Lux frowned at the beep. It was the wrong beep. She had heard the right beep many, many times so she knew that this was the wrong beep.

The gate attendant, a pretty little blonde blue-eyed thing, probably barely out of high school, also frowned. She seemed to be equally aware that it was the wrong beep. She looked at the monitor.

"There's a problem?" Lux asked.

The attendant—her nametag read 'Penny'—nodded. "Yes, ma'am, there is." She scanned the ticket again. The machine made the same beep, the wrong beep. "Are you in a hurry?" Penny asked, sounding very apologetic.

Was she in a hurry? No, not really, she was heading home. She didn't have to be back at work for a seven whole days. She had extensive plans that included lounging around at home in her underwear, watching a lot of streaming shows, and eating a lot of takeout. But she was looking forward to getting there. She had spent the last two weeks surrounded by people, having been to two separate work conventions. She was peopled out.

"What are my options?" Lux tried (without needing much effort) to sound tired.

"Well," Penny replied cheerfully, "I would suggest that you head over to our ticket counter," she pointed helpfully, "and let them know that we're having an issue with your boarding pass."

Lux sighed. "I'm last one in the line. This plane leaves in ten minutes."

Penny nodded. "I'm certain they'll be able to get you on another flight."

The gate attendant doesn't know anything, Lux reminded herself. She just heard the wrong beep, got some message on her screen. Lux smiled thinly. "Thank you."

"Thank you for flying with us, we're sorry about the inconvenience."

Lux nodded and retrieved her boarding pass, picking up her small carry-on and heading to the ticket counter. This was to have been her second flight of the day, final flight of the trip. And despite seven flights in the past twelve days, this was the only travel trouble she'd had. Of course it had to be the last leg of the trip, and she was going to be stuck one flight from home. Her baggage, minus the limited bag that held her laptop and a few necessities, was going to be loaded on the plane that she wasn't on, and would certainly arrive home before she did.

There was no line at the ticket counter. That was a blessing. The middle-aged ticket agent greeted her, his face not betraying any worry at Lux's obvious irritation. "How might I help you, miss?"

"The gate attendant sent me here," Lux said. "My boarding pass wasn't accepted."

"May I?" He held out a hand, and Lux gave him the pass. As she did, another woman walked up behind her. It felt like they might be the only two travellers in the airport. It was late. The man—'Lukas,' according to his nametag— scanned the boarding pass and frowned.

"That expression isn't good."

Lukas shook his head. "Apart from the fact that the plane that this ticket is supposed to be for is leaving the gate right now, and that it's the last flight of the night, it looks like there's a glitch. Everything seems to be in order with the pass, but it's not lining up right in the system, and I don't have the skill to fix it."

"Hope you don't mind," came a confident, small voice from behind. The other woman in line. Lux turned to see a short, younger woman with a bright smile, a deep tan, shining brown eyes and short dyed-blue hair. "I have an unexpected layover myself. And with all the stuff going on in town, I managed to get the last hotel booking. I came back here to get them to cover the room. I wouldn't mind sharing so you don't have to call every place in town only to find out that you'd be sleeping on the airport benches."

Lux sighed. It sounded like a really good offer. "That's really very kind, uh—"

"Rady," she replied, offering her hand. "Short for 'Radiance,' but no one calls me that. And if you're going to say that it's really very kind but you can't possibly accept, I'm going to say 'Don't be silly' and insist so that I have someone to talk to since I won't be getting home tonight."

Lux took Rady's hand and was immediately met by a firm shake. She was too tired to reciprocate, so she let the other woman lead. "I'm Lux. Luxury. Ask my parents, I don't know. But it sounds like this gentleman can help you a lot more than he can help me, so I'll get out of the way."

"Oh! yeah, sure, I'll talk to my boy Luke here, he'll get me hooked up. Hope you don't mind."

"It's all good, I'll just go have a seat and you can get me when it's all sorted." Lux turned back to the counter and picked up her deficient boarding pass. "Thanks for your help," she said to Lukas, "even if it didn't get me anywhere."

