Candidate (Selected Book 4)

by Robin Roseau

  She leaned closer, staring into my eyes -- she'd made me take the visor off the minute we were inside her apartment. She paused then said, "For now."

  "For now," I agreed. "It's not that it's something I want to do, Charoite. I pretty much hate it, actually."

  "Then why do it?"

  "Because Jasmine Brighteyes is very convincing."

  "Ah. Yes, I suppose she is."

  "She has reasons. She tells me she is not lying. I can't judge whether she is or not. There are days I think she is laughing at me."

  "You are developing a reputation, Andromeda."

  "As a slut?"

  "As a human to be reckoned with. As a human who does what is necessary. As a human who is willing to work with us, but we better not betray you."

  I nodded. I could live with that sort of reputation. "Are you coming swimming?"

  "I believe I am."

  * * * *

  I missed Cherish. I missed her the most during my swims. I thought I could like Charoite, but I knew I liked Cherish.

  But she left, and she didn't even have the courage to say "goodbye".

  I still missed her, even with Charoite swimming with me.

  She swam, but for her, swimming meant splashing around in the water. It didn't mean proper swimming. So I splashed with her for a while, but I kept eyeing the lap lane.

  "Go ahead," she said. "I know you come for exercise."

  "Are you sure?"

  "I'm sure. I'm going to get ready for the day and have breakfast. I am told you are allowed to be policed by your visor, so I may leave you here without acquiring the wrath of Jasmine Brighteyes."

  I laughed. "Yes."

  And so I moved to swim laps. But Cherish and Soft Rain were gone, and Dark Skies wasn't there that morning -- she hadn't yet been taken from me, although that was not so far off. She didn't swim every morning.

  And so I swam my laps alone.

  And really, really missed Cherish.

  That made me feel bad, because I'd been in Charoite's bed just an hour previously. But I couldn't help it.

  But I swam, and then the visor warned me my time was ending.

  And so I showered and wore a robe back to my cell.

  Breakfast arrived, and immediately after, an incoming call from Jasmine. "Have a nice evening?"

  "Good morning, Jasmine," I said. "How are you this morning?"

  "Aren't you going to answer my question?"

  "I am sure you know I didn't spend the night in my cell. You may just use your imagination. What can I do for you?"

  "If you ask, and if you have an offer, I would allow early termination of our agreement."

  "I was told you weren't allowing that. You have an experiment, and you want it to play out."

  "If you ask, Andie," she said. "You must know that."

  "Well, I'm not ready to ask, and I believe we should continue your experiment."

  "You do not have faith in this budding relationship?"

  "I met her last night. You know humans don't work that fast."

  "And yet you spent the night not in your cell."

  "Well, you know sometimes we work that fast, but you also know that a romp in bed is not a commitment."

  "So you romped."

  "If you want details, you're going to have to check your video."

  She snuffled. "You don't really think I'm foolish enough to bug a Kitsune's apartment, do you?"

  "I have no idea how undetectable your bugs can be. For all I know, deactivating the visor doesn't turn it all the way off."

  "Oh, maybe it doesn't," she said brightly.

  "And for all I know, telling a visor to stop recording doesn't mean it necessarily does so."

  "Maybe it doesn't."

  "Which is why the visor wasn't in the bedroom, and I didn't spend the night on a sofa in the living room."

  She snuffle-laughed again.

  "I like her. We had a good time. I intend more good times with her. She's asked for my exclusive attention when she's here. But I'm not in love and I'm not ready to commit. And so our agreement remains intact, but perhaps you will choose to continue to drive off all my other choices, leaving me one single choice."

  "How can you make such an accusation?"

  "Until last night, Cherish and Dark Skies are the only aliens who have asked me on a date in several weeks. There have been more aliens looking for dates than humans available for them, and so even if I were the last choice, someone would have asked me. I may not be 20 anymore, but even I'd score better than I have been. Unless you're meddling. We have an agreement, Jasmine Brighteyes. Are you in violation of our agreement?"

  "Your growing reputation may be scaring them off."

  "Oh, please," I said. "You can do better than that. Come up with a lie I might believe."

  "I might not be the one scaring them off."

  "So you admit someone is scaring them off."

  "It could be your reputation."

  "Do you believe that?"

  "It could be Sugilite's reputation."

  I'd considered that.

  "It might be Dark Skies, still hoping to keep you for herself."

  "No one is afraid of her."

  She laughed. "She has a legitimate claim on you, Andromeda, and by Octal rules, anyone who interferes opens themselves to being claimed. Now, she's not doing this, but she could be waiting to collect a half Octal all in one night, just waiting for two more females she wants in her family."

  "Seriously?" I paused. "Oh, nice misdirection, Jasmine. It's not Dark Skies. It's Sugilite."

  "I have handled it. You'll begin receiving a little more attention. And Charo and I have already talked."

  "All right."

  "So, how was it?"

  "Voyeur."

  * * * *

  Charoite found her own way to Control Room 2 and was talking to Cedar when I arrived. As soon as I stepped in, Cedar told me, "You have twenty minutes to teach her the cameras. I want you on both livestreams." Yes, we were running two nearly simultaneous events. They would begin a half hour apart, giving us time to get one started before the other. But after that, we'd be watching both at one time.

