Author's Notes: This chapter would have been a great deal longer if I'd fully indulged myself. It's still bigger than a 'normal' chapter though because it's pretty important to the story. Take your time with it.

The corporate world was infamous for being a test of patience. Ever since the attack on LightComm, Elsa had been forced to go over security procedures and attend countless meetings full of the same information over and over again. She'd been inundated with information, to the point where her brain had long since shut off.

"... At the end of this review, the new procedures and protocols will be in your inboxes for immediate review. You'll all have to re-certify..."

'Lovely. More testing, less computing. Remind me why I'm here again?'

The young technician's mind was far from the present, and wandering further away by the minute.

Its wandering had started innocently enough; she had started thinking about faking biometrics. Whoever had gotten in had probably impersonated an employee, using stolen data.

She slouched back in her chair, the leather squeaking softly. Fancy took flight, soaring through internal skies and personal airspace. When it touched down, Elsa found herself in a practically abandoned library, knee deep in literature. To her left, Anna was casually draped across the table, arm dangling over the edge. Through the hours, Elsa would read aloud to her, sneaking smiles and playful acting into the story's pauses. Anna smiled back up at her, slowly kicking her feet back and forth, resting her head on her other hand. Elsa's mindscape brightened, her mood lifted by the thrilling realization that communication didn't have to be efficient to be fun.

"... And that goes double for you, Miss Sanders."

The intrepid daydreamer fought successfully to keep herself from snarling, clinging to her romanticized bliss.

"Why might that be, sir?"

Her supervisor looked back at her, but he seemed reticent.

"Everyone else is dismissed. The rec areas are all still open, I know this was a pretty boring meeting. Go blow off some steam, but make sure you all get to your certs."

This didn't bode well. Why was she being singled out? What could have possibly happened?

"What is it?" she asked.

The supervisor relaxed his posture a little bit, trying to be as diplomatic as possible.

"Your employee card was used without authorization a little over a week ago at a fusion center in Medford."

Fear jittered across her nerves, and if the building hadn't been fitted with such a robust air conditioning system, she might have given that away.

"I see."

"According to our corporate policy, you don't have to say anything regarding this, unless the investigation calls you specifically. But your requisition privileges, access to company databases and all partner libraries are suspended until further notice."

Everything froze, her pulse included. No database access? How was she supposed to get at the launch records?

Putting her troubles aside, she straightened and put her hands behind her back.

"I understand."

A disheartened grunt passed Elsa's lips as the flat of her back hit soft sheets and fluffy bedding. Her hair sprawled all around in a haphazard array, forming a sea of angelic white.

'Damn my ineptitude. I should have known better.'

Kicking herself wasn't going to solve anything, and besides, she wasn't all that much of a masochist. Her heart ached for the few who had been hurt, but no one had died, and really, it was pretty easy to put that out of her mind when she remembered Anna's reaction to her 'gift'.

Something wasn't quite right though...

Elsa stared vacantly at the ceiling, completely ignoring its intricacies as well as the soft glow from the overhead lamps. Her mind churned in contemplation.

'A pitifully ineffectual 'terrorist' attack... right after I acquire data on someone Hans is hunting? When there hasn't been anything like it in how long?'

That was far too convenient to ignore. Clearly, someone was conspiring.

It was getting harder to breathe by the second. This was happening so fast, the world was rushing in on her from all sides, voracious and hungry. Each time she had found even the most modest of sanctuaries, the will of the cosmos threatened to tear it away.

It hadn't occurred to her yet, but she was quaking. If the bombing was any indication, once Evotech found her... her psyche blocked the image to keep her from unraveling into madness.

Would any of it matter, though? Running meant abandoning others like her.

But there was one thing she was forgetting. She had only stolen data. What would Anna's fate be?

Now that was an unsettling image. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she accepted that at the very least, Anna needed to be protected. No matter what, Anna would always be more important than anything. Even her own life.

She'd never admit it, but she'd been having sacrifice fantasies for weeks now. Every possible permutation on the scenario played out. Jumping in the way of cars, taking bullets, rescuing from the clutches of villains; the list was unending. But in each one of them, she gave everything for her love.

Despite its ugly, intimidating appearance, the jagged ice now covering her room reminded Elsa that she was neither powerless nor devoid of agency. Staring at her hand, she whipped up a small flurry of ice shards.

