Tonight the arcade is closed.
We see Yoshimi in the street outside it. Please remember that she is not really here before continuing. The city stretches up into the heavens around her, slamming into some distant skybox after a certain point, perhaps, but that's just speculation. The sky is too hazy to see if such a thing is possible. The surfaces are all reflective or all neon, throwing hundreds of distorted Yoshimis, varying shades of every colour, all over the walls of the buildings. There is an arch above her, a neon rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. In traditional Chinese characters it spells something out. We cannot read it but she can.
電玩城的中央廣場 (VIDEO CITY CENTRAL PLAZA)
An announcement.
Please remember that tonight the arcade is closed.
Yoshimi peers into it through the windows, the rows of silent cabinets standing to attention, bathed in shadow, hints of fun and whimsy for now taking a well-earned break. Even the magic of dreams needs to rest now and again. Ghosts pass her by, chattering in Mandarin, Cantonese. Snatches of Japanese and English. In Video City we understand that this is the norm. A screen above displays a calm blue ocean. Perhaps it is computer generated. From time to time the video stutters and starts again, the gentle shifting of the water resetting itself. Skipping frames.
Tonight the arcade is closed
We can stand and peer in all we want.
There is no law against loitering or idling or causing a menace to public order.
Feel free to wait for it to open again. The management apologises for the inconvenience.
You, the customer, are the city's highest priority.
Video City strives to provide an excellent level of customer care in all areas. If you believe your needs are not being met, please consult a member of staff. And, we add automatically, remember the nature of things before you get too upset.
Yoshimi sets off walking towards the neon arch. She is not a tall or impressive person. Were we to know just yet what brought her here, what she's done on these phantom streets to survive, we wouldn't believe it. Despite her name she isn't all that Japanese-looking either. Well, no one really uses categories like that these days. What she is is she's a customer, first and foremost. The colour of her skin and what's between her legs or inside her head, those are just details. A shadow brushes against her side and apologises, bowing its semi-transparent head at her meekly. If she believes her needs are not being met...
The constant hum of electricity from all around. The air crackles with it. Video City is proud to declare its unique atmosphere a product of the extensive use of VED (Virtual Environmental Design) Systems' Atmospherica Air Controls. The current level of humidity is maintained exclusively for your comfort. If you are finding it unpleasant, please consult a member of staff.
While here she might not be tall or impressive (we can see what that means, looking at her now, how every shadow she passes is at least a head above her), but she is dressed very strikingly, in an outfit she's clearly comfortable with, and that lends her an aura of...something? We can't find the words. A solidity.  That's what she possesses. Underneath her open greatcoat she's wearing a bright red dress that goes down to her knees, billowing and complicated. Not really all that sexually appealing on a body that girlish. But we get that sexiness isn't very important to Yoshimi. Of course, sometimes it is; but if it were a priority she wouldn't be spending her time here, of all places, fully clothed and looking serious. There are lots of better places to be sexy in Video City.
HoloFunction Virtual Life Partner Centres.
Sunny Days BodyShopping Mall.
Heavenly Skin and its various streetside offices.
Whatever you fancy.
Please be mindful of the futile nature of your desires.