Some education

Abby and Jennifer stepped onto the platform. The scene looked deceptively normal. The brick and mortar station was just across the road from what looked to be a pretty substantial shopping mall with a large parking lot in front of it. Sure, the cars parked up were all white spheres with black windowed fronts and no visible wheels, but they seemed to be cars nonetheless. Behind the lot a regular looking forest spread into the distance, obscuring the view beyond. No doubt those were the Seedy Woods the mall was named after. A few "cars" glided across the road between the station and the mall, but there was no obvious way to climb down and reach the road in order to cross it.

Jennifer looked over at Abby, who seemed to be taking in the view, so Jennifer turned to take a sneaky peak at the naked woman inside the train. Much to her surprise the train was already gone. She hadn't even heard it leave.

"Seems pretty normal." Abby noted.

"Yeah." Jenny replied. "Although I can't see any way out of the station."

"Let's watch him."

Jennifer looked where Abby was pointing. A man had gotten off the train at the same time as them, although thankfully he was wearing clothing. He was in his twenties and the back of his shirt had a cup of coffee emblazoned upon it, so Jenny reasoned that it was probably a uniform. He walked over to a pair of metal railings that raised up and over the road before connecting to the sidewalk outside the mall. A blonde woman wearing some sort of rainbow leotard was standing next to the railings and handed him a flyer, which he gratefully took and began to read as he walked onto a blue square set in front of the railings. Jennifer gasped as the blue square raised up off the ground and glided smoothly up and over the railings to carefully deposit the man on the other side of the road. He didn't even look up from the pamphlet but just carried on walking as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"That looks fun." Jenny said.

"I guess. Not like we have another option." Abby replied.

The two girls made their way over to the device. As they neared it, Jenny noticed how skin-tight the woman's rainbow leotard was. She could swear she could see the woman's nipples and pubic hair through it. As they finally approached she realised it wasn't a leotard at all, but instead some sort of body paint. Dyeing the neat triangle of pubic hair above her bare pussy was a nice touch, Jenny thought, until Abby cleared her throat meaningfully. Jenny stopped looking after that.

"Hi there girls!" The woman said joyfully. "Can I interest you in the Gay Pride Parade 2115?"

Jenny felt a cold ball of terror suddenly form in her stomach.

"What are you suggesting?" Abby demanded, her cool demeanour suddenly replaced with red hot anger.

"N-nothing!" the woman replied, taken aback. "I just wondered if you'd like to take part in the Gay Pride Parade."

Abby swore at the woman. "Just because I have short hair? Very funny."

"Come on now, Abby." Jenny managed. "I don't think she meant anything by it."

"I think there's been a misunderstanding." The woman said. She handed Jenny the leaflet, and she took it automatically. "It's a celebration of all sexualities, including heterosexual! You're both more than welcome to join us."

Abby swore again, and moved onto the blue platform. It lifted her up and over the road. Jenny, feeling a little shaken, tried to smile at the woman.

"Sorry about that." She said.

"I hope I haven't insulted your friend." the woman replied sincerely. "Can you please apologise to her on my behalf?"

"No worries." Jenny paused as she tried to feign indifference. "So, uh, Gay Pride huh? What's that?"

"Oh, it's this old tradition they used to have to celebrate people being different. We've been trying to bring it back for a bit of historic culture. It's all in the leaflet. I'm terribly sorry, another train's just arrived. Excuse me, miss? Can I interest you in the 2115 Gay Pride Parade?"

Feeling unsettled, Jenny stepped onto the blue platform - and let out a whoop of exhilaration as it scooped her off the ground and gently placed her on the sidewalk opposite. Abby stood leaning against the wall, arms folded.

"That was awesome!" Jenny exclaimed. "Can I do it again?"

"Let's just go." Abby growled.

"Wait, wait. I want to read this first."

Standing beside her girlfriend, Jenny began to read through the booklet. She was astonished to find that the tradition dated back to the 1970's, although had died out in 2064 when societal values had made it redundant. Two years ago, Jenny read, the Historical Cultural Society had sought to re-introduce the parade in order to preserve and promote history, and had been a minor success. Shock clearly evident on her face, Jenny handed the leaflet over to Abby and just stared at the sky for a while.

"What the fuck?" Abby said, eventually.

"There's no homophobia here." Jenny said, wistfully.

"Not that. I mean... well yeah, that's awesome. But the fucking Namish, man!"

"We're Namish." Jenny pointed out.

"They say they want to preserve the goddamn 1990's, but where are our Pride Parades, huh? Those fuckers didn't want to preserve that?!"

"No homophobia..."

Feeling bold, Jenny stepped in front of a passing man. He was in his fifties and apart from a pair of shoes was as naked as the day he was born, and he looked up in surprise to find his way blocked.

"Excuse me, sir." Jenny said. "Could I ask you a question?"

"Of course." he replied. "How can I help?"

"My friend and I are lesbians. We're dating one another-"

"Jen!" Abby hissed.

"-do you have a problem with that?" Jenny finished.

"No." the man said, confused. "Why would I have a problem with that?"

"You don't think it's wrong that a woman can love another woman?"

"Why would I?"

Jenny thanked him and stepped out of his way. He gave a bemused shrug before stepping onto the blue platform and disappearing towards the station.

"Was that wise?" Abby asked, frowning. "He may not have looked Namish but neither did that woman on the train."

"Sometimes you have to take these little gambles." Jenny said. Without warning she stepped up to Abby, wrapped her arms around her neck, and kissed her. Very gently, Abby pulled Jenny's arms away and pushed her away.

"Seriously, can you cool your jets for a minute?" Abby demanded. "You read one leaflet and speak to one naked guy and suddenly you think you know everything about this place?"

"It makes sense though." Jenny replied. "They're so permissive about nudity, why would they feel that way about sexuality? They're not prudes."

Abby sighed and stared off at the car park. Jenny waited, knowing that her girlfriend was just being cautious. Eventually Abby held out her hand.

"We'll hold hands, for now." Abby said. "If nobody says anything, or if we can learn a bit more about this place... then we'll see."

"We'll see, huh?" Jen said teasingly, placing her hand in Abby's. "What else did you have in mind?"

Abby snorted. "Pervert."

Still, it was such a simple gesture but Jen's heart felt like it was leaping in her chest and she and Abby moved hand in hand towards the mall entrance.