  "Got it. Hello, Charo. It's good to see you again."

  "Hello, Charo," mimicked Cedar. "It's good to see you again after spending an entire night humping like clowns."

  "Do clowns hump?" I asked. "And if so, how do they go about it. Do they do something special with those big, red noses? Maybe it's the clown shoes that make it special. Charo, did we do any clownish humping?"

  "Not that I recall, Andromeda." She stepped towards me, and I leaned down and kissed her cheek.

  I was not used to dating someone smaller than I was, especially lately, what with Ardents and Wookies running around everywhere.

  "Let me show you what we do."

  I took her hand and drew her to a workstation. I set myself up next door.

  "Do I have to use this?"

  "I can't teach you any other way, but once I show you, do what you like."

  It didn't take that long to show her how to use the cameras. I helped her wake them up, getting them into the air and deployed in both arenas. Then I moved to my own workstation, setting up to watch both events.

  "Cedar, are all contestants wearing visors?"

  "Yes," she said.

  "Excellent." I lowered my voice. "If they're wearing visors, then they're programmed to ignore the cameras. We can get them a lot closer and they won't recognize them."

  "Got it."

  "But you have to be careful you don't run into anyone."

  "Right."

  "We have two jumpers in the air," Cedar said. "ETA for the candidate: seven minutes. Challenger: seven and a half."

  "I like to get shots as the jumpers land," I said. "But we have a few minutes. Let's show people the course. I want you to zoom around the two starting locations. Which camera?"

  "SS-11-A and SS-34-D," she said.

  "Got it. Do 11-A first." She understood, and
we got a real good view of the mating candidate's starting position, ending with a close view of the stone pillar where she was soon to stand. I added subtitles explaining what it was, and then we did the challenger's start, complete with more subtitles. The video itself didn't include the subtitles. Instead, it went into the stream as a separate element, just like the audio portions were all separate elements. The receiving systems would merge them all together, including a translation of the subtitles into the appropriate language for the viewer.

  It was all pretty amazing. I could write in English, but the words might appear in Wookie if Soft Rain were watching.

  I could also add voiceover if I wanted, but I only spoke English, and it didn't get translated. Sometimes Cedar or Jasmine would add voiceover. But if I wanted critical information included, it was subtitled.

  "Candidate's jumper approaching."

  Charo was ready, and I switched views. "Mating Candidate Megan Francis" was the subtitle. A few seconds later I had to do a split screen, with one side staying on her and the other on the jumper for the challenger. "Challenger Warm Wind (Greenbear)".

  Megan was led from her jumper. Charo did a good job with the cameras, but I said, "Give me a slight zoom out as she is pressed into place, but then I want to see her hands stuck in the pillar with a pan up to her face."

  The Greenbear lumbered out of her jumper and moved to her starting spot.

  "I love the jungle challenges with the Greenbears. They're at home in our jungles."

  "I'm looking forward to our challenge tomorrow," Charo said. "You will lose, and you know what happens after that."

  "Focus. I like to show the jumpers leaving."

  "Got it."

  * * * *

  Our last events were Jasmine's. One of them looked like it would be running for some time. The human was being particularly wily. Jasmine finally said, "You two can go."

  "But-"

  "But you are a mating candidate first and a camera coordinator second," Jasmine said.

  "Yes, Administrator Brighteyes," I said, putting just a little sarcasm into my tone.

  "That's right, and don't you forget it."

  Charo and I stepped out. "Is an hour too long?" I asked.

  "No. Perfect. There will be clothes in your cell. I'll collect you in exactly an hour."

  I smiled. She pulled herself to me, stepping up on tip-toes to accept the kiss-lick we'd worked out between us. I kissed. She flicked her tongue at me a few times, and I parted my lips, and then she licked.

  We'd done that a lot last night, and it had already become associated with the other things we'd been doing at the same time. I clung to her, enjoying it, and then released her.

  "I like doing that," she whispered.

  "I do, too."

  "We need to do that more."

  "I agree."

  So we did.

  "Ahem."

  We broke our kiss-lick and simultaneously turned. Jasmine stood at the edge of the corridor with her hands on her hips. "Charoite, are you mauling my mating candidate in the middle of this corridor?"

  "Jasmine-"

  "Silence, Mating Candidate Hayes." I closed my mouth. "Well Charoite?"

  "I wouldn't say mauling, Administrator Brighteyes. I might suggest that I was appreciating her from very, very close."

  "I see," she replied. "As long as we're clear. Carry on." And then she turned and strode down the hall.

  A moment later, we both began laughing. Well, Charo squeaked. I laughed.

  "Do you know what that was really about?" Charo asked.

  "A reminder to me what my status is."

  "And a reminder to me that she holds me responsible for our shared behavior."

  "Because I am a child and don't make my own decisions, right?"

  "No, because we stole your power from you, and it now rests in my hands and hers."

  "I think it won't help my mood if we talk about that. Please kiss me again."

  So she did, but then she sent me on my way. I set the timer on my visor and headed for the showers.

