14th March
22:38 GMT +1
Angelika pushes open the door and steps inside,
visibly braced for whatever depravity she may find inside. And… Yes, as expected: a disappointment. It's a bar, not a club or 'love hotel'. People of all ages-. All ages who can legally order alcohol, are chatting and drinking and, yes, almost all of them are women and I can see the
violet strands in a good number of cases, but nothing is happening that isn't comfortably PG.
That doesn't seem to be helping Angelika. She's sort of stopped just inside the entrance, and she's getting a few puzzled glances. Sure, people come here in fancy dress sometimes, but-. Huh, I suppose that the single red 'S' isn't an
obvious National Socialist symbol, if people can even see it in the low light of the bar.
I step around her and approach the bar, a barmaid shrugging to the patron she was talking to before walking over.
"Are you in the right place?"
"I didn't realise that it was exclusive.
"
"No, no." She shakes her head. "But sometimes tourists come in here without knowing who drinks here."
"We're here to meet someone, but first…
" I turn my head towards Angelika.
"Angelika? Do you want something?
"
Overhearing or not, she doesn't appear to be
listening.
I turn back to the bar.
"Liqueur, I think. I'll have an orange juice.
"
"Are you driving?"
"I'm on call. She's not.
"
She turns away, opens the bar's fridge and pulls out an orange juice bottle. "Any particular liquor, or should I just pick one?"
"Something local? And good?
"
"Okay. Nice Orange Lantern costume."
"Thank you, I made it myself.
"
"Who is
she supposed to be?"
"Some sort of dark and gritty Supergirl reboot.
" She passes me the orange juice and then pulls out a tumbler from behind the bar.
"It's not really my sort of thing, but she's a big fan.
"
The barmaid turns to an
inverted bottle behind the bar with a picture of a beehive on it. "Single or double?"
"Best make it a double, I think.
"
She presses the glass upwards twice, golden liquid pouring into the glass. Then she turns back to me and puts it down next to my orange juice. I pay, using mild sleight of hand to disguise that I'm taking the euros out of subspace rather than my pocket, then pick up the glasses and turn back to Angelika.
"Have you adapted?
"
Her eyes jerk back to me. "It's just a bar. These people are not a threat to me."
"Not a
physical threat, but okay. Let me know if you need to leave.
"
Mrs and Dr Brauer have been watching us from the moment we entered, shuffling around their bench to make room as we thread our way through the crowd. I smile politely as we get to within talking distance.
"Mrs Brauer, thank you for agreeing to meet us.
"
Mrs Brauer and Angelika are regarding each other cautiously. One is a super-Nazi meeting the double degenerate doppelgänger of her aunt. The other is a medium-power superhero who knows how violent neo-Nazis can be and is fairly sure that she couldn't safely contain the woman opposite her because while she's about as strong and about as tough and heals faster she can't fly or shoot heat beams out of her eyes.
"That's fine."
I sit down opposite her wife.
"Doctor Brauer.
"
She looks surprised for a moment, then shakes her head with a chuckle. "No, I kept my name. And please; Val's fine."
Angelika is standing next to the table, her eyes-. She's looking at the wedding rings, and Mrs Brauer stretches out her fingers to indicate that she's noticed the stare.
"Are you going to sit down?"
Angelika sits almost immediately. Perhaps due to the familiarity of the voice and the attitude of the speaker. They look at each other for a few moments, then Mrs Brauer nods.
"I'm Gerri Brauer, also known as Donner."
"Angelika Kant. Overgirl."
They continue looking at each other for a moment, before Mrs Brauer apparently decides that it's her job to take the lead.
"How long have you known the other me?"
"Twenty five years. She had known Overman for decades, and it felt natural to him to ask her to train me."
A lot of people don't realise that Mrs Brauer is in her seventies. I'd say that she looks less than half that, though obviously I wouldn't be so socially cack-handed as to make a technically accurate 'cradle robber' comment regarding her new wife. Another point on the Danner life expectancy graph. Maybe I should offer it to Paula? She hasn't asked…
"And.. she's.. a..?"
Angelika holds her head up proudly. "National Socialist. And you are… Not.
Why not?"
"I.. grew up in post-War Germany. My parents tried very hard to bring me up 'properly', but there were so many competing influences that they could not keep me away from all of them. And they could not keep me from discovering the truth of the parts of National Socialism that they themselves were not particularly fond of. Once I became aware of those, the idea that the Third Empire was defined by strength and unity was not something I could continue to believe. And once that certainty was undermined, I became more open to other points of view." She shakes her head, glancing at her wife. "But only gradually. My parents' lessons were a large part of how I viewed the world."
"How did you..?" Angelika looks at Val for a moment. "…with women..?"
"I did not recognise that I liked other women for a long time. My parents had taught me that theirs was the correct way for romantic relationships to be conducted." She shrugs. "And since they were happy together from when they met to when they died, it seemed to work for them. I.. had male friends, but none I felt attracted to in a romantic way. And I had female friends…" Another shrug. "Some of them, I liked the way they looked. Some were very close friends, but… I had nothing to compare what I felt for them to."
Angelika nods, and I can practically
feel her assembling the narrative in her head. Too much honesty and openness, a good and proper National Socialist woman is led astray by the degenerates all around her.
"What about your version of me? I imagine that she would have married decades ago."
"No. She did not. She… Did not think that she could justify leaving her role as a warrior heroine to have a family."
"Still? Is your Germany still at war?"
"… No. The Second World War finished in nineteen fifty eight, and we have maintained good relations with-" A glance at the half-Japanese Dr Kameya. "-the other world powers since then."
"She has not found time for a family in fifty years?"
"Terrorist attacks from surviving subhumans were common in the east. She had to move around a great deal."
"Angelika, this isn't going to help if you-.
"
"And she-. Had a girlfriend. Perhaps more than one, I only saw her with-."
Mrs Brauer frowns. "You
saw her-?"
"She told me it was a prank!"
Mrs Brauer smiles fondly. "You must have been a very trusting girl. But what do you think
now?"
