Fish Swim in the Lake

Part 3.3 | Drive, she said

Tony in this case was Tony Lambda, two meters of fur and muscle bursting out of a lime green polysink funsuit. He glowered from a stiff-backed chair of brushed steel and translucent plastic webbing. "I don't like you saying I'm useless," he said. His voice was deep and choky, like an engine full of feathers.

Lola turned from her bulging walk-in closet. She was naked from the ankle up, wearing only a pair of nullgrav house slippers covered in silver feathers. Her fashionably emaciated body was hairless from neck to hip and thigh to toe. Today she was a steel-wool redhead with a drum-tight tan.

"But you are useless, darling," Lola said petulantly.

It was true. Tony had a glass jaw and a spine to match. He had a degenerative bone disorder that made him incapable of punching a lout, carrying a suitcase, or buying theatre tickets. Instead of his bones being a rack for his muscles, his muscles held his bones together like support hose on varicose veins. Each breath he took cost the taxpayers six nallars and two Chretiens, and being angry at Lola, he was spending double-time.

"Did you find something for me to wear?" alphaDana asked.

"Tony took it," Lola said.

"I thought it was a kilt," Tony said. He crossed his rubbery legs belligerently.

"And the blouse?"

"It matched."

"Here," Lola said, holding out an armload of gauzy white tape. "Put this on."

alphaDana examined the dress -- topless and nearly bottomless -- dubiously. "I'll need a lot of sculpt."

"Oh darling, haven't you had any shape implanted yet? You spend so much time on your little mind and so little on your body! Hurry up, we still have to do your hair and skin and --"

alphaDana tapped a high hex code on her inner elbow and the green melted out of her hair. "How's that?"

"Oh, that's much better. Here's a can of sculpt. Tony, come hold up her breasts. Tony!"

"Eh? What?"

"I said, come help get her dressed. I'm trying to put this sculpt on but her breasts are in the way."

"Oh, all right." alphaDana stripped, Tony held, Lola sprayed. "I look like Tinkerbell," alphaDana grumbled. "Does that have to be that big?"

"This is how it looked when it went down the runway and it's how it's going to look at the party. With your hair like that, and this sculpt, really dear, you almost look correct. Tony, would you get the car?"

"You want me to drive? Do I have to?"

"Honestly, Tony, I don't know why else you'd think you're here."

Posted by gtaylor at April 24, 2002 02:51 AM