'I might not be a bio-mechanical superhuman, but I'm not weak.'

But would it be enough?

She pushed the question out of her mind, dismissing the ice in the room with a touch more flourish than ever before. Was she getting more graceful? Or was it just her imagination? It did feel good to flow as she moved.

Trying it on, she sauntered over to her desk, where she slid into her seat. Nice, comfy. She reached down and pulled open the desk drawer.

Back when Kristoff had escorted her home from the skatepark, Elsa had stopped at Anna's house. The contents of the drawer were what she had actually gone back for – full diagnostics and technical documentation on all of Anna's systems. If Elsa was to ensure her lover's survival, she had to be able to repair her.

Elsa swore once all of the information was transferred to her computer and rendered onscreen. The outline alone was 300 pages long. The complete data was no doubt so voluminous one might actually need augmented intelligence to understand it all.

In this case, however, defeat was not an option, neither was running. Instead, she hardened under the pressure.

"Looks like I've got my work cut out for me."

Something occurred to her – she did have an augmented intelligence, just not implanted. With a tap and a swipe, she set her computer to voice mode.

"Computer, Activate Snow-G."

A long time ago, when she was in the tiny, cramped exercise room aboard the station watching the stars crawl by, Elsa had realized that her fear of biotech wouldn't save her from it. She spent years contemplating this, drafting several solutions that never solidified into anything promising. Until one day, she had had an awful illness and was in sick bay awaiting treatment. Doctor Zimmer had an extremely difficult time with the diagnosis, and had conferred with the station's onboard AI.

Several years later, she had finally finished Snow-G. It was the most sophisticated AI she could manage, and its primary goal was compressing impossibly complex systems into human-understandable terms, providing additional context and explanation as needed.

"Snow-G, there's biomedical, mechanical and electronic data on a cybernetic organism in the current directory. Please process it."

"Yes ma'am."

Dashing through the streets, jumping and flipping over street furniture, Anna flew through south Boston. Kinesthetic bliss flowed through her, amplifying the musical pulse of her heartbeat in her ears. Kristoff had set up a meeting and she was sure as sunrise going to get there in the most flamboyant, fun way possible.

'Nearly there.' A single side-street remained between her and her destination. Bolting around the corner, she leapt into the air and into a steep wallrun. Bricks and windows flew by in a blur as she traversed the building at top speed, getting as far as she could before the inevitable fall.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a strong wind and a minor tremor pulled Kristoff out of his conversation. He whipped his head around to find the source of the disturbance, only to be met by cheeky, cheerful Anna.

"Hi Kristoff! And friend!" she said.

'Hope this goes well,' Kristoff thought.

"Anna, this is Christine. She's new to the city and currently works at a library."

Clarice offered a hand. Anna plowed straight past it and enveloped her in a huge, heartfelt hug.

Curiously enough the hug was reciprocated, with a hefty pat on the back...

Nightfall was once again imminent, and Elsa had once again finished a day of toil. The new restrictions that had been imposed upon her weren't unbearable, but it was still unsettling to be looked at with skepticism and fear amongst her own kind. She got enough of that outside of LightComm, she didn't need it here.

"Good going Sanders, you're gonna get us all killed," said a passer-by.

"What did you even do anyways? Security won't say anything," said another.

Their words stung more harshly than any chemical burn. This was her fault. In her efforts to help her beloved, she had bitten the hand that fed her. Her heart still bore the painful scars of the damage she had wrought, but there was no turning back time.

"I- I don't want to say anything. Please leave me be," she meekly replied, doubling her pace and trotting down the hall.

Thankfully, the requisition loss didn't apply to food. Her lone companion in these trying times, the vending machine by her door, was as tempting as ever. She rushed to it, fumbling with the controls. Once she had a chocolate bar in hand, she rounded the corner to her room and swiftly closed the door behind her.

The glorious sight of her computer's screen meant only one thing: past Elsa had given current Elsa a present that only she could provide, crafted of persistence and love. Despite good shoes and a carpet floor, she nearly slid out upon arriving at her desk.

