Chapter 110 by legolus

What's next?

YOU DIED

“Mary, can you hear me loud and clear through the helmets?” Sam asked as she did final safety checks.

“All clear on my end.”

“Alright belts fastened. Astrid, is the road down the mountain clear?”

Astrid’s voice crackled through the speaker, “~Affirmative Samantha.~ My sister model Hilde has the path blocked for safety but all individuals are accounted for and are not nearby.”

“Ready Mary?”

“Umm… I guess? I don’t know what I’m really supposed to do here.”

“Enjoy the ride, and keep your head against the headrest. That’s all you need to do. Alright Astrid, I’m pulling up to the starting line now. Give me the countdown.”

“~Ready~, ~Set~, ~GO!~”

Sam floored it, and they took off down the hill, taking the turns down the steep slope at great speeds. Mary felt herself glued to her seat for a few seconds at the start and then felt the g-**** as they rounded each bend. “WOOHOO!” Mary shouted. “This is just like a roller coaster.” Two minutes later they were down the hill but instead of heading towards town Sam took a sharp right. After the initial excitement things settled down a little. “Okay this is great. So is it just a ride or are we actually going somewhere specific?”

“A bit of both. I’m not sure if specific is the correct term, but we are generally heading to the opposite side of the island from the palace. I’ve also chosen to take us the scenic route to get there.” As Sam said this she turned left as she came up on the oceanfront.

“So, am I going to get a turn driving?”

“Not at these speeds. Cassandra put in a hard limiter for how fast you can make it go. Also tell me if you start to get woozy immediately.”

“Darn. Still this is awesome and the view is great. I see why you like it so much.” The road veered inland towards the mountain, entering the woods.

“So, Mary. Have you thought about what I should set as a goal?”

“Oh, crap that has to be done today doesn’t it.”

“Hahahahaha. So you forgot too. Still think it over, I have to get your thoughts on the matter.”

“Well… would you rather play it safe again or experiment some?”

“I think the latter. Isabella pointed out this morning that I should probably be using it more.”

“What about adding stuff to your list?”

“Well, she accurately pointed out I’ve added stuff to my list anyway. Like I could have made it a goal to teach Aubrey self-defense to some acceptable level, and gotten some BP for it. Allie pushed back on it though saying that she could already think of ways to **** my new ‘teaching’ compulsion, for her own benefit.”

“Oh yeah, for sure. I can think of a few too, that would benefit me.”

“Okay… I’d like you to share. Mary this isn’t just a curiosity, I feel like I’m missing something important about how my own TF can get triggered here.”

“Right.” Sam slowed down a bit so they could have a conversation without having every bend in the road distracting them. “Okay Sam, well it isn’t about the teaching aspect per se. It’s about combinations.”

“Give me an example.”

“If I do, I’m pretty sure you’ll want to follow through”

“I’m trusting you not to be a bitch about this Mary.”

“Thanks… I think. Now Sam, I saw you also got, ‘looking after my well being’, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, if I wanted you to teach me self-defense?”

Sam slowed down considerably. “Okay, I see what you mean. Also please tell me you know some self-defense.”

“I mean, we sparred Sam. You tell me if you think I know how to handle myself.”

“You don’t.”

“What?! You’re joking right? I legitimately beat you, in our latter spar.”

“Mary, you have to realize I wasn’t trying to win right? That it was a spar.”

“You definitely were going all out towards the end…”

“Yeah, after we had been sparring for a long time. You have a modicum of skill, I’ll admit, but your real advantage was you had more endurance, height, weight and strength on me. Mary if you had even a basic understanding of real self-defense I would have been on the floor repeatedly during our spar. You aren’t a fighter, you’re a brawler. Also you won those fights at the end because I was getting tired. Partially because during the earlier sparring I didn’t just lay you out, repeatedly.”

“I see… so you were going easy on me.”

