"That's the place," I said, looking at a certain building through our telescopes. We were currently on an apartment building, getting a good look at our destination. We were currently looking at what looked like a movie theatre. I guess even in death arenas like the Fortress, recreational facilities were necessary.
But according to Old Man Leng's wife...the movie theatre was nothing more than a cover for the secret lab that lay underneath.
Apparently, tickets and stuff didn't exist at this theatre. Anyone could just walk in and watch a movie, as long as they gave something worth at the front counter. I thought back to what Old Man Leng said about the concept of money not existing in here - instead, they did trade: material goods and information. I figured this movie theatre didn't offer food, since that would be very costly for them.
Hm...according to Old Man Leng's wife, an ammo pack from the each of us would be enough for our admittance. Since we still had quite a lot of those left over from our mission, we could use those here. Old Man Leng probably wouldn't be pleased, since he gave those to us for free, but if he confronted us, well...we had the support of his wife, so he won't be able to do anything.
We also always had the threat of telling his wife the fact that he called her his 'good friend' instead of 'wife' or 'spouse'...
In any case, we left the apartment we were on, and began heading for the movie theatre. The girls and I all wore masks that Old Man Leng's wife provided us - it was a type of gadget that looked like a normal face mask on the surface, similar to my own black one, but in reality it had a camera built into it - the perfect spyware.
This would be used to record evidence of the things we find in the lab. Old Man Leng's wife would then be able to download all the data onto her computer, making our mission a success. She also said if we succeeded, we could keep these masks - and I quote, 'think of it as a down payment'. We could pick up some other gadgets for free later, as our part of the deal.
In any case, these masks worked in our favor. With the girls' looks, they would attract a lot of attention, making our mission more difficult. With these masks, hopefully less people will stare at them, helping us go undercover. As an aside, Lan Xiao Su wore the mask on top of her veil...she probably didn't want the other girls to see her true appearance, even if it's just a second or two. She was a celebrity, after all.
Speaking of...she probably hasn't got much time to compose new songs recently. I wonder what her producer's going to say.
In any case, hopefully, no one would consider us too abnormal, for better or worse.
Then again...eight girls walking with one guy on the street. That's going to attract some attention, no matter how you look at it. Nothing I can do about that, though...most I can do is just minimize the amount of attention we will get.
We entered the movie theatre, and for the most part, not many people turned to look at us. We walked up to the front counter, deposited an ammo pack each, and the receptionist let us in. Apparently, once you paid once, you could stay there for the whole day until the place closed. Of course, if you wanted to watch more, you would have to come back tomorrow, and pay again. They operated on a daily basis.
In any case, we made it into the movie theatre with no problem. The girls and I headed for an isolated hallway, and I turned on my earpiece. Yes, Old Man Leng's wife gave us some just like Old Man Leng, for ease of communication.
"We're inside, ma'am," I whispered, trying to still act natural as I walked.
"Good...now, according to my info, the entrance should be within the female bathro-"
"The what?!" I didn't even wait for her to finish the sentence before interrupting sharply.
"Like I said...the female bathroo-"
"Uh, and you expect me, a 14 year old boy, to infiltrate the female bathroom?"
"That's your problem, not mine," the lady replied sternly. "If you want those gadgets, you better find some way to complete this mission."
I turned to look at the girls, who had obviously heard the entire conversation, since the earpieces the lady gave us allowed everyone to communicate with her, not just me (unlike what Old Man Leng did).
"So, uh...any ideas?" I asked awkwardly.
"The Cloak of Invisibility?" Yu An Yan suggested, shrugging.
"That thing is not tall enough to cover me. It's wide enough, sure, but not tall."
"Um...I guess you can wait out here while we go and do the mission?" Feng Mian suggested.
"That's...an option, but I kinda want to check out what's inside this lab with my own two eyes. We'll save it as a last resort," I replied.
"Oh! Oh! I know!" Qing Yue raised her hand. "Why don't we...turn Big Brother Xuan Kai into a girl?"
I blinked. "Uh...can we go with the last resort?"
"No no no, that's a brilliant idea, Qing Yue!" Xiang Peng clapped her hands together, snickering evilly. "Oho, this is going to be fun..."
The girls all turned to look at me with sinister looks on their faces, and I slowly backed away.
"U-Uh, guys?" Lan Xiao Su, the only normal one left, said weakly. "I-I don't think Xuan Kai likes this p-plan..."
But alas, she was too weak to stop the other girls. Hell, even Obsidia and Mei Gui entertained the idea of turning me into a female.
"H-Hold on, you don't mean literally turning me into a girl, do you? Like as in castration?" I asked nervously.
"No, of course not! We'll just make you seem like a girl, on the surface," Yu An Yan said with a evil giggle. "Oh, this is going to be so fun."
"That isn't exactly much better..." I muttered under my breath.
"Ooh, wait, we can use Obsidia as a model for Big Brother Xuan Kai!" Qing Yue suggested. "They both have black hair and red eyes, after all!"
"...Fine by me," Obsidia replied with a shrug.
Feng Mian cheered. "Alright, then it's decided! Let's head to the store first to buy a wig!"
"Wait, are the stores even open?" Yu An Yan asked.
"Naw, don't worry about that," Xiang Peng answered. "The shops and stuff in this place are always open, 24/7. And since we all slept on the maglev already, that means we're all ready to go!"
I tried interfering. "H-Hold on, what about my say in all of this? Does my opinion not matt-"
"Nope, it doesn't!" Qing Yue interrupted before I could even finish my sentence.
I sighed in resignation. Well, whatever...the girls seem to be having fun, and...how bad can it be, right? As long as I don't lose my manhood, I'll be fine...I think.
And so, with that decided, we headed out the movie theatre, and into a nearby store to get myself some accessories to...yep, turn me into a girl.
*****
- At a nearby store -
"Alrighty! Let's see now...which hair style would suit female Xuan Kai best?" Feng Mian murmured to herself as she walked around, browsing the aisles.
We were currently inside a cosmetics store - the type that sold stuff like lipstick, wigs, and makeup. Most of the customers here were female, so I felt kind of out of place. But then again, there was a guy every now and then, so it wasn't too bad. Except for the fact that said guys were all here with their lovers.
In the end, they picked out a hairstyle that was long and smooth - similar to Obsidia's hair. They also purchased some makeup and various other cosmetic items that I didn't know or understand. Girl things, I guess.
With that done, we moved on to the next store - this time, a clothing shop. My current cloak would be really unfitting for a girl to wear, despite the fact that Mei Gui wore one of a similar fashion to mine since she wanted to match. I tried using that as an argument in my defense, but was quickly shot down, as usual. They ended up getting me a black dress, since I refused to wear a pink one. They also bought some female-style shoes and stockings to go along with it.
"Now then...all that's left is to find somewhere to begin the operation," Qing Yue said, clapping her hands together in satisfaction.
W-Woah, operation? The vibes I'm getting from that word aren't good. They aren't good at all!
"Hm...does this place have fitting rooms?" Feng Mian wondered aloud.
"Yes we do, dear customer," a passing by employee answered. "They are right this way."
We followed the employee, and the girls shoved me into one of the fitting rooms along with all the stuff they just bought. Then, with innocent smiles on their faces, they closed the door, and I was left staring at a mirror, bags full of clothes and cosmetic items in hand.
Oh man...there's no escaping this, is there? Ah, screw it...let's get it over with.
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