Sales Pitch

Hazel tried to wrap her mind around Genet’s explanation. There’d been no magic yesterday, or anything that should’ve caused that **** of a change to Helena's behavior about a potential suitress.

Over the past few years, the slightest suspicion Richard could have romantic interest in someone had caused a file to be created on them. Maybe Helena was just being pragmatic like usual, and wanted her to help the others hit the 600 VP as a backup plan in case they needed to retreat from the escape plan. Maybe it was all a test, and she’d fail if Helena caught them kissing again. I’m just glad that Richard gave me time to figure out what’s going on.

As Genet got up to get back to cooking, Helena came into the building. She was wearing the same burgundy pantsuit that she’d grabbed earlier from the closet with a matching blouse. Hazel liked it when she wore softer colors like that.

Helena put in her order and sat down across from Hazel where the host had been sitting a few minutes earlier. “Has Richard left already?”

Hazel nodded. He’s at the master’s cottage reading for a while. Afterwards he should be meeting Miss Soto.”

“That’s fine. I think it’d be a good start with getting Luna on our side, since she knows the other half of the group better. She can spread the word about the door when we need to move."

In truth, she wasn’t sure how much Hazel supported the plan. If they returned home she might never find out what Helena meant. She wouldn’t see Richard until thanksgiving, and would likely have to give up on her thoughts of getting to know Richard like that. But she knew that her boss would be happier away from the island, and at least she’d only lose her chance with one Turner.

But no matter how she felt, right now she needed to help with the plan. “You’re right. She knows this group better than the rest of us. Since she’s with Miss Steward, we might be able to get her on our side at the same time. She’s the only one having as hard a time as you.”

“That’s a good idea.” Helena approved. “Let’s give them a try.”

The two of them got up together and sat down at Luna’s table. She and Miss Steward were sitting next to each other instead of across like she normally saw people do. Stella was cocooned in a heavy looking hoodie, leaning against Luna. The quieter girl looked as they sat down, and leaned even closer to Luna.

“Good Morning Luna, it’s been a while since we've had a chance to talk.” Helena said. “It’s Stella, right? I don’t think we’ve had the opportunity to speak before.” Stella gave a half nod of acknowledgement.

“It’s good to see you up and walking around Helena. Is there something I can help you with, or did you just want to catch up?” Luna said.

Her boss got down to business. “We both know that Richard doesn’t really want to be here.” Helena directed towards Luna. “When Genet took me up to her apartment yesterday, I saw a way to get us all out. If the two of us work together, everyone can get back home.”

Luna raised an eyebrow in surprise. “How?”

“There’s a magic door I saw. Genet said she uses it sometimes to leave the island subtly. If we use it, we can save Richard and everyone else.”

Luna looked towards the kitchen. Hazel followed her eyes and saw Genet in her little blue dress on the other side of the window, fiddling with the griddle.

“I’m not going to help you this time, Hel. It’s not going to work, and I don’t want to get caught in the fallout when it fails. Even if we had a chance, it’s not worth the risk.”

“Of course it’s going to work. Between all the people here, we could do anything.”

“Hel. That’s way too optimistic for you to say and actually believe. We all got caught last time, by magic I know you understand as little as I do. We’re on her turf now, we have even less of a chance.” Luna dismissed her.

“Last time we were surprised. Now we’ve seen what she can do. When we escape, Hazel would either be able to sneak us past Genet or knock her out.

No I can’t. It was nice that her boss had so much faith in her, but what she was asking was impossible. Last time she beat me without touching me.

Luna said what was going to be her next thought. “What happens if that fails, or she’s not around when we need her?”

Helena’s face focused, like a hawk. “Genet hates me. If things start going wrong, then I’ll distract her. I’ll need you to take the others from that point to make sure you and Richard can get away.”

Luna was shocked, though perhaps disturbed would have been the better word. For the second time in the conversation the older Turner had brought the conversation in a risky direction, even riskier than she was used to Dick suggesting at work. “If it came to that the plan would be over. Richard wouldn’t leave you behind.”

