Cyberpunk dating, start!

The neon-soaked streets of Atlantis never slept; she shined at all hours.

Fifty years ago, when the city was a tenth her current monstrous, sprawling size, Sora Nakahara was drawn to that light. Then, the founders of Atlantis, still within living memory, had fashioned the port as a scientific city-state, where there was no law but progress. They accepted innovations in cybertech and genetics decades before others had seen fit to.

What was that wonderful quote from some human writer about the future being here, but not quite evenly distributed? Yeah, it was like that, but Sora hardly noticed, being at first a researcher on the upper half of this distinctly two-tone society, living in great skyscrapers and plazas of planted greenery.

Perfectly legitimate bartender was just the latest of countless occupations, though it had brought him down to these rusted metal streets, a surface world of decay still bathed in radiance from above, and bearing its own vibrant life. No matter what tried to crush them from above and take their sky, ordinary people endured.

“We get bored,” He explained, swinging his arms to and fro as he walked beside the happy married couple. Their office had every kind of outfit imaginable, but clothing made for Ya Liao or Hyun-ji wore a bit big and baggy on his lanky, lean girlish figure.

So he decided to lean into that; an askance tie-dye pink t-shirt left one shoulder and his belly bare, over which he pulled on a cut-off white hoodie, and down below, he sported tiny black leather booty-shorts. His studded leather belt might have covered more than them, though. Some combat boots completed the pastel-punk thing, complete with a thigh-holster holding an actual knife.

“No, I mean, like. We really get bored. Flickers are great company, ‘Veronica’, but you genuinely don’t understand what it’s like to have an eighty-year slump. So don’t cry too hard for us, but kitsune have to mix it up or we go nuts.”

“So really, we did you a favor,” Ya Liao, codename ‘Veronica’, mused, rocking a far more muted color scheme. Black all over what bit of her dark complexion was covered. The fang-design face-mask did more up-top, though the main form of her disguise was the fact that she was now, instead of a handsome, masculine devil-type infernal, sporting the shameless leather highleg leotard bodysuit stereotypical of succubus-types. Her skin tone and hair color hadn’t changed, and she still had those black wing flapping behind her, but those eyes were now full of an enslaving pink glow.

Hyun-ji Seong the pop idol had vanished at her side, and was replaced by ‘Betty’, a girl who bore her voice, for even when disguised she could bear no other. Otherwise, she was now a nerdy, grey hoodie-wearing anxious nerd, whose thick spectacles fogged over from the manifold smells and sights of the streets. She slumped forward, trying anything to conceal her massive breasts.

Or perhaps just nervous about her sheer wingspan of now-grey feathers.

As Sora explained, while cautioning both ladies not to stray too far or they’d turn into pumpkins, appearances were one thing, but it was all just trickery. They still took up the same physical volume as ever, so it was best to keep their height and shape intact. If somebody’s hand passed right through their bodies, or was stopped by thin air, they would be rumbled.

Yep. Betty the shy angelic nerd, and Veronica, her outgoing… succubus rival…? It was just names he’s come up with off the top of his head, okay! For which they’d promptly called him a boomer!

Sora wasn’t sure whether to take that as an insult or compliment.

What he was sure was that just seeing the signage posted outside a certain rental office space made him hungry. For not just the food being advertised at these establishments, which could vary radically in quality, but the servers themselves. For this was a building stacked, top to bottom, with stacked maids.

“Maid Central…” Betty gasped in astonishment, pushing up her prop glasses. “Of course, everyone in Atlantis has heard of it… but I’d never thought I’d have cause to actually come.” She was sure staring hard at the enmaided girl on the flickering holographic billboard, and her plunging neckline.

That was far from their only choice, though. Sora had homed right in on the Holy Land, a district world-famous for its pursuits, normie and nerdy alike. Though all the anime stuff was what drew notoriety, they had nightclubs lining the street too, and rhythmic techno, metal, and far more modern mixtures were blaring out. Some had long lines, but Sora just so happened to have a pass to several.

An old-fashioned arcade sat on a particular corner, and most of the people who came by did so just to gawk at all the ancient games. Nostalgia was big business, especially for nerds, who escaped the increasing complexity of the modern world by burying themselves in childhood memories. Kids could be seen dancing at the pads out front, and through the windows, countless shooter games or whatever were flashing out a dazzling array of colors.

Sora had been a grown-ass adult when the very first arcade went up, so his feelings of childlike wonder and nostalgia were a little overblown, but he still felt the pull.

Physical stores still doggedly clung to life in this area, and brick-and-mortar establishments of every kind offered a wealth of games, anime, manga, pick your poison. There were even anime bars, which were like sports bars, and some served both roles somehow.

Casinos awaited on the waterfront for those who were really looking to wager, though one had to be careful of picking which one, and careful to keep your nose clean once inside. Drinks flowed aplenty, people dressed well, and beneath it all was a heart of pure graft run allegedly by the proper, organized mafia. As long as you were just there to lose a month’s paycheck, though? Few finer ways to do it.

Less risky and absurd than what was happening out on the canal itself, which was lined with walkways and streets, in turn lined with spectators. Banners flickered through the air and fireworks popped off, proclaiming the start of yet another round of hovercraft races. All regulated and licensed, of course, which meant nobody was likely to die tonight by smashing themselves into a skyscraper or just the sloped sides of Atlantis' endless criss-crossing canals.

“Would you happen to know any of the racers, darling Sora?~” Veronica asked, deep voice soaked in honey, watching a glimpse of one of the elegant machines flashing past, kicking up a wave of water that splashed against city streetlights.

Sora smirked. “I know everyone in this city. At least, enough to get us in anywhere.”

The Holy Land had more to offer everywhere, they were surrounded by a night life second to none in this part of the world. These options would make a good starting point though.

Time to see what these girls fresh out of the palace were down for.