“At least for a while, yes. Depending on how changing between Mary and Mark is perceived back home, you learning self-defense is actually really important as Mary. If it ends up being something you can’t just do on the sidewalk in front of a bunch of people without them freaking out, what happens when you are accosted by someone due to your incredible beauty.”

“Well… I don’t think that will be a problem personally.”

“Oh, so you think that you will just be able to swap?”

“That doesn’t matter. You are saying I’m out on the sidewalk, no way am I spending my limited future personal time like that. So, I’m with one of you. Laura is practically a superhero. You are both a dragon and proficient at fighting. You’ve taught Aubrey, I’m going to assume to a fairly advanced level at this point. Chloe has the look, attitude and willingness to brawl, not to mention I won’t be surprised if she ends up carrying a weapon or two in her purse. Flora has claws and can become unnoticeable. Merida, can probably just instantly hypnotize the people accosting me, if not also beat them to a pulp. Talia’s anime physics would likely kick in, and her ability to alter her perception of time will make her a menace. For Allie, Isabella and Ellen I suppose that’s fair. Though you are forgetting something else as well. Sam, I'm going to be a multi-billionaire. We are going to have security guards. Hell, if I had to take a guess, Smug is probably going to end up joining my staff to be Chief of Security or something.”

“Those are good points. Why do you think Smug is going to join your staff?”

“Smug wants to woo Laura and you. I’m still not sure about relationships outside of the harem, and staff. I did mention the blanket exception to Smug about my staff though. She seemed interested.”

“I’m surprised you would allow us to be with someone who can be male.”

“Oh, sorry but no. I told Smug the same thing. My penis only. Smug has to be a woman if she wants to be with you. She seemed fine with that though.”

“Still, you do realize I’m teaching you self-defense at some point in the future right?”

“Fine, but you see how it could be abused?”

“Yes. Though it isn’t as bad as you made it out to be. Now hold on.” Sam floored it again as they came around the last bend in the forest on to a long straight away. “So, come up with anything for my goal?”

“Okay so… yes, but I’m not sure if it is what you should actually use. I was thinking about something to help you process and move past your trauma.”

“That seems reasonable. I’m already following Allie’s walkthrough to help with that. Though I’d like to avoid open ended goals. I might never fully heal from that experience.”

“Well, then how about until you feel comfortable with being intimate with me?”

“Mary, I'm already comfortable with that.”

“I meant, intercourse with me as Mark. Are you saying that you’ve actually reached that point?”

Sam was quiet for a moment. “No… I haven’t. You aren’t going to push that, right?”

“Never. But with all your other things to perfect and work on, you’ll feel a compulsion to do that with me eventually. I want you to be comfortable with that well before that occurs.”

“That’s reasonable. I also really do want to heal, and be with you. Okay I’ll make that my goal, getting to the point I’m emotionally comfortable with us having intercourse.” Sam started to slow down as they reached a sandy beach. “Okay this is our stop.” After reaching a full stop Sam got out of the car and helped Mary do the same. “Okay this next part you can be Mark or Mary for but I ask you pick one and stick with it.”

“Will it make a difference? If not, which would you prefer?”

“It should be the same for you. I think I would prefer you as Mary simply because of your size.”

“Then I’ll stay like this, but why would my size matter? WOAH!” Mary exclaimed in shock as Sam transformed into a dragon slightly larger than a Clydesdale horse.

Sam turned to Mary, “In my seat of the car is a saddle. I was told that while you could ride bareback you would likely not enjoy the experience.”

Mary rushed over and found the saddle and came sprinting back hopping with unbridled excitement. “You’re telling me I get to ride a DRAGON!” Sam could practically see Mary’s eye’s twinkling in awe.

“Yes, that is the plan.” Sam nodded.

Mary squeed in excitement and hugged Sam’s long serpentine neck. Then she put the saddle on Sam’s back. She climbed on to the saddle, and noticed a number of straps and realized they were meant to fasten Mary to the saddle so she couldn’t fall off.

