Stefani shrugs. "Nah, that's ok. It's only fun if you can stuff credit chits into their g-strings."
"I can be anything you want," Xio reminds the others coyly, batting her eyelashes. "It'll have to wait until we get back to the room, though."
She leans in, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Can't have anyone else knowing I can turn into a stripper."
"Yeah, but that would be ... I don't know ... weird," Stefani replies with a frown. "You're ... you. Strippers are supposed to be anonymous hunks of muscly beefcake. If it was you then ... It would be like groping my sister ... or brother."
She shrugs.
"Hell, who knows what I'll do if I get drunk enough."
The shapeshifter pretends to pout. "Is that what you think of me?"
She laughs at herself and finishes her drinks, touching Stefani playfully on the arm to indicate that she's joking.
After depositing her empty glasses at the bar, she changes her enchanted garments into an evening appropriate outfit; a calf-length black dress with mesh panels that expose her hips and shoulders. When the others are ready, she waves them out of the bar and leads the way across the resort to Taste of Elysium.
When Shabad gets to Recorva's room, the strix calls for them to enter. Handing her three mechanical contraptions of different sizes. "Here. You can help by replacing the joints in my right leg with these. The largest is for my hip, while the smallest is for my ankle. It should be a pretty simple installation process. Once you finish with those, I can install those for my left leg. I did design it to be upgradeable, after all."
Recorva will arrive shortly after Shabad, having decided to take her recently installed augment for a spin by taking a loop through Green Fields. Walking up to the bar, she will order a shot of Fullbright Brandy. She will quickly down the shot before heading over to the others. At a break in the conversation, she says "I am ready to head over when you all are."
When Shabad gets to Recorva's room, the strix calls for them to enter. Handing her three mechanical contraptions of different sizes. "Here. You can help by replacing the joints in my right leg with these. The largest is for my hip, while the smallest is for my ankle. It should be a pretty simple installation process. Once you finish with those, I can install those for my left leg. I did design it to be upgradeable, after all."
Shabad is happy to give Recorva a leg up.
As everyone heads for dinner, Shabad suggests, "Since you can't get your jollys with a live stripper show, how about after dinner we try that new holovid game Star Mercs 4: This Time it's Personal? I read a review and it's got a horror theme. I checked and the Painted Forest has it. We could do the team mode. And that's not your cup of virtual tea, I could challenge Stefani to a second round on the mechanical crest eater."
Shabad glances at her left forearm and absently rubs it as she walks. After suggesting it, she realizes that riding the mechanical beast might be embarrassing in a short black dress. She shrugs and puts it out of her mind after she remembers she can change her outfit with a thought.
"So we eating at Taste of Elysium"? That's partly why I dressed up a bit; I think they have a dress code. I doubt they'll turn a group of ladies such as ourselves, of course.
"Yes, the Taste of Elysium," Stefani says, already showing the effects of her pre-drinking drinks. "I've got a craving for onion rings."
She puts her arm around the Doctor. "Hopefully it's better than Star Mercs 3. They totally nerfed all the sniper weapons in that one. You might as well have been shooting people with slingshots. Crappy slingshots."
She looks over at Xio. "You can be on my team," she tells the Astrazoan.
After a morning of intense exercise and an afternoon of casual drinking, Damonkayo cashes a small amount of credits for chips and heads for the Painted Forest Playrooms, looking to do some light gambling and mingle with some interesting people.
Taste of Elysium is the finest restaurant in the resort. The impeccably-dressed kasatha maitre'd shows you all to a table under a dazzling crystal chandelier, though you could have any table you desire since the place is otherwise empty tonight. The host delivers Recorva, Shabad, Stefani, and Xio each a menu with one of his four hands.
There is an impressive list of fine food and wines from across the Pact Worlds. All of the entrees would be prohibitively expensive if your vacation wasn't being fully paid for by the resort!
***
A few other guests are playing games of skill and chance in the Playrooms. Cthesa is the most notable person here, the shirren eagerly tossing dice across a table and alternatively chittering with joy or frustration according to her rolls.
