A few moments after Zoe picks her clothes from the catalog of pre-programmed outfits in her mind, a message from Hugo appears in the corner of her vision.
“Here’s the location, I figure this is easier than trying to navigate via voice call. I also added a snapshot of the menu, so you’ll be able to check it out ahead of time. I’m not sure what your type should be eating, but a good noodle bowl’s probably not a bad choice. See you there.”
Zoe walks the short distance to the bar, just on the outskirts of the busy entertainment complex. Crowds of off-shift employees are making their way to the multitude of restaurants and distractions lining the district. The sounds of pachinko machines and video feeds of VR game streams echo throughout, and holograms and giant screens flash advertisements to the crowd.
The restaurant, an unassuming and comparatively uninteresting building appears to be an older generation of construction than the surrounding ultra-modern neon. Although not nearly as busy as the chaotic fast service and theme-park atmosphere of other places, this restaurant seems to be frequented by regulars or those in the know.
Zoe finds a half-booth in the back and takes the booth part, leaving the chair for Hugo - he probably couldn’t fit between the booth and table anyway.
She looks over the menu while she waits, and very soon Hugo arrives, ducking under the doorway as he enters. Zoe waves, and he smiles and takes the seat across from her.
“Hey, thanks for meeting me for dinner. I don’t really know anyone else here outside the team, and I hate eating alone in a crowd.”
“Oh yeah, no worries! I come here pretty much once a week. I think they have the best pho in the whole complex.”
“Oh cool, I was thinking about pho. I figure it’s got a little bit of everything in it, so hopefully my body’s ok with that. I’m not exactly sure what the squishy part of me needs, the training guy mentioned water and protein every once in a while. I think taking that hit earlier might have caused some damage that I’ll have to heal.”
“Hmm, interesting. I haven’t worked with a Mimic yet, and I think you’re absolutely fascinating. I mean, you know, your whole setup.”
Zoe wills herself not to blush as she grapples with not reading too deeply into Hugo’s statement.
“I’m definitely not like other girls.” She smiles. “My whole situation is pretty strange. Are Egregor and I the only full conversions?”
“Yep, Alex barely has anything replaced, mostly interfaces and optional add-ons. She can also eject her extra cybernetic arms and tail if they get squirrely. Makes sense for a hacker, if she gets compromised her own cyberware might attack her. It’s basically the same with me, I’m only about 30% cyber - just my arms, heart and lungs, a few reinforcements to my skeleton, and the cyberware to talk to the team.”
“So, were you always so friggin’ huge then?”
“Nope, I was actually pretty scrawny when I showed up here. Originally I got a job at Argus as a security guard after getting out of the Army, with a pile of dead-end jobs between. About a year in at Argus, someone thought it would be fun to blow up the building I was guarding.”
“Shit, I’m sorry - that really sucks.”
“I got hurt pretty bad, but I was still able to drag a few folks out of the fire before I passed out.”
“Oh wow, that’s really heroic.”
“I was in too much shock to really know what I was doing at the time, so I was basically on autopilot - but thanks. When I woke up in the hospital, some supervisor came down and decided to reward me for my efforts with a promotion.
Which I took, of course, not really knowing what I was getting into. Turns out I got myself into a nonstop routine of growth hormones and genetic therapy for half a year, then a round of hardcore cyberware surgery.
So now, instead of sitting in a guard shack reading and slowly getting fatter, I get paid to break things.”
“I would guess at least half of your job’s gotta be intimidating people, so it can’t be all that bad. Like, ‘Stand over there and be large at people.’ Sounds like a pretty good gig.”
“Ha! I’m pretty good at being huge in lots of places. Pretty much everywhere I go, really. This job certainly has its moments - mostly boring ones, but what happened today is definitely not the way stuff usually shakes out.”
“That’s good to know; I’m not exactly a violent person by nature. Also, turns out getting shot really sucks.”
“Absolutely - if I knew it was gonna be that dicey, I’d have fabbed up an armored vest for you. You sure took the hit like a champ though. I didn’t know that you were some kind of liquid on the inside - how does that work?”
“So, I’m basically a blob of goo with a skeleton to prop me up - that way I can change size and shape. The AI that sits in the back of my mind handles all the data to make that happen.” “My skin, my clothes - the gel makes that happen.” She tugs on the sleeve of her shirt. “This shirt, also more nanogel.”
“Wow, that’s really crazy. So like, right now you’re not technically wearing clothes?”
Zoe blushes. “Uh, dang. I hadn’t thought of that. Sorta? I mean, it’s a pretty convincing fake though, right?”
