Getting settled

Picking up her backpack she follows you out the door. There you follow the path alongside the grass to the guest rooms on the right-hand side of the main house. These outlying buildings were made to serve as guestrooms with basic amenities.

When you're inside the building you say “one room is already occupied but for the rest pick any room you want. Once you're settled I assume you wanna join me for breakfast … right. Because to get here at this time you had to leave Vale awfully early this morning.”

“Yeah ... you are … right” she sighs. “I spent the night at a guesthouse in Vale and left early this morning.”

On that note you leave the guestrooms building and head back to the main house.

While you’re preparing breakfast you see Sophie enter. She was probably in the sanitary utilities when you were there with Eilidh. She heads to what serves as the dining room, a large wooden table and some cupboards against the wall. She takes a seat on one of the wooden chairs around the table. Through an arch in the wall that leads to the kitchen area you see she put on more casual attire, simple pants and a hoody. A bit later Eilidh also enters the room and heads for the table.

“Ok, guys,” you call from the kitchen area. “Will someone set the table please? I’m done here.”

So while Sophie gets the dishes and cutlery from the cupboard you enter with a tray that has a basket with bread, jars with honey and jam, and cheese on top of it. Because you are not on a farm like some of your neighbors you have to barter for it. But all you have to barter with are logging rights. Like many outer regions of the megacities Emma runs a local exchange for this kind of IOU. A pragmatic solution you think.

Over breakfast you introduce Sophie and Eilidh to each other. This results in some small talk at the table. To conclude the meal you finish with a hot beverage made of locally roasted grains.

And so the morning winds down to noon. With you cleaning up after breakfast. Sophie looking something up on the Grid. She is still lingering on, claiming it is part of her job as a settling agent. You do have some reservations about her claim, but who are you to complain when a nice good looking girl wants to stay in your company … right. Eilidh has returned to her room to get things organized because apparently she just dropped her backpack off and beelined back for the breakfast table. Not that you can blame her considering she already made the trip from Vale this morning.
When you leave the main house to get some fresh air you see something in the sky heading in your direction...