She was grinning like an intoxicated fool. All day, she had had the expectation that something would at least need tweaking, or that the processing would still be underway. To her pleasant surprise, all was working as it should have been, and Snow-G had finished its compilation with remarkable speed.

"Snow-G, retrieve information on life-support systems," Elsa said.

"Yes, ma'am."

'Well, that will make my life easier.'

At that, the information popped up onscreen, and Elsa set to work. Anna's onboard computer possessed a robust fail-safe, a direct wiring to her heart and autonomic systems. Should any of them fail, it would continually apply reboot procedures until either they fixed themselves or help arrived. In the case of infectious or corrosive agents, those same systems could be decoupled from the rest of the body.

Elsa straightened in her chair, her attention aroused by the most useful discovery yet. Anna's medullary implant had a diagnostic port, accessible by any medical tricorder with the right encryption key. If anything went wrong, Elsa could keep Anna alive long enough to fix things.

Of course, it couldn't be that easy. It never was. Shivers danced down her spine and looming dread filled the air. Technology wasn't the limiting factor - no, technology was Elsa's world, her comfort zone. It coddled her like an ever-loving guardian. The demon was far deeper, primal, even. If Anna were to be disabled or damaged, fear itself threatened to undermine her.

For years, sneaking, ruinous fear had stalked her. Ruthlessly, it strangled her growth, chaining her to the mercy of the world around her. It was not a battle without headway, for Anna had been her guiding light and with that light had come less and less icy misfiring. But if that light's very survival relied on her... If only one misstep, one blunder meant she lost that light forever... The fear might win.

Violently, Elsa shook her head, trying to clear it. The pressure in her chest faded as her pulse slowed down to a reasonable level as she reminded herself of her goal. 'You still need to figure out how to repair her.'

"Snow-G, retrieve information on the subject's appendicular system," she said.

As the full text of the subject came up, Snow-G piped up to offer a reading of the abstract.

"The subject's appendicular system consists of two highly customized Evotech FP Arms, as well as two Evotech Titan compressible legs. Like all Evotech limbs, they have a titanium-alloy frame, memory-wire muscle fiber packs, are innervated with CyberDynamics nerve clusters, and have Keratose synthetic skin. Replacement part codes are included in the data."

'Goodness...' Elsa thought, marveling at the design. Anna was built like a tank. A cuddly, kissable, unfathomably loyal tank. Trying to measure exactly how much of her was bionic and how much was "natural" was a pointless task. Even though her limbs were clearly mechanical with a synthetic skin surface, her remaining biological systems were infused with advanced materials that seriously blurred the line between biology and technology.

The work was getting easier, thanks to AI assistance, but yet another obstacle was rearing its ugly head.

No requisition access meant none of these supplies could be obtained, rendering her knowledge useless.

Fighting rebellious nerves, she retrieved a remote earpiece from her desk, connected it to her computer and called the one person she knew might be able to help.

"Who is this? How did you get this address? I don't recognize your public key."

'Wow, talk about paranoid. Justified, though.'

Elsa summoned her most professional voice before answering. "Doctor Lancaster? Sorry to disturb you, I'm Elsa."

Ashley's tonal shift wasn't as much as she'd hoped for, but it was comforting nonetheless.

"Ah, I remember you now. One second, I can tell you're connecting from an external device. I'm going to scan it for vulnerabilities. Can't be too careful."

"I'm up to date on all my security measures... I learned that lesson the hard way." Ashley couldn't see her, but Elsa's gaze dropped to the ground in shame regardless.

"Everything checks out. What do you need, Elsa?"

"You probably know that Anna's in over her head. Powerful agents are going to be after her before long. I... I need supplies, if it isn't too much of an imposition."

Extended silence on the other end of the line did nothing for her confidence.

"Is Anna coming around to my request? She's a sweet girl, but we're spread pretty thin at the moment. Convincing people that there's even anything wrong is hard enough. I can't spare much if she isn't going to be helping out. I'm not a god." A pause, then a sarcastic chuckle. "Yet."

It was irrational, Elsa knew, to expect help for free. That did nothing to clear the flash of anger at being asked for something in return. Elsa was no stranger to hopelessness, but such was her fate when cast into a world that had left her kind in the dust long ago. She uncurled her fists and relaxed in her seat, trying to keep the anger from lingering. Surely there was something she could give Ashley in exchange for help.

