New Looks, New Attitudes
Suzee stared in the mirror. She had been feeling depressed for some time now, having listened to despressing bands on her walkman, mostly to spite Rosie. She looked at her sallow complexion and noticed something new had occurred the previous night.
"Oh no! A blackhead! I must get rid of it before anyone sees it!" she shouted.
"See what?" Rosie entered the bathroom and looked at Suzee. The blackhead wasn't as obvious to Rosie, so she didn't see anything wrong.
"Nothing, Rosie! Just leave me alone." Suzee's depression was beginning to get the better of her.
Rosie silently slipped out of the bathroom. Adrianne was levitating in the center of the bunkroom. Rosie hated to disturb her, but she felt like saying hi. So she did.
Adrianne's eyes flew open, and she felt her body go flying up. She hit the ceiling with a loud thud, attracting the attention of Harlan, Radu, and Bova, who all at once came out of the jump tubes.
"Adrianne?" asked Harlan. "What's going on? Get down from there!"
"Someone interrupted me while I was levitating," she said, climbing around the ceiling to a wall. "I can't be interrupted like that, or I'll get stuck to the ceiling. It's a sort of whiplash thing for people of my status. Hey, where's Suzee?"
"She's in the bathroom," said a nonchalant Rosie. "Something's really wrong. She hasn't been this depressed since she first came here."
Suzee came out of the bathroom. "I am NOT depressed. I just need to be alone with myself. Now, I'm going to go to the one place where you wouldn't dare follow me." Suzee set the coordinates and disappeared down the jump tubes.
Harlan took one look at Radu and they both knew where Suzee was. "Engine room," they said.
Rosie spoke up. "Maybe we should just leave her alone for now and when she's feeling better, she'll tell us what's wrong."
Everyone seemed to be in agreement, but wondered what could be wrong with a genius of Suzee's level as they proceeded on to class.
Back on Yensid, Catalina gave Suzee a fierce glance. "I don't think the blackhead is that noticeable," she said. "Just run some cleanser across it and you'll be fine."
"It isn't that," Suzee retorted. "I feel as though I should make a change in my life. Something just feels empty." She decided that if going to class might possibly clear her mind, then she should go. She headed for class. Catalina stood still, shaking her head.
Ms. Davenport had an announcement to make in class that morning. "Attention. We are going to dock at Eber Plaza for a day tomorrow. You can wander alone if you wish. The plaza itself is quite small."
"Sounds like fun," said Rosie. "Do we get money?"
"Of course, Rosie. Otherwise I would take you to every educational site in the plaza, and there are none." Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief because they got their freedom.
As soon as Suzee heard this, she discovered what she could do to feel better about herself. Catalina could see where this was going, and only prayed that someone could talk Suzee out of it. Since Catalina had seen her do this before, she could only hope it was stopped before it got too much out of hand.
Adrianne was about to contact her spector when class ended, but Suzee stopped her. "Adia," she said, "ask Binks what he knows about Eber Plaza."
"Two things. One, I hate being called 'Adia'. Two, sure I'll ask. I may not get much." She got her compupad and asked, "Binks, tell me what you know about Eber Plaza."
A message popped up on screen. "This plaza's like an Earth mini-mall. It has stores for most things, restaurants, a beauty salon-" Adrianne was cut off. Suzee had taken off by way of the jump tubes. Adrianne shrugged and left.
Suzee found herself in the lower engine room. Rarely did she come here, but she knew Catalina could help her make an important decision, and she needed her privacy.
"Suzee," said Catalina, "don't do this. You did it once, and it had horrible repercussions. Remember what happened with-"
"Don't say it! I remember. Only this time I'll get it done when we go to Eber Plaza." Suzee walked over to the main console and started drumming on it. Catalina rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Suzee, this is a bad idea. But if you're going to go through with it, I'm not going to stop you. All I ask is that you don't get ANYONE else wrapped up in this mess. You got that?"
"Fine. But you'll be sorry when it works out in my favor!" Suzee stopped drumming on the console and went back to the bunkroom. She couldn't go through with it alone, so she needed someone to go with her. Catalina was obviously out. That left Rosie, who would most likely give her a lecture on how she should just be happy with herself. So Rosie was out. Suzee obviously couldn't take any of the guys with her, it would ruin the surprise. Thelma wouldn't be of any service to her, nor would Ms. Davenport. That left only one choice.
"No." Adrianne started meditating on the ground.
"Please," Suzee begged, "you have to come. This is possibly one of the most important things I could ever do in my life!"
On Yensid, Catalina rolled her eyes. "Not half as important as when you tried to ask out-"
"Shut up!" shouted Suzee, to the air over her shoulder. Adrianne shrugged and started meditating again.
Suzee refocused her efforts. "Please come with me," she begged. "You only have to stand by and watch! It's not a big deal. Please? Please? Please?"
"Fine. But you better not change your mind. I should be shopping for a Spector's day present."
Suzee immediately fell asleep, with content feelings. She knew everything would go smoothly tomorrow. Only Catalina could stop her, and she was in Yensid. Suzee sighed. Nothing could go wrong now.
When everyone was off the ship, a valet guard parked it for them. Nobody quite knew how he got control of the ship, but the parking androids were already doing so much already, so it wasn't a big deal.
A message boomed over the loudspeaker. "Welcome to Eber Plaza!" a voice with a Mexican accent said. "Enjoy your visit and please come buy me-" The loudspeaker went dead and everyone went inside.
Suzee immediately grabbed Adrianne by the hand and started to drag her along. Adrianne wondered what could possibly be so important and why she had to come along.
