Once her shift was over Olivia stopped by her locker to grab her loop pouch, it's bulky weight reassured her as she hooked it to her shorts and then made her way hastily to the exist. There was plenty of time to take care of her errands at the bazaar before she was supposed to meet up with Maithri, but Olivia didn't want to risk being late. She'd had so many disappointments in her own life, and they barely knew each other, she wanted to prove to Maithri that trusting her was not a mistake.
She went directly to the cybernetics district, not even stopping for a snack despite a growling stomach. Finding Aranha's shop again was not difficult. As soon as she entered the calming darkness a glowing figure approached her. "We were waiting for you." It said, the voice distorted by some kind of synthesis module. Olivia detached her loop pouch and held it out, the figure took the package and smiled, electric-blue lips curving upward gregariously.
"Come back in a couple of hours." It said, lights flickering before going out. Olivia was left standing in abyssal darkness. Shrugging, she turned and retraced her steps through the baffle of curtains. The brilliant afternoon light made her eyes sting, she felt faint from hunger. Still she couldn't eat just yet, there was one more stop she had to make. The luxuries district was overwhelming, unable to cope with the chaos Olivia found the first jewelry vendor advertising bio-bronze and didn't give them a chance to upsell her any bells and whistles.
As with most things in life Olivia preferred simplicity and elegance, but in this case it was also the only thing she could afford. Errands complete, moving as quickly as her short legs would allow she practically flew back to the market nucleus. It was shaped like a very large wheel with the hub being an open-air island of food & drink vendors arranged in an unbroken torus of counter tops laden with delicacies and delights.
The smell of roasting meat made Olivia's mouth water, she went straight to the source, watching ravenously as long bamboo skewers loaded with neatly cut cubes of suspiciously colored protein dripping with bright-red blood were roasted under an array of solar concentrators. She was just torturing herself though, even with her new pay a single skewer would cost almost a month's wages.
Olivia sighed, turned and trudged around the curve to the far more affordable composite proteins, typically a mixture of grains, fruits, nuts, oils, vegetables, eggs, milks and insects. You never really knew the proportions or the composition, there were inert fillers added too, as purity went up so did price.
Sullenly she paid for a large bowl of cricket noodles in a delicious salty broth full of floating slices of fried plantain and cheerfully swirling moringa leaves. It was expensive but wouldn't break the bank. She splurged and bought a small piece of day-old amaranth bread to go with it. The silent old woman behind the counter winked as she knifed a large pad of butter into its cratered pumice-like surface.
Glancing at her time-patch she smiled, she might be poor in money but she was rich in leisure. Olivia ate slowly, enjoying every spoonful, relishing each crunchy morsel. All too soon her bowl was empty, but she was not above using her fingers to scrape the residue from the bottom, licking it along with the scattered crumbs from the tips of her filthy fingers. Grinning stupidly with a seldom experienced contentment she put one of her precious tokens into the tip jar and headed rather aimlessly for the North gate.
Leaning against one of the monolithic scanning posts she waited. Part of her wondered if Maithri would even show up, then she started to feel a little guilty, she hadn't really given the girl a chance to say no. For all she knew Maithri had another job or someone else who would be expecting her. But Olivia had trusted her intuition and it was seldom wrong, this girl had fallen between the cracks like a stray cat with mangy coat that most people preferred to ignore.
Olivia felt her wrist twitch, the alarm she'd set for the appointed time, it was five minutes early to give her enough time to get to the gate, but she was already there. She felt sleepy, the food had killed her hunger pangs but it had also made her feel sluggish and indolent. She crouched and tilted back her head, gazing up into the lavender sky. Her eyes closed for a second, the next thing she knew a hand was gently shaking her by the shoulder.
When she opened her eyes she knew she'd fallen asleep, but she was staring into Maithri's smiling face. Blinking drowsily she yawned and glanced at one of the nearby notice boards. Only ten minutes had passed. "I apologize if I made you wait." The girl said, her heavy accent causing Olivia's heart to flutter.
"No." She replied, reaching up and grabbing Maithri by the hand. "I just got here." She finished. The girl did her best to pull Olivia up, using all her weight, leaning precariously backwards. Still she managed somehow, with both of them flopping together awkwardly as Olivia lurched away from the post and Maithri nearly fell on her ass. Laughing the two girls untangled themselves and started walking casually through the gate.
Olivia couldn't really describe it, but her heart felt unbelievably light, as though all the troubles of the world had simply drifted away. She could tell by Maithri's carefree grin that her friend must have been having similar feelings. The sun was going down, but the lights of the bazaar sent all the shadows skittering out of sight. They didn't really say anything, Olivia just started heading towards the textile district, Maithri followed happily.
The last time she'd been down this long aisle of clothing shops Olivia had been a child, following wearily behind her mother. The return was making her nostalgic, she paused long enough for Maithri to catch up, grabbing the girl's hand she pulled them closer together. "My mom took me here when I was a kid." She said, then feeling suddenly insecure she glanced down at Maithri's mass of dark curly hair. What did she really know about this young woman? "You... haven't been here before have you?"
Maithri laughed and glanced up, her black eyes dubious circles of delight. "Regrettably I have been focusing my attention on survival." Her grin became sheepish, Olivia frowned, but not because she was displeased. It was stupid really, she'd only been a melter for a week but already she was acting like a wretched fidalgo. As a clipper she'd never set foot in the bazaar, since she couldn't afford anything. Maithri had been kind, her wry riposte was intelligently condescending without being cruel.
Olivia nodded somewhat belatedly, chastened. The district was smaller than Olivia remembered but also more diverse, she kept walking until she found what she was looking for. "We'll start here." She said, leading Maithri by the hand. "I hope you're not too attached to those rags." She couldn't help but be a little rude after the way the girl had outclassed her during their last exchange. Maithri ran her hands reflexively over the rough rumples of sackcloth in which she was adorned.
Her expression was forlorn but also contrite. "I discarded my royal attire to avoid attracting unwanted attention, but could not procure more suitable garments. This was the best I could do with my limited resources." Olivia squeezed her hand softly.
"Honestly you did alright considering what you had to work with, but I'm guessing if you had to choose you'd rather be wearing something like this." She let go of the girl's hand long enough to take something off of a nearby rack. A split knee-length skirt made out of a thick synthetic material, the color was a silvery dark gray. Maithri protested as Olivia thrust it into her friend's chest.
"I can't." She exclaimed. "This costs more than all the money I have." She looked a little hurt. Olivia just laughed.
"You really don't get it? Such a smartie but I guess you're still not a genius like me. You won't be