Going to the party

The blue of hyperspace left Spree’s viewport as his HWK-290 Surgeon’s Hand entered the Falleen system. All around him he saw ships, space stations, and tiny balls of color: planets. While he had met many Falleen individuals in his travels, he had not seen their home system with his own eyes--even from space, it was a sight to behold. Suddenly, his ship’s HUD started popping up data windows on every ship and station nearby. The huge stream of data and bright light overwhelmed Spree for a moment. He reached out blindly towards all the projected data boxes, wiping their projected digital presence away in haphazard gestures. After he regained his eyesight, he zeroed his ship in on Falleen Prime and began the short trip to its surface.

The various cityscapes of Falleen Prime reflected the sun’s kiss onto the hull of the Surgeon’s Hand; Spree felt its warmth through his cockpit windows. The pleasant first few minutes on the planet put Spree in a good mood as he set the ship’s autopilot to land in a conveniently located spaceport. Walking into the main hold, Spree began preparation for his arrival. Namely, he needed proper wedding attire. After some heavy research, window shopping, review-reading, and opinion-asking, Spree finally had settled on three outfits. Granted, being a Vratix, Spree did not really have many options for types of clothes to wear. After additional research, Spree realized that the most cost-effective and formal dress a Vratix could wear for a wedding would be simply a black bow tie. It was not as fancy as a tailored suit, but it showed that the compound-eyed doctor acknowledged the formality of the occasion. Spree turned his gaze down to the small plasteel container which held the three untied bow ties. He grabbed the container’s lid and lifted it up, beholding his options:

[an image of seemingly three identical black bowties]

Each item was entirely different. Spree could not decide.

The first one was a clearly blacker black than the other two, but the second felt much smoother. The third, in contrast, had a much wilder shade of black with a slightly complex texture. Spree scratched the top of his head, tugged an antenna, and tapped his foot as he weighed the pros and cons of each bow tie. He began to feel anxious as his ship approached its designated landing spot. Finally, he reached for one and dashed to the mirror trying his best to tie the thing. He felt the ship’s automatic landing sequence engage as he fumbled with the foreign fabric. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity after his ship touched ground, he beheld a perfectly tied bow tie, slung appropriately across his long, slender neck. He walked away from his mirror and down the slowly descending boarding ramp. As his feet hit the ground, he walked towards the structure where the shuttle would take him and the rest of the guests to the mountain. As he approached the polished glass door, he took a look at his reflection. Looking away, his stride slowed as a thought crossed his mind:

“I should have picked the other tie.”