“Okay Mary, on the side of your helmet there is a dial you can turn, rotate it all the way and push it in.” Mary followed the instructions and her helmet extended a full face visor, and lowered and encapsulated her entire head cutting off the sounds of the ocean and everything else. “Good now don’t reverse that during flight” Sam said through the speakers.

“Umm… Sam, this helmet feels odd like sensory deprivation. Is there any way to get some sound in here?”

Astrid’s voice came over the speaker. “Why of course ~Mistress~ Now playing ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ by Dragonforce.”

As the song started Sam took off for the horizon out over the ocean, at great speed “HOLY FUCK BALLS!” Mary shouted as Sam did a corkscrew midair as she was approaching the sound barrier. “Sam, didn’t Cassandra say not to go too far away from the island? As that could be considered an escape attempt.”

“She did, I got special permission for this. Cassandra knows exactly where we are going.”

“Where are we going?”

“The equivalent of the Everglades. Apparently the island we are on is located around where the Caribbean Sea is on our Earth. We should be there in another forty minutes.”

“And why are we going there? My understanding was that there are dinosaurs and most of the planet is not what we would call safe.”

“First I think you answered your own question: there are dinosaurs. Are you really telling me you don’t want to see dinosaurs in person? Even if they aren’t the exact same as on our Earth it will be awesome. Second, we are going hunting.”

“Wait, you want to hunt a dinosaur?”

“Specifically the equivalent of a T-rex. Cassandra said the meat is to die for, but she isn’t simply allowed to harvest the wild life willy-nilly here. She is allowed to let us hunt one though.”

“Sam, you might be a dragon and capable of going toe to toe with a T-Rex, but I’m still just human.”

“I don’t plan to wrestle with a T-rex… though now that you mention it—”

“NO.” Cassandra said over the voice comms. “I would remind you that should either of you be in sufficient danger you will both be immediately teleported back. Wrestling one of those monstrosities even as a dragon qualifies as sufficient danger.”

Sam responded in a mocking tone, “Yesss Moooom. I promise I won’t get into fist fights with the other lizards.”

“First of all Sam, I’m not your mom. She seems like a very nice lady, and I hope you don’t talk to her like that. Second, what do you mean about other lizards? We were talking about dinosaurs.”

Mary chimed in “Umm… Sam you do know the Jurassic Park movies likely got the depiction of real dinosaurs incorrect right? Though there is an in-universe reason why it isn’t wrong for the franchise.”

“Wait really? So what am I looking for?”

“If I had to guess, a massive chicken with teeth.”

Cassandra confirmed Mary’s theory. “Exactly that. Total utter monstrosities. I would hunt them to extinction if I was allowed to and their meat wasn’t so delectable.”

“That’s… a little disappointing.” Sam said.

Cassandra scoffed, “Just wait until you see them. I’d rather fight a dragon than those terrors. The fact you wanted to hunt one I thought was, bonkers, brave, awesome, and stupid all at the same time.”

Mary asked “How exactly am I supposed to hunt one of these things anyway?”

“Extremely long range sniper rifles with magically enhanced antimatter rounds.” Cassandra said matter of factly. “Like I said. I’d rather fight a dragon. Oh I would highly suggest not missing. Between the two of you, the chances you get off more than two shots a piece before being teleported away is low.”

The two flew in silence the rest of the way, save for the music Astrid kept playing for them. Arriving in the everglades Sam landed beside a bunker, and let Mary dismount. Mary shifted into Mark and then the two went inside. “~Like hello Master~ Welcome to the Harem Hotel: Dangerous Everglades Adventurous Thrill Hunter’s Experience. You will find your weaponry and safety equipment on the left wall. A map of the current area along with targets of interest are on the right wall. I have already set the map to show the various T-rex sightings in the last hour.” Astrid took on a rather concerned tone that Mark had never heard before. “~Master~ I urge you to reconsider this foolish endeavor.”

