Sitting in a moderately comfortable chair in a moderately appetizing airport terminal bar and restaurant, I looked over my ticket info on my phone again. I noticed my flight time had just moved, and thought to myself, “Another hour stuck here? At least that gives me a little time to catch up on work.”

The restaurant was nearly empty at this time of morning; few people want a deli sandwich in the early hours, and it was surprising they were even open. Being that I was sick of fast food breakfast sandwiches or a bagel, I figured I’d mix it up and do lunch first.

I absently picked at the half-eaten chicken strips and fries sitting in front of me, and took a sip of my 10am beer as I connected to my work email system. I checked over my calendar, looking to see if the next client confirmed their meeting. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a faint blue glow, coming from something just out of my field of vision. Imagining it was likely just some new style of casual and more glowy clothes, I barely paid any mind to it.

Staring down at my phone, I noticed the blue glow getting closer, and sidling up to the bar a few seats away from me. I scrolled through my emails and started typing one out. I was hoping to get a response from the people I was supposed to meet on the other side of the upcoming flight, and if the meeting didn’t happen this whole trip would likely be a waste.

From the glowing person a few seats down from me, I heard a quiet feminine voice say “damn it, come on…”. I barely registered her, caught up in staring down at my phone. In the direction of the voice, I faintly heard a familiar humming sound - the anti-gravity tech I hopefully would be attempting to make a sale on in the next day or so, assuming both the flight and meeting went to plan.

“Excuse me sir, is this place open?” I continued staring at my phone, hitting refresh and checking if any new messages came in.

“Yep, it’s open. Just need to use the tablet on the table or the airport app. The bots in the back will bring your stuff out in like 30 seconds.” I pointed vaguely in the direction of the kitchen.

A few seconds passed, and a slight tapping sound, followed by a slightly louder thump or two came from the person next to me.

“Um… I seem to be having some trouble with it. Can I borrow your finger for a second?”

Confused, I turned to see what the heck this strange glowing and humming lady was talking about.

“Borrow my fing…? Oh!”

At first, I was a little shocked by her appearance. By shocked, I mean I was totally incapable of speech or any normal human interaction for what felt like a considerable time.

The humming sound was coming from a series of four micro hover-discs, making up for the total absence of all of her limbs, and attached to where her arms and legs should have been. The glow was originating from a set of holo-projectors, four of them built into the hover-discs substituting for her arms and legs, and creating a somewhat passable illusion of a regular human form.

The final projector, even more shockingly, made up for her lack of a head, at least as far as I could figure out. Her projected face, while attractive, was also partially transparent. The projector disc sat on top of the scarred place where the base of her neck would have been, and was somehow attached to her torso - I mean her body. It was all just torso, I supposed?

Although her modified shorts and closely fitted shirt managed to show off what was left of her toned and shapely body, the contrast of her completely alien and up until now apparently impossible appearance was far more than I was capable of parsing at this hour.

“I’m sorry to bother you - I was looking for a place that wasn’t busy but I’m having trouble with the touch screen here.”

“Uhhhhh..”

“Claw-kun doesn’t seem to be able to poke the buttons on the screen.”

“Claw-kun?”

From behind her, a small, three-fingered robotic hand with its own tiny hover engine floated through one of her holo-arm’s projections and stopped in front of her. “This little guy works as my hand, but he’s not getting along with these super old screens - they can’t seem to pick up my touch.”

I tried to continue to try to act normal and have a normal human conversation with a floating torso with a holographic most of her, but she clearly noticed my brain locking up.

“Uhhhhh yeah, I can do… I can help. Yeah. Sorry, I’m confused. I mean, how are you possible? I’m sorry if that’s a bad question.”

“Oh. No worries. I get that a lot. I had an accident when I was younger and had to have some crazy stuff done. My brain got moved into my chest, which of course is the first thing everyone asks. No, I’m not a robot or some kind of zombie. And no, it’s not magic. Magic isn’t real.”

I calmed down a little bit, and my brain started working like it should again. “I’m sorry, all that might have been a little inconsiderate of me. I think my brain’s a little sluggish this morning - turns out beer is a terrible substitute for coffee.”

She smiled, her partially transparent face easing into a kind expression. “It’s alright, I’m not a morning person at all, so I get it. Anyway, I just need you to hit the ‘morning wakeup smoothie’ button on this tablet thing, and hold my card to the screen to run the payment. Is that cool?”

“That’s totally cool.”

“Here, I’ll grab my phone from my purse.” From the seat next to her, a small travel purse floated up on its own miniature hover engine, and she maneuvered her floating claw into the top. It emerged holding her credit card, and I took it from its grasp as it flew toward me.

I walked over to her terminal, and she floated back slightly to give me a little room, the holograms 'walking' not entirely matched to her smooth drift. Trying not to stare, I quickly poked the appropriate buttons to get her order going, and held her card up for the contactless payment to transfer.

“There you go, all set. This place is really fast - I eat here almost exclusively when I’m traveling through.”