"Then we just can’t let it come to that. Even with all the challenges, it’s still worth it.” Helena kept pushing. She’s always so persistent.

“This isn’t bad enough to justify the risk of breaking literally the only rule she gave us.”

"You’re an ardent feminist Luna, or at least I thought you were.” Luna bristled at the shorter haired woman’s barb. “This is a porn show they’ve **** us onto, where they’re forming a harem to warp the lives of eight women, including yourself, around a man. How is this acceptable?”

“If I got the sense that Genet held any misogyny in her other than just the general kinkiness of the show, I would’ve been with you. From what I’ve heard her say to Richard and I, it seems like she would’ve been perfectly happy making me the Master if the conversation the three of us had about shutting down the firm and entering politics had gone a little differently. But if we work with her, I think she’ll be willing to work with us. This could be good for Richard to start finding more balance. I think this’ll be good for Ava and Aubrey’s needs too, maybe even Felicia.

Hazel heard what she thought might be an opening and slipped into the argument. “Miss Steward, can I ask how you feel about the plan?”

Stella shifted awkwardly in her seat. Hazel heard the kitchen door slam and suddenly Genet was standing at their table. “Stella, I know you’re having a rough start to the morning. Can you come with me so I can show you something?”

Stella looked up from the brim of her hoodie and made eye contact with Genet, then Luna. “I’ll be here, just shout if you need me.” Luna told her.

The host and chef left together and the argument resumed. “Maybe you have a point guys. Stella’s already had such a hard time with her first transformation, we’re probably going to get one or two more before we leave the allowed ways. Can I get your advice on something?”

“Of course. Despite your confusing and frankly disappointing disagreement on leaving, I’d like to think we’re friends.” Helena responded “What do you need?”

“Genet talked to Stella a few days ago. If she spends three BP, she can upgrade Overstimulation and change its effects. She’s been struggling to decide for a while whether its worth it.

“What would it change?” Hazel asked.

“What it currently does is make her emotions stronger and harder to control the more she’s wearing. The upgrade would bring her emotions back to her normal baseline and pair the level of clothes she’s wearing to a physical sensation when she’s being touched instead.”

“We don’t know her as well as you do. Is she normally particularly physically affectionate or needy?” Hazel asked.

“Not especially. She usually just wants space when she gets scared, I’m not sure the last time I’ve seen it get this bad.”

Helena voiced her opinion. “Then if she can change it, she should. That “being touched” condition brings a whole lot more control to it. She could practice with it and then have a more stable status quo she could go back to. You and Richard have told me how much she’s accomplished, it’s a pity she can’t have the control to be that woman right now. If I were her, I’d try to upgrade it before we run.”

“Luna, you’ve got to come see this!” They all heard Stella shout from the kitchen. Hazel raced in to make sure everything was alright, with Luna and Helena on her heels.

But everything was fine. Genet was leaning up against the wall with a smile on her face, as Stella was talking louder than Hazel had heard from her before from a walk-in fridge. “The sandwiches a few days ago could’ve been so much better! If I had access to bitto any time I wanted…”

The three all listened to her running monologue from inside the fridge. She came out with a slab of beef she was going to show Genet, then switched directions when she saw the three of them at the door.

“Luna, she’s letting me take over cooking whenever I want. And she’s given me access to any ingredient imaginable. This is a full pound of olive wagyu. It’d be like five, six hundred dollars if I want to get this much for the Fence&Post, and it’d still only be able to be used for three or four dishes at most.”

“That’s great. So you’re going to start cooking here sometimes?”

“I don’t think I ever want to leave!”

Her exuberance was confusing to all three of them. Helena and Hazel kept watching, while Luna tried to roll with things. “So what makes that meat special?”

“So it’s wagyu, which means that it came from a specific lineage of cow and the feed and marbling were carefully monitored by the government in Japan. Olive wagyu comes from a specific island that…” Hazel noticed Genet’s smile dip and she went back out to the dining room.

