10 - Threshold Tremors
Even with the maid headset planted on my head dialed to max I shifted from side to side. I couldn't stop rubbing my legs together, feeling the slick latex-like surfaces of my thighs gliding over each other. It became a nervous dance as we waited in the elevator. The contents of my tray came close to spilling several times as my movements increased in intensity.
"Are you nervous?", asked Galli , turning to face me in the lift, her dress rustling softly as the latex shifted.
"No, I am not." I said the foggy burning feeling in my head pushing against the waves of Galli's calmness being poured into me through the link. "I just feel like I'm about to detonate."
"Oh... That makes sense. The anticipation is quite something isn't it, Amareth?" she said quietly, lifting an eyebrow in amusement.
Before I could form a response the lift arrived on our intended floor and Galli stepped out into the corridor. Our surroundings were somehow less attached to the constraints of reality, truly ascending into the ethereal with crystalline pillars etched with runic patterns pulsing with iridescent sparks of energy. We began to walk quietly, the only noise came from our rhythmic footfalls, the staccato clicking of our synchronized, high-heeled feet.
I felt like my conception of reality had finally come undone during the course of the time I was trapped here, yet as we drew closer to her quarters I felt as though I could fall into an abyss that would happily drown me in my worst nightmares. The hallway seemed to stretch out to infinity before us; My mind melted into an anxious anticipatory puddle losing all awareness of time we walked on.
My heart pounded in my chest keeping pace with my mind as I tried to comprehend everything that had changed during the past week.
What have I become...
β’πβ’
At last we stood before the doors to her quarters. Sylphi perched atop a statue of Artemis kneeling, an empty quiver across her back. It was matched with an armored Aphrodite snapping an arrow in her fist. The two statues flanked the bespoke wooden door.
"Hello lovelies," She said with a wan smile. I had never seen Slyphi look, tired?
"Mistress is expecting to be served by both of you this evening. Sadly, she has been delayed momentarily. She asks that you would prepare tea for her in the lounge while you wait."
"M'kay," said Galli with a nod.
The large embellished door swung smoothly open as we followed Sylphis luminescent pink form into the belly of the beast.
Walking through her quarters, I was surprised to find them less extravagantly furnished than I expected from the ~/Queen of Jupiter/~. They were still built to match the rest of this Elysium-like palace for sure, but were not lavish beyond reprieve. Even more astounding was that she had a personal gym filling an open area we passed. I almost walked into a wall as I gawked at the trove of equipment it contained.
"Amareth, you doing alright?" inquired Galli, turning to see why I fell behind.
Slyphi interceded on my behalf, and I felt my body gently begin to be pulled back towards the path. My thoughts grew hazy for a moment, my body puppetered by ethereal hands.
"Seems she was intrigued by Mistress's gym," she said, gesturing with her wand.
"She would be. But, let's be honest Amareth, I'm not sure you would get much benefit out of it now," said Galli, looking over her shoulder appraising my form.
I blushed profusely at her jab.
Before Galli and Sylphi could bully me further we heard the faint noise of the main door swinging smoothly open.
Sylphi hurriedly ushered us along to our destination, a well-furnished sitting room. It sported a magnificent panoramic view out over the rest of the habitat, the lower areas of Kalcifer's interior sprawled out in a warped parody of earth. Victorian influences clearly shaped the furniture of the room, which also contained a spattering of well tended plants, marbled floors, a nebulus abstract painting, and a shimmering blue ocean of a rug that seemed to roll gently with soft lapping waves of light.
My body continued in its attempts to rebel against the influence of the headset as we both stood waiting at attention with our trays,
If I could just break this link...
I could hear her footsteps approaching down the hallway, yet I still couldn't bring myself to look. My stomach wound itself into a pitted lump of metal, denser than a dead star. I shivered feeling the anticipation pushing me up to the brink of panic. Why was this so hard? I'd seen her before, this couldn't be that bad, it wasn't like she was going to kill me.
Sylphi landed across from me on a large potted fern near the window, alighting on an impossibly thin frond. She gave me an exaggerated wink, flourishing her now-glowing wand like a bat she launched a spark straight toward me . I felt whatever she did immediately. A calming tingle washed down over my nerves making my thoughts blank away into a hazy calm.
~/Mmmmm, I'm such a good Maid./~
I caught a faint whiff of sulfur as she strode in, Mar- ~/Mistress/~ stood quite a bit taller than I recalled β or maybe I was way shorter β wearing a tight padded grey bodysuit. The kind usually worn with an armored or powered spacesuit, goddess, this woman knew her way around in zero-G!? Her brown hair was gathered into a tight braided ponytail that had been wound up into a pinned bun on the back of her head. Smudges of yellowish dust on her cheeks gave her the appearance of a warrior painted for battle.
~/Mistress/~ amber eyes seemed to glow intensely as she looked me over on her approach. ~/Mistress's/~ bodysuit shifted sinuously with each step highlighting her muscular form. I noticed a coating of yellow dust caked on all of its joints and gaskets of the segmented portions of her bodysuit; She must have been in a sulfur mine β to think she would set foot in one astounded me. Mara's public persona certainly wasn't the sort to be sullied by work, I just couldn't wrap my head around it.
"Well- that turned into quite the spectacular ordeal," She said, freeing her braid from the bun with an exasperated flick of her head.
"Back on Io again already, Mistress?", asked Galli as she set her tray down on a small coffee table in front of a chaise lounge.
"Yes, well, the new teams are struggling with the heightened level of volcanic activity there, It's been playing havoc on our mining concessions there," ~/Mistress/~ said placing her helmet into Galli's outstretched hands.
I froze as Sylphis' not so subtle tweaking no longer entirely negated my feelings, leading to my brain oscillating somewhere between high as a kite and seething contempt. It was disorienting to say the least.
I did eventually manage to set my own tray down on the table, only to stand awkwardly in my disoriented state beside Galli. ~/Mistress/~ didn't take notice of my robot-like movements; she looked more haggard than a confident queen.
"I have been stuck in this suit for twelve, hellish hours," She continued, turning her back to us and beginning to walk further down the hall, "I cannot wait to escape from this accursed thing. I swear if I have to lead another crew through proper maintenance and piloting of a crawler again, I'll just liquidate the entire damned operation!"