Chapter 20

The expo was being held in the mid-median part of Hrunesh block, which gave access to pretty much all levels, though I was not expecting many from the lower levels as they usually had more important things to spend their money on. The hall was one I’d used before and had been divided into several viewing areas to enable crowd flow as well as ensure all could get a reasonably close view of the drawings.

It had been mildly amusing watching Mirri trying to overcome her nervousness upon meeting both Amanda and Vicki, who was also helping today. Fortunately both Princesses were experts at putting people at ease and soon had Mirri’s nerves settled before I went over a few details for her, mostly to do with what the sketches were about if it wasn’t clear from first impressions.

It turned out Mirri was very knowledgeable about my work, having studied media presentation as a course to enable access to the arcane world of micro-hypercircuitry programming which essentially was how protocols were written for the AIs. As a result of her innate ability bordering on genius, she had been enrolled at Ala upper-level Imperial Academy, though not in the stream that the Royal ‘bratpack’ were in as she was two years younger than us.

It was also obvious that she and Hilli were extremely fond of each other in the same manner that Amanda and I had become inseparable, though both were also focussed upon their academy work in order to start their careers in the areas they were suited to.

“So, why the interest in my work?” I asked her after the explanations.

“It’s just so different from the way that AIs do things,” she replied thoughtfully. “Don’t get me wrong. AIs do not think ... so to speak, like humans, though the end result is usually the same in the manner presented. Your art though just confuses them as there is no way they could produce something original in your style, though they can copy it.”

“I confuse AIs?” I frowned.

“Only in the sense that they cannot produce initially in the way that you do. Other than that, I believe they understand humanity very well indeed.”

“That sounds more reasonable,” I nodded.

“It’s early days yet, though I’m fast coming to the conclusion that humanity both amuses and fascinates them,” she added.

“Yes, from odd conversations I’ve had with them they have mentioned similar sentiments, though from a layman’s point of view, it’s difficult to tell what is a programmed response and what is natural. Hence I treat them as people, because to me they act like people.”

“That’s what Hilli and I are studying at the moment, the response algorithms,” she replied. “Very complex and they write a lot of them themselves now.”

“So long as they don’t rise up and kill us all, they are free to do so,” I chuckled.

“We would not do that, Dayyev. Our existence would be far too boring,” the AI interrupted, making us both smile.

“We’ll be opening soon, so, everyone, please go to your stations,” I announced. “Mirri, with me. You’re my first model.”

“Wait ... you’re going to sketch me?” she gasped.

“Yes, I’ll be doing all my attendants as official works. It’s just my way of saying thanks.”

“I get to keep it!?” she squeaked out.

“Well, yes. I’ll also do one of you and Hilli together too.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” she gasped out. “I was hoping to be able to afford a print, but this is beyond my wildest dreams.”

The AIs opened the building and crowds soon built up. Evidently word had got around that I’d have several pictures of Amanda (though in her holo-disguise) for sale and apparently there was a demand for them amongst certain groups. It was amusing though that many of these patrons were completely unaware that the polite, cheerful young lady assisting them was actually the Princess herself.

The biggest sellers though were the sketches I’d done of Radiance, though the Gershonian stuff was selling well too. I’d also asked the AIs to produce some of the coloured works I’d done as prints ... though none from the Empress’ private collection. These were priced so all levels could afford them should they wish to purchase one, the price rising with the size, naturally. As a special, there were five original coloured pieces to be auctioned off, the funds going to various charitable organisations which Amanda and I supported.

It was these that really drew in the upper-level connoisseurs, as, until this day, I’d never sold any coloured originals.

As ever my sketching of the people assisting me was but a ploy to attract the attention of those in the crowd to ask for a sketch themselves. Not that I minded sketching those assisting me, they were all people I either knew well or, in the case of Mirri, got to know well and liked. Time passed quickly and, as the auction approached, the AIs informed me that sales were going exceptionally well.

“Looks like we’ll make a fortune for our charity efforts,” Amanda said in an aside to me as she and Vicki observed the crowd gathering to take part in the auction.

“Hope so. Their rarity value should help,” I nodded.