“Absolutely, I had no idea. Hell, under my clothing I’m naked, so it’s not really that much different. That’s gotta make changing your clothes a lot easier too.”
“Watch this.” Zoe closes her eyes for a second, and chooses her old bike jacket from her mental library. Her top shimmers into an indistinct bluish blur, and reforms seconds later into the jacket, stealing a little mass from her body to create the new layer.
“That’s amazing! Nice jacket too.”
“It’s my old bike jacket. They threw that in for me, I think, to give me some familiar stuff from before the whole conversion thing.”
“That’s pretty cool - what bike did you ride?”
“That’s sorta complicated. The original frame is from Ares, but I swapped the batteries for some that were… obtained from a sports car.”
“Obtained?”
“Fell off a truck.”
“Ah. one of those ‘don’t ask’ sort of things.”
“Exactly, I upgraded the motor too. I managed to fit a salvaged drone motor into the main drive - had to chop the thing apart to fit it, but it went from really fast to way, way too fast.”
“Nice! I always wanted a bike. I’d probably need to build a custom one to fit on it, but it might be a fun project.”
“Well, once I figure out how to get parts brought in, I really want to start building a replacement. If you want to build one too, I could help out!”
“That would be so cool, after a long day it’s gotta be great to hop on your bike and unwind. Anyway, we probably should order some food before they kick us out.”
On hearing the mention of ordering, a pop-up appears in Zoe’s vision with the selections of pho available. “So I’m totally a rare beef pho person, what about you?”
“I almost always check all the boxes, and I get extra everything. I gotta feed the machine, and I plan on burning off some serious calories at the gym tomorrow morning.”
Within a few minutes a wheeled robot drives out of the double doors leading to the kitchen, with two steaming bowls of soup, one large and the other extremely, overwhelmingly large. It drives next to the table, and Hugo sets his and Zoe’s bowls down, then grabs the heaping plate of vegetables for the both of them. The robot then zips back into the kitchen.
Both of them reach for the tongs set atop the vegetable pile at the same time, and their hands touch for a brief moment. They simultaneously pull back awkwardly. “Sorry, you go first.” Hugo says, as he attempts to scooch the plate a little closer to Zoe.
She grabs at the pile of sprouts, and loads up her bowl with some of the assortment. She flips the tongs around and hands them to Hugo, who takes a huge portion and places it carefully in his massive bucket of soup.
“Wow, you were right - this is insanely good.”
“It’s all lab-grown stuff, but they do a really good job with it. Can barely tell. I’d never lead you astray, especially with food.”
“That’s good to know - I plan on hitting you up for dinner ideas on the regular.”
“Luckily I know a lot of good places to go - looks like at least the second date is already in the works!”
“Oh, so we’re on a date now?” Zoe grins and gently kicks Hugo under the table.
“I didn’t. I mean. Um, shoot. Sorry.”
“I’m just giving you hell. If you know more places that are this good, our second and third dates are already in the bag.”
“They do say that the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach, and I happen to have the list of all the best places to eat in town.” Hugo says with a grin.
“Sounds like a plan sir…”
“Sir? I’ll have you know I work for a living…” Hugo chuckles. “Sorry, bad Army joke.”
“So, how do we pay for this stuff? I never got my credchip back after the crash, and they never really let me know my pay for work. Like are we paid daily? Weekly?”
“You’re at home base, there’s no bill. At least, not one we see. Somewhere in the 30 floors of the accounting department they back-charge the department for our food, but we never have to deal with it.”
“Oh, that’s actually pretty cool. What about in the rest of the world?” Zoe asks.
“When you want to spend money out on the economy they do a quick review of your plans and give you enough to do whatever you need. Eventually you’ll get a bank account where you can keep some converted funds for whatever, but for now don’t worry about it. They know we’re here so we can just go when you want.”
They finish up their meal, Hugo draining the entire massive bowl of soup. Zoe manages about two thirds, and leans back in her chair. “Man, I am so full. Apparently my appetite is smaller now, must not take much to keep me going.”
“Hey, what do you think about taking a walk? After a meal like this I usually like to walk it off. You know, settle the stomach.”
“Sure, you lead, I’ll follow.”
“I know a great place. Nowhere else like it in the whole facility. At least from what I’ve found.”
The pair walk to the edge of the entertainment district, and Hugo leads Zoe down an alleyway between a massage parlor and hair salon. The alley continues much farther than the buildings seem to allow, and soon the alley turns into a dark and disused tunnel strewn with the occasional trash bag.
“This is the place? Looks like a great spot to be murdered.”