“I’m Mandy by the way.”

“Emeric. Emeric Martin. Friends call me Marty.”

I instinctively moved in to shake her hand, realizing at the awkward half-handshake point that her hand was made of light. Her holographic face smiled at me, and Claw-kun floated in to meet my hand just before I awkwardly dropped mine. It offered the daintiest amount of force as I shook it.

“Pleased to meet you Marty. So you come here often?” She floated back above her seat as we traded places, her legs phasing through the barstool until they did their best impression of sitting down. I handed her back her card, which her robotic hand helper floated over into her purse.

“Basically every couple weeks - I sell hover tech all around the country. I probably sold the engines to the company that made your hover plates. Probably 2500 series…”

“Oh, that’s really cool! There’s probably a ton of demand for those!”

“Demand has been absolutely insane - ever since we figured it out, basically everyone wants a pile of them. Makes sense though, who wants to use a forklift when stuff can be floated around on an anti-gravity cushion?”

“I can vouch for that, I would have never been able to function without this tech. The hologram stuff is the cherry on top but basically everything I do depends on these things.” She wiggled one of her shoulder stumps and the attached hover module. “Without these I can basically only squirm around a little. I spent a few years being carried around until I got a hold of a set. Of course, without the head part I’d be blind and deaf still, so it’s kind of a package deal.”

The tablet screen in front of Mandy’s seat flashed green and a small serving drone hovered out of the kitchen, carrying a large cup of gloopy breakfast smoothie, and set it down in front of her. “Wow, that was really fast!”

“They don’t mess around here. On a busy day I bet they get thousands of people, all in a hurry. I’ve probably been to every place in this airport, and this one is by far the fastest. Maybe not the best, but definitely fast.”

“Noted! I plan on traveling a lot more now that I have a real job, so that’s great to know.” She looked at the cup of liquid, then to me, then back again. “Umm… If you’re up for it I could really use one more favor.”

“I suppose I could, what’s up?”

“I normally use Claw-kun and take care of my meal myself, but I’m a little worried I’m gonna spill this stuff on me right before my flight. This cup might be a little heavy for him too. Could you help me out?”

“I suppose so, what do you need me to do?”

“Ok, first I need to take this holo-head off.” Her floating hand moved up and gripped the rim of the holographic projector, lifting it up and off, and setting it on the table. Her projected head wavered and flickered a bit as it settled onto the hard surface, but in a moment she was looking up at me from the bartop.

She steered Claw-kun over to her purse. “I’m going to stick in a special funnel, it’ll help with the whole spilling problem. Once I let you know, you’ll slowly pour that thing into me. Just like crappy college parties, basically, only this time it’s a smoothie instead of the world's cheapest beer.” Her head smiled at me, and I split my attention between eye contact with her and watching her body get ready for my help.

Claw-kun retrieved a small flexible funnel from her purse, and carried it up to the top of her abbreviated body. Getting a good look at what her holo-disc was covering, I saw the obvious scarring where her head was relocated and the space where her neck and shoulders had been patched back together. The hole in the front of her former neck area expanded and contracted very slightly with her breathing, obviously the windpipe. Behind that, her esophagus was tightly closed down to a small slit.

As the funnel approached, her modified throat opened up to receive it. Strangely, I saw a flash of something pink move around in the hole before the funnel plugged it.

“Ok, I’m ready. I’ll float down a bit so you can get a better angle.” She floated off her barstool and next to my seat, lowering her body to just above waist height and causing her holo-legs to clip into the floor as she descended. I reached over and grabbed the smoothie, noticing her head smile and wink at me as I turned to grab it.

“Ok, go slow - I don’t want to get brain freeze from this thing. If the funnel fills up, stop for a moment and let me catch up.”

“Sure, I’ll be careful. I don't want to be the one to ruin your outfit right after you asked me to help you avoid just that.” I carefully tipped some of the contents into the funnel, holding it with my other hand to stabilize it. She was easily able to keep up, quickly swallowing it down in huge gulps, and within a very short time most of it had drained into her stomach.

“Ok, that’s good. Thanks! That helped me out a ton.” A moment later, Claw-kun floated up and retrieved the funnel, and put it back into her purse.

“So, I’m curious. You said you just got a new job, what do you do?

“I just graduated from a Social Work program, and I got a job at a place that works with people kinda like me. I work on hooking them up with the technology to live like I do, pretty much independently.”

“That’s a really great line of work, it’s gotta feel good to be able to help people out.”

“I would say you do too, like you said you probably sold the hover units that make me able to live a mostly normal life. That’s gotta be worth a lot, you know?”

“I guess I hadn’t really thought about it that way, about 90 percent of my orders are usually for airplanes and mining equipment. Thanks.” I smiled. “I think you just made my whole day better.”

“I’m glad I could help!” She smiled back.

Curious about the time, I pulled out my phone and checked my flight status. “Looks like I’m boarding soon, I guess I better head that way.”

“Oh, what’s your flight number?”

“448.”