“I think we just lost the last of our leverage with Luna.” Helena whispered to Hazel. They left the kitchen, and started to leave the dining hall all together before Helena had a thought. She turned to the host, who was hovering outside the door to the kitchen and asked: “I thought her transformation was supposed to punish her with her negative emotions if she was wearing too much?”

Genet’s smile started to come back and she explained “No, Overstimulation works on all her emotions. This is just the first time she’s been happy while the intensity part was active. I’ve been worried about it for a while actually. I wasn’t sure what to do for her until she had started to think about going back to the kitchen at her restaurant a few minutes ago. Whatever you two did, I have to thank you guys. I want to give both of you one BP.”

Helena Turner, +1 BP (Host’s Thanks)

Hazel Singh, +1 BP (Host’s Thanks)

“Of course Genet, you know I’m always happy to help. This is kind of a way to return the favor for what you did for me yesterday.” Helena responded, lying through her teeth. “Now that we’ve had breakfast, we thought we might explore a bit.”

“Of course, I’d recommend checking out the tower now that you both have more to spend. Go have fun today”

The two of them left the dining hall. Once the door closed behind them, Helena said: “I can’t tell who tricked who, but I don’t think she knows yet. We need to try Felicia next.

***

“No.” Felicia said, growing exasperated. Her allies had been arguing for hours, trying to get her to go along with their escape plan.

“But-” Helena tried to start.

“No Buts.”

“Have you considered-” Hazel tried. Not that she really knew what she was trying. But Felicia felt like the best chance they had left.

“I’ve considered all the arguments and ramifications. Yes, the show’s sexist and gross. Yes, more is going to happen to me if I stay. I think we could actually get out if we were careful and coordinated. Everything you’ve told me makes sense. It just doesn't matter.”

“Why not?” Helena demanded to know.

“Because it’s against the rules. Leaving before it ends or there’s a winner is both cheating and surrender, and I refuse to do either.”

“But you’ve agreed the game is bad.” Helena protested

“No, I agreed it was gross. There are game shows where you eat live bugs or do things that scare most people. The idea of doing that is disgusting but if I was on stage with a cricket in front of me, I wouldn’t run away, I’d just eat one more bug than the guy next to me”

“That’s… insane. You know this is bad, but you’re going to stick around just for the sake of winning?”

“Why else would we have watched all those old challenges?”

Hazel tried to tag in. “You can’t win with just the challenges, even if you always get just the challenges. This is a romance and sex show first and foremost.”

“I just need to beat Luna and Aubrey consistently, they’re the ones most likely to get points from screwing him. The audience likes me for now. If I can keep their favor and win enough challenges, I can keep my lead and earn one of Genet’s wishes.”

“What do you want to do with it?”

The shorter girl looked at Hazel. “Honestly, I don’t know yet. I just see the prize Genet was offering all of us, and I need it to be mine.”

“So offering you a way out…”

“Is surrendering. I’ll take your escape plan, but not until I’ve hit at least a hundred VP. Until then I’m staying here. I hope you guys do too so we can keep working together, but if you decide to run I wish you the best of luck.”

Helena looked at Hazel and nodded then. “That’s understandable then. We’ll stop pressing and let you go to dinner.” The two of them left the Stone Cottage. The sun was setting as they came out and started to plan their next move.

“What did you want us to try next Ma’am?” Hazel asked.

“I’m not sure. A lot of doors were closed today. I honestly thought Luna and Felicia would want to work with us.”

“Until Genet took Miss Steward into the kitchen, I think we had a chance.”

“I think it’d be good to start with Dr.Petrov tomorrow. We might be able to use the fact that the show is asking her to compromise her principles and sleep with a patient. We can try Ava afterwards, but after that we may be out of options unless Genet does something to damage their trust.” As she said that, she started to feel a familiar heaviness in her legs. “Fuck” She remembered how she’d pressed to Richard how important it was to be aware of what conditions they attached to her permission. He’d tried to fix it by giving her permission for walking like a person all day. But it was night now. “Hazel?”

Her closest companion looked over to her, seeing the panic start to show on her face. “Ma’am? What’s wrong?”

“Please catch me.” She asked as she felt herself going down.