Being a woman was a series of mechanical puzzles that I was still mastering, despite almost a month of experience at this point.

  I stood in front of the full-length mirror in our bedroom, wrestling with the ties of a vintage-style wrap dress that I'd purchased the day before. It was a deep, rich plum color - the kind of shade that made my skin look like porcelain and turned my purple eyes into glowing amethysts. It had a subtle black floral pattern that felt mature, a far cry from the "Electric Slut" aesthetic that the girls tried to get me to wear every time I had to go out as Scintilla.

  The problem was the physics of the wrap. If I pulled it too tight, it looked like I was being vacuum-sealed; too loose, and one deep breath would turn the arcade into a repeat of the rooftop fight with Fiona.

  "Dammit," I hissed, my fingers sparking with agitation. A tiny bolt of static jumped from my knuckle to the silk, making the fabric cling to my thigh. "I can surf high-voltage transmission lines, I can put on a damn dress."

  "Need a hand, babe?"

  I jumped, spinning around to see Piper leaning against the door frame. She looked like a different person. She was wearing a short, blonde bob wig that framed her face perfectly, paired with oversized designing sunglasses perched atop her head. She looked like a starlet trying to avoid the paparazzi in a sleek black romper.

  "I can't get the cinch right," I admitted, feeling my face heat up. "It's ... it's a lot of fabric, and I don't normally do dresses."

  Piper drifted over, her touch light as she took the silk ties from my shaking hands. "It's perfect for you, Kurumi. It shows off your waist without being ... well, without being Scintilla." She winked as she deftly looped the fabric, pulling it snug and tying a neat bow at my side. "There. Gorgeous."

  Yuna appeared behind her, wearing a clean, charcoal colored hoodie over slim jeans. She looked like herself, but there was a bright and cheerful light in her eyes that had been missing for a while. She leaned against the wall, taking me in. "You look like a normal girl, Kurumi. It's a good look for you."

  "Thanks," I whispered to the pair of them, smoothing the skirt. "Let's get this over with before I accidentally blow a fuse."

  ---

  The Aegis Arcade was a sensory assault of sound, light, and scent. Located in the neon-soaked belly of Sector 4, it was the kind of place where the air smelled like spilled lager and fried dough. It was the unofficial headquarters for the city's super-fandom, a place where heroes were treated like sports stars.

  The moment we stepped through the heavy glass doors, my breath caught. To the right of the entrance stood a massive, flickering digital leader-board titled: BAY CITY TOP 10 GODDESSES.

  I felt Yuna's hand on the small of my back, guiding me closer. "Look at that," she whispered, her voice laced with a dark mix of pride and humor.

  I stared at the list as it scrolled from one to ten, each heroine getting a solid ten seconds with high resolution photographs of their ... assets.

  1. Neon Nymph

  2. Siberian Siren

  3. Mistress Mind

  4. Aura Knight

  5. Iron Matriarch

  6. Lotus Blade

  7. Celtic Ember

  8. Gumiho-9

  9. Scintilla

  10. Tundra Rose

  There I was. Or rather, there she was. High-resolution photos of myself as Scintilla flickered through the display. The silver fabric of the suit shimmering in the camera flash, eyes glowing behind the veil. The reflected nipple shot. I could feel my cheeks start to burn as I stared at my own nipple projected for a crowd of hundreds of cheering fanboys. And I was only two spots behind Fiona, the woman I'd had my ... unfortunate topless battle with.

  "Total bullshit," a voice grunted to our left.

  I glanced over to see two guys in their early twenties, clutching beer bottles. One was wearing a t-shirt with a pixelated purple lightning bolt.

  "What's bullshit?," his friend asked.

  "Scintilla being on here, but not Voltana," the first guy snapped, pointing up at the screen. "Scintilla is just eye candy. A viral fluke who got popular only for being the first heroine in nine years to show a nipple. The last was Blue Kimiho, who tried to start a porn site and got exiled by HeroHub for 'moral objections' if you recall. Voltana has grit. She actually fights. Scintilla is just the 'silver goddess' for guys who want a girl who'll disappear in a flash of light."

  "Dude, look at her," the other guy countered, gesturing to my image. "I'd take the silver goddess any day. Voltana is too scary. You think you're dating her, then she probably fries your brain for forgetting an anniversary. Scintilla is the dream - she absolutely knows how to get naked and show a guy a good time."

  I felt a surge of electricity prickle at my fingertips. I wanted to tell the second guy that Scintilla would fry his brain for even looking at her. And I wanted to thank the first guy for standing up for me, but also was thankful I wasn't on the list. Instead, Piper stepped between us, her blonde wig swinging.

  "Ignore them," she murmured, looping her arm through mine. "They have no idea who they're standing next to."

  We moved deeper into the noise of the arcade. We started at the back, where the old-school sports games lived. Piper challenged us to Skee-ball and I watched in genuine awe as she dominated the machine. She had an almost hypnotic grace, her wrist flicking the wooden balls into the hundred-point rings with effortless precision. My super-enhanced reflexes let me get close to her score, but it was my first time playing and Piper still won in the end.

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  "Beat that, Super-girl," she teased, bumping her shoulder against mine as she handed me the next set of balls for our rematch.

  I didn't win that time either, but then we shifted to basketball. Yuna selected a shooting challenge game with the cold, calculating efficiency of a machine. She took a few practice shots, learning the ideal trajectory, then sank thirty baskets in a row without breaking a sweat. Her face was a mask of intense focus until the final buzzer, when she turned to me with a rare, triumphant smirk.

  "Nothing but net!," she challenged as she stuck her tongue out. I tried - but couldn't come close to her score.