“No kidding? We’re on the same one! I better get myself back together quick so we can head that way.” She floated her cybernetic hand over to her holo-head sitting on the bar, and set it back onto the top of her body. After a quick adjustment, as Mandy’s residual muscles in her upper shoulders and neck slightly shifted the holo-head disc into place, she was ready to float out of the restaurant.

We wandered to our spot in the terminal, Mandy floating next to me. Of course, on the way over many people were staring but Mandy didn’t seem to be bothered by them.

We took a spot near the front of the waiting area. Mandy idly floated in the open space next to the end of a row of chairs, as I took up the last seat.

“So, I get priority seating because, well obviously,” Mandy said. If you say you’re with me, you can tag along. I might also need some more help on the plane - I can’t exactly fasten my seatbelt very well and it’s kinda embarrassing to ask a flight attendant to buckle me in.”

“It’s normally first come, first serve for seats so I’m excited to actually get a good spot for once… I’m more than willing to help you out - It’s been nice to talk to you and I’d like to continue if we can. I’m glad to have met you here.”

“Sweet! You said you’re going to a business meeting? If you’re gonna be in town for the next couple days, want to meet me and a friend from school for dinner? She’s got a great place reserved and I’m sure we can make it a party of three with no trouble. It probably beats eating takeout in your hotel room.”

“That would be fantastic, thanks Mandy. We should swap phone numbers before the flight though, I’ll probably forget to ask later on.”

“Sure! One sec - I’ll grab my phone.” Her floating hand emerged from her purse holding her phone, and she set it down on the small side table between us. I added my contact info into her phone, and hers to mine.

A few minutes later, the first flight announcement went out over the PA system asking for anyone who might need assistance, and I got up to follow Mandy over to the counter. We scanned the codes on our phones, and boarded the empty plane. The flight attendants did their best to hide their surprise, but it was clear Mandy’s appearance was a bit of a shock.

“So, which seat’s your favorite?” Mandy bobbed up and down slightly as she floated down the aisle, turning around to face me.

“I usually go all the way to the back, and to an aisle seat, but you’ll probably have a lot better time right up front. Might as well take the front row, it’s the best seats we’ll get without paying a lot more!”

“Sweet!” She floated over to the first row in the cheap seats, and carefully maneuvered her way into the window seat. I took my seat next to her, and she gently reminded me, “My seatbelt?” I reached over and tried to grab the buckle, and she floated up a few inches to make it easier. I grabbed both ends, clicked it together, and cinched it down carefully around her waist as she descended.

“Good?”

“Perfect, thanks so much.”

The rest of the passengers soon filtered in, and whoever happened to look over and see Mandy was either confused, shocked, or badly pretending they weren’t. She didn’t seem to notice, and was looking down at her phone for most of the boarding process. Once we were all on and the door sealed, her phone did its little shutdown chime, and she returned it to her purse.

A moment later, a flight attendant stopped by and spoke to us in a somewhat hushed voice. “Excuse me, could you please turn off your hover units, and any other electronics in use? That is, if you are able to do so. The hover tech can interfere with the plane’s engines, so we can’t take off with them active. You should be able to turn everything but the hover motors back on once we level off.”

“Oh, sorry! I had no idea! One sec.” The glow of her holographic limbs faded as the holo-limbs powered down, and she sank down into the seat slightly as it took all of her weight. “I guess it’s lights out for me next, at least for a little bit. I was hoping to see the takeoff, but no biggie - I’ll still feel the squish as we climb.”

“Do you want me to signal you when it’s safe to turn your head back on? I can poke you or something”

“Sure! You can just grab my hip or shoulder and give me a little squeeze - that way I know it’s you. Also, I can’t really stabilize myself very well without the hover plates running, so I might have to lean into you a little to stay upright.”

“That’s not a problem at all, I want you to be safe and to enjoy this.”

“You’re the best. Thanks so much. I’ll still be in here, just a lot quieter - It’s actually pretty relaxing to shut the world off for a little bit. Anyway, I’ll see ya later!” Her head hologram vanished as the lights on the disc shut off, and her body squirmed a little in her seat to get comfortable.

We taxied down the runway, the plane’s hover engines keeping us a few feet off the ground as they hummed a deep bass note through the fuselage. Once we taxied out and the jet engines began to spool up, I noticed Mandy getting a little unstable - a lap belt didn’t work very well on someone with no limbs at all. I reached my arm over to help stabilize her. She felt my presence and leaned against me, and I noticed her interesting combination of toned abs and a generous chest, clearly constrained by a sports bra as her upper body pressed against my upper arm.

After a few minutes, we leveled off and the announcement played allowing for personal devices to be used again. I reached over and gently squeezed Mandy’s shoulder, in the space between the hover plate and her neck cap, and within a few seconds her head hologram was back again.

“I’m back, what’d I miss?”

“Not much, pretty standard takeoff. Well there was the one UFO…”

“Ha! I bet.” She nudged me with her shoulder.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, and we made small talk for the 90 minutes or so until we landed. We got off the plane, and walked together to the airport exits.