“Not quite yet, there’s a door on our left coming up that’s pretty well hidden.”
Zoe walks up to the nearly invisible hatch, and pushes firmly on it. The door unsticks with a groan, and opens up into sunlight.
As Zoe’s eyes rapidly adjust, she steps through into a stone paved courtyard. A massive pond in the center complete with lily pads and a fountain runs down the center. Small orchards and gardens line each side of the courtyard, laden with fruit and tended by automated machinery. Beyond the courtyard, giant farm tanks filled with engineered yeasts and algae bubble and circulate. Above, a massive glass arch of windows allows the sunlight and heat through.
“Oh wow Hugo, this is beautiful.”
“I thought you’d like this, it’s probably the only place like it in the facility - maybe in the whole city. I think it’s here for the higher-ups to get fresh food.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this. Are those apple trees? I’ve only seen them in pictures.” Zoe tries to wrap Hugo up in a huge hug, and her arms make it most of the way around him.
Zoe’s head lands on his lower chest, and he says, “Oof, don’t crush the soup! I’m glad you like it!”
“Oh, sorry! One sec!” Zoe stretches her legs out, gaining enough height for the top of her head to reach just below his chin.
“This place is the best! Thank you so much!”
“Oh wow, you’re up here now… I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Yeah, I can alter myself a lot. They say I’ll be able to look like other people too, once they give me some more training.” Zoe takes a few steps back.
Hugo looks her up and down. “I dig the long legs, but maybe a little thin though?”
“Yeah, it’s a little awkward - I get crazy skinny at this height unless I steal material from somewhere else. I’m still figuring it out, so I kept myself normal so far.” Zoe shrinks back down to her normal height.
“Man, I need to do some reading up on your type - that’s really cool.”
“Check this out!” Zoe puts her hands under her head, and lifts up, disconnecting a joint in her neck and separating her head.
“Woah! That’s crazy!”
Zoe holds her head under her arm, cradling it in her hand. “Freaked out yet? I can separate and remote control my parts - might come in handy if I need to sneak into somewhere.”
“I can think of some other uses - not really very useful for the job though..”
“I’m one step ahead of you - already tried that out.” Zoe smiles, and puts her head back on. Ten out of ten, highly recommended.”
The pair wander around the grounds for a little while, and take in the evening sunset as it slides behind the massive towers of the arcology continuing up into the sky.
“I’m glad I could take you here - it’s my favorite spot in the whole place.”
Zoe says, “You know, this is really romantic. You’re a real charmer, Mr. Hugo.”
“I figured I’d show you a good time - you seem to have had a pretty rough start here, and I wanted to do my best to help out. Also you’re really cool and very attractive, so I figure I needed to give it a shot.” Hugo smiles.
“You did great, I’m looking forward to our next date soon. We probably should head back though, I’m pretty sure I have a crazy night ahead of me.”
“Yeah, the sleep training stuff is pretty weird at first. Hopefully we’ll get a team training soon, I think that would be a lot of fun.”
“Wait, we can share dreams?”
“Yeah, every once in a while they hook us up so we can train together. If we get done early, sometimes we can hang out in the dream together until we get kicked out. It’s pretty cool.”
They start walking back to the door, and Zoe reaches up to take Hugo’s hand. They head back into the slightly dingy and busy concrete commotion of the entertainment zone. They make it to the subway station, and Hugo looks at the schedule board.
Zoe asks, “Want to walk me back to my place?”
“Sure, I’m in no hurry to get back. Which block are you in?”
“I’m at sector 5, block AE floor 167, so pretty close to here.”
“Oh cool! I’m at 175.”
The air in the station starts to move as the train arrives, silently braking to a stop. The pair hop on the crowded train, and the other passengers leave plenty of space around Hugo.
They hop off the train after a few stops. Zoe leads the way, and they walk hand in hand back to her door.
“Well, this is my place.” Zoe stands by her door, looking upward at Hugo expectantly.
-
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-
“Ugh, you big oaf! I want you to kiss me!”
“Oh! Sorry!” Hugo smiles, and hooks his hands under Zoe’s arms. He picks her up in the air to meet his eye level, and pulls her in for a kiss. Once she gets over the surprise, she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls herself closer. “Damn you’re strong. I like it.” She goes in for another kiss, wrapped around his upper body.
After an extended round of intense kissing, Hugo gently sets Zoe down. She opens up her apartment door and asks “Want to come inside?”
“Yes ma'am.”
“Ma’am? I’ll have you know I work for a living!" Zoe smiles and grabs hold of Hugo’s hand. He ducks under the door frame as he’s pulled inside.