"I'm sure we'll be able to sort it out in the morning, when the full staff is on site," Lukas said apologetically.

Lex nodded. "It's fine." It wasn't, but it also wasn't Lukas' fault that it wasn't. She took her little carry-on bag and headed over to a nearby seat, keeping an eye on Lukas and Rady. The two of them seemed to be getting pretty deep in conversation, and Lukas was poking away at his computer terminal.

The airport was strange when it was empty and quiet. There was a relaxed atmosphere. The few people around weren't rushing anywhere, everything was casual and calm, even the music seemed to be resting. Lux closed her eyes for just a second, and was surprised when Rady gently shook her awake.

"Hey Lux, I got my shit all sorted out, there's a car on the way, gonna be here in five, you ready to hit the road?"

Lux shook her head to clear it. She was more tired than she'd thought, apparently. "Yeah, yeah, we can, uh..." She took Rady's offered hand again and got to her feet.

"If you're tired, I can take your carry-on. Hope you don't mind."

"Mm no, that's great, thanks." Lux stretched, trying to get her body to fully wake.

Rady lifted Lux's small bag with ease. "Not much in here?"

"Nah, just my ID, some money and credit cards, phone and work tablet."

"Cool, yeah, this is an easy carry, I got this."

Lux smiled. "You're really kind, you know?"

Rady beamed. "Just the way I am, I guess. Hope you don't mind."

"I sure don't." She took a deep breath. "Okay. Ready to go. Lead the way."

Rady was a pretty quick walker, and Lux had to stretch her long legs to keep up. She didn't mind, though, even tired as she was, she could use the momentary exercise after a long plane ride. It was a bit more than a five-minute walk to the passenger pick-up, but Rady wasn't apparently bothered. She just led Lux out into the cool night air where a blue sedan was waiting. The little bag went in the trunk, and the two women sat in the back. Their driver was a redhead about Rady's age, who turned back to look at Lux with a smirk.

"Out late?"

"Flight cancelled," Lux explained.

"Oh wow, that sucks." She put the car in gear and started driving. "Where to, then?"

Lux looked at Rady. Rady pulled out her own phone. "Madison Garden, edge of town, you know it? Twenty-three eight two seven Conway."

"Yeah, I know it, that's about twenty minutes in this traffic."

"Cool." Rady looked back at Lux. "You seem pretty exhausted, there. Hope you don't mind."

"Heh, I guess I am," Lux replied. "I'm not all that used to travel, and with the time change, and the hour, and the fuss over the plane..." She yawned.

"Hey, I get it. Happens to me, too. And then you get to sit down in a comfy car with some soft music, and the weight of the day just sort of pulls you down, and you finally get to relax for a bit."

Lux nodded. That was pretty accurate.

"Before you know it, your eyes are heavy and you're starting to dream, even if you're not really asleep."

There was a strange, dreamy quality to Rady's voice. It was interesting. Lux didn't feel like interrupting.

"Happens to me all the time. I guess when you travel more, you get used to that drowsy, drifty feeling, and when you're safe and comfortable it's almost impossible to keep awake."

She was safe and comfortable. And it was almost impossible to—

"—and anyway, we're here. Lux? Hey, Lux, you there?"

Lux blinked. She didn't feel like she'd been sleeping, not exactly, but somehow she still did.

"Sorry 'bout that. Hope you don't mind. But we're here."

"Yeah, of course, sorry." Lux unbuckled herself and got out of the car. The Madison Garden was a grand old hotel, stretching up into the dark sky, perhaps a dozen stories high. It was tough to see all the details in the night, but it seemed to be made up of a stone façade covered in ivy, with Greek-style columns everywhere. Even with the late hour, there was still a doorman standing in the vestibule, waiting for her and Rady to climb the stairs.

Rady was following behind, after a short conversation with their driver and retrieving Lux's bag. Lux briefly felt a little bad about leaving Rady to take care of that, but for some reason couldn't bring herself to wait or go back. She just put one tired foot in front of the other on her way up the stairs.

