“No, it’s fine, it’s just…I mean, it’s not fine. They’re beating kids.”
Isa smiled thinly.
“Only until we learn.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Which some of us never do.”
“Oh? Like you?” Kailynn asked, finding it hard to believe that the calm Golden Elite ever had a difficult time with teachers at the Elite Academy.
“Let’s just say that I used to be a very slow learner,” Isa said mysteriously.
“I think you still are,” Kailynn teased. “You’re still trying to get the NCB chair to work even though Remus continues to thwart your plans.”
Isa laughed richly, the sound making Kailynn’s breath catch in her throat. Isa turned her eyes, now bright with amusement, onto Kailynn, making it more difficult for the younger woman to breathe.
“Yes, he does keep catching me,” she said. “At this point, I don’t care about getting the chair working. I’m just trying to see if there is any way for me to work around his lockdown.” She shook her head. “He’s amused by it as well. It’s been a fun way to pass the time.”
“You mean distracting your Silver Elite?” Kailynn laughed, surprised.
“Of course.” Isa nodded. “I have to remind him how much he needs me around.” She winked at Kailynn, causing heat to rise in the Significant’s cheeks. Kailynn chuckled as well, trying to dispel the feelings churning in her belly.
“Sounds to me like you’re a slave-driver of a boss.”
“I just like to keep him in shape,” Isa said, trying to hide her smile.
“That sounds dirty.”
“It was intended to,” Isa said with a nod. “I may be an Elite, but I can still have a sense of humor.”
“Can you not work from another computer, or something?”
“Not in the capacity I need,” Isa admitted. “I can send messages from other platforms, but I need the NCB chair to handle most of my affairs.”
“And you just sit in that chair and…what?”
“Have you never seen one?”
“No.”
Isa motioned Kailynn to follow her. Kailynn fell in step behind the Elite, trying not to watch Isa move. It felt like every move—every step, every strand of hair rustled, every swing of her arms—was a perfectly choreographed dance, captivating and powerful. Kailynn had become increasingly curious about the other Elites. She wondered if they were all perfect. With the way Isa was capturing Kailynn’s attention so easily, it was no wonder the Elites were such incredible politicians. They commanded attention and respect by their very being.
Isa led Kailynn to her office, which the Significant had never been in before.
The office was mostly bare, with a large desk on one wall that had four large monitors on it, and a sitting area in the far corner with windows looking out over the city. However, most of the room was taken up by the NCB chair.
The chair was big, bolted into the floor and had a large ring around the base and around the headrest.
“This looks terrifying.”
“It’s quite the machine,” Isa said with a nod. She patted the ring around the headrest. “Hop in.”
“What?”
“It’s on lockdown. It’s not going to turn on. Besides, you need training to operate one of these. I would never have you sit in it and turn it on.”
“Training? Seriously? To sit in a chair?”
“It’s more complicated than that, this chair can put you in the hospital if you’re not careful.”
“Then why are you asking me to sit in it?”
“To show you what an NCB chair does. If I’m ever here and you need my attention, such as in an emergency, then you need to know how to safely interrupt me.”
Kailynn stared at Isa, worried and surprised. She was not sure how the chair could be that dangerous, but Isa did have her curious.
Kailynn ducked her head under the upper ring and went to the chair, sitting in it slowly, her hands resting on the cold metal of the arm rests. The chair’s seat was tilted upward, which caused Kailynn to slide back until her body was cradled in position. She tried to pull herself back up, but the chair’s position made it very difficult to move.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to get out,” Kailynn laughed.
“It’s meant to keep you as still as possible,” Isa said. She tapped Kailynn’s leg. “Put your legs in the cradles.”
Kailynn kicked one of her legs over the slightly-raised middle section of the chair and placed her foot in the covered area, sliding her other leg into position as well.
“There are a lot of settings on this chair,” Isa started. “Push your head back into the cushion.”
Kailynn did so and was surprised that her head sank into the cushions as a section above her head protruded and covered her hair, stopping at her forehead. Once the movement above her head stopped, two rounded points protruded just behind her nape and touched softly to her hairline.
“I thought you said this thing wouldn’t turn on,” Kailynn said quickly.
“It isn’t on,” Isa assured. “When this mode is activated, it’s called BCS—BioCranial Sourcing.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s the mode used for filing documents, looking up information, composing messages, receiving messages, etcetera. When this chair is not on lockdown, this ring,” she tapped the ring on the headrest, “will glow blue and there will be holograms of codes in the area below it. BCS Mode is dangerous. The chair is connected directly to the brain and, if halted too quickly, can cause severe headaches, concussion, memory loss, and a few other problems. If you see this ring glowing blue, and you need to interrupt me for an emergency, there is a number pad on the back of the chair. The code is 77743. That will start the ten-second emergency shut down.”
“When you’re in this mode, what does it feel like?”
“It feels like being suspended in weightlessness. This is meant to dull the senses to the body and allow for the brain to process information, which is input through the nodes at the back of your neck. From that point, it’s a bit like going through documents on a tablet, only it’s in your mind.”
