Chapter Two

“Do you think we’re perving on them?”

Mack felt his friend’s hand smacking the back of his head and watched as he walked inside a massive surveillance room. Dennis was the head organizer for this weekend’s project, and Mack could see the pressure in his face. One of the girls had found the one-way mirror, and it was a shoe waiting to drop and ruin this entire operation. Fortunately, he could incorporate the mirror into the script, but he couldn’t allow another slip-up to happen.

Dennis eyed the room to make sure everyone and everything was in order. Aside from Mack sitting down and enjoying the show, he saw one of the testers leaning against a door. The Tester wore a disinterested look on her face as she watched one of the girls washing the lake from her body.

The room had several monitors that showed the girl’s cabin. Another monitor showed a heavier young woman taking a tight shirt and shorts off.

“What’s her name again?” Dennis asked. He wore a lab coat and held a clipboard in his hands. “The one who almost exposed us.”

“That’s the fat one,” Mack said, also wearing a lab coat. “I have the girls organized by personality. The girl with the boobs. The girl with the ass. The shy girl with the small tits. And of course...” Mack pointed to the screen where Lori put her comfy clothes back on.

“Not helping.” Dennis looked back at his notes, hoping he would find a hint on which subject he was looking at.

That’s when another scientist entered the room. Her heels clicked on the hardwood as she strode across the room. She had brunette hair, and the hemline of her skirt was a bit too high to the point of distraction. Her buttoned blouse was cut to show her smooth stomach. Dennis knew he’d have to talk to her about not going through the Cutting Room.

The two men stared at her with interest as their colleague approached. “Her name is Lori Hanes.”

“Ah yes, this is the new girl, Dolores,” Dennis announced. “She’s a little nervous about this environment, but I think she’ll fit right in.”

“Thank you,” Dolores said. “Dennis, I didn’t think you would have made the awkward attraction between her and Kelly’s work, but you were right. Lori now thinks Kelly is trying to hit on her, and with the mirror, Lori is now feeling internalized hypocrisy.”

Dennis smiled to himself as he fixed his tie. “Well, I don’t like to toot my own horn...”

“We get it, Dennis. You plan your shit before you take a shit, unlike the rest of us who just take a shit whenever we feel like it.”

Dolores looked at Mack in confusion as Dennis broke out into a burst of small laughter. “It’s just an inside joke between friends. I like to plan out the Ritual while Mack likes it when the Ritual goes ‘naturally,’ even though it’s against protocol.”

Dolores nodded knowingly as she walked towards the other woman in the room. She could recognize the pink jumpsuit from a mile away. “I thought Testers usually don’t hang out with the Researchers, let alone watch the unfolding Ritual.”

Janet left the focus of the screen and turned her attention to Dolores. “I see you took a wrong turn into the Cutting Room.”

The novel researcher crossed her arms, barely registering that she was supposed to feel her sleaves instead of her bare arms. “What does that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s just say you look like the Halloween costume version of yourself,” Janet said, trying to hide her laughter at seeing the oblivious woman.

Dolores’ eyes wandered back to the screen. Kate had finished her shower but couldn’t find her towel. She didn’t need to hear this talk from a Tester. Even though she liked to dress as plainly as possible, she wanted to put effort into her outfit to give it some personality.

She felt more than a bit self-conscious about her outfit. No one usually commented on her attire. Not even a compliment. Though Dolores found it odd that the Tester had mentioned the Cutting Room, a room she had been warned about.

“Don’t mind her,” Dennis said from his chair. “She’s just grumpy that she was the test subject for the self-wedgie underwear.”

Mack let out a loud laugh and leaned back and forth as he thought about the scene. “Man, that panty went over her head and back into her pants. Took the team ten minutes to get the thing off.”

Janet rubbed her crotch as the sharp ache was still reminiscent. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, boys. At least I’m not the one getting humiliated this time.”

“That reminds me.” Dolores walked over to Dennis’ chair and handed him her clipboard. “I know this isn’t part of the program, but permission to steal Lori’s clothes while she takes her shower?”

“Denied,” Dennis answered. “Deviates too much from the script.”

“But...”

“Hey, why don’t we make the blonde one oblivious?” Mack asked. “You know, to take a page off of Dolores.”

Dennis looked at Dolores and then at his notes. He didn’t like to deviate from his script, but he couldn’t deny that he could see the possibilities for her embarrassment. “Fine. I want, uh, Kate, to get two sprays. That should make her dumber than a high schooler. It should also raise her libido.”

“On it.”

Mack got up and ran out of the room as Dennis gave Dolores her clipboard. “Sorry, D. Better luck next time.”

