“The time now is, One Zero Zero Zero hours,” a female voice monotonously spoke as a gentle whirr followed; sunlight shone via plate-glass windows as blinds were slowly raised.
Noa’s eyes slowly fluttered open, and she grimaced at the sudden flood of sunlight that washed over her; she grumbled softly as she turned onto her other side, sighing as she faced away from the window “F….”too bright, too early… too early…”,
With a heavier sigh, she rolled onto her back, rubbed her eyes, and took another deep breath before she kept lying back and stared at the ceiling. She decided she might as well get up and off the bed and swung her feet off the bed. She looked out at the view of the grounds under her window and stretched, sitting back down on the bed as she looked out the window.
She tapped the manual switch to her communications device just behind her ear; messages scrolled up on her corneal HUD. While she scrolled through them as she decided which to prioritize when a familiar name beeped at the upper left corner of the HUD. With another sigh, she tapped her palm to answer the call,
“Yes, Mother?” she piped, almost annoyed,
“Noaaa, my dear! I hope you have had a good sleep? The records show that you and Anya came in very late last night.”
She smiled at the comment, “Yes, Mother, we had quite a late night, but it was good.”
“Well, we missed you at breakfast. It's not that often you and Anya are here; please try to join us for breakfast next time you’re over, yes? Anya managed to join us in the end, though. Will the two of you be around for the dinner? I do have the most exciting feeling about tonight; Charles will be there, you know.”
She rolled her eyes and let out a slight grunt, biting her tongue to fight off an immediate response to her mother’s statement, “Ah, really? Well, I did say I’ll be there for the dinner, I don’t know about Anya though”,
“Anya has confirmed her attendance, my dear. Well, I will leave you to it then. I just wanted to confirm if you were to attend. Don’t tire yourself too much today, and make sure to wear something nice for dinner.” The line cuts with a soft beep.
She exhaled as she got up from bed, her eyes still trained out at the view afforded by the large plate-glass that made up the wall in this part of her room. Her eyes took in the view, and she smiled at it. Her mood almost immediately lifted, having been washed away at the start of the morning with the call. After what seemed like quite a few minutes, she turned and headed away from her bed toward the bathroom door of her room,
“PAT?” she called out, almost like she was searching for the owner of the name,
“Yes, mistress Noa?” the same voice from earlier replied,
“Does the kitchen have coffee? I’m not talking the crappy stuff from the Quik-oven, like, real coffee from coffee beans”,
“Yes, your previous order includes a bag of roasted Coffee Beans. Shall I tell the maid you would like some?”
“Yes, and please remind her I don’t want anything else with it, just the coffee. Freshly brewed, no milk, no sugar”
“Very good mistress. Will there be anything else?”
“Nada, thanks PAT”,
Her communicator beeped again; the HUD showed Anya’s personal icon as Noa picked it up,
“Good morrrrning sleepyhead!”,
“Hey, Anya, what’s up?”
“Not much. I shouldn’t have finished that bottle last night; that’s what’s up. Oh, did Mother remind you of the dinner tonight?”
“Yes, she did,” Noa replied with an annoyed grunt,
Anya chuckled, “I’ll bet she was cooing to you about Charles. She doesn’t learn, does she?”
“Apparently not. Noa, you need this, Noa, you need that, blah blah blah.”
“So aaaanyway, the reason why I called. Remember that old dude, um… whatsisname, Allidar, Analdar, Ayladar…”
“Anlidar?”,
“Yes! Him! Mama Baasan sent a holo-message about something new he has. Did you get it?”,
Noa’s hand moved before her as she scrolled through the list displayed on her HUD, “Yep, I haven't opened it yet... So.. Anlidar? Wonder what he has.”
“No idea. Mama Baasan didn’t say much about it, but I suppose since she holo’ed and not just call…”
“... Then it must mean something”,
“Yep! So I’ll leave it to you to start comms with him?”
Noa nodded and made a mental note to check it. “Ya, for sure. We can catch up later anyway.”
“Okay! I’ll see you later! gonna do my preps for tonight. Have you decided on what to wear?’,
“Yep, have an idea of… so I’ll see you then, babe!” the call ended with a soft beep, leaving Noa alone with her thoughts until she heard a knock on the door,
“Hold up, I'm coming!” Noa called out to whoever knocked on the door, knowing her coffee had arrived.
As she opened the door, she was greeted by an older woman who wore a formal black and white colored uniform that showed her as one of the house's service staff. Her eyes grew in shock when she saw Noa as if taken aback,
“What? W…” Noa looked down, her naked body greeted her eyes. “.. oh.. Ya okay, thanks, Alana, that will be all”, she smiled, unabashed by her nudity, toward the other woman as she leaned forward to pick up the large coffee mug and stepped back, letting the heavy door slide close behind her as she walked back into her room.
