Very Educational

Before I could guess the password, and before breakfast arrived I got my first guest of the day. A short lady with brown hair, and actual clothing, and not just a wet suit. Thank goodness, I was starting to think that this place was weird or something. She was wearing some kind of marmish dress that swallowed her small frame. She had ringlets styled into her hair, and a pair of very big classes, she looked at the same time very old and very young. She also accessorized her outfit with two guards, both of which were wearing the wet suits, and of course guns.

“Hello there.” I waved towards her, and sat up on my cot. I'd been a bully long enough to know that this lady was the nerd of the group, she carried herself like one at least.

“Good morning.” Her voice was more than a little curt. It seemed to split the difference between being very young and very old, and sounded to me like a very average voice. “My name is Eleanor, It’s been decided that mine is the time that will be wasted catching you up to speed on our precious society.”

“I’m sorry to hear that ma’am.” Personally, that's not how I would have started off a relationship with someone, but that's her choice.

She rolled her eyes, and unfolded a chair she’d been carrying with her. “Do you really think you can flatter me, by calling me ma’am?”

“Just being polite.”

“Listen here, since I’m going to be your teacher, I want to make one thing clear. There is no place in our society for you, we don’t want you, we don’t need you. If you want to survive here, it’s best for all of us if you go unseen and unheard."

I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling. “Lady, I’m a black man. If that's your lesson, I don't think there's going to be any new information in there for me.”

“Why me?” She whispered under her breath, and sat down in the chair. Apparently she was the true victim in this situation, not me. She produced a folder from her bag. ”Today is going to be a simple history lesson.”

True to her word, that’s just what I got. She filled me in on the cult… erm Sisterhood, and it’s history.

Thetis was once a wife of unknown name and origin, she was married to an abusive husband who eventually pushed her so far, she went and killed the creep. After that she looked out on the world and thought of the multitudes of women suffering under men everyday. The history then skips the next five years of her life, and goes right to her founding the underwater city of Skyros with the help of her pirate armada. A land where women can be free of the grasp of men. There’s some nation building at that point. Thetis declares a few laws down to her people as all messiah’s must, she receives a message from her namesake giving her the right of conquest for all the world, and we’re off to the races. Which brings us to modern time, where she and her submersible fleet raid island after island and coast town after coast town **** and brainwashing every woman they can grab, and leaving the men alone and sterile thanks to some gas they use in their attacks. And when will this age of conquest end? Only when the last man has been sterilized, and these mermaids arise from the deep to retake the now barren earth.

Yikes.

I'm going to lie and say it was a boring history. There was drama, betrayal, a likable main character, and plenty of battles to keep my attention. But Elanor was fighting against my empty stomach, and she wasn’t exactly the best storyteller, so by the end of the tale I was almost asleep.

What consciousness I had was focused on questions. How did Thethis get away with killing her husband? What did she do in those five years between killer her husband, and founding Skyros? Where the fuck did she get the navy of submersible ships, who built this city? Why had I never heard of it? And why hadn’t I heard about this until now? The rouge navy roaming the oceans, seemed like a big deal.

At the time my theory was that she was some kind of plot hatched by Bejing to destabilize The South Chinese Sea. I had no evidence, but it felt right, which was pretty much evidence in the modern age.

“And that concludes your lesson for today. Perhaps now you understand how lucky you are to live at the mercy of The Sisterhood.” Eleanor was clearly a big fan of Thetis. I'd say a majority of the lecture had been her rambling on and on about random side stories of what the matriarch was doing at this point and that. It would have been cute to see her talk so excitedly about something which inflamed her passions, if only it wasn't a genocidal maniac.

“Yes ma’am.” I nodded, and managed to suppress a yawn. “I certainly learned a lot, thank you. One question before you leave?”

“Yes?”

“Do I get food while being held prisoner? You guys seem to be pro war crimes, so I’m just wondering.”

She shakes her head. “Just like a man, of all the things you can ask questions about. When was the last time you were fed?”

“Um, yesterday at my house.” I checked my watch. “Almost thirty hours ago.”

“Oh shit.” Eleanor said, suddenly very animated. “Yes, I’ll have someone bring you something immediately.”

I sighed in great relief, and leaned against the wall. “Thanks.” I was halfway sure they’d been starving me on purpose, but it looked like they just didn’t deal with many prisoners. She and her guards left the room to me and my thoughts.

My watched pinged, and I checked my notifications.

Eleanor Tutor has been added to your contacts.

I cocked an eyebrow and opened up The Submission Accelerator. "This fucking thing again."

It opened up to a page called Contacts, and highlighted at the top of a list was Eleanor's name, It read:

ELEANOR TUTOR = SUBMISSION: -75

Had the app been listening in on that conversation? Could it determine a score just by the way the conversation went? Seriously creepy. And to my recollection Eleanor never gave her last name. I was getting chills dude.

I went through a few more of the contacts, and got the feeling that the app just pulled them straight off of my phone. It had lots of my friends and neighbor's from The Island, as well as some family members. Each with a score next to them. I suppose it could have gotten those scores from my text history with the person.

I was trying to rationalize why this app (which was getting creepier by the second,) was completely normal.

Miranda's name came up eventually.

MIRANDA HARI = SUBMISSION: -20

Then there was the love of my life

JASMINE FISCHER= SUBMISSION: 40

Good girl.

Then things got weird again I got a hit on a person I'd had almost no interaction with at all.

THETIS = SUBMISSION: -100

I'd be surprised if it wasn't. Only I'd zero contact with the woman. How could my watch, let alone an app installed on it, after I'd met her know?

I was so engrossed by this problem I didn't even notice Eleanor slip in once more without her guards. She had a Lobster roll on a plate Boston style, as well as a tray of fries, and a carton of chocolate milk. She slipped it into my cell through a hatch. She looked at me with an embarrassed type of apathy. Like she was ashamed the situation had arisen at all, but not upset it'd happened to me. "I apologize for the mistake we made in providing for your care. From now on you will get three meals a day."

I nodded my thanks, and approached the food cautiously, already feeling like a simpering prisoner. "And a shower too?"

She sniffed the air. "I'm going to have to insist on that." Was that an actual joke? I swear I could almost see her smile.

My watched pinged again, and I checked it discreetly.

Activate to begin Eleanor Tutor's submission.