Chapter 13: Picnic?

“It's almost lunchtime, ’m hungry,” Moira groaned, rubbing her stomach.

“We should get something to eat,” Skye nodded in agreement. “There’s a cafeteria not far from here.”

“But I wanted to eat here… I mean, the scenery is so nice, right?” Moira asked. “Can’t we have… what was it called again? A picnic?”

Skye raised her eyebrow. “A… ‘picnic’? What’s that? I’m not familiar with that word.”

Jason’s heart stopped in his chest. He remembered that word. In one of the short stories from their book, a pair of Partners did a “picnic”. Moira had wrote to him about how fun that sounded, but in her hunger she must have forgotten to keep it a secret.

“I know what that is!” Jason volunteered. “I looked it up in the library the other day! On Earth, people would pack up food and go out into nature to eat a meal together. That’s what you were talking about, right, Moira?”

Realizing her mistake, Moira played along, nodding. “Yeah, exactly! Yup. I read about it. In the library.”

“I see,” Skye said, stroking her chin. “I’m impressed! I would expect that from you, Jason, but Moira? You’re doing research on your own, now? That’s great!”

“Well, you know,” Moira said, scratching her curly hair sheepishly.

“…However, the answer is still no. After all, the only appropriate substitute for a forest is the oxygen farm, and it is not permitted to bring food inside.”

Moira’s shoulders slumped and she deflated with a sigh. “Okay…”

“Sorry,” Andrew apologized, walking over. “It did sound like a good idea.”

Jason didn’t want to give up, though. Moira looked so glum, it just didn’t seem fair.

“Well, why don’t we just ask, then?”

Skye raised her eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“We aren’t allowed to eat food here normally, right? But what if we asked Ai for permission? She might say yes, you never know!” It was a long shot and he knew it, but seeing Moira’s eyes light up with hope made him at least want to try.

“I suppose there’s no harm in asking,” Skye agreed after thinking for a second. A small, shy smile touched her lips. “…To be honest, it does sound rather pleasant, eating in a peaceful place like this instead of the loud cafeteria.”

“Awesome!” Jason was surprised that she was actually onboard. But he knew that if Ai said no, she’d immediately change her position, so he didn’t want to get too hopeful.

Skye turned and walked to the entrance of the oxygen farm. It was hard to tell where it was due to the walls having been decorated to look like more forest, but when she activated the telescreen it became clear.

“Ai? I would like to make a formal request,” Skye addressed the computer.

“Hello Skye! What can I do for you?” Ai chirped.

“Jason, Moira, Andrew and I were about to go to lunch. But we were wondering if it would be possible to have our lunch in the oxygen farm?”

Ai shook her head. “Sorry! No food is permitted in the oxygen farm.”

“I see. Thank you.”

“May I ask why you would make such a request, Skye?” Ai inquired. “You are well-informed of the rules, correct?”

Even though their request had been denied, Jason still felt an urge to laugh. Skye’s reputation as a staunch adherent to the rules of the Bunker was so well-known that even asking Ai for permission to violate one was seen as strange behavior.

“Under normal circumstances I would never ask this question of you,” Skye admitted. “However, Jason informed me of something called a… what was it again?” She turned to him for confirmation.

“A picnic,” Jason said, coming over to join her.

“Yes, a picnic, with the four of us.”

“Oh! You would like a picnic! That sounds just swell!” Ai brightened. “Wait, have you learned about picnics yet in class? I thought dating activities wouldn’t be covered for another few weeks?”

“Oh, no, I read about it!” Jason said quickly. “In the library. Ever since the topic of ‘dates’ came up in our Adult Education classes, I’ve been really interested in good date ideas! Yeah, that’s it.” He was lying through his teeth, but neither Skye nor Ai noticed. “So I just thought, well…”

“A double date!” Ai said, clapping her hands together. “Why, that’s a lovely idea! I’m so proud of you two, taking such initiative for yourselves!”

“Double…”

“…Date?”

Skye and Jason glanced at each other, confused about the terminology.

“Indeed! It’s a phrase from old Earth!” Ai explained. “When two couples, that is, two pairs of Partners, want to spend time together as a foursome, they go on a ‘double date’! It is similar to a regular date, but not as intimate.”

“Intimate?” Skye crinkled her forehead. “I haven’t heard that word before. Is that related to Intimacy Preparation?”

Ai’s expression switched to an impenetrably cold smile. “I’m sorry. I cannot define that word for you until you have reached the appropriate level in your Adult Education classes. Please ask again later.”