After an hour or so of trying your luck at the tables, you catch a glimpse of a being across the way. They are incredibly attractive, and they beckon you to join them as they step into a private chamber. You feel compelled to follow...
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Shabad looks over the menu but quickly says, "I know what I want to try. I was looking at the menu earlier and I really want to try this Entropian Solar Stew. It's a Lashuntian dish flavored with Liavarian tesactian algae, Castrovelian dream spice, and quantum flavinoids. Allegedly, they modify the flavors by telepathically determining the flavors one would enjoy the most. It's supposed to taste completely different depending on who is eating it."
"And let's see, to drink, how about a Crimson Java Bolt. It's got some spice liqueur with Traxian Desnan Delight coffee. I've always prefer a drink that makes me more alert rather than less so when an enjoyable evening is on offer."
Shabad smiles as the waiter takes her order, at least she hopes he did, as he wrote nothing down.
Damonkayo loosens up a bit, enjoying a low-stakes game of dice with the other guests and bantering good-naturedly with Cthesa. After an hour or so, the vesk seems to lose interest and distractedly excuses himself from the table.
Having convinced himself the young, iridescent vesk across the room is not an old flame from his youth, Damon nevertheless excuses himself and strides across the playfloor, eyes locked with the stunning woman, her shoulders broad, her scales resplendent, and a mischievous grin hinting at... something. In almost a trace, the old, battered vesk follows her through a small side door he hadn't noticed before.
"I've been waiting for you," she purrs as she takes your hand and leads you to the bed. "I want to be sure you have a good time."
"There's no point in ordering something like that unless someone else orders it as well to have a different perspective," Stefani says with a grin.
She hands her menu back to their host. "I take what she's having, but double the drink order," she says. She looks back at the Doctor. [b]"I wouldn't know what to order anyways."
She looks over at Xio. "You can be on my team," she tells the Astrazoan.
"I'll be on your team any day," Xio purrs to Stefani, and gives her a teasing wink.
Always ready to try something new and interesting, Xio orders the Entropian dish as well, along with an appetizer made from a colorful array of fungi harvested from asteroids and a bottle of champagne for the table. She thanks the Kasathan host profusely, fixing him with her customary flirtatious smile.
She looks over at Xio. "You can be on my team," she tells the Astrazoan."I'll be on your team any day," Xio purrs to Stefani, and gives her a teasing wink.
Stefani just laughs and give Xio a friendly shove. There's a slight flush in her cheeks, but it could just be the effects of the alcohol.
"Because of the expensive bioengineered telepathic organisms required, a meal like this normally costs over a thousand credits. So this may be the only good chance to try it. Even if I were mega-rich, I don't think I could ever spend that much on a meal."
Once the orders are taken care of, Shabad asks, "So how have you all been sleeping? Any interesting dreams?" As the crew knows well, asking people what they dreamed is a favorite topic of conversation for Shabad. Everyone will have already heard her explanation of how androids were not programmed to dream, yet all androids are known to dream. No one is quite sure why.
The soldier's eyes go wide when the Doctor mentions how much the meal they just order normally costs.
"So you're telling me to savior every bite, right?" she asks after catching her breath.
"Any interesting dreams?"
"None I'd like to share, but I will say that my new friend Zidhil has nothing to be ashamed of - at least in my dreams." Stefani smirks and takes a long draft of one of the two drinks sitting in front of her.
Damonkayo "claims his prize".
"Mmm, maybe I should get a second one boxed up to take home," Xio says of the expensive meal. She taps her fingers on the table as she waits for the champagne to arrive.
"So how have you all been sleeping?"
"Soundly," she emphasizes. "Nothing but pools and massages all day and a champion athlete in my bed every night. Lets stay here forever."