—--------------------------
“There you are. I was looking for you all over”, a gruff baritone voice suddenly broke Noa’s focus as she turned her head to the side, seeing a pair of feet with well-manicured toe-nails dressed in immaculately made sandals.
She smiled and pushed herself out from under the vehicle she was under. She looked up, her exposed skin and dark coveralls streaked with grime, oil, and grease as she smiled warmly at the man,
“Father, you know you can always call me, right? So much easier”.
“A man can’t want to see his most special girl in person then? Is that what’s the current thing? I thought you outgrew that after school was done?” Richard H. Essedar, head of the Essedar household, smiled down at Noa and offered a hand, which she gladly grabbed.
She pulled herself up and hugged him tightly, chuckling at the comment before she pulled away, turning around to regard the vehicle she was working on.
She smiled proudly,
“ You like him? Anya’s friend found the body lying in some dump; we decided to scoop it up and after months of TLC…”
Richard nodded and smiled wide, beaming with pride as he regarded the bare-bones frame of the vehicle. His eyes then moved over the lines of ink that peeked out between Noa’s coveralls and the deep-colored roots of her silver hair.
“More new ink?”
“Hmm? “ Noa turned to look at him, her hand on the back of her neck. “Oh, ya, well, you know how it is; I don’t really like to be too alloy-blooded… so…” she tapped at the nape of her neck as she stepped toward the side of the car.
“Sooooo? What do you think?” she exhaled as her hands opened up, one hand sliding onto the smooth curve of the car’s roof as she continued to press him for a reply
“Well, I’d be amazed if you got the hover mechs to work, what with no one manufacturing it for civilian cars anymore… Of course, if you want to keep it legal…”
“Ya ya ya, then I don’t have to re-do the hover mech… but still”, she looked over the car and breathed in as she nodded to herself, hands on her hips,
“Did you get to drive these types?” Noa looked at Richard as she wiped her hands with a rag and headed toward a steel fridge that sat in the wall of the garage they were in,
“It was all the rage when I was younger, and this particular model was the prime and most vogue of them all… that's for sure... So.. definitely did.” He smiled widely at her, the memory having brought a definite hint of pride and joy in his tone,
“Voooggue, ya, definitely vogue.” Noa nodded slowly as she sipped on a bottle of water she had just opened; her mind drifted away at the thought.
“But! Unless you can fish out the hover-mechs made for this one or somehow manage to persuade someone to part with an equal, it’s not really the same, just driving it on piezos.”
He walked over to the other side of the subject of their conversation, ‘And I’m talking strictly on the hypothetical basis that it's actually legal to drive it in the air?’ He teasingly reminded Noa of the point he was trying to make earlier,
Noa shook her head slowly and mimicked her eyes rolling as she scoffed at him. “Yes, Father, I know, I know,”
She suddenly raised a finger, her mind having just then reminded her of something. “Oh, by the way! I found this. It’s a newer drivetrain for this frame than it originally meant for. But I figured with some mods here and there, it could work. I was wondering if you or your tech heads at the office can check it?”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Noa’s free hand reached into one of the pockets around her coveralls and fished out a small, flat stick, safe for a few lines of exposed metal; its coursed surface was a simple matt black “here,”
Richard took it, and his hand reached behind, slotting the small, nail-sized stick into one of 2 covered slots at the nape of his neck. His eyes lit up as the fingers on his left hand waved up and down intermittently; his expression indicated he was in thought,
“Hmm, well, it's not that old, but not quite new either. I believe there are no production models left, although I do know that it’s rather popular with collectors.” his hand waved down, and the lights in his eyes turned out as he looked and smiled at Noa,
“I’ll bring it to one of the guys, see what they can dig up?.. Oh, and I believe this model allowed for after-market mods for hover-mechs.” He shot a glance at Noa, who shrugged and smiled back innocently while she shook her head slowly,
“No hovering cars, yes,” She nodded and grinned before she took another sip and placed the now half-filled bottle down. “So, anyway, you were looking for me?”
“Ah yes, about that. Mother wanted to remind you to wear something nice. She also asked me to remind you that the guests are arriving a bit earlier than the planned start.” He paused as he saw her eyes roll. “But, I guess I don’t have to…” He smiled, amused.”Just try to join us this time. Nothing like that last event she arranged.”
Noa shrugged. “It was only an hour or so late; I needed to finish something.”
Richard chuckled as he shook his head.
Noa chuckled softly, smiled, and nodded curtly, her face in thought. “Is that all? You could have just holo-vidded that or scroll-messaged me.” Noa’s face furrowed into an amused look, to which Richard laughed softly and shook his head.
“As I said, I don’t have to have a reason to come see my most special girl, petitsa.”
