From somber to horny in a heartbeat. This is definitely a teenage kid. I shove him ahead. “Keep walking, Romeo.”
When his back turns, Mika presses her chest against my back. “You can pet me if you want.”
“I’m surrounded by crazy people,” I laugh, turning around to walk backward. She uses her hands to press her chest together so tight her tits look like they’re about to burst from her leathers. “And I… am all about that.”
“Okay, through here,” Wick says, coming to a stop at a random door. It’s plain wood and refreshingly clear of gore. “Got a few buildings to shortcut through and then we’ll be at Three’s Place. But moving from district to district costs more than we have, so we’ll have to deal with being sneaky.”
“Three?” I pause as I reach for the door. “Is that a player?”
“Yeah. At least, I think so.” Wick’s ears flatten. “It’s hard to tell between players and bots, sometimes.”
“Okay. Anything we need to know before we get there?”
“Um… Nope. Should be smooth sailing, as long as she’s busy.”
“She?”
“No worries. This time of day, she’ll be working,” he says, pushing through the door.
“Wait, whose she?”
Mika passes me, flashing a heart stopping grin. “So exciting.”
Crazy.
The first building is unremarkable. We’re in some kind of basement. A maze of crates surrounds us, so many that without Wick’s guidance I’d be lost in minutes. He winds his way through unerringly, never pausing at a junction. “Spend a lot of time down here?” I ask, running a fingertip along a box marked with three X’s.
No dust. Huh.
“Yeah, me and a few others.” Wick hops over a fallen stack of crates. Thousands of papers litter the floor. “Including some Obsidian newbs, so speed it up.”
Normally, I’d be irritated if a teenage pissant barked orders at me, but there’s something weirdly endearing about Wick. I realize that he’s a kid whose spent a decent chunk of his life in this new reality. He probably lost loved ones during the purge. Despite his abrasive attitude, there’s something hopeful and optimistic about his outlook, and I can’t hate him. I can’t even be that made that he tried to get us killed; he didn’t know we wouldn’t respawn.
We’ll use him for now and keep him out of the loop. And if we can help him along the way, with money or love tips, I can be okay with that.
“Say… What’s the Citadel?” Wick asks a he hops over another box.
I stumble. “Uh…”
Astra shoots me a guilty look
“I mean, there’s that Mass Effect cosplay club, but they just run around in those dumbass N7 outfits,” he continues. “They don’t have anything like the Citadel from the game.”
So much for keeping him out of the loop.
“Figure of speech,” Mika lies before I can think of anything. “Before the war, Astra was an office drone. She misses it.” Mika sighs. “I think we all do.”
“Huhhh…” Wick drawls. “Okay…”
He’s not convinced, but he doesn’t press us. “Okay, through this alley,” he says, “and then we gotta go fast through Madam Kara’s.”
“Wait, ‘madam’?” Mika pushes past me. “You mean like… madam madam?”
Wick hunches. “Yeah. She banned me awhile back, though. Round this time of day, she’s usually overseeing stuff upstairs, so if we hurry…”
I exchange glances with the girls. This should be good.
We duck through another alley that’s virtually the same as the first. The only difference is that this one has a plain door set into the building across from the one we exit. It’s unremarkable aside form a series of symbols carved into the stones above it.
“Threvian,” Syl says, dumbstruck. “Why…”
“Underworld adopted it awhile back,” Wick says. “The snakes don’t let us learn it, but they can’t watch all of us all the time. We use it as a code to let others know safe spots, things like that.” He narrows his eyes at Syl. “How did you recognize it? I mean, I get from your toon that you’ve got a snake fetish, but…”
“She studied them during the period before the purge,” I say quickly. Mika already has her mouth open with another fib, but she wasn’t there for the conversation we had on the way to fight the Corroc, and I don’t actually know how much she knows about Syl’s history on Earth. “Before shit got bad.”
“Ah,” Wick says. This time he sounds like he believes us. “That was… That was a weird time.”
