Curling up on her bed, Katie Martinez propped her laptop on a pillow, woke the machine, and clicked an icon on the desktop.

The HyperLyfe™ login screen glowed bright blue, and a short paragraph of white text scrolled up from the bottom.

The intro appeared whenever a player logged into HyperLyfe, a massively multiplayer virtual reality online world. Katie must have read those words a million times by now, and yet they still gave her a thrill.

She reached across the bed to her desk, and grabbed her mug of tea, taking a sip while she waited for HyperLyfe to log her in. One drawback of living in a cramped New York apartment was that everything was literally within arms reach.

She didn’t have that problem in HyperLyfe. In that world she had all the space she could ever want. A 3D artist and designer, Katie had seen the unlimited potential in HyperLyfe the first time she’d visited. After just a week in-world she’d bought herself a whole planet, named it Celestia, and spent months building countless futuristic cities, mysterious forests, and enchanting vistas on it’s surface. Before long, she was getting visitors to Celestia, people who explored, stayed, formed a community and paid real world money to rent homes to live and play in, in virtual reality.

HyperLyfe was a dream come true for Katie. It was a new path to happiness after the real world had let her down so epically. She both played and worked in HyperLyfe nearly fulltime these days. The money she made in the virtual world paid her real world bills, and the friendships she’d made on Celestia were as authentic to her as any she’d ever had in person.

Every Friday night, the community hosted a planet-wide party. Tonight’s theme was Gods and Monsters, and Katie had only about ten minutes to choose something from her wardrobe. It had to be spectacular. Since, in virtual reality, you could make your avatar look however you wished, players tended to get excessively creative. Angels, demons, superheroes, and glamazons were pretty much standards. But it wasn’t unusual to see players dressed as fairies, flying spaghetti monsters, sentient automobiles, or giant amorphous clouds of fog and glitter.

In real life the closets in Katie’s modest two-bedroom condo in NYC were laughably small. Her virtual closet, however, had infinite capacity. What woman wouldn’t want a closet full of exquisite designer clothing, all guaranteed to fit like a glove? The only problem was she had literally thousands of outfits. Scrolling through thumbnails she huffed in frustration and turned to her cat when he hopped up onto the bed to join her.

“What do you think Rupert?” she said, pulling the purring ball of black fluff into her lap. “The diaphanous Venus toga dress with the sparkling rotating headpiece, or this Sun Goddess outfit with the massive gold wings and glowing eyes?”

Rupert looked up at her and squinted.

“So neither. Right. You’re no help.”

A video-chat notification popped up in a box on her screen, from the real world, not a friend inside HL. She clicked accept and smiled when her friend Aiko Yoshida came into view.

“Egads what is wrong with your face?” Aiko grimaced and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a mud mask,” Katie said, touching her cheek. “It’s my maintenance night. Don’t make fun.”

“Maintenance night?” Aiko wrinkled her nose.

“Yeah ya know. Nails, facial, landscape the lady-bits.”

“Oh that stuff. Jeez, you’re such a girl.” Aiko grinned and stuck out her tongue. “Who you gotta landscape for? You got a boyfriend you’ve been hiding from me?”

“Alright I’m hanging up on you now,” said Katie with a sigh. “I don’t need this abuse, I’ve got shit to do.”

“Yeah you do!” Aiko said, nodding smugly at the camera. “That’s why I’m calling. You’re Cinderella tonight, baby, and I’m gonna take your ass to the ball!”

“Uh, yeah, no.” Katie frowned. “I’ve already got a party to go to. I’m picking out my outfit now, and you’re keeping me from that. I’m gonna be late–”

“No, no, no. This is a real life party dorkus. Tonight. At Lux. You’re going. I’m sending Malcolm for you now.”

“Your sister’s sex club? Tonight? What on earth are you–”

“Hi Katie!” A new face squeezed into the video chat box and waved enthusiastically. Red hair, bright blue eyes, incredibly stylish.

Katie grinned and waved back. “Tessa! Great to see you again. Are you going to this party?”

“She is,” Aiko interjected, leaning into the camera. “And she’s got us all kitted out too. Check out what she’s got for you.”

Tessa shoved back into view and held up a dress. It was a lush red, short, flirty, and strappy in a sex-kitten-meets-bondage-master kind of a way.

Katie’s eyes went wide.

“You want me to wear that? Not that it’s not beautiful Tessa,” she added quickly. “I love all your designs, it’s just very…. It’s just very.”

“I’ve seen you wear stuff way sexier than that in HL,” said Aiko, frowning.

“Oh please, that’s totally different and you know it,” Katie replied. “Everything in HL fits perfectly, and I can change hair, eyes, and skin tone on a whim. Whatever. I can change my boob size if I want.” She grabbed a handful of the moth-eaten sweater she was wearing and shook her sizable chest for emphasis. “I really doubt these monsters are gonna look good in that handkerchief you want me to wear. No offense, Tessa.”

