Maya felt a surge of confidence in the sleek outfit, a gift from Ava. The jumpsuit was made of a luxurious, flowing fabric, with a plunging neckline and fitted waist. Maya felt mysterious and elegant. Its subtle shimmer and strategic cut, accentuated her figure, making her feel both powerful and alluring. A thrill of anticipation coursed through her for the night ahead.
"You look amazing," Sarah said as Maya emerged in the borrowed dress. The sincerity in her voice made Maya's heart skip. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror - the elegant fabric transforming her usual practical appearance into something almost ethereal.
Ava twirled in her own gown, impossibly graceful. "A night out is exactly what we need. Especially you, Maya. You've been working way too hard saving the world."
Maya smiled shyly. "You two are so lovely," she managed. Her day job in engineering had made her forget all about how fun it was to play. She was surprised by the warmth she felt in the presence of these women.
“Meet you two at the hub in a bit,” Ava said, waving them on.
Sarah and Maya walked side-by-side from the depot to Symmetrist Hub. A comfortable silence settled between them. Maya, her eyes drawn to Sarah's focused expression, couldn't help but admire her intelligence and quiet strength. Sarah's insightful responses, delivered with a calm authority, were both inspiring and grounding. Maya asked about Sarah’s challenges with leadership and was fascinated. Maya found herself drawn to Sarah's wisdom and her unwavering belief in their need to help the districts.
They met Viktor in the Veridian Center transit hub, his massive frame incongruous in a wheelchair. "Training accident," he explained stiffly when Maya raised an eyebrow. "Tactical equipment malfunction." Sarah was also surprised but didn’t show it. While Ava and Viktor were trusted to make their ends work, the party was a last-minute opportunity they weren’t allowed to pass up. Plus, they had discussed contingencies that would have to do.
Sarah's tier-one access badge bypassed the endless lines of citizens waiting for entry verification. Maya felt a twinge of guilt at their privilege, but Sarah's gentle touch on her arm kept her on pace. The way she moved, her quiet confidence, her kindness during the district crisis - Maya wanted to exude class and command leadership like Sarah and couldn’t help but pay attention.
Just before the security checkpoint to Veridian Center, Ava appeared out of nowhere, startling Viktor. “Jeez… hi Ava,” he managed.
Ava seemed more surprised than anyone, “What in the world is that contraption?” she said. Viktor repeated the training accident and added a detail. Maya could’ve sworn she saw him wink. Ava examined him and the large chair critically as if constructing and integrating partial differential equations before finally replying, “Good job, Viktor. I mean, great seeing you were able to come out with us anyway.”
They were into Veridian Center and on the autoway just like nothing had happened at all yesterday. They were dropped off like royalty at the entrance to the party: red carpets, a holographic castle rising above them in an elegant facade. Maya couldn’t put her finger on it but this party seemed different.
Ava made a show of checking her comm. "Um Viktor, I think we need to talk," she waved vaguely at the entrance where men were standing in formation like castle guards on each side of the entrance. They stood motionless and capable.
“That’s it!” Maya exclaimed, “No men, except for those scantily clad soldiers dressed up in dog costumes. What kind of party is this?”
“Lezchic,” said Sarah flatly. "Ready for a night off?" Sarah asked, offering her arm. Maya took her offer and floated effortlessly beside Sarah as if being led on a dance. They walked with style and elegance taking in the scene. There was a lot to take in.
"Tactical assistance required," Viktor agreed quickly when Maya looked back with excitement. "You two go ahead." Maya watched them walk down the sidewalk before not caring. When she turned back, Sarah was watching her with a soft expression that made her pulse quicken.
At the entrance, the men stood well off to the side in what appeared to be very sexy Dalmatian costumes while a woman dressed as a dog trainer checked their credentials. Maya could have sworn she winked at Sarah before waving them through.
Inside, the party transformed Maya's understanding of everything. Women moved together on the dance floor, their closeness both intimate and natural. A couple kissed openly near the bar. Another shared a private laugh, their fingers intertwined. Maya's scientific mind struggled to process the surge of emotions - recognition, possibility.
"Drink?" Sarah's voice carried a gentle understanding that made Maya's chest tighten.
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Before Maya could respond, a striking woman in Veridian formal wear approached. "Sarah darling," she practically purred, running fingers down Sarah's arm. "It's been ages."
Sarah's smile held history. "Cassandra. Still running the best parties in the Center."
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Disappearing around the building's corner, Viktor somehow managed to look dignified wheeling desperately to keep up with Ava.
"You sneaky…," she started as hydraulics whirred and metal reformed. "Since when did you find the time...?" Ava stared at the wheelchair's transformation.
"Cassandra…," Sarah's voice carried through their comms.