“Astrid, are these things really that dangerous?”

“Yes, ~Master~.”

“Come on Mark, they have to be exaggerating, we can do this.” Sam said confidently, slinging a rifle over her shoulder.

The two put on various safety equipment and camo gear and Mark got his own rifle. They exited the room from the opposite side they came in from finding a long tunnel leading deeper into the glades. When they came up out of the tunnel they found themselves on the top of a cliff. Mark looked out into the distance. Turned to Sam, slightly concerned. “Okay, I guess there wasn’t a lot of hunting on this hunt. Because I can see the target.”

“I can see that too,”

“It, well it seems rather large.”

“That is also obvious.” Sam nodded.

“Are we sure these rifles are enough to eliminate one?”

“I think so. Plus they are rather far away.”

“I mean that one is like forty feet tall.” Mark said gesturing toward the closest of the three massive round feathered creatures. “HOLY SHIT! That one exhaled fire!”

“BWAAAAAAAAAAAAKKK!” One of them roared

“It’s fine they haven’t spotted us here, let’s set up our rifles using those rocks as cover.” Sam pointed off to a cluster of rocks near the edge of the cliff. Mark complied and took cover behind the suggested rock outcropping. Sam immediately started setting up her own rifle. “Do you need help with knowing how to use your rifle? I thought guys were supposed to have a good idea how to handle their equipment.”

“Har Har.” Mark began setting up the tripod for support and adjusting the scope. “It isn’t a matter of knowing how to use a gun or not. I’ve gone shooting before. Cassandra said we would be lucky to get off two shots a piece, even at a distance like this. The range finder is putting the nearest at 517m.”

“Like I said Cassandra has to be exaggerating.” At that moment one of the T-rexes dashed and pecked at something below the vegetation line.

“Okay the range finder is now putting that one at 669m away and it covered that distance in the blink of an eye.”

“Fine… maybe they weren’t exaggerating. How about this we wait until it dashes like that again. The moment it does you fire. If it tries to dodge, I’ll fire immediately after that. It likely has a limit to how fast it can dash after the first time.”

“Okay, I just want it on record. I'm rather terrified right now, of being eaten by a giant chicken.”

“Noted.”

The two spent the next hour waiting for an opening. They thought they had one but another one of the creatures was between them and the target. Mark was beginning to sweat profusely from the heat. Which was made worse by the occasional gout of fire from the beasts. “Hey the one on the left, it looks like it’s about to pounce.”

“I see, yeah.”

The moment it did, Mark adjusted his aim and fired. Which was when one of the other two ripped up a tree and dashed to intercept the shot whacking it with the tree. Sam opened fire abandoning the previous tactic. Which was when Mark thought, where did the third one go? Which was when his eyes went wide, and his head snapped around as he heard, “BWAAAKAAAWW!” A jet of fire heading right for him and Sam. He pulled the trigger right as the two were teleported away.

They plopped down on their butts on the sandy beach where they had gotten out of the car. On the interior of their visors was a familiar red lettering reading ‘YOU DIED’. Astrid spoke over the comms “We here at Harem Hotel hope you have enjoyed the Harem Hotel D.E.A.T.H. Experience. ~Master~ I wish to inform you that while you would most certainly be dead under normal circumstances, you’ve done better than most who have enjoyed this opportunity. Not only did you not soil yourself in the face of ****. You also, through sheer dumb luck, actually managed to kill one of the monstrosities as it would have killed you. Most impressive. Now what would you like me to do with the kill?” Mark was still in shock. “I see you need a minute ~Master~, I am happy to wait on you. Please take your time.”

Sam took off her helmet, and moved over to Mark and took off his helmet. “Mark, are you okay?” She shook him. “Mark?” She kissed him deeply. Which seemed to knock him out of his stupor. “Are you okay?”

“Umm, yes? I think so? We aren’t dead right? I vaguely remember fire and then a black screen that just read ‘YOU DIED’ in big bold red lettering.”

