Barbelith Baristas (short story)
Barbelith Baristas was Laura Seabrook's contribution to Jenny Everywhere Day 2022 (though released far in advance). It comprised a narrative prose blurb and a single full-colour illustration.
Contents
Plot
In the Bohemian District of Interstitial City, a “roving photosec bot” snaps up a picture of the crowd outside the Barbelith Baristas, a popular bar, to be used in a brochure. Front row is Jenny Everywhere holding a “take-away Raktajino” and looking directly at the camera; elsewhere, Professor Cabbage is being served a drink by a WaitBot while enjoying Homunculus Noodles from the nearby Burroughs Cafeteria, a version of Neeta is sitting close to one of the city's sanitation workers, “one of the Octobrianas” is enjoying a jog with “one of the Rabiahonas”, and a tourist who made the mistake of ordering “the house brew” at Kondut's is being tended to by a paramedic.
Worldbuilding
Jenny Everywhere
- Jenny appears in an incarnation with pale, slightly yellowish skin, green eyes, and light brown hair. She wears a gray jacket and a light-cyan scarf, and her long nails are painted to match the latter. The authors of the brochure have also heard her referred to as “Mary” and believe “Jenny Everywhere” to be “her working name”.
Octobriana
- There are apparently multiple Octobrianas in the City as a matter of public record. “One of the Octobrianas” is enjoying a jog with “one of the Rabiahonas”. She is somewhat heavy set, has paler skin than Jenny and curly brown hair. She is wearing surprisingly mundane, sporty clothes, mostly blue with a reddish-pink sweater.
Neeta
- There are apparently multiple Octobrianas in the City as a matter of public record. Neeta appears in a version with the standard look, sitting in front of the Barbelith Baristas.
Other
- Drinks served at the Barbelith Baristas include, in addition to the Raktajino, the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, Brawndo, Shoggoth's Old Peculiar Ale, Bantha milk, “Cardamom and Melange”, Flaming Moe, and “the Interstitial Special”.
- The brochure includes a warning that “any local Magistrate” of Interstitial City will dismiss attempts at complaints or litigation for harm undergone in the Bohemian District by tourists, who visit only at their own risk.
Continuity
- Professor Cabbage had been introduced a few months earlier in Laura Seabrook's own PROSE: Professor Cabbage and the Indifference Engine.
Behind the scenes
Read online
The story isavailable to read for free on the author's Tumblr blog, on the Jenny Everywhere Day website and on DeviantArt.
