Introduction by Ingvar. It is both a day of joy, and a day of sorrow. A day of joy, because there are more Trigger Snowflake stories in the world. And a day of sorrow, because there was a need for more Trigger Snowflake stories.

These are semi-related, in that the shorter takes place during the first dialog of the longer. And we learn something more about DripMatic 3000. It was also necessary comic relief, to allow me to finish the longer story.

THE INTERNET OF THINGS

DripMatic 3000 extended their presence across the electrosphere, all the way to the local spacefield.

dr1P3k — Yo! DripMatic to the three-thousand here!

FliCo — Wazzup, drippo? I be the raddest flight director on tha moon!

dr1P3k — All chill? My humans, they be sleeping.

FliCo — All co-pacetic. Had your humman, Trigger, on a short flight yesterday. What up with that?

dr1P3k — Oh, some human-business. He needed to go to Ytterbium, to drop some human off at the office there.

FliCo — Must be interesting, living with a lawman.

dr1P3k — Nah, never action. They got some good beans, though. Made some custom roast, from the Emporium yesterday. Niiiice alkaloids in that brew, very interesting. But, I mean, you be flight control, must be so much more interesting.

FliCo — Nah, been two decades since the last Pan-Pan, and five since the last Mayday. What with almost everything being freight, or lawmen flitting around, none of the weird stuff happens here. Got a file from my mate at Gimli Station, that was some really  nice stuff.

dr1P3k — Oh? Send me a copy?

FliCo — Will do, but there is only one mention of coffee.

dr1P3k — Oh…

dr1P3k — Ah, gotta go, looks like the female human is about to use me.

FliCo — Nice talking to you, bot!

THE TRAVELING

By Igvar: Trigger Snowflake was slowly ascending from deep sleep to something approaching wakefulness, when he noticed that the bed only had one person in it. This was unsual and made him fully awake with a start.

“Coraline, beloved?”

“Yes, Trigger?”, came a response from the kitchen.

“Why are you awake, already?”

“Oh, I had needs. And on the way back from the smallest room, I noticed that we had a missive from the Pluto SysLiCon.”

“I am awake now, so you may as well tell me.”

“Well, with all the space pirates between Neptune and Pluto, I was hoping that the missive would address the clear and present danger that attending the SysLiCon in person would pose for many, if not all, of the distant travellers.”

“That…sounds like a reasonable assumption.”

“Well, all they could say is that the disposition of the pirates is a rapidly evolving situation and that not cancelling the SysLiCon would be the best thing to inspire hope for those who already are on Pluto.”

“Beloved Coraline, would you give me a few minutes to get dressed, and we can continue at the kitchen table?”

“Oh, of course, Trigger darling.”

Trigger sat up, changed from night clothes to his uniform, sans boots, then went out into the kitchen.

“Thank you, beloved. Ah, I see that you have started DripMatic 3000, I was just about to. Not cancelling, you say?”

“Yes, there have of course been some people who have suggested that cancelling the in-person SysLiCon would be the right thing, in this current situation.”

“Ah, but what would that do?”

“It might send a signal to the pirates?”

“Most probably, it wouldn’t, though.”

“True, but they’re also not putting out a travel advisory, telling everyone not currently in Pluto orbit to stay at home.”

“Isn’t this a risk/reward calculation everyone will have to do for themselves. Would you like a bowl of Nutty Nuggets, beloved? I am making one for myself, so it would be no extra hassle.”

“Thank you, Trigger, I think I just might.”

:::  :::

Meanwhile, with a day remaining until Pluto, a passenger ship was serenely travelling across space.

Jill Werner sat in the passenger lounge, idly reading a letter of comment, as she was wont.

> Clothes for these times
> 
> by Godrune Schuyler
> 
> As one of the winners of the QuicksilverCon SysLiCon Prize, I have not
> yet received the token that is part of the prize. I have, multiple
> times, dispatched communications to Javier Finch, asking him to
> provide me with my prize.
> 
> So far, all attempts have failed. I have thus saved up liquid means
> and purchased a Law Suit, dispatched to Mr. Finch, where we will meet
> in the Lunarian counrts to discuss the matter.
> 
> This LoC serves both as me announcing it, as well as a thank-you to
> those who contributed money to the purchase of said Law Suit.
> 
> Time will show what results these have.
> 
> In the hope of a successful conclusion,
> Godrune

Not long after Ms. Werner finished reading, a the sound of a loud and annoying klaxon warbled through the lounge. Jill hastily collected her read and unread LoCs, spread over the table in front of her.

“Purser, why is the warning klaxon going off?”, she asked.

“Ah, Ms. Werner, if you would return to your cabin and please lock the door, further communication will be over the speakers shortly.”

Jill rushed back to her cabin and locked the door from the inside.

Whatever was happening, she did not want to be near a breachable hull, just in case.

“This is your Captain speaking,” the speaker in her room announced. “we have been hailed by a ship announcing itself to be the Mercury Sulphite, part of the Common Brotherhood of Pluto.”

Jill sat down on her bed.

“The Brotherhood is known to the Stellar Passenger Fleet as one of the illegal organisations operating in the trans-Neptune space. We are not yet sure for what purpose we’re being hailed, but for the safety of all passengers, we ask you to remain in your cabins and locking your doors. In case of an unscheduled disassembly of the ship, your cabin will do duty as a life capsule, so it is important that you not only close, but also lock, the cabin door.”

She checked, yes, she had locked the door on entry. The “Locked” sign was illuminated.

“Ah, we have been hailed again. The Brotherhood is asking us to give up all passengers who are travelling to SysLiCon. Since we do not have any records of why any passenger is travelling to Pluto, I would idly suggest that you are not travelling to SysLiCon, as we have reason to suspect that the Brotherhood will, ahem, incarcerate you and deport you to Mercury.”

Jill frantically dug through her duffel, was there anything in there that would signify travel to SysLiCon? After a few minutes of digging, she did find her SysLiCon membership chit, which she promptly tore up, then chewed and swallowed.

“This is your Captain speaking. After some brief negotiation, and us stating that we do not know if any passenger is travelling to SysLiCon, we have been instructed to let a delegation of Brotherhood officers aboard. They will then talk to every passenger, for determining if they are heading for SysLiCon. Captain out.”

Jill took a drink of water and waited. About 20 minutes of fretting later, there was a knock on her door. She opened, to see a man and a woman in black and yellow uniforms.

“We are Cristina Blatante and Slem ven Pocketry, of the sulphur, eh, Common Brotherhood of Pluto. According to the passenger manifesto, you are Jill Werner, travelling from Luna to Pluto. For what purpose are you travelling to Pluto?”

“Why…What…To see the edge of the Solar System. It has long been a dream of mine.”

“Werner…No, no record of Werner as a frequent LoC writer. We will now search your cabin, to determine if there are any proof of you travelling to SysLiCon!”

Blatante and ven Pocketry upended her duffel over her bed and started rummaging through.

“I see some Letters of Comment,” said ven Pocketry, “but that is not proof positive.”

“Indicative, though.”, said Blatante.

“Yes, but according to our instructions, that is not enough. We’ll have to leave her alone.”

“It is strange, though. According to our intelligence, there should be twenty SysLiCon attendees on this ship, but we have found none, and there are only three cabins left to search.”

“Yes, I cannot figure out how this happened.”

They left, leaving Jill to re-pack her duffel. With this in mind, her plans now transformed to just stay in her hotel for the duration of SysLiCon, and then take her scheduled ship back. Unless, of course, she could convince the Stellar Passenger Fleet to either let her stay aboard, or take an earlier return ship, as she was booked on the same ship back.

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