A flicker of an idea sparked into existence in the depths of Elsa's mind. Ashley was just as threatened by Evotech as she was.

"I'm not sure about Anna." Elsa started, "I haven't spoken to her in a few days now. On the other hand, I do think I can make it worth your while."

"Oh? What have you got?"

Elsa smiled as the devilish scheme solidified into something concrete. 'Oooh, that's good'. She straightened in her chair, tall with confidence. With a touch of luck, she'd be able to turn a catastrophic blunder into something good.

"I know what caused the attack on LightComm. It wasn't a normal terrorist attack. Hans was retaliating against me for breaking into his personal affairs. I can show you how to get into his network."

That got nir attention. Across the line, the doctor could be heard shuffling and arranging something. There was a subtle shift in tone and while Elsa couldn't tell if Ashley was getting down to business or just feeling better, there was definitely a more positive note.

"What do you need, Elsa?"

"I need a medical tricorder, diagnostic software, an interface cable, and access to a genetic database."

"...why the genetic database?"

"I'm trying to solve a mystery." This was going to be tough; Elsa hadn't told anyone other than Anna and Kristoff about her predicament. Ashley was trustworthy but the feeling of wariness was difficult to shake. Trying to calm her nerves, Elsa reminded herself that this was for the best. "I'm an orphan and I want to find my parents."

The line went silent.

After a few tense moments, Ashley spoke again. "Alright Elsa, I've set up a VPN. You should be able to get anything in either the CyberDynamics or New England genetic database. Just try not to get my access revoked, okay? And for the love of all that is natural, get Anna on board with our operation."

"Absolutely. Thank you so much, Doctor Lancaster."

"No sweat," Ashley said. "I hope."

The line went silent, and the connection closed.

The sun was lower in the sky now, and things were starting to look better. Sweet, calming symphonies with just a touch of electronic instrumentation flowed freely from nearby speakers, coaxing Elsa into a more relaxed, yet still studious state. Going through Anna's diagnostic systems had been refreshingly easy, far more intuitive than anything she'd seen or built on the station.

'I could get used to these new UIs.' The thought was fleeting though, swept aside by warm coffee, if only for a moment. Many months ago, she'd hit a wall trying to get at her genetic information; ice formed on any samples, preventing any derivation of a sequence. Everythinghad changed when she met Anna. There was something healing and empowering about Anna's presence, like basking in the aura of an angel. It had done wonders for Elsa's control, bringing a peace she hadn't felt in a long time. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to command her cryokinesis to stay calm long enough to get a sample performed.

When the caffeinated bliss faded, Elsa turned her attention back to the screen. The newly acquired genetic database stood before her. Her sequence was already entered, all that was left was to start the search for related matches.

'This is it.'

Her finger was inches from the screen when an alarm from her tablet went off.

The realization of what exactly the alarm was for sucked her out of the zone, replacing focus with giddiness. "Oh my gosh, it's 19:00! Time to go see Anna!"

With great fluidity and not a single pause, she started the database search, polished off her coffee, and tied up the back of her wild mane. After making a quick pit stop, she grabbed her essentials and ran out the door.

Search 1% complete.

5.85 billion possible matches.

Anna had been unhinged all night, fidgeting and darting with anticipation. Her sweet, adorable Elsa would be arriving soon. Her imagination ran wild; she could see it already. Elsa would arrive in her poised, elegant manner with undertones of cuteness and it would send Anna's brain into overload. The whole situation was borderline madness. Her head swiftly peeked up over a windowsill, disappeared, then reappeared in another window a bit later.

Earlier, she'd spent untold hours patiently searching for the perfect gift. Even though most people were using implanted technology for its speed and security, wearable tech was still popular for modularity and versatility. Anna had found one of the fastest, most useful personal computers on the market and bought it without a second thought. She wouldn't even have to go through painstaking effort of fitting. During their adventures the week before, Anna had taken a 3D scan of Elsa's arm. It would be perfect!

Elsa clutched the straps of her handbag and a slight sloshing sound came from within, accompanied by the gentle clink of glass. Before her incident with requisitions, Elsa had ordered twin beverages, one of traditional wine and a sister bottle of GABAhol with the same flavor and from the same manufacturer. All starry-eyed at the prospect of a romantic meal, her first instinct had been to go for classic, almost cliché territory: a box of chocolates. Heaven knows she could devour chocolate until her stomach objected, but instead a last minute decision was made to get a dinner of burritos instead. More nutritious but just as delicious, she reasoned.

