Nessa smiled warmly. She'd long gotten used to the reaction. She'd not have taken the green if she didn't want to live with the consequences after all. "Nessa," she said simply, putting the tablet away with her free hand. She admired how well-put-together then man was. Clearly the internship in well-to-do New York had done him a world of good. Made him... Her eyes roamed his swimmer's body and smiled a half-smirk of approval as her skin reflexively flushed a shade of three darker. She knew he'd be attractive to her, but wasn't sure which part of her was reacting to his obvious virility-- the little girl from Texas or the green-skinned mutant nymphomaniac wanting to breed with anything that moved. Either way, she licked her lips unconsciously before she spoke again.<br/>"Welcome to Pacifica City, Mr. Barrett, if you'll follow me, we have a subway waiting for us," she motioned down the platform to an escalator where the men and women who were pairing off all seemed to be headed.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Jake was grateful his escort didn't make something about his reaction. Of course who was he kidding the way she looked he wouldn't hold it against her. He had looked back in time to see her licking her lips and he was giving a nervous little laugh when she welcomed him to the city. He squashed the nervous chuckle in his throat. "Thanks.... Nessa." The hesitation made it sound like the 'Va' sound of her given name had been edited out. "And you can just call me Jake. I mean no need for the Mister, I'm not anybodies dad. That I know of." Jake winced at the bad joke and wished he had maybe been born without a tongue.<br/><br/>He followed Nessa toward the platform and tried to recover somewhat, "Wow Pacifica has a subway. Does it cover much of the city?" Ok that was better, something someone who isn't an ass might say Jake was still mentally scolding himself and he had to remind himself to listen to Nessa's reply.<br/><br/>Valiantly soldiering on with the small talk, Jake was building up a little confidence again. "Thanks for coming to meet me. Do you work for Cyber Waters too?" He even manage a pleasant smile this time, his eyes only drifting down her incredible body a little as they walked. Her movements seemed like a sort of poetry to Jake. Oh come on, he chided himself, how about you try not to crush on the Pacifica girl you meet.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Nessa chuckled at his comment about the subway and whipped out the tablet, handing it to him. "The city core is ten miles across, with the entire city perimeter another ten, all arranged in a circular pattern." The city map showed a series of concentric rings, the inner 26 of them spaced a thousand feet apart and the outer rings 2,000. In the inner set, labeled 'The Core' subways ran around every third ring, if not more of them, and the major avenues leading radially away from the very center all carried subway lines. "Subways on all the major rings and avenues, streetcar topside there and everywhere else. No one drives in Pacifica, Jake, and no, I don't work for the same company you do. We may be a bunch of hedonists, but we are civilized" she said as they finished their decent on the escalator to the subway platform. "I suggest keeping that tablet, it's a fairly comprehensive guide to the people and places around her, myself included," she said.<br/><br/>She'd been warned about the anxieties newcomers have. She didn't, she, and the city, were too young in those early days.<br/><br/>She cleared her throat as she ushered him to the main platform where a train had yet to arrive. "As for me, I work for a different company, I work in older languages, mostly C and C++. The city has a lot of technology that needs more than a little coaxing to integrate with more traditional technologies, and since there's a huge market for our tech on the global market there's no shortage of work." It was a day job for her, of course, something that gave her more than a little free time.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Taking the tablet Jake studied the interesting city layout it revealed. He blinked as at the civilization comment, his shoulders slouched a bit. It seemed he had offended her with the small talk or probably his poor joke.<br/><br/>He stood beside Nessa on the platform. A little surprised that she was giving him the tablet he found a pocket on the laptop bag to store it. Turning back to Nessa he tried on a conciliatory smile. "When you said older languages I thought Latin or something for a minute," he teased playfully, but he took a moment to study her more carefully. Green. Undeniably attractive. But he also started to see her differently. Sure she was probably the most gorgeous code-monkey he had ever seen but he felt like he might actually have something in common with her.<br/><br/>He glanced around the platform and the other commuters starting to feel a little more at ease. "So no one drives in the city. How about biking? I mean if I can get an apartment close to work I think I'd rather bike to work then ride the subway."<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Nessa nodded. "a lot of people do, the city is very bikeable when the weather cooperates," she said, dodging the quip about languages being old. "I'll remind you anywhere in the city is 50 miles or less from Kansas prairie. Aside from the geographic advantage and fertile land this place makes no sense. The summers are blistering, the winters cold, but it<i>was</i>the fertile ground that started this thing."