Welcome To Saturn Beta - Part 20 free porn video

Raj's office, if you could even call it that, was buried deep in the spindle between a foul-smelling fast food restaurant and a secondhand furniture store. Every wall in the office was painted bright white. It held a small desk, a massive safe, and a single swivel chair. Tyler stood on one side of the office, holding his boots, while Raj spun the dial on his safe. "I need to get a few photos of your face to put on your documentation," Raj said as he opened the safe. "This shouldn't take long. For you, it won't. For me, well, I'll be hard at work for a few hours. Passports and ID cards don't make themselves." "Okay. Great," Tyler said dumbly. "And it's on the house. Jackson and I go way back, you know. She's been doing her thing on Beta for about as long as I've been doing my own thing. Go ahead and put your stuff down, and stand against that wall." Raj pointed to the side of the room opposite where Tyler currently stood. Tyler placed his purse and boots on the floor and followed Raj's instructions as Raj took a few small pieces of machinery out of the safe. Placing the little machines on his desk, he then bent over and unzipped his bag. From the bag he produced a small tablet with a large aperture on the back side, a tiny tripod, and an assortment of wires. "Right here?" Tyler asked, leaning against the wall. He folded his hands over his skirt in a ladylike manner as Raj began plugging things into other things on the desk. "That's fine," Raj said without looking. He finished setting his things up. Tyler didn't recognize any of the gear on the desk, but he assumed it was all part of the stereotypical forger's starter kit - plastifiber printer, laser engraver, lamination roller, and all that good stuff. Tyler wondered if Raj had a good business relationship with Ozzie's electronics store. No doubt the guts of Raj's supremely illegal machines were difficult to come by way out here in the wild west. "Hey, not that it's any of my business," Tyler said, "but where are you from? I've been curious about that since the first time I saw you." "Liverpool," Raj said. "It's a city in England. On Earth." "No, I mean... where's your family from?" Raj looked at Tyler crosswise. "You do realize that people from the Indian subcontinent have been living in England for centuries, right?" "Jesus, fine. I didn't mean any offense. I was just..." "Oh, wait. Jackson told me about you. You're from... Mars, right? You've never been to Earth. You wouldn't know anything about who lives where." "Yeah," Tyler said, thankful that Jackson had perpetuated his fabricated back-story. "Yeah. Exactly." "My mistake, then. My mother's ancestry goes back to Sri Lanka." "Ah ha. Mystery solved. I had you pegged as Indian or Pakistani." "Nope. Sri Lankan. Half Sri Lankan. My father was English. Then my parents went and gave me a Hindi name. Earth is a confusing place, sometimes." Tyler stood silently while Raj finished getting his setup ready. Well, that had been awkward. Fortunately, Raj seemed like the kind of guy to let social faux-pas roll off his back. Ever the gentleman, ever the professional. No wonder Jackson and him went way back. Raj eventually pointed the tablet aperture at Tyler's face and began taking pictures. "Not that it's any of MY business," he said, "but I did notice you the other day in the elevator with that young man." Tyler remembered... he had been on an elevator with Ben that night, after the jazz club, when Raj unexpectedly walked on in the company of his young daughter. "And?" Tyler said now, unsure what Raj was getting at. "And," Raj continued, "Jackson is entitled to her cut. Turn to the side." Tyler didn't budge. "Her cut?" "I'm not stupid, Miss Taylor. I know what Jackson's girls do for a living. And I also know that you claim to be a lesbian, according to her." "What the hell are you talking about?" Tyler said defensively, still wondering where Raj was going with this while also desperately hoping Jackson hadn't revealed any of Tyler's other, darker secrets. "I'm simply advising you not to try pulling any freelance work on the side," Raj said. "Without telling Jackson first, I mean. Other girls have tried to slide that past Jackson before. Working the convention and lounge events, while officially refusing to engage in the other side of the business, and in the meantime running their own private prostitution game without letting the boss know about it. It's a very, very bad idea to go into business for yourself while in the employ of Ringed Amusements." "Jesus Christ," Tyler said, rolling his eyes. "You're right. It's none of your business, Raj. But, for the record: no, I'm not pulling freelance work on the side. I'm not fucking men for money without telling Jackson about it. Ben - that's the name of the guy I was with that night - Ben is just a friend." "Just a friend. Who escorts you to the 20th floor. Which is where Pyramid Suites is, if I'm not mistaken. What a fantastic place to end a date." Tyler could only shake his head at the ludicrous accusations Raj was making. "Just take the pictures," he huffed, finally turning to the side. "I'm only offering friendly advice, Miss Taylor." "Raj," Tyler grumbled, "take the goddamn pictures. Finish up so you can go back to your daughter." Raj narrowed his eyes. "Don't get personal," he said, his slight British accent taking on a threatening tone. "You started it." Raj looked with suspicion upon Tyler, who refused to make eye contact. Both stayed silent as Raj finished taking pictures. Tyler pinched the sides of his dress at the thigh, tugging it downward, trying to make the skirt longer through force of will. This is something he'd caught himself doing often since his transformation... many times, when he was uncomfortable for whatever reason, he tried to cover up more of his body than his clothing would allow. And he certainly felt uncomfortable now, in the presence of Raj, who had been so harmless and friendly until he started lobbing accusations of under-the-table prostitution. And so Tyler tugged at his skirt, futilely trying to make it longer, even though the sundress already brushed over his shins. The photo shoot finished without further disagreement or awkward conversation, but neither party could bring themselves to apologize for what they had said. Tyler picked up his white knee-high boots and slung his purse over his shoulder. Raj told Tyler that he could expect his passport and ID card delivered to his room in the Ringed Amusements dorms, probably within the next day. Tyler thanked him out of professional courtesy and returned to the elevator hub at the center of the 64th floor. He had the car all to himself on his way down to the 48th... which was good, because he was in a sour mood now and had no interest in being around any more strangers for the rest of the day. When he got back to the dormitory and room 2-D, Amber was already there, laying on her bed with her phone in her hands. "Hey, darlin'," Amber said, absently. She kept pecking away on her phone. "Hey," Tyler sighed. "Phew. Well, the convention's over. That's that." "And not a moment too soon." Amber finally looked up from her phone. "I'm thinkin' we should be gettin' outta here in two days. That work for you?" "Um... sure. I guess that'll work. It's not like I have anything that I need to stick around for." "Good," Amber said, returning her eyes to her phone. "Cuz if we fly out to Earth in two days, it'll cost a lot less than if we flew out in three or four. God Almighty, you'd think a rocket from Saturn to Earth would cost the same damn thing no matter what day you left. These space transit companies with their crazy pricing, I swear..." Tyler unceremoniously