“That was a bit Mark. I also didn’t know about that bit.”

“It was in the waiver you signed Samantha.” Astrid helpfully said over their comms.

Mark pulled out his phone and checked something. “Oh, thank goodness.”

“What’s up?”

“I was concerned you would have lost points for that.”

“What why?”

“Well, Laura lost points for skydiving from space because she caused me a panic attack and caused me to fear for my life. I thought you might have gotten the second one. Maybe it was telling me ahead of time, making me responsible for me being in that position?”

“Did she really not tell you about that ahead of time?”

“Nope.”

“Well you aren’t having a panic attack so that’s good right?”

“Yeah… huh, I’m actually surprised that I’m not having an issue about that.”

“I’m not.” Mark tilted his head and looked at Sam. “Mark, I don’t know what to call you but you're clearly on the spectrum. Understanding something takes away the fear for you. You knew there was a safety mechanism in place to teleport us away before we were harmed. You trusted that it would work because you have a solid grasp about the type of powers that Cassandra and the show can bring to bear. I assume that’s why you are always making lists, putting structure into stuff, and counting things off. While you have a few other noticeable ticks and quirks, but nothing that’s a problem, just things to be aware of.”

“I’ve heard that mentioned to me before, yes. I’ve also gone on forums where people post stuff that helps with problems that are typical for autistic people. I’ve found a lot of them useful to me.”

“Glad you are aware of it.” Sam offered a hand for Mark to stand.

“~Master~ could you tell me what you would like me to do with your kill?”

“Umm, what are my options?”

“Well, as per Samantha’s purchased hunting license a set of steaks are being set aside for your dinner and a haunch is being set aside to share with the others at breakfast. You are free to keep the remaining meat or it can be sold. We are taking a quarter of the meat to refund Samantha's license fee and cover the teleportation and equipment costs. As it was your kill ~Master~ you will receive 75% of the proceeds of the sale of the meat with the rest going to Samantha, for her purchase of the license.”

“How much are we talking here? I assume we get it in BP.”

“Correct it is in BP. After weighing the beast and the conversion cost from Multiversal Currency to BP it comes in at 4000BP.”

“Can I wait to taste the meat first?”

“You may. I will say that even with your whole harem helping you are unlikely to finish the entire beast before it goes bad. The haunch alone might be troublesome for all of you to finish.”

“Oh… in that case go ahead and sell it.”

+3000 BP Mark -> 16525 BP

+1000 BP Samantha -> 5175 BP

Mark turned to Sam, “Out of curiosity how much would it have cost you had we failed to get the kill?”

“The whole date would have been 2500 BP, I got back 2000 BP for the kill. The rest of the cost was for the vehicle rental. So I’m up 500BP right now.”

“That’s nice. Also this date was absolutely fantastic. I loved it.” Mark picked Sam up around the waist and kissed her, she wrapped her legs around him and he placed an arm under her butt as they kissed. They stopped kissing and stared into one another's eyes with their foreheads pressed together. Mark whispered, “I love you Sam.” Which caused Sam’s face to turn pink. Mark’s face turned beet red a moment later when he realized he said that out loud. “Um… Sam… I…” Mark took a second to collect himself. “Sam, while that slipped out. It’s true, I love you. As crazy and whirlwind as things have been. The idea of you not being with me hurts.”

Sam kissed him fiercely, leaning into him. Mark stumbled backwards and fell into the sand with Sam on top of him. “Mark, you are the first guy I’ve truly felt safe around that wasn’t family, in a long time. I love you too.” Sam resumed kissing Mark, after a few minutes of making out Sam pulled apart for air. “Mark, I want you to know how disappointed I am, that I know I’m not ready to do more with you. Not because I don’t want to, but because I can’t.”

“You don’t need to push yourself about this Sam.”

“I know. I want to though. I want you. I just need time before I’m in a place where I can let you have me.”