Mandy’s phone chimed. “Looks like my friend’s here to pick me up, so I gotta go!” She moved in close to me, pressing her chest against mine, her arms held out. “I can’t exactly initiate a hug here, you gotta help me out.”

Always behind the curve, I got the message and hugged her, and her holographic arms did a good approximation of returning the embrace, though occasionally the projection got interrupted by clipping into me. I felt Claw-kun pressing gently on my back, but otherwise it was one-sided.

“Thank you so much for being here for me. Call me if you’re free, my schedule’s basically open and I’d love to continue where we left off.”

“I will, and thanks for the company. It’s been great to travel with you.” She floated backward a few steps as I broke the hug.

Her phone chimed again. “Ok, now I really gotta go!” She floated away, moving very quickly while her purse tried to keep up, hovering a few meters behind her.

I grabbed a shuttle to my hotel, and tried again to get a hold of my client. Just as I dropped my stuff off in the room, I finally got a response. “Looks like we can’t make it, there’s been a maintenance issue and it’s all hands on deck. Sorry.”

I said to myself, “Well shit. I guess my schedule’s a lot more open now..”

I typed out another text, “Hey Mandy, my whole meeting thing got canceled, so it looks like I have a lot more free time now. Want to do some tourist stuff?”

A few seconds later, she replied. “Oh hell yeah! I mean, I’m sorry about the whole meeting thing. But hell yeah, I want to do tourist stuff with you! Also we’re on for dinner tonight if you’re still game.”

“Definitely, I’m really looking forward to it.” I sent the text and immediately flopped onto the bed, smiling.

After a quick freshening up and a change into casual clothes, my phone buzzed with a text from Mandy. “Hey! I met up with my best friend, and she wants to go to a really cool art exhibit thing right before dinner! If you’re down, we can grab another ticket!”

“Perfect! Sounds like fun. I just got changed, can you send me the info?” A few seconds later a map pin appeared on my phone, and I queued up a car to pick me up.

I arrived at the spot, and at first I wasn’t exactly sure if I was in the right location. The building resembled a mostly abandoned shopping center, the windows boarded up with dingy plywood and the remnants of old cracked and faded signage strewn about the exterior. Strangely, the parking lot was nearly full. As I pulled up, I noticed the unmistakable form of Mandy glowing and hovering by the entrance. I hopped out of the vehicle, and walked up to greet her.

Her friend saw me first, and leaned over to Mandy as I approached, whispering into her holo-head disc. Mandy turned and looked at me, her holographic arm waving as she recognized me walking up.

“Hey Marty! This is Summer, my best friend!”

Her friend was an interesting contrast to Mandy’s appearance. Her athletic and otherwise unaltered upper body ended at around the halfway point, where a large hover disc appeared to be permanently attached to where her hips should have started. She carried herself aggressively, bright green and spiked hair calling attention to herself, a pair of strong-looking arms and a tight sports bra-style top accentuating her athleticism.

I reached out a hand, and Summer took a strong grip. “So you’re Marty. She already told me a lot about you, which is impressive given you two just met today. I’ve been trying to hook her up with a guy ever since we got out of the hospital, and then she went out on her own and foiled my plans! It’s good to meet you, sorry I gotta be the third wheel on your first date.” She winked and broke the handshake.

“Nice to meet you as well. So what is this place? It’s the first abandoned building I’ve ever seen with valet service.”

Mandy couldn’t hide her excitement as she floated up and down, and replied, “It’s a really cool interactive art installation thing. On the outside it’s an old abandoned store, and at first it’s basically that. As we go through it, apparently it gets crazy. What happens in there is a huge secret, but it’s supposed to be really fun.”

“Nice! Are we good to go inside - I can’t wait.”

“Our time slot just opened up, so let’s go!” Summer led the way inside, and scanned her phone on the reader by the door. As the three of us went inside, we stepped into the nearly demolished remnants of a store; the inside matching the outside. We wandered through the subtly marked path, alternate routes blocked by piles of old goods and shelves.

Mandy floated over to a shelf of breakfast cereal, mostly intact among the wreckage, and remarked, “All these boxes are really weird - it’s sorta like the stuff I remembered from childhood, but everything is a little off.” The branding looked like it came from an alternate 1960s timeline, and the outside of the box advertised “Real alien alert radio inside! Keep your friends safe!”

Summer hovered over to Mandy and grabbed one of the boxes from the shelf, examining it herself and shaking it gently. “Sounds like it’s actually as advertised, that’s really cool. I think we might have found our first clue…”

As she turned the box over to read the back, a piercing siren sounded out from inside the box. A voice recording started up, saying “Alert! Alien forces spotted over your area! Seek shelter and take up defensive positions!”

As the voice stopped and the siren returned, restarting the looped recording, bright lights started streaming through the gaps in the windows and holes in the ceiling.

Mandy turned to me and said “Holy shit, this place is crazy! Let’s get a move on, we need to find a way out of here!”