The doorman or valet or whatever he was seemed sympathetic. She managed a smile and a nod, walking into the immense and ornate foyer of the hotel. She was about to approach the desk when she remembered that the reservation would have been in Rady's name, not her own, and instead she just sat in an ornate chair and waited. Rady was only a step or two behind her anyway, and Lux watched as she made her way to the desk, with Lux's bag still in her hand.

There was something... different about Rady, Lux decided, watching her temporary travelling companion chat with the attendant at the desk. She didn't talk quite the same as anyone else that Lux knew. Her voice had a way of pulling Lux into the conversation but then being impossible to focus on while she was there. It was a little like... Lux thought about a good metaphor. It was a little like a maze of mirrors. She could see a thousand reflections but all she was looking for was a pathway. She could see herself, mostly, over and over and over again, but it was Rady's voice she was listening to, guiding her through an endless hallway with a thousand twists and turns.

The more she thought about that voice, pulling her forward through the reflections, the easier it was to hear it, even with Rady some distance away and not talking to her. She wasn't even hearing words, just a tone, a pitch, that strange pull-in-and-push-away-all-at-once quality. She wasn't sure how she could focus on the sound of a voice without hearing the sound of the words it was speaking, but somehow, Rady had made it possible. Had made it desirable, even. It was true, she just wanted to hear Rady's voice, regardless of what the energetic girl was—

"Lux? Oh geez."

Rady was right there in front of her.

"You must be more tired than I thought."

A hand was extended, again, and Lux took it, again, getting to her feet.

"We're up on the eleventh floor. Hope you don't mind."

Lux shook her head. Elevator rides didn't bother her. They walked through the lobby together. Lux barely noticed that Rady was still holding her hand.

"Gives us a bit of a long, slow ride."

That actually sounded kind of nice. Lux had no idea why. It was just an elevator.

It only made sense that she'd be tired. She'd been travelling all day. It was late. She didn't know where Rady found the energy, really.

The elevator walls were mirrored, and Lux could see how tired and how happy she looked. She felt... Rady said something. She felt good. Maybe she was trying to feel something else, but as Rady pointed out, it felt good to feel good, so why feel any other way?

And the mirrors themselves. Lux felt like she was looking into eternity. Like that maze she had imagined a moment ago. Thousands of Luxes and Radies, but just one voice to follow, showing her the path, the way to go. A door seemed to open before her, into the light, and she followed Rady into the glow. Another door, and she followed Rady into the dark.

She was sitting on the edge of a bed. She was coming around a bit, shaking off the small nap she'd wound up taking in the hotel lobby. It was taking her a while. A toilet flushed. She was in a hotel room. Her hotel room. The room she was sharing.

Rady stepped out of the bathroom, bringing the light with her. "Watch your eyes," she said, "I'm going to turn on the room lamp."

Lux nodded. Rady flipped the switch. "You need the bathroom? I'm going to get ready for bed. Don't have much to do, I have less luggage than you do." She shrugged a bit apologetically. "I'm used to sleeping in the nude, and I don't have much of a choice if I want my clothes to look even halfway decent tomorrow. Hope you don't mind."

Lux did need the bathroom. "Yeah, I'll, uh." She got up. The bed itself was huge, king-sized, it would be easy for the two of them to share the bed without ever getting close to one another. "Maybe I should keep my underwear on?"

"Don't ask me, do what you're comfortable with," Rady said behind her as she closed the bathroom door. And Lux thought about it, she didn't have a change of clothes either. And if she turned off the light, it wasn't like Rady was going to see anything. And Rady would be under the covers by the time she got finished in the bathroom, and had washed her hands and face. Her toiletry kit was in her suitcase, likely sitting in the unclaimed luggage room at the airport, waiting for her to get home. Lux grabbed a plastic-wrapped toothbrush, opened it up, started slowly brushing her teeth, taking her time, giving Rady every opportunity to get out of view.