“Sam, that reminds me of something I talked about with Laura. So… on the night with the candy bowl. I might have… well while Mary… I might have asked Flora to use her extremely long tongue to penetrate me.”

“Wait, I’m a little lost, extremely long tongue? Never mind, probably a candy effect. So, how was it?”

“She didn’t do it, because both she and Laura had the presence of mind to talk me down. I had been very adamant before we began that they were all responsible for making sure that I wasn’t penetrated in any way, shape, or form. No matter what I might say or do under the effect of the candies. The next morning I talked with Laura and said I might actually want to try exploring that. I’m just hesitant. Thinking about it even here as Mark, and not Mary. I do want to explore that. I might not want that but I do want to find out if I do or not. Laura thought you would be the best person to explore that with.”

“I can understand why. I’d be willing to if you want to.”

“It won’t be a problem for you?”

“What do you mean?”

Mark shifted to Mary, “Sorry, it felt weird talking about it as Mark. Just, what if I freak out like this? Say we’re experimenting and I do something to you on instinct. Or just start screaming and crying because it felt wrong.”

“Ah, you’re worried your response could trigger my own trauma.”

Mary nodded. “That or maybe… I could see myself having a similar reaction to what you describe doing to your ex-boyfriend.”

“As much as I would like to help you explore, I think you are right it could be a problem. I don’t know how I would respond to you having those responses. Maybe let Laura help or Allie. Actually, Flora might be your best option, or just do it by yourself. I know you have plenty of dildos available.”

“Is it weird that the idea of one of your tongues seems more appealing than a dildo?”

“Not at all. If that is how you feel, that is how you feel.”

“Why Flora?”

“Honestly, because you can control her. Mary, it really helped me when you let me tie you up on our last date night. It let me feel like I had control of my surroundings, so I felt more comfortable pushing boundaries I hadn’t before. I’m not saying you should just use Flora as a masturbation tool. But talk to her about it. You could put her in a hypnotic state and put in various triggers that would let you feel far more in control of what is happening to you, as you explore. I’m willing to bet she’d help.”

“That’s not a bad idea. I also feel sort of bad always relying on you and Laura for my problems.”

“Mary, we're here to help you through this, you aren’t alone.”

“I know that. It’s why I keep asking for help. The thing is I don’t go to the others for help, not really. It both feels like I’m putting a lot on the two of you, but also depriving the others a chance to get closer to me.”

“Well the first point is a valid concern, the second one isn’t. You don’t owe them those chances or trust. You don’t owe Laura or I that either. Tell me why do you keep coming to the two of us? Why not even Allie?” Sam rolled off Mary to lay in the sand next to her.

“Well, I’ll start with Allie, I don’t feel like it’s fair to push her to deal with more than she already is.”

“Well, get rid of that notion. You’re only hurting Allie with it. Mary, Allie agreed to marry you. You haven’t tied the knot yet, but the date was a couple months away. You had paid the venue and the vendors. You essentially just had to hurry up and wait. Part of marriage is being there for your partner and helping them with problems they are facing. Honestly letting Allie help more would help her with how she is feeling too. Your relationship with Allie needs just as much maintenance as the rest of ours needs building.”

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind. As for everyone else. Well, I guess I would consider them the source of one issue or another. Like Aubrey and Chloe both have been involved in quite a few different problems. I’d rather not start on Talia.”

“Please don’t”

“Flora and Ellen, well I don’t have a great reason not to go to them. I mean last round I was an idiot—” Sam flicked Mary’s forehead. “HEY, that hurt.”

“Well, don’t insult the person I love and you won’t get forehead flicks.” Sam smiled at her.

“Fine… Last round I had an error in judgement regarding Flora’s actions. Better?”

“Much, please continue.”

“But there really isn’t a reason not to go to her now.”

“Isabella is new, so I’m giving her some time to adjust.”

“Very reasonable. What about Merida?”

