Who cares, get on with the show!

Helena was lost in a fugue. Her emotions flopped weakly against an almost unopposable indifference. She remembered fleeing, running alongside her family as they tried to escape those monsters that came from the sky, crying in despair as she watched Nate, her firstborn, her baby boy, step up to protect them when one of the monsters caught up. She remembered blankly following behind Maria, hearing her best friend argue and scream at the other people gathered around the ski lift. She didn’t know how the woman had managed to convince the others to let their children onto the next two chairs of the lift, but she had.

And then… Chaos had broken loose when one of those pillars crashed down not ten feet away from the ski lift, and it had opened to disgorge the green monstrosity it carried.

After that… a blur. She recalled panic, fear, and despair as she and Maria fled the monster’s slicing arms and snapping jaw. Somehow, they had been the unlucky ones that the monster had focused on over all other options – after killing the easy ones within its reach, it had swung its head around and locked onto them.

And then… pain, brief, overwhelming pain, more than even going through childbirth.

Finally having caught up her memories to this point, Helena looked down at her hands. They seemed… immaterial, indistinct. Not see-through, no. More like a sand castle at high tide – any moment now it could be washed away without warning.

“Am I dead?” she asked aloud. Surprise washed over her at even being able to speak in such a state.

“Maybe,” replied a calm voice.

She didn’t snap her head upwards, for doing so was impossible in this weird state of being. But there was definitely surprise motivating the raising of her head.

She saw now that she was still in that clearing in the snow that the monster had caught up to her. Standing a handful of yards away was a figure, wearing clothing that would suit a secretary or businesswoman. The odd thing about her way, aside from her clothing, Helena couldn’t make out anything about the speaker’s form. She knew the woman had a face, and she was looking right at it, but something about it caused her to be unable to form any opinions or impressions of the woman. In fact, the only reason she knew the woman was a female was because of the curvature of her body.

“I apologize for this form,” the figure gestured to itself. “I am aware of the mythology surrounding my kind, so I simply took steps to prevent you from drawing inaccurate conclusions.”

That was… In her fugue, Helena couldn’t really draw a conclusion to such a statement. “Are you the reaper, then? Here to shuffle me off this mortal coil?”

The figure shook its head. “No. I am here to give you a choice. A choice most do not get. But for you to make such a choice, you will want to be in full control of your faculties, not in the haze you are now in. I can remove the haze, but you will need to avoid panic. You are not yet dead, and you are in no danger of **** anymore, do you understand?”

Helena took that in. She could feel it, still, the rioting emotions of her night simmering under the weird indifference that was **** upon her. “What… what choice do I have to make? Wouldn’t it be better for me to make it in a logical fashion? While emotions are not clouding my judgement?”

The figure seemed to consider that. “Hmm. Perhaps there is merit in your suggestion. Very well, I will inform you of your choice now. When you are ready for me to return your normal emotional state to you, simply ask and I shall do so. Is that acceptable?”

Helena nodded.

The woman began, “Before you are two choices. Option A,” The figure gestured to Helena’s right, and a swirling blue portal appeared. “You may continue on your normal path. This portal will return you to your place in the natural cycle of life and ****. Sadly, due to the laws of being, I am not allowed to disclose to you any details about what that will mean. But consider that portal as returning to the normal way of things.”

“Option B.” The figure said, gesturing to her left. There, a pink portal swirled into being. “You become a Contestant. You will be returned to life and brought to the set of an inter-dimensional reality dating show, where you and five others will compete for the affections of the Master, in the hopes of ultimately joining his harem and being bound to him for all eternity.”

Silence dominated the clearing as Helena took that information in. Some time later, she said, “So you want me to join some stranger’s harem? I know I’m attractive, but I doubt I-”

“No,” the being interrupted. “You are not joining a stranger’s harem. You will be joining the harem of the man closest to your heart.”

This statement made Helena frown in consternation. Helena was a housewife, through and through. After her husband’s ****, his careful investments alongside the life insurance payouts had ensured she hadn’t needed to find a job to support her kids. They were wealthy enough that she could plan to put all their kids through college without needing to worry about her lifestyle afterwards. As such, she had relatively little interaction with men outside of the periodic dating apps she would find a fling on in order to soothe her confidence.

In fact, she hadn’t gone on a date in over a year, and the closest man she could think of in her life was Mr. Garvey, the neighbor two doors down who sometimes looked after the house when they were away.

“Mr. Garvey?” She asked, despite her doubts that this ‘Master’ was the seventy-year-old pensioner currently watching their house.

The being shook her head. “Think closer, much closer. Not in distance, but in here,” She pointed to her own chest.

Closer? She pondered for a moment, thinking who she had in her heart. There was Maria, of course, bless her heart. If she hadn’t known for a fact that her best friend was straight as an arrow, there was a decent chance the two of them would have hooked up in the last two years. Maria was a catch, by any metric, but no, it couldn’t be her, the being had clearly called the Master by male pronouns.

