Veau de Romanoff I

Walking into the Auditorium, everyone was able to see that the setup was different than normal. The normally crimson curtains and seats had given way to a mix of dark black and cerulean blue. The stage, which was normally a warm, inviting hardwood, had been swapped out for riveted metal with crisscrossing uneven beams stretching across the background. In the foreground were four metal boxes, made of the same rough metal as the stage. They were not very large, each looking to be around the size of an elevator. Above the boxes, evenly spaced except for one in the center, was a row of black monitors. All of them were emblazoned with the words “TRUST*LUST” emblazoned on the screens in a graffiti style aesthetic. And there in the center stage, spotlight illuminating him in the darkness, was their captor and host Lucian.

Lucian didn’t bother to hide his malevolent glee as they walked towards the front, “That’s it, everyone, right on time. It wouldn’t do to keep our audience waiting. Ladies, come join me on stage. Reyna, if you could guide the master to his seat.”

Giving a cheery salute, with a flash, Reyna’s clothes changed to a dark purple dress with striped arm warmers and boots. Lily stared. There was something familiar about the outfit she couldn’t put her finger on. Reyna grabbed Caleb by the shoulder, “Right this way, Master, we have a special seat just for you!”

Caleb couldn’t help but frown, as they got to the front, it was obvious which seat had been reserved for him. It stood taller and broader than the rest and was framed in the same riveted metal as the stage. It appeared like a throne that some horrid greasepunk might make in the apocalypse. Reyna cheerily guided him to it and sat down behind him. The frame was rough and uncomfortable, but Caleb steeled himself; after all, it would be nothing compared to what the girls were about to go through.

As the girls finished lining up on stage, Lucian tapped his slapstick to the ground, “Fantastic, with all the tumultuous events of this morning, I was worried we might have a harder time rounding you miscreants up, but it seems like that won’t be a problem.” He smirked at Stella at the far end of the line, who scowled back in return. She had been leaving her room as the group migrated to the auditorium and had **** but to come in with them. That said, she was keeping a wide berth between herself and the next person in line, who happened to be Maddy.

Lucian then adjusted his black and red harlequin suit, “Now then, I assume you’re all excited for today’s challenge.”

Caleb in the audience was not surprised to see Maya excitedly raise her hand, eyes bright, “I am!” The reactions were mixed. Stella’s face couldn’t get more sour, Mira looked mildly amused, the rest of the girls ranged from being mildly unnerved like Eliza to outright disgust from Lily.

“That was more directed towards our audience…But I appreciate the enthusiasm,” the demon chuckled as the lights dimmed and focused on the women on stage, “Today, we begin the process of determining which of our Harem members are at the top, and which are at the bottom. Basic rules before we begin, this is round one, so it is our lowest point giveaway of the game. 1st place will receive 11 victory points, and for each place below it, you will subtract 2 vp from what you receive.”

“Wait,” Amy piped up, quickly doing the math in her head, “That means we can lose VPin this game?” The question caused several worried glances focused on the host.

“Oh yes!” Lucian drummed his fingers along the top of his slapstick, “Not only can you lose VP in challenges, but the farther we go the more VP is at stake and the larger differential will be between each rung meaning the potential to lose points goes up the farther we get in.” He ran his index finger along his chin, “Better start earning points, girls, because your safety is far from guaranteed. Especially you, Ms 0 VP.”

If he expected a reaction from Amy, she refused to provide it, and the demon leaned back, “As a matter of fact, it would be good to remind the audience back home of the current standings as well as the current BP with the upcoming polls. As always, we will hide the BP from our contestants to encourage fairness of play.”

