Sana's really looking forward to her bath tonight, Viola is a lovely girl but always makes her sweat a lot.

She opens the door to her bedroom, already anticipating having some time to unwind.

She freezes. On the other side of the door, instead of her room, there is a... vast hall.

It looks like some royal palace, not that Sana has ever seen one, but the shiny surfaces, chairs made of metal, it all speaks of someone incredibly rich.

She's far too curious to not investigate. She takes a few tentative steps inside the massive room, while the door - completely forgotten - closes softly behind her.

The lights are so bright, probably magical, and the whole room is filled with decorations! Red, gold and green ribbons on the walls, and a tree full of trinkets that look incredibly expensive, made of glass and other materials she doesn't even recognize.

There is a person sitting on one of the chairs, and Sana cautiously approaches them.

It's a woman, dressed in a pair of nearly-black leggings worn under a short dress. "Well, fancy seeing you here. Shithead. Once these hallucinations are over, I'm gonna go smash someone's face in at my local dueling gym. How do you like to relieve stress, figment of my imagination?"

"My name is Sana, I don't know anyone called Seeted. And I... don't think this is an illusion, it looks way too detailed and, well, real? Do you know who is the Lord of this castle?"

"I was insulting you. And you're telling me that people can just walk into their homes and randomly arrive at an interdimensional bar that serves drinks appearing from nowhere? We know that people can have some very vivid dreams, trust me. Parallel universe drinking establishments aren't real. I'm sure the lord of this 'castle' is the god of beer and jolly, hah."

"Oh. You better apologize miss, there are consequences to insulting me. I don't know what a bar is, and I may even agree with you that it's downright weird how I got here from my bedroom door, which is still there, behind -"

As she says that, she turns to point to the door, but loses her thread when she realizes that there are at least a dozen identical doors on the wall, none of which look like her bedroom's one.

"Your weird mind trick almost worked! But I'm really not scared of anything that a hallucination might do to me. Honestly, I should calm down, still." The woman walks towards the doors, hoping that opening them to see what's behind them at least adds some fun to this hallucination.

Mind trick? What mind trick?

She's about to voice a rebuttal, when the stranger opens a door to... a world, with impossibly high buildings, made of glass and what looks like unreally flat slabs of rock, painted in a perfect white. They look too fragile to be that tall, and yet they stand, more than the eye can count.

She can see some mechanical contraptions in the distance, running faster than a horse, while making no sound.

Is this... Axis? Did she just insult an Outsider?

Carefully, deferentially, she asks "My lady, is that... your native plane?"

"It's a city, not a plane. If your planes are this huge, where the hell did you come from? Anyway, I wanna stop hallucinating. See ya later once I've asked the guys at the hospital what happened!" She waits a few seconds, deliberately waving at Sana before starting to make her way back to something that isn't an obvious hallucination, at least.

She's so confused. Why does the outsider think she comes from Hell? She's clearly human, not a devil!

"Wait!" and then, hesitantly "Please. I'm confused by what's happening and need to understand what all this is.".

As she says that, she follows the outsider through the door, keeping it open with one hand.

The woman just shrugs. "I don't think it's harmful to have imaginary friends. Sure, you can come with me. I'm looking forward to seeing if you do anything else fun."

Sana doesn't feel imaginary at all, truth be told, but it's probably useless to try more convincing now.

She looks at the door, still showing the palace on the other side, and hesitates.

The outsider was able to get this door to her plane from that weird palace, show if she goes back now she can also probably get a door to her home again.

But. This is (probably) Axis.

Sana knows that, realistically, she's going to be Judged as Neutral Evil, and thus get the choice between Hell and the Abyss. Or maybe just end up in the Abyss, like her Lady. Either way, there is no way she can make Axis and... it looks nice here. There are green fields, buildings that no human hand could make, and the outsider was rude, sure but... not violent. Nor vindictive.

She thinks about Sofia, how worried she would be to find her gone, her bathrobe untouched, all her jewels and gold still there.

Could she bring Sofia here? She has some savings, and gold is gold, they could probably...

Would they even let her stay here? She's still alive, she doesn't really belong, and she's not even of the right alignment. The outsider sounded indifferent, which is surprising for a being of Law.

"I want to follow you, but can we make sure that I'll be able to get home first?"

The woman turns around and looks at Sana, with a stunned expression. "... wow. I think you might somehow be someone real. Yes, yes of course. Try some of the other doors; I'll be holding this one open, ready for you."

Thank you, she doesn't say. She steps into Axis, looking for another door. There!

She opens it, heart beating fast, just to find that it leads to a room with walls covered in tiles. She stares, as if her glare could magically make the room change, then slowly, dejected, closes it back.

As the door closes, she feels... something. The tiniest  spark of energy running from her hand to the door's handle.

She concentrates on the feeling and...

Opens the door. In front of her, now, she can see the palace, with the magic lights and... oh, wow, are those stars in the window? They look so pretty...

She leans against the door, feeling suddenly tired, then closes it and turns towards the outsider.

"I am ready. I will follow you."

As she walks back to the other door, she asks: "May I know your name, mylady?"

"The name's Cynthia. And I guess you might be real, after all. Now, how about following me home so I can start showing you around?"

She's in front of one of the skyscrapers surrounding a courtyard, with bright white paths of sand. There are a few people walking around packed circles full of flowers, colored in red and purple. She walks up towards a greyish square against the wall the skyscrapers, designed so the door is camouflaged against the wall. The door slides away, revealing a lobby with many widely-spaced columns, hiding elevators. She walks up towards the one labelled D7, before looking back at Sana, waiting expectantly for her to follow her.

Cynthia! Such a... normal name. "I will follow you."

Ooooh, the flowers are pretty, she particularly loves the purple ones!

She follows her inside the tower, and just stares confused when Cynthia stops next to a column. Ooooh, is that of marble?

Eventually, the elevator shows up. "Just walk right on in", she says. The elevator is unusually roomy and square, perhaps 3 meters by 3 meters, with white walls. It starts racing up after Cynthia pushes 2 buttons on the elevator panel. Sana feels a fair bit of acceleration, before Cynthia pushes a tiny, cylindrical key into the wall and reveals the huge living room of her apartment. The view of the window only really shows the skyscraper opposite hers, though. "Hope it's big enough."

Why is there an empty room inside the column? Why is it moving? Sana is so confused.

"Hope it's big enough."

She must be making fun of her. This house is almost three times as big as hers, and Sana is rich enough to have a separate room for Sofia. The only weird thing is that there aren't any defined rooms, it's just a single open space. Do people even need a bedroom in Axis?

"It is appropriate for your caliber, my Lady."

Cynthia chuckles slightly at Sana's words. "I sure as hell hope it would be! I work hard to earn my money. Anyway, how are you liking it? Wanna just relax and sprawl out on the couch or something?"

Her mentioning Hell again... this is clearly Axis though, there is no one being tortured, no fire...

"I think it's delightful, tastefully decorated."

She's still feeling a bit dizzy from the effort of opening the door earlier, and would actually appreciate being able to relax.

sprawl out on the couch

Is this... an invitation to lay together?

Cynthia stretches a few times, before walking to the microwave and starting to heat up a cup of green tea. She's really looking forward to it; she hasn't had green tea for a few days now, so it'll be kind of like having it for the first time. The cup, with the blue and green bubble pattern around it, slowly spins in the microwave, and she thinks it's fun to see it moving like that.

Sana lays on the couch, keeping her posture open but not explicit.

She is fascinated by the spinning contraption that Cyntha put her mug in. She wonders what it's doing to it, it's hard to tell. There is no heat coming off it, nor apparent magic.

She is kind of staring at it.

Cynthia looks at Sana mildly amused, before getting out the tea steeper and spinning it a few times around in the cup. She turns on the timer function of the microwave, putting the cup on top of it, before walking off towards Sana. She kneels on the floor next to her, wanting to stretch a bit before sitting down and having her tea in the meditation posture. There's what looks like an unusually thick rug under her feet; it's thick and soft enough to cushion her knees. She doesn't need the pillow if she's just sitting for a few minutes.

"Well, uhh. Just sitting here is kind of boring, don't you think? Anything you're curious about or want to talk about?"

Why is she kneeling?

Well, uhh. Just sitting here is kind of boring, don't you think?

Oh, so she is interested.

Anything you're curious about or want to talk about?

Or maybe not? She's getting very mixed signals here!

"Well, most of all I'm curious about you."