dumped his boots onto his bed and sat down next to them. "Okay. Hopefully my passport's done by then." "Ah. Did ya go have a little meetin' with Raj?" "You know about Raj?" "Well, yeah, sure. Most of us know him. He and Jackson go back a long way, from what I've heard. He's in the nanobot business." "He's... what?" Tyler said, surprised. "And he does passport forgery on the side?" Amber shrugged. "Don't ask me. Some people are just multi-talented, I guess. But, yeah, like I said, he's hooked us up a lot in the past. Especially those of us who've had a lot of nano work done on their faces. Or the ones who want to make damn sure they have a brand new, spotless life when they leave the company for good." She looked over at Tyler. "Or the one's who've never been to Earth before." "Right," said Tyler. "He's... kinda nosy, huh? I think he is. He knows a little bit too much about what we do down here on the 48th floor, if you get what I mean." "I think everyone on the station knows what the company does, Amber." "I'm not talkin' about the company. I'm talkin' about Raj." Amber sat up straight on her bed. "Like... some of the girls go in to get their pictures taken, and he starts talkin' to 'em, and he knows way too much about what they've been up to. Specific things. Things he has no business knowin'." Tyler shrugged. "Maybe Jackson tells him things. Before he agrees to forge documents, I mean. Maybe he wants to know exactly who he's dealing with before he helps them out." Tyler spoke from experience. Working in the illegal arts, you had to know your clients before you signed on to work with them - he and Dennis screened their data buyers very carefully. Raj must have had a screening process of his own, one that he had Jackson help with when it came to one of her employees. Tyler thought back to his session in Raj's office, when Raj had mentioned that Jackson told him that Tyler - or Violet Taylor, rather - was a lesbian. It was a relatively minor detail, all things considered. Jackson might have brought it up when she set up the photo shoot on Tyler's behalf. Not a big deal. Tyler had been much more offended by Raj's insinuations about what was going on with Ben Rosenthal. Amber fell back onto her bed again. "Well, whatever. He's kind of a creep." As annoyed with Raj as he was, Tyler couldn't agree to what Amber had said. "I don't think so. I ran into him on the elevators a couple times before I ever met him formally. He seems decent enough. He never once tried to check me out. That's more than I can say for most of the men on this station." "Oooh... hold that thought," Amber said. She began furiously pecking around on her phone's screen. "Time to finally figure out where the hell Este Golfo is." "Este... what?" Tyler said, tilting his head. It sounded a bit familiar. "Este Golfo. Where we're goin'. Oh, there it is. Oh. Huh. It's in Florida." Tyler's pulse raced at the mention of his home. "Florida?" "Yeah, Florida," Amber said, sliding her thumbs over her phone's screen. "It's, uh, how do I put this... it's a little thingy of land that sticks out of the bottom of the United States. In the southeast corner of the country. This won't mean much to you, since you're from Mars, but... well, it's in between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Have you heard of either of those?" "Uh... they sound kind of familiar," Tyler said, playing dumb again. Yes, he knew about the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. And he sure as hell knew exactly where Florida was. His entire life was there. "Isn't it funny?" Amber said. "I've known Isaac for so many years, and I knew about his job at the desalination plant and all that, but I never knew where he lived until after he proposed to me. He told me he was from Houston, so I thought he was still living in Houston. Oops. I wonder if that makes me a bad girlfriend. C'mere, darlin', let me show you what I'm talkin' about." Tyler eased off his bed and went over to Amber's, where he sat next to here and looked at her phone. She was currently looking at a mapping program. "Here's the Gulf," Amber said, pointing to a big patch of blue. She scrolled the screen east. "And here's Florida. And right there..." she pointed to a little white dot on the southwestern tip of the state, "is Este Golfo. That's where Isaac's been livin' and workin' for the past few years. That's where we're gonna set up shop together, right there on the shore. Nice, huh?" "Yeah," Tyler said, barely able to contain himself. "It looks nice." "I'm sure it'll be a lot nicer when we actually get there. Now we just gotta find out where the nearest spaceport is..." "Miami," Tyler said, under his breath. He had the sudden urge to cover his mouth. Amber heard him. She turned her head. "How d'you know about Miami?" Trying to recover his feigned ignorance of American geography, he lifted a pink-painted finger and pointed at Amber's phone. "When you were scrolling around on your phone just now. There was a big looking city there, on the south-east part. I figured there would be a spaceport there. And the text above it said Miami. Did I pronounce it right?" "Yeah," Amber said, nodding. "Yeah, you did. And well, yeah, I s'pose Miami's the closest spaceport. I don't think there's another one until you get to Atlanta." Tyler drummed his fingers over his skirted knees. Holy shit. He couldn't believe his luck. He and Amber would be landing right there in Miami! He might not even bother shipping all the puller parts to Dennis through the mail. He could just walk right up and hand-deliver the whole thing, already assembled, and save Dennis some trouble. Now, granted... he'd be showing up to Dennis' place while still inhabiting the body of Violet Taylor. That was fine, though. It wouldn't be a problem. Tyler could easily concoct a story about who he was and why he was there. Tyler Hillman's errand girl, or something like that, just stopping by to drop off a package. He could be in and out in five minutes or less, and then he could communicate with Dennis about the data stored on the puller by using his old phone. It was seamless. It was perfect. He smiled openly at how easy this was going to be. "Gettin' excited?" Amber said, noticing Tyler's smile. "Huh? Oh. Yeah, yeah I am. It looks like a nice place." "Earth's really nice. It's the best. It's sure a hell of a lot better than this dump. Oh! You 'n' me are gonna have so much fun! We can fly into Miami, spend a day there recoverin' from the hypersleep sickness, then take a car out to Este Golfo. Y'ever been in a self-drivin' car? Or did y'all have to drive yourselves around on Mars?" "We drove ourselves," Tyler said sheepishly. "Good God. Bunch of savages, all of you. Well, you'll have fun then. All the cars on Earth drive themselves! So, we'll take a car out... and then we'll figure out our livin' arrangements, and then we can start plannin' everything for the weddin', and lookin' around for a house... oh, but don't worry, there'll still be lots of time for you 'n' me to hang out, go to the beach..." Amber kept talking while Tyler's mind drifted back to his old home and his old life. He looked down at Amber's phone, which still showed the map of the southern part of Florida - Miami on the eastern edge, Este Golfo on the western edge. South, below both cities, were the Everglades, and further south were the Keys. It was all so familiar and welcoming. Tyler suddenly became very homesick and excited. ***** They went to sleep after the rocket tickets were purchased. Amber insisted on paying for Tyler's flight back to Earth, despite the major expense. She said it was the least she could do, considering Tyler was removing himself from his employment for