Coming completely back out of the 'Life Story', Be'larien felt like something was off. Something had shifted, but she couldn't figure out what. One thing she did know was that her brain no longer felt like it was about to shatter into a million pieces. Oh well, I'll figure it out later.
Standing up, Be'larien finally took conscious stock of her surroundings. What she'd assumed was a park was in fact just her back yard. She could just make out the house through the trees straight ahead of her. The house was three stories tall, with a large amount of floor space and a design reminiscent of a fat oriental pagoda. Well, at least the 'Personal Living Quarters: Great' worked out.
Now there was just one problem, Be'larien was about 99.999% sure that a real-life Tas was in there. And that was not something she was ready to deal with. But she knew a way to check without actually going in there. She looked at her Omni-Net Bracelet. Call Tas.
A holographic screen popped up.
[Connecting...]
After about two seconds the projection turned into a holographic Tas. And Be'larien's hearts nearly stopped. The hologram showed Tas' entire top half, which was completely naked. F*ck, she's real.
Tas smiled. "Bel! Are you coming back in?"
Thinking quick, something that Thelossians were thankfully quite good at, Be'larien said with a smile, "Not yet, love. Hasa has been cooped up here since we moved in, so he and I were about to go out for a bit of a walk about." Part of Be'larien's brain wasn't entirely happy with this reply. First, because the smile was 100% real, she'd simply had one pop out the moment Tas smiled at her. Second, she hadn't meant to say 'love', it had just come out naturally.
Tas put on a fake pout that caused that segment of Be'larien's brain to fume because she found the gesture irresistibly cute. "You mean you're going to go wander in space for hours on end and leave me here all by my lonesome?"
Completely without conscious will, Be'larien's own face and voice took on a playful seriousness. "Most definitely."
Tas broke out into giggles, the sound of which made Be'larien's hearts feel lighter than air. And there was still the part of Be'larien's brain that was screaming, Gah! No more! Her giggles under control, Tas said, "Alright, then off you go. And when you get back, I'll give you a very special welcome home." Tas' eyes turned to seductive slits as she licked her lips and brought her hands up to caress her breasts.
Be'larien instantly felt her nipples harden and her member strain against her shorts. And the part of her brain that wasn't just massively turned on was shouting some more. F*cking stop it! Just stop it! What f*cking 'Life Story'? This is brainwashing I tell you, BRAIN-WAH-SHING!
Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, Be'larien realized she'd best retreat quickly. "I'm looking forward to it, love." Be'larien was very conflicted over the fact that that was 100% true. "But I need to leave first."
Tas laughed again as she removed her hands from her breasts, leaving Be'larien both relieved and disappointed. "Ok, you two have fun out there. Love you."
Be'larien nodded. "Sure thing, hon. Love you too." And then the hologram faded out. Be'larien moved her hands to her cheeks to rub away the smile she couldn't seem to get rid of. F*ck. I need to get out of here and clear my brain a bit.
Turning back to Hasa, she found him already standing and looking at her. His thought transmission came before she could say anything. So, will we just wander, or would you like to go somewhere specific?
Be'larien stopped to think for a second, which was a decent time for Thelossians. Choosing to answer aloud, she said, "I think I need to go somewhere without any Thelossians, somewhere a little more... normal. At least for this Universe. Maybe... Dalvarmik. We'll go to the Capital World."
Hasa nodded. Then shall we? Preparing to get on Hasa, Be'larien paused as she remembered something, something that made her smile. And this smile came entirely from her real self, not the 'Life Story' that seemed to be taking over her mind. When not on Thelossian controlled worlds or in their private domiciles, Thelossians always wore their combat gear.
Looking down at her bracelet, she thought, Display Storage.
[Please choose a folder:
Mementos
Day Clothes
Shoes
*Naughty* Clothes
*Naughty* Toys
Weapons
Armor
Speeder]
Be'larien felt her eyelids twitch at a couple of those folders. Ignore it, Bel. Just ignore it. Turning her thoughts to the bracelet, Display Armor.
[Armor:
Class III Tactical Under Armor
Class IV Tactical Combat Armor
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Class IV Tactical Combat Boots
Class IV Tactical Combat Helmet]
Thank god. Be'larien was very happy to see these. And thanks to the 'Life Story', she knew most militarily inactive Thelossians received all Class III gear. Withdraw Class III Tactical Under Armor, Class IV Tactical Combat Armor, and Class IV Tactical Combat Boots. Be'larien didn't think she'd need the helmet.
A heat-like distortion appeared near the ground and started to rise quickly. When it vanished, the 3 items were sitting on the ground. Be'larien quickly removed her current clothes and went to store them. She didn't seem to take notice of the fact she'd just stripped naked out in the open.
When she told the bracelet to store items, the heat-like shimmer appeared at waste height. Be'larien just dropped her clothes into it and they vanished along with the shimmer. She then immediately picked up the under armor. It looked like a black, see-through mesh full-body stocking. As she pulled it on it automatically tightened to skin tight. It covered everything up to her neck, including her hands and feet, but did absolutely nothing to hide her naked body. If anything it greatly emphasized her member, breasts, and sleek muscles.
She then picked up and put on the actual armor, which looked like a futuristic belt at the moment. Once it was on she used its DTI. Armor activate.
