After a quite suggestive whistle from Tanisha and a few words with Karen and David who had been in our common-area, I made my way to the mall where I had promised to meet Nisha and Mina. It was a bit of a distance from my cluster, but it was roughly the same distance for all of us, as it was quite central. Not that moving around on the Island was tedious, the public transportation was well thought-out and organised.

Nisha was already waiting for me and, as so often, we got into a discussion about classwork, both of us were highly interested in what we were studying, often taking the coursework to eleven, or even twelve, researching on a level that was more graduate-studies level compared to the actual coursework. Nisha’s interest was mainly in green power-generation, as her country needed to get rid of fossil fuels, and needed to do so fast, they already had huge problems. I was sorely tempted to bring her in on my fusion-generator, but there were a few problems with it, regarding production and scaling. Those problems were probably solvable, but I was not yet ready to bring it onto a world-stage. So, I kept quiet but tried my best to help her with her own pursuits.

Her latest idea was actually quite interesting, she had taken an old idea, almost ninty years old actually, and was trying to make it a practical reality. Of course, with the idea being the usage of molten salt reactor, just that her plan was to re-use depleted nuclear fuel in her reactor. I thought it had promise and it solved the question what to do with the depleted fuel-rods we were currently just storing for the next generation, which was something I supported as well.

We were just about to procure pens and paper to start scribbling down ideas, when our discussion was terminated by the arrival of Mina. Mina was a bit of the odd one out. Or rather, she was the normal one, with Nisha and me being the oddballs. Not that Mina was not interested in our studies, or that she was not smart, but if asked for her hobbies, she would not mention advanced mathematics or advanced physic-research. Both, Nisha and I were liable to do so, depending, of course, if we cared to be judged as odd or not. Mostly, neither of us cared, so there had been a few hilarious conversations when guys hit on either of us.

I had the advantage that my dress and an acquired rainbow-bracelet quite clearly communicated that I was not interested in guys but Nisha, with her dusky complexion, soft features and bright smile, she drew guys like moths to her bright flame. But she was a disciplined person, there were times to relax but her default-mode was the serious and studious mode, so most of the time, they were simply rebuffed.

“Are you two at it again?! We are out to have fun!” Mina chastised us in greeting, as she had heard parts of our conversation walking up. Neither of us had realised she was there, our focus had been completely on our discussion.

“Yes, yes, Mistress, I will refrain from dragging Nisha down further intellectual rabbit-holes.” I greeted her, just as I accepted her hug. She was a bit smaller than Nisha and I but had an assertiveness about her, that I enjoyed teasing her for. On the other hand, she also had a cuteness about her, that made her quite often look harmless, almost like a little kid, stomping her feet to get her way.

“See to that, Di.” she answered in her most haughty voice, causing me to snort in amusement.

“And hello to you, too.” Nisha got a hug as well, as they greeted each other.

“So, what is the plan? You dragged me out, so entertain me.” I asked the other two.

“Food first, there is a fusion-restaurant that I want to try out, I heard it’s great. And afterwards we are going dancing, there is a girls-only evening at one of the clubs nearby. Maybe, you will find someone to relax with.” Mina laid out their plans.

“Food, I can go along with, but I will not pick up anyone. So, if you want to go dancing somewhere you might pick someone up, I would be happy to play your wingwoman or just watch out for the two of you.” I rejected part of their plan, but the prospect of dancing sounded good.

At my rejection, both of them looked a little down and Nisha spoke up, “You know, Di, it’s just that you never express interest in anyone. Mina and I regularly comment on the guys but I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say anything in that regard. If not for your bracelet and the regular rejections, I wouldn’t even be sure that you are into girls.”

“It is complicated. Let us just keep it at that, okay?”

“Ooooh, there is someone, right? Someone not on the Island but you are still carrying a torch for her and hope to be with her?” Mina piped up, her eyes sparkling as she undoubtedly imagined some sort of romantic entanglement.

It was not untrue, I was still carrying a torch for Sophia and was aware that my unwillingness to even try contacting her was not a solution. I even suspected that Galatea would hold back messages from Sophia to me, if she thought it was the right thing to do. My fault, for teaching my daughter to be independent, I guess.

“As I said, let us keep it at, it is complicated. And, I am hungry, so let us go to that restaurant of yours.” I prodded them to leave my relationships alone. The two of them looked at each other, shrugged and Mina led the way towards one of the trains, carrying us to another hub.

Dinner was quite interesting. I was not sure what had gone into the fusion-part of the restaurant, I believe it was a mix of mexican and chinese cuisine, but I was not certain on that part. It tasted good, even if I had little idea what it had actually contained but maybe that was for the best. Conversation was quite light-hearted over dinner and not focused on the thematic aspects of our schoolwork, thanks to Mina, who put a stop to it whenever Nisha or I started to fall down that rabbit hole. Not that we actually tried, but when talking about a certain professor and his presentation-style, it was just too easy to trip into discussing what he actually had presented and our thoughts on the matter.

After dinner, we got on another train, with Mina still leading the way, to one of the so-called party-clusters. It was purely commercial and dedicated to relaxation, its location on the outskirts making sure that no matter how loud the music, nobody was disturbed.

The club Mina led us to, looked ordinary from the outside, if one ignored the fact that the queue only had females in it, that the bouncer was female and that a sign espoused that it was indeed Ladies’ Night.

What I found extraordinary was the fact that the noise-level out in the street was high enough to wonder if the club was sponsored by a hearing-aid manufacturer. Adding to that was that I was not sure if they got their music by simply getting the fifteen-second preview of a song at an online-music store and looped it often enough to create a full song. Or at least something with the runtime of a full song. I was not a fan of techno at the best of times, but I was wondering if one could take a random sample of an audio-recording from some industrial site and sell it to the club as music. Maybe some sort of press-plant, they had repetitive, loud noises at high frequency.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to play wingwoman for the two of you?” I asked, catching their eyes in turn.

They shared a look and we left the queue and the bad music behind, now Nisha was leading. “There is another club over there, it might be better. And, if it is Ladies’ Night here, we probably have less competition there.” she suggested with laughter.

I was not quite sure if her logic worked out, but I was not one to judge, it got me away from premature hearing loss.

The club itself was rather sparsely visited, the clear majority of the patrons were male and the few females in attendance were centres of attention. After scouting out a table and getting drinks, Nisha and Mina cocktails, I stuck with soda, we sat for a few minutes, giving the males in attendance time to make an interest known. When none appeared, I simply grabbed Nisha and pulled her onto the dance-floor with me, making Mina a more appealing target, just in case someone was intimidated by three young women together.

In addition, Nisha and I put on a bit of a show on the dancefloor and our show caught attention. Just not the attention I had aimed at. One of the other woman joined us and I wanted Nisha to get the male’s attention, so I focused on her. It was fun, to let loose for once, and my new dance-partner was quite tall, almost a head taller than me, which was a new experience. But there was something lacking. As I danced, I noticed that Nisha now had a partner as well and Mina was nearby, having also found someone.

With my mission done, I left my partner on the dance floor and went back to our table, guarding our drinks, after checking them for roofies and generally relaxing. Sadly, I was more depressed than I had been before, there was a hole in my heart. A hole that only a certain petite woman could fill.