You look around

You look around, seeing retro video game decorations and neon signs on the walls, and rows of arcade and pinball machines. The bar is packed with young adults, most of whom are probably younger than the games they're playing. Over the din of the various game machines, '80s synthwave plays, the entire place riding high on the '80s nostalgia trend, making you wonder if the place could possibly get any more stereotypical. You walk through the gaming area, texting Shari, "are you here yet? The place is packed."

You get a reply, "yeah I'm at the bar. Biker jacket." You shuffle through the crowd in the game room, looking for the entrance to the bar section. You find it, a swinging double door, and step through into the thankfully quieter bar area. The bar is similarly decorated to the game room, but rather than game machines, you see televisions on the wall running various channels, and dining tables filled with people.

You make your way to the bar, and spot a skinny woman wearing a leather jacket, leggings, and ankle-high heeled boots, with the same hair from the earlier selfie, sitting next to an empty barstool. You walk up behind her, and call out, "Shari?"

The woman turns, seeing you, and smiles. She calls out, "what's up?" and leans forward to hug you. You return the hug, and look her over, noticing her jacket is unzipped and she's only wearing a lacy bra underneath, her chest and underboob tattoos in full view. You smile at her and sit down next to her, replying with "nothing, sorry I'm late, I got caught in traffic".

She says back, "it's cool, I only got here a minute ago. I only just ordered, what do you want?"

Taken a bit aback, you ask Shari what they have on tap. She tells you, and it's mostly pale ale microbrews. You ask, "what are you having?", and she responds, "Gulag Grog, it's an imperial stout. Want one?" You're not sure what you should order, and as the bartender brings Shari her beer, she orders you a lager. After a minute the bartender brings you your beer, and the two of you clink your glasses together and take a drink.

You immediately notice it has a much stronger taste than most beers you buy at the market, and it's clearly a lot stronger. You cough a bit and grimace, not expecting its strength, and Shari laughs. "That's the lowest ABV they have on tap, all their microbrews are really strong if you're not a major beer drinker. You good with it?"

"Yeah," you say, "I just wasn't expecting that". Shari says, "great, let's get out of here so we can talk. They have a patio out back." Thankful, you follow Shari out as she knows the way, clearly having been here before. It's much quieter and less crowded on the patio, and you find a table with two seats, and sit down, drinking your beer.

Shari doesn't hesitate to speak. "You don't really remember me, do you?"

"No...sorry," you say, "it's nothing personal, I just don't know many of Alice's friends really well".

"No it's cool," she says, "we only met once, Alice's birthday party? I gave her the Reign of Intrigue book series."

Her comment jogs your memory, and you remember her at Alice's party. You remember she wasn't there long, just long enough to meet you, give her gift, catch up with Alice, and leave with the guy she came with. "Yeah, I remember now," you say.

"What did she think of the books?"

You think for a moment, saying "she never read them, she doesn't want to start it until she has time. I did, though."

"I figured she wouldn't. What did you think?"

You reply, "they're nothing like the show, I have to wonder if they just licensed the name for brand recognition".

Shari leans forward, gesturing towards you with her hand. "Right? The show's great, but all they took from it were the names and sex scenes! The books are so much better for actually having, you know, suspense and intrigue."

Before the two of you can start talking about the books, a waitress walks up, greets you, and hands you menus before walking away. You look at the menu, and the food runs the entire gamut from "man child concoction" to "hipster dumpster dive". Your eyes widen, and you can't help but ask Shari about one menu entry, "...old school pizza? Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah, like school cafeteria pizza. It's...not half bad. Same shape and texture, but they add more seasoning and olive oil to make it not taste so...cardboard-y."

"Right," you say. "What are you getting?"

"I'm just going to get a plate of wings, World 6".

You reply, "cool, how hot are those?"

She thinks. "Uhh, habanero sauce? Little hotter, maybe?"

"Sounds good," you say.

"Want to split an order of twelve?" she asks you.

"Sure, I'll try it" you say. When the waitress returns, she puts in the order, and turns back to you. Shari says, "I have to ask, what did you think of the orgy scene in the first season?"

"The show?" you ask, feeling you're suddenly being given a litmus test, knowing how controversial the scene was when it aired.

"Yeah".

"I...was it really necessary to combine it with the scene where Isabella is talking to Lucinde about the plan to poison Duveaux? It just seemed...gratuitous to me. They could have skipped the orgy entirely and just gotten on with it."

Shari says, "I liked it. It showed how Isabella and Lucinde are sexually empowered, and underscored their willingness to use sex as a weapon when it's smarter for them to act indirectly. Why put yourself in a position to get pilloried when you can manipulate someone into doing your bidding?"

You say, "sure, but there were like a dozen other people in the room. Any one of them could have been a spy, or ratted them out to Duveaux."

Shari stops. She says, "...you are literally the first person I've heard to point that out".

You throw your hands up in front of you. "Right? Everyone complained about the nudity and sex, when they undermined the entire scene. The reason Isabella and Lucinde arranged the orgy, was so they could plot while everyone was busy fucking and wouldn't overhear. The way it was handled in the show, they just look like idiots who can't keep a secret!"

Shari sips her beer, and says, "that's a really good point...yeah, once you look at it that way, the scene was really stupid." A bit of quiet falls on the table as Shari thinks about your point, and as it seems like Shari is about to say something, the waitress brings the wings.