[This story is part 1 of 3 the Playground 51 miniseries, but each can be read in any order. The three stories overlap, so be sure to check out the others as well!]
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Swarms of muscular, naked bodies writhed on the floor, everyone connected by hands, mouths, or genitals like some kind of pornographic polymer of people, looking from overhead not terribly unlike the multimolecular structures Lane worked to create in their lab. Lane cringed a bit at this daunting sea of nude people in the midst of a massive orgy. How was Lane supposed to enjoy any part of this?
The fact that it was all in Lane's head did not make a whole lot of difference. They would prefer a much more intimate setting in which to enact their fantasies. Regardless, Lane had basically been coerced into checking out the new Playground 51, but imagined it would not be their cup of tea.
"We're here!" The cheerful voice next to Lane in the taxi belonged to their coworker, Priya. Priya had been to The Playground before, as people who went there regularly called it, and she loved it. "I can't wait 'til you see! You're going to have a bunch of fun." She was practically bouncing in her seat as the driver pulled to a stop in front of a big, gray building that looked a bit like a warehouse.
"That's what you keep saying," Lane rolled their aqua-blue eyes and chuckled. "I'm committing to fifteen minutes and then I'll make my way to the exit." Their deeper voice always surprised new people, coming from such a small-framed person.
"Alright, alright, you do you, I guess!" Priya barely waited for Lane to scoot out of the back seat of the taxi before clomping up the walkway to the entrance where a broad-shouldered security guard stood waiting. Why Priya insisted on wearing heels and a dress to what amounted to a sex party, Lane couldn't understand.
After their IDs were checked and personal items were stowed, Lane and Priya made their way through the second set of doors at the other end of the dimly lit entry room. They could hear electronic dance music coming through from inside. Pushing the heavy doors aside, they were struck by the sight of colorful, moving lights in an otherwise dark room. It looked like a rave mixed with a museum, with a large sculpture of a white rabbit taller than Lane sitting on a platform in the front room. Lane had to assume it was white, anyway, as lights from the floor threw dancing colors onto it from all angles, making it appear as a cunicular kaleidoscope.
The walls were all black, but there were pieces of psychedelic-looking pop art across them, and the vibe was far from boring. Through the undulating bands of light coming from the ceiling, Lane could see that there were various bars and other rooms coming off the main one, each of which had different lighting and perhaps decor, from what they could see. The building also had very tall ceilings and a good circulatory system, Lane noticed, sensing the lack of dank sex smell they had anticipated.
"Let's go get a drink!" Priya, always energetic and bubbly, was ready to have a good time. She grabbed Lane's hand and tugged them along toward the large, oval bar in the center of the room. Now that the two had gone further into the building, they could see everything better in the semi-darkness, and realized there were a lot of people moving around, coming and going from the bar, or sitting and chatting, but only about half of them were clothed. The other half were wearing anything from business-casual attire to lingerie, and not one of them seemed to bat an eye at the difference.
"Hey, there, what can I get for you two?" The bartender, smartly dressed in dark slacks and a button-up white shirt that glowed under the black lights, had made it back around to that side of the bar.
"I would love a Harvey Bedbanger, please," said Priya, pointing at a pink menu in front of her.
"What's that supposed to be?" Lane chortled at the play on the classic drink title.
The bartender answered. "This menu is our specialty non-alcoholic drink list. We use natural nootropic stimulants and various other ingredients to enhance your experience here without the potential detriment of alcohol." He was somehow already mixing the drink in a shaker, breaking no sweat to give his spiel and make cocktails at the same time. "The Bedbanger here is made with CoQ10 and guarana, a bit of caffeine, and our proprietary blend. Other than that, it's just orange juice and a cherry on top."
The bartender poured the mixture over ice, added a black straw and a maraschino cherry, and placed it in front of Priya. Seeing Lane's sideways look, he gave a little wink and said, "our blend is completely legal, of course."
"Interesting," Lane responded. "I guess I'll just get a... Clothing Libre?" They winced at the terrible name, but it seemed like something on the list they could stomach.
Within a couple minutes and drinks in hand, the two were back to wandering the large hall. They peered into each room as they passed, deciding which one to go in first.
"It's in the water, in the lube, and makes up the surface of every fuckable object here."
Lane jerked their head to look for the source of that sentence. It was one of the staff members explaining a feature of Playground 51 to a curious customer. That feature happened to be Lane's own invention, a polymer created originally for safer medical products.
It was Lane's turn to yank Priya's arm. They pulled her into the nearest room and out of sight of the door.
"I can't figure out your issue," Priya laughed, but with a hint of admonishment. "You should be excited about how well your creation is doing - it's a revolution! It's -"
"It's embarrassing," Lane interjected. "They had to put me on the cover of Time and THEN turn it into a sex product?"
"Having more uses doesn't make it a bad thing, Lane! Safer sex is a big deal to some people."
"No, I get it... I do, but I don't want to go down in history as 'sex-toy-boi' or something... no... NO!" Lane gave Priya a playful punch on the arm, seeing her expression.