--and several of her scales flake off in your hands. Looking at them, they appear to be drying up before your eyes, their luster fading away as they shrivel to dry gray husks. More and more scales flake off her body, revealing gaping wounds and rotting flesh beneath. Her eyes melt in their sockets, vitreous fluids dripping down onto your face. Her musk has been replaced by the overwhelming stench of death, and she opens her jaws wide, vomiting a stream of skittering insects onto your chest!
Suddenly, the woman disappears completely, along with the dead scales, fluids, and bugs. You are alone in the room.
Recorva will likewise place an order of the Entropian dish, along with a Crimson Java Bolt.
"So how have you all been sleeping?"
"No better or worse than usual. How about you?"
"Not bad. I did have a nightmare moment this morning as I was waking up. I dreamed my arm was itching and when I looked at it, it had a gaping wound that looked gut-wrenchingly serious. But as I woke up, my arm was fine. Just in case, I had the medical doctor at the resort run some tests, but he found nothing. It just seemed so real for a moment."
Shabad shudders a moment and takes a long draw on her drink.
"Whoa, gross," Xio says, suddenly looking very interested. "What do you think it means? Maybe it symbolizes, like," she uses her arms to mime exhaling a large breath, "all the stress that's left your body in the past few days."
Shabad shrugs. "I don't remember anything leading up to it, so it's just sitting in my memory like ... like ..." Shabad struggled a moment to find an appropriate metaphor. "Like a bodysnatcher slime corpse in the middle of a formal dinner table. The sisters who raised me used to teach that if I encountered something scary or threatening in a dream, I should stand up to it. If I needed help, I should call for it. But this was more like a waking echo of a nightmare. I hope it's just a reaction to something I ate. But I can't shake the feeling it is a premonition."
"I never put much stock in premonitions," Stefani slurs, finishing off the rest of her drink. "Hey, Keys?" she questions her comm unit. "Does this place have karaoke anywhere?" She then waves down the waiter to replace her drink.
Keys reports that they have karaoke tonight at the Lyrakien Cabaret.
***
You burst out into the main hall of the living facilities. You spot the dwarf Beryldor at the end of the hall, filling up a bucket with ice from a dispenser. He looks at you curiously. "Ahoy there, Damon. Everything alright?"
"I feel like singing!" Stefani cheers, louder than needed in the small restaurant. "Who's with me? Doc? Xio? Recorva? C'mon! Singing and more booze!"
She leads whoever will follow her over to the Cabaret and waits for her turn, flipping through a console showing the offerings. She settles on a track from Ragged Puncture that doesn't involve anywhere near as much screaming as their fans normally expect. For this type of music, it could almost be considered a ballad.
The soldier finishes off another drink before her turn comes up and by the time she gets on stage, she's thoroughly trashed. In fact, she only makes it about half-way through the surprisingly emotional song before bursting out in tears and stumbling to the ladies shared booth to collapse in a stupor.
"Beryldor, right? Do me a favor - look at my eyes." The vesk, almost twice as tall as Beryldor and standing uncomfortably close, needs to look almost straight down to make eye contact. "Do I look drunk to you? Like, real, real gone? Or, like, drugged to Hell and back or somethin'?"
Shabad applauds Stefani's performance, but gets concerned at her emotional state and high level of inebriation. She checks her vital signs and looks for any signs that this is something other than being falling down drunk.
Shabad catches the attention of a waiter and orders a concoction one of her med school colleagues insisted could do wonders for someone who needed quick recovery from too much drink. It is a pungent combination of fruit flavors, spices, and antioxidants to help break down the alcohol.
Shabad applauds Stefani's performance, but gets concerned at her emotional state and high level of inebriation. She checks her vital signs and looks for any signs that this is something other than being falling down drunk.
Shabad catches the attention of a waiter and orders a concoction one of her med school colleagues insisted could do wonders for someone who needed quick recovery from too much drink. It is a pungent combination of fruit flavors, spices, and antioxidants to help break down the alcohol.
"Whas' thish?" Stefani questions when she's prodded to drink it. "S'more booze?" She grabs the offered glass and necks it. "Downna hatch!" She exclaims and then drops back to the table top.
