RIP6.1

BEGIN: ------- VII -------

I had never had ice cream before. I had no idea what it was, until Sarla explained it to me. Apparently it is frozen milk, mixed with various flavors? I suppose I can imagine how flavored frozen milk would taste, but the truth seemed to be entirely different. Ice cream was a very different thing from mere 'flavored frozen milk'.

I took up another spoonful. I suppose I was tempted to go for the cherry flavor, given my main color. It's red. When I visited the mental collective, I could briefly perceive the source of the other ACWs voices as colors. Harana is pink, Sanara is blue and Alexandra is golden.

My color is apparently defined as red. When I recorded the Phasing ability, I could also feel a surge of power, and even with my eyes closed, everything appeared red. It was oddly comforting, even if red isn't regarded as a particularly 'calm' color.

I looked out the window next. The Ice Palace was apparently a prominent ice cream maker and vendor. This place was full of rich people. To my left, there is a man in a massive coat, lined with shiny silver scales and a diamond monocle. To my right, the lady with her three kids is wearing a dress covered entirely in blue gems.

"This place doesn't see a lot of service. If it did, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand. Having ice cream is seen as some form of social posturing, I suppose."

Sarla probably figured out what I was thinking, which means I was looking at those people a bit too much. Uff. Be subtle, Lily! However, she also brought up something rather interesting. "Social posturing? What do you mean?"

"Well, it's more to show that you are capable of affording ice cream. It's a way to show off among the rich elites. Since they can't really show off their wealth in a larger or wider scale, like with owning massive mansions or transports, due to how compact space is and how constrained transportation regulations get, they have to make do with what they can.

Ordinary people will come here only on the rarest of occasion and that is if they can justify the exorbitant cost."

I blinked. "Wait.. this place is costly? Then how did you pay for it?! I thought we were saving the money for a trip out of here."-I knew that Sarla wouldn't have spent all that money without a reason. Indeed, she smirked confidently and pulled out two small strips of blue and white paper, with the Ice Palace logo up front.

"These are coupons for three medium sized cups, each person. I managed to get them from a trader in the Atoll, who was running low on water. He was willing to part with anything... well, giving him the water downright would have been the right choice, but Vorlan insisted we got something in return.

I just went with one of the things he could do without. A free ice cream seemed pretty inconsequential..."

I heard Sarla recount that story, and I could see a