OPEN || anyone’s game
Tezcatlipoca had to admit it; Kanaloa knew how to throw a fine party. The Cloud was abuzz with music, from live-bands and AI generated DJ hits. Each room had an entirely different theme, from disco dancing, to in-depth discussions, to a room filled with a tower of champagne glasses, and a mechanical hand extending from the ceiling that poured an endless supply of champagne down to meet demand.
Of course, Tez's fingerprints were all over this place. From the gigglewater, to the Bees Knees and other, more recent concoctions straight out of various black market pharmaceutical labs. The latest favourite was Toothsome, a colourless drug applied by a dropper on the tongue. It heightened the sensitivity and scope of taste receptors. Those on it were tasting anything they could get their tongues on, the drinks, the furniture, each other. Sometimes it caused people to lose their sense of taste, or to become overwhelmed, but that was a risk the young and stupid were willing to take in pursuit of entertaining themselves silly.
It was incredibly rude of Kanaloa to not extend an invitation to Tezcatlipoca, given her delights were keeping the fun of the party going. The door fee would have made most people balk, but Tezcatlipoca paid it without batting her eyes. She would have broken even just paying her own entry, but she paid for Tyr's entry too. In a way, it was good that Alekto had fucked off the last couple of days. Giving Kanaloa that much money would have been something to sniff at.
Tez sat back in one of the quieter rooms of the mansion. Chess games were set up on small tables, with other, quiet games placed on the table to the side. It was only Tez, Tyr had gone to make himself an intimidating hulk someplace else. So Tez spent some time admiring the tropical fish tank that made up the eastern wall of the room. Neon-fluorescent tetras zoomed around in mesmerising shoals, almost creating pictures with their movements. There were larger fish too, a mottled oscar, striped and spotted suckerfish. And then, of course, there was the shoal of red-bellied piranhas. Tez wondered if they had anything to do with the mysterious disappearances that seemed to circulate around Kanaloa.
Her solitude was cut short. Someone cast a shadow over the tank, standing just behind Tez. "Some place," Tez said wryly, placing a fingertip against the glass and watching as the suckerfish ventured closer. Maybe the piranhas weren't a useful cleanup tool after all. "You lost, or are you after a game of chess?" she asked, turning to see who she had for company.