"Sure, you barely know me after all. I'm Cynthia, and I'm a support worker at a local hospital. My job is to really just be a pretty face and comforting touch for patients, so they don't feel isolated or touch-starved if they're stuck in the hospital. I really like it, so I spend long hours at work, and it feels so amazing to get paid for doing something I like so well. I also do scuba diving, working out, and meditation, but that's everyone. I'm uhh. Not someone with a lot to say about themselves."

"I also work with providing a pretty face and comforting touches! It really is great to get paid for enjoying yourself. Well. Most of the time at least. What is scuba diving? I've never heard of that."

She will lean towards Cynthia, her elbow resting on her leg, looking curious and interested.

The lights in the microwave flash a bit, so Cynthia walks off to pick up her green tea. She's tempted to take a sip, but stops herself before getting back in the proper pose on the meditation mat.

"Fancy coincidence that we both have the same job! Scuba diving means you have the tanks on your back and the mask on your face so you don't have to hold your breath? In case you didn't know that it was called that."

Cynthia takes a sip of the green tea, grinning to herself with how fantastic it tastes. She doesn't look at Sana, but makes it clear that she's listening to her intently.

"Tanks and a mask? For diving? I'm confused, I don't think I've ever heard of diving with a mask, is it something traditional?"

Sana can smell some kind of herbal infusion coming from the mug. It feels nice. She relaxes her posture, leaning back into the couch.

"What. You didn't even think of having a mask over your eyes so water doesn't get into your eyes? Huh? It shouldn't be something traditional. Have you ever even been to a pool?"

How would that even work? She's so confused!

"We don't really have pools near my city, I usually get Sofia to bring water from the river if I want to take a bath. Which is really often, I bathe almost every day!"

Cynthia starts laughing when Sana says that she bathes almost every day.

"Wow, you really came from a backwater, huh... Also, who's Sofia? And what do you mean, you 'get her to bring water from the river'"? Cynthia looks at Sana with suspicion and contempt.

"She's my maid. Absolutely loyal, and really smart." Sana is smiling fondly now, for the first time since she met Cynthia. "And bringing water to the house is among her responsibilities."

Cynthia responds with rage, instinctively smacking Sana in the face. "She is not yours! She is not loyal, you've just broken her! She is an equal and whole person! Where is she, tell me now! I'm not letting her languish and toil while you just lay back and leech off her work!"

"She gets paid for that! I'm not a slaver!!! She works for me because she wants to!"

She is now standing, hands clenched in fists.

Cynthia calms down, before looking at Sana again. "And what else could she be spending time doing? Helping make food for everyone? Helping children have a happy childhood? Caring for her aging family members? Think of how petty and wasteful it is to have someone hired just as a servant so you don't have to do your own chores."

"And with what gold she would do all that exactly? You may be used to being so rich that you can afford to spend time of frivolous Good activities, but were I come from nobody has time to give happiness to children. I'm already thankful that my country has orphanages at all, and children don't simply die if their parents do. Abyss, we even have schools for the smartest ones! That's already better than most other countries. Life is harsh in the Material, we don't have the resources you have here in Axis."

"Mylady"

Cynthia gets saddened. "You told me that you had a servant to bring water from the river. I should have realized... I'm sorry, I - your life must have been miserable. And everyone else who didn't have servants..."

The first tears start sliding down her face.

"You called me "mylady"! Fucker..." she begins sobbing and wiping tears off her face.

Sana is startled! People don't cry in front of strangers (or at all if they're not kids, really) in Cheliax! She doesn't know how to react.

She decides pretending to not notice the tears is the most dignified thing to do.

"My life is actually pretty good, most people don't have servants, no. Some people actually have slaves, but I think freedom is important, and if you pay a person you're less likely to find a dagger between your shoulders when you let your guard down."

"Aren't you a lady? You live in a magic tower, with columns of pure marble, rooms that move and you even use magic for something as mundane as heating your infusions. Your house is huge and you are powerful enough that you can afford to invite a stranger home without fearing for your life."

"I'm not a lady. There are no ladies. This is just the life me and my fellow human beings have built, together, for each other. It's a magic tower, yes. Made using the wisdom and life's work of thousands. Magic has become so cheap we can casually use it for heating tea. And I know that I have dedicated, fearless guards keeping me safe. But we don't need slaves, or servants or nobility for any of that. We just need each other, working every day to make life a tiny bit richer, safer and happier for everyone."

Did they execute their nobles like Galt? But if so, how can they be so... peaceful? Maybe they had more time to create a stable society after the revolution.

"Thousands, for each tower... but I have seen dozens of them, how could you... how many people live in this city?

I hadn't noticed your bodyguards, but I guess if magic is cheap to you they could stay Invisible at all times.

How can you manage people and taxes without nobility? I know Galt tried but the result is... an unruly chaos, where the Council gets executed every year and yet your roads looked peaceful, and the people calm.

How can you have people working for everyone? Wouldn't the greediest just... take advantage of that?"

"Well, it's thousands for all the towers. This city has probably 5 or so million residents. And those bodyguards aren't with me now, everyone gets bodyguards that they can summon at any time. We manage people and taxes by using bureaucrats and mayors and high-consensus votes. Galt sounds like utter insanity to me; if the council truly gets executed every year, then eventually someone else should take over, shouldn't they?"

"The roads are peaceful because we know nobody has any cause to hurt another, and people are calm because they know there exists no reason to hurt them. And it's simple to have people working for everyone: just don't get in their way."

"Five... million people. I don't think there are five million people on all of Golarion. And you all live in a single city? How do you deal with the inevitable plagues?

You can Summon at will? What... creature do you usually summon for your protection?" This will be very informative on her alignment

"Oh Galt is utter insanity, better to be ruled by Hell than to live in that instability. The issue is exactly that 'someone else takes over'. And then they kill the previous rulers"

"Don't you have thieves? Assassins? Kidnappers? Then this must definitely be Axis, there is no way to avoid those unless everybody is selected for their Law"

"Well, we stay at home and have food sent to us when there's plagues. We have room enough to make that comfortable and to not feel cramped in any way."

"I summon guards to protect me, not horses or cows. What were you expecting?"

"And of course there are bad people, still. But they must fight an entire world of good people, so they never get very far or do much harm."

"I was expecting an Archon, or an Arbiter. But I can now see you meant summon, not Summon."

"I can see how having so many good people means that you will win any fight, even a powerful wizard can't defeat an army on its own."

"Archon? Arbiter? What are those? Are those what you call the people from the state who kept you and your things safe, back from where you came from?

And of course, a powerful wizard can't defeat an army on its own. But it's deeper than that: if a wizard destroyed the tower we live in now, it would be hard for him to get one to replace it. He would need an unbelievable amount of people, under his perfect control, if he wanted to force them to build him this tower. It'd be more work than using his wizard powers and asking for a tower like this in return, instead."

"They are outsiders, being from the outer planes. Archons are Lawful Good, Abiters are Lawful Neutral. The state I live in, Cheliax, would never call Archons, they would usually call devils...

But in any case for keeping things safe we usually have humans, mostly guards, some time Inquisitors"

"A sufficiently powerful wizard could just build their own tower, or even get a permanent demiplane eventually?"

"Outsiders, outer planes, lawful good... none of those words mean anything. Is there a reason that Cheliax would use devils? They sound dangerous."

"Also, that's exactly my point! Wizards have much better options than violence. You don't even need to force people into your bidding, you just get your own tower without dealing with conquering or fighting anyone!"

"You don't have outer planes here? How do your afterlives work? What do you know about Gods?

Cheliax uses devils because, well, most wizards are Evil. They are dangerous, but if you summon them you can control them, so they're only dangerous to your enemies."

"Well, no, we only have skyplanes. We haven't checked our afterlives, at all. Only thing that makes sense is that you just stop feeling things forever, like you're asleep and never wake up. We're really sure that Gods are just ideas people came up with and aren't real in any way.

Cheliax wizards are evil how? Wouldn't evil wizards use archons or whatever instead? What's stopping them, do archons not want to deal with evil people?"

"Yeah, archons are Good and will not work for Evil people at all, and Evil means... just about what you would expect? Selfishness, ambition, not caring about others, wanting power... Basically putting your life above the lives of others.

Good is working without pay, sacrificing yourself, doing things that you think will help people even when they don't want your help..."

"But back to more important topics. Gods are real, you just need to go to a temple and see the priest there create water to know that clerics exist, and their magic is different from the wizard one, in a way that I can't explain but a wizard or cleric could."