“That sounds confusing…”
“That’s why training is essential,” Isa agreed with a laugh. Her expression fell a little. “Now, if this ring is glowing red, it is far more dangerous to interrupt me. It’s the same code to disable the chair, though.”
“What mode is red?”
“Off-Planet Mode, notoriously nicknamed Opium.” Isa took a deep breath and gently tapped the ring again. “This means that my entire body is dependent on the chair to survive. If interrupted in Opium, it is likely that I will be unconscious upon being released from the chair and I will need to go to the hospital. I strongly discourage ever interrupting me in this mode unless there is immediate danger, such as a fire.”
“Noted,” Kailynn said, her eyes wide.
“If this ring is not glowing at all, I’m not bound to the chair,” Isa said finally. “You can just walk up and talk to me.”
“So there is a mode on this chair that won’t kill you?” Kailynn said dryly. She tried to sit up, but her head was still stuck to the back cushion of the chair. “Okay, how do I get out of the claw?”
Isa chuckled and ducked under the ring. She leaned forward, pressing her right ring finger to the part of the chair that trapped Kailynn’s forehead.
When her fingerprint was recognized, the chair returned to its original position, releasing Kailynn’s head. However, Kailynn was startled by the close proximity of the Elite. Even though they had been swimming naked together for the previous several days, the way the Elite was positioned, her hand bracing against the back of the chair and the short distance between her face and Kailynn’s made the Significant’s cheeks burn hotly.
Her gaze was captured in the stunning blue color of Isa’s eyes. There was power and strength in her eyes, but there was also a gentle, warm part of the look, and the combination of the two made the simple moment overwhelm
ing. Isa smiled, causing light to touch her eyes and Kailynn’s heart to skip a beat.
“Your eyes are beautiful,” Isa murmured.
“R-really?” Kailynn said. Her brain had turned to static. She knew it would be impossible to form coherent sentences. One word was already a struggle.
Isa nodded, offering her hand to the Significant. Kailynn tried to stop the shaking in her hands as her fingers closed around Isa’s and the Elite helped her out of the chair.
Kailynn knew, in that moment, that the feelings that had been building in her body when she was around the Elite would not easily be quelled.
She knew.
And, based on the look Kailynn saw in Isa’s eyes, the Golden Elite knew, too.
Their fates were already entwined.
Chapter Ten
There was only one more day of rest for Isa, and then Remus lifted the lockdown on her chair and she was able to work remotely from home.
But, even with Isa working, Kailynn could feel the air between them getting thicker when they were in the same room. After the moment of realization she had in the NCB chair, Kailynn had been trying to spend more time with Tarah and getting to know the caretaker more in order to distract her thoughts from Isa.
Kailynn knew that, no matter what her body told her whenever Isa got close, she could never pursue those feelings. Isa was an Elite, forbidden from sexual relationships. To make matters more complicated, Isa was the Golden Elite—the most powerful person in the planetary system. And, for added severity to the situation, Kailynn was a Trid non-citizen with fake papers who was earning money in an attempt to free her brother and the other Trids who had tried to shut down Venus.
Kailynn spent more time around Tarah than Isa the second week of her stay. The young caretaker never left the house, ordering in everything that they needed and having it delivered by the robots that handled such matters in the capital. Tarah was a very talkative one when the two were alone. She was unwilling to discuss her own life, but she was more than willing to dish on a lot of the society gossip she heard as a caretaker.
“How do you learn about all this?” Kailynn asked when she heard about the nobleman who was arrested for having naked pictures of one of the male Elites, named Aolee, and circulating them for profit, which eventually made it to another planet and sparked rumors about the possible kidnapping of an Elite to determine how they were made. There had been a rumor on that planet that the Elites were entirely robotic, and seeing a creature that appeared human had irked the planetary leaders.
“The caretakers have a gossip network,” Tarah answered. “I hear about it from other houses.”
“I thought no one spoke to each other in the upper levels of society.”
“No, I guess not really,” Tarah admitted. “The only other caretaker I’ve ever met in person is Luska.”
“Whose caretaker is that?”
“Remus,” Tarah answered.
“Then, if he’s the only one you’ve ever met, how do you get all this other gossip?”
“We have our own communication network through our computers,” Tarah explained. “We have to find some way to entertain ourselves when the Elites are working all day.”
“Damn, that would be boring…” Kailynn groaned, rolling her eyes. “Then your lives are completely dull. You just sit around here, gossip about others in high society, and wait for the Elites to need something. That sounds horrible.”
“It’s actually not that bad,” Tarah disagreed. “For instance, we know before anyone else when something shady is about to happen in the upper circles of society.”
“How does that work?”
“Caretakers aren’t just for the Elite. The Elites are the only ones required to have caretakers, but—”
“Required?” Kailynn gaped.
“Yes. Venus orders that there always be a caretaker in an Elite house. It’s law.” Tarah explained. “But there are many noble men and women that have caretakers as well. Isa asked Rayal when he was caretaker to reach out to other caretakers and keep contact with them so that he knew what was going on in other houses. Since then, other Elite caretakers have done so as well, and it has really expanded the network. This let’s everyone be informed. We’ve helped stop some dangerous deals and illegal activity because we’ve told the Elites what other caretaker have said.”
