I wrote this for my short fiction group in creative writing class. Please feel free to tear this apart, particularly the middle. I want to expand on the toil and obstacles Della faces in creating the wedding cake but I'm not sure how to go about it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Space Age Bakery
"Della, we need more Cabteq pies. A customer wants a dozen." The woman in question narrowed her eyes in irritation at the owner of the monotone voice.
"I'm busy Jebdah!" She furiously slammed her large rolling pin over a ten legged creature’s head multiple times, the coral pink shell cracked and a evergreen foul smelling ooze slid from between the fractures. Della exhaled in relief before putting the hem of her dirtied apron over her nostrils to fight the grotesque stench the liquid produced. Holding her breath, she made sure every drop of the ooze was put inside a slim metallic container and the carcass disposed of before she finally paid attention to her android.
"Cabteq pies eh? Is this that Neuromai woman?" Jebdah nodded, his black eyes betraying no emotion, as was the custom for his line. "They should be in the back container, your hard drive still contains the code right?"
"Yes." He turned on his heel before being stopped by the sound of his owner's voice. "Oh and Jebdah, when you’re finished with that could you finish off the two aripedes in the crate? They need to be used in that Znagonian's wedding cake for the glaze."
"Yes Della."
"Good!"
The young baker glanced at the floating hologram clock to the left of her bay window and frowned. Her crimson eyes narrowed in her reflection as she brushed some of her blue locks from her face. Did she really have to clash this much? Della froze as she suddenly realized what time it was.
"I need to go and meet that one guy! Oh damn, what was his name again?!" She wiped her hands on her apron and fled the room to change and freshen up. Upon returning, she giggled at her robot's appearance.
"So she got the order hm?"
"Yes."
"And she thanked you?"
"Yes." His eyes narrowed in annoyance as he watched the rose colored goop that adorned his hair fall onto the bridge of his nose and stay there.
"Good, scrape off that crap and put it in the other container, we can use that to flavor the dough for the pastries."
"Is that even kosher?"
"How should I know? Judaism was faded out years ago just like all the other religions from the old world. I need the dough to be tasty and that's that. Oh, Jebdah, I'd appreciate it if you handled the shop with Xoi while I'm gone, I have to meet with the head of QuadriStar for the franchising contract." The woman fled from the kitchens, leapt over the glass counters and ran out the front door. Jebdah rolled his eyes and went to the charging station where his smaller robotic companion stood.
-
Della exhaled loudly as she walked out into the open air. A breeze caressed her hair and she coughed at the fumes from the tube transports. She brushed by a rather large three-legged man before standing before a pert attendant with red skin and curved ears.
“Going up Della?”
“I still find it amazing that you know it’s me when you have no eyes.”
The man’s snout wiggled and she fought the urge to laugh.
“But to answer your question, I am. To the Esca please.”
The attendant nodded and strapped her in, took her crystal and charged her the fare needed and shut the door enclosing her in the transparent plastic structure. Della steeled herself as the maze of cylinders and tubing shoved her across the pale amber ocean and across the numerous tanned and silver buildings that covered the planet. She’d grown used to the odd sight of the world as opposed to old world and the view no longer interested her, instead she let her red eyes fall on the myriad of colors in the sky.
The blue was nearby the green streak and across from the yellow so...it was mid afternoon. Just on time. The tube came to an abrupt halt and she nearly fell out from the landing. Luckily the female attendant caught her and gave her a gentle smile, or what could pass for one when you have tentacles for a mouth. Della grinned back in response and rushed inside the immaculate building.
“So...this is Esca.” She took in its nearly gaudy elegance with a grain of salt. She was sure there was more to this visage than she’d care to know. Thankfully, she was here on business and didn’t work here. The young woman wrung her hands nervously as her client’s representative met her in the center of the moonstone lobby and greeted her with a cool handshake and condescending stare. Della fought the urge to kick him in the leg but knew it’d be futile. You can’t hurt someone made of gelatin. Idly, she wondered if she’d be given health violations for using the gunk on her hand as a method of making a jam but was distracted when she finally entered the suite where her business meeting was to take place.
“Ah! Miss Della!”
She looked up, preparing for a completely different species only to be met with a rotund, red-faced man. A typical homo-sapien from the old world was smiling gleefully at her as if her odd appearance was completely normal despite the fact that she had a three pronged tail and a strange diamond on her forehead. Della blinked a few times.
“Hello Sir...”
“Elliot! Call me Elliot! I must say your English is wonderful considering that you live on this colony here.”
“We’ve expanded to be much more than a colony I’m afraid.”
He chuckled and waved down his attendant to serve them some milk tea with stardust. Della raised a brow at the glittery substance adorning her beverage.
“I thought stardust was fatal to a human.”
“Oh don’t be silly, this isn’t real stardust. Merely a man made version for those of us who wanted in on the craze.”
“It doesn’t cause any lasting damage to you does it?” She was as suspicious of this substance as she was the “fast food” the old world harbored.
“Only if you eat it in large doses. Now please enjoy and we can go on with our work.”