“I’m conflicted about going to her for advice. On one hand she is fairly supportive and has good arguments…”

“But on the other hand?

“It feels like she’s my little shoulder devil.”

“Really? Her. Not Talia?”

“Not Talia. With Talia I realize I have to keep her new proclivities in check.”

“With Merida though… well she’s my childhood friend and first crush. She’s a woman now, not a teenager, but a lot about her is still the same. Her TFs also haven’t messed with her wants and desires all that much. Sure she’s more passionate about the things she cares about anyway and now she wants to show off for me, otherwise though her thoughts and opinions on things are her own.”

“So what’s the issue?”

“Her response when I’ve gone to her about things is essentially ‘do whatever I want’. Not in a dismissive manner, where she doesn’t care what I do, but wants me to actively take and do the things I want to.”

“Why don’t you…” Sam trailed off as Mary gave her a side glance. “Oh, you mean like controlling us.”

“To some degree, yeah. Like, her opinion about how to handle Talia’s changes was, Talia has no right to complain about anything I changed about her. That even if she had come with a list of ten specific changes to give me, that I still should make some changes just for me. Merida was of the opinion that Talia had no right to **** me into that position, and when she did, she forfeited the right to complain about what I did because of it.”

“I mostly agree, actually. It’s not the exact same with my lists, but that is partially why I don’t care about micromanaging the lists either. But that can’t be it.”

“No, she told me yesterday that I should just use the rulebook however I want, and throw out any sort of adjudication system, and just essentially resolve anything I view as a problem how I want, as long as I don’t play favorites and stay relatively consistent about things.”

“OH, well yeah. Please don’t use Merida for advice often if she is giving you advice like that. That would end horribly. Definitely do not use the rulebook like that.”

“I don’t intend to. The problem I’m having with her advice is that I want to take it, and she actually has decent justification as to why I should.”

“Because you want to follow it isn’t a good justification.”

“Not what I mean. Merida has seen other versions of the two of us, so have I as well. The thing is Merida has seen other versions of us where she is on the show as part of my harem. Where I do use the rulebook however I want, and everyone is cool with that fact.”

“She can’t know that, even if that is the other Merida’s impression, that doesn’t make it accurate.”

“And what about the fact that I really want to agree with her?”

“That’s tougher, but is that because you actually agree with her arguments or they just agree with your lower brain?”

“A bit of both. Like with Talia. I did feel like it was uncalled for for her to put me in that position and she hardly came up with anything to suggest as options either. With the issues within the harem, she has some good points.”

“I’ll talk to her. See if I agree after hearing those points from her myself, instead of second hand from you. Now, would you like to fly or drive back?”

“As much as I’d love to fly back, thinking is a bit hard while flying, plus at the speeds you fly, wouldn’t it be like 30 seconds. I wouldn’t mind a nice relaxing drive back.”

“Fair enough.” Sam grabbed their helmets and passed Mary hers.

As they were headed back on the opposite side of the island, Mary asked. “Sam, can I get your opinion on something?”

“Always.”

“Cassandra offered me a deal.”

~Ping~

Cassandra: We said nothing about talking to any of the others.

Mary: It was also never specified that the deal as a whole needs to remain secret. Or would you like to increase your payment to buy my silence?

Cassandra: Fine but don’t push it, the deal isn’t finalized remember I can back out too. Don’t go asking everyone about this.

Mary: Hadn’t planned on it.

“Mary? What’s the deal?”

“Sorry, Cassandra must have blocked the comms in the helmets if you were talking. She messaged me about telling you about the deal. It’s fine but please keep this to yourself. I’ll be talking to Laura about it too, but I’d like an opinion less directly involved.”

“Have at it then. What’s the deal?”

“Cassandra wants me to essentially trade back Laura’s last favor to be used in a particular way.”

Sam dryly responded “No.”

Mary burst out laughing and couldn’t stop for a solid minute.

