Traveling to the Restaurant
Su Ting searched business etiquette after the car quickly fell silent. She took a quick glance for now, marking it for proper reading later: Formal posture, looking into their eyes, keeping body language and fidgeting to a minimum, unpresumptuous (always confirm, never assume), and, of course, obtaining vocal responses whenever possible. These were the ones Su Ting had noticed during her quick scroll through. It was her stepmother in an article.
Once she'd set that problem aside her mind turned to the man sitting next to her. William Conners, Chinese name Quan Zihao, is now her fiance. At the first meeting, she burst into tears in his arms. Her cheeks warmed up.
What was that outburst about? That was crazy. Su Ting hadn't known until today that she's been holding back since her return. She thought she'd already let that all out. As it turns out, accepting something like that isn't as easy as she'd thought.
He looked like he knew where they were going, so she wondered whether she should offer a place. He shouldn't know his way around, right?
'Biochips offer navigation services.'
Su Ting heard the voice and glanced at the man beside her. He had his eyes glued to the window and fingers on the controls. They were really for emergencies only, but he was treating it like he was the one driving through the air instead of auto nav. Did he know that you can just tell your biochip where to go? She herself had forgotten until recently. Maybe he also didn't know?
Seeing his relaxed expression, she thought he must know what he was doing. She still wanted to ask, but being unfamiliar with him she didn't know if she'd offend him. Or if he'd consider her crazy. After all, it was unusual for people to live like her. It was considered a disability to live without tech. To most people, even children, telling the biochip where to go is like pressing snooze on your alarm clock in the morning or paying for something from the store. It was common sense. A kid likes candy and an adult likes transportation. As simple as that. Would he be weirded out if she told him to turn off an alarm clock?
She stayed silent.
The drive took 12 minutes. They ended up in the suburbs in a quaint little place. It was quiet, not a lot of people around, but still looked nice. It was a good place to sit down for a while and talk. Although she was imagining a private room. This may even be nicer.
The green field on the other side of the building and the sweet air brought a smile to her face as she stepped out of the hover car. The building in front of her was only two stories tall. On the second story, there was a wrap-around porch with a few sets of tables and chairs. They could be chosen to eat while watching the surrounding nature. They stepped on the stone path to find a hostess inside. This was very suitable for people like her, who preferred the real to the buttons on a screen. They had waiters and waitresses here, not just a food simulator at the table! She observed with relish.
"How many in your party?"
Su Ting glanced at the man in front of her. He didn't speak. Su Ting spoke up, "Two, thank you."
The hostess nodded, "Alright, I'll show you to your table." She picked out two laminated menus and turned to guide them down the hall.
"Actually," Su Ting said, "We are looking for a place that's suitable for a long talk. Do you mind if we sit on the terrace?"
The hostess smiled, "Of course. I will also let your server know to take their time. Is that alright with you?"
She didn't want to be hounded for the check while they talked, "Much appreciated, thank you."
"Right this way then." The hostess led them to a staircase.
Su Ting was slightly shocked. She didn't know establishments were still allowed to use staircases as their main way to travel between floors. It was usually elevators or floor jumpers nowadays. Staircases were back-up or in case of emergencies. Even then it was regularly not used. Most buildings, even homes, didn't even bother building them anymore. Although national-level companies, like Mu Fang's, may have requirements for such things.
They followed her up and sat down. The hostess said her part and left them.
Su Ting stared at her menu, "Um… I hope you don't mind me asking for the terrace?" she glanced up.
His expression still hadn't changed. She was beginning to think his face was stuck that way. Just as she was about to rethink everything that had happened and spiral about what he really thought, he smiled and shook his head.
Su Ting let out a breath she didn't know she'd held. "So, um… What should I call you?"
He swiped his fingers in the air. A holo popped up. Words began filling it. The screen was between both of them, so it should be backward to one of them, but both saw different content. They both saw the words the right way according to their positions. Su Ting thought it was quite deceptive of tech to create such a thing. She could only see what her biochip showed her the screen looked like. Other onlookers wouldn't even see the screen. It felt wretched to her. It always left her with a lump in her throat. What if the partner was looking at something else? Who knew what they could be doing on their side? Just one more reason to hate tech. Although she couldn't deny its convenience. Which made her hate it even more.
He glanced at her and smiled. His fingers slid along in the air. As he wrote on the right, words appeared on her left. [I hope you don't mind--although my vocal box is injured and using local sound projection is the most common method--I prefer writing it out with my own hands. Instead of a fake voice, at least this is my own writing. It feels more comfortable that way.
[As for my name, my English name is William Conners. My Chinese name is Quan Zihao. You can call me whatever you'd like.
[I also prefer the terrace.]
She already knew about his voice box. It was injured by some gangsters a few months ago. After this incident, he turned from outside jobs to gaming to pay for his family's living expenses. As it turns out, he is really good at games. This is when his achievements began. However, they are still at the lower levels and don't stand out much to the big gamers.
Su Ting giggled. "I asked you to talk to… um… Ask you… how do you see our future?" She stumbled over her words. Was it alright to ask him to help her in the game to start with? Or should she just try on her own?