The Rules of Civilisation edition

Lady Vanite

At first they thought it was a joke; Synergy even had the guts to start laughing, but as the music playing in the atmosphere started to die down and no one else began to laugh, it became clear that Hera was not joking. If anything, her grin seemed to be growing wider.

“You… you can’t… that's obscene.” Mary hissed, her voice like a snake's. She leaned forward in her chair, unable to stand because her rear was firmly attached to the seat. "Nothing on this Earth could make me ever do something like that."

"You dare?" Orbita growled; she was standing. She had somehow used a bit of purple magic to teleport herself out of her seat, bypassing the restriction Hera had set upon them. "You think of me as some trophy? I could burn your skin as if it were made of paper."

"Again? Really?" Hera asked with mock annoyance. "You want me to take your powers away permanently?"

She said it with exaggerated boredom, and Lady Vanite immediately recognised the power play. She wanted to send a message to Orbita, and the rest of them. She was in charge and they’d be foolish to defy her.

Orbita returned her glare, magic still blazing in her hands. Out of the corner of her eye Lady Vanite saw that Ashara also had a hand on her sword, but she was mumbling under her breath and wasn’t drawing it out. Alema’s eyes were darting around, looking for exits and with Hera distracted Lady Vanite did the same. But she knew that there were none, there were corridors, certainly, but there was no way that they could escape without Hera’s notice.

“Wait.” A timid, insecure voice cried out. Too quiet to be heard over the struggles and the music, but drawing their attention all the same. If only because Hera turned and listened. “This isn’t what I wanted!”

“Oh?” And in the next second Hera disappeared and reappeared behind the twenty-year-old boy. Breasts leaning over him, hands on his shoulders, she loomed over him like a cloud. “But isn’t this what you always wanted Alex?”

She leaned in closer, her voice like poisoned honey, dripping from her garish lips. “To not be so weak, so ignored? To be powerful? And what would make you more powerful than having six powerful civilisations begging for your favour? To serve you? To fuck you?”

“But I…I…” His voice was trembling, weak and pathetic.

“Wait.” Lady Vanite’s voice was like a hiss, her eyes narrowed like the slits of a snake. She sat regally on her chair, back straight like she was a queen sitting on a throne. “You asked for this?”

The boy’s face went as white as a sheet as Hera chuckled smugly. “He did indeed; I sent him an email offering him sex, wealth, power and freedom from all those nasty possibilities.” She started playing with Alex’s hair idly with her long, manicured fingernails. “I offered him all of that and more.”

“Heh. Boy’s a little pervert.” Synergy was the only one smiling, her arms folded. “Don’t worry, I would have done the same thing.”

“Wait, but-“

“I mean the chance to have six different empires worship you on bent knee. I wouldn’t have said no.” Synergy said, shrugging. Her smile oddly smug.

“Why do you seem so smug then?” Ashara asked, eyeing Synergy with a dissecting glare.

Orbita answered for her. “Because Synergy doesn’t care for her people. She thinks she’ll be free to simply ignore the challenge and fail on purpose.”

“Wow, Red, you’re not as dumb as you look.” Synergy said, grinning smugly. “Yeah, I don’t give a fuck about my Earth, so I don’t need whatever this bitch is offering.”

“Neither do I!” Mary growled; she lacked any of Synergy’s smugness. “We’ll win the war without this harlot.”

The poor woman was delusional, but Synergy had a point, and it caused pause in the other four girls. Whatever the nature of the contest, they needed this.

“You cruel, evil women." Hera chided, but there wasn't an ounce of sincerity in her voice. The back of her fingers stroked Alex's cheek, ignoring how Alex was flinching away. "This poor boy has spent his whole life being treated as unimportant, ignored by his colleagues, living in near-complete isolation, rejected by a society that pretends to accept him. Who are you to deny him the chance to experience real power?"

"We're not his slaves!" Alema shouted, fists clenched, staring daggers at Alex as if he had brandished a gun.

"I...I didn't mean..." Alex's words were filled with fear, and he looked around for help. But his body betrayed him; his thoughts, undoubtedly flashing towards the lewd promises Hera had offered him, caused the blood to rush to his groin. The resulting erection did nothing to help his case.

Orbita was the first to speak. Her tone carried both disgust and cutting insult in every syllable when she next spoke. "Pathetic, in more ways than one. You lie and pretend you're some innocent victim, and on the other hand you fetishise us being your slaves.”

“I’m sorry.” Alex cried softly, his eyes glancing at the floor. Unlike the others, though, Lady Vanite had plenty of experience discerning the secret motives and thoughts behind her foes. And she could see how Alex’s fingers were trembling, and tears were falling down his eyes. “I-I didn’t mean to.”

“Hmpf.” Orbita sneered at him, her eyes devoid of pity. “What an insult.”

