Bad Moon Rising

Leah lay on her bed in a tight silk robe, thinking blissfully about nothing. The afterglow remained, even after her guest had gone.

Elders, could I get used to this, She thought idly.

Her phone rang, cutting through the stupor. She smiled, rolling over to the nightstand and lifting the receiver to her ear.

“Hello, darling,” She cooed.

But rather than the voice she’d expected, what answered was a harsh, garbled command that had her up straight and clear headed as soon as she heard it.

“Oh. Mr. Producer,” She said, though Leah herself had no idea whether the Executive Producer was male or female. “Hello, love. I wasn’t expecting a call.”

Her voice was calm, but she was anything but. The producers only called for two reasons; something was seriously wrong, or something was seriously good. Leah checked her conscience, found it relatively clear, but reflected that that did not mean she wasn’t in deep shit.

Was it the takeover, she wondered? Her downgrading from host to contestant? It was the only thing she could think of, but it had been nearly two weeks since that had happened. If that was the source of an objection, why wait until now to raise it?

The voice informed her of the situation. The news, rather than dire, was mixed. She wasn’t in danger herself, thank the elders. Instead, they all were. Nothing she didn’t think they’d survive, but hardly ideal.

“The island systems,” Leah said. “Will they be alright?”

The producer’s answer wasn’t comforting.

“Understood,” Leah said. “And the contest? Are we postponing it? I wouldn’t want those pods active during a disaster.”

The producer replied and Leah nodded.

“Alright,” She said. “It’s not ideal, but I’ll inform the troops. Thank you for letting me know all this.”

Leah badly wanted to know what they thought of her performance. How she was doing. But such questions would have demonstrated insecurity, and one did not show weakness in the face of an apex predator.

Before she could think of anything else to say, the line went down. Leah cinched the robe about her waist, and dialed the number for the PA system. It was time for another meeting.

*****

Rachel spun through the air, landing in a kick. She withdrew her outstretched leg into a crane stance, then kicked out again, adopting a spread legged defensive posture with arms stretched in front of and behind her.

It was a basic taolu; a set of stances and motions between them designed to enhance her martial arts form. As much as Rachel preached the virtues of meditation, nothing was as good for parsing troubling thoughts as her taolu.

After a series of forward punches, then kicks, she ended in a roundhouse before bringing her knee up to her chest and balancing precariously on one foot. A fine sheen of sweat coated her body, and she’d been at it long enough that the pleasant ache of an extended workout was starting to set in.

“You look so goddamn beautiful when you do that,” A familiar voice said.

Rachel was so startled that she almost broke form. Instead, she only smiled, then performed a showy leaping spin kick, landing on both feat, and drawing herself into a bow.

“I didn’t realize I had an audience,” She said to Emily. “How long you been there? I didn’t hear you come in.”

Emily smiled, strolling to the empty, mirrored space where Rachel had been performing. She moved with an easy confidence she’d not possessed a week ago.

“I came in quiet. I thought you might be doing something like this and I didn’t wanna mess with you,” She said. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

Rachel wiped some sweat from her brow, and took a drink of water.

“You’re fine,” She said. “I’d offer a hug, but I’m all sweaty.”

Emily giggled, approaching open armed.

“I don’t fucking care.”

The two embraced, Emily’s face contorting into a look of concern as she withdrew.

“You must have been at it for a while. You doin’ okay?”

Rachel frowned.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Emily shrugged.

“Your thingy here is really more of a warmup,” She said, mimicking Rachel’s kicks with two fingers. “If you’re at it for that long, it’s usually cause something’s bothering you.”

She’d forgotten who she was dealing with. Emily knew entirely too much about her. An ugly part of her wondered if she could do something about that, but she smothered the thought.

And that’s the trouble, isn’t it? Rachel thought with a sigh.

“Yeah, listen…I’m starting to have my doubts about our little sessions,” She said aloud.

Emily crossed her arms beneath her naked breasts.

“And what makes you say that?” She asked. “They’ve done me so much good.”

She tossed her hair back, exposing her body. This early in the day, it still hung in a pink and gold curtain to cover her ass.

“I don’t really even feel that self-conscious anymore. At least not around the folks here,” She said. “I dunno how I’d feel about being in public, or like, my family or whatever. But I feel fine here on the island.”

Rachel gave her a weak smile. Her gym allowed her to make minor physical and mental changes to its users depending on whether they engaged in a cardio workout or a more mental exercise like yoga or meditation. When she’d confided her gym’s secret powerup to Emily, her friend had immediately seized on it as a way to get over the constant shame and humiliation she’d felt as a result of her own curse.

“Well…I’m glad it’s helped,” She admitted. “But doesn’t you feel like it’s kinda wrong? Messing with people’s heads and stuff?”

Em gave a flippant shrug of her shoulder.

“We’re adults,” She said. “I agreed to it.”

You agreed to it, Rachel thought. The little push she’d given Loretta’s sexuality, the boost to Megan’s confidence, or the comfort she’d given Lacy in her new body, well…that was another matter. And one she wasn’t quite ready to confess to.