“Right?” I reach for the door. “Anyway…”
“Wait!” Wick slaps my hand, then ducks away. “Sorry! Sorry! Just...You gotta know the code or they’ll kill you on sight.”
“They?” I swallow. “Thanks, Wick. I’m surprised you, ah… Saved me.”
“Oh, they’d smoke me, too,” he says, straightening. He gives me a quick smile. “But maybe you crazy bastards are growing on me.”
“Right. You just want your money back,” Mika teases.”
“That, too. You know how long that five k took me to make?” He mumbles something about thieves before he knocks out a complex pattern on the metal door. Its muted by his fur, but apparently those inside don’t have trouble hearing it because the door swings wide almost instantly.
On the other side is a nightmare of metal and guns. I stumble back a step as the girls shout. Mika’s hands light as Syl’s claws snick out.
It’s a robot, and based on its appearance, its entire purpose is murder. About half as tall as I am, it hunches on squat legs the carry a frame bristling with weapons. Blades, energy weapons, and even some kind of mace studded with spikes sit below a long black, Cyclon style glowing eye. It watches us for a long moment where I wonder if we’re about to die before it beeps. “PLEASE WAIT INSIDE AND MAKE YOUR SELECTION. THE MADAM WILL BE DOWN SHORTLY TO COMPLETE THE TRANSACTION,” it drones in a voice like a hammer thrown down a metal hallway.
Wick glances back to us, then laughs. “Sorry, probably should have warned you.” He pats the robot on the head. “Jim’s harmless if you know the knock.”
I glare at Wick as he brushes past the bot. Mika looks at me. Jim? she mouths.
Selection? I mouth back.
“I think I know where this is going,” she smirks.
I’m about to make a quip back, but just past the robot, I forget what we were talking about entirely. My mind goes completely blank.
It’s not the gorgeous entry hall we’ve passed into. The floor is pure black and white marble inlaid with threads of gold. The ceiling is low and arched with elegant wood that looks like the ribs of some ancient, impossible creature. Magnificent chandeliers hang just above our heads, each festooned with thousands of tiny candles that burn with no visible wax drippings. The walls are more marble and are draped with sultry red velvet curtains.
It’s insane. Passing from the dingy alley into...Into this.
But none of that is even close to the reason I’ve suddenly forgotten my own name.
Between the curtains, set into the wall, are gorgeous cages. Each is the size of a small room, and the only thing separating them from the hall are spindly golden bars that look more ornamental than protective.
Inside those cages?
Girls.
They perk up as we enter, raising from gorgeous couches and beds to come to the bars of their cages. They’re uniformly perfect; each is like fantasy made real. They range from normal women to elves and other fantasy races, and at least one of them seems like she’s made of living slime. Some are half dressed in silks cut to show curves straight out of a teenager’s fantasy, while others are completely naked and unashamed.
One girl who looks to be barely past eighteen grips the bars of her cage. Honey blond hair frames an impossibly perfect face and emerald eyes that reflect the firelight like tiny flames. Her heart shaped lips purse and blow a kiss To Wick. “Hey there, kitty,” she purrs. “What a lovely surprise. I thought you weren’
t allowed in here, anymore.” She pushes bare breasts against the bars of her cage, bunching them obscenely. Little pink nipples seem to reach for us, beckoning.
“Holy shit,” I breathe.
“Come on,” Wick says, ignoring the blond. “If Kara catches me here, you’re gonna be short one guide.”
“How’d you know the knock?” I ask, trying hard not to stare and failing completely.
“Buddy of mine comes here a lot.” He doesn’t say more as he pushes through the entry hall, and unlike me, he stares openly at the girls.
Mika pushes past me, giving the very thick bulge in my pants a little pat. “Come on, Sam. No shame in looking.”
I groan as an elf girl with at least ten miles of curves sticks a finger in her mouth and gives it a long suck. She winks at me. “I feel like I know how old sailors felt when they met sirens,” I say. “How does anyone manage to leave this place?”
“I know I wouldn’t mind spending some time here,” Mika grins. “I mean, look at her.”