“None taken,” Tessa said smiling. “But…” she turned the dress around and unzipped it to reveal a fully lined interior with a built in underwire bra. “I did design this with chesty girls in mind. You’ll be fine.”

“Ughhh,” Katie groaned. “That is a seriously beautiful dress, and I’d love to hang out, but I really can’t tonight. I’ve got another party to go to, and–” Three messages popped up on her HyperLyfe screen, friends already at the party, wondering where their host was. “And I’m officially late, so I really gotta run.”

“Nope,” Aiko said. “You’re going. I need you. And don’t worry about your Celestia party, I’ve already arranged it.”

“What do you mean you arranged–” A chat request popped up on her HyperLyfe screen. Barbarella69 was messaging her. Katie accepted the request and typed a response.

Catalina_Celestina: Hey Barb! Sorry I’m late!

Barbarella69: No honey, please don’t worry about that. Aiko messaged me. You need to go to that party tonight. I insist. I can play hostess on my own. Everything will be fine.

Catalina_Celestina: One sec Barb.

Katie stared at the message then lifted her gaze back to the video screen that held Aiko and Tessa.

“Why does Barb already know about this party you want me to go to, you bossy, meddling psycho?”

Aiko grinned and stuck out her tongue. “Because I knew you’d argue, and you have to come tonight, so Barb and Tessa and I decided we needed to gang up on you.”

“Why exactly?”

“Okay…” Aiko said, lifting her eyes skyward as if she was gathering her thoughts. “Let me explain. No, there is too much, let me sum up.”

Katie snorted loud enough that Rupert jumped and glared at her. “Points for the Princess Bride reference, geek, but please make it snappy.”

“Okay well, this is a very exclusive, very special event. It’s the release party for HyperLyfe’s new virtual reality upgrade. Aaron is releasing at the club because–”

Katie set her teacup on the desk with a clatter and held her hand up to stop Aiko from talking. She needed a minute to process this. Aaron Eldridge, CEO of Eldridge Innovations, famed video game pioneer and the brains behind HyperLyfe. The guy was a genius. Katie knew Aiko worked with Aaron from time to time, but she’d never been able to get her to discuss her work much. Now, to find out not only that Aiko had an inside track on all the latest VR tech, but that she was going to drag Katie along for the fun? It was too much.

“Shut. The hell. Up,” she said, gaping at the screen. “You’re joking.”

“Dead serious, fangirl.” Aiko shook her head solemnly.

“Is it, is it all the new gear?”

“You betchya.” Aiko nodded. “All the sensory gear is finally ready. The bodysuit, the gloves, the visor. That chair thingy that makes you feel like you’re running and flying and–”

“Holy crap. Okay, I’ll be there. With bells on. Naked, whatever. I’m coming.”

“Good. Because we do genuinely need you. This is a press party. Lots of marketing and promo and shit is counting on this event going well. We had an interpreter for the deaf press, but she’s kind of having a baby right now so, yeah, I repeat, we need you.”

“An interpreter?” Tessa chimed in, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“I’m fluent in American Sign Language,” Katie said. “My mom’s deaf, so I learned when I was young. I’ve done some interpreting. There’s a big deaf community in gaming and virtual reality actually, because with text to speech software and typing as communication, there are fewer barriers online for the deaf when they want to communicate and interact with the hearing.”

“Oh wow.” Tessa grinned. “I had no idea. Makes sense though. Neat!”

“We had a backup interpreter,” Aiko said. “But they’re not as knowledgeable about virtual reality as you are Katie, so I’m really glad you’re able to do this.”

“I’m so stoked you asked me!” Katie grinned. “And more than a little annoyed that you’ve been holding out on me. You’ve been working with Eldridge all this time and you couldn’t slip me even a few details?”

“Nope, on pain of death I could not share. But it’s no matter, all will be revealed tonight at the party of the century.”

“Century?” Katie smirked and cocked one eyebrow skeptically.

“Well at least the best one this month,” Aiko said. “Thank god you landscaped those lady-bits KitKat. Because you’re going to a nerd orgy. Who knows, you might get lucky.”

“Oh please.” Katie blushed and waved at the screen. “Seriously though, why have this party at Lux? I don’t get it. This upgrade is going to revolutionize virtual reality across the board. It has so many useful applications other than just sex.”

“Rule 34 bitch!” Aiko crowed. “It’s all about Rule 34!”

Katie scrubbed both hands over her face and groaned. “Oh please tell me the focus of this party isn’t going to be all about the seedy intersection of sex and virtual reality?”

“Of course it is mamacita! Everything is about sex!”

Katie sighed and turned back to the still open chat window with Barb.

Catalina_Celestina: Barb, I’m being kidnapped to a kinky, high-tech sex party.

Barbarella69: Sounds like a damn good time. We’ll all be fine. Go, have fun and please, promise to do everything I’d never do! ;)

Catalina_Celestina: Good lord. See you later.

Katie clicked the little X button to log off HyperLyfe and turned her attention back to Aiko and Tessa.