"Wait. What do you mean you haven't checked your afterlives? Can't you scry? Can't powerful wizards just plane shift to them?"

"Ambition and wanting power as evil sounds a bit off to me, but the rest sound just about right. Gods aren't real, we used to go to temples, but priests didn't make water, trust me.

We mean that it's impossible to check the afterlife because people are dead and don't talk about it. There is no scrying. And there are no wizards to plane shift! I'm not sure where you came from or how they did those things, but I assure you, cleric and wizard magic is the same because neither of them are real!"

"I've seen a priest create water. Granted, it could have been an illusion, but that would be a spell too.

Clerics and wizards are real, I've seen them! I might have become one if I had been smarter...

And the Gods are also real, otherwise how would you explain Commune and Miracle?

"Well, if priests could just create water, we'd start having fewer plumbers. Huge amounts of people have spent huge amount of time and energy to discover magic like that, and we can guarantee you that nothing remotely similar has happened in our world. I know of neither "commune" nor "miracle", beyond those done by charlatans doing what we definitely know to be impossible, so there is nothing that needs explaining."

"If your priests can't create water, they're probably just charlatans, on that we agree. Plenty of those. But... I wish I could show you a spell...

You could come to my world, but a Good person like you would probably be in danger immediately upon setting foot in Cheliax, to say nothing of a temple of Asmodeus.

On the other hand, I'll definitely need to get back home today, tell Sofia I'm fine.

Maybe you could come with me, Hell, even talk to Sofia to make sure she's choosing her job freely, and then we can get back to your plane world? I still want to know more about it, it seems so clean and beautiful, and you have incredible wealth and magic."

"Your world sounds very, very scary to me. I'm rather unwilling to risk that danger, but if you bring Sofia back, I'll know enough to try convincing someone willing to take you and everyone else from Cheliax or anywhere else awful. In any case, we'd be beyond happy to shelter you and Sofia, together with anyone else escaping Cheliax. I'm happy to volunteer this home to you, Sofia and any other potential refugees, just to get started."

"It's not that awful. Yes, we are ruled by the Hell-appointed Thrunes, but at least we have peace, and orphanages, and schools....

I think it would be too dangerous for you to accept other people, you never know who is an informant for the secret police, but I trust Sofia and... I'm willing to trust you. For now."

"We can get back to the palace where we met, I get Sofia and some things from home, you wait me in the palaxe and then open a door for all three to here?"

"We have peace, and loving families, and schools built on sprawling green acres. Don't resign yourself to living somewhere like that. I noticed that you're much less trusting than me, what with your talk of me being able to let you into my home without worrying for my life. I guess I'd start being less trusting, too. I'm not sure I can control that the door opens into here, unfortunately."

"So. Earlier I was able to open a door to the palace. If you keep it open for me I can probably get back with Sofia?"

"Well, let's try it?" Cynthia walks over to the door into her apartment, opening it and revealing that it somehow has turned into a door leading into the mysterious intermediate space where she met Sana. "I guess I hold the door open? And you know how to lead Sofia back to here?"

"Yes, I think I do".

Sana walks through the door that Cynthia is holding and immediately looks for a different one to open, hopefully to her world, ideally to her house.

This time it doesn't require any effort, and as she opens it she sees Sofia, waiting directly in front of it.

"Is something the matter? It's been a while, and you still haven't -"

Her train of thought is utterly derailed by what she can now see on the other side of the door. She stares, unbelieving at what's very clearly not her mistress's bedroom.

She speaks curtly, in Taldane "Come on this side, quickly. I don't want anyone to possibly notice what's going on."

She follows, without hesitation.

"Hey, Cynthia, is it OK for you to hold the door a couple minutes? I want to explain the situation a bit, and give her the choice to come or stay"

"Well, I was going to hold the door. So yes, I can honestly wait all day."

Wait. That wasn't Taldane. None of the conversations she's had with Cynthia were! She was too distracted to notice it before, but now that she's spoken to Sofia again, the difference is clear.

"Sofia, can you understand us?"

"Yes, why? Oh. Oh wow, this is so strange"

"Just the last to add on the pile, honestly. So... How are you feeling about a vacation?"

"A vacation? But what will you do without me?"

"I meant together..." - Sana smiles despite herself

"Oh..." she looks flustered - for a Chelish person - "Of course! Where are we going? What do you want to pack?"

"So... where is in fact the interesting question. This Good lady here is called Cynthia, and has offered to host us if we want to escape Cheliax. In her house." Sana points to the door "Which. Is in a different world. That looks like Axis to me but they don't have afterlives here, apparently, so it's probably not that."

She pauses for a second, and then continues.

"... and I think I'm going to take her up on her offer. At least for a while, until I understand if I like it better than Cheliax.

Or until Cynthia realizes that I'm Evil and she's trusting me too much."

"So. Do you want to come?"

"Yes. If you'll have me."

"You don't have to ask me, it's Cynthia that's hosting us."

She looks at the size of the house. Makes a guess to the rank of the foreigner.

"Will you host me, good Lady?"

"Gladly! I've heard so much about how hard your life was, and just want you to be able to feel safe and live comfortably. This is a house only really meant for one person, note, so I'd want to upgrade. But that comes later; for now, please make yourselves comfortable."

Only meant for one person? How rich are these people???

"Pack whatever you need, but try to be fast. I don't know if anyone can detect the door, but I don't want any bad surprises."

She opens the door again.

Sofia is quick with packing: both of her changes of clothes, some gold, and a small bag with all her personal belongings, and comes back to the weird palace.

Her first instinct is to tell Sofia to pack her things too, but then remembers the discussion she had about servants, and tells her to hold the door instead.

Sana packs her jewels, her gold, her accounting books and all of her clothes (five full changes). She then puts her profane icon of her Lady in a bag with the other things, takes a last look at her house, and closes the door.

"I very much don't want one either!" Cynthia says somewhat panicked, placing her hand against her leggings, as she waits at the door to her apartment.

"Let's go."

They walk through the door to Cynthia's house. The door closes.

Sofia is watching everything around her, starstruck by all the space and how everything is so white and clean and... how are those towers standing, with that much glass?

Cynthia thinks for a few moments before walking over to the huge window that nearly covers the opposite wall. She somewhat hurriedly slides a sliding switch on the wall by the window, and all the windows outside suddenly turn black.

"Well, I'm not fully sure about what we'll be doing now! I guess you'd want to unpack in this main room, and then we can talk about what we'll maybe do next?"

"What do you mean, main room?"

"Well, this is the biggest room of the house. And I also have a bathroom and a bedroom? It'd be weird if this room was the whole house, right? Where'd you even sleep?"

"You have a room just for bathing in???"

"Well, I wouldn't want this room to get wet, would I? And it'd be weird to have the toilet just out in the open."

"You have your toilet in your house??? Isn't it... unsanitary?"

"No you idiot! I'm not heading down 40 stories to use an outhouse!"

"She is not an idiot, don't you dare!!!" Calm down, this is undignified, and you really don't want to offend your host. "Sofia, dear, they have incredibly magic. I have seen her heat her infusion without a fire, rooms move without a sound, machines faster than horses. They probably have some magic for taking care of making an outhouse an... inhouse?"

"Sorry sorry sorry, I shouldn't be so mean. You obviously wouldn't know. It's just that I'm... sheltered, and I got kind of offended by her seeming to think I was unsanitary like that. We don't need magic, we can just use water!"

"You said you don't have clerics for creating water, and you didn't know about summoning elementals so... how do you make water appear?"

"The water comes from wells and rivers, just like you're used to. And we just pipe it up here."

"How do you get it to go... up? Is it more magic?"

"Electricity is basically magic! It lets us run the pumps."

"I'm still confused by you having so many wizards that you can just have ones dedicated to moving water, but you don't know about summoning or outer planes...

Maybe it is because everyone is Good, so you don't have enough wars and dangers for them to get to the higher circles?"

"We don't have any wizards! We don't know about summoning or outer planes, because we can just call people and travel on planes."

"But then how can you have so much magic! I'm so confused.

And tired, actually, which is probably one reason why we're arguing more than is necessary.

You said you have a room for baths? If it's not imposing too much, I would love to take some time to wash myself and decompress."

"Yes, feel free to enjoy it. You'd probably want to decompress; I'll set up somewhere to sleep." Cynthia walks into her bedroom, before returning with a Japanese-style futon.

"Not to be an idiot who usually walks down 40 stories to use an outhouse but... where is your bath room? And how do I fill the bath with water?"