A slightly older woman, maybe thirty, stretches on a leather loveseat. Long, red hair barely covers her full tits that she thrusts upward as we watch. Below those are another set of matching breasts. “She has...Four…”
“Got chips?” she says in a voice that tugs at my cock. “Wanna have some fun?”
“Come on, champ,” Wick says, tugging at my hand. “We can’t even afford to breathe in here.”
Syl stares at the four breasted prostitute. “What purpose…”
“Horny dudes,” Mika laughs. “Horny dudes with money. They’re bait.”
“Ah. I have seen how Sam enjoys your large breasts. With two pairs…”
“I prefer the term thicc,” Mika says, arm around Syl’s waist. “And don’t tell me you don’t enjoy them, too.”
Syl runs a hand down Mika’s chest. “I am learning to appreciate them even if they are unnecessary for copulation.”
“Did you all come to give us a show?” A demon girl of some kind saunters up to the bars. Her eyes glow green and delicate horns raise from her head. Her legs have too many joints and end in hooves. “Because that’d be a nice change of pace. I like to watch…” She reaches down and grips–
I choke. “She has a cock.”
Mika stares avidly. “Yup.”
“Why… Does she have a cock?”
The demon girl pats her crotch suggestively, then thrusts it through the bars.
Mika chuckles and pulls me past. “Futanari stuff. Some guys dig it.” She licks her lips. “Some girls, too.”
I take a last look as the demon girl pouts. “That’s… Wow. Definitely not my thing, but… I didn’t even realize people were into that.”
“Takes all kinds. Wait, where’s Astra?”
Wick looks around nervously. “Yeah, where’d she go? We need to move.”
I spot her back near the first cages. She stands in front of the slime girl’s cage, hands clasped to her chest as she whispers something.
“What is she–”
Syl’s interrupted by Mika’s hand. “Wait. Watch.”
“Guys…” Wick whines.
Astra raises one hand and her arm silvers, then loses shape. It melts until it resembles nothing more than a tentacle.
I can’t see the girl she’s talking to, but a matching tentacle of blue slime extends from the bars, stopping an inch from Astra.
She turns, and for some reason gives me a questioning look. Is she asking for permission? What for? Befuddled, I nod.
Her smile is radiant. She turns and twines her silver around the blue slime. Their materials mix and twist tight. For a moment, they just sit like that, and then Astra throws her head back and moans.
“Holy shit… Are they…”?
Mika smacks her lips. “Yup.”
Even Wick forgets to be nervous. He’s entranced. I can see a new fetish born in his wide eyes. “Wow.”
“Right?” I whisper.
Astra’s little gasps grow in intensity. Her silver and the prostitute’s slime aren’t even moving anymore, but that doesn’t matter, apparently. Matching moans slip between the bars of her cage, filling the room with the sounds of ecstasy.
They intensify until Astra cums, losing shape for the briefest moment as her whole body falls against the bars. The slime girl climaxes at the same time, and their cries of pleasure twist together as tight as their bodies.
When they finish, the slime girl retracts. Astra holds her tentacle up a moment longer before lowering it as it reforms into her hand. They whisper some last nothing to each other, and then Astra leans forward. Blue lips slip between the bars and they kiss for a heartbeat before parting.
Astra turns to us, flushed and blushing. Her face is luminous, as is her smile as the other girls start applauding. “Good show!” one shouts. “Jealous!” another sings.
Mika hugs Astra when she reaches us. “Damn, girl,” she says. “That was amazing.”
“Sorry… For the delay,” Astra breathes. “I never thought… That there was someone else out there...You know.” She bites her lip. “Like me.”
“What did she say?” I ask, trying to adjust my aching cock without being obvious about it.
“On the house,” Astra says. “She said for me, it was on the house.”
“And you… Just with your hands?”
Astra turns a hooded glance on me. “I told you back on the Citadel. I can feel it anywhere if I want.”
“Welp, that one’s going in the spank bank,” Mika says. She eyes my crotch. “Gotta feeling I’m not the only one.”
Astra smiles faintly. “Her name was Layna.”