There were her kids of course, but other than them and Alex… wait…

“Alex?” Helena asked, surprise in her voice. She loved the boy like a second son, of course, but he did have his father’s roguish good looks and-

“No,” the being interrupted her train of thought. “Closer.”

Even closer than Alex? But that left only…

“…Nate?” She squeaked out.

It wasn’t surprising that she would immediately gravitate towards Nate over Sam in this situation. Nate was her firstborn, her first child, the one who had been the cause for Helena to finally find the thing she most wanted to be in the world – a mother.

Helena had spent high school and college adrift in the world, no goal or destination in mind. Sure, she had gotten a poli sci degree, but she hadn’t really felt fulfilled even when she landed a job working for the mayor. In fact, she had felt restless and unmoored in her life until fate happened to connect her with an older rocket scientist at one of the mayor’s social events, and she fell in love.

And then, a year later when Nate was born, she finally found fulfillment.

Indeed, much as she would never, ever, speak it aloud, nor would she ever show it in action, in her heart of hearts Helena knew she had a favorite child. Nathaniel.

As the being nodded in confirmation, emotions rushed through her, battering at the stark indifference that held her down, and suddenly she was very glad for her foresight. She could only imagine how she might have reacted if hit with the full **** of her current emotions.

Forcing down the few emotions that bubbled to the surface, she tried to look at things logically.

“**** is a problem for more than a social reason,” She started, looking at the being before her. “And even if you can get past that by reasoning that love need not always culminate in children, I’m his mother, for godsakes! He doesn’t look at me sexually!”

The being gestured to the world around them, to the impossibly quiet clearing and the two portals hovering to her sides. “Do you think one who can do all of this is concerned with such things? If the dangers of incestuous pregnancy is your only hang up, then put that worry aside. I would not do anything to hurt the master, and such complications could only do so.

“In fact,” the being continued. “That and your second question are an excellent segue into one of the specifics of the competition I must get into before you may fully consent. As a part of the competition, you will experience transformations. These transformations may alter your physical form, your mental state, or even your emotions. It may affect your preferences and desires. But still, at the end of the day it will be you, your soul, that is in control.”

Horror at the concept of what was essentially brainwashing being on the table flickered to the surface of the roiling emotions. “Why would you do such a thing? I know my son, he wouldn’t want that for anyone, he-”

“I know your son far better than even he knows himself. I know his wants, his needs, his desires, his fetishes. I know the things he likes that he hasn’t even been exposed to yet. Every transformation would be in service of meeting those needs, those desires, to better shape you into your role in the harem. To address your earlier concerns, even – perhaps one of the transformations could take away the possibility of birth defects, or give you a form more suitable to his tastes.

“Everything will be for the Master’s happiness. That is the goal of this kind of show, after all, to please the Master and give him the harem he truly deserves.”

Helena struggled with that, acutely aware of the chaos her emotions were in. Love, relief, terror, disgust, concern, horror, and (to her surprise) desire warred just under the placid surface of indifference.

After a few moments of thought, the being spoke up, “I see you are having difficulty coming to a decision. Would you like your emotions back so you can better assess the choice before you?”

“No!” Helena shouted. With all the emotions she felt suppressed, she would be a wreck if she had to make any kind of decision under their influence. “No, that wouldn’t help. It’s just, I wish I could talk with Nate about this, make sure he was okay with it, try and understand why he would want this…”

“Hmm. You are mistaken – he has not had a choice in this matter. But I struggle to understand why he would object – a dead mother is certainly not preferable to a living one, regardless of the situation, yes? Besides, if you agree, the end result will only be pleasurable for you both, I can guarantee it. Is it such a bad fate, to end up in the harem of your favorite son?”

If Helena had a real body, she would have blushed at the concept, and flushed further with embarrassment at the desire that trickled through her. As it was, the indifference kept all those emotions at a manageable distance, which resulted in her horror rising to pound against the indifference. Such ideas went against her still very modest sensibilities, dead or not!

“As for your wish to speak with him,” the being continued, “I sadly cannot allow such a thing, but perhaps this will suffice.” With that the being flickered, before turning to the side, revealing a familiar person behind her.

Maria, like Helena, seemed delicate and indistinct, clearly in the same state as herself. Joy overwhelmed the rest of the emotions and a small part of it surged to the surface, and she shouted, “Maria!”

She rushed in Maria’s direction, seeing the woman rushing towards her as well, arms outstretched for a hug.

However, they were stopped a good five feet away from each other by the outstretched arms of the mysterious being.

“I am sorry,” the being said, “But I cannot allow you two to touch in your current states. Think of yourselves as balls of paint – should you come in contact, there would be mixture, and you would not come out of it the same people.”