"There are many things you'd want to learn! Let me help you." Cynthia opens the door to the bathroom, revealing a rectangular space of maybe 150 square feet, with a squarish toilet on one end, as well a shower near the other end of the room. There's a sink behind the shower, the sink placed behind a glass door that keeps everything in it safe from the shower when the shower is in use. The shower has a divider and a shower enclosure door in front of it, making it so the shower essentially has a built-in pool. "So that thing against the end, that's our inhouse, as you so delightfully called it. It's actually called a toilet! And on the opposite of the room, you have the bath, shower and sink. You fill the bath with water like so:"

Cynthia takes off the smaller handheld mini shower head, placing into a holder near the end of the bath. Then she turns the left handle of the mixing battery, causing water to start flowing out from the handheld shower head into the bath. "You can also fill the bath using the shower head." She turns the knob built into the wall, starting the flow of water from the shower head built into the ceiling. Everything in the room seems to be made of beautiful, perfect marble.

"So the 'shower head' is just raining, but in a closed space? That's soooo weird. Wouldn't you get cold by just standing in the rain?"

"Does the inhouse toilet work with your world's magic too? Does it just bring everything away with water when you're done?"

"This other one controls the temperature, so you're really nice and warm." Cynthia turns the right handle on the blending battery.

"And we don't use magic, we just use water, as you suggested, to clean things out."

"You have warm water coming to your house! Just when I thought I couldn't be more surprised. I think I'm going to try the warm rain, thank you."

And Sana gets to enjoy standing under comfortably heated rain in the all-white marble bathroom, in an enclosure big enough that her hands don't even touch the walls if she spreads them out. If she turns up the heat, she'll notice that the water heats up instantly. She can also use the handheld head if she wants to focus the water on certain parts of her body, or even lie down and have a proper bath, thanks to the divider.

She will luxuriate in the warm rain, almost burning herself when she turns the temperature up and the water goes from warm to SCALDING in an heartbeat.

She tries the handheld head, appreciating how it allows her to direct the water, and the pressure that it can exert.

She gets almost carried away in religious bliss, but then remembers that she's not home, and just finishes washing up.

When she's done she grabs her clothes in one hand and walks back to the main room.

"Hope it was nice, Sana." Cynthia waves. "I think you'd want some more, new clothes. Especially if you're thinking of returning to your old work. I can show you some of my work clothes, maybe. If you think we have the time."

"I already have five full sets, why would I need more? I even have one which is reserved for the bed.

Oh, I get it, is it because I would stand out as foreign? Then it might be worth getting one outfit, possibly two.

I'm not sure I can afford clothes of the same high quality you have, though. On my world, I would be able to afford 6 or 7 outfits with my savings."

"Well, yeah. I haven't seen your sets. But I think it's unlikely that they're to our tastes, that'd be quite a coincidence. There's a tailor that I recommend highly, and I think that one set reserved for the bed would end up a bit untenable, so you'd want more than just one such outfit. And you'd want to have spares for when you normal clothes are being sent to the laundry, as well. I'm pretty sure you'd be able to afford clothes like we have, even if you were so poor that you could only have 6 or 7 sets in your world. And I'm sure the hospital would give you an advance to buy the clothing you need."

"Anyway, would you follow me?" Cynthia leads Sana towards a closet in one part of the main room. It's maybe 10 feet wide. She opens the sliding door, revealing that it's packed with all sorts of dresses and leggings and underwear and tops. She grabs out 2 from a drawer under all the coat hangers, those being a fairly long pair of shorts that match her skin color more or less perfectly, reaching a bit above her waist to just a bit over her knees, together with a bra in the similar skin-like color that's nearly impossible to distinguish from the color of the hand that's holding it. "These are really my workhorses; I can wear them under anything and for anything. I use these maybe 80% of the time, and I can wear em all day without feeling remotely uncomfortable. And they let me basically ignore it if I'm wearing a short skirt or revealing top. You'll want a similar set for yourself, first of all. After that, it gets more subjective. You'd want to look at some inspiration."

"Ooooh, so you can look undressed and be suggestive while still being technically covered. Such a perversion of the rules. I LOVE them!!!"

If Cynthia is paying attention she'll be able to see a rare genuine smile at that.

"The seams are invisible, these must be worth a lot of money!"

"No? I did a lot of rounds of tailoring for them, which added a fair bit to the cost. But they're just a single piece of fabric glued together. They're maybe the cheapest thing in my wardrobe."

"Well, this is what an outfit would cost in my world." She counts out 8 pieces of solid gold from her bag, and shows them to Cynthia.

"Which makes me think, it may be easier to get an advance from your hospital than try to explain why my coins are stamped by a kingdom nobody knows."

"... yeah, it would be easier. But well, coins like that could buy you a lot more than a single outfit. At the same time, it doesn't take many days of work to earn that amount at a hospital. So it's not really that much in terms of money, no offense."

"Your world is so rich I could scarcely believe it if I hadn't seen its magic firsthand. Being able to buy an outfit with mere days of work is unthinkable for most people in mine.

It's so weird to me that the hospital would give me money without really knowing who I am. Although I guess you could vouch for me, if you're so foolish."

"Yup, it's glorious to be rich. The hospital wouldn't need to know who you are, in every situation but this. People get paid money from the government just for being alive, so the hospital doesn't really need to know you to be sure that you're good for it. I could vouch for you, but the advance from the hospital pales in comparison to the income you earn from doing your work, so it's an impossibly stupid decision for you to betray me. Although I guess you could betray me after I vouched for you, if you're so foolish."

"Wait, what? You get paid money for being alive??? But then why does anybody work at all?

And, I'm not going to betray you, I'm Evil but not, like, evil. Nor stupid."

And I like you. She doesn't say.

"People work at all because they want more than what merely being alive earns them. I'm sure that there are those in your world working, even once they have enough income to keep themselves alive. It's called basic income, and I want it for everyone in every world, including yours."

"I still don't understand how you can raise enough taxes to give money to everyone if people can just... not work and then pay no taxes, but I've never been smart enough for wizardry after all."

"Well, I'm paying taxes, right now, for being allowed to live here. If all that tax money goes to everyone, then half of people pay in, and the other half get money back out. And the money people get back out proves enough."

"Now, Sana, because I find the idea of having a single person dedicated to serving a single other person so uncomfortable, and I'm not 100% comfortable with you getting Sofia to do things. I'll want to hire a part-time housekeeper to do all the things that Sofia is doing now, just so I can be 100% sure that she isn't in an uncomfortable position where she has no choice but to do what you're saying. I just think it feels so much nicer to not have that weird, kind of power imbalance, in a master and servant relationship. Just because it feels so much nicer, on my end."

"You all really are just incredibly wealthy."

"But nobody is forcing me to do what my mistress asks! I'm her maid, not her slave!

If I don't agree with something I can just pack my things and go away, and I have threatened to do it in the past.

If you hire someone else to do my job, what will I do with my life? And someone else will not know how to do things properly! My mistress deserves perfection."

"I told you I was fine."

"No, you were not. There is a reason he will not be allowed back."

"Hey, Sofia, I'm doing this for me, not for you. If you feel like doing service for Sana, I'm not gonna get in your way! I just feel uncomfortable with the idea of full-time, live-in servants, is the thing. So... I guess I'd be fine with it if you kept it out of sight? Or just tell the housekeeper you don't want something done, if you're really wanting to serve Sana. Or, actually, you could work as a thomassian housekeeper, if you want something to do with your life, and serve many people instead of just Sana; I mean, it sounds like something you'd find gratifying."

"Oh, I can be very discreet, don't you worry.

Working for... more people?"

She looks at Sana, unsure.

"With all their magic there will be much less to do. Even just having water in the house will make washing clothes much faster.

If you feel like it, why not? If you don't... apparently you will just get money out of nothing."

"Sofia sounded like the kind of person who wouldn't be happy with money out of nothing, to me at least. And yes, you're absolutely right that there's much, much less to do. So one housekeeper can do the domestic work for many people, freeing them to work even harder on giving the housekeeper more medical care, food and spacious housing! So in a weird way, the housekeeper isn't really anyone's servant, but it's kind of a system where everyone is everyone's servant, meaning nobody's really a servant."

"Oh, yes, I wouldn't be happy with doing nothing with my time, nor getting money for nothing.

I find the idea of people being servants of each other so confusing! But... helping someone is why I chose this job in the first place, so I think I'll be fine with helping more than one person, if I have the time."