'I love these taxis,' Elsa mused, as she laid back in comfort, listening to the soft, serenading classical music as it set the tone for a calm journey. The sun was only visible by tiny, muted gradients in the sky, and the blue glow of the LED strips was the preeminent source of light in the car. The effect meshed well with the design of the vehicle, mostly gunmetal and black colors, with long striking lines and smooth corners. Soaking in the ambiance, Elsa closed her eyes and tried to imagine her own personalized take on the aesthetic.

Gradually, the lights in the car intensified. A nondescript yet calming voice tugged Elsa from her internal mindscape.

"You have arrived at your destination. Please remove any belongings before discharging the vehicle."

Each time she had walked up to this door, something about the experience changed, however subtle. Sure, it was the same configuration, built from the same materials, following the same proportions. But the feeling changed. The first time it felt frightening, like an unexplored frontier. The second time it was easier, more familiar but still not exactly welcoming. This time, however, the house practically welcomed her. Lights along the walkway responded to her presence, illuminating her path. The porch lighting shifted colors from cold to warm, and the door unlocked just as she reached it.

Apparently, the house wasn't alone in expecting her. While she stood there in the doorway, Elsa put her hands on her hips.

"How long have you been sitting here like this, Anna?" Elsa asked.

Anna's eyes lit up in a vibrant blue glow. It wasn't even remotely subtle, and it spoke volumes without a single word.

"It's been hours, hasn't it?"

"N-No. Of course not!" Anna said, conspicuously looking aside. "Elsa, I have something I want to show you!" Anna offered her hand, and the two of them dashed down the hall, around the obsidian spiral terminus of the handrail, and down the stairs.

The lower floor had a much more sparse, clean aesthetic than the rest of the house. It was virginal, bordering on sterile, but not so pure as to be otherworldly. Everything was matte, with no specularity to be seen. Supporting pillars curved where the floors and ceiling met. The edges of the panels had nicely rounded corners, parted at thin seams like opposing fields. The entirety of the narrow, long room was filled with the bright off-blue glow of the fluorescent lights running across the upper moulding on the walls.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elsa noticed a small box on a stand near the door that Anna was leading her towards. Their clattering footsteps slowed to a more subdued pace, and soon, Anna came to a stop by the box.

"Close your eyes, Elsa," Anna said.

Gleefully, Elsa closed her eyes and waited for her surprise. A soft band of fabric, accompanied by a light, thin, rectangular box, slid up her arm. It felt sublime, the material giving where her body was stiffer, and stiffer where her body was compliant. It came to a stop over her bicep, and nearly instantly, the sensation disappeared, as though she was wearing nothing at all. She wondered if it was time to open her eyes.

Somehow, Anna picked up on this. "Not done yet, keep 'em closed!"

Elsa was loving it. "Okay, whatever you say, sweetheart."

Soft points of pressure expanded into thin lines on her arm. The sensation of Anna's fingers sliding up her arm was soothing, practically sedating her. Keeping her eyes closed wouldn't be an issue at this rate.

It was a fleeting moment, unfortunately. Anna's hand retreated, having placed a band upon her wrist.

"One last thing!"

'What else could sh-' Dainty kisses upon her nose took her by surprise.

"Mwah! Gotcha!"

"Hey! No fair!" Next thing she knew, her eyes were open. Whatever the device strapped to her arm was, it was... What was it? It was muted and nondescript. She couldn't place it. The bracelet was thin and black with a glowing blue line on the smallest sides.

"What's this?"

There it was, that magnificent, radiant smile. Anna's toes were pointed inwards and her hands were behind her back. She swayed side to side as she began her explanation. "It's like that tablet that you carry around. But it's small, way faster, goes on your arm, and you can project the display anywhere."

'On my arm... Oh yeah!' She'd already forgotten she was wearing it. How on earth did they make the fabric so comfortable?

"It's perfect! If only my clothes fit this well."

Anna leaned over and tapped a spot on the arm-facing side of the case. The bracelet sparked to life, projecting a holographic display onto Elsa's arm.