<br/>Or rather, it was how the leader of her adopted race's ancestors chose this as a breeding site. A mutant bent on dominating the world by assimilating every woman to be like them, and using every man for breeding stock, whose physiology let them draw nutrients and mass from the soil like plants. Now, almost 30 years of genetic tinkering later, even the few original members of Sierra's Army couldn't do that any more, nor their descendants, but their other seductive powers remained, and that was what compelled her to do what she did.<br/>She inhaled. "Long story," she mused, tapping the edge of the tablet, "it's all in there. Suffice to say your office is about two city blocks from where you will be living," she bounced on her heels. "with me."<br/><br/>She looked around on the platform. There were creatures of various sorts, notably a few elves, and several other green-skinned girls of various shapes and sizes and-- she looked over near a wall, seeing a small commotion. Three women, two of them in scrubs, were kneeling around another newcomer, doubled-over in the recovery stages of a panic attack. She brushed it aside as she exchange a glance with the third girl, a red-and-brown-haired Neko whose face resembled Nessa's. Her sister was also here picking up a newbie and it seemed she already had her work cut out for her.<br/><br/>Nessa returned her attention back to Jake and smiled a gigawatt smile that lit up the enclosed platform as the rumble of a train could be heard in the distance.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>He was looking at the assorted people here. Mentally cataloging a dizzying arrays of strange and unique physical qualities that had existed, for Jake, only in his imagination or in photos and videos of Pacifica City and the Amazon Spas. It was so strange.<br/><br/>So strange that he was only partly listening to the bit about the weather. He understood what she was saying but growing up in New Mexico meant getting use to Kansas prairie heat wouldn't be too hard, on top of that riding out New York winters, not to mention a blizzard, left him confident he could handle whatever the city threw at him. Weather pattern wise.<br/><br/>Blinking suddenly Jake's head spun to face Nessa. "With you?" His blush returned and he swallowed hard. His voice was suddenly tight, "It said I would be sharing an apartment but I just assumed it would be with someone... well someone moving here for work." He avoided saying someone normal. Still somewhere past his own surprise and anxiety Jake though he read eagerness in his bouncing escort. Was she excited too or just happy to tease him, he couldn't be sure.<br/><br/>The commotion got Jake out of his head and he turned to watch. Concern had him draw in a little closer to Nessa, their shoulders brushing. "Is he ok?" Jake asked in sympathetic tones. His eyes scanned the crowd which mostly seemed about as surprised as Nessa. He wondered where the women in scrubs had come from. Here awfully fast, they must have been waiting in the wings he decided. The thought was delayed for long seconds by his mind locking up on the sight of a luscious rear filling out scrub pants. Jake shook his head head, "I guess that sort of thing happens a lot."<br/><br/>Looking back at Nessa he was engulfed in her radiant smile and felt his heart start ache with some core deep desire. He stared in a happy daze for a moment back before pulling his eyes toward the approaching train. "I think I got over my jitters early, right after I got on the plane." He confessed with a soft chuckle. And realizing he had not moved away from Nessa he let their shoulders brush together as a happy and nervous smile tugged at his lips.<br/><br/>As the train pulled up Jake spared a look back for the person in distress before moving toward the train.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Nessa shrugged off the blush of his and the initial comment about the panic attack. "It happens, not everyone handles fantasy slamming into the mundane well," she gestured above them, "and Perimeter East Medical is right on top of the transit hub, so they have people down here on arrival days for just such occurrences."<br/>She wrapped an arm around his shoulder in a protective gesture and the scent of wildflowers hit him. "As for us," she rturned to his first comment as they boarded the train, a spotless, pristine subway car that looked nothing like its New York counterparts, and took a seat for two near the door. "Those of us without permanent attachments live in Single Resident Quarters, communal apartments, like college dorms but with much better privacy. It's not so much for us as it is for the Gamma Dryads," she said matter-of-factly. "There are four million of them and can't keep more than a few dozen together before their pheremones become a problem for normals, so they're spread out. And since they can't tolerate being alone, every three or four of us gets one of them as a, ah," she pursed her lips, "well, most of us call them our keepers, actually."<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Giving Nessa a glance Jake enjoyed the closeness and the smell of her, but the body language made him feel like her little brother or something which he didn't like quite as much. He was grateful to take a seat and shrug off his bags, the duffle and laptop bag went down between his feet and his legs spread to make room for the luggage so his knee and thigh brushed against Nessa's in the seat beside him. It made something ache inside him.<br/><br/>Listening and nodding Jake's mind worked over what she was saying, but clearly there was still a lot he didn't understand. His mouth twisted faintly at the mention of 'normals' but he didn't comment on it or seem to dwell on it as the conversation moved to more curious territory. "Keepers? Like they are your keepers or they're a keeper?"