As soon as the prepared statement finished, she returned to her normal friendly self. “So the four of you wish to go on a double date?”

“Yes?” Jason asked. “You know, if that’s okay. If we haven’t gotten far enough in our classes, then it’s fine if we don’t…” They hadn’t even prepared for regular dates yet.

“It is certainly an irregular request,” Ai agreed. “I will take a moment to make my decision.”

She blinked.

“I have arrived at a decision! Adult Education Students ‘Jason’, ‘Skye’, ‘Andrew’, and ‘Moira’ are granted special permission for a double date! This permission will expire at the conclusion of the date! The activity will be a ‘picnic’ that shall take place during the scheduled lunchtime of the declared parties. No unauthorized behaviors are permitted during the course of the double date, with the exception of special authorization to consume food and drink within the oxygen farm in such a way that falls within the parameters of a picnic!”

“Really?” Jason and Skye shared a surprised and excited look. Neither had expected Ai to actually agree!

“So you mean we can have a picnic after all?” He needed to be sure.

“Absolutely! I decided that it would be an appropriate extracurricular activity to improve the relationship between the Partners involved! Consider it a special preview study session of the upcoming curriculum, and study hard! Your food will be prepared for you in the cafeteria!”

She smiled politely. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No, that’s all, thank you for your permission,” Skye said.

“Of course! My duty is to serve!”

Skye switched the telescreen off and turned to Moira and Andrew.

“Ai has given us permission for the picnic!”

Moira jumped for joy. “Yes! That’s amazing! Thank you, Skye!” She ran over to the girl and nearly hugged her, but stopped herself.

“I’m sorry, I almost hugged you,” she said sheepishly.

“Not at all. Thank you for being considerate of my personal space,” Skye accepted the apology with a smile, happy that Moira was keeping her mind on the rules.

“So should we go get our food, then?” Jason asked. His stomach was rumbling as loudly as Moira’s.

“Sounds like a ‘yes’ to me!” Moira said, and the two shared a laugh.

…

“Why is it in a basket?” Skye asked, confused. She studied the wicker basket as the four of them walked back to the oxygen farm.

“I think it has something to do with the picnic?” Jason asked. The book hadn’t been that specific. “It’s a… picnic basket, I think?”

“How odd. Such a well-crafted item for such a simple purpose, interesting,” Skye mused. They entered the farm.

“So how does this ‘picnic’ work?” Andrew asked. “Moira, you read about it, right?”

“Well… I think we find somewhere we want to eat? Here should be fine, right Jason?” One of the best parts of the farm’s uniformity was that every patch of grass and trees looked the same as every other patch.

“So we eat on the grass, then? Without a chair or table?” Skye didn’t seem that enthusiastic anymore. She set the picnic basket on the ground and opened it up. “Wait, what’s this?”

She pulled out a stretch of canvas patterned in a red and white checkerboard, showing it to the others. “Surely this isn’t part of the meal?”

“Oh, I think that’s a picnic blanket!” Jason realized. “We’re supposed to set it down on the ground like a bedsheet. That’s where we eat.”

“Oh! I see, I see,” Skye nodded. The four of them spread out the blanket, surprised at how big it was. There was more than enough room for all four of them.

There was a surprising amount of variety within the contents of the basket. A sandwich for each of them, with slices of artificial turkey, cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce, as well as four containers of diced fruit. To drink, there was a tall pitcher of lemonade and a set of plastic cups. Jason licked his lips at the dessert, which was a slice of cherry pie for each of them.

Skye was astonished once again. Jason wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her look so surprised this many times in one day.

“It’s a feast, are we really allowed to eat so much food when it isn’t a holiday?”

“It must be because it’s a picnic?” Andrew suggested. “I’m not complaining anyway.

“Hey, what’s this stuff?” Moira asked, pulling a plastic container out of the bottom of the basket. There were more inside.

“More fruit, maybe?” Jason shrugged.

Moira opened it and took a look. She shook her head. “No, I think it’s… macaroni and cheese? But it’s cold. And covered with this sticky white stuff.”

Jason picked up one of the containers and looked inside. Yeah, it looked like macaroni, but there were chunks of vegetable chopped up into it.

“Cold macaroni? How strange… could it be a mistake?” Skye asked.

Moira being Moira, she ignored Skye’s concerns and dug right in. Her face lit up after the first bite. “It’s delicious! Jason, you gotta try it! It’s like macaroni, but like… not!”

“It kind of looks like a salad,” Skye said, staring at hers. “But with pasta.”

Jason was starting to drool. It all looked so good! This “picnic” was a great idea!