Preparation is a vital part of any activity. Be it exam taking, practical jokes, dressing in the morning or setting up a party, it is vitally important to prepare in some small measure, at least, well in advance. This was a fact that Ryoko Mendo knew quite well. In order to sow chaos, there must first be order. In order to knock down a house of cards, one must first build it up.
That is why she had sent her Kuroko to investigate first. The alien girl Lum was doing... something in the Moroboshis' back garden involving a door standing upright in the middle, into which she would disappear with a variety of tools and equipment. As for the boy, Ataru himself, he was in his room reading magazines. Her Kuroko had helpfully brought her pictures of him reclined on the floor, relaxing nonchalantly while no doubt filling his mind with manners and ways to make women feel so good they tripped over themselves to become part of his...
Ryoko stuffed the picture into her pocket and delicately wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. Not because she was drooling over him or anything quite so ludicrous. Not at all! She was simply a little bit peckish, that was all. Drooling over pictures of an extremely attractive member of the opposite sex was the sort of thing that her idiotic brother would do. Not her! Not at all!
Her transport stopped moving, which would only ever happen if they had arrived at their destination. Ryoko stepped out into the peasants' back garden - so miniscule and tiny it was a wonder she could breathe - and sure enough found a door, standing upright against nothing. She circled around it with her hands behind her back. Hm. Not much else for it, then. She knocked on the door, then gestured for the dismissal of her Kuroko, at least for the time being.
The door opened. A steel-faced monster popped its face out. Ryoko gave it a flat, deadpan look, and the monster lifted its face to reveal the rather prettier one of the alien girl Lum.
"Ah?" Lum said. "Hello. You're Shutaro's little sister, aintcha? The troublemaker?"
Ryoko flashed her most charming smile, but it seemed as though this was the wrong bait for this little fish. "No need to be suspicious," Ryoko sniffed, giving a flip of her hair. Might as well play the part expected of her. "This meteor shower celebration sounds intriguing. I would like to observe, if possible." She tilted her head and looked inside the door. There was definitely something more spectacular inside than merely a back garden. "Remarkable," she absently, and honestly, said. "Extraterrestrial technology even surpasses what the Mendo family can currently achieve."
"Oh, you mean these dimensional spaces?" Lum asked. "Ah, I'm sure Earth will have them too before long. Why don't you come in so that I can show you around?"
"In other words, you're curious what my game is and want to catch me out," Ryoko suggested.
"Hmm, you said it." Lum stepped aside and Ryoko quickly followed after. The alien girl then closed the door so that even her Kuroko couldn't follow. Fufufufu, they weren't needed anymore anyway. The inside was... Rather unimpressive all truth told, aside from the extra dimensional nature of the room. There were two doors. One with "boys" over it, the other "girls". The ceiling was transparent and showed a remarkably clear vision of the sky... Possibly magnified? Fascinating. This Lum girl was sharp and her technology was rather impressive, however the decor left much to be desired.
"What's in the box?"
"Oh, this?" Ryoko casually answered, nodding at the harmless little box she was carrying with her while making a big show of looking around at everything... Was that a maze? "Just a little gift for the party, I'll let you see it later on. In the meantime, would you mind showing me around - "
"Show me," Lum insisted, a trifle impatiently. Ohoho! Little alien girl was afraid Ryoko might leave it somewhere in this fabulous place, in a corner of her maze for someone to stumble across?
Well, Ryoko did exactly that. She opened up the box and made a big show of delicately passing it across to Lum, who peered inside it as if expecting a giant spring to throw a pie into her face. Silly alien girl. This was far more delightfully insidious than that.
"Is that... a bunch of squashed-up paper flowers?" Lum asked.
"It's called potpourri," Ryoko said. "It's a fragrance enhancer. I felt it might help set the mood for tonight." She could barely contain her grin, and that said quite a lot for the two-faced manipulator. Naturally, this wasn't merely potpourri. Lum was breathing in some of that hypnotic incense from before, and it seemed to work on alien physiology as well. Her eyes were glazing over. Unfocused. Not hypnotised, but just a touch more suggestible. "Breathe it in," Ryoko whispered. "Take a deep, deep breath. Doesn't it smell nice?"
"...Yeah..." Lum sighed. "It does have a strangely relaxing aroma... But you kind of have to put your face right into it, doncha?"
"Oh, I have more boxes, don't worry about that," Ryoko said. "But I wanted to get your approval first." Or, to put it another way, set you up for a little hypnotic trance before the party got going. All she needed was a focus point. A swinging watch was a bit cliche, a sparkling coin might be better, but Ryoko wanted to be a little more inventive. "I'm thirsty," she said. "May I have a drink of water?"
Lum blinked and shook her head. "Oh, yes! There's a dispenser over here."
Ryoko left the box on a table in the corner, wide open. This was risky. She might wind up breathing it in herself again. Trick herself into thinking she wanted to be Ataru Moroboshi's adoring love slave, that he had expert lovemaking talents capable of reducing even a strong woman like herself to putty in his hands... Which he clearly didn't!
The water poured out into a glass, and she looked back at the wobbly alien. Maybe he did? At a purely clinical analysis there was no way to avoid describing Lum as a "babe". Her figure was extremely healthy and alluring, it hit all the typical points a straight man might look for in a woman. She could have anyone she wanted and stuck with someone like Moroboshi. Even though he constantly flirted and hit on and - Maybe he really was a sex god? Maybe he really -
Ryoko gulped. She'd almost done it to herself. Again! A harem is not okay. A harem is <b>never</b> okay! With glass in hand, she delicately yet forcefully stepped back across the room with determination in her eyes.
"Did you want anything else?" Lum asked, a little less dazed than she was a moment ago. So Ryoko stuffed the box back under her nose and let the fumes do their work.
"I want you to assist me with an experiment," Ryoko said, swirling around the glass of water in front of Lum's eyes, as if preparing to take a sip but never quite doing it. "A behavioural experiment that I think you will find quite... Fascinating."
- Ryoko implants suggestions into Lum
- Meanwhile, members of the Golden Apple are being seduced to the harem side.
- Ryoko is interrupted by a knock on the door.
- Ataru gets up to hijinks.
- Something else
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