Della did as she was bid and grew more comfortable in her seat. She absorbed every detail of the contract before raising her brows to meet her bangs in surprise as she finished off her drink.
“You want me to open establishments in the old world?”
“I think our world is fully ready to take on your wonderful cuisine. It’s a beautiful, delicious mix of different alien cultures.”
“Yes. However are you not aware of what my slogan is Elliot?” Her eyes narrowed. “Made by aliens for aliens. Not homo sapiens I’m afraid. Unless you want me to go through the process of altering my recipes for the old world. If that’s the case I’m turning you down.”
The man grew flustered and thrust his hands out to appease her.
“Oh no of course not! We’d simply see how it went...” The meeting and altering of the contract went on for a good two hours in between meals and unnecessary small talk. However an agreement was reached and Della was about to be much richer in the next few years. She paused as Elliot squeezed her shoulder.
“I do hope you’ll do a good job on my son’s cake.”
“Your son? But you look nothing alike. I mean to say-“
“Don’t fret. I married a Znagonian. He’s marrying a nice Ega girl actually.” Della smiled politely but mentally cowed at the impending hideous exterior their offspring were likely to acquire.
“I’ll do my best.” They said their goodbyes and Della sighed. There was one down. Now she just had an eighteen-tier cake do deal with that merged three different cultures together. She groaned, knowing the next two days were going to be an utter headache.
-
And they were, in fact they were the worst fifty-four hours of her life. She had the supplies, the expertise and the pay. It was the toil and bitching and swearing and utter frustration that came with the extravagant dessert that nearly drove her insane. If it weren’t for Jebdah and his wonderful programming calming her down with his eternal peace of mind, she’d have never finished it and was likely to leap off the side of the tube rail platform.
When the monstrosity was finally finished it had the eighteen tiers, the two customary figurines at the top to satisfy Elliot’s human traditions. It had the runes from the Eda traditions and the ingredients that Znagonian’s considered holy and edible for such a romantic and life-changing event.
Then came the hard part for the robot and his owner. Delivering the giant cake to its destination.
Jebdah was holding one end and Della was holding the other. They slowly inched out of the bakery, as Xoi yelled loudly and waved her lanky arms around to make sure the coast was clear on their way to the tube platform. Della didn’t have to look over her shoulder to see how amazed Ernie was; she could already hear his snorts of surprise.
“The crystals in the back pocket Ernie.” She felt him pull the gem from its confines and quickly slid it through. Xoi pulled the diskette containing the transaction receipt from the man’s grasp and slowly conducted her owner inside one of the large tubes meant for the transportation of deliveries.
Della glared at the streaks in the sky and Jebdah stared at the ocean in a complete deadpan. Her arms were aching from the weight and her robot felt naught a thing, which is logical but still slightly irritated her.
Then, the tube stopped moving. She glanced about wildly in alarm. Why did it stop? Had it shut down? Did she not have enough credits after all? Jebdah sighed and lowered his arms, she managed to catch on and both sat on the ground that massive cake between them and obstructing their view of the other.
Apologies Line 19-024X we are having technical difficulties. They will be resolved in the next fifteen minutes.
Della groaned.
”Crap.”
-
Already wincing, the young woman slowly glanced up at the sky. The purple streak was crossing the red one that had swirled about the darker green on and the yellow streak was off to the left so...
“CRAP THE WEDDING’S GOING TO START!”
If Jebdah had been human, he’d have likely jumped at her abrupt cry. He looked around at the clear walls around them and up at the sky above. Della was right; the difficulties had gone on far longer than the promised fifteen minutes and if it were any longer they’d be out of a high profile client, check, and a nice contract.
“I’ll take care of this.”
“Huh?” She blinked as he slid his left sleeve up to his elbow and turned his hand so the inner side of his wrist faced upward. He tapped the false skin there and it gave, revealing four tiny cords. The young android pulled them out and began to look for openings in the tube.
“There’s no ports in here Jebdah you can’t just-“ Della cocked her head in confusion as he seemed find some openings and attached his cords inside. His eyes dulled to a muted gray and she watched him intently as she made sure her cake was still in pristine condition. “You’re hacking aren’t you?”
Jebdah didn’t reply, instead allowing the maze to do so instead. The tube gave a violent jerk, nearly causing their delivery to topple over and she shrieked, stabilizing it and glowering darkly as they sped through the tubing, narrowly missing other persons and their capsules on the way to the union building.
“Well...thanks.” She glanced at him, but he was too busy making sure they didn’t crash to appreciate her gratitude.
-
Finally, the pair waded through the numerous caterers and attendants and delivered their cake just as the reception goers began to walk in. Della sighed in relief and smiled up at the bride and groom making sure to keep her amazement of their marriage off her face. Elliot walked up and appraised the cake. She already heard the gasps of amazement and surprise.
“You did good kid.” He shook her head, the approval in his eyes showing her that the deal she’d made really was worth all the effort.
“No, thank you.”
Jebdah stood beside Xoi and looked down as the other android tugged on his pant leg.
“All’s well that ends well after all.” She grinned and he chuckled in return.
-FIN-
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