Up and down from the belt spread what looked like a viscous black liquid. In just over a second Be'larien was covered up to her neck with black segmented plate armor that looked almost like insect carapace. The joints seemed to have a duller inner carapace that expanded and contracted as she moved, allowing her to retain full range of motion.
While the suit was near skin tight and did nothing to hide her figure, Be'larien already felt a great deal of mental relief. She no longer felt like she was dressed as the sluttiest worker in a bordello. Be'larien slid her feet into the black, plated boots, which automatically adjusted and fused with the armor. The soles of the boots looked almost like rubber, but Be'larien knew it wasn't even similar in properties. She could walk vertically and even upside-down on most surfaces at will, and wouldn't even notice stepping on a sharp nail not made of very special materials.
Maybe it was the under armor, but even with the full body coverage Be'larien felt like she was wearing silk lingerie. Regardless, at least now she wasn't completely exposed to the whole world, which made her feel better. Returning her attention to Hasa, she said, "Okay, let's go."
Hasa snorted in amusement as he levitated Be'larien onto his back. Once she was on he didn't hesitate and began to walk. And the world fell away.
She'd experienced it in the 'Life Story', but even in the 'Life Story' she'd known that the memory never compared to the actual experience of riding on Hasa. Every time was like a spiritual awakening. The very universe seemed to weave around and through you. Space meant nothing. Time meant nothing. All was one. And then they arrived at the destination, and the awakening ended. All that was left was the bittersweet memory that was a pale echo of the moment.
Coming back to herself, Be'larien took her first real look at Dalvarmik, the Capital World. The whole planet was basically one giant city. It seemed Earth's vision of futuristic sci-fi worlds was at least partially accurate. You couldn't even see the ground on Dalvarmik from the air, and what nature was visible was in the manufactured parks and gardens of the higher levels. And an endless stream of vehicles was flowing through the cerulean skies.
Hasa and Be'larien touched down in one of those parks. After Hasa levitated her down to the ground, he promptly shrunk himself until he was small enough to fit in Be'larien's hand. Then he landed on her head, laid down, and settled in to continue napping.
Be'larien had seen him do this in the 'Life Story', but still hadn't expected it to happen in reality. She knew that despite how precarious his position looked that she could start head-banging like she was at a rock concert and he wouldn't budge a nanometer. Hasa sent a thought to her unasked question. While my memory was not altered, I was provided the knowledge of our time together in your 'Life Story'. This is the method I would likely have chosen to accompany you in crowded areas anyway. I see no point in choosing an alternate method just for spite.
Be'larien tried not to blush in embarrassment. Hasa was right that she wanted him to do something different from the 'Life Story' to follow her, and he was right that it would've been for nothing more than spite. But his thought again contained no judgment, just the truth.
Well, let's get started on my first real foray into this city. Be'larien knew from the 'Life Story' that she was currently in the Phalian District Park of the 287th Sector. She knew there would be transportation available at the west end of the park. She thought she might start by exploring the market district. The memories in the 'Life Story' indicated there was always something interesting to see there.
The park itself actually reminded her a lot of Earth. The grass and leaves were green, bark was brown, and the flowers had no unusual colors, at least not in the human visual spectrum. There were several that were quite beautiful in ultraviolet.
It wasn't long after she started walking that Be'larien had her first real sight of a non-Thelossian humanoid male. Oh my god, that poor deformed bastard! As Be'larien consciously processed this instinctual and visceral response, she felt an enormous wave of relief wash over her. Oh thank you sweet, salty Christ, I'm NOT gay!
Be'larien had known from the 'Life Story' that Thelossians were disgusted by what other races considered the standard male appearance. But after Tiri and the apparently very real Tas, Be'larien had been starting to have very serious identity issues. Now though, Be'larien had hard evidence that Thelossians saw males of all other species like they were the Elephant Man. And while there might be 'special' individuals out there who could look past that for a physical relationship, Be'larien was immensely thankful that she was not one of them.
But as happy as Be'larien was to be thoroughly and viscerally disgusted by the male appearance of other races, that left Tiri and Tas as a very big puzzle. As a thought experiment, Be'larien imagined a series of naked Thelossian females. She felt her nipples harden a bit and her member throb, which put a smile on her face.
Then, steeling herself, Be'larien imagined a series of naked Thelossian males, though not Tiri or Tas. The result, while she hadn't been excited, she wasn't turned off either. Now Be'larien frowned a bit, but decided she'd accept being neutral about people that were 98% hot woman and 2% something extra. She wasn't anywhere near happy about it, but she'd accept it.
Next, Be'larien allowed herself to think of Tas naked, that beaming smile on her face as she gently caressed a hand over her breasts, as she slowly lowered to her knees to take Be'larien's throbbing member into her- Be'larien stopped as she was panting, her nipples were rock hard, and her member was trying to rip through her armor. Her hands had stopped mid-motion, one going to her breasts and the other to her crotch.
God's damned brainwashing!, she told herself as she worked to calm down. Ok, so I'm 100% disgusted by males of other races, so heterosexuality: check. I seem to be neutral with regards to Thelossian males, which is disturbing, but I'll deal. But, BUUUUTT, just thinking about Tas can send me from zero to light speed in an instant. F*cking 'Life Story'!
Be'larien changed her mind about going to the market district. Her first stop would be the Arena. She really felt like killing something.