"It works just like the touchscreen you're used to, watch."

Playfully, she locked eyes with Elsa and drew circles on Elsa's arm. Sure enough, the 'screen' responded.

"Isn't that awesome?"

Utterly unbelievable. All her life, she'd just been an aimless, useless tech junkie, unworthy of such generosity. Or so she thought. Overcome with a fit of joy, she grabbed Anna by the shoulders, gently stroking them. On the verge of tears, she looked Anna deeply in the eyes, watching them dart in attentiveness.

"Anna... I'm speechless. You're too kind."

"Psh, that's nothing. Wanna see what it can do?"

Enthralled, Elsa nodded with glee, too excited to form sentences. Frozen in place, she could do nothing but stare. Anna skipped over to the vertical doors on the nearest wall, her steps carefree. Upon her arrival, the hulking doors came to life. Inch by inch, they slid open. The lingering doors came to a halt and locked loudly into place, only to reveal a mysterious room whose interior appeared entirely black.

Inside, all that could be made out was a tread-like texture on the floor. It was gray, with long, thin striations. Once her eyes had adjusted, Elsa's curiosity won out and she immediately started looking around, taking in everything she could. The walls had thin metal beams in a grid pattern suspended over them. Many nodes in the grid had some kind of protrusion, tapered cylinders with open ends.

"Anna, what is this pl-"

She was interrupted by a bright flash and the humming of intermured machinery. When the dazzling display had subsided, their surroundings had been replaced by a new scene. The floor had assumed the appearance of a checkerboard that stretched into infinity with alternating gray and white squares. Above, the upper walls and ceiling now appeared to be a vast blue sky that faded white near the horizon.

"It's a virtual reality room!" Anna said.

Elsa had an endless list of questions to ask. How did it work? Holographic projectors, clearly, but how did it handle perspective differences? Solidity of objects? Oh, there were just so many questions to ask! "It's amazing! But what does this have to do with my computer?"

Anna smiled at her, a blend of wicked mischievousness and levity on her face. Gracefully, she stepped within Elsa's reach, guiding the display-bearing wrist to where they could both see it. "You can use it to build the world!" She started tapping away on Elsa's forearm. "Check this out!"

A couple of meters away, a solid cube with beveled edges and glowing lines faded into existence. At the sight of it, Elsa's imagination ran wild, visualizing sprawling metropolises, titanic acropolises, gladiatorial arenas, and just about every other possible majestic world.

Anna elaborated: "We can even build them together! That is kind of a pain in the butt though."

The prospect of collaborating with her dearest was tantalizing to be sure, but Elsa had something more nostalgic in mind. Struck by a bolt of inspiration, she asked Anna to hold her handbag.

"Sure! What's in the bag?" Anna asked, accepting it. Elsa didn't notice her spawn a bench into existence and sit upon it.

Elsa, now distracted by her own ability to worldcraft, simply replied, "Dinner."

"Oooh," Anna cooed in excitement. Her organic systems did, in fact, need nourishment. "... eating in the VR room, eh? My parents would throw a fit. Let's do it!"

This time by Elsa's doing, the world around them morphed in a dizzying display of light. When the fluctuations finally settled and the environment solidified, a world entirely unknown to Anna appeared.

To Elsa, of course, cramped hallways and metal paneling were home. Being surrounded by her former home seized her with such an intense, compelling sense of presence that for just a brief moment...

Anna cried out in astonishment, bouncing in place. "Oh my gosh, Elsa look!" By the window, she placed her hands on the outcropping, leaning forwards until the reflection of her face appeared in the glass.

"It's... Earth."

Now by her partner's side, Elsa pulled her bottle of wine out of the handbag slung across augmented shoulders. She took a swig. It was sweet, bordering on the saccharine. How much of the sweetness was from the drink and how much was the result of present company was difficult to tell, but Elsa reveled in it regardless. Elsa reflected in multiple senses, both in the window and upon herself. She softly slid her hand across her partner's back, resting it at last upon Anna's shoulder, letting her fingertips fall in between the ridges of artificial muscle, massaging them gently.

Elsa spoke, "I've stared out this window for longer than I can remember. My entire life, this has been where I've come to dream and wonder."