Lux made a plan. She would get out of her pants and blouse in the bathroom, step out, turn off the light, and strip off her underwear in the dark before getting into bed herself. That seemed like the best idea. She spit out the last of the toothpaste, rinsed her mouth out, took off and carefully folded her clothes. She had given Rady more than enough time to climb into bed naked. Probably enough to do it twice. She left her pants and shirt neatly folded on a towel on the sinkside, walking back out into the main room. The light was already low, though not out; the large room lights weren't on but the bedside lamps were.

Rady was in bed, her own clothes folded up on the spare table, but she wasn't covered, entirely. She was sitting up, looking at her phone, her pale skin illuminated in the odd glow. She looked up as Lux came in and smiled, lowering her phone. Lux had trouble keeping her eyes off Rady's chest.

"Hey, I'm used to a lamp on when I sleep. Hope you don't mind."

Lux flushed, hoping it wasn't visible in the dim light. "N-no, it's fine."

There was lots of room, Lux thought as she unclasped her bra. Lots of room. She stripped down entirely, not looking to see if Rady was watching. She slipped into the bed, turned on her side, and closed her eyes.

"I also had a tendency to talk in my dreams, just to let you know. I'm sure it won't bother you. Hope you don't mind."

Lux took a long, deep, slow breath. She didn't answer. She was sure it would be fine.

At least Rady was just reading, not listening to music or watching videos. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell by the feel that Rady had laid down and settled in. A few moments later, Rady's deep breathing suggested that she had fallen asleep. Lux relaxed, unaware that she had even been tense in the first place. Eyes still closed, on the edge of exhaustion, she could start to see the reflections upon reflections that she had imagined earlier, that she had seen in the elevator. She could hear the sound of Rady's voice, imagining it leading her through the glass corridors as she made her way to an unknown destination. The dreams seemed to whisper themselves into her ears. She relaxed deeper into that maze, and felt like she was floating into sleep.

Lux had never slept that easily. Normally she would toss and turn for quite a while before finally falling into darkness, but that night, in that unfamiliar hotel room, with an unfamiliar roommate, she felt comfortable, warm, wrapped up in an embrace that was somehow both external and internal. She had never felt such self-assurance, and so easily accepted of a stranger.

A soft, sleepy touch woke her, and it took a moment to recognize her own fingers dancing lazily on her thighs. In the night, she had rolled onto her back, and both she and Rady had moved to the middle of the bed, with the short woman now cuddled up right alongside Lux, their bodies pressing together. Lux could hear the soft muttering that Rady had warned her about, the other woman speaking in her sleep. The sounds didn't really resolve into words, so far as Lux's tired brain could comprehend them. She contemplated rolling away, moving back to her own side of the bed, but she didn't want to wake Rady, and those soft murmurs were somehow part of the warmth and comfort and felt really lovely. It was only too easy to slip back into dreams and ignore what her hands were doing as she did.

The hotel room felt like a reflection of itself when Lux woke up, able to see the sunlight just peeking in around the dark curtains. She was the one now wrapped around Rady in a messy entanglement, their legs intertwined, the smaller woman's shoulders pressing into Lux's small bust, and Lux's chin nestled into that puff of blue hair. Lux's right arm was wedged a bit painfully under her body, and her left arm was resting protectively on top of Rady, with her hand gently cupping the other woman's breast.

It was morning. It was daytime. They would have to get up. They needed to get back to the airport. Lux wanted a shower. Needed a shower. She slowly, carefully, untangled her various limbs from their various places, quietly shaking the pins and needles from her right hand, tried to leave Rady asleep, and somehow managed to slip into the bathroom without rousing the other woman.

The heat of the shower felt good. The echo of it helped clear some of the dreamy echoes from Lux's head. The whole of the evening felt... wild, now, looking back. Ridiculous. Impossible. She happens to be the last person onto a flight and happens to get delayed and just happens to be the only traveller left in the airport and Rady just happens to walk up behind her and happens to overhear her and happens to have just spent an hour on the phone looking for hotel rooms and happens to have booked the last one and happens to be willing—eager, even—to share...