“Enough!” Hera snapped, and with a flick of her wrist, Orbita was sent flying back into her seat. "I'm going to allow you to stand, but you're not going to complain. My genius design is on a schedule, and I don't have time to listen to you whining. But one more thing-“

Hera’s golden eyes glared dangerously at Synergy. “There will be consequences for losing; they are going to be much worse than merely denying your civilisation's wish."

"Pftt... Whatever..." Synergy said with a shrug, rolling her eyes.

Hera merely tsked. "You'll be changing your tune soon, little girl, or you'll regret it. In any case, time to start the rules, and I advise you to pay attention because I won't repeat myself."

Hera gestured towards the screen that now had a big, gigantic, overly stylised title of 'THE RULES', accompanied by a deep, loud announcer and plenty of ominous dark music and ghostly shadows as the lights filled the stage.

“And my darling audience I’d remind you that these rules won’t be the simple harem hotel rules, the addition of entire civilisations will change the dynamic in ways you can’t even imagine.” Hera whispered, cupping her mouth and whispering to an invisible camera.

“Now the simple goal of harem hotel is to earn victory points, or VP points over several consecutive rounds, each ending with a challenge. These victory points represent how well your civilisations succeed in gaining your Master’s favour, and are earned by pleasing him sexually and succeeding in challenges.” The screen behind her started to list the rules one by one. “But losing challenges, denying your Master his right to his property or angering him.”

“Did you say civilisations?” Lady Vanite asked, her emerald eyes fixed intently at the screen.

“I did, indeed, you haughty bitch.” Hera said, shooting her a finger gun. “Yes, this season’s unique spin is that it won’t simply be the contestants earning VP, but entire civilisations. And as such, victory points will be tracked per civilisation.”

“So why have you dragged me here?” Mary growled, leaning forward as far as her magically restrained body could. “What business do you have stealing me from my family?”

Hera’s eyes narrowed, as if in amusement at Mary’s mention of her family, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. “Oh do not think that your role will be reduced; contestants in this season of Harem Hotel will be playing a role akin to ambassadors. It will be up to the six of you to show your Master Alex exactly what your nations have to offer as after all your Master won't be spending much time in each of your kingdoms; it is a lot of ground, after all. Think of this hotel as your hub, where your Master will return to. And it is from here that most of the games will continue.”

“What’s the purpose of these VP points?” Ashara asked, studying the screen.

“Excellent question. Well, I suppose there are three purposes behind VP points. First of all you need to gain enough VP to score a hundred points to get your nation’s wish. So for you, Ashara, that’ll be peace for Laena; for Vanite, that’ll be cleaning up all the pollution; for Synegy’s world, that’s curing the Vestra virus. The second is to avoid eliminations, which happen if you end a round with a negative VP score. The third is that the nation with the highest VP score will also get an additional wish as well for their contestant.” That seemed simple then, and Lady Vanite had to cock her head. The winner could simply wish themselves free of this life of servitude. Still, it would be best not to inform Hera of this little loophole.

“Wait, couldn’t we just wish us all free if we win?” Alema, you fool!

“Absolutely not, that’s one of the few things that are off limits. No escaping your destiny as subjects and slaves to your Master Alex, nor changing the nature of the transformations.” Hera wagged her finger at Alema like she had caught a student doing something naughty.

“Transformations?” Orbita’s eyes were intrigued, almost hungry. The dark witch was certainly wondering if she could use these transformations to her advantage.

“Ah yes! Transformations! Our signature aspect of Harem Hotel. After I explain the rules, you will each receive your first round of transformations. These will be voted on by the audience and can include a whole range of effects, including physical transformations like bigger tits, mental transformations like new fetishes, and even changes to your past. I will demonstrate." Hera flicked her wrists towards the audience.

• All contestants will receive memories about everything that happened since Alex arrived at Harem Hotel

It came to Lady Vanite like a wave, as if someone had installed new software seamlessly into her brain, and her mind simply began to process it as if it had been there the whole time. She could now remember Alex whimpering under Hera's 'interview', Orbita's doomed duel with Hera, Synergy flipping off her civilisation and everything Hera had told Alex and her audience about each other's civilisations. She could see her fellow contestants doing the same, and most now looked at each other with new eyes.

"There you go, a simple mental transformation, both to show that I'm not bluffing and so that we're all on the same page," Hera said brightly, smiling at all of them as if she expected a thank you. "Oh, stop gawking at each other; I was only making things fair."

Still, no thank-yous could be heard. “Alas the true genius of Hera is never truly appreciated by her contestants. ‘Tis a common fate for hosts in this line of work.”

“My apologies, please forgive me for not showing the proper gratitude to my slaver.” Lady Vanite said, as best a mock bow as she could with her body glued to her seat.

“Apology accepted,” Hera said brightly, either missing or ignoring the sarcasm. “But in any case, what makes this season so superior to the others is that we won’t just be dealing with a mere handful of contestants but entire civilisations. Hence therefore some transformations will affect their contestant’s entire civilisation. Some will be retroactive, meaning the transformation will become a part of their history; some are less subtle, and some might let the contestant remember the original timeline; others won’t. Really depends on the transformation. Allow me to demonstrate."

