Veau de Romanoff II

The inside of the voting room was dimly lit by two tilted lights on each side, only providing enough light to be able to see what was directly in front of you. The space was compact, forcing the contestants tightly together and making the interior feel claustrophobic and tight. Outside of the steel walls surrounding on each side, there was only one other object in the room. Raised up on a steel pillar was a lever, pointing skyward in the middle position. On the wall, written in red dripping ink, reminiscent of blood, were the words Trust on the left and Betray on the right.

Together in voting booth one, Amy leaned her back against the wall while Lily kept turning her gaze around, not knowing where to look. The oni woman was so close, and with how tight these outfits were, her muscles were only accented, and her smell, like oak, was prominent in the room. Lily shook her head; now was a time to focus, not be caught up in hazy, lust-addled thoughts. The suits were not making it any easier, introducing the occasional light throbbing in her core.

The plant girl opened her mouth, “Well, it’s an easy choice, right? We just got to choose Trust, right? Three times, and we can prove that awful demon wrong.”

Looking sideways, Amy’s voice was low, “Yeah…that’s the idea.” Her red hand was on the wall, her finger tapping rapidly against it.

“You…you don’t want to vote Betray, do you?” Lily’s voice was trepidatious, she didn’t want to come across as if she was accusing Amy. That was the last thing she could want to do after everything that had happened this week.

Amy’s hand went flat on the wall as she stopped drumming her fingers, and she gave off a heavy sigh, “No…want is a strong word. Obviously, I want us to prove that asshole wrong and all walk away from this with no transformations, god can you imagine his reaction?” She laughed but it was mixed with a scoff that betrayed her feelings.

Lily leaned in and just let out a small, “I’m sensing a 'but' coming.”

Amy gave a wry grin and nodded, “But I keep running over a lot of the details surrounding the situation and…I am nervous.” Looking into Lily’s eyes and seeing the confusion, Amy looked off to the side again, “Do you know what happens to someone with negative VP?”

The plant girl paused, “No…does something special happen?”

“That’s just it, I don’t know. Every season treats it differently. While our season doesn’t have eliminations. I highly doubt our host is kind enough to let such opportunities slip by. If I end up anywhere below sixth place…that’s where I’m at. If Noemi and Mira vote betray? That’s it for me, that’s one hole in the grave because I’ll be sitting at one point, all bets will be off without the guaranteed shared victory on the table, and I’ll essentially be counting down to when I will lose, not if.”

Lily extended her hands out and gripped the Oni’s arms, “That’s only if they vote betray right? We don’t know they will do that. Honestly, Noemi has been working so hard this week to do her best, and I don’t think Mira is dumb enough to try and make enemies right off the bat, even if she wants to pull ahead.”

Turning her gaze downward, the Oni frowned. She hated bringing this up. She didn’t want to be on this side of things, but her brain required her to analyze every possibility and wouldn’t stop screaming at her, “That’s the other thing…if we all vote Trust three times, and get our eleven points, it’s…not equivalent in who it helps.”

Lily was trying to follow her friend’s logic, but she was adult enough to know that when it came to analyzing things like this, Amy was leagues ahead of her. “What do you mean? Eleven points for everyone, if it’s the same, how can it not be equivalent?”

“Because the distance it will push us as contestants is not the same. Noemi is almost halfway to the goal of one hundred points, she has likely benefited from multiple first-time bonuses, which means that fewer points for her is less of a big deal than it is for someone like me. Because outside of challenges, I have let so many people get ahead of me with first-time bonuses, even if I did everything I could, I would have half the points of Noemi. So her getting those extra points will give her a definitive lead that even if we all get the same amount of points, bridging the gap will be…it would require a lot of work on our ends.” Amy pushed herself off the wall. “I want everyone to do well, but in all honesty, if we only care about crossing one hundred, it’s not that big a deal. But if you care about the wish at all…” she pursed her lips.

Lily cocked her head, “Do you care about the wish? That honestly surprises me, I thought with how relaxed you seemed that you weren’t really invested.”

Amy let out a half-chuckle, “Relaxed? Is that how I seem to you? Maybe it’s my face that doesn’t give it away, but I am frantic. I spent over half the week diving into an AI trying to solve this game because I am at my wits' end. Magic exists, that’s nuts, and I’m in a game all about competing for the love of a man I had a regrettable one-night stand with. I made the choice to play low because I didn’t want to betray anyone’s trust, but now? In the thick of all this? I wonder if I made a mistake.”

Moving her hand to Amy’s shoulder, Lily tried to comfort the Oni, “Amy, you are one of the only reasons I stayed sane this week. I’ve been **** too, ok? If I had seen you score points with Caleb…I don’t honestly know how I would have reacted.” She paused, “Ok, no, I do. I would have lost my mind. So please, I appreciate what you’ve done, I don’t want you thinking it was a mistake.”

