2024-07-13: Cancelled Leave

• Log: 2024-07-13: Cancelled Leave
• Cast: Rose Tritten, Aspyn Strom, Sushila Matthews
• Where: Camp Archimedes, Armory One, L4
• Date: U.C. 0099 07 10
• Summary: The Tritten Team's leave has been cancelled, and Rose overhears a sensitive conversation between Aspyn and her brother.

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With careful precision, Rose applied a coat of blue nail polish onto her big toe, allowing it to join its siblings in uniformity. It was a hot day on Armoury One, the artificial temperature being cranked up to reflect the summer months. Her room was, for the time being, occupied only by herself. She was sharing it with her two teammates, Aspyn Strom, and Sushila Matthews.

They had arrived to their new station, Armory One a few months earlier, as part of the security increases implemented after the heist of a trio of prototype Gundams months earlier. They weren’t a permanent part of the garrison however, and each of them had a separate locker on one of the Nazca-Classes, the Eco, assigned to SAL’s 1st Expeditionary Fleet, part of ZAFT and the PLANTs contributions to the Space Assembly League. For the most part, their days had been spent on briefings, training, and the occasional anti-piracy operation with very little action.

As Rose kicked her feet up on her stack of pillows to dry, she closed her eyes to get started on a nap. Shushila had gone off to the nearby town that supported the base and military families for a booze run, while outside by the window, Asypn had gone to sun herself, and Rose could hear each time she took a hit off of her vaporizer pen from it’s dull, low tone. Then, the calm was punched through by Aspyn’s cell phone ringing, a poorly compressed mp3 of a Ranka Lee song she insisted was worth the five dollars she paid for despite Shushila showing her a way to do it at higher quality and for free. Aspyn took another hit from the pen, and the growl she made let Rose know that her hopes for a nap were now dashed.

“Hello, Brian.” Aspyn growled, annoyed.

Half a month had passed since Aspyn started to get unusual emails from random men she didn’t know trying to strike up conversation with her. Aspyn wasn’t the kind of woman who disliked getting hit on, but a trend started to appear, as these men were much older than she liked. At first the trio brushed it off as someone playing a mean trick on Aspyn, someone writing her email on a bathroom stall somewhere.

Then, she asked one of them where he got the email address, and all hell broke loose between her and her parents. In order for anyone to qualify for a marriage licence in the PLANTs, they were required to undergo a genetic health and fertility test, which was entered into a central registry for marriage planning. With the rapidly declining fertility of Coordinators with each generation, marriage in the PLANTs was more for the production of children then it ever was for love.

The trio had an unfortunate trait they all shared. Their rates of fertility were low, or in Aspyn’s case, none. For many of the older generations in the PLANTs, if the information was easily accessible, they were seen as genetic “dead-ends”, and prospects for marrying someone who wasn’t also infertile were extremely low. Of course, it was also an open secret that the more well to do would never undergo the public test without taking a private, very expensive, and under the table test, to avoid the public humiliation of a child with fertility issues. Aspyn’s family had her tested this way, and their relationship had been strained ever since.

This of course had now exploded with the revelation that Aspyn’s mother had registered her for a service that paired up infertile Coordinator women with well to do men. At best, it could be described as a Trophy Wife delivery system. Aspyn couldn’t talk for half a week after screaming at her mother over the vid phone. Rose settled in for another screaming session.

“Yes Brian, I have been screening mother’s calls.” Asypn said to an un-hearable voice, each line punctuated with the low tone of her vape pen, her voice surprisingly calm, but Rose knew that probably wasn’t going to be the case for long.

“She knows what she needs to do if she wants me to talk to her again.” Dooooooooooot.

“I don’t care if it cost a bajillion dollars, Brian, she’s not the one getting lewd photos from weird old men!” Dooooooooooot.

“Why do I have to tolerate it, Brian? What, am I getting cut off?...YOU HAD BETTER NOT BE CALLING ME TO TELL ME I’M GETTING CUT OFF!” Somehow, the doot felt angrier this time.

“I am not going to be some old bastard’s mistress, Brian!” Dooooooooooooooooot.

“THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT SHE’S DONE, SHE MAY AS WELL HAVE SOLD ME OFF TO HUMAN TRAFFIC GUYS!...YES THOSE, SHUT UP I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!” Dooooooooooooooot.

“I have a mountain of guys who would kill their best friend to marry me, knowing that I can’t have kids!” Doooooooooooooooooot.

“I don’t know, Brian, she’s the one being a total ‘B’ about this!” Dooooooooooooot.

