Tempest: The Champion

Phase 2, part 4

"What is an Augment?" I ask Ryan.

"You don't need to know yet," he replies. "We have to start at the basics."

To my surprise, we walk past the Castaway Area section and continue to a large department labelled by a yellow hologram saying Everything to Wear.

"Clothes?" I frown.

"Of course! Clothes!" Ryan says. "Did you think you'll spend the rest of eternity in my old attire? Here, you can buy yourself something nice. I'll let you pick. Just please, try to stick to the necessary. As you can tell, my financial status isn't exactly bright and I don't feel like spending another two hundred royals on your clothes."

For the third time, I'm not vain. But the idea of getting my own clothes is appealing.

We walk towards a large store named EILEEN'S.

...

The music inside is more relaxing, sung by a soft female voice. There are stands with clothes everywhere I look, it almost makes my head spin. It is further divided by three large holograms floating above the departments: MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN.

I start walking towards the WOMEN department.

Then, something terrible approaches me.

The sight is so unexpected it makes me scream and stumble backwards, of course, causing me to fall. Some people look at me, a few of them laugh. I swallow the embarassement and look at that thing once again.

It looks like an upper torso of a beautiful young woman on a silver plate, hovering above the ground (Ryan calls it Counter-gravity technology). It is dressed in a red blouse with decent, yet sensual cleavage and it has soft-looking brown hair reaching to the plate. The face looks almost perfectly human, but yet, there's an unexplainable something that gives away the blue-eyed, smiling girl is just a machine.

"Hello!" it tells me, lips perfectly synchronized with its speech. The face even blinks and its expression looks convincing. "I'm Eileen, the assistance robot. Do you want my help with picking the latest fashion trends, or do you prefer shopping on your own?"

I want to send that scary thing away, but before I can speak, Ryan does it for me. "Yes, we'd like some help. Thank you, Eileen."

Robotic Eileen smiles. "Oh, brilliant! How should I call you?"

"Zo-Zoya," I stutter.

"Great, Zozoya! Let's start!" Eileen cheers.

"No, my name is Zoya," I object. More people laugh.

Eileen seems to understand everything she's told. "Great, Zoya! Let's start!"

That thing is making me progressively less uncomfortable. In the end, it's just a computer with a human face with several scrpited replies. "First, let me scan your size," Eileen says. "Stand still."

I comply and the robot looks at me. A red laser light emerges from her forehead; a red line appears on my head and continues down to my feet. "Alright, Zoya!" it says; I notice it said my name in a slightly different tone. "Now I have a list of things that will fit you well. Now, follow me to the fitting room where you'll find the database and can try everything on."

I follow the robot through the store. I see there are actually many Eileens, each one helping a different customer. Their faces are the same, only the color of their blouse differs. The people seem to be used to them, appreciating their help at purchasing new attire.