Amy sighed, “If only they rewarded points for messing with other contestants, I would at least have something for messing with Stella.”

Lily, who had been absent for this revelation, grew red and flustered, “What? When did you?”

“First night we were here, I guess you had already left when Stella announced that to the group.” Amy grinned, enjoying the levity of the moment as Lily recomposed herself.

“Sorry, I just figured, I don’t know, I had assumed you were straight.” Lily tucked her hair behind her ear while stealing a glance at Amy’s face.

“Nah, I’m ace. Sex is a hobby for me and I’ll do it with anyone, boy or girl or in between as long as they’re cool about it.” Amy said coolly.

“Ah, wow, ok, I didn’t know. I feel it’s only fair I mention I’m bi after getting you to talk about that.” Lily couldn’t make eye contact with the Oni.

“It’s cool…if anything, I appreciate you being so chill about it.” The lights in the room flickered and turned red, “I’m guessing we are closing in on time. Shit…Lily?”

Lily looked up to meet Amy’s gaze. “Yes?”

“I’ll leave it to you to decide. I don’t trust myself right now, but I do trust you. Whatever choice you make, I’ll back you on it.”

Lily nodded and turned to the lever, and the feed was cut.

---

In the opposing voting booth, Mira and Noemi were standing on opposing walls, staring at each other. Since entering, neither had said a word with Noemi avoiding all forms of eye contact with Mira as the Bengali woman tried to read her expression.

Finally giving in and wanting to break the awkward atmosphere, the older woman spoke up, “So, I believe it’s in our best interests to vote Trust.”

Noemi jumped slightly and turned her head up to meet the cool expression of the Bengali woman, “Oh…um, yeah, of course, so we can all win, right?”

Mira shrugged, “If it works out that way, that would certainly be the best outcome. No, regardless of how others vote, it would be better to vote Trust in the first round. Objectively speaking, that is the correct move.”

Noemi kept fidgeting. The sensations that the suit was putting her through reminded her of the previous night with Caleb, and she was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate. “What do you mean objectively? If you’re talking about averages, Betray has a 1.5 point gain average vs Trusts' 0 point gain.”

Mira raised an eyebrow, surprised, and Noemi gave a little smirk, “I know I’ve been walking around with very little clothes on a lot this week, but I’m not some bimbo. I graduated from college, and I know how to break down basic math.”

Turning her chin up slightly, Mira smiled, “I’m sorry for my surprise, I admit to being impressed, and you’re right if this were a pure numbers game, on average, it would be better to always vote Betray because the potential yield is higher. It’s not just a numbers game, this is a social engineering game. If we vote Betray in the first round, you essentially break the social trust of the group. People will then expect you to vote betray under all circumstances, which makes it difficult for others to justify voting anything but betray in response. Which would mean that, beyond extenuating circumstances, voting Betray in the first round will make it so that you are locked out of points in future rounds because no one with sense will vote trust in response.”

Noemi looked thoughtful as she digested this, though one of her hands unconsciously trailed to her breast; the suit was really getting to her. Still, she tried to focus on Mira and what she had just said, it made sense, and she was willing to go along with it, but she couldn’t deny her curiosity, “You mentioned extenuating circumstances, what do you mean by that?”

Mira glanced downward for a moment and then at the lever, “Well, there’s a lot of human factor to be considered in this challenge because we are in teams of two. Naturally, that makes it so that there are a lot of breakdowns that could occur. For example, if prior to entering the voting booths, one of us shoved the other out and made it so only one of us could vote, if that partner voted betray, it wouldn’t make sense to then hold it against the person who was **** outside, right? Also while we’re in this tiny booth, there is always the chance that one of us could overpower the other and **** the choice despite the other’s objections, that one’s trickier though.”

Noemi nodded in understanding, “Because the others didn’t see it happen, so it becomes the one woman’s word vs the other. It would essentially come down to who the group trusts more in those circumstances. Yeah, I see what you mean, there’s a whole lot to consider.” Noemi tapped her hand against the wall, “Well I’m certainly in agreement with you, given everything that’s at stake, even if we’re risking being betrayed, it makes the most sense for us to vote to preserve ourselves for future rounds.

Mira nodded, “Well, I’m glad you agree. Honestly, I’m not against this whole rallying together thing if we can manage it. The first round essentially is a buffer for me, If I’m pleasantly surprised, I will go along with the group. Otherwise, I can always adapt in the upcoming rounds.

Tapping her hand against the hard Metal twice, Noemi straightened up. “Yeah, I certainly hope everyone goes along with it.”

The lights in the room turned red, “Well, I guess we will be seeing momentarily.”