several months. He wasn't going to be making any money, so he shouldn't be expected to spend any money, either. Plus, he was still in Jackson's debt, and Amber didn't want to make it any more difficult for him to repay it. And finally - and Tyler had no idea until Amber brought up the subject while the two of them were packing the next day - Amber was very well- off. When Tyler insisted on paying his way while the two of them planned her wedding, Amber insisted on showing Tyler the financial aggregation app on her smartphone. She had it all: a fat savings account, mutual funds, bonds, and all other manner of impressive financial instruments into which she had invested her earnings over the years. She could comfortably live out the next ten years on the amount of money she had, if she wanted to. Tyler remembered a conversation they'd had when he was still new to the station and his feminine body... about how Amber hardly ever turned down jobs because she was saving for something special. Well, she sure as hell was saving for something. Tyler stared down at her phone, marveling at the balances on her various accounts. "So there," Amber said, as she sealed up a moving box with brown packing tape. "You don't get to pay for nothin' the whole time you're in Florida, darlin'. Don't worry about it." Tyler shrugged, handing the phone back to Amber. "Sure. If that's how you want to do it." "That's how I wanna do it, Violet. I know my financial situation. And I have a pretty good idea of yours. I know what it's like to pay down that debt to Jackson. It ain't fun, and it ain't easy. And it doesn't happen overnight, either." "Yeah, I suppose not," Tyler said. He thought about how much he had made over the last week and a half... it was a lot of money. Enough to pay down his debt to Jackson in less than a month, if the current pace of earning kept up. Which it wouldn't. The convention had ended, so all the money he'd get for working booths and subsequent events would dry up; and Connie Giordano, who had removed a massive chunk of Tyler's debt all by herself over the course of three days, wasn't coming back to Saturn Beta any time soon. Tyler thought longingly about Connie for a moment while he boxed up all the clothing and gadgets he'd procured during his ten days here on the station. He wondered if he'd have a chance to see Connie once he was back on Earth. He'd certainly like that. His whole feminine body heated up as he remembered the doggystyle sex he'd had with her... and the surprise she'd brought along, courtesy of Jackson's nanobots. Tyler desperately longed to feel that way again. "And if you're wonderin' how I made all that money," Amber said, "I don't mind tellin' you." "I'm pretty sure I already know," Tyler said. "Yeah. You do. The money's really good, Violet. I'm just sayin', if you're tryin' to get off this station for good, you might wanna... expand your horizons a bit. Maybe step out of your comfort zone." "I've stepped out of my comfort zone plenty of times since I got here," Tyler said, recalling everything he had done - not to mention everything he had worn - due to his employment at Ringed Amusements. And there was also that one thing he'd done in Ozzie's electronics store on the 73rd floor... something he longed to forget. Every time he thought about Ozzie's tongue on his tits, and Ozzie's dick in his mouth, it was as if he was still in the dingy back-room office experiencing it all over again. It made him gag slightly and want to brush his teeth. "You gotta make that money somehow, darlin," Amber said. "Just cuz you're a lesbian doesn't mean you can't ride the pole once in a while." Tyler rolled his eyes, then looked back at Amber, who was grinning mischeviously back at him. He decided to finally ask a question that had been on his mind ever since Isaac had appeared in the lounge five nights ago. "What is it?" Amber said. "Does Isaac mind?" he asked, folding his hands over the knee-length blue skirt he wore. "I mean does it bother him? What you do for a living." Amber frowned. "DID for a livin', Violet. You gotta remember I'm done with it now." "Okay, fine. What you DID for a living. I mean, he can't be too thrilled about..." "He's not. He wasn't." Amber stopped packing for the moment and plopped onto her bed. "He understood why I was doin' it, of course. We would never have met eachother if he hadn't snatched up one of my business cards when I was workin' a little shindig down in the lounge. We hit it off pretty good then. He wasn't like most of the guys I've been with, you understand. He was... attentive. And super nice. He was a gentleman, and I have every right to say that, cuz us Southern girls know a thing or two about what makes a gentleman. He never wanted to just fuck me and then walk away as fast as his feet would carry him. There was always more to him than that. He'd usually bring me flowers, and take me to dinner or somethin' fun like that. He'd wake up with me in the mornin' and we'd have breakfast. After we'd known eachother for a while... well, sometimes we wouldn't have sex at all." Tyler hummed contentedly as Amber spoke. Isaac was reminding him a lot of Connie, the more Amber talked him up. He even reminded Tyler of another person: Ben Rosenthal. The attentiveness, the gentlemanly mannerisms... and the distinct lack of being single-minded when it came to his lady friends. Some guys were, in fact, only interested in women for their bodies - and specific parts of their bodies, to boot. Tyler knew that from recent, revolting experience. "Sorry," Amber continued. "I'm gettin' off track. But yeah, Isaac wasn't into the fact that I was a hooker. I kept tellin' him that the stuff I did with other guys didn't mean anythin' at all. It was just sex. And yeah, sex is symbolic and intimate and whatever, but it ain't meanin'ful unless both people involved decide that it is. Sex with normal johns had no meanin' to it. Sex with Isaac... it meant somethin' to me cuz I knew that I meant somethin' to him. So that's what I told him." "Hmm," Tyler said. "Lemme put it to you another way. You know about shrinks, right? Therapists? Well, you pay 'em to have someone to talk to about whatever's buggin' you in your life. You tell 'em all your deepest, darkest secrets. That's one kinda intimacy. Sex is just another kind, right? And nobody ever told a shrink to quit their job because they didn't like the idea that the shrink was listenin' to all the secret inner lives of a bunch of strangers. Sleepin' with a stranger is no different than that, far as I'm concerned. Shrinks can go about their business without lettin' their work interfere with the rest of their lives. So can hookers. I'm livin' proof." Tyler looked off to the side, out the reinforced window separating him and Amber from deep, black space. "That's a good way of thinking about it. I'd never really considered that." "Well, Isaac hadn't considered it either. But then he got it. And then, well, we grew so close together that neither of us could take it anymore. So I came home and started cryin', and then Isaac went out and bought an engagement ring." Amber patted her hands on her bed covers. "And the rest, as they say, is history. We should probably keep packin' if we actually wanna get out of here tomorrow." "Yeah," Tyler agreed. He stood up and went back to the various bags and boxes he'd been working on as Amber continued work on her own side of the room. Tyler had to sneak around a bit when it was time to pack the various tiny pieces of the puller into his luggage. He wanted to spread it out as much as possible in order to not get flagged by border security. He put one piece into his purse, one into a box, one into a different box, and two into