"Housekeepers tend to help a lot of people! So you'll get to meet some new people, too. Anyway, we'd get on to doing that after moving out to someplace designed for 3 people? I mean, it's awkward to have 3 people and just 1 proper bedroom."

"I wouldn't mind sharing."

"Yes, we should get a place with proper beds for everyone."

"That is correct." Cynthia starts lying down on her futon, testing it out a few times. "Sana, you'd want to join me on getting some proper clothes tomorrow? So you can get some work in the hospital, because you wouldn't be satisfied with living off gruel in a hut in the woods?"

"I will join you, yes."

"Actually, if the clothes are as cheap as you said... Sofia, would you like to also get some? Your outfits are as likely to draw attention as mine, and you don't want that if you want to work for other people."

"You're right! I would love to come along."

Cynthia begin pulls the blanket of the futon over her, feeling cozy under it. "So, yup. My bed is way bigger than it needs to be for just me; hopefully, it's not too tight a fit for the 2 of you. It's through the door that you haven't entered yet." Inside, there's a king-size bed, next to a closet. There's also a light in the ceiling, currently turned off, and an ever so faint breeze flowing through the room.

"But you shouldn't be giving up your bed for us!"

"The bed she's currently in would be a very snug fit for two, and while I'm fine with sleeping with you for the night, I still don't want to lay with you, so a bigger bed seems advised."

"Oh. You're right then."

Well, at least she gets to sleep with her mistress again, and this time Sana won't be crying in her sleep. Hopefully.

Morning comes, and Cynthia is reveling in the ability to walk around in just the workhorses she can wear under anything. She's holding a cup of tea, looking down at the beautiful green courtyard through the polarized window in front of her, turning all other windows she can see into black squares on the white buildings.

Is she naked? Oh, no, it's the clothes she has shown her yesterday. Yupp. Still loves them.

They really look great on Cynthia.

"Why are all the windows black today? More of the local magic?"

"Yup, it's magic called polarization. Their windows looking into here are black, too. But I can still see outside, though not inside their windows. I like to look down at the courtyard from all the way up here." She bends over to look at the flowers and the dawn's light slowly spreading over the grass.

It really looks like she's naked. And yet, her modesty is protected.

Alas.

"It's really nice that you can have a nice view of the courtyard while to get a nice view of you one needs to be inside the house."

"It really is a nice view!

The flowers are so beautiful!"

"Yup, I think they're just so great. You should see some of our birds. Now: you all want breakfast, right? What are you thinking of having? Just imagine that you're infinitely wealthy, live a little."

"I'll just have what you have."

"Same."

"Sure." Cynthia walks over to the phone, before ordering some soy sauce chicken. "The food is on its way". Then she starts enjoying her black tea, as its aroma slowly spreads through the air.

"Yes, more or less, the food doesn't come from a servant at all. And I have more herbs than you'd even know what to do with!" Cynthia opens the cupboard over the microwave, revealing maybe 2 dozen small, thin cylinders filled with tea leaves, all placed on a rack as if they were alchemy reagents. "Have a preference, or want my recommendation?"

"Surprise me!"

"May I have some too?"

Cynthia takes two cups from the cupboard, fills them with water from the sink, and places them in the microwave. Then she grabs a small portion of green tea leaves, and steeps them inside each of the cups for a few seconds. "This one's a bit sweet, but it also has a really nice, zesty taste, as well. It might be slightly hot right now."

Like owner, like tea.

"Thank you."

Cynthia sits down at a table with 4 chairs, keeping her legs spread out a bit, as she stretches out her arms again. After 20 or so minutes of waiting, a chime can be heard and Cynthia opens the elevator, revealing a cute cargo robot carrying 3 metal boxes on top of each other. They contain the food, a huge portion of rice, vegetables and chicken, together with plates and even metal cutlery for the 3 of them. "This will be fantastic, trust me." She takes her first bite and thoroughly enjoys the food.

"I really understand why you like those skin-clothes. They really make me think you're naked."

"Oh, you have golems too."

After taking some bites: "Sofia, I'm really sorry. But this is actually better than your cooking."

"It is! It's so tender, and flavorful! What is this black sauce? Doesn't taste like anything I've had before!"

"It's called soy sauce. Made from soybeans, which very well might be something you've never had before." After finishing her food, Cynthia walks over to the window, where she starts putting on her outfit for the day: a flattering pair of leggings, worn beneath a dress with a short skirt that fits loosely around her hips and waist. The dress is notably quite sheer on several panels of fabric in the back, revealing a bit of skin.

"It's delicious!"

"What kind of fabric is this?" she asks, while lightly touching the most transparent parts of the dress.

To understand how the fabric would feel on her skin, of course.

"It's a fabric named nylon. The main idea is that it's strong, so you can make it unbelievably thin without it fraying or breaking." The fabric is quite soft and makes a mesh that feels cool to the touch.

"I'm looking forward to getting my own nylon clothes."

"Down we go!" Cynthia pushes the button and calls the elevator to her floor, before starting to ride it downwards. After reaching the ground floor, she walks in front of the others, leading them to the car that she had called in advance. It's truly huge, and the 3 of them can easily fit in the capacious interior space, with 3 rows of seats.

"Uh, so that's what they look like inside."

"This looks like a carriage, but where are the horses?"

"We've replaced them with electric motors. They're hidden under the car. Basically, we want to dedicate every inch of our cities to people, and having horses mean we'd have less space for people." She makes her way to the driver's seat, sitting with the same posture she had when she had breakfast.

"Should we sit next to you or back?"

"Sit back, I like having all the space."

"As you wish, mistress."

Cynthia just shrugs, before driving the trio to her favorite tailor. It's less than 10 minutes before they arrive, with Cynthia handing off her car to someone waiting near the store. As she enters, a showroom with all sorts of underwear and dresses, some sheer and others less so, sprawl out in front of them. "Uhh, Sofia, this tailor isn't an expert on work clothes for housekeepers, so he might not have everything you need. But those kinds of clothes don't tend to be too special, so I'm sure he'll be able to make something for you."

"That was incredibly smooth, I don't think even our best carriages can be that good."

"Oh, okay." She looks at the clothes and starts blushing.

"So, I get this one" - pointing - "and I think I get this one, even though it seems unsanitary. But is the deal with that one? It just seems incredibly uncomfortable!"

"Unsanitary? I'm not 100% sure why. And for the one that seems uncomfortable: that's the trick! If you tailor it just right, it's almost like wearing nothing! And there's something... powerful, it's hard to explain, about wearing clothes like that while feeling perfectly comfortable in them. It's one aspect of thomassian tastes that you'll really want to keep in mind."

"But it goes... nevermind. I guess if perfectly tailored it could make sense. Although I think I'll skip those for now."

"What about the skinlike clothes? Do they have those too?"

"Yes, they do. They just don't advertise them, so you ask the guy about it." Cynthia walks over to find the tailor. "I have 2 friends who need some new clothing, just the basics, really. One of them will be working as an emotional support worker, and the other a housekeeper. So, are the rooms ready?" The man, who likes the vibe of a silent, elderly tailor who's had customers for decades, just nods. He points at the rooms, and Cynthia walks over to Sana and Sofia.

"So, the way that things work is that you go into those rooms, over there, and we send in the clothes you're wanting to try through hatches. There are keys inside the doors, so you'll have complete privacy once you've locked it behind you." She points at a row of relatively small rectangular rooms, perhaps 6 feet by 12 feet, opening the door to two of them. The rooms all have a bench next to the door leading in, and a mirror that takes up the entire wall opposite the door leading in.

"So, Sana. Yes, they have the skinlike clothes. You'll take your own measurements, and then this tailor will get back to you with a pair for you. I think that's a great place to start. Sofia? Are you thinking of starting with getting a pair of those too, maybe?"

"They look really cool, I think I'd like a pair, yes" so I can wear them in front of my mistress

"How do we take our measurements?"

"There's a measuring tape placed on the bench inside. Use that one to get your measurements. Then the tailor will spin up the machines to get them cut to fit you, you'll try them on, and give feedback. Do you want them to go as low as mine, or do you want them a bit shorter?"

"They get made immediately? That's incredible!"

To Cynthia "What if I want you to give feedback? You're the local expert after all."

"I think I'll be fine with having them as long as yours, maybe I'll get shorter ones in the future."

"Yup! So, you should be ready to get started and try out some new outfits, right?" She smiles a bit at Sana.

"Let's do it!" she enters the room, does not lock it, and starts measuring herself.

