ABC - Penance
Chapter 27

Mabel’s Place, Unity Townsite, Labour Camp One

January 18th V27 (2047AD)

I woke up in a warm bed that I didn’t recognise. Sunlight was peeking through closed curtains of a deep red material, embossed with golden dragons. A heavy arm was draped around my waist, fingers pressed against my stomach. A naked body was spooning me, firm breasts squashed to my shoulder blades and long legs entwined with mine.

The arm was metal, warmed only by the contact with my body.

“Fuck!” I breathed out slowly and wondered how I was going to explain this to Jan.

“Is that a request?” Bobbi murmured from behind me and moved her hand to cup my breasts. I realised I was wearing my sports bra and boxers, which struck me as odd after a night of passion.

“Finally decided to pay the penalty, hey Luisa?” she chided me, gently rubbing my nipple through the black spandex.

I took her wandering hand in my own and disengaged it from my chesticles. Then I sat up, forcing Bobbi to roll onto her back. As I had expected she was completely naked and watched me with hooded eyes, a sly smile on her lips as I looked her over.

She was absolutely fuckable and the bitch knew it.

“I’ve got a meeting in an hour, so there is still time to pay up” she suggested.

“Does this mean we didn’t have sex last night?” I demanded a bit more forcefully than I had intended to.

“Yeah, you were quite insistent about that” Bobbi answered sulkily. “You kept going ‘No-no-no, Jan will kill me’ and then you punched me”

She pointed to a bruise visible on her left rib cage, sitting just below a perky breast.

“I thought you were going to burst my tit” Bobbi said in an aggrieved tone. She met my eyes with her own, a speculative expression on her face. “You aren’t Enhanced, so I am wondering if you are an Awakened. Maybe a Booster or one of the Kinetics”

“Nah” I deflected her. “I used to do a lot of boxing. My opponents said I hit like a truck”

“Is that so?” Bobbi replied, rubbing her ribs gingerly. “Remind me not to get in the ring with you then”

“Sure” I responded and plastered a cheery smile on my face. Which was mostly because I was damned relieved that I hadn’t cheated on Jan. I mean, I was in bed with a naked hot woman, but that didn’t count. Right?

Our discussion was interrupted by a heavy tread on steps outside then the door was nudged open. Mabel came in, wearing a T-shirt and carrying a tray with some steaming bowls of congee porridge and a pot of tea.

I say she was wearing a T-shirt and that was literally all she had on. Plus the shirt was about two sizes too small for a woman of her generous proportions, meaning her morning glory was on full display. The garden was open for public viewing if you know what I mean.

“You are awake at last” Mabel admonished me. “I thought we were going to have to leave you here”

“Sorry” I apologised to her. “I drank too much last night. I hope I wasn’t a problem”

Mabel sat on the foot of the bed, placing the breakfast tray carefully where Bobbi’s long legs couldn’t reach it.

“You weren’t the problem” Mabel replied, fixing the woman beside me with a hard glare. The woman in question laughed and stretched out languorously, displaying herself without a shred of hesitation. Her foot rocked the tray that Mabel had placed on the bed, which earned Bobbi a smack on the calf.

“Get dressed, you brazen cow” Mabel told her impatiently. “You have your appointment and I need to get ready for the lunch service!”

Suitably chastised, Bobbi got out of the bed and rummaged in a pile of discarded clothes. They had been thrown all together and I could see my jeans and shirt amongst the items as well as Mabel’s uniform from the eatery. The woman had bent over to pick out her pants and I couldn’t help but notice her excellent butt.

Whomever had done her body sculpting, they were an artist!

Bobbi got dressed and threw my clothes onto the bed next to me. As soon as she had her boots strapped on, she leapt off the bed and gave me a cheeky wink.

“I’ll be seeing you around, Miss Luisa” she declared. She stooped and gave Mabel a lingering kiss, grazing her nipples under the T-shirt with her meat hand before stomping out the door and down a metal staircase that lay beyond.