“Yeah. I just wonder. How different is it for me to mess with you than it is the game?”

Em rolled her eyes.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” She said. “You’ve helped me a ton. And that’s not why I’m here, anyway?”

Rachel cocked her head.

“It’s not?”

“Nah. We have a meeting today. All hands. Mandatory.”

Rachel furrowed her brow.

“Didn’t we do one of those like, yesterday?” She asked.

“Yeah. I guess this is some emergency thing,” Emily explained. “I figured if you were in here, you might not have heard the announcement.”

“Shit…” She said, temporarily shelving her doubts. “I guess I better get cleaned off.”

*****

“I received a call from the producers this morning,” Leah told the assembled contestants. “We’re changing the timeline of the contest. Instead of starting in 3 days, and lasting for 5 days, it’s starting tomorrow and lasting for two.”

Hannah frowned. She’d made her plans for the second contest already, but she doubted the others had been so proactive.

As if reading her thoughts, Leah added.

“If you’ve not decided on your contest entry, I would get to work,” She said.

“Why?” Hannah asked, on behalf of the group. “Why the sudden change?”

Leah took a deep breath.

“Because we have a massive tropical storm incoming,” She said.

AJ crossed her arms.

“You’re tellin’ me that you can control our motions, turn is us into whatever the hell, and give us shit that can fuck with our own reality, but you can’t stop a storm coming in?”

Leah shot her a reproachful look.

“It’s easier to manipulate your plane than ours,” She said. “But we’re not gods in any case, and an island is still an island.”

“And how’re we supposed to know this isn’t some trick of the producers?” Loretta asked. “Somethin’ to spice things up a bit?”

“Whether it is or not is immaterial,” Farra pointed out. One of her bodies placed her hand on Loretta’s thigh while the other addressed the group. “And to be honest, I doubt Leah would know anyway after AJ’s actions.”

Hannah could hardly argue with either of those points. Her eyes darted to Emily’s. She and Jake’s new flame had grown fairly close over the course of their time together, and their communication now was wordless.

Hannah gave her a curious quirk of the head, posing an unspoken question. “Still wanna do what we discussed?”.

Her response was a slight, pretty smile and an eager nod of her head. It put Hannah’s mind at ease. If the two of them were still on the same page about their intentions, this sudden change of plans was going to be okay.

“Are we gonna be okay?” Rachel asked. “Me and AJ are kind of out on a limb if any storms hit the place.”

Leah shook her head.

“You will need to evacuate to a suite indoors. So will Hannah and Emily. We’ll move all the things required, but those buildings won’t be safe if the storm is very bad.”

“Uhm, we’re like, under the water,” Exe objected. “You’re saying we’re just gonna be fine.”

“I mean we should,” Megan corrected. “The real danger with storms like this are wind and storm surges, and given our depth, we should be out of harm’s way.”

Exe gave her a tired smile, and Megan returned a sheepish one.

The next voice to speak up was Lindsey’s, though it was incomprehensible.

“Faegre blogger shnitz,” She said, then crossed her arms and angrily puffed a blue bang out of her face.

Lacy laughed.

“She wanted to ask if you all still wanted to get together tonight,” She explained, translating for her friend and roommate. “To drink and stuff. Like I talked about earlier.”

“Do you really have the time for it?” Leah questioned. “I’m as eager for a drink as anyone, but wouldn’t that time be best directed at strategizing?”

“Maybe,” AJ said. “But we gotta do a popularity poll or whatever, right?”

She shrugged.

“Seems like Lacy’s got the right idea. Get everyone together and talking before the vote and shit. Give us a chance to make our cases.”

“Especially those of us who haven’t gotten our nights with the master,” Loretta agreed. “That’s all ‘screentime’ we don’t get before the vote.”

“Urglecurse,” Lindsey said. “Farp nazgul eiffel mod.”

“She said it’s not exactly fair,” Lacy translated. “I think she means that they get cut off like that.”

Lindsey smiled, nodded, and leaned over to give Lacy a thankful peck on the cheek.

“Them’s the breaks,” Leah said, sounding remarkably un-Leahlike as she did. “I don’t like it either, but that’s the hand we’re dealt.”

She sighed.

“I suppose you have a point, though. Social interactions are good for us all,” She said. “I’ll have the bar ready if any of you are inclined to use it tonight. For the rest of the day, however, I’d suggest you get to work.”

And with that, the crowd dispersed. Hannah made a show of gathering up her towel and bag, but kept her ears perked as she did.

“Hey,” She heard Farra greet Julie. “Lori and I were thinking of teaming up for this contest. We’ve got an idea of our own, but we think it’d be even more potent with a threesome.”

Julie smiled up at her but shook her head.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” She said. “I’ve got…something I need to try for myself.”

“Suit yourself,” Lori said. “But if you change your mind, you’re welcome to join us.”

Lindsey spoke some bit of gibberish to Lacy, who shook her head.

“Nah. I know what I’m doing it. And it’s kind of…personal.” She said.

