Noel Almendra

Noel Almendra found herself gritting her teeth as she was once again brought to a story, only to be a gopher instead of getting time in front of the camera. She didn’t have expectations of getting time on TV, but this internship was supposed to actually train her on something instead of being used like this. After about an hour, the piece was completed. It was not something big, a two-minute spot to highlight the convention for the local news. Since her job was technically over, Noel decided that she might as well enjoy the convention, as they were given passes for the event as part of the coverage. The journalist traveled the artist alley, looking for some prints that she could give as gifts to people. Unfortunately, while there were plenty of talented artists, nothing that she could see would be something that she could gift to her parents.

During her aimless walking, the would-be journalist ran into the camera operator, Arnold, upon noticing Noel, his face lit up in relief. “Oh Noel, this is great timing, you don't have anything pressing right now, do you?”

“I’m off today, Arnold. I did this morning shoot as a favor to the station.”

“Well, hey the station said it wanted a write-up on this event here.” He handed Noel a flyer, “It's for some dating event. Everyone else that is already here is married, so it would be real awkward if one of us goes.” The camera operator stood to her side, highlighting the difference in height between them. “It's going to be a written piece for the website. I know you have been looking for a break, so just trust your buddy, Arnold.”

“Fine,” she sighed, resigned to getting another scrap from the station. At least this time it's a written piece. The journalist followed the instructions to the dating game booth. Once she was there, she signed up and disappeared in a pink flash.

Suddenly, in a room with pink walls, Noel examined her surroundings. Looking at one of the walls, she noticed that there were impressions of a shoe. Curious, she touched the wall, and it felt as smooth as plastic. It emanated a lukewarm heat similar to a person. Seeing nowhere else to go, the journalist followed the path and found herself in a lecture room filled with people.

“Kate, Miri, Pandi, what are you all doing here?” Noel asked, her eyes struggling to tear themselves away from Katie’s topless chest.

“I accidentally got all of us, except for the nudist over there and her clones, in an alien dating game. I’m the capture target. She’s going to ask for some personal information, and she compels us to tell the truth, so once again… I apologize.” Katie got on her knees with her face towards the ground.

“It's fine, Katie, if you signed up like I did, I doubt anyone would imagine a convention dating game to lead to something like this. Please stand up,” the journalist pinched the bridge of her nose. Fuck yes! An excuse to date Katie.

“Well, since your friend has already given the scoop, I’m not going to bother with the theatrics, give your name, age, occupation, cup size, and last sexual encounter for the audience,” ELEECE said with a fake pout.

“Noel Almendra, 27, journalist, C-cup, and two months ago, masturbating,” the reporter recited without hesitation. Once the introduction was completed, Noel approached the orange nudist on her own accord. “I was told that I needed to do a story on this event. Was that just a cover to get me in, or is that still a valid offer on the table?”

The host laughed for what felt like a solid minute before answering, matching Noel’s unflinching gaze with one of her own. “People doing things like that are why I do this job. We can absolutely do some interviews, but we'll have to schedule another day. You will all need time to adjust.”

“Then I look forward to working with you.” The journalist walked up and shook the host’s hand before walking over to Pandi. The trainer had wandered off into a corner of her own. “What’s up, my longanimous comrade in unspoken crushes? In luck in wooing your preferred member of our dynamic duo” Concern filled her face as Pandi started to do squat exercises.

“I’m honestly close to losing it. I kicked a wall here, and my foot just went through it like it was made of jello, then it went back to being hard again. The ship’s a masochist, whatever that means. How the hell are you not losing it?”

“It's a competition about dating Katie." The journalist shrugged. "Not to mention, we are standing on proof that aliens exist. Do you know how much money we could leverage out of this? We could have enough money for each one of us here to outright buy a home with no mortgage. Hell, this could be enough for me to be able to fund some actual local investigations, like how much money the city uses on recycling or what departments use the most money.”

“Are you forgetting that these people’s idea of first contact is a sex show?”

“They aren’t prudes, then.” Noel placed a hand on Pandi’s shoulder. “I’m not going to lie and say everything is going to be ok, but if they can teleport with the ease of snapping a finger, I have serious doubts that they want to bring us long-term harm. Deep and everlasting humiliation is a different thing,” the reporter shrugged, “they had us sign a form before they teleported us here. Whatever organization puts on this show we are on has rules. Rules mean there are loopholes to find, so don’t count us out yet.”

The trainer had stopped her exercise routine about halfway through the speech. She was still visibly trembling, but she **** a smile. “Your pep talk needs more work, but I’ll try to keep an open mind on this.”