The measuring tape is a material unlike anything she's ever seen, and she spends some moments trying to understand what it's made of. If feels like the softest of clothes, but is heavier than that... Probably something made with the local magic.

She will peek her head out to tell Cynthia her measurements.

Cynthia gives a thumbs up. "Now, the machines are fast, but not instant. So it'll be a few minutes of waiting before yours shows up. Actually..." Cynthia walks away for about a minute, before returning with what looks like a pen. "We'd also want to measure your skin color, as well." She points it at Sana's face for a moment. "Now we can start making them. Sofia, I forgot about checking your skin color; can you poke your head out for a minute?"

She also headpokes, and gives her measurements.

3 minutes pass before the lightning-quick laser cutting machine has made the 2 singular pieces of fabric, and the precise robot arms of the heat bonding machine have flawlessly fused them together, creating 2 entirely seamless pieces of clothing in a color identical to that of Sana and Sofia's skin. Cynthia walks over to the rooms, giving each of them the knee-length undergarments that become indistinguishable from their skin once it's put on.

"It's so comfortable! Perfectly sized and feels like wearing nothing.

How much did you say these cost? I might get a couple, I can see why you love them so much!"

"It really feels like being naked..."

"Well, they're stupid cheap. I think you could buy 50 of them with one of those old gold coins you have lying around? Of course you wouldn't need all those, maybe around 10 or so is enough that I can basically forget laundry entirely."

"Oh. Well, I trust you, I'll get ten."

"Same."

"Guess we can look at the work outfits now."

"Yes, let's! So, for Sana, it's going to be a bit more subjective. I want you to try thinking a bit about what you'd like, and I can give feedback on how well that fits in with how you'll be doing your job. For Sofia, it's a bit easier. You'll want leggings, a long shirt you can tuck into the leggings, the gloves, and the mask. And maybe a dress or a skirt or an apron on top of the basics. Anyway, it'd probably really help Sana to have a look around, see what kind of outfits and layers emotional support workers tend to have."

"A... mask? Why do I need to hide my face?"

"It's not about hiding your face. Housekeepers are exposed to a lot of dirt and dust, and they occasionally use cleaning materials that don't smell very nice, and the mask protects you from your face getting any dirt on it or smelling any of the bad-smelling materials. It's mostly psychological, really; it gives you that feeling of protection from "dirtiness". But if you don't mind it as much, it's probably not too necessary."

"I think I'd like one then, thank you."

Sana looks around to get a feeling for the various combinations she could use, and she sees...

dresses, made from increasing and decreasing amounts of sheer fabrics, sometimes in the front part of the skirt, between the legs, sometimes overlaid with flowers...

underwear sets of all sorts of different cuts, alluringly revealing larger or smaller parts of the mannequin's body...

loose, simple dresses, made of ultra-thin materials that do little to hide what's behind them...

flattering leggings, being tight in just the right areas...

Oh.

Oh wow.

None of those cover much.

Or at all, in the case of the dresses.

"Those ones are reserved for the bedroom, right?"

"That they are! If you're going out for a brief errand or something, it's 100% fine to walk around in just your workhorses. And if you're obviously dating someone, these are also acceptable for walking around in. But otherwise, yes, they're reserved for the bedroom, outside of the leggings and a few of the more modest dresses."

"Now, Sofia, I'll send in the basics of a housekeeper's outfit. But this isn't a tailor that specializes in masks, so they'll take a bit longer to arrive. OK?" After 10 or so minutes of waiting, Cynthia drops a pair of leggings, a set of gloves, and the shirt into Sofia's room, through the hatch. The leggings are very dark gray, bordering on black, and they contrast nicely against the nearly-white shirt. The gloves are bright yellow and feel a bit rubbery, but mostly like very fine cloth. They're designed to fit tightly around the wrist, so that they almost work like a pair of gloves built into the sleeves themselves.

"Then I think get only one of the transparent dress," for wearing when you're around " and a bit more of the modest ones. I definitely want the ability to walk around your city without advertising my profession."

"These fit perfectly, thank you!" She opens the door, to allow the other two to see her fit.

"Does it look good on me?"

"Won't getting just one transparent dress be annoying in terms of laundry? Or do you not particularly mind?"

Cynthia looks over Sofia. "I think they fit amazingly, and you look really great. I think you're fitting in as a housekeeper so fantastically well."

Cynthia walks around with Sana, picking out a dark blue simple dress for Sana, together with a modest black dress that has a long skirt, sheer sleeves and small cutouts, rather than anything more risque. Then she runs off to the tailor across the street, coming back with a mask carefully designed to fit Sofia's face. It's a mask that fits very, very closely over Sofia's mouth and nose, although still not quite touching either, with a filter on the right side and a large exhalation valve on the left that makes it extremely easy to breathe in.

"I also think you look great with those... you said they're called leggings?"

"Ok, then maybe more than one. I'm still not used to clothes being... cheap."

"2 is enough, 3 is plenty; and it's not like you're not gonna buy a third eventually, once they wear out. So go with 3 of any outfit, except those that you can be sure get worn rarely."

"I don't think I need anything else."

"Me neither."

Cynthia takes her phone out from a perfectly-sized pocket in her leggings, placing it against a white mat with a spiral placed on the counter. Then she awkwardly runs off to the tailor where she got the mask for Sofia, paying him as well, and returns to the women. "There! Now you've got some work clothes. Next, Sofia, Sana, how about we find a place that's roomy enough so you don't have to find a way to squeeze yourselves into my place?"

"We definitely shouldn't prevent you from sleeping in your bed any more than necessary. Let's go!"

Cynthia is excited; she's actually wanted to switch to a waterfront apartment for a while, but she hasn't really had an excuse to move until now. It IS a longer commute, but really, the subways are stupidly amazing, so it probably just means a bit more time by herself to think before going to work. She takes Sofia and Sana towards the subway entrance designed to look like the entrance into an apartment block; it helps save more space on the streets, and makes for a more seamless design. She enters, walking down into the subway platform with its beautiful murals of scientists reading under trees in beautiful gardens, one of them with an apple precariously dangling over his head.

"Who are all those people? Past rulers of this country?"

"No, just some of the people whose life's work make it possible for me and everyone else to live this well. Heroes, the lot of them."

"What did they do?"

"Well, they found out the method for turning the energy of matter itself into heat. So everyone can essentially get an infinite supply of coal all to themselves, without breathing in a single wisp of smoke."

"Is that how you prepared the tea this morning?"

"Yes, that's how I got the energy to prepare the tea. But I used a different method for actually heating it." As she's saying this, the subway train appears, totally quiet. The interior consists of wide, soft seats, made of a breathable mesh. The passengers make use of the extra space, sitting comfortably sprawled out. Cynthia walks inside, finding a seat and motioning for Sana and Sofia to sit next to her.

They take a sit, Sana sitting next to her, and Sofia next to Sana.

"Tell me more!"

"Well, do you know how it's hotter to be out in the sun in dark clothes, than doing it in lighter clothes? That's because the sun creates, essentially, a wave of energy. But white fabrics, similar to a mirror, send that wave back, with black ones picking it up. I sent the same kinds of waves into the water, to heat that water up, instead."

"That's so cool!"

"Why do you have the carriages run underground? Didn't it take a lot of work to create all this caves and tunnels?"

"Yes, it's a lot of work to make these tunnels. But imagine if we had things running overground: we'd have to be careful about where we walked, to avoid carriages like the one we're in. And there'd be less space for people to live, because that space would go to making a space that this vehicle could follow."

Cynthia stands up, making her way off the station. She can see the ocean, and tendrils of sand stretching into it, a short walk from the new apartment building she's had her eyes on for a while now. She walks inside the lobby, shaking hands with the woman who's offering to sell it to her. But of course, she'd want to check with Sofia and Sana first.

"Does the house have a window to the sea? Because if yes, I'm already sold."

"Well, yes it has a view. It's just not a direct view; you'll kind of have to look at it from an angle, if that's fine with you. Everything else in this apartment is just so perfect, to me. So I'm really, really hoping that the you're happy with the view."

"I think I will be very happy with the view. And happy to look at the sea, even if at an angle."

Cynthia receives the key, and starts finding the elevator to her apartment, fairly close to a corner of the building. She presses two buttons to set the correct floor, starting the rapid trip upwards. She pushes the key against the door the elevator opens into, opening it into the new apartment that she's had in her crosshairs for a while now.