“THIS ISN’T MY FAULT BRIAN, I DIDN’T FAKE THE TEST.” Dooooooooooooooooooooot.

“Well tell her I’m so sorry my ovaries are full of dust! She wants me to talk to her ever again, she takes me off of that service and any other services she’s signed me up for thinking will ‘help’ me. I’m happy exactly where I am.” Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot.

“Maybe if the emails stop before then....okay bye, love you, I guess.”

This time, the punctuation was a frustrated growl, the sound of her lawn chair creaking, and the door back into the barracks being slammed shut. Rose sat up, watching the door, which stood still only for a moment before the handle turned, and it swung open. Aspyn walked in, wearing nothing but the teal bikini she was sunning herself in, as well as a big sunhat that was quickly taken off of her blond and indigo locks and tossed to the floor, along with the pair of sunglasses that had been dangling from her bikini top before she flung herself onto her bunk and screamed into her pillow.

Rose let her friend finish, and then paused for a bit before speaking.

“You okay?” Rose asked, watching Asypn roll over.

“No.” Aspyn frowned, putting a forearm over her eyes and laying her vape on to the nearby shelf. “She’s the WORST, I hate her SO MUCH. She just...she’s in denial, and has been /forever./”

Rose looked over at the door, hoping for Sushila to not walk in. “Yeah I heard. I don’t want to be...unfeeling, but...”

“I’m fine, I won’t complain about it when she gets back.” Aspyn sighed.

While Rose and Aspyn both still had their families, Sushila did not. She was born on Junius 7, and was at a technical university on Aprillius 2 when the Bloody Valentine Massacre happened. While Sushila insisted there was no issue in the others discussing family matters, Rose and Aspyn still made every effort to not do so around her.

“UGHHHHHHHHHHH!” Aspyn moaned once more, with her usual drama. “This week has been the WORST. I can’t believe my leave was cancelled on short notice! I was supposed to go to go and see Sheryl Nome! It took me forever to get those tickets, and get shuttles booked, and a hotel, and UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The door opened, and Sushila stepped in, carrying two bags full of alcohol. She was looking as moody as ever. Pale and gothy, her hair adorned with purple dye.

“I’m back.” She said, putting one of the bags on the floor.

“Did you get my-” Aspyn sat up.

“Yes, I got your repugnant Cherry – Bubblegum Vodka Coolers.” Sushila said rolling her eyes.

Aspyn reached out her hands, not unlike a child, demanding a can be handed to her with the utterance of “Gimmiegimmiegimmiegimmie!”

Sushila sighed, and popped one of them from its ring, away from its companions and handed it to her. Aspyn excitedly cracked the top and took a big swig, sighing in refreshed enjoyment.

“Ahhhhhhhh....yummy!” Aspyn smiled. “Mmm, that’s exactly what I needed!”

“Don’t drink too much, we have to report to the Eco at 0800 tomorrow morning and we can’t be hung over.” Rose cut in, as she could feel the cold chill of a can touch her cheek, her instincts pushing her away from it. She turned to see that Sushila was presenting her with a can of her favourite Cider.

“One drink isn’t gonna kill us.” Sushila said.

Rose took the can and shrugged, cracking it open. “They did cancel our leave on short notice.”

Sushila flopped down on the bunk next to Aspyn and popped open her wine cooler. “Yeah, why did they, where are we going?”

Rose shrugged again. “They don’t tell me anything either, even as a Red.”

“It’s a total load of fuck-shit either way.” Aspyn said, frumpy before she took another sip. “I’d better get compensation for my stuff.”

“How much did you spend on everything?” Rose asked.

“Like two months pay.”

“How did you manage to save two months pay?” Sushila cut in.

“I can save money! I skipped an entire month of Ultra Eats Order in!” Aspyn smiled proudly.

“You can rent cars from the base, just go into town and pick it up!” Sushila scolded her.

“UGHHHH but then I have to do stuff!”

As the two continued to argue, Rose watched with a smile. The trio had spent the last year in the ZAFT military academy, each of them enlisting days before the Bloody Valentine War came to a draw, each one choosing to remain, even though they had the option to cancel as part of the deescalation and demobilization efforts. Ever since, the trio were practically inseparable although as hard as she tried to drag her friends across the line with her, only Rose left the academy with a coveted Red Uniform, currently hanging carefully in her closet. These kinds of arguments between Aspyn and Sushila were typical, and they always returned to normal within minutes. But right now, she was just content to watch her two goobery friends. Tomorrow, they would be on the ship, going off to who knew where. But for now...

It was time to relax.