<br/><br/>He listened for her answer before admitting, "Wow I've got a lot to learn, Pacifica feels a little like another world. Hope you don't mind more questions in the future," Jake chuckled before giving Nessa a soft and friendly nudge with his elbow, "Well besides other... um dryads. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself? I'm mean we're going to be roommates and all."<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>She laughed. "Oh, you'll get used to it in time, and as for the whole keeper thing, I've never met someone who didn't get out their door clean and dressed perfectly for whatever their occasion with either a full stomach or the promise of a square meal thanks to their resident dryad. As for me," she sat back in the chair and relaxed, giving him more space and trying her best to reverse the undercurrent of uncomfortableness she'd accidentally put in the air. "my sister and I moved here when we were 6, our father was one of the first recruited by the city to help build and market several technological gadgets. When I wasn't tinkering with making a game on the turn-of-the-millennium pile of circuits my dad insisted I learn on, I played the flute and was captain of my school's Overwatch 2 team," her eyes relaxed as she remembered a well-loved past, "and then I went to school for computer sciences and took the green to really fuck with everyone's head, and here I am," she mused, hands gesticulating wildly as she went until they landed on her legs.<br/><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Jake liked the shift from lecture to conversation and her sudden animation made the joyfulness of the memories contagious. A warm and genuine smile grew across his youthful features and he eagerly joined in, sharing bits of his past as well. An early fascination in computers, study and play programming and his own stint at e-sports. It didn't take much for Jake to start gushing about computers, just as likely to be the latest treads in hardware, software of gaming.<br/><br/>Realizing he was geeking-out a bit he reeled in with a small smile. "Cool, cool..." He said recovering a more casual tune. "So still hot for tech, still gaming, or sort of leave some of that behind?" He had known plenty of people that lost the interest in one or both as they got older and got responsible. He still gamed but not in the rabid all consuming way he had done as a teen.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Nessa absorbed everything he told her, finding common threads here and there, and then giggled at his comment. "Well, all of it, really," she said, her face twisting in a ponderous expression, "I mean time is the one true enemy, isn't it? Really the biggest casualty was programming for fun when I grew up, and," she ran her hands down her sides as if to emphasize her figure. It worked a little too well given her shape. "I really just got myself all assimilated by the dryads because I wanted the superpowers. I didn't expect it to make me quite as animated as it did. They said there were no introverted dryads and I guess that happened to me, too."<br/><br/>The "#9" train has passed station "Zulu", then "Victor". The first station looked like something out of a noir film, dull gray brick, wrought iron fixtures and the mood lighting to go with it. Victor was more rustic with a main wall opposite the train platform dominated by a picture window looking into an endless wine cellar full of wooden casks.<br/><br/>'Tango' looked like it belonged in<i>Tron</i>or one of the virtual 'cyber' realms of yore, with wall panels of iridescent greens and blue tht looked like circuit tracings. She stood, straightened and offered him a hand. "Here we are, Tango 9. My place," she cleared her throat, "ours, rather," is just a little bit north of here."<br/><br/>The doors hissed open for them.<br/><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The gesture, Nessa's hands sliding down her body, drew Jake's eyes and he had the sudden urge to pass his hands over her, to duplicate the gesture. His palms itched to traces her incredible figure from bust to hips. Superpowers indeed. Suddenly she was the incredible beauty again and Jake swallowed looking away feeling like the train car had gone suddenly hot. "I can't imagine..." Jake murmured with uncertainty, the threads of conversation flying suddenly beyond reach.<br/><br/>His gaze rested on the window looking out of the train. The stations they passed seemed themselves like little fantasy worlds hidden in the fantasy world that was Pacifica, and each station held commuters, some normal seeming and others that looked strange, beautiful, exotic or bizarre. Those people fit no more in there station's microcosms then they did in the world Jake knew. Even the last years in a cultural melting pot like New York didn't prepare him for a place like this. He felt overwhelmed and while part of him thrilled to have someone like Nessa close, as a roommate seemed too close, too much. Too much indeed. He wondered how long until he could afford his own place.<br/><br/>He came back to reality as Nessa announced Tango station was her place, their place. He felt a little dizzy. He looked at her hand like it was a serpent. He wanted to grab it and dash happily to 'their' place, or maybe he wanted to grab her. After an awkward moment he looked up into her face and offered a strained smile. He filled his hands instead with his bags tossing one, then the other over his shoulders. "Lead the way," he said trying, and succeeding, to find his own enthusiasm. Whatever his misgivings this was exciting, it was his future, it was what he wanted. Even if he was a 'normal' next to some 'super-powered' dryad. He told himself he was over-thinking things but part of him somehow mourned for the girl he had never known, the Nessa that had liked the things he did.