FUNCTION-L₃ #37

Wrapped up in the layers and folds of your new dress, you watch as Akiko struggles with the logic of how its design actually interfaces with an Aydan.

“That’s---ow, too tight... and this one is too loose...” you sign.

“Give me a hand then?” she signs.

“Give me yours then.”

You send a motor neuron link request. As you receive the confirmation, the shock of a sudden change in form ripples to the core of your now distributed nervous system. You lose your balance in the confusion of where your center of mass should be as your proprioception detects new end points to your body. You catch yourself with her arms to hold yourself upright.

2255-01-17 19:34:18 Aydan > this is so weird

2255-01-17 19:34:24 明子 > give it a minute, you’ll adapt. next time you’ll adapt faster

Akiko’s hands which so quickly and precisely assembled the pieces from the fabric printer are now under your control, behind you trying to find and tighten the wires wrapped around your corset.

2255-01-17 19:34:31 Aydan > I can’t see what I’m doing

You receive a sensory link request. As you accept it, color and noise floods your vision, your brain struggles to even upright the image coming from four different points of perception. You remember to close your own eyes and use only the peripheral device newly paired to your system, Akiko’s ocular implants.

But limiting your field of view doesn’t help much---she has them configured to mostly infrared. The heat emanating from your body reflects off of the layers of different textile material of your dress in a chaotic landscape of color-analogues. But the insulated cables crossing over it do nicely stand out in their heat-resistance.

2255-01-17 19:34:37 Aydan > it’s all IR here I can’t see anything...

2255-01-17 19:34:41 明子 > why would you need to see to put on a dress??

The image in your field of view adjusts upward to the visual-UV range. Ignoring your vestibular and proprioceptive senses screaming at you, you evenly tighten up the dress, fasten the cables’ connectors to your external battery and your interface, then turn your body around to look at yourself from Akiko’s eyes.

Concentric ellipsoid rings of vantablack fabric cascade down the expanding skirt of the dress, their frills and folds visible only by the shine of silver wire lining their edges, protected by a thin transparent insulation and fastened by a series of metallic rings. Wires bound around your waist tie the dress’s corset, above which soft layers flow over your chest and shoulders, terminating in wire seams. Each section of wire bears an LED centerpiece, powered by your battery and controlled by your neural interface---you have them set to glow neon blue, mesmerizing you with the stimmy reflection off of their wires in contrast with the absolute darkness around them.

Black bands cover your forearms, accented with strips of metallic foil and LEDs, and connected to your battery by wires hanging loosely from your arms and around your back---a little too short, preventing you from crossing both your arms over your body. A headband lined with LEDs sits nestled in your dark brown hair and LED earrings frame the sides of your face, their power and control cables trailing behind your head. Your interface collar and the tall, dark grey magnetic boots tie it all together in technopath style. Black nail polish and eye shadow, unfamiliar to the enby of bright colors you’re accustomed to be, mark you as a creature of the Lunar night, and a thin shimmer of metallic dust foundation on your pale skin completes the uncanny impression that protects you from the gaze of human eyes.

You release the sensory and motor connection.

“Well, what do you think? How did we do?” Akiko signs.