She nodded, put the clipboard under her arm, and walked to where Mack had sat. His station was cluttered with magazines covers of topless women in suggestive poses. Dolores looked at them with disdain. However, she couldn’t blame him as Area 23 had limited Internet usage to Level 5 personnel.

“I don’t get it,” Janet said, now staring at a different monitor showing Lori investigating the one-way mirror. “If these girls are already naked, doesn’t that mean the Ritual is over?”

“The lake was just the calm before the storm,” Dennis said. “Those girls have to set the stage for their undoing.” He turned to Dolores, who was doing her best to avoid looking at the lewd covers. “Hey D, send out an announcement for everyone to start taking bets and to make their way here. Tonight is going to be a good night.”

“Sure thing, sir,” Dolores said as she got up. “I’ll send out a memo.”

***

Kelly sat with Kate at the kitchen table. Everyone had tried their best to forget the whole lake incident didn’t happen. Kate was slightly embarrassed that her tits were exposed, but she wasn’t too upset. However, Miriam was mortified that she revealed her lower half to everybody. Kate had initially thought that her friend had shaven, but the sight of her wet bush will forever be burned into her retinas.

“I’m telling you there were hundreds of fishes.” Kate swirled a strand of her blonde hair around her fingers.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” Kelly replied. “Why would fishes want your swimming clothes?”

Miriam stepped into the kitchen area. Her hair was slightly wet. Miriam glared at Kelly as she walked past the pair. She put her mirror down on the counter as she poured a glass of water. “I don’t know who stole my towel, but it wasn’t funny.” Miriam walked back into the living room. She put down her glass and sat on the brown floral-patterned couch. “I had to run soaking naked back to my room.”

“I’m sorry that happened,” Kate said. “But we’ve been here like, ya know, this whole time. Also, can I have some gum?”

Kelly reached into her pocket and pulled out a stick of gum. “Here you go, Kate.”

“Thanks so much. You’re the best.” Kate grabbed a piece of gum, popped it in her mouth, and chewed it with a loud crack. The sound immediately got into Miriam’s nerves.

“It’s just weird,” Miriam said. She leaned forward and grabbed a deck of cards, and began to shuffle them. “I know I brought my towel inside the bathroom.”

“Can we, like, do some girly stuff instead of talking about missing towels?” Kate said between her chewing.

Not wanting to drag out the conversation, Miriam started to deal with the cards. “Tell Lori we’re playing a game.”

“Cards are so hard.” A pout formed on Kate’s face as she took pictures of her hair. She pulled out her hairband and let her blonde hair flow. There was a conditioner in her bag that she didn’t recognize, but she wasn’t going to let this conditioner go to waste. It gave her hair more volume but made her brain feel dumber. “Can we play Truth or Dare?”

Something was wrong. “Hey Kelly, can you get Lori?” Kelly stood up and left to get Lori. Miriam set the remaining cards on the table and walked towards Kate. She made phone sounds while playing with her phone. The screen was turned off. “Are you alright, Kate?”

“Beep. Boop. Never better,” Kate replied before turning her attention back to her phone.

“Then can you act like a senior who’s going to graduate in the spring instead of a dumb bimbo?”

“Come on. Didn’t we go to the middle of nowhere to relax?”

“Kate, you didn’t notice your towel dropping when you got out of the shower.”

“Or maybe I didn’t care.” A shocked expression formed on Miriam’s face as Kate leaned back and laughed. “I’m just kidding. I just couldn’t stick the towel to my body.” She rolled her eyes. She felt like she wanted to air dry her massive tits for some reason.

“We just need to be an example to these freshmen.” Miriam sat down next to Kate. She patted her on the shoulder. “I know you’re more party girl than me, but can you act your age for one weekend?”

“Fine, if that’s what you want. I’ll be more smarter.” Kate pushed up on her legs and got to her feet. “But I got one condition.”

Miriam raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“You relax and forget that everyone saw your pussy.”

Miriam groaned as she remembered the moment. She hung her head low to hide her bright red cheeks. “I don’t know if I can.”

“It’s like how you said, these freshmen girls need an example. They need to see that us senior girls know how to have fun. I can’t do that alone.”

Miriam nodded. She knew her friend was right. “Okay, deal.”

Kate hugged her. “Thank you.”

Miriam wrapped her arms around her friend’s shoulders and gave her a hug back. “We’ll have fun and party like we did when we were their age.”

The pair left the kitchen and headed for the living room. The two could see Lori and Kelly coming downstairs with smiles on their face.

Now the party was ready to begin.