  To save my pride, I led the two girls to the claw machine. It was filled with high-end plushies - the kind where they weighted the bottoms and programmed the machines to drop the toys the moment they hit the sensor, ensuring their inventory was safe.

  "You'll never get anything," Yuna noted, her eyes fixed on a blue-eyed stuffed cat in the corner.

  "Watch me," I said as I stuck my tongue between my teeth, eyes narrowing in concentration.

  I gripped the joystick and tried to feel the machine. I could hear the hum of the internal servos. As the claw descended, I sent a microscopic, focused pulse of electricity through the joystick. It was a 'hiccup' on the logic board, overriding the release trigger. The claw clamped shut with the force of a vice.

  I didn't just win the blue cat; I won a pink rabbit on the same pull.

  "For you," I said as I handed the cat to Yuna. "And for you." I handed the rabbit to Piper.

  Piper beamed, clutching the rabbit to her chest like it was made of gold. Yuna looked at the blue cat, then at me, and tucked it under her arm. "Not bad, Kurumi. Not bad at all."

  The levity broke when we hit the snack bar. As we waited for our pizza, Piper's body went rigid. She nudged me, her eyes darting toward a booth in the corner.

  Sitting there, bragging to a girl who looked bored out of her mind, was a man in a leather jacket. I recognized him almost immediately - one of the S-Korp contractors from the lab where I'd been forced to watch. He had his security badge clipped to his belt, swinging it like a trophy.

  "... Yeah, the Sector 7 gig is almost done," he was saying, his voice carrying over the arcade's din thanks to my enhanced hearing. "The big payday is Monday. We're moving all of the rest of the high-value cargo to the docks at 0300. After that, I'm taking a month off. Somewhere tropical. Play your cards right and I'll bring you with me."

  "Monday morning," I whispered.

  Yuna's hand found mine under the table. She didn't say anything, but her grip was firm. She looked at the guard, then back at me. "Intel acquired," she mouthed with a grin. I nodded, pleased that we'd gotten what felt like a major break in our case, and hoped we could come up with a good plan.

  After we ate, we circled back to the arcade games. A few minutes later, Piper announced she was heading to the restroom. The moment she disappeared into the crowd, the air between Yuna and me changed. The noise of the arcade seemed to fade into a dull hum around us. We stood by the glow of an arcade cabinet, the flickering green light washing over us.

  I looked at Yuna - my first friend in this strange world, my best friend, my grumpy guardian, the woman who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to fuel my super-powered adventures. The violet dress felt too tight. My heart was a live wire.

  "Yuna," I said quietly, my mouth dry with a nervous energy.

  "Yeah?"

  I didn't think. If I thought, I'd talk myself out of it. Tell myself that we're just friends. I reached out, grabbing the collar of her hoodie, and pulled her toward me.

  The kiss was desperate and sudden. Yuna made a soft, startled sound into my mouth before she completely melted. Her hands came up to frame my face, her skin hot against mine. It wasn't like the suit-grabs or the tactical hugs. It was real. It was us. She tasted of strawberries and energy drinks and she was delicious.

  When we finally broke apart, Yuna was breathless, her eyes wide as if in shock. She blinked, a slow, dazed look on her face.

  "About damn time," she rasped, her voice trembling. "I thought I was going to have to hack your suit and brainwash you into kissing me."

  I laughed, a shaky, relieved sound, but before I could reply, she stepped back, straightening her hoodie. "Piper's on her way back. I ... I think I need to check on something. Give me a minute."

  She vanished into the crowd, leaving me reeling. A moment later, Piper appeared, her blonde bob perfectly in place as she slid under my arm. She looked at me, then at the empty space beside me. "Where's Yuna?"

  "Checking on something," I said, my voice sounding far away.

  "Oh." Piper looked at me, her gaze softening. She led me toward the back, where the old-style velvet curtained photo boots sat in the shadows. "Let's take a picture. To remember the night."

  We slid into the cramped booth. The smell of old paper and Piper's perfume - something like vanilla and rain - filled the tiny space.

  "Okay," Piper whispered, her face inches from mine as she pressed the 'Start' button. "Ready?"

  The screen counted down. _3... 2... 1...*

  The first flash went off as we smiled. But as the timer reset for the second shot, I looked at Piper. I saw the girl I'd pulled from a dark and rain soaked alley, terror on her face as she survived a kidnapping. The girl who had somehow become the heart of our makeshift family.

  I leaned in and caught her lips with mine just as the second flash flared.

  Piper gasped into the kiss, her arms winding around my neck, pulling me flush against her. It was a sweeter kiss than Yuna's, tasting of cherry lip balm and hope. I got lost in it, the world outside the velvet curtains disappearing entirely.

  Flash. Flash. Flash.

  The camera kept firing, capturing every second of us - my hands in her hair, the way she arched into me, the absolute, unfiltered joy on our faces.

  By the time the curtain opened, we were both flushed and dizzy. We took the strip of photos from the slot. The first one was a cute 'friends' shot. The next three were a chronological record of me losing my mind and kissing the hell out of her.

  "I'm keeping these," Piper whispered, tucking the photos into her purse.

  We found Yuna by the exit. The S-Korp guard and his date were gone, his boastful voice replaced by the cool night air as we stepped out into the street. I looked at the street, then at the two women walking beside me.

  "Should we try to find that guy again?," I asked, though I already knew the answer.

  Yuna reached out, taking my right hand. Piper took my left.

  "No," Yuna said, her voice firm. "We have the intel. Monday morning is the move. But tonight ..." She squeezed my hand. "Tonight, we're just three girls walking home after a date."

  "A great date," Piper corrected with a grin, to which Yuna nodded enthusiastically. I laughed, holding both girls close, and strolled back to our apartment.