Shivering a little at the concept, Helena looked at Maria, her best friend. Indeed, like Helena, she had that same indistinct quality to her, and as she took in the state of her best friend, she had a realization. We’re souls. And that means…

“It got you, too?” Helena asked. Helena had been the slower of the two, and some small part of her had hoped that her athletic friend had managed to get away from the monster.

Maria only nodded. Then she stiffened up, “Wait, if you’re here, too then… Ay dios mio! His mother?!” She looked with disbelief at the being that had stepped back after seeing they were no longer going to touch.

The being nodded.

“So she’s giving you a choice, too, Maria?” Helena asked, looking past her friend and seeing a mirror red and blue portals on the far side of the clearing.

Maria sighed, “Sí, she wants me to join little Nate’s harem, and get transformed as well. Either that or die. Not much of a choice, if you ask me.”

“That is not the choice. You are already dead,” the being clarified. “I am merely offering you an alternative outcome.”

Maria raised a brow, “Are you telling me someone with your power couldn’t have saved us before we died?”

The being didn’t answer, so Maria could only huff and turn back to Helena. She saw how much Helena was freaking out, even through the indifference. “Look, Hel, I can only imagine what is going through your mind right now. But the truth is, it doesn’t matter. All our sensibilities and reasons to go against this? It sounds like these ‘transformations’ will take care of those for us. So it’s really just a matter of whether you are okay with what you will become. Because regardless of if you are okay with the idea now, the you at the end of the competition will be.”

“You’ve already decided to say yes,” Helena realized.

Maria blushed, and Helena realized that the woman must have been given back her emotions already. “Sí, I have. I mean, it’s flattering, really, to think little Nate might be interested in me. I mean, I’ll admit I’ve noticed how he stares when I’m in yoga pants, and isn’t that just a confidence booster, but….” She smiled at Helena, “You’ve raised a wonderful man, Helena. James would be proud to see him, and the idea that I might be able to get a piece of his heart, while still being alive to be a part of Alex’s life is more that enough to convince me.”

And with Maria’s words, Helena realized that, through this, she might be able to do the same with Sarah and Sam. They had made it on the lift, and hopefully gotten away, but if she didn’t take the deal, she wouldn’t get to see any of her children’s lives. She would be dead, to all of them, and all because she couldn’t accept that her relationship with her eldest son might need to change a bit going forwards. In her indifferent state, that was enough to finally push the decision.

Helena took a deep breath, and let it out, along with a whole host of the simmering emotions that had been waiting for her under the indifference.

“You look decided,” the being said, and Maria watched her with questioning eyes. “Would you like emotions back?”

Helena nodded, and as the indifference slid away, it was replaced largely by determination. Sure, there were other emotions underneath, but Maria’s words had struck a nerve in Helena, and those other emotions were insignificant compared to the choice before her.

“Excellent,” the being said. “Then may I hear it verbally from each of you? Do you consent to becoming a Contestant and competing for a position in the Master’s harem?”

“Yes,” said Helena, while Maria responded with “Sí.”

Still unable to perceive anything about the mysterious being, she somehow knew that a smile graced her face. “Very good, then welcome to the latest season of Harem Hotel: Harem Heroes edition.”

Everything faded to black.

The television screen went dark, having just played the scene of Nate’s mother accepting to become a Contestant. Nate glowered at the demoness, who simply stared back at him. After a moment, Serena spoke, “You seem agitated, Master, is there something-”

“Of course I’m agitated!” Nate practically shouted. “You said that my family and friends would be alright! Not that you were roping them into this thing!”

“And they will be alright. Both your mother and Maria are at this moment back amongst the living, with zero health problems. I even took care of the beginnings of breast cancer for Ms. Ortega – I wouldn’t want you to worry about her health.”

“But what Maria said was true! You could have saved them without them needing to die! You just used that to coerce them into agreeing!”

Serena nodded. Nate was shocked how transparent she was being.

“Indeed, Master, I have that power. However, I have been given that power for a specific reason – to build your harem and run the Harem Hotel season. Had I not had that power, I would not be able to do even all that I have.”

“But still- that’s just…” Nate sputtered, before finally sighing. “Fine, I get it. I see your point. It’s just, really? My Mom?”

“I have seen your browsing history, Master.”

“But that’s just fantasy! **** in reality is…”

“Then perhaps you should consider this a fantasy, Master. One of the most popular seasons of Harem Hotel actually ran with the tagline, The Place Where Your Fantasies Come True. If it helps, you can consider that true for this season, as well.”

Nate just sighed again. “Fine. Whatever. I'll deal with this with years of therapy when this is all over. Where are they now?”

“They are watching the explanatory video I played for you earlier, so they fully understand the rules of the show. When we have finished introducing all the Contestants they will be brought out for the preliminary transformation round.”

“Alright, then lets get this over with, you have another video to show me?”

“Indeed, though this one went a bit… oddly.”