"I don't think this is legal," Gurbaret finally said. Her voice had dropped two registers from its usual composed drawl. "Seeing someone this beautiful without paying for it first! I mean, there should be a tariff! A toll! A signed waiver confirming you are permitted to exist within close proximity and I am consenting to look directly at you!"
What happened before this moment warrants a brief explanation.
I changed into the second vessel directly in front of Jhuwa, back in the machine corridor where we had just finished working out the terms of her betrayal.
After gazing at Jhuwa's jaw dropped for ten seconds, I basically gave her some money to buy clothes that fitted my current stature—since I hadn't prepared any clothing for my second vessel yet.
She returned to the room with a fitted long-sleeved top in slate grey, dark trousers, and an overcoat a shade of charcoal that carried the faint cedar smell of a dry goods stall that did not deal in finery.