<br/><br/>The new scenery lifted his spirits and got him out of his own head. He flashed a genuine smile as he eyed the station. First head moving side to side then he turned around slowly to take the whole place in as they walked toward the station's exit. "What is going on here?" He said with a little laugh. "I noticed each station had its own look, what's up with that?" He didn't care if he looked like a tourist just then, exploring was exciting.<br/><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The station's dark, circuit-traced walls sharply contrasted the otherwise harsh lighting as they made their way to the surface escalator. "They're themed, usually after either a pun on the name or as a reflection of what's nearby. Each station, both on the radial main lines and the rings is a little different, though the 9 and 27 lines are the more elaborate ones as they're attached to the airports and get the most tourist traffic. The city planners had a sense of humor when they named the rings as well, and Whisky, for example, ended up with the wineries, distilleries, and warehouses," she furrowed her brow, "those those moved to the outer rings when they were finished and the original warehouses became lofts. Tango and the surrounding rings are where the tech companies hang out and 'Tron'" she gestured around them, "seemed like a foregone conclusion. It doesn't hurt that the city poached several planners from Disney. They helped both design the layout and how the city hides its infrastructure." She gestured to the floor, "there's a whole automated subway system below this one that runs freight from one place to another and another automated garbage system below that and no private self-powered vehicles are allowed in the city except under special circumstances."<br/><br/>She stepped onto the escalator and slid on a pair of sunglasses pulled from a pocket just as the daylight hit her. Her skin took on a shimmer as she relaxed out of what seemed to be reflex. They were deposited at street level at the base of a high rise on the north side of the intersction between a 'spoke' and the circular "T" ring road. On the opposite side of the curving road wasn't more buildings, but a swath of green park land the full width of the distance to the next ring 1000 feet away. Playgrounds, ball fields, trees, ponds, all were visible in both directions with paths criss-crossing here and there. Even the main thoroughfare was no match for the greenery, which clung to a broad bridge spanning the road creating a tunnel for railed streetcars, bicycles and the small carts that plied the asphalt. The streets and sidewalks were relatively quiet for it was still a few hours before rush hour. She held his hand the entire time, not willing to let him go just yet. She felt his excitement and it was just as contagious as she thought it'd be.<br/><br/>The 30 and 40-story buildings, some spanning the entire block to the next ring out were a mix of offices on the lower levels and apartments up high. She turned north and past a corner store reading 'Apothecary and potions' and turned into the lobby of a building a few steps past that right before an access road. "Here we are, Tango 88," she said, "Or to be precise, Tango 88, 30A," she held the door for him, rattling off her address.<br/><br/>A metal-skinned android stood behind a desk guarding a wall of mailboxes. If not for the android at the concierge desk the lobby wouldn't be out of place in an upscale dwelling in New York. She hit the elevator's call button and paused, turning to gesture to the robot. "Jake, this is Robbie, the building's AI avatar and ah, doorman," she smirked to herself, "or rather, door-droid, I guess."<br/><br/>The 'droid nodded at Jake. "Good afternoon," it said in a smoothly mechanical voice, "may I help you, sir?"<br/><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Jake was still taking everything in. "Sounds crazy," he said his tone saying it was a good crazy, not the bad sort. He was glad he'd be living and working here because as a visitor he'd never have the time to explore all these unique stations and the places they connected to. The subway had been a utility, often a requirement, to his life in New York but the designers of this ultra-modern oasis had found a way to make even that interesting.<br/><br/>He hadn't intended to hold Nessa's hand but somehow they were hand in hand on the street. He didn't mind. Once he was introduce to the droid though his hand slipped free and he stepped forward to examine the robot. "Robbie? Someone is fond of the classics." He said with a chuckle then to the android. "Please to meet you Robbie. Can you tell me your specs? About this body and your software?"<br/><br/>His enthusiasm to engage the bot/AI was obvious and unhindered by the crushing sexual tension that interacting with Nessa kept seeming to bring up he dove in with rabid curiosity. What was its operating kernel, what human interface software was it utilizing and more. He lobbed his questions eagerly at the technological marvel forgetting that he was a guest and maybe he should ask for help with his bags or finding his room.<br/><br/>After a few moments he remembered himself and brushing a hand through his hair he looked at Nessa and chuckled awkwardly. "Ah sorry to keep you waiting on me playing tourist with the robots." He turned back to the 'door-droid' and waved, "Hey Robbie, thanks. Good talk."