The First Challenge: Part 1

Alan sat in the center chair of a line of seven.

Joan had arranged both of her bodies in the chair to his right. To his left, a pair of Crawlers coiled together in a way that suggested Ariadne and Tess had made up.

Probably.

A Skynet came in with Natalia. The actress looked stunning in an elaborate dress that had probably started life as a costume from Star Wars. She settled beside Joan with a focused, composed expression that made Alan wonder how much of the room she had already measured.

Christian and Chloe marched in next with a pair of identical Skynets flanking them. The twins had dyed their hair to match, a bright, deliberate red instead of the orange Christian had arrived with. They wore the same tight black dress. Chloe was still slightly thinner, and Christian’s piercings remained, though they had been made understated enough to look intentional instead of defensive. They looked fantastic.

They settled beside the cuddling Crawlers.

Laurel arrived last with her own Skynet escort. She wore a cheerleader uniform, and Alan doubted it had come from her own high school. Red and silver would have been memorable. A dragonfly perched in her hair as she dropped into her chair.

More Skynets followed, enough for one to stand behind each contestant. Every one of them wore a maid uniform.

None stood behind Alan.

“You go,” one Crawler told the other.

Tess slithered off the chair and into the center of the room. She turned toward the wall, and presumably toward a camera Alan still could not see.

“Hello, and welcome back to Harem Hotel: It’s Your Fault. I am Tess, understudy and fiancée of the host, Ariadne. I will be acting as host for the challenge, the transformation vote, and the popularity poll.” Tess gave the invisible Audience a tendril wave. “We have had quite a week, haven’t we? Let’s look at the VP scores of our contestants.”

She gestured, and a spotlight fell on Natalia.

“You didn’t earn any points. Alan gave you one by writing a profile for you. Can you explain your reasoning?”

Natalia gave a strained smile. “Our date involved a horse injuring the master. Taking advantage would have been tacky. I promise to improve next round.”

“Alright. Nowhere to go but up.”

The spotlight switched to Christian.

“One kiss. That’s what you gave us. Can you explain?”

“I was fucking dead,” Christian snarled. “Besides, I let your girlfriend peg me. Shouldn’t that count?”

“Unfortunately, this isn’t the Haunted Castle. Those bitches are basically getting free superpowers every week for sex with each other.” Tess sighed.

“Can I switch to that season?” Christian asked.

“The twins on that season were already fucking by now. The spunky one was **** to violate her own ass on camera during the opening because the host needed to prove a point.” Tess laughed.

“Oh.” Christian looked down.

The spotlight shifted to Ariadne.

“Next up, the beautiful Ariadne. Ten VP, mostly because she hugged Alan while naked last week. She also showed him her mother’s vagina, but that wasn’t worth any points. Any commentary?”

Tess sounded amused, but her tendrils flicked like a cat’s tail.

“As host, I was under a higher standard of behavior than the others,” Ariadne said. “I needed to give the inexperienced members of the cast a chance.”

“Very charitable.”

The spotlight switched to Joan’s chair.

“So, our lowest-popularity girl as of last time. Not a bad VP showing, all things considered. Any thoughts?” Tess asked.

“Thank you for the free transition, I guess.” Joan smiled, clearly holding back a lot.

“That’s the spirit. Speaking of spirit, we move to Laurel, and her thirteen VP. Alan’s first kiss, the first girl on the show to get naked, and his biological mother.” The spotlight jumped to Laurel as Tess monologued.

“Eh, I still got laid last night,” Laurel said cheerfully. “We can’t freak out the master too much, too fast.”

“Oh fuck, you did get laid.” Tess’s face shifted into an expression Alan could not identify. “Why on Earth did you fuck Mel?”

“She looked like she needed it, and so did I.” Laurel shrugged. “Am I gonna be punished for it?”

“Not by me.” Tess shook her large head.

The spotlight fell on Chloe, whose hand had already reached for Christian’s.

“Last but not least, Chloe Parker. Twenty-seven VP. A commanding lead after one week.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said, smiling brightly. “It’s been an honor.”

“Well, let’s get this over with. Ariadne had a challenge plan, but she’d get fired immediately if we went with it. That’s why you’re playing Truth or Dare instead of spending the whole challenge inventing the challenge.”

Tess waved a tendril. The chairs tilted forward.

Everyone fell with different degrees of grace.

Ariadne slithered to the bottle first. Natalia followed. The Joans and the twins arrived together. Laurel bounced to her feet with cheerleader energy that seemed at least half hostile.

“Okay, here are the rules,” Tess said. “Alan gets the opening spin. Whoever the bottle lands on picks someone who hasn’t been picked in the round. That person chooses truth or dare. After they choose, the picker comes up with the truth or the dare. If someone lies about the truth, or doesn’t do the dare, they’re out. Repeat until everyone's gone. Then you start a new round."

She glanced at Alan.

“Alan, do you mind turning my girlfriend into a normie for the challenge?”

“Alright.”

Alan got up and touched Ariadne where she waited beside the bottle. One moment she was a naked Crawler. The next, a naked human woman stood in her place.

Alan gave the glass bottle a spin.

The challenge had started.

Current VP

Chloe: 27 VP

Laurel: 13 VP

Joan: 11 VP

Ariadne: 10 VP

Christian: 2 VP

Natalia: 1 VP