The Spermarche Age - Chapter 8

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The Spermarche Age – Chapter 8

The Trophies

"Okay, see you on Friday! Y-yeah, I think we can fool around afterward, I just hope you're not too tired after all the sex we'll be having! Sorry, what? Um, I don't know if he would want to join us, I'll have to ask... H-hey, I have to go, the train is here. I'll you at the station Saturday morning...” Yeah, I'm also looking forward to it. See ya!"

Caro ends the phone call and huffs, her forced smile vanishing in an instant.

She sits on a closed toilet seat and stands up heading to the bathroom's door. But then she stops and looks at the massive smartphone in her hand. She hisses in dread before dialing another number.

She puts the phone by her ear and waits with closed eyes.

"Mom! Yes, it's me, I'm sorry I frightened you... Yeah, I lost my phone again..." she sits back on the toilet seat and rubs her forehead “Yes, I'm okay, just a bit tired... Yeah, I know you have work tomorrow, I'm sorry..." she pauses to listen to a long lecture, then smiles "Yes, with Miguel, we spent the night together..." she rolls her eyes "Yes we did it, he was very, um… gentle, I came many times…” she puts a hand over her eyes, her lips quivering “Yeah, it was good... No, I don't know why I'm crying. Guess I'm just a bit overwhelmed. Sex felt better than I expected..."

She moves the phone off her face and bites her fist, trying to calm herself.

"Yeah, we're novios now, he... Yes, mom, I'll ask when he can come home for dinner, but he’s very busy so it may take a while... Um, M-Mom...? Mom! I have to...!" she stands up, impatient "I-I have to go, my train is here, I'll tell you more when I arrive... L-love you too! Byeee…!"

Carolina ends the call and holds the sink with both hands, struggling to keep herself together.

She looks up at her pitiful reflection in the mirror, an exhausted eleven-year-old with a tear-stained face wearing Miguel’s old MAGA hat and a scribbled grey t-shirt with a cheerful ‘2069 - A year to reciprocate’ slogan across her chest and nothing else.

She takes off the red cap and tries to comb her twisted black hair with her fingers, hissing in pain from pulling on the knots. She gives up and leans on the sink again, about to fall into another fit of despair.

She suddenly straightens up and pats her cheeks.

"No, no... It's gonna work!" she puts the cap back on "It's gonna work!!!"

She smiles and nods to the girl in the reflection, then rushes out of the bathroom and nearly slams into ‘Abuelita’ standing on the other side holding a tray with various medical supplies and blood-stained bandages.

"Shit! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" squeaks Caro steadying the tiny old woman as she wobbles on her robotic walking aids, the motors buzzing from the sudden movement.

"It's fine Charles, I just finished patching your friend. He's resting now." says the octogenarian finally steady on her feet with a smile.

"Y-you sure? Don't you need me to get more things from the pharmacy?"

Abuelita shakes her head "I have it under control, this is nothing compared to the injuries we treated during the war." her smile turns mischievous "And he's SO handsome! Don't you have more bruised friends like him who need a sponge bath?"

"Uh, no, he’s the only one so far..." the tween says rubbing her reddened eyes with the back of her hand "A-and thank you again for helping my, um, cousin. With all the mayhem when we arrived I didn't have a chance to explain what happened. He... Um, came to celebrate the centenary but a group of, um, hacked bots mug him and since he doesn’t has medical insurance we..."

The old lady stops her with a hand.

"I'm old Charles, I'm not stupid.” she pats her shoulder “It's getting late and your mom will get suspicious if you don't return home soon." she points at the guest bedroom “Take some of Miguel's clothes while I prepare you some sandwiches you can take."

Caro looks surprised but nods, grateful. She hugs the small woman who pats her on the back.

When their hug ends she turns to leave but remembers the big phone in her hand.

“Ah, almost forgot! Thank you."

"Keep it. Whatever you need Charles, just take it. You kids are in this mess because of me. It's the least I can do."

"What? No! Abuelita, this isn't your fault! You couldn't know this was going to happen."

The elder lady smiles wryly.

"That's very nice of you to say Charles but... It's not true. We knew this was going to happen..." she sighs, eyes lost in the distance "We just thought we wouldn't live long enough to see it..."

She nods to herself, deep in thought. She smiles and pats the girl's shoulder before walking towards the kitchen amidst the whirls of her robotic aids.

Caro watches her go with a worried look, then enters the main bedroom where Ramesh lays on a single bed too small for his size covered in bandages and medical patches with a flimsy bedsheet covering the lower half of his body.

