Princess’ Decree

The people in town square’s eyes all fixed themselves to a single point. Frankie and Katie promptly joined them, late as usual, just in time to see the MASCOT take her stage.

Egelfride clearly carried herself with more dignity than her counterparts- and at least twice the pride. She was a literal princess, taking the center platform atop the town fountain in her elegant long dress, a stark, intense white that somehow stood out even from the snow, making look like a dark, ugly gray in comparison. She spoke to everyone without an external mic- the robotics inside her provided everything she needed.

“Good afternoon, my beloved subjects. The time of Moonfall is nigh. Please, if I may ask you one thing as your ruler… tell me, truly, are you excited?”

Everyone from little girls to grown men hollered in affirmation. The princess spoke in an almost obtuse, contrived way, stopping and starting as she pleased, with a forced and in some ways sad-sounding intonation. Somehow, it only served to make her more charismatic.

“I… apologize. It seems I… cannot hear you, on this day. Could you… tell me, just once more, for my sake?”

The crowd yelled even louder to the point where Frankie had to cover her ears. It didn’t help that Katie was one of the ones yelling. She made damn sure the squealing had stopped before she took her hands off the sides of her head.

“Frankie, is she pretty?”

“Why do you need my opinion?” Annoyed, the sister looked at the princess again. “I’m not the boss of who does and doesn’t look pretty.”

“But is she pretty?”

Frankie took a good, long, hard, annoyed look at the woman.

“Sure.” She groaned. “She’s pretty.”

Katie was happy. The royal soon began to speak again, and with it came the final bits of information about the impending contest.

“As it’s ruler, I alone possess the power to control the weather of this land. It is why I have granted you a world of snow in which to retreat to. Today, I will reward you all for your kindness in staying here by giving just a bit of my wealth to the ones who helped me get where I am now. Consider it… a way of showing my thanks.”

Frankie wasn’t really enjoying the lore dump, forced to pace around in her own agitated thoughts. Can I skip this cutscene? When does she get to the important stuff?

“The rain of money will be hard, and slightly dangerous. Helmets are being provided as I speak, handed out through the crowd. If you have any small children, please move indoors immediately.”

The sisters could already see the staff working their way through the crowd handing out workplace headwear with goggles. Safety first, Frankie guessed. They didn’t look especially immersive though.

Egelfride raised her hands. The time was nigh.

“In five minutes, I will activate my trickery, causing the rain to begin. There will be no end time. Pick the tokens off the ground for as long as you like. I trust that you will be civil, but rest assured, my loyal knights are here to take care of any uncouth brawls. Obviously, please do not attempt to take someone’s earnings when they have already entered their possession, and if you see someone headed for a token, I ask that you do not intercept. It will be faster to keep to yourself anyway.”

As she and Katie took their helmets and strapped them on, Frankie wondered how many, if any, of those rules the marketing team would end up obeying. She looked around for them, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen. It did pose an advantage, not going to the conference- even if it meant they wouldn’t know the rules. She doubted they’d have followed them anyway.

“Have fun, my subjects.” The princess stepped down from her stone podium, her people spreading out through the kingdom.

“Guess we should get going… Where do you wanna set up shop?”

“Right in front of the castle.” Katie stared up at the blue monument, still just as transfixed by it as when they’d first entered.

“Then we need to start running. Come on!”

With their bag and their net in hand, the girls went off to their soon-to-be area of operations.

Above them, the sneaking antihero watched them from the rooftops. He put a hand to the communications device on his ear.

“Castle. Over.”

He looked down on the girls, infuriated at his orders to stay on the outside for this operation. It wasn’t his fault his last plan didn’t work out, he told himself. I should be out there stopping them. Nobody would be better suited for the job…

But alas, as much as he hated them, Anti still lacked the motivation to disobey his boss’ direct commands. He followed the targets from afar, making sure they didn’t change course.

“Brats. If this plan doesn’t get you… I’ll make sure you don’t make it to see the next.”