It’s been a long day.

Nate took in the opulent suite that was to be his domain for the next 100 days. He’d been informed by Serena that of the two towers that extended above the center two floors to make the upright legs of the tower’s H shape, one was the Contestant’s tower and the other, the one he was in, the Master’s tower. The master tower consisted of several date-like venues, including a bowling alley and movie theater, and was capped off by his suite in the penthouse. Apparently, no-one who wasn’t allowed in by him or scheduled to be his company for the night could get into the suite, Serena excepted.

Made up of three separate floors, the suite itself was filled with incredibly high-scale furniture. He had a kitchen area with all the necessary appliances, a comfortable dining area with a table big enough to fit everyone and then some, a living room with a massive TV, cushy armchairs, and a comfortable couch (not the same one he’d sat on when first meeting Serena), a fancy bathroom with a large shower with multiple water sources, a walk-in closet filled with more clothing then he could possibly wear in his time here, a stylish study with a plush office chair and an unfamiliar computer, and a massive bedroom with a bed that looked like it could (theoretically) fit him and his entire ‘harem,’ should such a thing come to pass. And to top it all off, he had direct access to the roof and the large swimming pool that dominated it.

Nate was sitting in the living area, sipping on a soda from his fridge as he considered his plans going forward. He was going to have to play a delicate balancing act – he truly didn’t want to end this game with any of the Contestants below 100 points, but if the first ‘reward’ for being a villain was any indicator, the ideal outcome for them all would likely lie in some combination of villain wins and hero wins. And that didn’t even include the extra complications future villains would introduce to the equation.

He wished he knew better how much VP the challenges would give out and how much VP he could expect to get for ‘intimate’ actions with the Contestants, but Serena had stonewalled him there when he had asked, knowing he would try to game the system. Which, to be fair, he was indeed trying to do right now.

Nate shook his head. He’d just have to play it by ear. The first ‘reward’ was good enough for him to make a solid effort towards winning. Being able to veto one transformation a round could save one of his loved ones from a truly horrible transformation. Plus, establishing his alter-ego as a legitimate threat in the first round would allow him to further distance himself from it – why would any of the Contestants believe he was colluding with a villain to successfully work against them? And Nate felt like he needed that established immediately – Alex knew him like the back of her hand, and even with the assistance of his alter-ego’s physical change and personality alteration module, he’d rest a lot easier if he made a solid impression as a true villain with Emma.

That brought to mind, however, his chosen boon and superpower. He’d been, to his mind, unlucky, as-

Nate’s thoughts were interrupted as the elevator dinged and opened, admitting a familiar red-skinned demoness into his sanctum. Serena sighed as she made her way over to the armchair nearest Nate’s spot, plopping down in it with an abandon that screamed exhaustion. Nate raised an eyebrow as he watched the Host get comfortable, depositing her tablet on a side table and reaching down to take off her high heels. “You weren’t kidding about being my companion tonight?” he asked.

“Of course not. I never joke about the show.”

“I expected it to be more of a tease than a joke, to be fair.”

Serena shook her head, settling back into the armchair. Despite her exotic looks (and four arms), she made lounging look like foreplay, her pose teasing him so naturally he figured it might not even be intentional. “That is fair, I am expected to tease you as the Host. Market studies have shown that sexual tension between the Host and the Master generates more interest than any other working relationship.”

Nate snorted. If her physical presence seemed to unintentionally seduce, her words (when she wasn’t roleplaying as the host) seemed fit to do the obvious. Ignoring his fluctuating sexual interest, he sighed and leaned back in the couch. “Well, you’ve certainly thrown me into a crazy situation, here. I can already imagine how much stress I’m going to have between getting over my very real and understandable hangups with the Contestants, having to balance whatever mishmashed polycule we end up in, and having to backstab them all for their own good and without their knowledge. I hope the medicine cabinet in my bathroom has some migraine medication, because Lord knows I’m gonna need it.”

“It does not,” Serena said. “The intent is that you relieve said stresses through other means. More… entertaining means. In fact, if you are already feeling stress, perhaps I could relieve you?”

Nate eyed Serena, then shook his head. “Nah. I wouldn’t want you feel obliged to do that.”

“Are you sure?” Serena leaned forward. “It would be a chance to test your new boon. I promise you, though I am not a succubus, I certainly have the endurance to put it to the test…”

Nate blushed. That’s right, he’d gotten the Endurance boon and its associated Durability superpower.

Endurance – The Master shall always have enough sexual endurance to satisfy every active sexual partner during a sexual encounter.