Inside, there are 4 doors flanking a corridor. It leads into a set of stairs going down, ending in the main room, with vast windows designed to emulate a balcony, and a thick, soft carpet running all across the floor. All the shelving is recessed into the walls, and there's a chandelier, hanging below under the high ceiling and above the center of the main room. The main room has a table and chairs for six people, together with a wide sofa looking out through the windows.

"Now, Sana, Sofia, I want you to have a look at your bathrooms and tell me how you like them; they're behind the 2 bedrooms to the left. I'll check out mine, as well." Sofia steps into the first room to the right before leaving Sana and Sofia to explore the apartment.

The bed is big enough for two people, that's nice.

Her bathroom has a nice big shower head, and also the detachable one that she remembers appreciating a lot from Cynthia's current house.

"The room is wonderful!"

"And the bahtroom looks like it has all the tools I've learned to appreciate!"

"Beautiful to hear it! Now, come check this out." Cynthia opens the door to the master bathroom, revealing a spacious tub built into the ground. It could fit all of 3 the apartment's residents, with a shower head in the ceiling raining down on anyone wanting all that space just to enjoy a shower, and several faucets built into the walls that to rapidly fill the tub for anyone wanting to luxuriate in a bath, maybe even with someone else. Hidden behind what looks like a pillar, there's a L-shaped alcove that hides the toilet from anyone entering the bath, while letting anyone using it move it out of the way so that they could feel the openness of being able to see the entire master bathroom when sitting down.

"That's a huge tub! Although I guess if you don't need to carry the water it's fine if it's that big.

It's still really big though, why would a single person need all that water?"

Cynthia looks at Sofia. "Just taking up space and being able spread out your arms and legs feels nice!" She stands at the center of the pool, showing off how her arms don't quite reach the ends of it. "So you can move around and lie down and change your posture and everything, and not bump into any walls or people."

"Or people? Why would...

Oh."

"The house looks incredible, I understand why you were considering moving here!"

"Fantastic, isn't it? I thought you were going to like it, but I'm pleasantly surprised that you're loving it this much. I'll just tell her that I've made up my mind and will be staying here from now on."

"Just like that? Wouldn't you need to get a contract drafted, check it accurately for loopholes, and then sign it?"

"This kind of thing happens often enough that there's already a contract for that. And I trust the police here to not let this lady get away with a loophole like that; they've been very much reasonable about cracking down on previous attempts."

"Oh, and... I kind of need this bathroom to myself, now. I guess we could marvel about how amazing everything is after I've done my business here."

"Sure! I'll go have a look at the main room."

"I'll follow you, I also want to get a good look downstairs."

The main room really has the massive wall largely made of glass as its main feature. It lets them get a fairly good view of the ocean, and all kinds of people having fun on the water. A comfortable sofa, quite a bit bigger than it'd need to be for 3 people, provides a comfortable place to look at the beachgoers. Next to it, there's a dining table, with 6 simple chairs.

There's a microwave pushed up against one of the walls, placed on top of a refrigerator, but no more cooking equipment than that. There are a few cupboards that are recessed into the wall above it, as well. The floor is really nice and soft for anyone's bare feet. There's a squat rack and a treadmill tucked into a corner; they didn't seem to have seen much use. Finally, there are a few meditation pillows randomly placed in a pile, on the opposite corner from where the squat rack and treadmill is.

Sana lays on the sofa, looking into the distance, waiting for Cynthia to be done with whatever she's doing.

Cynthia walks out of the bathroom, her eyes quickly glancing at Sana. "I was thinking of taking you to the hospital, so you can get the final pieces of gear and the necessary devices. Do you think you'd want to go now? Or is there something else you want to do right now?" She smiles excitedly at Sana.

"Well, you kept talking about how the massive tub means you wouldn't bump into the other people if using it together, but I'm not convinced honestly, I think I'd need to see it to actually believe it."

"Well, yeah. I guess we can try it. And enjoy a nice bath together. Sofia? Are you in the mood for a nice bath?"

"I actually think that I need a bathroom break myself, but then I'd gladly join you."

"Same for me."

"Sure, I'll start filling up the pool so the water's nice and hot."

Sana is at first utterly baffled and then incredibly impressed by the bidet that automatically activates for her.

... some water may have ended up on the floor when she quickly stood up, startled.

When she opens the door to the master bathroom, she tells mock-accusingly to Cynthia "You should have told me about the surprise water jet. I was surprised."

"It was very unexpected."

"Surprise water jet? Ohh... I've gotten so used to that automatic feature that it managed to slip my mind. But it must feel nice to be cleaned up like that, I hope... oh wow, now I get what you said about things being unsanitary! I won't even ask how you dealt with things before coming here."

"Also, you need to stop being fully clothed. You're going to be soaking wet and miserable, and this kind of soap is probably going to ruin your clothes. You don't take baths fully dressed, people."

Sana starts to undress.

Her eyes fixed on Cynthia in front of her, she gradually removes each piece, leisurely and intentionally.

When she's done she turns around, and slowly bends over to put them on the floor, next to the wall, in a neat pile.

She smiles at Cynthia, and walks into the pool.

Sofia is blushing so much. She's very self conscious as she undresses, and does so hastily, then submerges herself into the water and immediately sits down so that her body is fully underwater, only her face out - almost as red as her hair.

Cynthia casually lounges in the water, sitting down with her legs leisurely splayed out, taking up more space.

She gets closer to Cynthia and pokes her shoulder.

"See, the tub is huge, but it's not preventing me from bumping into you."

"No, there aren't any walls blocking you from reaching me. Of course if you move over you touch me. The point is that I can more or less take up as much space as I want without having to bump into you because this pool isn't big enough. Notice how I'm sitting?"

"Oh. Trust me. I have."

She kneels in front of her, and puts her right hand or her knee. "It's obvious you're really enjoying the space you have to keep your legs open."

"Eep!"

"Yes, absolutely. It feels so, so much better than having to push them together or cross them. It just feels natural to sit like this, relaxing everything and having all this space."

She moves her hand from the knee down to her calf. "I don't know, you still seem pretty tense, would you like a massage?"

"Yup! I think a lot of your clients will also be asking for massages. This is a good way to get practice!"

Oh, you will notice I don't need more practice.

She grabs her leg with both hands, and starts applying pressure with her thumbs - making small circles - while moving her hands upwards, from her ankle up to her knee.

She does this a couple times, eventually switching to her other leg.

"What should I focus on next? Do you feel more tense in your feet or in your tights?"

"I'm a lot tenser in the thighs, honestly." Cynthia gently purrs with delight, doing her best to remain dignified and collected as she enjoys Sana's massage.

She puts on her best serious face "Let me help you, then."

It's kinda scary how it's basically impossible to tell what she's feeling now, her face a mask of professionalism.

She shakes her head, and starts smiling again.

"Sorry, I... just come from a place where we don't show our emotions openly. Or at all."

She lets her hands reach higher, massaging Cynthia's thighs methodically, while always remaining a few inches lower than her hips.

When she moves to the other leg her fingers brush against her navel, and then resume their circles and pressure.

Cynthia keeps a poker face, choosing to enjoy herself as much as she can and happily purring any time Sana touches her just right. "Oh wow, they're going to love you! You're fantastic!"

Sofia is even more submerged now, just poking out from her nose upward.

She tried not looking. Or not staring.

But then she found that her curiosity is dragging her, irresistibly, to move closer and closer, until she's sitting right next to Cynthia.

Every time she switches from one leg to the other, her circles move imperceptibly closer.

And closer.

Until she lets her thumb slip, and accidentally ends up touching her mound.

"Whops, I'm sorry, my finger slipped!"

Cynthia only twitches the slightest bit. "I know you didn't slip. Next time, give a warning. You'd get in serious trouble if you did that to an actual client. But I'm sure you're glad to know that, now."

"Wait, what? I'm confused. I thought that was were we were going?"

"We were, and we both knew it. But paying customers have different expectations than intimate friends. Treat them more dispassionately and be more explicit with them. At least, until they turn into regulars."

"Uh. Thank you for warning me."

She's lost a bit of steam, and is looking at her hands as if unsure what to do.

"You shouldn't feel too bad, we are still learning and adapting to... everything!"

"I personally think you were doing great."

Cynthia leans back and opens her legs wider. "See how all this space helps?"

This makes her knee bump against Sofia's leg, who wasn't expecting it, and makes a startled "eep!".

"Are you ok?" - she snorts

"Uh, y...yes."

"Come on, out with it, what's wrong? It's not the first time you've seen me, I know that you watch me work sometimes."

