't be looking for us for any other reason than to put us in a wooden box.
.

---