Syl tenses. “Someone approaches.”
“Oh shit,” Wick gasps. “We gotta go. Now.”
The prostitutes shower us with a volley of delicious goodbyes as we flee past a massive staircase. Hard footsteps echo through the entry hall, descending as we pass. “Madam Kara?”
“Yeah,” Wick says, panicked. “If she finds me here…”
Past the stairs is a door that’s manned by another battle robot. It sits utterly still, not stopping us as Wick opens the door and pushes into the sunlight with a whoop. The file push past, too, casting me blushing glances as they go. Aside from Syl, of course. She trails a claw along the bulge in my pants, her eyes full of promise.
Just as I’m about to follow them, a voice halts me. “Wait.” It’s feminine, strong and commanding but strangely soft. It stops me like a hand to the back of the shirt, and almost against my will, I turn.
What can only be Madam Kara stands at the terminus of the stairs, one hand still on the banister as she turns to face the hallway we’ve just fled down. She’s as beautiful as one of her girls and is easily as exotic. Dark blue skin like watercolor paint frames black lips and deep red eyes. Her hair is long and silver and tied in a complex braid that whips around a perfect ass that her long silk robe tries and fails to hide. Her ears are long and trim, pointed to the ceiling. Elvish?
She takes a long step forward, beautiful face hard. “Who are you?”
I glance out the open door a moment. The girls watch me, wide eyed, probably wondering what the hell I’m doing.
I turn back to Kara. “Sam. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
She rakes me with her eyes. “Mmm… A boy with manners. So rare, these days.” A slender finger taps her dark lip as her gaze lingers on my still hard cock. “Are you sure you won’t stay?”
“Apologies, but I can’t.” I tip my head before turning to dart out the door.
I pass the robot and emerge into the day, but not before I hear her last words: “That’s alright. We’ll meet again.”
Well, that’s mildly terrifying. And somehow intriguing, too.
“What the hell happened” Wick demands. “Who were you talking to?”
“Kara,” I say simply.
“What? And you survived?”
“Yeah,” I say, joining the girls. “Never hurts to be polite.”
Mika kisses my che
ek. “That’s why we love you.”
“One of the reasons,” Astra amends.
“One of many,” Syl says solemnly.
Wick groans. “You people are crazy. Picking fights with Obsidians, making friends with the scariest crime boss in Acheryx…”
“The what?” We say together.
Wick throws his hands up and stalks down the street. “Crazy!”
When the girls and I don’t move, he turns back. “Come on, hurry up before you piss off someone else. Three’s is just a few buildings down.”
I cast a last glance at the now closed door to Kara’s. Remember her eyes as they undressed me mentally. I shiver.
This just keeps getting better.
15
Acheryx
Three’s Pub
Player: Sam
Level: 2
It’s immediately apparent why Wick uses Three’s as a place to go incognito.
“Well, this looks cozy.”
Syl grunts with approval. “Not memorable enough to raise interest. Out of the main traffic flow. Excellent.”
Astra peers at the nondescript building. “Is it a bar?”
“Tavern, inn…” Mika says. “Doesn’t matter. Like I said… If you need information, you go to wherever you can get a drink and some gossip.”
“You can definitely do that, here,” Wick says. “Three won’t serve me unless I’m with someone else.” He frowns. “No idea how he knew I wasn’t of age.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Does that matter in Lifestream? Is there an in game drinking age?”
“Not with most people,” he says with a black look. “I think Three must’ve been a bartender before the invasion.” He starts toward the door, waving for us to follow. “Still, there’s great food and it’s quiet. There are like ten thousand goddamned bars in Acheryx… Every rando who doesn’t feel like adventuring wants to start open an inn, apparently. This is my favorite.”
The bar’s set in the bottom of a much larger building. A huge front window’s open to the street, and a simple wooden door’s half open, beckoning like a friendly wave. There’s no sign or decoration to indicate what’s inside, but the soft clank of glasses and the aroma of something meaty and tantalizing are a pretty strong clue.
Aspirant 2: A Sci-Fi Harem Adventure Page 28