Noa smiled as she patted his arm gently. “Thank you for dropping in then, father… next time! I’ll drive this over to your room just so you and Mom can see me… Driving it”, Noa giggled softly, half-teasing him after his constant reminder of it,
Richard shook his head as he smiled wide, amused at her response, “No flying cars, Noa,”
“Now you sound like the government,” Noa sighed melodramatically with a smile on her face.
Richard laughed and shook his head again. “2000, guests arriving. No pre-drinks or drugs.” his finger shook at Noa as he smiled before he turned and walked away,
Noa chuckled, “Sir, yes sir, will do sir,” and mockingly saluted her father as he walked off, to which he laughed again at the mock seriousness of her reply.
—--------------------------
The dinner party was in full swing as the attendees mingled in small groups, striking conversations about various topics. The conversations buzzed around the rounded foyer as Noa stepped out of her room onto the mezzanine, connecting her room to the other hallways on the floor where her room was.
She leaned her hands onto the dark wooden railing and looked down, her left eye emitting a soft green glow as she scanned the crowd. A profile card image rose from each person as her eyes moved slowly over them.
Her left hand tilted up at the wrists, her slender fingers dancing up and down as she scrolled through some of the profiles that she found interesting, constantly chuckling to herself as she perused the records of the ones she was scrolling through. Anya’s communicator icon suddenly beeped up at the top left-hand corner of her HUD, and she answered the call,
“I see what you are doing. Stop it, will you!” Anya softly giggled as Noa waved her left hand to the side, the profiles on her HUD hovering over each person in the crowd below disappearing.
She noticed Anya waving at her, drink in hand, a tall, sturdy-looking man in her other hand as the man seemed to try and say something funny to her. Anya’s laughter could be heard over the drone of conversations as her eyes roll up toward Noa,
“Please, please rescue me, babe,” her voice pleading despite her outward demeanor,
Noa chuckled as she started down the cantilever that snaked along the curved wall of the large foyer.
Anya excused herself from the man talking to her and approached Noa. Looking up at the silver-haired woman as she lithely walked down the open stairs.
Noa was wearing a plunging wine-red dress, the cut of which generously showed off her fit, tall figure. Her body ink snaked down from behind her over her shoulders and down her arms.
While another series of designs snaked down from just under her collarbone down between her breasts and plunged downward, hidden by the dress.
The heavy, deep red of the dress contrasted strongly against her silver hair. The hair was brushed to one side, clearly showing off the shaven left temple where her ink could be seen. She smiled warmly at Anya as she approached,
“Nice dress! I like this one better than the white one, which is good since…”
Anya twirls around with her hands at her side, showing herself off to Noa. Her dress covered the front well while conversely having a deep bareback cut, which showed off her back generously, an intricately designed tattoo snaking down from the nape of her neck, down either side of her spine to the small of her back.
Noa chuckles. “Ya, both of us wearing white would be such a no-no,” while she picked up a wine glass from a passing server, and her eyes scanned left and right as she took a sip,
“He’s with his father and the rest of his friends,” Anya grinned teasingly as she noticed Noa’s behavior.
“Dazzee! I need to stock up on bodily alcohol levels before I can do some acting” Noa chuckled back at Anya before she nudged her arm, her chin cocked momentarily in the direction of the man Anya had left earlier. “Who’s the kerbie? New squeeze? He looks familiar-ish, though”.
Anya looked at where Noa was motioning toward and chuckled, squeezing Noa’s arm. “He’s not a curb crawler! Ok, well, maybe… Nah, I’ve known him on and off. Boring guy really, can’t hold a conversation to save an Augaow’s hide… but… he has other… redeeming qualities”, Anya winked at Noa as she smiled wickedly,
Noa nodded, “Ah, one of those then.” She smiled back at Anya as she finished her glass and spun around, placing it onto the tray of a passing server while her other hand picked up another freshly filled one.
“So,… c'mon, get me up to speed then?” Noa slid her free hand around Anya’s arm while her head swiveled. Anya opened her mouth to start when Noa interrupted her,
“Are those the Xelas?” Noa’s eyes rested on a middle-aged couple who were in the midst of an animated conversation with a group of men and women,
Anya looked in the same direction and nodded. “Mhmm, good old Anton and Beatrice, one has to admit their GenTec therapies are really doing the brand justice.”
“Mhmm, that's right, and they probably hired a new stylist too. Finally wearing something not tacky for a change?”
Anya giggled softly at Noa’s observation. “Apparently, and well, those others talking to them are... Hmm, I think newly minted plat-heads. Before you ask, no, I don't remember their names”,
Noa shrugged ‘not important anyway, don’t need to know more plat-heads when we already have to remember ours” as she started leading Anya toward another side of the foyer, passing through separated groups of conversations on the way to a large open doorway.
