Chapter 34: Elmyra and Zel's Night Out

'Are you ready?' Elmyra knocked on the door for the fifth time in one minute as she stomps right outside the toilet in which Zel is getting changed in and impatiently waits for him to get change for the fashion show tonight. She could already see the queue forming, and though Zel's artifact can certainly bring the two all the way into the arena for a pair of seats, lining up, watching the entertainment as they waited and listening to the rest of the guests talk is certainly part of the experience.

Though at this current rate, they might actually have to use Zel's artifact to get there on time. Finally, after half a decade of waiting, Zel is finally changed and ready. He is dressed in a dark blue suit with a white shirt underneath, both the colors and patterns are remarkably simple as he opted for the sleeveless jacket. Armed, quite literally, with the new multipurpose heavy duty yet lightly packed prosthetic arm and a shirt that neatly fits around it without any issue, Zel is looking a lot less like a common thief, but a professional con man.

'You have done your hair?' Elmyra immediately noticed the efforts of the boy, though he still haven't quite shaved his face clean in that quick amount of time. She winked at him who looked away a little embarrassed, 'not bad, Z.'

'Okay now...can we go already?'

'We were waiting for you!'

As they made a turn into the main stadium, crowds of people have already began to line up and enter through the various gates on multiple levels according to the designation on their tickets. Everyone is dressed smart and formal, and the two fit in right away. As Zel joined the crowds of people with Elmyra, her arms are wrapped around his before he even realized it. Zel looked at Elmyra, who's looking back at him with starry eyes.

Neither spoke a word and they continued moving forward. Though Zel almost tripped himself over someone else's dress.

The fashion show is hosted in the stadium with the stadium, a hovering cube that all of the entrances are leading into. Each of the entrances are designed to be lined with red carpet that looked only the thickness of less than half a centimeter, and yet it easily supports the weight of many as it lead all the way into the cube. The queue was moving swiftly and quickly, and there is no shortage of excitement and chatter coming from the rest of the crowds, as a pair debated the most ridiculous outfit from the last celebration while the trio behind them talked excitedly about their next purchase.

Meanwhile, Elmyra and Zel is just here to look good and have some fun. The Cube itself is air-conditioned to chilly, and Zel handed his jacket over towards Elmyra like a true gentlemen. As the two took a seat in the third level overlooking the walkway, a hologram is activated in front of them that allows for instant replay of any model and more information about the particular designers on exhibition.

The entire show is structured as a amalgamation of the various fashion industry giants from all three races and each of the main themes followed the seasons on each three of the races. It started with the traditional human spring, summer, autumn and winter before going through Aquria's binary seasons, the calm and the chaotic as in the states of the waters and finishing off with Rockie's the eternal sharpness, as in how the Rockie's planet are permanently in harsh conditions.

'Sometimes I like to think that humans have it good.' Elmyra said, scrolling over the list of itinerary and models that will appear tonight.

'Just cause of seasons?' Zel asked, and Elmyra nodded, 'I don't even know what any of the seasons looked like, to be honest.'

'Guess we are about to find out.'

The surrounding lights darkened as the brightness of the holograms also dimmed down to match the surroundings. Then as a set of orchestral music is being played in the back ground, the walkway has transformed into an artificial turf with flowers and grass on as the lighting simulates a gentle sun on old earth. The crowd is in awe at the natural beauty of old earth's environment before all it had gone through, and that was before the first model stepped up.

It was a slander Aquarian female, and yet she rocked a traditional human outfit, with a twist. Quite literally, as it appeared to be a spiraling mixture of various fabrics, textures, materials and colors. What's even crazier is that the clothing appeared to be moving with the Aquarian's every movement. The crowd gasped in surprised before clapping excitedly and offering up their applause. You'd like to see all species represented regardless of race and themes, and the lively outfit certainly fits that of spring.

As far as high fashion goes, this ain't too bad. Zel thought.

The music's tone changed as more electronic and rhythmic elements are introduced as a human male dressed like a...frog?

Yep, here we go. Zel said, as all of the ridiculous archetypes he had known about high fashion is proven right. He is a more simple person, probably due to his upbringing and how life in the wild regions is almost like a trip back in time. He appreciated carefully designed and crafted clothing, but there is a point in time where things get ridiculous.

'AMAZING!' 'YOU ROCK!' 'WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!' The crowd absolute lost their minds at the sight, and as the male model drops into a perfect deep squat just like a frog and scanned around the arena, and screams had become thunderous.

Zel looked to his side, and it seemed like Elmyra is enjoying herself.

There many more models after, and Zel thought every time that he has seen everything, only for the level of ridiculousness to be topped by the next person. And when a chain of clothing linking ten Rockies like a centipede walked onto the walkway, Zel thought he has finally had enough of high fashion for a day now. If he could, he would ask Lady Lily to kindly erase that memory from her mind.