"You knew???"

"It's just that... I wish you would ever touch me like that."

"I will not tou..." her voice fades out as she's hit by a thought.

Why? Why, with all the people she's worked for, she won't touch Sofia? What would be wrong?

She's the only person she actually trusts.

But... it would feel? ... wrong?

What would be wrong about sex?

She loves sex! She really does. Sometimes her customer is bad at it, but she always has fun except for... those times.

And she could have chosen a different profession - Hell, she could taken her savings, moved elsewhere and just find a different job.

But she doesn't want to, she genuinely enjoys it, especially with her regulars.

Then... what's wrong?

When she's having sex she's a goddess of lust and pleasure, perfect, knowing every detail, controlling every movement.

And it's a mask. A natural one, but a mask nonetheless, like the thousand masks she wears every day to survive in a country run by Hell.

Except...

Except she doesn't wear a mask with Sofia. And that's the crux, isn't it? She doesn't want to touch her...

Because Sofia is not a game, not a person she can be her goddess mask with.

Because for all that Cheliax thought her it's stupid, she cares about her.

And wants to protect her from... all the bad that comes with the fun, all the customers that are never returning.

All the times she faked an orgasm.

"Mistress, what's happening? Are you ok? Are you... crying???"

"I'm fine, I'm..."

She's not in Cheliax.

She doesn't need to return there.

She can be here.

Safe.

She can be here. With the one person she cares about in the world.

"I love you", she doesn't say.

"I... care about you."

She's still crying. And for once in her life she doesn't try to hide it.

She puts her hand on Sofia's face.

"I care about you too. And I will protect you. As I have. As I always will."

"... Sana. Sofia." Cynthia quietly embraces the two of them, gently squeezing them against each other and against herself. "Let's all find joy and pleasure, together. Right?"

"Yes."

Sana does not reply. She stares at Sofia for a while.

Slips a hand behind her neck.

And kisses her.

She then moves to kissing her neck, while her hands slides down from the neck, to the shoulder, to finally cup her.

Without moving her hand she turns to Cynthia, and kisses her on the lips, briefly.

Cynthia nuzzles Sana, while still embracing both her and Sofia. She gently wraps her legs around the two of them, creating a gentle and caring pressure.

They lean into the embrace, and the warmth that comes from shared vulnerability.

They spend... a while in that position, blissed out in the warmth of the water in the pool. "Ahh, that was beyond spectacular! Makes it kind of a tragedy that the world always goes on..."

Cynthia gently and slowly makes her way out of the pool, and begins talking. "Sophia! You were thinking of working as a housekeeper, correct? The way that it works is that each housekeeper tends to live in the same building that they maintain, and they run around and do all the laundry and cleaning and other chores for all the units. So, before I take Sana to the hospital so she can begin bringing love to the people there, I want to introduce you to the current housekeeper so he can show you the ropes and show you around. Could you follow me, please?"

"Sure! But maybe we should dress first?"

"But of course." Cynthia walks off, returning in a poofy black dress with lace trim and elaborate lace cutouts on the back and the chest. "I'm really in the mood for black today."

"It suits you! I'm going to try the clothes we bought earlier.". She stands up, kisses Sana on the head and then goes to change into her new clothes.

"All ready, let's go!"

"Off we go!" Cynthia walks over to the elevator, before it races down to the ground floor. She walks over to a corner on the first floor lobby, opening a door to a room filled with cleaning supplies: mops, paper towels, dusters, a vacuum cleaner, cleaning sprays, buckets, anything you might need for cleaning up an apartment. "I'm not sure where he lives, but he hasn't taken any of the stuff here, so he still hasn't gotten started. It probably won't be long until he gets down, though."

"What is that thing with the wheels on the side?"

"That's a vacuum cleaner. It's a machine that sucks in dust and grime, so it just flies into it instead of you having to clean it up and constantly change cloths. Unbelievably useful."

"That's amazing! Between that and having water directly in your houses I start to see how a single person can work for multiple households!"

"Yup, it's really fantastic." As they're talking, a tall, lanky man walks up to them. "Hi mister! I'm Cynthia, and this is Sophia. She wants to work as this building's housekeeper. Can you show her around and teach her the basics of her job?" The man looks at Sofia.

"Hi Sofia, I'm Henry. I'd be glad to show you around and teach you my job; we've been hoping to find someone to do some housekeeping, what with how many apartments there are."

"And I've been hoping to find houses in need of housekeeping!"

She looks at Cynthia "Should I just... get back to your house when I'm done? How do I do that, by the way?"

"The way that housekeeping works, is that you unlock the door from the outside using your key, and then the housekeeper walks in. The doors then lock themselves automatically, when you walk out. You could end your rounds by cleaning up my house when I unlock my door for housekeeping, although you're 100% going to need a key of your own, eventually."

"I see... how do I get a key of my own?"

"It's a quick trip down to the locksmith, to make a copy of the key to my apartment, after I've officially made it my property. Nobody else is allowed to make a copy of my key, as you might expect."

"How does that work? How do they know if they key to copy is yours?"

"I tell them where I live, and they can check who bought that home most recently, which lets them know whose bank account is the one that owns a particular home. I am the only person able to send money from my account, so I send them the money to make that key, and they know that it's my property because it's registered to my bank account."

"I see..."

"I don't have a bank account, though."

"That's correct, so you'll have to trust me to care for your money until you get one. Hopefully that's fine for you?"

"Yes. I trust my mistress, and she seems to trust you, so it's fine."

"So, Henry, how about you start showing Sofia around? She's done this before, but using a vacuum like that, and probably some of the other equipment, will be new for her."

The door opens to an apartment which is very similar to the one Cynthia had before.

"Where do we start from?"

"The top, is really the right answer. You'll want to throw down the dust and dirt from shelves and tables and everything else, and then the vacuum picks them all up." Henry begins by grabbing something that looks like a mop, but has a bluish paper towel on the end of it. He gently pushes it along the tops of cabinets and other high off places, cleaning them off, before going downwards. He kicks up a bit of dust into the air as he does so. After cleaning off one area, he continues to another. "Once you can't clean anything else but the floor anymore, then you vacuum everything, and finally mop the floor once all the dust that the vacuum would pick up properly was gone. I recommend using earplugs when you turn it on; you won't use it for long, but the vacuum still gets quite loud."

She gets to dusting, and they make quick work of the room. After that she'll watch carefully to learn how to operate the vacuum.

Henry plugs the vacuum into the wall, before pushing a button on it with his foot to turn it on. It generates a loud whooshing noise as it powers on, easily absorbing all the accumulated dust as he moves through the room at a steady rhythm. It doesn't take long before the floor is utterly dust-free, and he moves on to mopping it by using thick, orange mops at the end of the mop's handle.

That's loud!

When they're finished, they move on to the next apartment.

This time, there's someone waiting inside! It's a pregnant woman, and her main room has been converted into a maternity ward for her. The polarization filter is always turned on; all the windows that the main room looks into, are black. "This is Anne; she wants to keep her home extra-clean and bacteria-free, for herself and for her baby. Use these:" Henry points to a stack of green cloths, placed above the other cleaning supplies in the cart he's rolling around. "They'll make this room clean enough that she can go through a caesarean, if that proves necessary." He shows Sofia how to carefully rub the green cloths against any every surface, going over to a new cloth rapidly to keep everything properly sterile.

"Good morning Anne, nice to meet you."

"Have you already picked the names for your baby?"

"Good morning, miss. I'll name a boy Martin, and a girl Mary. I'm so glad that people like you can help me out so much, here. What's your name? I'll want to know you going forward."

"Those are beautiful names." She smiles, warmly, "I'm Sofia, glad to be of service."

"Nice to meet you, Sofia! You know, I'm not sure how much longer I'll live here. I've always loved this city, but it's not really built for mothers like me. Maybe once my son becomes 2 or 3, I'll move somewhere better for him?"

"What's not good about this city? It seems lovely to me."

"Well, we'd want more playgrounds, and more space for kids to play. Right now, I'll be hiring a nanny, but it'd be easier to have a group so my baby would always have somewhere there for him. We don't have proper schools for those under 15. Oh, and he won't have many children his age around him to play with."

"I see. It's nice to see someone look out for their child so much."

"Yup, and if I lived in one of the parent cities, it would be more than just someone else looking out for my child; it would be a whole society."

"It sure is nice to live in such a Good place."

She waits for a beat, and then - if Anne doesn't say anything more - she'll get to cleaning.