The monitors lit up, and across them were displayed everyone’s VP and BP

Eliza Dawson – 25 BP – 3 VP

Mira Gayen – 25 BP – 8 VP

Madeline Purcell – 20 BP – 2 VP

Stella Vincent – 25 BP – 11 VP

Amy Tanaka – 15 BP – 0 VP

Lillian Wright - 25 BP – 16 VP

Maya Quinn - 6 BP – 18 VP

Noemi Castro - 2 BP – 41 VP

“Now with that out of the way, it’s time to reveal our game, Trust*Lust. A game of my own design, I hope our contestants appreciate it, but one last interruption, and I assure you, viewers at home, you’ll like this one-” Lucian tapped his slapstick, and each contestant was consumed in flames up to their neck. Maddy let out a scream, and Caleb jumped to his feet.

“Lucian! What are you doing?!” Caleb was about to run towards the stage when Reyna grabbed his shoulders and pointed.

“They’re fine, see?” She **** Caleb to look at the stage and sure enough outside of the shock of the flames, no one seemed to be in any pain.

Maddy recovered herself, “Sorry…it just surprised me.”

Lucian rolled his eyes and flicked the slapstick out, and the flames were gone, revealing that everyone’s outfits had been changed. Each contestant had had their clothing replaced with tight black latex, which covered their bodies from neck to toe, ending in shiny black heels. Even their hands were covered in gloves that were seamlessly attached to the rest of the outfit. There also didn’t seem to be any zippers or studs or any indication that they could be removed.

Maddy looked flustered down at her body, and Lily grabbed her hand reassuredly and whispered, “You look fine.”

Maya was flexing in the suit and testing out its flexibility and even testing the dexterity of the gloves.

Eliza and Mira had similar looks of prideful determination on their faces, as if they were trying to ignore the way the outfit made their prominent chests stand out.

Looking exasperated, Amy leaned out, “What sort of game requires fetishwear?”

“Well, quite a few of them on Harem Hotel,” Lucian made a mock thinking gesture, “I promise you, it’s very important for the game…which I will now explain and it couldn’t be simpler.”

The four equally spaced monitors flashed, the ones on stage left reading A1 and A2, the ones on stage right reading B1 and B2.

Lucian clapped the slapstick against the ground, causing an echoing thwack, which brought all attention on him. “This game couldn’t be simpler. All it requires from all of you is the ability to pull a lever! That’s it, simple as voting. You will all be divided into teams of two with each round consisting of 2 2v2 games happening concurrently.”

He gestured to the boxes and sliding doors, which hadn’t been visible before now, raised up, presenting an entrance to each box. “All teams will go into their corresponding voting booth. While inside, you will have ten minutes that you will be locked in for to choose an option for what option you will pull on the lever. Your options are Trust or Betray. You will each begin with three points.” He waved his hand, and with a blinking sound, the left hand of each contestant was emblazoned with a glowing white 3.

Caleb was following and listening along when the room was interrupted by a loud moan, followed by Lily covering her mouth and then looking nervously at her suit. In fact, all girls were now clutching at their suits.

Lucian grinned, “Yes, your suits are tied to your current amount of points; the less you have, the more the suits will stimulate various erogenous zones. Keep that in mind as I explain,” He spun the stick and the monitors changed, showing four patterns and numbers.

The demon continued, “Each round, you will have a chance to earn points with your vote. If you and your enemy voters each vote Trust- fantastic, everyone involved will earn 2 points and a small reprieve from their suit. If one team votes Trust, though, and the other team votes Betray, well, the team that voted Trust will lose 2 points and the one that voted Betray will gain 3. The last combination is, of course, both teams voting betray, in which case neither team will gain any points. If a booth doesn't pull the lever in their ten minutes, they will default to Trust.”

Raising her hand, face slightly strained from split concentration, Maya spoke up, “Wait, doesn’t that mean because we’re in teams that it will be ties across the bracket?”

“A fair question, but don’t worry, each round the teams will be scrambled. Also, if you hit 0 points, you are kicked from the game, and suit will induce a mind-rending orgasm to alert you.” The demon looked smug as he pointed to his hand, “Also, if you orgasm, your point total will be reduced to zero immediately, and you will be kicked from the game. Your goal is to score 9 total points at which point the game will end.”

