Viví Online Exclusive
May 30, 2440
Additional reporting by Ayaka Mori, Marshall, Missouri
Editor’s Note:
Three days after Matthew Marmaduke’s formal recognition by the V’ren on May 27, Viví caught back up with four of the Marshall girls from our “Little Shinjuku on the Plains” feature. They were still at their usual booth at the Dine and Die Diner—same table, same fries, same humid Missouri night. We asked what they’d heard, what they’d seen, and what they thought.
Anna Marmaduke (15)
“They’ve been talking about it since the 27th,” she said, rolling her straw between her fingers. “Every table asked if I was one of those Marmadukes. It used to just be a last name. Now it’s a headline. People think that changes something, but it doesn’t. We still work. We still get grease burns. Nobody in this diner eats for free.”
She pauses and laughs softly. “Except maybe him. Matt’s got a running tab here, same as always. Coffee, pie, and a tip that makes the whole shift smile. A hundred for whoever waits on him, and another hundred for the rest of us to split. It’s overkill for caffeine and sugar, but we’re not complaining.”
When I asked if her name feels any different now than when we spoke before, she shook her head. “Nope. It still means I need to look at a family tree before I start thinking about even kissing a guy. I’m related to somewhere between a third and half the people in the county, somewhere along the line.”
She smiled without irony. “So yeah, the name still means what it always did. A lot of cousins, a lot of stories, and a lot of pie.”
Maja Zhang (14)
“They keep calling it a coronation,” she said. “We’re not really the kind of place that does kings. I get it—maybe that’s how the V’ren do things—but around here, you earn your title by what you build, not what you wear.”
She pauses, then adds with a shrug, “We’ve met a few of them now, the V’ren. Nothing formal. A few came into the deli where I work—ordered sandwiches and sides like pros, pointed at what they wanted, said thank you. They’re polite, quiet. Aliens as customers—that’s new.”
Asked how she knew one of them was from the Freehold, she grinned. “Simple. I looked at his arms and chest. Not many city guys built like country boys.”
She glances toward the counter where Anna’s refilling coffee. “If he keeps doing good, that’s enough. I just don’t want people thinking we all got crowns with breakfast.”
Rina Valdez (15)
“As long as he keeps the ramps smooth, I don’t care what they call him,” she said, half joking, half serious. “He’s family to the state, maybe. Not my cousin. My cousin’s the guy who still owes me for truck bearings.”
Later, when the others laughed, she added, “Every machine has moving parts. You just hope the one at the top remembers what the rest are doing.”
Camille Ortiz (14)
“He used to come to the kabuki shows in Little Shinjuku before he was famous,” she said. “If he still shows up wearing a crown, maybe I’ll believe it means something.”
Asked what she’d do if he dropped by the diner, she grinned. “Charge him double for fries. Kings pay full price.”
