The winding passageways of Opticon7 were busier than Maryn had imagined they would be. There were people everywhere, disappearing behind sliding doors or scurrying onto brightly lit walkways. She was uncertain how she would ever navigate the station by memory, but Damona seemed to be doing just fine without a map, so maybe it would just take practice.
"We're headed to the locker room," Damona said, keeping a quick pace as they passed through another set of doors, opened by the touch of the woman's data pad. "Most of the girls are in there at this time of day, so you should be able to meet a majority of the crew."
"How many people are on the team?" Maryn asked, unable to keep the nerves from her voice as she hustled to keep up.
"Well, now that we have you, there are ten of us," she answered, "but there are three SLUT teams on the base. We don't usually interact with one another, since we're divided based on geographic area of the station, so we're literally and figuratively divided."
Maryn was somewhat relieved to hear this. She knew from her time at the Academy that the other women were her competition for clients, and fewer was probably better. She hoped that they would be as friendly as Damona and the clinic staff had been, but she wasn't holding her breath. Academy trainees were constantly gossiping about the cutthroat conditions on the stations and the rivalries between team members.
The two women boarded a small elevator as the lone passengers, and Damona pressed a blue glowing button on the wall. "Like I said before," she began after they started zooming upwards, "I have kind of a crazy packed day today, but I'll be leaving you in good hands. Vela is our SL - you're going to love her."
Maryn knew from her training that SL stood for Secondary Liaison - meaning she was second in command under Damona.
"She'll take you around with her today and she can answer any and all questions you have, which I'm sure there will be many." The elevator let out a low ding and they exited into a quieter, enclosed hallway. Lights lined the floor, giving the space a soft glow. Damona lightly touched Maryn's arm to lead her forward. "Then I'll be back towards the end of the day to go over some paperwork and take you to your suite."
They approached an unmarked door on the right side of the hallway, and Damona again tapped her data pad on the entry screen. With a beep, the door slid open.
Inside was such a high contrast to the dark, quiet hallway that Maryn had to take in a deep breath before she entered the room. The locker room was brightly lit and full of noise.
Red lockers sat in two rows on either side of the room, each row lined with a matching red bench, which contrasted with the clean, cream colored carpet. On the far side of the room, two low counters served as vanity tables, each space topped with a mirror and soft lights. Between them was a door, which was propped open with the heel of an errant shoe, and Maryn could make out the sound of water from the other side - presumably a room of showers.
But most notably, the room was buzzing with activity - gorgeous women were going about their mornings, presumably getting ready for the day ahead, and bright pop music blared from a speaker atop one of the vanities.
Damona gently placed a hand on the small of Maryn's back again and guided her towards one of the women seated at the vanity counter at the back of the room. The woman was facing the mirror, but when she saw the two of them approach, her eyes lit up with recognition and she straightened attentively in her seat.
"Ah! Damona, is this her?" She asked loudly, still looking at the pair via the mirror. A few of the other women glanced their way curiously.
Damona let out a low laugh. "Maryn, this is your SL, Vela. Vela, meet Maryn."
The woman rose excitedly from her chair, and to Maryn's surprise, pulled her into a tight hug. She smelled like sweet vanilla and something muskier, like orchids. "Ohmygod, it's so nice to meet you! You're fucking gorgeous. Damona, she's fucking gorgeous!"
Damona simply smiled good-naturedly in response. "You good to go here, Vee? I'll send you a message when I'm done with meetings and can escape to meet back with you guys."
"Oh, we are totally set." Vela answered, plopping back down in her chair. She pulled another one over and motioned for Maryn to sit, which she did.
Damona squeezed Maryn's shoulder briefly, then went from the room. Trying to stay her nerves, Maryn gave the vibrant woman in front of her a proper once-over. Vela was exactly what Maryn had pictured when she thought of the women who worked the SLUT program on O7 - that is to say, she was stunning. Vela's blonde hair was currently all on top of her head in big, pink velcro curlers, she had pale green masks stuck to her undereyes, and she was wearing a baggie t-shirt and shorts, but she was still the most beautiful woman Maryn had ever seen. Her smile was bright and inviting and she folded her smooth, pale legs into the chair in a way that was so chic but effortlessly casual, Maryn felt herself physically relax a bit. Vela reached across and squeezed the other girl's hand.
"Aah, we are all so excited to have you here!" She pealed the masks away from her eyes and flicked them into the bin. "You're going to love working on O7. Damona said you're straight from the Academy, right? You lucked out big time getting placed here. It's the fucking best. So much better than anywhere else I've worked." Vela smiled reassuringly at Maryn through the mirror while she continued to apply her skincare. From anyone else, the comment about her being fresh out of Academy might have sounded condescending, but Vela's bubbly voice and sparkling smile told a different story.
The woman seated at the vanity next to them, a shorter woman with long dark hair and skin the color of maple syrup, leaned past Vela and extended her hand. "Hi Maryn, I'm Hazelle. So excited you're joining us!"
Maryn shook Hazelle's soft hand before the girl turned back to her mirror to finish applying her makeup. Everyone was so friendly, it was kind of throwing her off. Everyone at the Academy had gone on and on about the value of professionalism and that making a name for yourself on the team would be hard work and that everyone was in constant competition with each other, but that didn't seem to be the case at all. Everyone seemed so... sweet, it was almost hard to believe. She didn't let her guard down completely, but she tried to relax.
"Ugh, yes, ohmygod, I'm the worst," Vela said, squeezing Hazelle's hand affectionately. She pivoted in her chair and looked around the room, waving her hands ceremoniously. "Let me introduce you to everyone!"
So, Vela pointed to each woman in the room in turn, telling Maryn their names and introducing them.
There was Witty, a gorgeous, full-figured redhead. Her bright ringlets were pinned on top of her head and she was wrapped in a fluffy, white towel, clearly freshly out of the shower. Regardless of her state of undress, she pulled Maryn into a hug upon meeting her and kissed her cheek softly, leaving her face slightly damp and smelling like honey.
Sylver was a tall, muscular woman with rich, dark brown skin and black braids interwoven with metallic beads. She was wearing a sexy lingerie set and rubbing lotion on her long legs, but paused to wave at Maryn with a friendly smile.
There was Rho, a silver-haired woman who was obviously the oldest in the room, though you wouldn't know it by her smooth skin and toned body. Rho was talking into an earpiece, clearly deep in conversation, but Maryn could tell from the plethora of leather laid out on the bench before her and hanging in her locker that she clearly had a specialty.
Vela told her that Fawn, Beim, and Jatun were elsewhere that morning, but that she would meet them soon.
"Why is everyone getting ready in here, instead of their rooms?" Maryn asked.
"Oh, you totally don't have to get ready in here," Vela said, taking the curlers out of her hair and letting the blonde tendrils fall to her shoulders, "but it's super nice to have the option. There's more counter space here than in my bathroom, plus it's nice to start the day with the whole group and get to spend time with each other."
Maryn nodded. She could tell by the way they interacted with the woman, that the team really respected Vela.
"I know you must have a zillion questions," Vela continued, "and I'm happy to answer them all! But today you're going to be shadowing me for a few of my clients just so you can see the process in action, which should answer at least a couple of questions." She smiled warmly as she continued to move quickly through her practiced beauty routine.
"Shadowing you?" Maryn asked, suddenly nervous again. "Like, I'll go into appointments with you?"