To be honest, he was tempted by Serena, very tempted. She was smoking hot, and the four-armed demon look added an exotic alienness to her beauty that made his mouth go dry at the thought of a night with her. And, if she truly wasn’t lying about her being his companion tonight, then she was already required to sleep in the same bed as him tonight, though that was less of a problem given the damn scale of the thing.

What held him back was HOW she had been flirting with him. It was subtle, but whereas at the start of their conversation, she’d been back in that personality that bridged between her pre-show persona and on-air persona, when she’d started to flirt she’d slipper further towards her on-air persona. It wasn’t all the way, and perhaps could be attributed to an honest desire to flirt, but the perception of it… it was enough to make him uncertain if she really WAS interested in him, or if this was exactly what she’d said before – manufactured sexual tension.

He didn’t have it in him to gamble on it.

So Nate shook his head again. “No, but thank you for the offer. I’m actually feeling pretty tired, to be honest. I think I’ll likely pass out here in a bit.”

Serena shrugged, a motion made more interesting by virtue of her extra arms. “Suit yourself, then, Master. It has indeed been a long day for you. Retire at your leisure, I will follow behind you. If you have any questions for me, however, you may ask them now.”

Nate considered that. “I take it, since I pinched myself earlier and it hurt, we’ll be getting our powers tomorrow?”

Serena nodded. “Indeed. You and the girls haven’t been given your superpowers yet, to ensure you are granted them in a controlled environment where you are able to familiarize yourselves with them. This is to prevent accidental injury or **** due to mishandling new superpowers, and will be the case after each transformation round.”

“Ah, that’s rather more reasonable than I expected from a crazy reality show like this. The mind control and **** body transformations really paint you guys in a bad light.”

Serena tilted her head. “Master,” she asked after a moment, “Am I detecting bitterness towards your situation?”

Nate rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s one way to describe my feelings towards this whole setup.”

“Even after I explained that the whole reason I was able to save you and the Contestants was due to the show?”

“Just because I understand that the show is responsible for saving our lives doesn’t mean I’m not going to feel bitter about how you **** everyone onto the show in the first place. Oh, I’ll play the game, I’m not going to fight against it, not at this point, but I’m allowed some bitterness for how we all got into this mess in the first place.”

Serena considered that, a hand going to her chin. After a moment, she finally said, “Master, I thought I had cleared things up earlier, but it appears you are still under a misunderstanding. You appear to believe that I had the power to save you and your family and friends, but waited until they were dead to coerce them into acceptance, correct?”

“…Yes?”

“…Master, you are looking at this from the wrong perspective. Instead, consider this – your holiday trip was not the only site of the first wave of the tyrranids’ invasion. All around the world, similar strikes played out along a similar timetable.”

Nate gulped. He… honestly hadn’t really considered such a possibility – the chaos of his circumstances had put the tyrranids’ invasion nearly out of his mind. He hadn’t had the time or brainpower to consider what the attack on the hotel meant for the world at large.

“Hundreds of thousands died. Hundreds of thousands of lives snuffed out in the course of a few hours. And of those hundreds of thousands, only you and yours were saved.

“You are thinking of this from a purely personal standpoint, when you should be considering it from a broader view. Do not see this as being chosen and **** to participate in a perverted game by ****. See this as winning the lottery – you and your loved ones are not only alive, you will come out of this situation with the power to fight back. Instead of one of those other hundreds of thousands of men, YOU have been chosen to be the center of a real-life superhero team. This is a gift, Nate! A gift! Sure, it has terms and conditions, and is rather twisted as a whole, but you and the girls will be superheroes!”

Serena had risen from her chair as her enthusiasm increased, approaching until she was grabbing him by his shoulders, shaking him to get across her final sentences.

Nate’s mind was racing. As her suggested view of things settled in, he realized he was looking a gift horse in the mouth. Literally, in this case, as his eyes kept flicking to Serena’s full lips as her face was near his own, staring into his eyes to see if he understood.

Seeming satisfied with what she saw, Serena smiled and leaned away from him. “Perhaps I shall leave it at that. You are an intelligent man, Nate, and I am glad you are the Master. I shall leave you with your thoughts – I am claiming the left half of this bed, since you seem disinclined for any sexual interaction. Good night, Master.”

“…Good night,” Nate managed as he watched the demoness sway her hips out of the room.

Serena had left him with a lot to think about. It wasn’t until an hour later that he wandered into the bedroom, finding Serena had stayed true to her word, and he plopped himself onto his half of the massive bed.

Even then, it took Nate another half hour at least until the quiet nothingness of sleep stole away his churning thoughts.