"ALEMA!" Hera's eyes suddenly fixed on Alema, who jumped as if a gun had been fired at her. "Your species call themselves Ketriks, don't they?"

"What?" Alema's head turned to her fellow contestants, hoping they had some insight into this bizarre question. "So what if they do?"

Hera's raised her fingernails. "Not anymore." She snapped her fingers, and they rang out like a bell.

• Alema's species will now be known as Twileks, and any species in the Federal Star States will identify themselves to the Sci-Fi species they most resemble.

"I chose the Star States for a very special reason, Alema. Alex here is a massive nerd of science fiction and space fantasy, and throughout the infinite dimensions I spied that the States have such a collection that mirrors the space babes from Alex's fantasies so very closely." Hera idly played with Alex's hair; he looked up at Hera with sheer terror.

"I didn't mean to-

"Hush," Hera said, pushing a finger to his lips. "So you see, Alema, I thought I'd make it easier on Alex and our audience. Ketriks now never existed; you've always been Twileks, Nuoriti have always been Orions, and the same for the Asari, the Togurtas and the Andoites. Since it's just a name, it's a freebie, but future transformations may be more severe."

"That's ridiculous, I've always been a Twilek," Alema said, shaking her head in disbelief. But as soon as she noticed the others staring, her resolve faltered. "Haven't I?"

There was only silence; now there was no doubt that nothing was stopping Hera from rewriting the minds of their people, and do who knows what else.

“Wait, you can’t do this!” Ashara pleaded, her aqua eyes filled with terror. “This is my quest, not Laena’s. It’s my duty, not theirs.”

“Oh, what a noble soldier you are. But it seems unfair that you make all these sacrifices for your people and they don’t do the same? Don’t you think?” Hera asked, her voice dripping with false pity. “Really, this is just a better way of doing things.”

“Don’t twist words, you wretched creature!” Ashara snarled, but her words fell on deaf ears.

“Meh, you do you,” Hera said with a shrug. “Now the final thing to know about transformations is your exit transformations. These happen if you’re eliminated, and let me tell you they’re nasty.” Hera’s eyes searched the contestants, hunting for fear. She was finally rewarded. Synergy was paying attention. “They affect both you and your people and are much more severe. Oh yes, they might grant you what your people desire, but believe me, you'll wish you hadn't."

"What are you talking about?" Synergy's beady eyes were serious and focused for the first time. "What do they do?"

"Well, they change by contestant," Hera said, shrugging her shoulders and marching away from Alex. "At the bare minimum, since your personality has proven so resistant to being poor Alex's sex slave here, it is simply replaced with one more subservient, and of course you lose those useless free wills of yours."

She started marching before them like she was playing musical chairs, eyeing them one by one. "But I'll grant your wishes, in ironic little ways. For example, Vanite-" Lady Vanite's blood froze instantly. "-you want global warming done. Perhaps I'll do that by reverting the British Empire back into a slutty tribal culture, much like those savages you think you're above. Ashara, maybe for you, Laena will find peace by submitting as slaves to your dark queen, and Alema, you can be reunited with your lost compatriots by joining them as slaves to the Gestalts once again. And of course I'll find special places for all of you in these new societies; you, most of all, Synergy."

"You're sick!"

"You won’t get away with this!”

Synergy glared back, but the prospect of losing her free will had seemed to break through her facade. If only by a crack.

“Nevertheless, there’s one more major thing to mention, and that is bonus points, or BP. These are your currency, and you’ll use them to purchase items, bonuses, technologies, and even transformations and curses for yourself. The stores can be found in the harem hotel and in your civilisation’s nations.” Hera explained, and Lady Vanite found herself growing more intrigued. These could be an advantage.

“And how are we to attain these bonus points?”

“Three ways my dear Vanite. First of all you will get a small bonus of BP at the start of every round. Second of all, certain transformations will allow you to earn BP points, and finally, there are popularity contests that will be held at the beginning and end of each day.” Popularity contests. Lady Vanite eyed her competition; she doubted Mary would be any kind of threat, nor Orbita. But the other girls might be stiff competition; each had their own means to play to a crowd.

“And don’t forget your people are watching you. Only you, though; they’re receiving a modified stream, no spying on one another from home. For those of you curious, Laena and Malica are using Crystal balls. And no, your people won’t be able to vote.” Lady Vanite felt herself stiffen, so she would also have to consider her reputation in the contest. Given the nature of the contest, that would only make things more complicated.

Good Lord, was she going to have to fornicate on camera? The Vanite line would never recover!

“Now I’m just going to put a screen with the rules on points here.” Hera pointed at an empty patch of wall where a screen appeared.

“And a screen with the rules on transformations and other stuff here.” Hera pointed again, and another screen appeared.

“And it’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The first taste of your incredible host Hera’s creative genius. Our first TRANSFORMATIONS!”