Zel looked to his side again, and Elmyra is definitely enjoying herself. Zel lets out a little breath, and checked for how many more remained before the spring season is over.

Elmyra has never seen something more crazy and strangely creative in her life before. She was never truly interested in participating the act of buying or wearing high fashion, but a part of her always had an interest in at least how models look under all that limelight. They appeared to be so controlled and calm, and Elmyra knew that she could never be something like that. People tend to long for things they cannot have, and perhaps that's why she had such interests in this. Deep down, she always wondered she had this fascination with the field, and she is still looking for the answer.

Plus, it is great to just see the bounds of imagination for all three races, though some bounds are more...unique than others.

Not to judge though.

Apart from that, she has been working with systems and blueprints in most of her career both in work and academics, so one of her favorite past times to contrast against all that is to look at the most ridiculous outfits ever imaged and put into the real world. This is one of the reasons behind why she wishes to be here, but it is not the ONE. But she really haven't seen enough shenanigans before coming to the Galactic Celebrations.

She held onto Zel's real arm, and he held her arm to with his hand as his fingers gently and slowly rubs up and down through her forearm. She looked at Zel, and it appeared that he is not exactly as into high fashion as he seemed to be back on the ship. She cannot blame him, and deep down she is worried that Zel might be annoyed with her for this.

'Are you okay?' She asked, as the seasons finally changed, and he yawned.

'Summer~~~~'

An angelic voice marked the beginning of the next season before the lights turned the entire Cube red as molten lava were projected onto the walkway.

Zel is fairly certain that's not what summer looks like, but he is too lazy to think now. That's when he saw cyborgs entering from the back stage. In an instant, both Zel's organic and prosthetic eyes lights up as his fingers popped open the hologram and all of the sense of tiredness and sleepiness are gone like the spring.

'I am great!' Zel said, now a little jittery as he scanned through the various outfits and fittings that only a cyborg will be able to pull off, like asymmetrically designed clothes that differ from left to the right, front to the back and limb to limb. The summer outfits were designed to not hide, but rather emphasis the cyborg element of the humans, Aquarians and Rockies. As bodily augmentation became more accepted in society, a fashion statement is actually to be made for cyborgs.

This is the best thing Zel has ever seen. In quick succession, he has opened up a few different pages to brands and designers that made what the models are wearing on the stage right now, and he also quickly turned off the browsers after looking at the price. To win that much, he might have to be in the casino district for a long while.

The summer themes went by much faster, and for autumn, a group of virtual idols and models walked through the stage, as it was certainly a craze that comes in and out of popularity in recent times.

Soon, the Aquarian seasons have arrived, and the particular quirks about these outfit designs are such that they could switch around its form and style at the drop of a dime. According to Elmyra, the seasons on the Aquarian homeworld Aquaria do indeed function in this way, as the interconnected waters are extremely sensitive to the behavior of the suns at each time of the year, rather than letting the orbits do the alteration of seasons, the outbursts of heat and radiation could turn the calmist waters into a ranging whirl of chaos.

The fluidic outfits that looked like living water seemed be alive like some species of Jelly fish, but that's merely due to its texture and appearance. Underneath is some rather clever use of molecular engineering and chemistry that combined to make a clothing that has multiple states. Really cool, and Elmyra's head is just running through the chemical equations that would take to make such a thing while Zel is thinking about how a easily changeable outfit is gonna help in a heist.

Zel, always asking the big questions.

As it turns out, when Zel is actually focusing on the potential uses, and Elmyra focusing on the potential mechanisms of the outfits, the fashion itself is no longer boring, but rather intellectually stimulating. Whether he'd like to admit it or not, he is having a good time.

The fashion show ended on the high note of Rockie models and outfits, and the crowd is truly taking off at this point while Elmyra and Zel are both stuck in their own little bubbles and not saying a word. Her arms are still wrapped around his, and his hands and still on hers. It just feels rather nice to be so close to someone in the galaxy for a change.

'Now, for the bonus part of tonights program and now a tradition of the Technology and High Fashion show...A lucky few of you from the audience will be randomly selected to join our designers in the backstage and try on one of the outfits before coming out! If you would like to participate, please do so using the hologram attached to your seat...'

'You gonna do it?' Elmyra asked as her legs are vibrating up and down quickly. Zel looked at her, and knew what she's thinking. He never knew that Elmyra would be interested in doing this, but she never opened up to him to this level before too.

'It looks like you are.' Zel said, and Elmyra nodded excitedly, 'I wouldn't have thought.'

'Deep down, I always wanted to.' Elmyra said, bring up the hologram and going to the page where a short form is shown in front of her, 'I thought I may have an idea of who I am and who I wanted to be before all of this happened due to the artifact, but as it turned out, I never knew.'

'But if there is anything I know, it's that I do want to do this, but at the same time...' Elmyra said, unconsciously grabbing Zel's arm a little tighter, and he returned the gesture by holding her firmly, 'I...I...'

