Killing Time OST – 5c – Shopping

<< 5b – Shopping

I unglued my Alice face in a tunnel on the way home. I could pull it off in broad daylight as it was too quick a thing for anyone to notice but I’d rather not take unnecessary risks. Still, I was not paranoid and going through the back door to ferry one lousy pouch of acid in seemed overkill.
“You have one message waiting.” The automated voice announced when I crossed the door with my grocery bags.
“Julia, groceries. Butler, play message.”
The rolling of wheels preceded Julia’s entrance in the vestibule to pick up my bags and bring them to the kitchen. She would unpack them too once I told her they were all in.
“My boobs are bigger than yours,” Naomi’s voice boomed out the PA system. “And they are guaranteed to be that way for the next ten years. Thank you so very very much! And would you be one of my bridesmaids? Talk to you soon! Ta-ta!”
I loved Naomi’s extremes; three days ago her world was coming to an end and now it was Christmas. I requested the deletion of the message and a reminder to call her back in the evening. She had an internal phone implant and a tendency to pick up when it wasn’t necessarily appropriate. No way was I risking another conversation while she was being waxed. I had my limits.
“She’s that happy, huh?” Vexx smirked. The soundproofing between the first floor and basement wasn’t optimal; I didn’t know I would get a roomy.
“Yep. And you’re about to be ecstatic, too!” I dropped my acid pouch on the corner of his workspace.
“Big promise.” Vexx nonetheless abandoned his micro-soldering tools to join me. “You shouldn’t have.” He grabbed the pouch.
“Don’t open it yet.” He shot me a disappointed glance. “Either that or you lose a hand. It’s the plasma-proof window acid. Eats through everything but rubber.”
“Seriously?” I nodded. “Is there enough for me make a couple of tests with it?”
“Knock yourself out. Just not literally.” I had no desire to see Vexx blow half his face off. Even a half was enough for him to be recognized in public – where I would have to hull his ass to save his life. Luckily, he understood the warning. “From what I understand, the chemical process turns plasma-proof glass into some kind of rubber-silicone thingy that you can peel off.”
“Brilliant!” Vexx was already setting himself up to take a sample from the pouch. “The jelly texture makes it stable but less efficient, right?”
“Yep. I need you to make me a gun or some kind of fast applicator for it.” Vexx mumbled what I knew to be a yes. The acid absorbed all his attention at the moment. Any type of conversation was officially off his mental grid.
I decided to let him simmer with his new toy for a bit. Once the factor of novelty waned, he should be able to give me an estimate of the time he needed to build what I asked for. Until then, I had some more shopping and some music selection to do.
I took care of the dress for the Merrilyn Technology ball first. I used my upstairs computer to ensure my holographic representation wouldn’t display any elements to spark unwanted questions. I connected with my favorite designer at the first ring. I heard her tell her secretary to cancel her other appointments for the night before her attention focused on me.
“Miss Beyer! What a pleasant surprise! For which occasion are we ordering today?” Meredith’s face hovered to my right. In front of me was a mirror holographic representation of myself.
“The Merrilyn ball.”
“Of course. How exciting. Let’s see what will be in season.”
I spent the next half hour discussing clothes. Between fashion, the required minimum price tag and my personal tastes, it proved hard to find the perfect fit. Meredith browsed through her models which my hologram automatically wore so I could see the look on me. We settled for a black dress with electric blue seams. Meredith redrew some of the patterns’ lines until it fitted me perfectly and looked unique.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to reduce the amount of fabric somewhere? You’ll look a bit prude compared to what I expect will be worn.”
“No thanks.” If she shrunk the clothes any more than that, “bikini” would be a more accurate description than “dress”. People loved to show off their nano-improved bodies a little bit too much for my taste. Besides, my dad would be at the party.
That reminded me of how official I currently looked. High profile clothing was mandatory for the mall and contributed to my eccentric reputation in the black market. I was sick of the suit.
I nearly tore off my clothes when I hurried out of them and into training leggings and bra. Gosh, that felt good. Putting on my leather gloves in preparation of some punching bag maiming rivaled with seventh heaven. I jugged downstairs and spent some quality time with my training gear. Vexx would stop me when he was ready to talk.
Mid-training, I turned on my music chip as much for an energy boost as to join business and pleasure. Sometimes, the perfect song for a job imposed itself onto my conscience. Other time, I chased it down the somber meanders of my sub-normally altered neural pathways. In this case, La Corrida jumped me but it was way too short to cover the approach and the act. I required a second song to cover my way into the building and that one eluded me.
I shuffled through my usual selection, listening to a bar or two. I mentally turned off the announcer’s voice as it ended up taking more time to name the song than I spent listening to it. At last, I found what I was looking for.
“Oh Juno,” I said punching my bag to the beat. “I hate robbing banks too!”
Vexx snickered behind me.
“So enamored of that thing. Are you capable of such emotion for a human being?”
“Nope. They don’t let me punch them.” I caught the bottle of water Vexx threw me and took a long gulp. “What’s the ETA on my new gun?”
“Two days. And it’ll look more like a tube of toothpaste.”
He exited the room before I unleashed a flow of questions. I chose not to stop him and returned to my beloved instead.

6a – iCraft Cool Tools >>