Anna turned to her left ever so slightly, not wanting to take her eyes off either Elsa's face or the planet. Gently wrapping her left arm around Elsa's waist, she slid her hand down a curvaceous hip. Anna pulled her own bottle out of the bag and took a small sip.

The two shared their comfortable silence for nearly half an hour, watching the swirling, mesmerizing weather patterns below. The white clouds contrasted sharply with the deep blue of the oceans. They didn't drink much, as they were already intoxicated with the beauty of the view and each other. Just as her consciousness began to slip past the bounds of sobriety, Anna broke the silence.

"What did you dream about?"

Another lengthy, thoughtful pause. As it continued, Anna's curiosity grew.

"All sorts of things. About wide open plains, vast skies overhead. Plentiful resources, endless freedom..." Elsa trailed off. Anna suspected there was more, but as it was not forthcoming, she offered her own dreams.

"I know the feeling. I used to do the same all the way down there. Gosh, I have no idea how many times I've just stared up and wondered what the heck is going on in all that space!"

As though fighting against a great weight, Elsa took her eyes off the simulated planet, sluggishly turning towards her right. Just when her periphery clashed with Anna's, she ran headlong into a barrier within her own mind, and she struggled to cross it. Oh how Elsa so desperately wanted to smash it, to pummel it to pieces and stare headlong into her lover's eyes. But despite her titanic struggle and fierce exertion, the incredible tension remained.

Finally, she blinked, and in that instant, the barrier was crossed.

It was no small irony that Elsa was now frozen in place, captivated not by ice but by fire. The space between the two souls was potently charged, intensifying a force that had long ago began thawing Elsa's icy heart. Against every fiber of her character devoted to logic and reason, something deep within her soul kept insisting that she shared a transcendent, possibly even fateful connection with the radiant woman before her. Why else would they have fallen for each other so quickly? Whatever this deeper connection was, whatever their relation, she couldn't decipher. And despite her disbelief in such things, it felt unrelentingly real.

Elsa explained further. "I also dreamed that I'd find my true love. What I found is far superior to any dream."

The miniscule motions of Anna's irises spoke on a far deeper level than words ever could. The pull between them multiplied, and in acquiescence, Anna moved inwards until her forehead laid gently upon that of the most endearing woman she'd ever known.

Hopelessly lost in Anna's presence, Elsa said: "I love your eyes, Anna. The way they catch the light is breathtaking. They shift from blue to purple and back in such wondrous iridescence. If I could paint, I would paint nothing else."

Anna nearly swooned. "You know what my favorite part of them is?"

"What?"

"When you smile I can take a picture and keep it forever."

That was all she needed to hear. Years of longing and desolation had fermented into a passionate brew that rendered her hopelessly smitten. Caressing Anna's luxurious cheek, Elsa poured that intoxicated bliss into a deep kiss.

Suddenly, Elsa realized she was lying face-up on a bed. Not just any bed, but her bed, the one most intimate to her, burned into her memory as a home and respite. Anxiety had cropped up with the unexplored territory of burning love, and the familiarity of home had taken just enough of the edge off to make it irresistible.

Anna's shirt hitting the floor, on the other hand, quickened Elsa's pulse intensely, to the point where her voracious desire for intimacy threatened to push her over the edge. Her brain nearly short-circuited when a bare-chested Anna climbed on top of her. Once again their faces were separated by the smallest of spaces, and Anna shamelessly took the opportunity to nuzzle their noses together.

Looking down at her lover, Anna took Elsa's hand, placing it on her chest below her neck and daringly close to sensual territory. "Elsa, you can touch me you know. I'm not exactly fragile."

Each touch was light, cautious and exploratory. An entirely new world of communication, never before available, was now hers, free to explore. Gestures as simple as kisses encoded a message in sensation, placed on a cheek to convey a step forward. Ever so slowly, Elsa left a trail of intensifying kisses down Anna's neck, losing herself in the euphoria.

Dying to reciprocate, Anna asked: "Elsa… can I turn my social augment back on? I promise you'll love it!"

"Oh god, yes… I'm yours. Take me."

She didn't need to be told twice. For the rest of the blissful evening, the two lovers joined, not through wires or transmissions but through the eternally binding power of physical touch.