“Okay, why was that so funny?”

“That was my response to Cassandra.”

“If you already turned it down, why bother asking?”

“She kept badgering me about it.”

“Then definitely say no.”

Mary laughed some more but got it under control a lot faster. “Okay, hear out the deal first please.”

“Not interested, the answer is already no.”

Mary smiled and really attempted to not burst into more laughter, she was unsuccessful. Another minute later, Mary said, “Okay seriously though I would like your thoughts please actually listen to the deal and then tell me no.”

“Okay, for you Mary.”

“So, she wants me to use the favor to have Laura use her Induce Impulse on some of you.”

“I already hate it.”

“Specifically right before the next challenge.”

“Hatred has turned into loathing.”

“She doesn’t know who the targets will need to be yet or what the impulses will need to be either but I get to know them before the deal is finalized. In exchange, I can remove one TF, reroll one TF and have a customized upgrade for one TF to resolve a problem of my choosing.”

“My loathing has turned into paranoia. Mary the deal actually sounds decent which is setting off all sorts of red flags.”

“Yeah, I feel like I’m missing something.”

“Oh, you need to make an addendum to the deal right the hell now, or turn it down. Mary, you have to use that favor by the end of the challenge, right? So if Cassandra tells you what the impulses are the morning of and you decline you have almost no time to use the favor.”

Mary: Cassandra I know you are listening. If you want me to consider this either I need a substantial lead time or an extension until the end of the third challenge to use the favor.

Cassandra: I’ll give you two days' notice.

“Thanks for that. I’ll have two days’ notice apparently.”

“I’ll say this, I don't like it. I’m tempted by it which makes me like it less. Hang on one second.” Sam slowed the car considerably on a long straight away and called Laura. “Hey Laura, you're on speaker phone with Mary as well.”

“What’s up?” Laura said partially concerned and partially annoyed. “I was in the middle of something but figured this was important if it is interrupting your date with Mary.”

Mary spoke up, “If anyone else is nearby please ask them to step away.”

“Okay one second. Talia, would you go check on Lucia for me?... Apparently whatever the matter is, is private. Okay thanks. Okay I’m alone.”

Sam said, “Okay, so we don’t have to go through the same thing again just listen to me fully first. Apparently Cassandra offered Mary a deal.”

“Don’t take it.”

“Laura, what did I just say?”

“Sorry, go ahead.”

“She would give Mary the ability to remove any one TF, reroll any one TF, and ask for a custom upgrade to a TF to resolve a specific issue Mary has with it. In exchange Mary would call in your favor to have you use your impulse spell on some number of us with currently unknown impulses right before the challenge begins. Mary would get to know the targets and impulses before accepting the deal.”

“Mary, tell me the rewards are going in some combination to Talia, Ellen and Aubrey right?”

“Talia and Ellen for sure. Aubrey is a top candidate for the last spot, yes.”

“Then I’m game.”

Sam and Mary said at the same time, “Just like that?”

“Yes, Mary. I assume I’m not allowed to know the impulses ahead of time, but I’ll let you make the call. As long as Talia and Ellen are getting two of those rewards I’m game.”

“They will be. I don't know which two yet. But they will be getting them, if I take the deal.”

“Then you have my answer. Enjoy the rest of your date. I have a girlfriend to make out with.” Laura hung up.

Sam commented, “Girlfriend? I didn’t realize Talia and her had reached that point. Does it make you jealous?”

“Not really. Laura will take that step with me in her own time.”

“And if she never does?”

“Then she doesn’t, but we’ve already talked about this between ourselves. I’m happy with how things are progressing with her.”

“Glad to hear, let me know if I can help with any problems with the others.”

“Has Aubrey asked you for help yet?”

“Not about her TF which is what I assume you mean. She’s overly stubborn.”

“Honestly things are going mostly good. I’m happy with how most things are progressing.”

“But something has been bothering you?

“Yes, but I don’t want to talk about it.”