She floated up, the camera on her holo-head rising up above the shelving as her hover motors strained to lift her higher than they were designed for.

“I think I see a way forward, there’s a sign this way! Follow me!”

She took off, Summer flying forward next to her, as I ran a few steps behind. We turned sharply at an illuminated sign saying ‘Shelter and defense control’, then I ran and they floated down a spiral staircase. At the bottom, a massive blast door led into a well-lit concrete corridor.

Once the three of us were inside, the door slammed closed behind us and a message played on a wall-mounted TV screen. “Welcome to Defense Bunker 27, thank goodness you showed up! Our defense network is totally messed up so we need your help.

If you would please work to repair the systems, that would help us greatly, and prevent the extinction of the human race! It looks like you have about an hour to solve the issues down there, and once you complete the tasks and the defenses shoot down the invaders I’ll open the doors! Good luck!”

“Ooooh! An escape room! I love these!” Mandy was absolutely buzzing with excitement, and had already started to rush from room to room. “Here’s some matching puzzle thing! It’s on a cool old-school computer! Follow me!”

“I appreciate her level of enthusiasm…,” Summer said. “She mentioned always wanting to do one of these with me while we were in the hospital, but wow.”

Summer followed, and I walked just behind her as we headed into the first puzzle.

“Ok, I got this one!” Mandy was already getting started, rapidly flipping a grid of cards on a touch screen via Claw-kun, and as she matched them up they stayed flipped. In a matter of a couple minutes, all the cards were flipped revealing a pattern of colored wire traces. “Now I think we need to plug this pattern into the computer! Summer, it’s your turn!”

“This is probably gonna be the only puzzle for non-big-brained folks like myself, so thanks Mandy.” She floated over to a grid of electrical jacks set into a panel on the fire control computer, and pulled down a bundle of wires from a hook on the wall. “Ok, red to 16, blue to 8, green to 7, white to 2.” Satisfied, she shouted out, “Alright Mandy, push the huge button!“

Mandy attempted to push down on the massive power button. She maneuvered her floating claw under the flip cover and tried to push down on the massive industrial button, which turned out to be a little too much for her. “A little help here?”

I hopped over to her side, flipped the cover over, and using both hands slammed down on the button. The sounds of a massive set of electrical contacts closing filled the room, clearly piped in through the speaker system, and a green light on the top of the puzzle computer lit up.

“Alright Mandy, on to the next one! Low five! I put out my hand and Mandy smacked it with Claw-kun.

“Low three you mean! Ha!”

The next puzzle involved a series of valves to direct coolant for the lasers, and Summer’s advantage in upper body strength and maneuverability really shined. I mostly hung back as Mandy did the math for the right amounts of pressure for each pipeline, then directed Summer to fly around and spin the correct valve wheels.

In the final room, the alien defense system controls awaited. Summer and I each climbed into an arcade-style turret control, and shot at computer-generated alien spaceships. Mandy shuttled between the two pods, flipping switches to toggle between different laser power cells and maintain our rate of fire. After a few attack waves of increasing difficulty, the alien invaders were driven off.

After a congratulatory message from another TV, another blast door at the end of the tunnel swung open to an elevator. We ended up, in classic interactive experience fashion, in the back of a gift shop.

“Summer, come here quick! I got something for you!” Summer slid over to Mandy, who quickly and unceremoniously pulled an alien invader squid-thing hat with googly eyes onto her head. Summer faked being upset, and let out a little “harrumph” until Claw-kun snuck up on me and did the same thing.

“I have to say, it’s a good look!” Mandy’s holographic face was grinning mischievously.

“I ought to use these goofy hat tentacles to tie one onto you too! That way we’d all match!”

The three of us left the gift shop, Summer and I wearing the ridiculous hats that Mandy bought for us and forced us to wear.

“So Marty, did you bring a car here, or do you need me to drive?”

“I took a cab here, so if you’re cool with me riding along, that would be awesome.”

“Hell yeah, plenty of space! Come on!”

The car ride was a good way to see the city in the remaining daylight, a place I had been to many times but never really saw beyond the few bars and restaurants around the hotel.

After a short trip, Summer pulled into an otherwise unassuming and slightly rough-looking building’s parking lot, and continued around to the back. Located right under a highway overpass, and with essentially no signage, this place seemed like it had to be either the most fantastic food around, or a one-way trip to a gastric illness.

“You guys are gonna love this place. We’re early, but for dinner rush they end up with a line out the door. They’re also extremely accommodating.” Hopping outside, she grabbed onto the roof rack of her car and launched herself over the hood to the other side, then whipped the passenger door open for Mandy in one smooth motion.

“Woah, that was crazy!”

“She’s like that - you get used to it…”

Mandy, Summer, and I went through the back door of the building, past boxes of supplies and random catering equipment, passing by the entrance to the kitchen. The gleaming kitchen seemed absolutely perfect, which greatly alleviated my fears of some skeezy diner. As we walked around, one of the chefs recognized Summer and nearly sprinted out to greet her.