And all of that happens to have led to the two of them snuggling naked in a king-sized bed. Because they both happen to move around a lot in their sleep.

She wasn't sure what it was that wasn't adding up, but she knew with some certainty that something wasn't.

Lux heard the bathroom door open. It could only be Rady. Even through the opaque curtain, she knew it was Rady. Her heart raced. She didn't know why. She felt warm even in the heat of the shower.

"Heya, Lux," that cheerful, sleepy voice said, bouncing gleefully around the tile. "Heard the shower running, thought I'd join you. Hope you don't mind."

Lux took a deep breath. Of course I don't, she would have said, she thought. Except that would have been an odd thing to say, wouldn't it?

The water seemed to run through fractal mirrors, each one glistening in the shower light with an image of her own naked body trapped inside.

The shower curtain moved.

Lux didn't.

"Well hello, sleepy friend," Rady said, stepping into the tub behind her temporary roommate.

"What... how..." was all Lux could manage.

The echoes of the water seemed to mix with the echoes of Rady's voice as the other woman reached her arms around Lux in an intimate embrace. The sound might have been coming from the showerhead, for all she could tell, it seemed to be all around her, pouring out like rain and leaving her soaking in it all.

Human beings are psychic like you wouldn't believe, the echoes told her. We're all broadcasting and receiving telepathy twenty-four-seven. It's really amazing. But some of us, some like you, some like me, have real Potential. Lux could hear and feel the capital 'P'. Some people realize their Potential, some never do. Which is why we need Geri. You probably remember Geri, if you think back. Middle-aged, Black, kind smile, stewardess' uniform? Lux nodded. Geri can tell someone's Potential... somehow. No one knows how she does it, and she doesn't tell. Maybe she doesn't know herself. But it's something in the way you were walking, or the way you talked to her, or the way you asked for your drink, something like that. Geri knew you had Potential, knew it instantly, and before you took off, Geri sent a text message.

"That's where I come in," Rady continued, her fingers gently massaging Lux's hips. She could feel the woman's chest pressing up against her back. "Well, me and our IT professional, which is why your ticket—"

"The wrong beep," Lux said, with a realization in her mind strong enough to make an almost audible noise.

"Don't blame Penny, she had no idea. Lukas, though, he's one of ours."

Lux also realized that her own hands were on top of Rady's, guiding them, moving with them. It was a delightful feeling.

The message went out, with your name and photo and where you would be. "I was never on a plane, I just met you at the airport." Lukas delayed you long enough. "And there I was, ready to—"

"Kidnap me," Lux finished.

Rady giggled. "Hope you don't mind." Her hands were much more vertically aligned, one on Lux's belly just below her breasts, the other...

It wasn't really a kidnapping. Persuasion. Direction. Maybe a bit of pressure. You never said 'no,' you were never drugged, you were never threatened...

"But you're still—"

"Controlling you. Some. Yes. My Potential manifests best as a transmitter, an influencer, someone sending out psychic direction. There's also Potential to receive psychic waves. Lukas is an expert receiver, though not as good as Indira, his teacher. Indira can practically—"

"Read minds." Lux didn't know how she knew to finish Rady's sentence.

That finger slipped inside her at her own insistence as the other hand clutched at her breast just as she had done to Rady in her sleep.

You receive messages excellently already, maybe some other controller has been opening your mind.

"Either way, both sending and receiving take practice. Everyone has a certain natural aptitude to start with, everyone can train it to be better. To people without much Potential, or who haven't done much to develop it, I can... nudge. Influence. I can't make them make decisions that would seriously impact their lives."

"But with me," Lux began, then gasped as Rady massaged her clitoris, "It... w-was...."

"Very different. Very different from the usual, anyway, but when Geri picks someone out of a crowd—"

Geri doesn't miss. If Geri says you've got Potential, then you've definitely got Potential.

Lux's knees went weak. "Th-... the driver?"

"Sophie."