When Bobbi left a room, it felt like a massive stormfront had passed you by. You wanted to get down on your knees and praise god that you had survived!

“Bloody hell, she is intense!” I said to Mabel. The other woman nodded sagely and handed me a bowl of cooling porridge and a spoon. She picked one up for herself and we ate our breakfast in companionable silence.

Mabel was facing me on the bed, one leg cocked underneath her and the other dangling off the side. I kept my eyes level, trying to avoid looking at her lower body. All I could think of was that in the world of felines, Mabel was definitely a black cat.

“You don’t have to worry about the penalty from the game” Mabel said at last, licking her spoon clean and replacing the bowl on the tray. “I paid it for you”

“Huh?” I stammered in confusion. “Was it a cash amount or something?”

“No, nothing like that” Mabel replied. “Anyway, it wasn’t the first time between us”

“Oh, I see” I said as understanding settled into my skull. “Thanks for that, Mabel. I owe you one”

Mabel looked at me sharply then laughed again, a pleasant sound I was growing to like.

“You might want to re-phrase that last past” she snickered. She straightened her shirt, pulling it down a little so it covered her modesty. Doing so, I could read the logo on her shirt and I laughed in reply.

It was a shirt I had seen for sale in the eatery downstairs. There was a 2-D version of the sexy cat girl from the holo-sign, eating with her chopsticks. It had the name of the eatery and below that was the following:

“First time is free!”

“Is that true?” I had to ask her after I read it out aloud.

She smiled coyly at me.

“Buy a shirt and replace out, Luisa”

=====

I did buy a shirt. In fact I bought two shirts, one for Jan and one for Minke. Then I made my goodbyes to Mabel, promising to catch up with her again soon.

The morning fog was already dissipating, the sky overhead showing clear and bright as the ground level clouds faded in the sunlight.

As I scurried the blocks back to the motel, I checked my phone. There were a couple of messages from my loved ones and a reminder about my appointment with the Head Warden. Nothing from Ghost at all other than his brief message last night.

The hollow feeling in my chest only got worse when I came in sight of the Restful Kingdom. My bike was in its parking bay but there was no sign of Ghost’s black beast. I ran the last distance to his door and knocked loudly, calling out for him.

Nothing answered from within. I was tempted to kick the door in to check, only stopping myself when the young room cleaner popped out of Room Seven, eyeing me in alarm.

“Sorry” I muttered. “Wrong room”

I walked briskly past her and opened my own door and stepped inside. It was cool and dark in there, the blinds still drawn across the narrow windows. It took me five minutes to calm my breathing and my thoughts then I turned on the lights and went to my bed.

In an hour I had to present myself as Inspector Alvarez to the Head Warden. Before that appointment I wanted to check in with the small Police Auxiliary detachment that watched over the Camp town. I wanted their views on what Unity was like as serving officers.

I also wanted to jump on my bike and ride blindly out to the west, hoping to replace my missing partner. There was no way I could do both so one of them had to wait.

It has been said I am a callous and unfeeling bitch. That was mostly from my ex-lover and partner, Detective Peter Andrews. He was a giant asshole yet he was right about that. Knowing me so well, it shouldn’t have been such a big surprise when I shot him dead, clean through the heart.

Whatever had happened to Ghost, it happened hours ago. Charging out to look for him was not going to undo that, nor my mistake in losing control last night. I would complete the interview at the Camp, then I could let myself ride into the west like a wailing Banshee to replace my missing partner.

My mind was made up, so I hit the shower and began the transformation process. I had entered the motel room as a tired, anxious traveller named Luisa. I left the room in my clean and pressed uniform, long grey coat over the top and my peaked cap on my freshly washed hair. Inspector Luisa Alvarez had finally appeared in Unity and she was wanting some answers.

I mounted my bike, turned the key and squealed my tires as I rocketed onto the road.

Now all I need was someone willing to answer my questions.