Noemi stepped towards the lever, and the screen cut off.

---

Across on stage right, the first of the B groups was standing across from each other. Maya, for her part, was smiling over at Eliza as the professor leaned back against the wall with her arms crossed. She had no idea how to interact with this girl. Every action she took, Eliza had no clue what was going through her mind. The blonde had gone through phases in her thinking about Maya, Originally, she thought she was one of those people who caused trouble for the sake of it, being a teacher, she had encountered quite a few individuals like that. That hadn’t been the case as it became increasingly clear that better described Stella. Maya mostly kept to herself, and any passing interaction had been cordial if not pleasant.

So when Maya leaned in, all smiles and asked with enthusiastic curiousity, “What do you think the other team is going to do?” Eliza was caught off guard

She admitted, she had more been expecting an instant push for voting Betray. Still, the professor tried to compose herself as the Adult in the situation and asked, “Why are you asking me?”

Maya tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Well, I know you’re friends with Madeline, and I think in general you’re probably better at understanding what people are thinking better than me. You didn’t have any trouble making friends when we got here, and Mira is my only friend outside of Caleb, so I think you must be better at it.”

Eliza was taken aback. “Do you want to make friends here?”

Maya smiled, “I mean, of course I do. We’re all going to be family some day and I would rather be friends with my family than enemies.”

Growing increasingly confused. She was then **** to steady herself against the wall as a sudden stimulus from the suit almost caused her to buckle. It was like her entire body was being pressed against a million tiny but insistent vibrators. She looked up to Maya, “If you want to make friends…why did you openly declare your intention to use sabotages and winning the game?”

Frowning and tilting her head, causing her purple hair to cascade down her shoulders, Maya looked up and tapped her cheek, “I’m sorry, can you explain what you mean?”

Eliza blinked, “I’m sorry?”

“I don’t see how the two things are related. I am nice to people and trying to be their friend, and I am also playing the game that we are also **** to play, and want to do my best. Wasn’t it better to be honest? My mom always told me that when trying to make friends, it’s best to be honest with people.”

Lifting a hand to her head and shaking it, Eliza tried to absorb the words that Maya was saying. It was like there was a gap there; what she was saying simultaneously made zero sense and absolute sense. But it only made sense if you divorced the two ideas entirely, which the professor could not understand. “Maya, a lot of us are afraid of this game. We are afraid of what it might do to us or make us do to each other. So when we hear someone enthusiastically talking about playing the game, it’s scary.”

Maya’s expression shifted to curiosity, “Why? Things are going to happen regardless. Wouldn’t it be better to have some control over it and have some fun?”

Eliza paused; she felt it might be best to approach this bluntly. “I’m sorry, Maya, but some of us can’t see the game as being fun.”

“Oh.” Maya made an “O” with her mouth before pursing her lips and leaning in, “How can I help others have fun so that we can be friends?”

Eliza looked at the earnestness in the purple-haired girl's eyes and felt very out of her depth. Something was off about the way Maya thought; that much was clear, but did she truly just think she was out here to have fun? The concept of such a thought process was so foreign to Eliza, she couldn’t comprehend it. She wanted to help Maya if she truly had no intention of doing harm, but with their limited time…The professor shook her head, “We can talk more about this later. You wanted to know what I thought the other team would do?”

Maya nodded, “Yeah, this game is cool because it requires us to try and think about what the other team is going to do. Caleb wanted everyone to vote Trust, but I don’t think they will.”

Raising an eyebrow, Eliza kept her voice even, “Oh? Why do you think that?”

“I think Stella is a bully, and because she is mad, she’ll try to get even by voting betray and ruining everything for everyone else,” Maya said it so enthusiastically with her hands in front of her, Eliza had to lean further back.

“Right, but Stella isn’t alone. There is also Maddy to consider.” Eliza suggested.

“I don’t think that will make a difference, She seemed very scared. I don’t think she is likely to be able to stop Stella from doing whatever she wants to do, do you?”

Eliza frowned, thinking of her chef friend. She was easily the most timid one here, imagining her getting in the way of an angry Stella…Eliza wanted to believe she could do it. As she was thinking, the light in the room shone red.

Maya jumped up, “It must be time to vote, I’ll let you do it! You know Maddy best, so I think it would be best for you to make the decision.”

Eliza swallowed hard and turned to the lever, and the feed cut off.

---

In the final voting booth, Maddy was forming a barrier between Stella and the lever. Immediately after entering inside, the red head had started towards the lever and unsure of what else to do, Maddy had put her body between the woman and her goal. Stella stamped her foot, “Goddammit, Maddy, get out of the way.”

The blonde shook her head emphatically, sending her wavy curls flying,” Not until you tell me what you plan on doing.”