opposite ends of a rolling suitcase. As Tyler was about to finish packing, he heard a beeping and buzzing coming from his purse. He went over to see which of his devices was alerting him. It turned out to be his pink phone, the GammaNow QX7 he'd gotten from Ozzie along with the puller... the one he'd used to call Ben Rosenthal three days ago. He unlocked the phone and tapped through it to find a message waiting for him. And, considering there was only one person who Tyler had ever communicated with via this phone, Tyler knew who the message was from before he ever read it. I HAD FUN. LET ME KNOW IF/WHEN YOU'RE EVER ON EARTH. I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU AGAIN. - BEN Tyler sighed deeply and read the message over and over. Fat chance of him ever having any reason to get a hold of Ben Rosenthal again. Tyler had gotten what he wanted, and that was that. Besides... Tyler didn't want to string Ben along anymore. Despite himself, and despite his view of Ben as nothing more than a mark, Tyler felt bad for the poor guy. Ben had been so crestfallen when Tyler had rejected his idea of the two of them heading back to Miami together. And now Tyler was headed back to Miami anyway. It was a really inconvenient coincidence, now that he thought about it. Tyler would have to be very careful about where he showed his face during the day he and Amber had planned to spend there before driving out to the western side of Florida. He couldn't run the risk of encountering Ben again, for a multitude of reasons... ...One of which, Tyler knew, was because of what had happened the other night at the entrance to Connie's suite. Tyler had tried to get Ben to follow him into the room to end their date. He had, despite his previous revulsion at the thought, tried to entice another man into having sex with him. It was a moment of professional weakness, or spiked hormonal activity, or genuine longing for a moment of intimate connection... well, it didn't matter what had caused it. Tyler had given Ben an invitation. It was embarrassing, now that he thought back on it, not to mention out of character. But he hadn't been able to help himself in the moment. He had wanted it - and wanted Ben. Tyler never wanted to find himself in that scenario again. "Sorry," he said, under his breath, as he shut his phone's display off. Just then, his purse buzzed and beeped again. He recognized this sound as his Ringed Amusements tablet, and he went over to his purse to get the tablet and return the pink phone. Looking at the tablet, Tyler sighed. "Jackson wants to see me," he said. "And, of course, she didn't tell me why." "Oh, hey," said Amber, stepping away from the box she was packing and reaching under her bed. "Since you're goin' in there anyway. You mind takin' this to her?" Amber held up a beige cylinder, the one etched with the Ringed Amusements name and address. The one that contained the nanobots that had been swimming around in her body for the last several years. It contained something else, too, but Tyler tried not to think about it. "Uh, sure," Tyler said. He held out his hand and took the container from Amber. He could feel the contents slosh around a bit. "Try not to spill it," Amber said, winking at Tyler. "Don't wanna get any of that on your pretty blue skirt." "Not particularly," Tyler replied. He held the cylinder as far away from his body as he could without it looking too weird, slung his burgundy leather purse over his shoulder, then left the dorm room and headed down the hallway toward Jackson's office. He knocked on the door and waited for his boss to answer. Soon he heard the familiar click-clack of high heels approaching from the other side of the door, and then Jackson opened up and let Tyler in. "How's the packing going?" Jackson said as the door closed. Tyler went over to one of the chairs in front of Jackson's desk. "Pretty good. I don't have that much stuff, honestly. Other than all the clothes Connie bought for me the other day." "It's more than you came with." "I came with nothing. It was me, my phone, and the shirt on my back. That was it." "And now you have enough beautiful dresses and skirts and shoes and jewelry to fill a whole closet. It's been a profitable trip for you, Mr. Hillman, all things considered." "Uh-huh," Tyler said, rolling his eyes at Jackson's sly attempt to get under his skin. "Here's Amber's piss, by the way. There might be some nanobots in there, too." Tyler placed the cylinder on Jackson's desk. Jackson looked at it dryly for a second, emitted a massive yawn, and opened one of her desk drawers. "You're still yawning," Tyler said, crossing his legs under his skirt. "The convention ended yesterday. Time for you to catch up on your sleep, Jackson." "I'll sleep when I'm dead," she said, extracting a small envelope from inside her desk. She placed the envelope next to Amber's cylinder. "Your papers. Passport, ID card, what have you. Raj dropped them off about an hour ago." Tyler opened the envelope and slid the contents onto the desk. He looked over the passport and ID card carefully, the way a policeman or border agent would. Considering his line of work, Tyler had used many phony ID's over the course of his career - some made hastily, some meticulously. The ones Raj had produced were top notch. And Tyler's pictures looked lovely, too. "Wow," Tyler said, turning Raj's work around in his hand as he examined it from every angle. "Your man on the 64th floor does good work, I'll give him that." "Thank you." Tyler laughed. "Why would I thank you? You didn't make these." "No, I suppose not. But I did make the contact, and I make it a point to maintain good relationships with my various vendors. That's a pretty big job in and of itself." "If you say so. Well, thanks," Tyler said, standing up and taking his passport and ID card with him. "I guess I'll see you in a few months. We can still get a hold of eachother on those tablets, right?" Jackson cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses. "Have you given any thought to that offer I made you?" "What offer?" "The offer regarding changing your appearance. Making you less buxom. Less... attractive. It's still on the table, if you're interested." Tyler remembered now. Jackson had told him about this possibility a couple days ago, but he hadn't even thought about it since she brought it up. He looked down at the ID card in his hand, and at the picture of the pretty young girl with the wavy auburn hair. He thought about the possibilities waiting for him on Earth, in Florida - a place where honeypot schemes worked extremely well, in all likelihood. It'd be much easier to acquire those kinds of opportunities if he had a ravishing feminine body instead of just a so-so one. Besides... Tyler was invested in this body now. It was his, for all intents and purposes, and he was getting used to it. Starting to appreciate it. Definitely enjoying it, and all the advantages that came with it. He loved the figure he cut while standing naked in front of a mirror, or while wearing only his bra and panties, or while encased in a glamorous, sparkling blue evening gown with a long slit running up to the top of his left thigh... and furthermore, he loved the effect he had on other people, men and women alike. Being able to inspire lust and envy was something his previous, pudgy male body wasn't capable of. He wanted to stay in this body, period. He loved it, and he could make use of it. But of course, he couldn't tell any of this to Jackson, so he concocted an excuse to reject her offer... "It'd wouldn't be a good idea, I think," he said, while placing the passport and ID card. "If I changed the way I look. It would invalidate all of my documentation, for starters. The photos wouldn't match up with how I'd look. Plus, it'd be weird for Amber." "How so?" "Well... she's used to me looking like this. And if I suddenly looked different, it might weird her out a bit." Jackson lowered her glasses. "Amber had nano work done on her face and body, too, Mr. Hillman. And she's also a prostitute who has done all manner of potentially-deranged sexual activities with her clients over the years. 