  * * * *

  I stared at the clothes that were waiting for me. I should have predicted them. It was the same outfit I'd worn to the first meal with Sugilite. And then words appeared on the visor.

  As Charoite suggested, Andie. We stole your power. You have no choice, you know.

  I stared at the words a short while then got dressed. Well, the clothes were comfortable, even if I looked ridiculous. I wondered if she would expect me to dress like this every day, or if she was sending a message.

  Maybe she thought these colors actually looked good together. If so, it was evidence she had the worst taste imaginable.

  Then I wondered if that was why she was here with me in the first place.

  And then I thought about their words.

  We stole your power.

  Those words went through my head, over and over through my head.

  We stole your power.

  They had never even apologized. They had never even tried to justify why they thought they had the right to do that.

  You have no choice.

  Was that true? I wasn't sure it was true. I looked at the clothes I was wearing. I wondered if I was willing to make a statement. By doing, what exactly? Putting the undies back on instead? It wasn't like I had other clothes I could access. I wore what they gave me or I wore nothing at all.

  I sat down on the bed, staring straight ahead. I tried to decide what I was going to do. I was sure I had no way out of this. They were right. They stole my power, and I had no way to get it back. I had no illusions I could escape. I had no illusions they would actually let me go.

  For about a second and a half, I thought about telling my parents what was going on. They could go to the press. But could they even get that far? Jasmine had been clear. If I told my parents anything, she'd kill us all. I was sure she'd do it. Well, someone would do it.

  She acted like she cared about us and what happened to us, but that was a lie. Maybe she cared a little, and that was how she assuaged her guilt for her role.

  Incoming video call from Jasmine Brighteyes.

  I considered denying it. I wasn't ready to burn bridges yet.

  "Hello, Jasmine."

  "This is not the body language of someone about to go on a nice date with someone she was kissing in the halls an hour ago."

  I didn't say anything.

  "What's going on, Andie?"

  "Nothing. Long day."

  "You've got something stuck in your head, don't you?"

  "You never even apologized," I said softly. "You never apologize to any of us. We're just the natives. Me. The women here. Our own people gave us to you for this slave trade. They gave us to you to appease our overlords. And you don't even think we deserve apologies for what you're doing to us."

  "Is that what you think?" I didn't answer. "You're right. I don't apologize. I don't apologize because I'm not the one who is doing this. I am the one who is trying to make the best of the situation for you."

  "Yeah, right."

  "And an apology? There isn't an apology big enough for what is being done to you."

  I stared for a while, not focusing. "You and Charo are right. You stole my power. I have no choice. But don't pretend to care, Administrator. You love the situation. You revel in it. You make sure at every opportunity to remind me just how weak and helpless I am. But you're a fucking hypocrite. You talk about humanity's immaturity. I think you need to look in the mirror. You talk about humanity's immaturity, but look at the people who are doing this to us. Look at the people who accept it. Look at the people who come here and take a woman against her will. Look at the people who decide, they're just humans. They have no rights. They're just humans. That's all the justification we need to do this to them."

  I focused my eyes and looked at her. "You withhold the most basic of rights, instead calling them privileges, and doling them out parsimoniously, as if it actually would cost you anything at all to let us ch
ose our own clothes or have a modicum of privacy. I'm wearing this utterly ridiculous outfit because it's either this or nothing. I literally have nothing else to wear."

  I shook my head. "And then you're going to give me to someone who takes advantage of what you do to us, and if I don't like it, you'll find someone horrible and give me to him instead. And there's not a thing I can do about it. Fine. Humanity owes you, so you get your sex slaves. I suppose that's how you justify it. And some of us are lucky. You drug us out of minds so we don't care. But your argument that you're more mature than we are? That's bullshit. You're nothing but a human trafficker. And humans consider them lower than terrorists. So get off your fucking high horse."

  Then, before she could say anything else, I terminated the call and deactivated the visor. I set it aside and stared at the wall.

  I was there perhaps another ten minutes when I heard the glass wall make a doorway. There was always a sort of whoosh sound. It wasn't loud, but I'd grown accustomed. I turned, expecting Charo to have arrived. Instead, Jasmine was there.

  "Have you come to remove privileges?"

  "No, Andromeda."

  "Am I to be punished?"

  "That isn't my plan. May I sit?"

  I moved down to the far end of the bed, leaving the near end for her. She sat, facing me, but I continued to stare at the far wall.

  "You went out of your way to remind me. Twice. I don't think your timing is coincidental."

  "I was not the one to choose this location or built this facility," she said. "Although I've made improvements. I was not the first administrator. I was the third, and I've held my position beginning three years after we arrived."

  "That's a lot of women whose lives you have ruined."

  "It's a drop in the bucket compared to the number hurt by what humans do to each other."

  "Yes, but the women whose lives you are ruining aren't guilty of doing that, are we? So if you use that as an excuse, then you're abusing the wrong people. Why don't you do something about the people who victimize others?" I turned to her. "Oh, wait. You'd have to start with yourselves."

  "I have spent the entire time I've been here trying to enact changes in how this is done."

  "Yeah, because what I've helped to accomplish is a distinct difference. I'm the spoon full of sugar that makes the medicine go down."