Stella rolled her eyes and cocked her hip, resting her hand on it, “You heard it right? Everyone is going to vote for Trust. So obviously we have to vote Betray and get ahead, it’s the smart move.”

Furrowing her brow, Maddy glared over at Stella, “That’s awful! We have a chance to do our best for everyone right now, and you want to just throw it away?”

“What has everyone here done for me? Slap me? Dump juice on my head? Turn me into a fucking demon? Yeah, you’re right, what was I thinking?” Stella’s eyes shot open like she just had an idea, “Oh right! Fuck em.” She tried to reach over Maddy’s shoulder towards the lever, and Maddy swatted at her arm.

Maddy was shaking; she hated conflict, she felt like her skin was going to jump off her body, her face was hot, and she could feel all the hairs on her body standing on end. She hated being angry, and she didn’t like yelling, so it was only because she was at her limit that her voice rose, “Don’t you think you deserved some of it?!”

Clearly not expecting the raised voice from the chef, Stella recoiled but only for a second before gritting her teeth and scowling back, “What? I haven’t done anything-”

She was cut off by Maddy stamping her feet, “Stop it! Stop saying that! It’s not true! You stole from me! You **** Caleb to go outside. Did you ever think about what could have happened to either of us when you did that?”

Turning and looking away, “It wasn’t a big deal, nothing bad happened…” Stella spat out the words.

“Nothing bad happened? Caleb had a panic attack, and I spent the day searching for those treats! Nothing bad happened to YOU is what you mean. It’s so selfish!” Maddy growled, surprised at herself.

Stella raised her hands like a shield, “Hey now, listen. I’m a grown ass fucking woman I can make my own decisions and if people can’t live with it, well tought.”

“Oh my god!” Maddy threw her hands up, “That’s such bullshit couched in fake self affirmation bullshit. Being your own self doesn’t excuse you from consequences! Yeah you’re a grown ass fucking woman, well you know what that means? You also have to live with people being mad at you when you do shitty things. It’s not a magic wand that gets rid of all that, Stella! You’re acting like a petulant child.”

Stella bit her lip, her eyebrows closing in as she snapped back, “Well why should I care when obviously none of you give a crap about me! I’m on my own, right? So it only makes sense I only care about myself.”

Maddy, feeling herself coming down, felt hot tears in her eyes, “If that’s what you think, then you’re really as stupid as you think we think you are. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be telling you this! We’re all stuck here together, don’t you see that? I really appreciated you helping me when I felt down about Lily. That side of you is nice and cares about people. I like that Stella! Also, Caleb likes you too!”

Making a raspberry with her lips, Stella rolled her eyes and looked away, “No, he doesn’t, why did he use that whammy on me then? I was one day away from having cloven hooves. No, there’s no way.”

Maddy shook her head, “Didn’t you hear him before we came into the booth? He said he knew we were better than this. All of us! He believes in you! He did that because he wanted to you to realize your actions hurt people, not because he hates you.”

Stella blinked, she didn’t have a snappy retort this time, only a rising feeling of bile in her stomach, “So what? I turn over and show my belly? Act like some perfect girlfriend or whatever?”

“No one is asking you to do that. Just that you consider other people when you do things and acknowledge when your actions hurt people. I think you would be boring if you stopped being yourself.” Maddy felt herself go weak as the adrenaline keeping her high flushed her system and she fell to her knees, suddenly light headed as the lights turned red.

Stella kneeled down and supported Maddy, making sure she didn’t fall on the ground, “Hey, are you ok?”

“Sorry, I just got a little heated and wore myself out,” the redhead helped the blonde back to her feet. “Thanks,” She looked at the light, “I think it’s time to vote.”

Stella pushed past Maddy, “Yeah, and I know exactly what to do.” And the camera cut out.

---

Caleb turned angrily back to Lucian, “What’s happening? Why did the cameras turn off?”

Lucian smirked, crossing his legs, “Well, it would be boring if you knew what happened before they did. Keeps the tension high…a,h here they are.”

The doors opened, and the women began filing out with a range of expressions. Once they were all on stage, the Demon rose to his feet, “It’s time to reveal the results of Round One!” He spun his slap stick and the monitors on stage lit up with the results with the center screen showing the change in scores.

Round 1:

A1: Amy & Lily: BETRAY

A2: Noemi & Mira: BETRAY

B1: Maya & Eliza: BETRAY

B2: Maddy & Stella: TRUST

Lily: +0: 3 Points

Mira: +0: 3 Points

Eliza: +3: 6 Points

Amy +0: 3 Points

Noemi: +0: 3 Points

Madeline: -2: 1 Point

Stella: -2: 1 Point

Maya: +3: 6 points

The room was silent and then very loud.