The Quicksand Singularity ArQive: Array.init:0

A0T5.3 The Ëchüha Incident (Part 4)

There was a reason business was always booming for hitmen and barristers.

Thankfully, the Knotworx's fashion statement—or lack thereof depending on perspective—was so subdued on her that Fhá barely even noticed her state of undress at all. They were rather curious that way, the Herbalists.

Fhá had once been so fortunate as to have seen an Orkidean on her way to the elevator banks. So enamoured with her grace and beauty and the regal mane of hair blue as lupines in full bloom and so well cared for it shimmered like silken strands of precious stones, she'd realised only several days later, upon recounting the tale to her boyfriend, that the strange and stately creature had been walking through the halls entirely naked.

Thinking back, she almost felt like they were all draped in layers of anticognizants, antithymestic wards, and dysophthalmic auras to some degree or other. What always drew most attention, it seemed, were qualities decidedly not the one that would have most obviously stuck out to lowly banals.

The Orkidean's most memorable quality should have been the impromptu voyeur show she'd put on, but what Fhá recalled most was how she had the most magnificent hair. How that woman had the time for anything else but maintaining her majestic coiffure was beyond Fhá, but just the memory of it made her burn with envy. It fell down to her ankles like a waterfall curtain of the finest silk. Meanwhile Fhá couldn't maintain anything longer than a chic bob to her shoulders without spending hours each day taming the dragon's breath exploding out of her scalp. That Orkidean must have spent fortunes on hair products.

It only was Fhá's own present discomfort at her current condition which made the Knotworx's state of undress memorable. Otherwise, like all the Knotworx she'd encountered before, all that triviality about threads or the lack thereof would have slid out of her brain like jelly off a hot car hood.

Despite that Herbalists had an almost enviable nonchalance with displaying their bodies without any shame or inhibitions—being deprived of such emotions entirely it seemed—Fhá was not endowed with such a carefree attitude to being caught in less than acceptable dress. The embarrassment of Hvang seeing her naked in a bathroom stall with a toilet bowl full of vomit was still fresh on her mind, and though he had graciously offered her the shirt and joggers he had intended to wear to the gym after work, and while they fit her quite well, not lacking in any essential areas, she could not help but feel great discomfort at being seen in such attire at the office. It was patently disgraceful.

The Knotworx drew her gaze into piercing, violently emerald eyes through which she communicated far more in a glance than what ten thousand words could convey, and, in them, Fhá could tell her whole train of thought had been flawlessly transmitted. Fhá felt her cheeks flush and she glanced away, her stomach constricting with yet another heap of embarrassment.

"The Duchess would like to speak with you," the Knotworx said, in a rich, deep voice, thick with the accent of some exotic place.

The Herbalist's tone seemed relaxed and entirely aloof to Fhá's obvious gawping. Either she was used to it, didn't care, or some combination of both.

"Oh bollocks!" Fhá swore, realising she'd neglected to call back that evening.

"If you would."

The Knotworx gestured at Fhá's VirtuSync Headset. A knot formed in Fhá's stomach as soon as she saw it. She reached out with a shaking hand, stopping just short of touching it.

Come on! Just a VR Call! By the Nine Bloody Hells!

Grabbing it, Fhá jammed it over her head, hitting the power button before she could stop herself.

She felt the Knotworx place a hand on the headset and the VirtuSync's Nerve Lance jacked into the port at the base of her neck. A flicker of light flashed in her eyes and the neurolink synchronised. The strange, indescribable sensation of being pulled into a VScape followed before Fhá's vision resolved and she found herself in a virtual meeting room.