'Weirding her out', as you put it, is virtually impossible." "Well, then, I'd be weirded out on her behalf," Tyler said. He realized his excuse wasn't working and wanted to get the hell out of the office as soon as possible. "Suit yourself," Jackson said, piercing Tyler's defenses with her trademark glare. "You can get a hold of me on the tablet, should you change your mind." "I might. I'll talk it over with Amber first." "She's one of the most accommodating people I've ever met in my life. I'm sure she'd be willing to let you downgrade your looks." Tyler shrugged. "We'll see," he said. He opened the door and walked out of the office, glad to finally be done with the conversation. As he walked down the hallway, he looked back at the office door several times, knowing that he wouldn't see Jackson for a few months. The thought relieved and worried him at the same time. ***** There was a great many people lined up to say goodbye to Amber as she and Tyler stood in the center of the docking spindle, waiting for the intercom to tell them to board their rocket back to Earth. On Amber's recommendation, they both wore loose blouses and relatively loose- fitting jeans. This was, by far, the closest thing to a masculine outfit Tyler had worn in the last week - he hadn't worn pants at all since he stripped out of his clothing in Jackson's exam room, which felt like ages ago. Now that he was wearing pants again, it felt weird to have material separating one leg from the other. Part of him longed to be in a skirt again - he loved the free-flowing sensation he got whenever he wore one. Amber was crying and hugging everything she could get her arms around. Renee, then Zoe, then Paul, then Lola, then Jackson, then Tyler, then Zoe again... this went on for a long while as Amber tearfully emphasized how much she'd miss everyone. "I'm sorry," Amber blubbered. "I feel like I'm bailin' on you guys." "You're not bailing," Zoe said, shaking her head dismissively. "You got the dream. I'd be much more pissed off at you if you stayed." "True," Renee said. "Seriously," Lola added. "Christ, Amber. Get the hell out of here while you still can. Don't turn into a lifer like me." Amber wiped her eyes. "You're all invited to the weddin', of course. I hope you can make it." "If the boss lady lets us," Paul said, crossing his arms. "I don't know, though. She's kind of a hard-ass." Jackson laughed - actually laughed - and Tyler was surprised to see it. "No promises," Jackson said. "But we'll see what we can work out." The intercom called for boarding on the rocket bound for Miami. Amber said one final round of goodbyes before lining up at the departure airlock. Tyler offered no hugs, but did say cordial goodbyes to everyone present. "See you all in a couple months, I guess" he concluded, while adjusting the purse slung over his shoulder. He exchanged friendly looks with Zoe and Renee, knowing and underplayed glances with Jackson and Paul, and no eye contact whatsoever with Lola. Then he lifted up his carryon bag and joined Amber in the line. Many people filed in behind him and the boarding process got underway. As Amber and Tyler moved into the airlock, Amber leaned back a shouted across the spindle. "Think about it, Paul!" she yelled. Paul, in response, curled his lips and waved back at her. "Think about what?" Tyler asked, as they were halfway through the airlock. "Oh, it's nothin'. Just a little secret between Paul 'n' me," Amber said. Tyler didn't believe her. Amber had sprung for a private, double-occupancy room, no bigger than a coat closet but certainly more luxurious than the shitty public rack space Tyler had on his trip out here. He and Amber stowed their bags and sat down on their tiny beds, then set to strapping themselves in to their leg, torso, arm, and neck restraints. Now Tyler knew why Amber had insisted on the two of them wearing pants instead of skirts. "I hope you're into bondage," Amber said as she tightened the strap over her knee. Tyler chuckled as he adjusted the padded collar around his neck. "This is nothing. When I came out here, they sealed us into our rack spaces with plastic sheets. This is a massive upgrade." Amber smiled and finished with her own neck brace, then slipped her arms through the restraints at her side. The two of them lay there, fully held tight by their bonds, staring up at the low ceiling. The space between them was silent for a moment, apart from the rumbling of the rocket's inner workings. Amber broke the silence. "Thanks again for comin' out with me, Violet," she said. "It means a lot. And I know it means you won't be payin' your debt to Jackson any time soon. You're really sacrificin' a lot for me." "I don't mind. I'm looking forward to it." Tyler turned his head, as much as the neck brace allowed him, toward Amber. "Although I'm still not sure how much help I'm going to be. I don't know anything about weddings or... well, anything, really. I'm just a regular old girl from a crappy mining colony on Mars." "You're fantastic. And you're gonna do a fantastic job with everythin' that needs gettin' done. I have full confidence in you." A robotic female voice filled the cabin, letting everyone know that the airlock had been sealed and the rocket was about to disembark. Minutes later, Tyler felt the rocket slowly pitch away from the station as the artificial gravity disengaged. Sleeping gas filled the cabin soon afterward. Tyler and Amber drifted off, laying side by side on their beds. ***** The next thing Tyler heard was that robotic female voice once again, speaking in a looped message that welcomed everyone to Earth. Tyler felt woozy from hypersleep sickness as he peeled off the collar around his neck and the straps around his knees. Amber looked worse for wear, too. She held her head in her hands and moaned. "Ugh," she said. "I forgot how rough that can be. You'd think after all these years they could find a better way of ferryin' people back and forth in space." "Yeah," Tyler said. He stood up and grabbed his stowed suitcase and purse. Amber got herself sorted out and joined Tyler outside the small private room. They descended a couple ramps and were soon in a familiar setting for Tyler - the arrivals terminal of the Miami spaceport. Tyler recognized the carpet, the concrete walls, and the rest of it. He was home. And the knowledge of that made him happy and nervous at the same time. Getting through customs, which Tyler had been a bit worried about, turned out to be no big deal. Tyler was able to steer Amber into a lane manned by a lonely-looking, balding man in his late forties, who was more than happy to see two lovely young ladies who had graced him with their presence. Amber was as friendly as ever. Tyler turned his charm up as much as possible without seeming obvious or obnoxious. The customs agent barely even looked at their passports and ID cards - he was too busy looking at Tyler and Amber, chatting them up, entranced by their bodies and smiles. While scanning Tyler's bags, the customs agent thought nothing of the tiny puller piece in his purse, or of the two puller sections on opposite sides of the rolling suitcase. Tyler had often been through interplanetary customs over the course of his life, and this time was by far the most painless. Yet another advantage