"Drink up. It's what the Doctor ordered. Gotta get you ready to ride that crest eater."
"Yeah, gotta ride that f+%&er!" she calls out, lifting herself up from the table again.
"I can think of a few other things to ride," Xio says helpfully, nearly as drunk as Stefani but handling it a little better, and waves over the waiter to order another drink.
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"Oh, yeah," Stefani says in a low voice. "That ripped chest. That tight ass. That big ... " she trails off with a groan. She turns and squints at Xio. "You could do that, right? With a really big ...?"
"Oh yeah," Xio purrs, and holds her hands apart as if measuring something. "I can have two or three, if you want. Let's get weeeird," she slurs enthusiastically.
Stefani's face screws up as she contemplates. "Why would you need two? What would you ...?" She blinks and her eyes go a little wider. "Wow. You could do ... that?" Her eyes grow distant as the possibilities begin to percolate through her inebriated mind.
"Wow," she says after a moment or three. "I might need another drink for that."
Back on the main floor, Damon follows his ears to the loudest, most congested party he can find, eventually ending up in Wild Apples for the first time since their initial evening with the Buzzblades. Edging his way to the bar in a sour mood, he goes through several strong drinks in quick succession in an attempt to dull the vivid images in his head.
Once things devolve to drunk flirting, Shabad thanks everyone for a lovely evening and excuses herself and heads back to her room. She again sets her camera to record what is to be seen behind her as the walks alone through the complex.
Before going to bed, Shabad sets her camera to record the view of her bed. She removes all her clothes and armor, turns up the heat so she can sleep comfortably without covers, and goes to sleep. If she has any more "dream rash", she wants evidence as to whether it is in her head or in reality.
"Night, Doc!" Xio waves to the android, and turns back to Stefani to whisper something filthy in her ear. She waves the waiter over and orders two more drinks... To go this time.
"C'mon, let's go to your room and I'll show you," she giggles drunkenly.
Stefani snorts in a very unladylike manner at Xio's whispered comment and then rises with her as they make their way back to her room.
"Well I hope you show more than do me," she slurs out as she staggers along. A giggle follows. "I mean 'show me', not 'do me'," she adds with a laugh. "Did you hear that? I said 'Do me'." She continues to laugh as the exit.
Finally kicked out of the bar around 0200, Damon staggers back to his room, eventually collapsing into a drunken stupor.
Recorva will wave to Shabad as she leaves, before finishing her drink and leaving as well. While this night was entertaining, as well as somewhat enjoyable, she wishes to get an adequate amount of sleep tonight.
Another night passes on the marvelous resort of New Elysium! It is now the fifth day of your vacation. There's still plenty of fun to be had!
Damonkayo wakes up feeling like a dumpster fire in both mind and body. Unwilling to allow his poor night to ruin his trip, the vesk heads straight to the gym, pushing himself to the absolute limit to occupy his thoughts. Afterwards, he takes a cold shower and grabs a light meal in the most crowded, boisterous place possible.
As you are working out in the gym, Beryldor enters to do some exercises as well. The dwarf nods but gives you your space. You notice he seems to have some minor cuts and bruises on his arms and chest. The locations of some suggest that they might have been self-inflicted...
While you are eating breakfast, you reach for a biscuit and raise it to your mouth to take a bite. You blink and look more closely, realizing that you actually picked up your glass and were about to chomp down on it! Fortunately, you've realized your mistake in time to avoid a painful injury.
Her heart racing, Stefani starts awake. She sits quietly in her bed as the revolting images slowly fade. The tension slowly ebbs away to be replaced by a monstrous headache. It takes a few moments of gathering her wits about her before she realizes that she's not alone. Noting Xio's sleeping form next to her, she puts her head in her hands.
Did we actually ...?
She slides from under the blankets to put her feet heavily on the floor. A shower is the first order of business and she makes her way there, following the steps by rote. Her head is a confusing mash of thoughts.
Once the tepid water begins to clear her mind, she notices how sore her body is.
Oh yeah, we did. What do I do next?