When he hears Carolina approaching he puts the picture frame he took from the wall —showing a young Abuelita in a red military uniform shaking hands with a smiling politician— on the bedside table facing down.

He points at the door "Very interesting friend you got here. She was VERY thorough with my injuries, exhaustive even." he shudders "You say she was a combat medic?"

"Ah! Yeah. Her husband used to joke they were the perfect duo. He fixed the holes in the mechas, and she the ones on the pilots."

He raises his eyebrows "Cute... And I'm guessing all the trophies were his?" he points at the golden and silver objects poking out of the closet.

Caro follows his finger and hums affirmatively, then pauses for a second when she notices the bulge of his penis under the thin bedsheet. She shakes her head.

"Um, I gotta return home mister, but I'll be back tomorrow.” she points at the oversized phone in her hand “Do you need this to continue working on your, um... Banking stuff from before?"

He shakes his head, an arm over his eyes "No, not really, I already secured my portfolio. All I want is to rest now, I haven't slept in two days."

"Really!?"

"Uh-huh, and from the looks of it, neither have you. I don’t think you’ll be back tomorrow, you’ll barely be able to get out of bed after the adrenaline flushes out of your system..." he turns to sleep on his side but remembers something and turns back "Oh, and before I forget, hand me that thing for a second."

He extends a hand. Caro gives him the phone and he types in some commands before throwing it back.

"There, a new cryptowallet and some funds to get started. Get clothes sized for your age and make sure they look fancy. You need to look sharp for what's coming next…"

Caro nods and taps the screen. Her eyes pop open when she sees a massive green number.

"S-sir! This is WAY too much to buy clothes!"

Ram chuckles. He turns on the tiny bed facing away from her.

"Maybe, but it's barely enough for a vehicle..." he yawns "We need something old but fast and as analog as possible. We'll be visiting many towns along the coast which means avoiding lots of checkpoints on the roads. That's easier when you don't have a bot doing the driving."

"I-I understand mister, but in case you’ve forgotten, I'm still in middle school. Where will I find a...?" she stops when she remembers something. She glances at the trophies in the closet and wets her lips "Yeah, ok. I'll ask around…"

"Good. See you tomorrow. Or more likely the day after."

"O-okay..." murmurs Caro turning off the bedroom’s light and stepping out while closing the door.

“Oh, and kiddo?”

“Yeah?” she says holding the door.

“You’re a virgin, aren’t you?”

Carolina freezes, her fingers clenching and releasing the door handle, rushing to think of an answer.

“It’s fine if you are, you got one week to solve it. But you HAVE to solve it. Otherwise, our whole plan won’t work.”

“Y-yes, I understand mister. But I…”

He turns on the bed “We can do it right now if you want. It’s quite simple really.” he starts to move the bedsheet away.

“NO! No, it’s okay! I’ve had sex before, it’s just that…” she gulps “I haven’t told anyone, it’s kind of a secret. He was… Um… We weren’t really…” she shakes her head, reordering her thoughts “It could have been worse, if you know what I mean…”

Ram doesn’t answer. He turns to lay on his side again.

“Sorry to hear that. We’ll cancel the plan, think of a new one.”

Caro shakes her head “No! No, it’s fine…! It happened a while ago and no one knows about it, so… Did it really happen?” her fingers clench the door handle “I mean… Does anything happen if there’s no record about it…?”

She awaits a moment for an answer, but Ram seems already asleep. She grimaces and slowly closes the door.

"G'night..."

Motor Oil

The Maglev train comes to a stop at the station platform, opens its doors, and expels waves of caffeinated passengers along with puffs of nitrogen gas from its sides.

Carolina stands on her tiptoes behind the platform’s yellow line searching for a specific face amidst the morning crowd. The tween has short, spiky hair painted platinum, tinted glasses, and a light, androgynous outfit consisting of a denim jacket and short dress combo which would make her blend in most high-class shopping districts.

She presses her lips and checks the time, impatient to get going. She glances inside the train and pauses when she sees the old man with blue hair and a tweed vest once again reading the news about an upcoming speech by the Selenite King on his golden-trimmed tablet.

Caro smiles, both from the happenstance of seeing the old man again, and the thought that he could be confused for an android if it weren’t because smooth, perfect skin is much cheaper to recreate.

"Hey youuuu!" sounds Rebecca’s voice somewhere in the crowd. Caro turns and sees the black girl waving her hands while snaking between the commuters with a wheeled suitcase struggling to follow her amidst the forest of legs.