he had while occupying the body of Violet Taylor. He was now very glad that he hadn't taken up Jackson on her offer to make him less attractive. "So," Amber said as they walked through the terminal, dragging their bags behind them. "What do you think?" "Of what?" Tyler asked. "Of... Violet, c'mon! Of Earth! You're here! You've never been here before, right?" Tyler looked dumbly at the floor, arming himself with his lies once again. "No. First time." "Well, c'mon, then! What do you think about all of it? See, look out the windows. See how bright it is out there? That means it's daytime. You had daytime and nighttime on Mars, I know, but it's a different deal here on Earth. Ain't it crazy how bright it is? And how about this gravity, huh? Doesn't it feel different than the virtual gravity back on the station? I think it does." Tyler enjoyed Amber's boisterousness. She was really excited about being on Earth... and potentially even more excited about showing off everything Earth had to offer to the poor little Martian girl who had never been here before. Her enthusiasm reared again when they had retrieved their belongings from baggage claim. While waiting for a taxi outside in the muggy Miami air, Amber looked expectantly at Tyler, as if waiting for him to say something. "What?" Tyler said at last. "Whaddya mean, 'what'? The air! It's real, fresh air! You've never breathed it before in your whole entire life! It's great, huh? And how about that heat? Isn't it crazy? You've been livin' in climate controlled bubbles all this time... you've probably never experienced anythin' hotter or colder than 72 degrees, huh? Doesn't it feel nice?" Tyler took a deep breath through his nose. "Huh. Yeah. Yeah, I guess it does." "You guess. God Almighty, there's just no impressin' you, is there?" "No no, I'm impressed," Tyler said. "I'm just... really laggy because of the hypersleep. Reality hasn't quite set in yet." "I'm gonna blow your mind if it kills me, Violet Taylor. You're never gonna wanna leave Earth by the time my weddin's over. I'm gonna show you everythin' I can." "I'm looking forward to it," Tyler said, smiling. He reached into his purse and turned on all his electronics - the Ringed Amusements tablet and two separate phones - as the heat and humidity of southern Florida seeped through his blouse and jeans. Now he longed to be back in a skirt more than ever. Miami's weather was oppressive to anyone wearing heavy denim, as he and Amber were. He was half-tempted to take his rolling suitcase into a bathroom and change into a light, fluttery sundress to get some relief. Soon enough, a yellow self-driving taxi pulled up and slowed itself in front of Amber, who was tapping away on her smartphone, giving the car instructions on what to do next. None of this was new to Tyler, but Amber explained to him how self-driving cars worked while pushing the button on her phone that caused the trunk to pop open. As the trunk door lifted, the yellow color of the taxi flashed, stuttered and changed into a bright red. Amber took a step back. "The hell?" she said. She looked at Tyler, concerned. "Did you just see that? The car was yellow when it pulled up, right?" "Yeah," Tyler said. "Hologramatic paint. It can turn whatever color you want it to. Taxis use it to turn yellow when they're available and turn red when they're in use. The car itself is just the color of bare steel. The yellow and red aren't actually real paint - they're just holograms. Millions and millions of tiny little holograms from millions of little projectors. They spray them on there, just like regular paint." Amber's eyebrow raised. "And how do you know about all that?" "I saw it in a documentary once," he lied. Of course, he'd seen hologramatic paint jobs regularly over the last three years or so. The technology had been around for seven years, available in consumer-grade products for two, and all over the damn place for the last six months. Miami's biggest self-driving taxi company had deployed it on all their cars earlier in the year. Amber's jaw hadn't closed yet. "They SPRAY them on there? Hologram projectors?" "Yup. It's pretty neat," said Tyler. "Well," Amber said, putting her hands on her hips, "that's about the craziest shit I've ever seen." She reached out and touched the trunk door, and her finger slipped through the red light, which was only projected one-eighth of an inch from the car's body. She did this several times, amazed at the technology. Tyler stood back and enjoyed the scene. Amber looked like a baby who had just discovered her own hands for the first time. Once Amber was satisfied with her science experiment, the two of them loaded up the car with all their various boxes and bags, then got into the car themselves. Then they were off, driving toward the familiar, high-rising Miami skyline to the north of the spaceport. Tyler sighed contentedly as the car's air conditioning kicked on. "Ahhh," Amber said, leaning back into her seat. "I love Earth. I ain't been here in forever, though. Not since me 'n' Lola went off to Saturn together." "Hmm," Tyler said. He closed his eyes, trying to shake off the hypersleep sickness, but then he opened them again with a startle. "Wait, what? You and Lola knew eachother BEFORE you were on the station?" "Well, sure. We're from the same place in Loozyana." She shifted in her seat. "Loozyana's a little west of here, up on the north side of the gulf. Just so you know." Tyler leaned forward. "Did you grow up together?" "Nah. We became friends in high school. We were both sorta outcasts." Tyler settled into his seat, preparing for a long story. "Okay. And?" "And... well... okay, look, to be plain, I was ugly when I was growin' up. And not the kinda ugly that becomes pretty when it gets older. My mama wasn't much of a looker, either, and my daddy was a bit scruffy himself. I had no good genes at all. There wasn't much hope for me." The wheels started turning in Tyler's head. "Oh... so that's why you went up to Beta. To get nanosurgery so you..." "Slow down, darlin'," Amber said. "You're gettin' ahead of me. So anyway, me 'n' Lola became friends. She was better lookin' than me. She looks almost the same now as she did back then. She has a better nose now, and bigger titties, maybe, but that's about it. Anyway, sophomore year of community college, one day she comes up to me and says, hey Amber, I had sex last night. She was all excited, but she was also scared. She said, can you come with me to the doctor, I wanna make sure I didn't get pregnant and didn't get any diseases. "So after classes, we go to the doctor's office... it was a women's health clinic or whatever-the-hell those are called. Lola goes in the back to get her blood and pee looked at. And while she's back there, a nurse asks me if I'd like to get my tests done, too. Just to be on the safe side. Now, I know I ain't pregnant, cuz no boys had ever been interested in ugly ol' me, but I figure, why not? So I head back with the nurse and do all the same stuff. Bleed into a syringe, pee into a cup, and that was that. "They got the results after about fifteen minutes. Lola went into a little exam room with her nurse, but my nurse took me 'round another part of the clinic, into a fancy office. And there's a real doctor there, sittin' behind the desk. He tells me to sit down. I thought it was all pretty weird, but I wasn't too worried about anythin' since I'd never had sex." Amber suddenly looked despondent. Tyler leaned forward and looked closely at her to make sure she wasn't about to cry. "The doc told me I was healthy," Amber continued, "and that I wasn't pregnant. I just shrugged and thought, well, yeah, no shit. But then the doctor took out his tablet and some