As Se-se floated into the Velvet Stretch, she learned that it was bad etiquette to spy on people. Pod walls were transparent for regulatory purposes and were intended to support mutual consent, not to invite voyeurism. She was instructed on the preferred protocol when approaching a potential rendezvous: hover at a distance until the person you are interested in sees you. Once seen, you may approach slowly, so that the person has the opportunity to accept or reject your advances.
Se-se tried following the protocols as she searched the rendezvous-less zone, but the process was too slow. She wasn’t looking for a rendezvous; she was looking for her sister. Stopping a respectful distance away from pods made it difficult to be certain Laki was not inside. In a burst of frustration, Se-se put politeness aside. She swooped in close and peered inside the pods she encountered. She forgave her behavior by telling herself that people would excuse her sudden and aggressive appearance outside their pods if they understood the urgent nature of her search.
After Se-se had peeked into all the solitary and conjoined pods in the rendezvous-less zone, she came to a halt. She looked around and considered her options. Leaving without Laki was out of the question. If Laki was not in the rendezvous-less zone, Se-se would be stuck. The righteousness of her mission had given her the courage to enter the Velvet Stretch, but she wasn’t so emboldened that she’d sneak into other levels without permission.
While she was mulling over her next steps, a few pods whizzed past her. She snapped into action, jerking forward to follow them, but before she could catch up with them, they disappeared. She bobbed in place, bewildered. She was looking around for the pods that had disappeared when a few more pods rushed past her. Watching them closely, she saw that, after traveling a short distance, the pods dipped down, then disappeared. She sped after them, determined not to lose them, but her pod rammed into something solid, and she was knocked to the floor.
She regained her footing and nudged her pod forward, but it would not move. What had looked like open space was clearly a wall of some sort. She backed up and pushed at the wall again, but it was rigid and wouldn’t give way.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bouncing lights of two pods. They drifted right up to the wall, stopped suddenly, then plunged downward and disappeared. Plunging down through the rendezvous-less zone was not an appealing thought, but she reminded herself of her promise to not be deterred. She took a deep breath and directed her pod to drop downward. Every few seconds, she pitched forward, searching for the end of the wall.
When Se-se finally got to the bottom of the screen, her pod shot forward and she found herself underneath a gathering of pods that created a room bigger than her and Laki’s rooms combined. Above her the party pulsed with music that she couldn’t hear. She could see the bottoms of people’s feet and the backs of bodies pressed against the floor of the pods.
She navigated her pod up around the side of the conjoined pods. Through the transparent walls she could see bodies everywhere—arms thrashing, hips rotating, heads flung back with abandon. She edged around the perimeter of the party, trying to drown out the voice that was warning her that it was dangerous to fuse with so many pods at once. After looking for Laki from the safety of her pod, Se-se accused herself of stalling. She closed her eyes and guided her pod forward to join with the party.
When she stepped into the party, she felt as if it had consumed her. The air was thick and hazy with an overwhelming wet heat. There was no personal space—everyone was skin to skin. She moved forward slowly, pausing periodically to step over arms and legs and dodge people who were splayed across the floor. She had thought searching people’s pods was embarrassing, now here she was, sticking her face close to people who were kissing and caressing, interrupting intimacies, in search of Laki.
Having determined that she would not find Laki underfoot, Se-se turned her attention to the dance floor. Finding Laki among the dancers would not be easy. As she was scanning the dance floor, trying to formulate a method to locate Laki, a pair of long dark arms rose up in the air and extended above the crowd.
Without hesitation, Se-se plunged into the throng of dancers. It was hard going at first. The dance floor was densely packed, and every space was jealously guarded. After being jabbed by knees and elbows, she reached the middle of the dance floor. There, at the center of the party, whirling around a clearing, was Laki. She was bare- breasted and disrobed, enrapturing her guests with the undulating contortions of her body. Even as she wondered how Laki could be comfortable without her clothes, Se-se found herself mildly spellbound. This was not the bitter, tortured Laki who Se-se had spent so much time pacifying and cajoling in the past year. This was the Laki of legend, the Laki who had conjured up a social life that was a work of art and called the Velvet Stretch her second home.
As Laki’s limbs writhed with furious motion, the marriage belt—radiant and gleaming—added to her otherworldly appearance. On her naked sweaty torso, it looked like a mark of divinity. Se-se was mesmerized by the fascinating contrast Laki’s smooth dark skin brought to the belt, yet she knew that the belt’s opulence was awe-inspiring all on its own.
The first time Se-se had seen the belt, it had rendered her speechless. Laki had been out all night, and Se- se had spent most of the day popping into the launching room hoping to see Laki return. Meals passed, and Laki did not come home. Se-se blew off invitations from friends, helped the mothers, and practiced her debates while waiting for Laki to return. She had watched her brothers and sisters leave home one by one, but Laki’s maturation was different.
When Se-se had learned that Laki was promised to a mother-unit, she launched a concerted effort to save her sister. The closer Laki got to maturation, the more wound up and frenzied Se-se became. She knew that her efforts sometimes spiraled into a mania, but she was powerless to stop herself.
When the roof of the landing room finally slid open in the early evening, Se-se had been waiting in the shadows. She had watched Laki’s pod land on the launching pad. She had remained silent as Laki created a small opening at the base of the pod and wriggled out.
“Sister…” Se-se had said as soon as Laki stood up.
But Laki hadn’t heard her. She stood there gazing up at the sky through the opening in the roof.
“Sister!” Se-se had yelled.
Laki’s head had jerked to look over to where Se-se stood. When she saw her sister waiting for her, Laki crossed her arms and pinched her mouth tight. She stole a glance at her deflating pod, then turned back to Se- se.
Se-se barreled toward her. “We’ve already eaten twice. You sent no messages. You’ve missed your trainings…” It was then that Se-se had seen the belt. She stopped short. She reached for Laki’s waist.
“Where did you find this?” she finally whispered.
Laki had looked down as if she did not know there was a very heavy marriage belt wrapped around her waist, a marriage belt she had not been wearing the previous day when she left home.
“Can’t get it off,” Laki had said, shrugging.
Se-se had surprised herself by murmuring, “It outshines even mine.”
Laki had grinned and kissed Se-se’s cheek. “Don’t worry, sweet Se-se, yours is more true.”
Se-se had put her hand to her cheek as if to hold the kiss there. She felt as if her mind would explode. Laki wearing a marriage belt?! Se-se had masterminded several meticulously planned campaigns to get Laki paired up with a mate. Laki had stubbornly refused each plan. Her excuses ran the gamut from bad breath to inadequate personality to insufficient height. Nothing Se-se had said could sway her. Not even her most logical arguments proposing marriage to several of Laki’s friends. Laki was adamant that marriage should be reserved for magical connections. Anything less would not be entertained.
Se-se had followed Laki around the landing room, pestering her as Laki closed the entrance in the roof and flattened then folded her deflated pod.
“Who gave it to you? It must have come from Embankment 5, or Embankment 7 at least.”
Laki had paused. She looked down to inspect the belt as if considering its worth. Then she had shaken off Se-se’s question and stalked out of the pod landing room.
Se-se had followed, undeterred. “Sisterrrrrrr, who is he?”
Laki had walked to her room and unsealed it without answering.
“Two days to maturation,” the voice had said when Laki entered her room.
Se-se had entered behind her and sat on the floor. “Come on, what’s his name? Maybe I can find him. You