The idea smashed into Lux's brain, shattering a mirror into fragments. "Your girlfriend."

"My wife. She'll be here in about an hour, ready to take you to training, if—"

"I want t-Oh God!"

Sex under the influence can include every part of your mind and body. Total focus. Every drop of water is a new sensation. Every touch of a hand excites new nerves. There is nothing like familiarity, and there is nothing unfamiliar about it. Even the best lover you ever had can get boring, if you have them again and again and again, unless they can tweak your mind just so and bring you so many new feelings.

The light diffused around her like colours from a prism, reflecting again and again, over and over, through her vision, through her, and Lux was forced by the spasming of her muscles to brace against the walls of the shower as Rady continued to manipulate her mind and body into the greatest physical/mental pleasure she had experienced in ages. She thought that she was having an orgasm, but then the orgasm hit, and the mirrors all spun away but the reflections didn't, and the water washed off any sensation that wasn't the purest ecstasy, and through it all, Rady was there, holding her, touching her, fucking her, guiding her, sitting her down on the edge of the tub, brushing her wet hair tenderly from her face.

Lux tried to catch her breath, and did, but was so swept up in the moment that while her physical body was recovering, her mind still felt breathless, helpless. The mirrors were reforming, the maze was rebuilding itself, but the way through it, the path, was clear, even without that voice that had guided her so far into and through it. She could walk out of the tangled structure any time she wanted to. She could free herself from Rady's influence simply by grabbing a towel, drying off, dressing, and walking out the door. Even if Rady decided to close the doors, Lux could see her way to break through the glass walls. It was a question of if she wanted to.

Rady nodded. A consequence of Potential unleashing Potential.

"If I refuse?"

Rady smiled. "Tell me about your night. Hope you don't mind."

The mirrors reflected the shadowy light again. "I missed my connecting flight, curled up in a chair in the airport, and waited for another in the morning." And though she knew it was wrong before she said it and after the words had left her mouth, as she spoke that one sentence, it was absolute truth.

And you'll continue to believe that forever, if you walk away, from the moment you're dropped off at the airport.

"Assuming I don't run into another person like you," Lux added.

Rady smirked. "I guess that's true. We're not all that common, but we do tend to cluster together. And if you travel a lot, maybe you come through here again..."

"And if Geri's on the flight again..."

You understand.

Lux nodded. She could still see the way through the field of mirrors, still see the patterns in their organization. She liked those patterns. Liked the way the water droplets in the air shimmered and shone as she considered them. Liked the way Rady's blue hair contrasted with her skin pinkening in the heat.

"An hour?"

"An hour."

Lux stood up and put her arms around Rady, holding her lightly. "I want to hear that voice in my mind guiding me again, only this time, I want it to guide me to bed, and to guide me to make you happy." She paused for a moment, listening to the water for any new messages, and when none arrived, she leaned in with her own whisper in Rady's ear. "Guide me well, and maybe I'll join you."

Rady reached over and shut off the water. "I couldn't have asked for a better order." She leaned in, tilted her head up, and the two of them kissed, long, slow, and deep, a prelude to many more, and many other things besides. Sophie's arrival in an hour didn't stop the fun, for that matter; with two receivers to influence, Rady was able to accomplish so much more. And when things had ended, Sophie was able to answer a great many questions Lux had about life with Rady and what her training might look like. All in all, the three of them left well after checkout time.

For some reason, after Rady spoke to the front desk clerk, no one particularly cared about the clock.

And sometime later, a woman arrived at a lost luggage counter in a completely different airport. She rang the bell, waited patiently.

"Can I help you, miss?" came the voice of the approaching attendant. His nametag said 'Carlos.' He seemed very young, and eager to help.

"Yes," she replied. "There is a bag waiting, under the name 'Luxury deSanos.' I'm here to claim it."

He nodded. "May I see some ID?"

In response, the woman reached into her purse and drew out a playing card. The Queen of Spades. Carlos looked at it and nodded.

"I'll be right out with that bag, miss."