“Well that was quick you dirty girl,” Ava said immediately wishing she hadn’t. Viktor, standing beside her just smiled with an amazing absence of charisma as if slightly drooling. The wheelchair had transformed into her sports Stormbike with a sidecar, an artifact, and an unusual treasure that would be critical to her making it across town.
Ava stared at Viktor with his stupid expression before throwing him a Dalmatian costume, her smile was genuinely gleeful.
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Maya watched Sarah move through the crowd with their host, trying to take in the wonders of this all-girl party. She was trying to understand an ache that built as Cassandra drew closer to Sarah. She hadn't expected the night to feel so... overwhelmingly wonderful. Every glance, every casual touch between women around her was unexpected and new. She wondered why she wasn’t told about the nature of the party, but decided she didn’t care and was going to have the time of her life.
"First time?" A gentle voice asked. Maya turned to find another woman smiling kindly. "We all started somewhere." At that moment, Maya realized how wide-eyed she had been. She nodded and smiled politely and tried to do better.
The ballroom's hidden level of Veridian Center unfolded like a modern reimagining of 1920s Paris. Crystal chandeliers floated without visible support, their light rippling through programmable glass that shifted between art nouveau patterns and abstract digital streams. The main hall stretched beneath a vaulted ceiling where butterflies danced between floating spheres of light, each one casting intimately dim pools of illumination over the women gathered below.
Private alcoves lined the walls, their entrances draped with shimmering fabric that responded to touch, becoming opaque or transparent at the occupants' desire. In one, a couple shared champagne, their silhouettes merging and separating like a dance. The bar curved through the space like a river of polished obsidian, its surface alive with subtle patterns that matched the rhythms of conversation flowing around it.
Women moved through the space with elegant freedom - premium citizens in couture that would cost a district family's yearly earnings, underground artists in provocative tech-mesh that shifted colors with their movements, and even a few runners posed for display whose strength and grace drew appreciative gazes. The air carried notes of jasmine and electricity, the latter from displays that painted the walls with scenes from historic lesbian gatherings - the Cercle de Sappho, Le Monocle, and modern clubs in Neo-Tokyo and Singapore.
Maya watched, transfixed, as two women performed an aerial dance above the crowd, their bodies suspended in anti-grav fields that left trails of light in their wake. The music shifted seamlessly between classical strings and modern synthdance, each transition marked by subtle changes in the room's illumination.
Cassandra held court near a floating platform where her personal AI crafted drinks using antique methods - real glass, real ice, real alcohol. Her white suit seemed to capture and redirect light, creating an aura of power that drew women into her orbit. When she touched Sarah's arm, the gesture carried years of intimate history.
The party's heart was its dance floor - a masterwork of engineering transformed into pure seduction. Quantum-glass tiles responded to each step, colors spreading out that matched dancers' body heat and emotions. Above, environmental generators created localized weather effects - a light mist that caught the light like diamonds, warm breezes carrying the scent of summer rain, and micro-climates of passion and possibility.
Elevators lined the far wall surrounded by another display of men-dalmations. They ascended to exclusive observation decks far above where Veridian's elite enjoyed both privacy and exhibition. Layered transparent floors of dancing silhouettes filled the space in between, a vertical ballet of desire.
“I’ll be back, enjoy yourself,” Sarah said to Maya giving her a kiss on the cheek. Maya watched Cassandra guide Sarah toward a private elevator set apart from the others. Notably, this one also looked out onto the city. At the entrance, two men were dressed in metallic collars with only bikini bottoms. The leashes around their necks were held by a beautiful leopardess-dressed woman also equipped with weapons. A dancer inside the elevator pressed against the glass, her figure creating art against the city lights far below.
Antique velvet cushions greeted Sarah as the elevator opened. Their shared laughter carried across the space. Maya wondered what she felt, possibly unfamiliar jealousy, but there was so much to see it didn’t last.
The host's fingers traced patterns on Sarah's wrist as the elevator very slowly rose like a safari ride with views of the dancer rolling on the window, the bright city outside, and the elegant party inside. As Cassandra spoke, each touch reminded Sarah of past intimacies.
"Champagne?" Maya accepted the offer with a smile from an AI bartender who crafted each drink with theatrical flair, mixing rare pre-automation liquors with elements that defied physics - droplets that floated upward, ice that burned, bubbles that carried whispered poems. Maya took the glass. Stars swimming within the liquid, she tried not to stare as her eyes were drawn back to the elevator just as Sarah leaned close to whisper something in Cassandra's ear.
She turned away quickly as if saved by a new song that began, its baseline synchronizing with the room's heartbeat. She moved towards the dance floor. The butterflies descended, transforming into cherry blossoms that dissolved at the slightest touch. Every surface seemed alive with possibility, every moment charged with unspoken desire.