Lindsey didn’t seem to notice the way Exe took not of that, but Hannah certainly did. A potential team up? She didn’t think the two cared for one another much, but she’d been somewhat more insular than she cared for since she and Em had discovered each other.

Megan was busy chatting Exe up.

“My concern isn’t the timeline, so much as the dangers this storm poses to the island,” She said.

“I mean, it sucks, but it’ll be fine. You hear her, our place should be safe,” Exe said.

Megan shook her head.

“Structurally, most of the complex seems sound enough, but it’s the…” She paused, considering her words. “Machinery, for lack of a better word?”

She adjusted her glasses, clearly frustrated. She was drawing a crowd all the same. Emily had leaned in closer to hear what she had to say. Lacy was listening too, though she was pretending not to, and Lindsey wasn’t even bothering to hide it.

“Go on, Megs,” Hannah encouraged, as it became clear she was getting flustered.

She nodded.

“Well, I won’t pretend I understand everything the people responsible for the show are capable of, but it’s clear enough if you’ve been to the shops that there’s a technological component,” Megan explained.

“The guns, too,” Hannah agreed. She thought she knew where this was going, and didn’t like it one bit.

“Exactly!” Megan agreed. “I have no idea how systemic or interlocking that sort of technology is, or even if it’s the primary source of power. This is all way beyond my comprehension, and I think I speak for everyone on that.”

“Megs, you wanna, uh…dumb that down for the non-nerds here,” Exe invited.

Megan gave her a look.

“Don’t you play video games most of the time? I think you’re definitionally kind of a nerd.”

“Ohmygod,” Exe said, exasperated. “The point. Arrive at it.”

“My point is that if it’s some sort of advanced, reality altering technology that governs the island and what they can do to us here - and that would stand to some reason given that they can control the happenings on the island and not the ocean around it -...”

“Then this storm could fuck up some real important hardware,” AJ finished. “That what you’re getting at?”

Megan gave the assembled women a sheepish nod.

Comforting thought. Hannah shivered. Bad enough that they could change any of them on a whim. The idea that power being on the fritz…

“I know it’s not exactly great bedtime material, but I think it’s an eventually we should at least be aware of,” Megan said, then added a quick. “Sorry.”

Exe punched her shoulder very lightly.

“No. Bad Megan.”

She opened her mouth again, doubtless to apologize, then thought better of it.

“Good Megan,” Exe said, patting her thigh.

It was clear they were both uneasy, though. All of them were. Hannah felt compelled to say something.

“Well, storm or no storm, I’m glad we’re moving again,” She said. “This holding pattern was driving me crazy. I’m looking forward to the contest.”

“That right?” AJ asked.

Hannah nodded.

“I hate this shit as much as the rest of you, but getting to act? That’s a million times better than sitting around and waiting for it to happen to us.”

“I get it,” Emily said, “You want some…control over it.”

The two exchanged glance, Hannah’s warning, Emily’s knowing.

“Makes sense to me,” AJ said. “We’ve all gotta keep moving right?”

“Yep,” Hannah agreed. “We’re gonna be okay guys. We’ve just gotta take it one step at a time.”

She tried on a reassuring smile that didn’t quite feel right on her own face. The others seemed mollified though. Slowly, they began to disperse.

Hannah smiled, feeling a little better about herself. She’d begun her trek to her own room when a loud whistle followed her.

“Yo!” AJ called, bounding up to her.

Hannah turned to greet her old friend, noticing how shapely she was for a woman so athletic; tall and toned, but with good curves in the right places. It was an effort to remind herself that her sudden attraction was the curse talking.

“Hey. What’s up?” She asked.

AJ came to a stop, and Hannah looked up to find her own reflection staring back at her from the woman’s mirrored aviators.

“I haven’t seen you much,” She said. “It kinda sucks. Like I got you back from the divorce and you just ghosted me for a couple weeks.”

Hannah looked down guiltily.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” She said. “I guess I’ve been processing all this.”

“Well, let’s fuckin’ process it together,” AJ insisted. “Preferably over dinner and a 12 pack. Or two bottles of wine or something.”

Hannah smiled in spite of herself.

“Those sound like some heavy orders, babe,” She teased.

“Lookit, there’s times for moderation, and these ain’t it,” AJ replied with a grin. “I’m off to Jake’s for the moment. Gonna shame him again about locking himself in a tower.”

Hannah smiled, but shook her head.

“Shouldn’t you be planning for the contest?” She asked.

AJ got quiet for a moment.

“Nah. I know just what I’m doing on that,” She said.

Then she grinned, and put a hand on Hannah’s shoulder.

“But hey, seriously. Don’t be a fuckin stranger,” She said. “I’m serious about that dinner.”

That same, aching sense of belonging Hannah had felt that first day in the park came flooding back, and it was all she could do to keep her voice from catching.

“Catch up with me after this challenge,” She said. “I’d love nothing more than some one on one time with you, girl.”

AJ patted her shoulder, and the two went their ways. She might have been off to see their alleged master, but before things kicked off in earnest, Hannah wanted to go be a mistress.