'Feel a little insecured?' Zel asked, 'I used to feel that too, when I first got the Pocket. I was lost in the galaxy, and I had no direction.'

'What did you do?'

'I just followed my guts, though my artifact is also near my gut, but that's not the point.' Zel chuckled and gave Elmyra's arm a good rub, 'what is your gut telling you?'

Elmyra hovered her fingers above the choice box, and finally selected yes.

From now on, Elmyra want to live life with no regrets, no matter what fate has arranged for her. She will do this, and she will do it fabulously.

Zel gave her a big smile, and she mouthed the word 'thank you' to him before leaning her head against his shoulder.

'I wish I could have known you like this earlier,' Elmyra said, 'you are nice.'

'You are too, despite your occasional sarcasm.' Zel said, and Elmyra rolled her hair all over his shoulder.

Then, she activated the dagger of fate as her finger is tapped against the hologram projector gently and tried to see if she can indeed somehow manipulate the outcome of the selections, instead, all she saw was the stationery trajectory of the electronic and the chair. Perhaps that's the limit of her artifact. Instead, she just wished that one of the audience models will be her and exited the Space of Uncertainty. For the first time, she is actually uncertain.

'Did you just use the artifact?' Zel asked as he scanned the environment carefully to see if anyone's startled by the quick flash of her glowing eyes, and it appeared no one is aware of that at all, 'or did I just see things?'

Elmyra shrugged and didn't say a word.

Then, a notification popped up, and it was a letter of invitation for her to go to the back stage. Many others in the crowd in fact cheered and celebrated too by their selection while a few more went away disappointed. From the looks of it, at least fifty audience members will be selected out of a few hundred that signed up, so the odds aren't exactly all against Elmyra. As she stood up, Zel reached out with his hand and said.

'If you can, choose an outfit that will cover your face at least.' Zel said, 'I am sorry to say this, but those from Absolute Being might see you out there.'

'Oh I am sure I can do you better,' Elmyra said, giving Zel a wink and started walking away with Zel's fingers slipping in her hand, 'I will find the wackiest outfit I can find.'

'But how would I know it's you?' Zel asked.

'You would know.' Elmyra gave him a wink and disappeared into the crowd behind her.

'What...' Zel said with a lowly voice, and he anxiously waited. He felt somewhat empty inside as the feeling around his arms disappeared, and all he could do is to rub his hand along his trousers back and forth and waited for the show to begin.

Twenty minutes have past, and some sort of holographic performance is being shown in the mean time to keep the audience occupied, and Zel is paying no attention to the light show at all. Then, after what felt like an eternity, the lights dimmed, the holographic performs dissipates away and a low voice announced the theme of the audience show.

'Mix and Match!'

Like a candy commercial? Zel realized that more information could be in the letter that Elmyra received after being selected, but she didn't show him what's in the letter.

'So anything goes...' Zel wondered what Elmyra could be wearing and even more so how he could know if that person is her. He constantly checks his personal interface to see if there is any messages coming from her, but there was nothing. Then, the lights shut down to leave the entire audience in darkness before an uplifting orchestral music comes in through the background as the lights shined on the walkway that now looked like the image of the universe with stars and suns doted all over the pure background.

The first audience member walked out, and Zel realized what mixing and matching finally means. As more and more walked onto the stage, Zel can see how everything fits together. All of those audience models are dressed with clothing that are half and half of two completely different designs. The clothing can be an amalgamation of different professions, industries and races too. There are human dancers mixed in with Aquarian light armors, and from the way that audience moves, she clearly practices some form of each.

Then there are nurses and programmers, engineers and builders, then even half holographic idol costume and half bar singer's costume. All of those combination doesn't make sense on paper, and yet the color schemes are often adjusted to either be closely matched, or be of drastic contrast.

'Is that the sort of combination you would like?'

In the back stage, the chief designer walks around the now dressed up Elmyra and asked, 'I have to say, you have a certain touch for fashion, despite what we already have...'

'How do I look?' Elmyra asked.

'Fabulous.' The chief designer said as her extra long eyelashes flapped up and down as she winks, 'now go put on a show.'

Elmyra nodded nervously, breathed in deeply and slowly for a few times and stepped her way onto the walk way. The person in front walked out towards the loudest cheers and applause that she has ever heard.

'You will do great!' The designer gave her a big thumbs up, and she nodded. Then, she walked out into the light.

Zel stood up immediately as he saw what Elmyra meant. The infinite freedoms of combining the feelings of those that walked a different path, and bringing them together in perfect harmony. This is what the Galactic Celebrations are about.

Elmyra walked out, the left side of her body is a bright orange miner's uniform, while on the right, she is dressed as a cyborg with arms and legs painted pitch black. Then, she raised her right hand and trigger a mechanism as a burst of fireworks were fired off and the flashes of light shined all over the audience.

Zel's heart is pounding so loud that he couldn't even hear the music in the background.