Lily still holding onto Maddy’s hand, angrily lashed out at the demon, “What sort of sick game is this? What do you think you’re playing at, making us take part in such a perverted affair?”

The demon shrugged, “I’m the host of Harem Hotel, this is barely scratching the itch of depravity. Besides, I thought you would be thrilled.”

Stomping her foot and stepping out, “Why would I be thrilled? Why would any SANE person be thrilled about playing this?”

Lucian glided over and looked down, a wicked smile across his face, “My dear insipid woman, you don’t know how good you all have it, after all I have given you all a gift. You can all win this game.”

Lily blinked at him, “What?”

Maya spoke up, “If we all vote Trust three times, right?”

Lily looked angrily at Maya for speaking up but then at Amy who confirmed with a silent nod.

“That’s right!” Lucian’s voice was saccharine like a kindergarten teacher explaining to a class, “You can all prove to me that humanity really isn’t scum, that you won’t leap at the chance to stab each other in the back. If you do? Why you’ll all get 11 VP! Not only that, you’ll all have earned to be immune to the weekly set of transformations.” His grin turned sinister. “But only if all of you score 9 points, anything less, there will be a tiebreaker, and it will be business as usual. My gift to all of you.”

Despite the word ostensibly being a good thing, it was like a curse had been cast on the group as everyone exchanged nervous looks between each other. Caleb, from his seat, could watch from the audience as the anxiety grew between everyone, and he clenched his fist. Of course, this had been the demon’s real intention. Dangling the possible reward that required perfect cooperation above their head to emphasize the doubt and resentful feelings that had already been building within the group. The demon only offered it so plainly because he was sure that there was no chance of it happening.

Caleb rose from his seat and called out to the stage, “You can do it, guys! It’s just three votes! I’ve spent this week getting to know all of you, and I know that each and every one of you is stronger than this!”

Lucian looked irritated for a moment before replacing the expression with a fanged grin, venomous tongue flicking out from his mouth, “Listen to that, girls! Your Master believes in you. Well, with such support, there’s no doubt you’ll pull through, is there?”

Looking sharply at the demon, Amy clicked her tongue, “Can we get on with it? Any more rules, or is that it?”

Lowering his shoulders, “Just the teams, then.” Lucian spun the slapstick and pointed it in the air, the four monitors above each box showing a spinning display like a slot machine, and bright cheerful music rang out before each monitor read a set of two names, assigning them each to a voting booth.

“Ah,” Lucian let out an amused sigh, “Here we have it, our lovely teams. They will be facing off against the team sharing the same letter as them. Here you go, folks at home!”

Round 1:

A1: Amy & Lily

A2: Noemi & Mira

B1: Maya & Eliza

B2: Maddy & Stella

“There you are, girls! Please find your partner and stand before your voting booth. Once the buzzer goes off, you will have ten minutes trapped inside to make your decision.” The demon began to corral the girls.

Amy and Lily seemed the most relaxed of any of the groups, standing by each other and Amy putting her hand on Lily’s shoulder comfortingly. Noemi and Mira, meanwhile, bore the resemblance of two different dogs standing too close together, a pomeranian and a rottweiler. They were possessed by an anxious energy that made you feel if you looked away, something bad would happen. Maya was all smiles over with Eliza, who looked unsure of how to interact with the other woman. Maddy was buzzing nervously, holding her hands together as Stella had her entire body locked up in a closed-off position.

Lucian smiled, “When the buzzer goes off, round one begins…3…2…1” A sharp buzzer rang off, and everyone headed inside. Once each voting booth was filled, the doors on them shut, leaving a blank, featureless wall.

Lucian floated back to join up with Reyna, who was eyeing a conspicuous cake that was sitting on the ground. Caleb leaned back and turned his head to the host, “Just you wait, they’re better people than you think.”

Lucian’s eyes flashed, and he gritted his teeth, but with much effort, contorted it into a warped smile. “Let’s watch them prove me wrong, then.”

The monitors flickered to life, revealing what was going on inside.