“Summer, hot damn it’s been a while!”

“Curtis! They haven’t fired you yet? How’ve you been?” She high fived him and immediately performed a complex series of fist bumps and hand shakes, ending in a huge bear hug.

“I’ve been great! Busy! This place might not look like much but we’re absolutely taking off. The whole catering thing is doing really well. Anyway, I could talk about this place for hours.” He looked over to us, and smiled. “Cool, you brought friends!”

“Hi, I’m Mandy.”

“Oh! It’s nice to finally meet you! Summer talks about you all the time!

“Only the scandalous stuff though, I hope.”

“Absolutely, Summer pulls no punches.” He smiled and turned to me. “I don’t think I’ve seen or heard about you before, How’s it going? I’m Curtis.”

“Hey Curtis, I’m Marty.”

“Marty, it’s great to meet you. You got yourself two great folks to hang out with. Anyway, unless you’re all looking for work I should probably get to doing my job, mainly getting dinner service ready. Grab any open table, and a server will be out very shortly.”

“Thanks Curtis!”

We picked out a booth in the back, and looked over the menu. Sitting next to me, Mandy set her head unit on the table near the wall to be able to see both Summer and I.

Summer handed a menu to Mandy and I, and took one for herself. “This place has the best barbecue by the way, and the wings are ridiculous. Just be careful, the portion sizes are gigantic. Oh, and Mandy, I already let him in on your situation, sounds like he’s got something special set up for you.”

“Oh cool! Thanks!”

After a few minutes, a server arrived and took our orders. He didn’t seem surprised at all at the sight of Mandy and Summer, which clearly put Mandy at ease. When the drinks came out, he swapped Mandy’s glass out with a catering squeeze bottle, which she greatly appreciated. We idly talked about work, our food choices, and our lives up to that point. Mandy set her holo-head on the table and took the occasional swig from her cocktail with the help of Claw-kun, carefully squeezing a narrow stream of the beverage into her throat.

Soon the effects of her drink seem to take hold, her greatly reduced body not providing much ballast for the alcohol. After a particularly funny story from Summer, Mandy missed her throat with the drink, sending a dribble of it onto her neck area and shoulder. I grabbed a napkin to help her out, and turned to dab the liquid before it stained her shirt. Getting a closer look at Mandy, again I saw something move around down in her esophagus, and she noticed my expression changing as I dabbed off the stray droplets.

From the table, Mandy said “Nice save! Thanks Marty! Then she noticed my slightly spooked expression. “Sorry Marty, I probably should have said something earlier about my whole situation.

“Oh, you didn’t show him? I’ve been jealous of you - the girls I hang out with would probably get rid of their heads too if they could have what you got. Too bad you’re only into dudes.”

“Ok, so before the whole implanted link to my holo-head, they tried out a tissue engineering project on me in the hopes that I could gain a little independence… I guess I should just show you.”

The hole behind her windpipe began to expand slightly, as the tip of a pink tentacle emerged. “They grew me a replacement tongue in the lab so I could push buttons and stuff. Figured it’s a way simpler muscle than growing a whole arm. They were working on a joystick thing so I could drive around and type, but then the link system hit the market.”

“You haven’t gotten to the best part,” Summer added, “it’s huge. Like, really really long.”

Mandy sighed slightly. “They had to attach it somewhere inside me, way down here,” her holo-arm pointed to a spot in her mid chest, “so they just made it really long to compensate.” Her strange tongue extended upward, then curved down as it continued to slip out of her throat, continuing around past her collarbones, the tip finally stopping at about the top of her breasts.

“Ok, that’s… different. I think I’m getting used to the unexpected today, so what’s one more?” I smiled, and Mandy relaxed a bit at my reaction, then she retracted her tongue back into her body.

Summer took a swig from her beer and said “Hang around with us long enough and you’ll see all kinds of crazy stuff. While we were in the hospital, me getting my lower half taken apart, and tongue girl getting her hover stuff attached, we ended up with a whole group of folks like us all hanging out on the regular. We still try to meet up when we can, it’s tougher lately though with us moving away from each other.”

In a few minutes, the food arrived. The server explained the special dish made for Mandy, a house-made barbecue hash not normally on the menu. It was made of ground up barbecue pork mixed with potatoes and onions, then cooked down with a gravy into an astoundingly tasty porridge. Mandy seemed impressed, and hungry.

After an attempt at using Claw-kun and her funnel to bring a spoonful of the hash up to her throat, Mandy spilled a gob of it onto the table, nearly hitting her holo-head unit in the process. “Crap!”

I moved in with a napkin to clean off the table. “It’s no problem, just a little spill. I got it.”

“Thanks, seems like I’m having a little trouble with Claw-kun here, might be the drink kicking in.”

Summer paused between taking huge bites out of her brisket. “Well yeah, you gotta weigh what, like seventy-five pounds? That drink hits you at least twice as hard.”

“I’ll have you know I weigh seventy pounds, thank you very much. The point still stands though, I probably should slow down a little. Feels pretty great though, ‘cause I haven’t gone out in quite a while.”