papers and looked them over... then he explained to me that I was infertile. Don't ask me how they did it just by lookin' at some of my blood and pee, but they did it. He told me that my ovaries didn't have the stuff they needed to produce eggs. So... not only was I not pregnant, but I'd never be pregnant." Tyler gulped. "Oh." "Yeah. Now, you gotta understand somethin' about growin' up in a little bitty town in the deep south. Most of us girls grow up dreamin' about marryin' a handsome man and havin' a whole buncha kids. Put it this way - I was the sole only-child on my block. Most of the other families had at least four kids. Lola had five brothers and two sisters." "Whoa," Tyler said. "Yeah. So I was upset... cryin' all over the place. Lola tried to make me feel better about it, but she couldn't help me. Cuz I wasn't pretty, and I wasn't ever goin' to be pretty... and now I'd never have kids, either. Ugly girls can still find a man who loves 'em for their personality or whatever, but no man in all of Loozyana would ever wanna marry an ugly chick who couldn't even have kids. I was so sad, I could barely sleep for two weeks after I got the news. I even took a bus to New Orleans one day to go to the clinics there, to get other opinions. They all told me the same thing. No kids for me, ever. "Anyway. One day at school, Lola comes up to me and says, Amber, we need to talk. She pulled me around the corner and told me about this place we could go to. It was up in space, a bazillion miles away. There was this place that had surgery that could change everything about you. It could even help get my ovaries into fightin' shape. I said, well, that sounds really nice, let me talk to my parents about it. She said, you can't tell your parents about it because it's illegal. I said, well, if it's illegal, I probably shouldn't be doin' it, now should I? Lola said, no, you don't understand, it's only illegal here in America, not out there in space." Tyler sighed, knowing where this story was going. Or he thought he knew where it was going... "I still wanted to get my folks' opinion on it," Amber continued, "Funny thing was... I never got around to actually talking about it. The instant I told them that me 'n' Lola went to the women's health clinic down the road, they started freakin' out. Daddy was all, what the hell are you doin' goin' to a place like that? Have you been sleepin' around with the boys at school? My daddy went crazy. My mama looked like she was about to start cryin'. So I backpedaled all the way and I said no, daddy, it's not what you think. And I made up some stupid lie about how me 'n' Lola only went there because of a class project we were doin' together. "My daddy knew somethin' was suspicious, so he got up and got on his phone and called up Lola's parents. So then, on the other end of the phone, Lola's mama started railin' into her, askin' her what she was doin' at that clinic. Meanwhile I'm sittin' there cryin' my eyes out cuz I'm so scared of what's gonna happen next, both to me and to Lola. I hadn't even had the chance to tell my folks that I couldn't get pregnant, and that I wanted to go out into space to see about gettin' that problem taken care of. That made me even sadder. Then that night, my daddy told me I wasn't ever to hang out with Lola again. I basically just cried all night until I got up for school the next mornin'. "So Lola comes up to me before class 'n' says, Amber, if we're gonna do this, we need to do it right now. Let's get on the next rocket to that space station... the one where I could get fixed up. I just said, no, Lola, I don't want us to get into any more trouble. And then she said somethin' big. She said, Amber, they can do more than just makin' your ovaries work again - they can make you pretty. She actually said that to me. Now, Lola's not one to pull punches..." "Yeah," Tyler said, recrossing his legs as the self-driving taxi approached a highway onramp. "Tell me about it." "I think that's what I appreciate about her most, truth be told. Her honesty. All my life my parents and had always told me that I was beautiful, amazing, whatever. I knew it wasn't true. You just know these things when you're a kid... and you know them even more once you start goin' through puberty and get to high school. Boys just ignored me, y'know. Lola was the first one to just come right out and say it. It hit me really deep when she told me about how the people on the space station could make me pretty. It was the first time anyone had ever talked about my looks without bullshittin' me. And that was enough to convince me. "We just up and left school, and we drove and drove, all the way to Houston - where Isaac's from. It's the closest spaceport to my hometown. The trip took about three hours... and while the car was drivin' along, I asked Lola what had happened with her folks last night after my daddy hung up. She told me her mama had slapped the hell out of her, for havin' sex. Like it was the worst thing Lola coulda done. I got a look at Lola's face, and sure enough, she had some little cuts and bruises. She'd covered 'em up with some makeup, but you could tell they were there. I didn't ask more questions after that. "So we get to the Houston spaceport. Around this time, a light goes on over my head... like I forgot somethin'. I ask Lola, hey, how much is all this goin' to cost? I only had a little money in my bag. And Lola's family were poor as church mice, on account of their eight kids. Lola said, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it. I had no idea what she meant at the time." "Oh, Jesus," Tyler said, figuring things out in his head. "She sold you into prostitu..." "She didn't sell me into shit, Violet," Amber said. Her face took on an angry expression. Something Tyler had never seen from her before... something he didn't even think she was capable of. He looked off to the side, unable to meet her eyes. Amber took a deep breath as the Miami skyline grew closer. "We get to Saturn Beta a few days later. Lola takes me to the 48th floor. Do you remember the front part of Jackson's office... that little room with the security guards? I waited out there, with the guards, while Lola went right in and talked with Jackson. I'm still really worried at this point, thinkin' that my parents are sore with me, wonderin' what Lola is up to. Eventually she comes out and tells me to come into the office. That's when I met Jackson for the first time. And she sat me right down next to Lola and started tellin' me about rule number one... about how I never have to do anything I'm not comfortable doin'. It's only after I fully understand the scope of rule number one that Jackson finally tells me about Ringed Amusements Company, and what they're famous for. "I got really mad at Lola at first... cuz I thought the same thing you did. That Lola had signed me up to be a hooker without tellin' me about it first. But she told me, over and over, that I never had to do any hookin' if I didn't want to. Jackson told me the same thing. I wasn't sure if I could believe either of 'em... but I wasn't gettin' back to Loozyana any time soon. I was stuck whether I believed 'em or not. "For the first week or so, I didn't do anything at all. For starters, I didn't get any nanosurgery done, cuz I didn't trust Jackson yet. Meantime, Jackson gave me 'n' Lola a room in the dorm and I basically just sat there waitin' for the clock to tick. Jackson did some work on Lola - like I said, changin' her nose a bit and makin' her titties bigger - and then Lola went right to work. I asked her why she was so... eager to get out there and start sellin' herself off to anyone who looked at her. She told me she just really enjoyed sex. She