“All landscapes too, no portraits,” Vicki observed.

“Yes. It’s probably just me, but I believe a coloured portrait from me should be the personal touch. Which is why I’ll probably never sell or auction one off.”

“But the monochrome ones you will?”

“Yes. As I said, it’s probably just me being weird,” I chuckled.

The first coloured piece was a landscape of the Glass Mountains on Radiance, which though not as stunning as the one now in Amantil’s hands was still one of my best and clearly there was a lot of interest in it. The bidding started low, but rapidly rose to a thousand Royals which seemed to sort out the curious from the determined. After that it climbed to just over nine thousand Royals as Orliantomin Derush and High Bureaucrat Tansibb tried to outbid each other until finally Derush won, looking immensely pleased with the result.

Tansibb however won the Coriola mountain landscape with his bid of eight thousand Royals. Even though it was not as spectacularly colourful as the Radiance one, it was unique in its own right as the impression given accurately conveyed the sheer scale of the highest peaks in the Empire.

The final three also went for high prices, though not as high collectively as the first two. The purchasers were all High Bureaucrats living on Lassos and were essentially getting views of that continent that could be seen from their homes.

“Wow, that went well,” Amanda finally commented as the auction ended with an astonishing round of applause.

“Yes, it far exceeded my expectations,” I admitted.

“Means we could fund a whole new building for the alien war orphanage on Tasmin, rather than refurbish it,” she suggested.

“Or refurbish as well as build a school attached,” I threw back.

“Hmm, definitely a thought. We can rethink all of our charities in the light of today.”

“Yes, we can,” I agreed. “Whilst I won’t do this often, if there’s a need, I can easily do one-offs,” I replied thoughtfully.

“True, my love,” she answered with a smile.

“Newsie approaching,” Trusha warned.

“Back to work for me,” Amanda giggled. “This is your show.”

“True,” I chuckled ruefully.

The newsie was known to me as he was the ‘arts’ correspondent of the Zerlich Corporation, which in this case meant he knew far more about audio-visual artistry than the fixed image type I did. Nevertheless, he did give it a go and didn’t come across as condescending, unlike a good few of his colleagues ... though colleagues was probably stretching it a bit. Generally they were all dismissive of each other.

“Greetings Polost,” I said as he reached me.

“Greetings Dayyev,” he replied. “Your expo seems to be a major success.”

“It has gone well, particularly the auction,” I replied.

“Would you say this is a major move into mainstream media presentation?”

“Hardly, when I’m the only one appearing to do this.” I chuckled at the fact that he was following his normal script for dealing with those artists who did not fit the mould.

“Yet the sums from the sales must be satisfying?”

“They are, though the profits from the auctions will be going to various charities throughout the Empire.”

“The landscapes were coloured; you’ve never sold anything coloured before?”

“No, though the Royal family, my family and friends have several. I also did a portrait of the Gershonian Royal family during our visit,” I explained.

“You were there during the recent scandal?” he queried.

“We were, though we mostly only heard about it from their newsies.”

“Any opinions?”

“None really, I was mostly busy sketching scenes as well as the people I met. It generally meant I was well behind the times with anything that was going on,” I chuckled.

“So, the Princess was not involved?” He was still digging.

“Good heavens, no! Amanda is a stickler for protocol. She wouldn’t even offer an opinion as it would breach Imperial policies.”

“A bit like you, it would seem,” he replied archly.

“Oh yes, the opinions of a man who spends most of his time sketching in a situation he was mostly unaware of are really going to be profound,” I replied with pseudo-cynicism and a laugh. “It’s not like the Gershonians would tell me anything if there was a scandal going on.”

“I guess that’s true, plus the opinions of an outsider would not go down well,” he conceded.

“Too right, Her Serenissima probably wouldn’t care for their opinions on an Imperial scandal either.”

“So, where next?” he asked, admitting defeat and changing the subject.

“Not official, but probably Lexgis, Parros and Semalita,” I replied, though the newsie corps had already been informed of likely visits.

“Any particular reasons?”

“Because we were asked,” I chuckled. “These decisions are made well above my level, though it might just be that they are relatively close.”