Out of the Black - Lee Doty [22]
"Suit your..." the woman with the crazed smile raised her head in gusa nod, all interest in Jin already gone. Head still elevated from the half-nod, she glided toward the nearest empty stall, rummaging in her purse. "Try to be high or gone before I link in, ok?" she said, seemingly to the air, "I'm gonna be feelin' every bit of your itch in just a few seconds, and I don't dig the pity trips." Then the giggling started and didn't stop until the stall door closed and the sound damper engaged.
She was going to dose! Not four meters away, right here, where she could really rub it in, Jin though with a rush of mania. Jin would stand and clench and burn and wait, and in seconds, that madwoman would be linked deep inside the Whole; deeper than Beta would ever go. Not that desperate yet, Jin chanted again and again.
Empty. Wilted flower, petals scattered; a promise broken.
Haiku. It may have been all the acid she'd taken during the 2060's, but every time she was jonesing for a dose, her well-used mind would just strobe out the haiku. It was annoying, but sometimes it made her feel deep... which was even more annoying.
Where was Mara? Back to the mirror for a little support. She didn't grab the counter this time, but struck her strongest pose. Her shoulder length platinum hair was accented with streaks of shiny chrome and vibrant red. Her face was youthful tight and augmented to perfection. Her inky black clothes were inlaid with holowire so she shimmered when she was out moving on the dance floor. She was perfect in every way: sensual without being crass, striking beauty enhanced with flawless evening style. Her bearing was elegance with just a hint of arrogance to heighten the mystique. Only her ice blue eyes hinted at the Hunger. Without the eyes, she could almost pretend...
Why couldn't they just legalize drugs... or at least the good ones like Beta? The worst thing about outlawed drugs was the supply. You need it- it's not around. You can't afford it- oh, then everyone's carrying. Tonight she needed, she had money, so of course, Mara's connection would fall through and Jin would be stuck trying to forget what happiness was like by drinking herself into a coma. Things used to be better before the Harms showed up and started killing their friends. Those freaks were ruining it for everyone else, even the ones they didn't kill. Now the big, bad Gov was cracking down hard. She had half a mind to kick down that stall door and kick the living crap out of that smug junkie. Of course, the other half of her mind was squarely on the side of kicking down the door and snatching her Harmony. Oh, she remembered Harmony from before all the trouble started... Jin could survive on Beta, but it was Harmony that had made her feel alive.
Her fingers shook slightly as she tried to apply the color stick to her lips for what seemed like the hundredth time, touched up her hair for the fiftieth time, repressed the urge to scream for the thousandth time.
The door opened and the music and lights washed in around Mara's sleek form. The door closed behind her and the music ended along with the wash of psychedelic lights. Mara was smiling. Smiling, sweet baby Buddha! Jin's voice only shook slightly when she found it, "If the news is bad, lie."
"The news is not bad." Mara held up a closed fist and gestured to the stalls at the back of the room.
Feeling like lotto winners, they both bolted for the first open stall and engaged the sound damper. Mara handed over a small silver Ject with a familiar flourish. "Oh thank Shiva, destroyer of my stodgy, well-used blues!" Jin said, hands and head shaking. The dancing would be good tonight.
Rather than taking the Ject, Jin raised her chin slightly "Do me?"
Mara obliged by putting the silvery tube