Philip has few regrets about marrying Joanne Mabel. She was a rather kind and loving woman, though sometimes she got caught up in luxurious ideas and fancies. He was aware she wanted another try at being a mother after she nearly botched her relationship with Nicole. The two of them were doing a lot better now, even if they were each other's mother-in-law. Though Philip was pretty sure that Nicole had sneaked off with Lars to go to the wilder Halloween party at the Slaughterhouse.
Which brings up one of the few downsides to being married to a millionaire: the high-class parties. One would have expected a high-class masquerade ball to be more exciting. Though the costumes that everyone was wearing here were just elaborate masks. Everything else was just a tux or an evening dress. Though when you have the varied heads of Animalians, the masks can be quite spectacular.
"I'm sorry if this party isn't lively enough for you," said Joanne.
"At least I don't have to wear a wig the time," said Miles, "If clothes were that uncomfortable in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, no wonder there were so many wars."
"At least it makes it easier to get costumes ready," said Philip, "Though if I see a jester asking for amontillado or someone dressed as the Red Death, I am out of here."
"What is the Red Death anyways?" asked Miles.
"It could be either tuberculosis or scarlet fever," said Joanne, "Though it's most likely a fictional disease."
"Thank goodness," said a female flying squirrel Animalian, "We've had enough trouble from the last epidemic."
"Miles, this is Perri. She's the CTO of a company that develops wingsuits," said Joanne.
"So you became a flying squirrel?" asked Miles, "Doesn't that make the wingsuits redundant?"
"Redundant? It allows me to model for them," said Perri.
"Pardon?" asked Miles, his brain skipping a beat.
"It allows to model the design of the wingsuits better off of my own patagium," said Perri, holding up her arm to show the skin membrane that connected to her body, which required a rather open-sided dress.
"I thought the design was already working for current wingsuits," said Miles.
"There's always improvements to be made," said Perri, "What we're really hoping for are wingsuits that are not just easy to use while gliding but also not so restrictive to arms and legs while on the ground."
"Though I suspect there are weight limits," said Miles.
"First off, it requires training before you can even start using a wingsuit," said Perri, "And admittedly, it seems rather unlikely that the heavier Animalians will be able to use a wingsuit. Gravity typically has the deciding vote in these matters."
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Unfortunately, the rest of Joanne's guests weren't quite as interesting as Perri. Perri seemed to be the only CTO (Chief Technology Officer) at the party. The rest were various CEOs and COOs. Miles had learned that the difference between them were basically the same as president and vice-president respectively. Compared to Perri who was at least going to use her new Animalian form to improve designs at her company, the rest had mainly converted to deal with 'corporate stress'. Admittedly, there were some amusing stories, but Miles realized they were pretty much variations of stories he had heard before. Still, there are other people who haven't heard these kinds of stories yet so that should amuse them.