“Seriously? That’s scary. It’s like every house has a spy.” Kailynn’s stomach flipped. “Wait, that means that you could tell people about me being here.”
“I guess you have to be nice to me.” She giggled, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, even if someone found out that you were here, none of the caretakers would betray Isa.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because Isa is special,” Tarah said with a gentle smile. “Everyone loves her. They would never hurt her.”
The words made Kailynn pause. Perhaps her attraction to the Golden Elite was just the same thing that everyone else saw. Maybe her feelings were not that crazy or out of the ordinary with those who were near Isa.
Tarah’s eyes lowered to the table between them.
“Kailynn…” she started slowly, pulling the Significant’s attention back, “I wanted to thank you.”
“For what?”
“I’m sure you don’t realize it, but Isa has been far happier with you in the house,” Tarah explained. “It’s not a big change, but there are subtle differences. There’s a light back in her eyes that I haven’t seen in years.”
“That might be just because she hasn’t had to work for a week,” Kailynn said, waving the comment away. She had just believed that her attraction to the Elite was something that was common and that she did not need to pay attention to. Hearing that the Elite was somehow different with her, happier at that, made Kailynn’s heart beat a little faster, no matter how much she told herself to calm down.
“Maybe,” Tarah admitted with a small nod, “but I don’t think so. It’s hard to explain. Isa isn’t just special, she’s very different from every other Elite. I think she needs interaction with people. Most Elites just work and work and that’s all they do. Isa needs to interact, she needs to talk to people, and I think she finds that she can’t talk to me or Remus or Rayal about everything.”
Kailynn was looking at the table, her nerves increasing by the second.
She was unsure what it was, but the words held a lot more meaning than she could comprehend in that moment.
“I have to admit, when I heard that you were coming here, I was nervous,” Tarah said with a guilty chuckle. “And after I looked at your reviews—”
“My reviews?” Kailynn said quickly, her head snapping up to look at the caretaker. “What was wrong with my reviews?”
“Nothing,” Tarah said quickly, raising her hands. “You can’t always trust the reviews anyway. People exaggerate.”
“Tarah, what did my reviews say?”
“No, it was just one review, it’s fine,” Tarah assured, trying to calm the Significant.
“Who? Who was it and what did they say?”
Tarah was now worried she had truly upset Kailynn.
“Fine, just show me!” Kailynn said, standing. “Where the hell is the computer?”
Tarah quickly stood.
“Kailynn, forget I said anything! I promise, it’s fine!”
“Just show me, I need to know what asshole said what shit!”
“That’s just going to upset you more!” Tarah said, rushing after the other woman as Kailynn remembered that there was a computer in her room. They both went in, though Tarah continued to tell Kailynn that there was nothing wrong with her reviews and she did not need to worry. Kailynn angrily sat in front of the computer and pushed the power button hard enough to nearly knock the computer over.
“I don’t know how to check reviews,” Kailynn growled. “Pull them up. I need to see them.”
“Kailynn, seriously, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Tarah, I need to know wha
t’s being said about me. It might change the way things are for me when I go back to Companion.”
Tarah stared into Kailynn’s determined eyes and sighed, nodding once. She typed into the computer and clicked a few things on the screen. When Tarah sighed heavily and backed away, Kailynn looked at the reviews, seeing the letters grouped together to form words that she could not read.
“This is pissing me off,” Kailynn groaned. “Will you just read the bad one out loud to me?”
“What?” Tarah said, her eyes going wide. “No.”
“Tarah, I can’t read it. Will you read it to me?” Kailynn was trying to sound so furious that Tarah would not question Kailynn’s request. However, after studying the Significant’s eyes, Tarah understood Kailynn’s illiteracy immediately.
“Oh…” She looked awkwardly at the screen as Kailynn began pacing. Tarah hesitated, looking between the computer screen and Kailynn before scrolling through the reviews on Kailynn’s Significant page. Once she found the one she was looking for, she fully regretted saying anything about Kailynn’s reviews.
She took a deep breath, glancing back at the impatient and irritated Kailynn before bracing herself.
“Jacyleen is a pretty, but stupid, girl,” she started.
“What?!” Kailynn bellowed. “Who the fuck is this asshole?! How much did he write?!”
Tarah cringed, thinking about the rest of the review.
“Well, keep going!”
Tarah turned back to the screen, rubbing her forehead with her other hand as she continued.
“Jacyleen is not one for conversation. She would much rather let sex do the talking. She has a nice body and is open to sexual favors. However, there is a reason her sex fee is lower than most Significants her age. She is rough around the edges and does not know how to look for her partner’s pleasure.”
“What the fuck is he talking about?!” Kailynn screeched. “Who is the fucker?!”
“She, however, is into fetishes and other kinks. She is clearly desperate for money, so she will likely work quickly to get on to another appointment to earn even more, so don’t expect to see her for very long. Fast, kinky, and stupid, Jacyleen is good in bed, but otherwise, a disappointing Significant.”
The Significant Page 10