Mandy looked up at me from the table, with a slightly sheepish expression. “If it isn’t too much trouble, could you help me out again? I’m a little out of sorts, but I’m really digging this meal, so do you think you could help feed me?”

“Sure, I don’t mind at all.”

“Ok, all I need you to do is scoop up some of that into my spoon, and bring it up to my neck.. hole, it’s weird to describe myself like this. Anyway, I’ll handle the rest.”

“Ok, let’s give it a shot.” I took a blob of the porridgey mush in the spoon, and brought it up to the rearward hole in the space between her shoulders. As I did, she expanded it outward while I set the rim of the spoon on the slightly sloping edge of her modified esophagus, tilting the handle up a little. Her tongue slid out of the hole, and she used it to pull the bite down into her throat, swallowing it.

“See, super easy. Way better than me spilling it everywhere. Here, I’ll move a little closer to make it even easier.” She slid her body closer to me, and turned to the side slightly to move in even closer, pressing her hip against my thigh. Her very shortened form twisted and leaned forward, pressing a breast against my shoulder and putting her in a better place to be fed.

Summer watched all this without saying anything, though I could tell the gears were turning in her head. She remained very quiet until I finished feeding her, and I cleaned her neck area with her napkin.

“Oh man, that was really good. I’m gonna stop before I get too full though, I can’t really overdo it and keep this body in shape.”

Summer set her fork down. “Crap, you’re right. I probably should box the rest of this up or I’m gonna need to do like a thousand pull-ups to burn it off.”

We wrapped up dinner and said our goodbyes to Curtis before the dinner rush really kicked off. As we approached the car, Mandy said “Hey Marty, want to walk this dinner off and catch some sun before it sets? I know just the place, and it’s over by your hotel.

“Sure, that would be really nice.”

“Summer, can you drop us off at the park on 15th street?”

Summer looked over to us and replied, “Sure, that’s basically on the way back to my place, so that works perfectly.”

We climbed back into the car, this time with Mandy sitting next to me in the back seats. “This is great! It’s like being chauffeured!” As Summer put the car into drive and pulled the lever on the steering wheel that substituted for the gas pedal, Mandy’s holo-arm projected over to near mine. Her floating cyber hand drifted into the projection and meshed with it as she looked my way. I moved my hand as well, and took hold of hers in our best approximation of holding hands as we rode through the city.

The ride to the park was over nearly as soon as it began, and Summer dropped us off right outside the gates. We climbed out of the car, and stood together in the parking lot to say our goodbyes for the evening. “Summer, thanks for dragging us around today, and showing us a really good time.”

“Oh yeah, no worries! I’m glad that the two of you met, and you’ve been so cool to hang with! Come here!” Summer floated in for a hug, and her surprisingly strong arms wrapped me up tightly.

She leaned in and whispered “Mandy really likes you. Keep treating her right, she deserves to finally find a good person like you.” She pulled back and looked into my eyes, and I nodded agreement.

“Ok girl, you get a hug too! I’ll see you soon, but I’m not about to give your boy a hug and not you!” She wrapped up Mandy in her arms as well, and whispered something into her holo-disc. Mandy’s expression changed to somewhere between embarrassed and happy, and she nodded and grinned.

Summer hopped back into her car and took off, leaving the two of us. “So, where to?”

“There’s a really cool fountain in the middle that does a cool show before sunset, right before the park closes down. If we’re quick we should be able to catch it.”

“Cool, let’s go!”

Mandy and I took off at a fast pace, hoping to make it on time. She managed to nearly outpace me, my level of fitness being no match for her hover technology, but she slowed down as we approached the huge fountain.

Just as the sunset beamed through the main arch of the structure, a series of water jets began to fire in sequence, creating illusions of waves and bouncing water columns. The spray from the fountain show began to cast rainbows all around the space, illuminating us in color.

“This is really beautiful, ever since Summer told me about it I’ve wanted to see it, but I never thought I’d be able to visit. Thanks for helping me out today - I was really struggling this morning and almost gave up on the whole thing.”

“I’m glad I met you today. You really made this trip worth it, and I’m really glad I could help. I’d like to spend more time with you if you’re ok with that.”

Mandy turned to face me, and looked up into my eyes. “I want to kiss you, but I’m not really sure how.”

“I think we can figure it out.” I pulled her into my arms, lifting her up slightly. Her hover-discs made it seem like she only weighed a few pounds - I easily brought her up to my eye level. I moved my head in and kissed her next to her holo-head disc, just above her collarbone. Claw-kun floated up from behind her and removed her holo-disc, and her head hologram deactivated as she removed the prosthetic. Again I moved in, kissing her on the neck area as her throat opened and her tongue moved up and out.

Taking the cue, our tongues intertwined and I deepened the kiss as I brought my mouth over her throat. Her warm breath flowed over my face as we made out under the rainbow light of the fountain, and although she couldn’t see or hear it anymore, I could tell  she was enjoying the performance.