They stepped out past the doors, the balcony nearly as big as the hall they had just passed. Transparent low panels topped with dark chestnut railing marked the end of the balcony.
Noa leaned against the railing as she looked out at the view. Similar large houses can be seen lit up, street lights illuminating well-manicured greenery and well-maintained roads breaking the otherwise large swathes of darkness between individual dwellings.
“Did you get to go through the message?” Anya broke the short pause as she leaned next to Noa,
Noa looked to their left and right before turning to look at Anya and nodded. Her left eye lit up as information appeared on her eye HUD,
“Yep. Spoke to Mama too, more on that... Grab gig, scrip ready, and half-payment up front. We’re supposed to meet with him before we begin, though”.
Anya’s brows furrowed. “Hmph, that’s not usual,”
Noa nodded. “That’s what I thought. It's usually job spec, scrip confirmation, and then payment when done. Maybe he’s just being extra paranoid about this one?”
Anya shrugged, sipping her drink, biting her lower lip as her eyes rested on the mingling groups in the hall,
“Okay, yes, he’s paranoid all the time… still, Half-payment upfront usually means it's big”,
she paused and turned to look at Noa,
“We don’t really need the Y-bees, you sure about this?”
“Well.. okay, let’s walk through this then. Anlidar. He was what, our first gig?”
Anya’s lips scrunched to the side as she nodded slowly. “Yes, the first gig, via Denis. Then, after the third, he introduced us to Mama, hmmm… then I think it was 4? or 5? Months after that, before we had another gig from him via Mama.”
Noa nodded slowly. “Mmhmm, then two consecutive gigs after, then none from him, til today,”
“Okay, so we know he’s generous with his payments; even after the cut to Mama, we get a lot. His jobs are always ones connected with enterprises. He drops in and out of the scene with some time in between. Has impeccable intel on the places we hit for him… Enterprise Emissary?” Anya quizzically looked at Noa,
Noa chuckled as she replied with a shrug.
“I dunno, we have VERY sketchy levels of information to go with here to speculate properly, don’t you think? Plus, I think you’ve noticed he never uses his own name on his scrips or records of it… This is the first time he actually wants to meet in person, though. It’s not worrying; it's just… weird.”
“Eehh, I dunno babe. We started this because…”
“It was utterly and dreadfully boring; besides, if I wanna do what I want, I need my own… freedom”, Noa piped in and smirked at Anya.
Anya shrugged and nodded, “Mhmm, well, that’s your plan.” She winked at Noa and smiled.
“...although you have shown an amazing aptitude at whatever has been thrown our way”,
nudging Noa’s arm as she leaned in to take another sip of her glass, finding it empty and tossing it over the railing,
Noa chuckled and continued.
“Aaand I, at least, didn’t wanna end up like everyone…well…” she bopped her hands up and down toward the groups of people in the halls the two of them could see.
“but ya, you’re correct though…what can I say? It's obvious I’m talented.” She winked back at Anya before tossing her now empty glass over the railing as well,
“Okay, okay, back to topic! Why don’t we just decline and ask Mama to get another to do it? It won’t be the first time we've turned down a job”,
“Well….. I did try probing into that, but Anlidar was very specific about who he wanted for the job:”,
“Huh… this gets weirder and weirder by the line… Do you think he knows who we really are?”
Noa shrugged, her eyes catching a tall, well-built man negotiating his way through a group of attendees and headed to where they were standing,
“Not that I know of. Our records are blocked, the head-ware we have installed means cams cannot pick up our IDs on a scan, we never use vehicles that can be tied to us, and the apartment in town is… well owned by Aibeah Seinner”, Noa smirked, having picked out the name herself as a joke, “okay, we’ll pin this, we have the weekend to mull over it,” Noa straightened up as the well-built man gets within earshot,
“Noa! Anya! I thought it was you.” Charles walked up to the two women standing away from others on the balcony,
“Hello, Charles! How are you? Mother said you’d be here, but I couldn't find you; I found Anya instead.” Noa cooed out. She smiled brightly at Charles and kept a light grip on Anya’s arm.
Anya chuckled, leaning in to plant a quick peck on Noa’s cheek before she pulled away. “I’ll leave you two to it then; see you later, babe, and don’t call me!” giggling and winked at Noa as she slipped off toward the interior of the house,
“Skank!” Noa laughed as she swatted Anya’s rear, eliciting a squealing laugh from Anya, who just winked at her again before walking off.
Charles’ eyes caught a glimpse of Noa’s bareback and the elaborate tattoos down either side of her spine that trailed down her back, disappearing under her dress before she spun back to greet him with a smile, patting his arm,
“Are you Enjoying the party?” Noa smiled at him, then realized she needed more to drink. Charles opened his mouth to reply, just as Noa cut him off by wrapping a hand around his arm and started leading him back in. “Tell me all about it over drinks then, shall we?”