got a taste for it, back on Earth. The whole reason she ran away from home in the first place was cuz her folks didn't approve of her havin' sex... and, well, she wasn't about to stop. So she figured she might as well get paid for it." "Natural conclusion," Tyler joked. Amber smirked. "Okay, smartypants. Hang on, now," she said. "Anyway, after we were there for a bit, and after I saw how Lola seemed to be copin' okay with the new arrangements, I got less scared. I went out wanderin' through the station, lookin' around, seein' the sights. It was a lot louder and crazier than the small town I grew up in. And I loved it. I wasn't homesick at all, 'specially not after how my daddy freaked out on me. I didn't miss my house, or school, or my family... and I didn't miss my friends, cuz Lola was right there with me. "So I finally told Jackson that she could do some work on me. The next day, she helped me with figurin' out what I wanted to look like. Now, I knew I was ugly, and I wanted to change that. I wasn't sure where to begin, though. Jackson showed me a bunch of 3D models on her tablet that I could choose from... apparently she had a guy in her back pocket who designed women's bodies..." "Paul," said Tyler. "Yup. Paul's designs, all of 'em. We went through all the models. Then I saw this one," she said, gesturing to herself dramatically, "and I fell in love. I let Jackson dump her nanobots into me without a second thought, and then I went to bed for a whole day. Then I woke up, and looked at the mirror, and..." Amber was getting emotional again. She fanned herself with her hand, looking very much the southern belle, as Tyler wondered whether he should cross the width of the car to give her a hug. "I don't mean this in a mean way," Amber said as her eyes moistened, "but girls like you wouldn't understand, Violet. You were pretty when you showed up. You haven't had any work done. You don't know what it's like to be ugly one minute and off-the-charts the next. My whole life changed in an instant. I had a cute face, good hair, great body... I didn't have none of that when I was growin' up. I didn't know how to handle what I saw in the mirror. It was a real shock." "Yeah," Tyler said, trying to sympathize on a shallow level... when in fact he empathized on a much, much deeper level. If only Amber had known how different Tyler had looked when he first arrived at Saturn Beta. If only Tyler hadn't lied to her... Amber wiped a tiny tear from her eye. "Phew. So anyway, Jackson made me pretty. After I saw myself in the mirror, I didn't doubt for a second that she could fix my ovaries, too. If those nanobots could take a woofer like me and turn me into a supermodel, makin' a barren girl fertile woulda been child's play. I was thrilled. "Lola got home later, and didn't believe me at first when I told her who I was. Then she had me come out with her to a dance club that night. It was the first time I'd ever had men lookin' at me like they wanted to get with me. Nobody had ever stared at me like that before. I'll admit, I got addicted to feelin' that way. To havin' guys look at me, buy me drinks, chat me up, try to feel up my legs. And I really liked it when other girls looked at me all jealous 'n' stuff. All the girls at school, save Lola, had always just brushed me off. Now they were starin' daggers at me, and I knew exactly why. I fuckin' loved it, if we're bein' truthful. "And then, couple days later, I finally started workin'. Same stuff as you, at the beginning. Events in the 5th floor lounge, booths at the convention center. I was curious about the other business - y'know, freelancin' - but I never touched it at first. It was just too... scary, I guess. I mean, sex ain't scary, you know that and I know that. But I was still a virgin then, and makin' the jump from virginity to prostitution was intimidatin' to say the least. It wasn't until I found out..." Amber went silent. Tyler looked at her with concern on his pretty face. "Found out what?" he said. "I found out what Lola did. How she... paid for our space travel tickets. Ringed Amusements had fronted her the money after Lola promised Jackson that she'd start freelancin' the instant she arrived, and that she wouldn't stop until the tickets had been paid off. And until her and my nanosurgeries had been paid off, too. It was a hell of a lot of money, Violet, 'specially for someone who's only twenty years old. And Lola woulda paid for it all herself if that's what it came down to." Tyler was dumbstruck. He would never have thought, in a million years, that a bitchy ice-queen like Lola could have been so generous and self- sacrificing. "I wasn't gonna let her do that," Amber continued, "payin' off the debt for both of us. So I started hookin' in order to pay my own way. I was scared, like I said, but it wasn't so bad. Lola taught me how to toughen up a bit, go with the flow, not get emotionally invested, be confident. Remember your first day on the station, when Lola was bein' all mean to you? She gives that same pep talk to herself every time she's havin' a bad day. She's the toughest girl I know." "Wow," Tyler said, recalling the moment he first found out what Ringed Amusements was best known for. He remembered Lola's diatribe like it had happened yesterday. Maybe all of her scare tactics and subtle jabs at Tyler's initial apprehension had actually benefited him, in the long run. He was certainly tougher now than he had been during his first day as a girl. Tougher, more confident, able to handle every weird experience he'd had lately. Amber continued: "After the first couple times with a man, I wasn't scared anymore. After a while, I was able to enjoy it on occasion. Then I met Isaac, and... well, here we are. The hooker with the heart of gold found her prince charming. A prince who works at a desalination plant, but a prince nonetheless. And I can finally be a mother, just like I always wanted." "Man," Tyler said, leaning back in his seat as the taxi exited the highway and began rolling through downtown Miami. "That's a hell of a story, Amber." "It is. Like I said when you first got to Beta - Lola 'n' me have been through a lot together. She'd do anythin' for me. I'd do just about anythin' for her, too. I don't expect you 'n' her to ever be best friends, but I hope you can at least give her a chance to grow on you." "Maybe," Tyler said, while watching the familiar landmarks of the city race past. Eventually the car turned east, pointing itself in the direction of the beach, and drove along until it reached an ocean-facing boutique hotel. Tyler looked out the window and saw the familiar sight of ocean waves rolling in and out as Amber exited the car. Many people were laid out on towels and under umbrellas, enjoying the blistering heat or cooling off in the frigid Atlantic. "It's called a beach," Amber explained as Tyler got out of the car. "And that big blue thing out there is the ocean. I don't s'pose you've ever been swimmin' before." "Nope," Tyler lied, as a six-wheeled bellhop drone came out of the hotel to pick up his and Amber's luggage. "It's easy. You just go in a little bit at a time, and don't get in over your head. Simple as that. How 'bout that air, huh? It's cleaner and fresher when it comes straight off the ocean. Take a deep breath, Violet. I want you to enjoy this." Amber took her own deep, dramatic breath, exhaling loudly. Tyler followed suit, taking the salty sea air in through his nose and blowing it out again between pouted lips. "It's nice," he said, as he stretched his arms and legs, weakened from several days of hypersleep. "It sure is," Amber said, folding her arms under her breasts and staring out at the ocean. "Nice is a good word for it."