Tylene trailed behind Bob as they walked from the room they were in to a skywalk that connected the hotel to the city convention center. Although checking him out from behind was a pleasure, her gaze on his butt was professional. She coached Bob as if he were Cecilia, who still brainboarded with her husband from her room.

"I want to see more force in your step. Act like you're stomping on bugs."

Bob/Seas complied. He/she also swung his/her hips, playfully showcasing two handsome buns.

"That's good," Tylene said with a smile. She enjoyed watching her best friend work Bob's body with ease. "Now center your feet. Think about where you place your toes. Widen your stance and walk like a man."

Bob giggled, sounding like his wife. "This is so cool!" he admitted with honesty.

Cecilia could sense his emotional state. You're terrified, she thought into his brain, also being honest.

With you in me, it's still cool.

Bob also sensed the state of his wife's emotions. The appreciation she had for him bolstered his confidence. Before they had both gotten brainboarded, it had been hard for them to get along. Cecilia wanted to remain a part of the crowd she hung out with as a teenager. As they became young adults, she watched many of them become successful artists.

Her good friend Tylene was no exception. In fact, she became a superstar. Models and millionaires and actors sought out her creations, begging her to let them wear the outfits she crafted to gala balls and award ceremonies.

Cecilia never became anyone famous, but she did get to wear Tylene's clothes. She even owned a few outright, as Tylene gave them to her as gifts. They were one-of-a-kind designs and thus priceless, but that didn't matter to Cecilia.

She wouldn't give them up for the world. Despite the fact that her blue collar, work-a-day husband was far from anyone special, Cecilia would sometimes wear a priceless Gunn gown to something as mundane as a brat fry.

Bob used to dress up too, pleasing his wife to no end. He often donned a silk suit and tie in colors complimenting her garb. At times during their courtship, he'd show up in a tuxedo with flowers, taking her to nothing more fancy than a movie or a local bar.

She loved the attention he gave her, and soon loved him very much. They became wed in an instant, and for twenty happy years raised two lovely kids. Though they were now both forty-one, Bob could pass easiiy for twenty-five.

He was just that drop-dead gorgeous. But he no longer dressed like he used to, and Cecilia's designer outfits hung unused in a closet. They didn't go with the t-shirts and jeans her husband now often wore.

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The society they lived in willingly allowed itself to be surveiled. The Big Eye watched benignly from doorbells, and peered down from streetlights and drones. It didn't bother most people, but it forced them to conform. A quick glance on a bitwatch—which everyone wore nowadays—brought up every fact about a person with ease. And a bitwatch that told its owner the person sitting beside them was the recipient of an uncontested divorce was fate worse than being told that the person was a convicted criminal.

The rare few who broke the law no longer rotted in prison, but instead received professional treatment. A wire mesh was inserted in their head, resting carefully atop their brain. They then brainboarded at regular intervals with a behavioral therapist.

Those who contemplated getting an uncontested divorce received no such help. Thus, they were often perceived as having behaved inappropiately, with their muddled brain not getting the treatment needed to prevent its owner from wronging society further.

Recently, this sort of peception was changing. Rather than getting a divorce and being treated worse than a criminal, spouses having trouble in their marriage were allowed to receive the wire mesh implant, and brainboard with each other. Under the guidance of a therapist, who observed rather than brainboarding with either person, couples resolved their differences by seeing the world through the eyes of their loved one.

The boon was monumental. Not only were disgruntled couples finding new ways to get along, but they were falling in love again. Bob and Cecilia were no exception. While observing the world through the eyes of his wife, Bob saw how much she loved her friends.

And Cecilia, as she looked through his, saw how he loved her very much. So much so that he'd do anything he could to please her. While watching the world through his wife's eyes, Bob realized every single one of her friends thought her to be the luckiest girl in the world.

Because again, he was just that gorgeous.

"Lengthen your stride but don't hurry," Tylene instructed Bob/Seas as they walked. "When you take a corner, pause and then shorten your steps, turning your body to face the new way."

Bob giggled again, this time more in his own voice. "This is kind of fun," he admitted. "Weird, but also not."

Tylene sighed, as the sway of Bob's butt was getting the better of her. "You're good at this," she remarked. "It's like you've had years of practice."

I was a teenage beauty queen!

"It's not me," Bob admitted. "Seas says she's a beauty queen."

"You're the beauty now. You've got what it takes to be famous."

Oh my love! I love you so!

I love you too, very much. You make me happy inside.

Tylene stopped Bob at a door leading backstage at the convention center. She smiled warmly and held him by his shoulder. The touch of her hand offered encouragement while at the same time sending chills through Cecilia, still sitting in her hotel room.

"You're going to be amazing," Tylene said. She gave Bob his last instructions before handing him over to the backstage director. "You're also going to be busy, with wardrobe changes and accessories and makeup. Let yourself go and have others take care of you. Don't let them mistreat you or mess things up."

"Isn't it hard to do both?"

She patted him and opened the door. "You'll learn that in there, the best person for you is you."

And me! Cecilia thought into Bob's head, bringing a smile to his lips.

"Everyone backstage has one job—to make the models look perfect. Help them, and you'll be the most amazing model of all."

Cecilia nearly willed Bob to gambol through the door, headlong into the chaos.

This is going to be so much fun!

"This will be fun," Bob said to Tylene, saying so mostly for the sake of his wife.