Eventually her holo-disc head floated up near the two of us, carried on the grasp of Claw-kun, and the light from her hologram head clicked back on as she reconnected. “Wow, Marty. I’m a little out of breath. You know how to treat me right.”

“I always aim to impress.” I smiled, as we separated and Mandy replaced her holo-head.

“We probably should head out, they’ll kick everyone out of here soon.”

“Sure, I think I know the way back from here. It’s that way, right?” I pointed in the general direction of my hotel.

“Yep, that way!”

We wandered back to my hotel, a small boutique place in an ultra-modern design. As we approached the entrance, Mandy stopped me with a question. “Hey Marty, I hope this isn’t being too forward, but could I join you upstairs? I’d invite you to where I’m staying, but it’s Summer’s place so that would be weird.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” I hooked my hand around Mandy’s trim waist, and we walked the short distance to my door. As I opened the door and held it open for her, Mandy immediately pressed her body against mine and her limb hologram projectors deactivated. I glided her into the room as I wrapped my arms around her torso, her body sliding on her hover cushion.

“Please, take my clothes off. It’ll take too long for me to do it myself.” I wordlessly complied, rapidly popping the snaps holding her shirt and shorts closed. Floating there in front of me, she rotated around so I could remove her bra. With no arms in the way, it slipped off easily, as she removed her head disc and set her holo-head on the side table. I slipped off her panties, maneuvering the thin fabric around the mounting points for the hover discs. She turned around to face me, her small body a concentrated vision of beauty - her toned midsection and generous breasts contrasting wonderfully. “So, this is me. Not much left.”

“You’re more than enough. You’re beautiful. Come here.”

I embraced her floating form, and rapidly resumed the make-out session like before - only with Mandy now watching herself from the table.

“You gotta get your clothes off too.” I heard from across the room. I complied, rapidly stripping while she watched. “It’s been way too long, and you’re really fucking hot. Check this out.”

Mandy‘s body did a crunch in midair, transferring her balance into a lying position and floating horizontally ‘face down’ a few feet from the ground. Her body slowly drifted closer to me, and I could see her breathing increase in anticipation.

“I want to try something out. I bet you’ve never been with someone who can do this.” Her throat opened up, and her lengthy tongue started to spill out and extend toward my rigid cock, twisting slightly as it felt around for it.

I grabbed hold of her shoulders, and effortlessly lined her throat up as she slid toward me on an antigravity cushion. Her tongue began wrapping around my cock, spiraling around as it extended. I carefully pulled her in closer and brought my cock head in contact with the rim of her throat. “Fuck me like this, I’ve never done it like this before.”

I pulled myself gently into her, and I met a moment’s resistance as her throat muscles took a moment to relax. From the table, Her projected face showed a moment’s concentration, then a mild strain followed by pleasure as I slipped into her. I pulled myself in carefully, taking small strokes at first until both of us got used to it. As her tongue swirled and spiraled around the entire length, it grabbed hold of my balls, wrapping around and gently squeezing. I could feel her strong heartbeat from inside her chest, my cock sliding deep inside her core.

“God damn Mandy, this is like nothing I’ve ever felt! I’m not gonna last long like this.”

“How about we get in the bed then?”

I walked the three steps to the bed, while still buried in Mandy’s throat and guiding her floating body over the mattress. I carefully withdrew myself from her throat, her mind-bogglingly long  tongue unwinding and dangling for a moment from her throat before she pulled it back in. I spun her body around, and guided it downward into contact with the mattress. She deactivated her hover ability and gently sank into the bedspread. I gently slid a finger into her pussy, which elicited a deep breath from her body and a gasp from her holo-head on the nightstand.

“I’m plenty wet and really horny, I want you to fuck me like a sex toy right now.”

I immediately followed her orders. I slid into her in one stroke, causing a moan from her holo-head and the projection to momentarily flicker. I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed her head unit. “You get to watch me fuck you from my view - you look fantastic like this.” She smiled and nodded.

Holding her holo-head with one hand and myself up with the other, I hammered her body with deep strokes. She writhed under me, unable to do much other than squirm, moan, and watch herself. I rapidly felt both of us approaching our peak, and I called out “I’m not gonna last much longer!”

She replied “I’ve already come three times, fucking do it!”

I slammed all the way to the hilt, and unloaded deeply into Mandy’s core as her hologram head unit disconnected and shut off.

I collapsed next to her, both of us breathing heavily as I wrapped my arms around her and set her head unit behind me. She curled her body into mine, cuddling against me silently as we calmed down.

After a few minutes, I heard the click of her hologram head reactivating, and her voice. “Damn I needed that. Wow.”

“I have to say that was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. You are amazing.”

“That was a first for me too, I haven’t done anything even close to that since the accident.”

“You want to just lay here for a while and snuggle? I think I need a minute.”

“Yeah, me too.” In a few short moments we were both falling asleep.

Here's the image that inspired this, thanks again to @gamera1985 for the inspiration!