Pandi Carter-Patel

Pandi Carter-Patel found herself in a strange period in her life. She was out of the shitty gym she was working out of in Seattle but now she was back to living with her parents after all the work she put into leaving in the first place. At the very least, the personal trainer was able to find clients. Today had been a slow day for her, two of her clients canceled, a funeral, and recovering from surgery. With nothing better to do, the trainer started people watching. People were packed into the gym, not surprising for a summer day, but that left her no space to use any of the equipment for herself. She had already left the house, and with no clients today, she was left with more free time than she was expecting. Pandi left the gym to jog around the neighborhood, see the sights, instead of just a pale wall in front of her.

Cars blared around the trainer as she aimlessly ran through the neighborhood. Maybe I should give Katie and Miri a call. She thought when she got a phone call from the gym. The trainer quickly picked up, they usually don't call her from the company line. “Pandi here, what is the problem?”

“Someone here has a job offer for you, like they asked for you by name,” the receptionist said on the other line, the surprise evident in his voice.

“Sure, I’ll be back right away,” with that, Pandi returned to the gym as fast as she could. This could be just the shot in the arm she needed to make a name for herself here and start building up her savings after the emergency move. Upon her return to the gym, the trainer did not have to look hard for the person asking for her. At the front desk, there was a person dressed up in some retro science fiction costume. There was no time for an attempt at hiding because as soon as Pandi entered the gym, the space cadet turned and stared the trainer directly in the eyes.

“Hello, Ms. Pandi, my employer has an opportunity for you.” The space cadet extended her arm swiftly. Her hand contained some form that she extended to the trainer. Her eyes had a vacant state that ensured someone would at least humor her, if only to get away from the eyes. Pamdi took the form with some suspicion.

“What is this for, and how did you find me?” the trainer reluctantly took the form.

“This is for an all-expenses-paid dating show. We found you from some clients who spoke highly of you from your time in Seattle.”

Ok maybe I didn’t completely fuck everything up there then. With that statement, the tension left the trainer's shoulders as she took the form. Once Pandi filled it out, a pink light flashed, and both the space cadet and the trainer were gone.

Alone in an unknown space, Pandi kicked at the pink wall with her entire body weight. Suddenly, the entire room resonated with a soft moan as the wall deformed around her foot with a consistency of foam. Shocked, the personal trainer stopped her **** on the wall to scan the room, hoping to find the source of the sound. The room was unoccupied except for Pandi herself. She touched the wall where she had kicked with her hands, feeling the cool plastic material that should not have been able to bend as she had just witnessed. Looking to confirm her sight, the trainer punched the wall. As it did with the kick, the wall deformed around her fist, taking on the texture of jello. Quickly following the deformation was moaning in a low, sensual voice, this time louder and more urgent. At this point, the fury that had fueled the violent outburst had completely drained from the trainer. She looked around the room a second time, hoping for anything that would reveal this as a dream. With no other option available, Pandi ran through the single exit from the room. After a small jaunt through a poorly lit hallway, the trainer entered a lecture room. To her great relief, there were at least other people present. In the middle of her rush to talk with other people, Pandi froze upon seeing the face of the space cadet on what looked to be a horde of orange copies of varying sizes.

“Ah, our next contestant has arrived. Please introduce yourself by giving your name, age, occupation, cup size, and last sexual encounter.”

“Pandi Carter-Patel, 28, personal trainer, C-cup, two days ago with one of my coworkers in the showers,” the trainer’s face lost all color after she realized what she had said. Katie and Miri rushed over to comfort their much taller friend, surrounding her with a hug.

“It’s okay, just breathe,” Miri repeated as she rubbed the back of the trainer.

“Miri what the fuck did you get us into this time?”

“Hey, this wasn’t me. In fact, this one is Katie cashing in all the karmic debt we collected over the years. We are on some kind of alien sex show.” With that statement, Pandi slowly turned her head to look Katie directly in the eyes.

“I’m so sorry, I would not have signed up for this if I knew all this was going to happen.” Katie pleaded.

“Don’t lie, you literally have your shirt off. I've seen what you commission. If you knew about the abduction shit you would have been even faster.”

“Not when it's clearly targeting other people in my life.” Katie points to Carla, “I sent an electronic copy of the form that got us here to Miri and Odie, because we were going to be at a convention all day, and it seemed like fun. You and Carla over there aren’t in the group chat I sent the post.”

“If your conjecture is correct, Katie, I think that means that you aren't a competitor, you might be the prize,” Miri said, rubbing her temples. “Hey, miss ELEECE, was it? I figure you have some contract on your end about what you can tell us, but how close are we to hitting the mark?”

ELEECE turns to the trio, clapping her hands, her legion of dopplegangers still staring into the middle distance. “Oh, how wonderful, the people on my season are rather quick on the uptake. Yes, Captain Ajax is the target for you contestants on this show.”

“If it's still questions time can I ask why you picked me?” Katie raised her hand.

“Oh that’s easy, Captain, I just liked your vibe,” the host replied with no hesitation. Katie’s gaze fell to her feet, growing silent in contemplation.

“I got a question,” this time Pandi raised her hand, “Why did this place moan when I hit the wall?”

“Well of course, the ship moaned. She’s a masochist. What self-respecting shipwright would make a starship that isn't one?”