“Alright, I’m all yours. Ready for whatever vile and corrupt plans you have for me tonight. I think I’d do nearly anything to get a peek at the new gear.”

“Most excellent!” Aiko threw her head back and cackled wildly while Tessa eyed her with concern. “My faithful servant will be there any moment to collect you for tonight’s festivities!”

There was a knock at Katie’s front door. She pointed off screen. “Faithful servant, I presume?”

Aiko cleared her throat. “Oh yeah. It’s just Malcolm. I mentioned I was sending him right?”

“Yeah you did.”

“Well hup-two princess, before all the mice turn back into pumpkins.”

“That’s not how it happened. The mice did not–”

“Who cares!” Aiko yelled at the camera. “See you in twenty.”

Aiko and Tessa disappeared from her computer and Katie stared at her reflection in the now dark screen.

“Oh damn, my mud mask,” she said as Rupert rubbed against her knee.

The knocking started up again.

“Be right there Malcolm!” Katie shouted. Tripping over Rupert, she headed for the bathroom to wash her face. “Cinderella my ass,” she muttered to herself. “Sex club?”

* * *

The minute Katie walked through Aiko’s front door, they pounced, wrestling her into that slinky red dress, propping her up in a pair of sky-high heels on a kitchen chair so Tessa could adjust the length. Katie chewed her lip and watched as Tessa fussed with the hem.

“Not too short,” she begged.

“Shush,” Tessa said around the handful of pins sticking out of her mouth. “I know what I’m doing. Obey me, and I won’t poke you with a pin. Tell me about Rule 34. What is that?”

“It’s uh, you ever heard of the Urban Dictionary?” Katie asked, turning slowly as Tessa prodded her around and shook her head. “Nevermind. Okay, so Rule 34 is this internet thing, an adage really, a joke that has a lot of truth in it.”

There was a loud pop in the kitchen, and Katie startled, grabbing onto Tessa’s shoulder for balance. Aiko strode out to join them, a bottle of Prosecco in one hand and three slim glasses in the other.

“Rule 34 of the internet,” Aiko said, setting the glasses on a nearby table and filling them. “If it exists, there is porn of it, no exceptions.” She lifted one glass and drained it. “Never a truer thing has been spoken.”

“Basically,” said Katie, as Tessa helped her down from the chair, “anything that exists in the world, in a non-porn form, the internet has definitely corrupted it and guaranteed there’s porn.”

“So say, waffles,” Aiko said, handing them each a glass. “You like waffles?”

Tessa took a sip from her glass and nodded.

“Well,” said Aiko. “Guaranteed there’s some guy out there that really really really likes waffles. And thanks to the internet, he’s found other people that enjoy waffle fucking too. And you better believe they made porn of it.”

“Holy shit.” Tessa chuckled. “People are so fucking weird.”

“Definitely,” Aiko said. “It’s awesome.”

“Well it’s not always awesome,” said Katie. “I mean it’s the internet, there’s some dark shit out there. But that’s what’s so great about virtual reality. I’m not condoning anything evil of course. But if someone with a waffle fetish wants to explore that, in VR they can, privately, without shame, or fear of social repercussions.”

“And,” said Aiko raising a finger. “Without any actual waffles getting hurt in the process.”

“Ew.” Tessa wrinkled her nose. “I may never eat a waffle again. Quick, change the subject before I barf.”

“Well you did a damn fine job polishing Katie up,” said Aiko. “If she’s Cinderella, I’m thinking you and I are the ugly stepsisters tonight.”

“Oh please! As if! ” Katie laughed, set her glass on the table and headed down Aiko’s short hallway to the bedroom, where she knew she’d find a full length mirror. “I’m sure it’s just the magic of Tessa’s dress,” she called over her shoulder. “It’s doing all the work. I’m just…” she stopped talking when she caught sight of herself. “Damn.”

“Yeah, damn,” said Aiko coming up behind her. “You look amazing.”

“I was thinking your hair up,” said Tessa, crossing to the mirror. “A smoky eye and a deep red lip. It’ll be dark in the club, so you can get away with more make-up. I’ve got a matching red clutch for you too, so you can stash some lipgloss and your cell phone–”

“I don’t want my hair up” said Katie, shaking her head. “When it’s down, it covers my scars.”

“Scars?” said Tessa.

“This.” Katie ran her palm over the dark scar that marred the skin of her one shoulder. “In fact I should probably wear a wrap, so I don’t mess up the look of your beautiful dress.”

“Nonsense!” Tessa said, frowning at her. “You look fabulous, and the scar is part of you. I didn’t even notice it until you pointed it out.”

“Wabi-sabi,” said Aiko, nodding in agreement.

“What’s that?” Katie asked.

“Shit! We gotta hurry. You two get dressed, we gotta get downstairs!”

“But what’s wabi-sabi?” Katie whined as Aiko pushed her into the bathroom where Tessa was waiting with make-up.

“Later!”