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2254-06-03 (Lunar Traditional Calendar™ property of MoonTime Inc.)

Along with your friends Akiko and Zeta, you have devised a plan to investigate the secretive technopath gathering tonight. While you sit at your desk in your room anxiously awaiting your meetup time, you hear a knock on your door.

2254-06-03 21:28:24 Zeta > yo

You connect to the door’s system and open it as effortlessly as opening your own eyes. A few months at TLA have made you quite adept at the basics of technopathy.

“Nice place.” It enters your little dorm room and sits down on your bed. This is the first time you’ve seen Zeta out of uniform, since you almost always meet up after class. Its clothes match its hair--black and white, a sleeveless jacket, and tight black pants coming to just below its knees, both with many pockets, wires running in and out of them. Underneath you see the thin sleeves of the full-body interface.

“It’s exactly like your room.” You’re also wearing your full-body interface, as Akiko advised, and over that a cute black skirt and a shirt, a little oversized for you, depicting the Moon--Spaceside of course.

“Aw, you look cute Aydan,” Zeta says, looking over at you.

“You do too! We’re always just wearing uniforms,” you say.

“It’s just easier most of the time…” it says. “But that’s probably why students have secret gatherings like this, a chance to express ourselves more, you know?”

Another message reaches your mind.

2254-06-03 21:32:18 明子 > I'm here

It was Akiko’s idea to meet up in your room. She said you would want to be somewhere comfortable.

You let her in, Akiko, with her long black hair now loose except for two braids that wrap around the sides of her head, with its fluorescent green sections intertwined into them. She has pale blue LED earrings, matching the faint blue glow of her artificial eyes currently. Her simple black dress has green accents around its edges. And around her neck she has a necklace that looks like a mushroom encased in resin.

“Oh wow,” Zeta says.

“You look beautiful,” you sign to her.

She looks away from you both nervously. “I just printed this dress, I didn’t really have anything for something like this,” she signs. “So, did you decide, Aydan?”

“I think you should go,” you sign. “You’re the much more experienced technopath. I’ll sync with you.”

[Akiko liked that]

“Okay, that’s fine with me,” she signs, in between anxious stims.

“Are you nervous to go alone?” you sign.

“I won’t be alone when we’re synced,” she signs. “But yes...I probably won’t know many people there...I hope nobody tries to talk to me.”

“I could go with you,” Zeta signs. “But...maybe I should stay and look after Aydan.”

“You can monitor the synchronization just as well from anywhere in the colony, but...if you were with me I could give you better answers if anything goes wrong, and...this will be a harsh experience for Aydan, and if you were with it, sie wouldn’t be alone if anything went wrong, physically or mentally, or if ze were attacked, or something else unexpected happened,” Akiko signs.

“Hmm, maybe that’s safer, but, I guess it should be fær choice ultimately,” Zeta signs.