Suzee finally stopped in front of the beauty salon. "All right," she said. "Here we are. Come see what I have planned for us."
"US?" said Adrianne. "No. You're doing whatever it is yourself. I'm not doing anything." She hesitated. "Well, I suppose I could settle for a manicure."
"Good," said Suzee. "Come on. We're wasting valuable time here." She raced in and stopped at the reception desk. "My friend wants a manicure, and I want a hair treatment."
"Fine," said the android at reception. "Jean Louise can take your little green friend now. I'll tend to you when I know exactly what you want."
As soon as Adrianne was out of earshot, Suzee whispered her plan to Frederica, the stylist taking care of hair appointments for the day. As Suzee sat back at the sinks to have her hair washed out, she closed her eyes. I've come this far, she thought. Nothing can stop me now. I am a new woman.
"Well, what do you think?" asked the "new woman".
Adrianne grimaced, but forced a smile to divert Suzee from her real thoughts. "I...like it. If you want to surprise the others, we can do this." She pointed and covered Suzee's head with a green scarf.
Suzee patted her head. "I like it! A lot!" She paid Frederica and raced out of the salon, dragging Adrianne along, until she pulled Suzee to a halt.
"Hold it, scarf-head," she said. "I helped you. Now you have to help me. I need a Spector's day present. And I can't just zap one in. Binks can tell when I don't try."
Suzee found a tacky store, and helped Adrianne with their quest. It took a while, but finally, both girls found the perfect present for the newly bald Binks. Adrianne walked over with her purchase, a box of "Jose Eber's 'Secret Hair'". The Mercurian salesclerk took one look at the box and said, "Mr. Eber's going to love this! Someone finally bought his 'Secret Hair' toupees!" The girls thanked the salesclerk and proceeded to return to the Christa.
As soon as everyone boarded, the Christa left the docks at Eber Plaza and headed back into space.
Suzee waited until 1800 hours to reveal her new hairdo to everyone else. She stood on the table to make her announcement and reveal what was under the scarf.
"Get down, Suzee," said Bova. "You're blocking the clam dip."
"Suzee," said Radu, "you're standing on the Narf intestines. They stain combat boots like yours."
"Oops," said Suzee, falling off the table and scrubbing at her boots. "As you all can see, I have been hiding my head all day since we docked. I have made the change in my life and am now a new woman." She pulled off her scarf. Everyone stared in shock at Suzee.
"You're different!" said Harlan.
"I like it," said Rosie.
"Suzee, youre...blond!" said Bova.
Suzee then fell over her feet and said, "Now, what does the Stockdale wrench do? What is it?"
"Oh no," said Harlan. "The dye turned her into a Valley girl! She's a complete and total ditz!"
"That's a bad thing, right?" said Radu. Harlan didn't have to answer, Suzee started talking. "Like, I saw this bald guy today? And so, like, I bought him some toupees or some junk?" She started giggling hysterically.
"You didn't buy the toupees," said Adrianne. "I did. And the bald guy has taken a residence in my compupad from the school in a sense."
"That's it," said Harlan. "We're getting her down to medlab to get this dye out of her hair and system." Harlan and Radu grabbed Suzee and dragged her through the corridors until they had strapped her to a chair in medlab. Rosie then got out supplies and set to work.
"Well, Suzee, the dye is completely out. I hope that it didn't hurt, since i used all those combs and water substitutes." Rosie had managed to get the dye out entirely, and Suzee was pretty much back to her normal self, brown streaked hair and all. Suzee looked in a small mirror and looked dejected.
"Rosie, I was almost happy in this stupid dimension. On Yensid, hair color changes like this are glorified. So are personality changes."
Catalina heard this, and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I acted like a ditz for two weeks when I was sick and no one gave me an award or medal."
Suzee ignored her. "What I mean is that I'm sick of myself. That's why I went for the blond rinse. I guess I didn't see the fine print that said 'all dye jobs turn into ditz jobs'."
Harlan spoke up. "Suzee, we all like you no matter what the hair color. What matters the most is that you know a Stockdale wrench from a ballpoint pen."
"Harlan has a point," said Radu. "It makes no difference what the hair color. But you're just you anyway."
Everyone looked at Bova for some comments. All he did was mention hunger and head back to the galley. Rosie detected a possible disturbance and figured out loud that Thelma could fix it.
Thelma appeared. "Suzee, a malfunction was detected in Rosie's material, and you will never be able to dye your hair again. That is all. What is the big deal about hair anyway? It must make an impact when you don't have any." Thelma disappeared as quickly as she came.
The last hours of the day were met by boredom from everyone and Suzee's sulking.
Suzee was in the bathroom again, running her fingers through her brown streaked hair. Back to normal, she thought. There is nothing too great about me anyway. So what if I am an engineering genius. No one cares about that anymore. They only like people with blond tresses.
Catalina could tell what Suzee was thinking. "It isn't so bad," she said. "We match again. Besides, did you really think you looked all that great as a blond?"
"Yes I most certainly did," she retorted. "No one cares that I am an engineering genius. They really only care about looks. Especially Harlan."
"He's always been somewhat vain," Cat agreed. "But that isn't the point. You can fix almost every problem on the ship. Harlan can't."
"Almost?"
"Fine, you can fix all problems. Happy?"
Suzee responded by smiling and exiting the bathroom. Rosie was there waiting for her. She behaved in a normal Mercurian manner, asking questions about Suzee's mental and physical state. Adrianne remained silent, knowing it would do good. Suzee then realized that Catalina was right.
On Yensid, Catalina could be heard silently laughing over the whole ordeal.