Caro waves back and lifts her bulky tote bag from the ground just as Becks closes the distance and hugs her as if they were long-lost relatives. The twelve-year-old girl is dressed in a light dress with polka dots, round sunglasses, and a pink lace umbrella hanging from her elbow.

She separates and immediately erupts in a flurry of words.

"Oh my God, you look so cool! I LOVE what you did with your hair, very nonbinary. Hey! Can I kiss you!? No…? It's ok, maybe later. Oh Lord, you wouldn’t believe my day yesterday! It was like a dream, so weird. First, my parents freaked out when they discovered where I was going and menaced to ground me, but then they changed their minds and were cool with it for some reason! And even weirder was how YOU were there when it happened! Well, not you-you, but the adjunct helping dad clean the house who looked exactly like you, only older. And now with your short hair you look even more similar! So surreal..."

"Y-yeah, it also happens to me sometimes..." says Caro as Becks pauses to take a breath "I have a common genotype."

"Yes, that's what my dad said! He also said it's rude to point it out to people! Something about them feeling less special when you remind them of their clones... Oh bugger, am I being rude right now? No…? Okay, then let's get going! Those boys aren’t going to fuck themselves!"

She giggles and interlocks arms with the Asian girl, guiding her out the train platform. She points at the beach-themed print on Caro’s tote bag.

"I LOVE your bag! I also want to visit Alaska someday. But is that all your luggage for this trip?” she points behind her at the wheeled suitcase following them “I couldn't decide whether to bring my whole wardrobe or none at all! We'll probably spend more time naked than with clothes on."

Becks laughs, Caro laughs too, albeit less cheerful. They exit the train station and Carolina points at the near-empty parking lot as their next waypoint.

"Oh! That reminds me!” says Becks opening her umbrella to shield them from the morning sun “Where's the birthday boy!? Um, what was his name again? Manuel?"

"Miguel..."

"That's right! Are we going to pick him up?"

"Ah! No, he..." Caro wets her lips, readying the explanation she practiced "He couldn't come in the end, the brothel he used to work for is short-staffed for the weekend and he offered them his help." she shrugs "You know how he is. He can’t say no to people when they need something from him, even on his birthday."

"Aww, that's so sad! I was hoping the four of us would fool around later at the hotel."

“Four of us?”

“Yeah! You were going to ask your cousin to join us, remember?”

"Ah! Yes… Well, keep those hopes up!" says Caro trying to sound cheerful “You see, Miguel didn’t tell me which brothel he’ll be working from —he can’t since what he does isn’t exactly, you know...—"

"Legal_?_" says Becks with a mischievous grin.

Caro nods "Yup! But that also means that if we're lucky and visit LOTS of places, we may stumble upon him!"

Rebecca's eyes open wide "Oh yeah, you're right! That would be SO cool!"

Caro smiles and whispers in her ear "Just remember that he's supposed to be working. So, if you see him, try to keep quiet. We just need to know where he is, and I can surprise him with a gift when his shift ends..." she points at her bulky tote bag.

Becks nods rapidly, growing excited at the prospect of adventure "OK! I understand! Is it a cake?"

Caro hesitates "Yeah, something like it..."

"Oh my God, this will be so much fun!" says the black girl squeezing Caro’s arm as they walk along the parking lot "I love traveling, hanging out with cool people, and sex of course. And it seems there will be a LOT of those three things on this trip!" she squeezes her again, beaming with enthusiasm "Aww, I wish every weekend was like this! It’s so unfair they aren’t…” she chuckles “Although after a couple of months we wouldn’t have any more boys left to fuck... Wouldn't it be cool to have that problem? All the boys of the Gulf Coast in a single location like an all-you-can-eat buffet."

"S-sure...?" says Caro, unconvinced.

Becks bites her lip and looks upwards, enjoying the mental picture.

The two preteens reach the end of the parking lot and stop near a canal with rows of leisure boats docked along its sides. Caro produces a massive smartphone from her tote bag and checks her messages.

"Oh wow, so big!" laughs Becks "They kind an old lady would carry…" she stretches her neck scanning the parking lot "Is this where we’ll meet your cousin? You’ve barely mentioned him, is it because he’s ugly? Rich guys are usually ugly… Oh! How large is his car? I've had bad luck with transportation lately."

Carolina’s eyes open wide, realizing something. Becks notices it and throws her a questioning look.

"Um, we're not traveling by car. I forgot to tell you..."

"Huh!? Then how will we travel between so many towns?"

Caro slowly raises her shoulders, growing ashamed. She points to the rows of boats moored to the side of the canal.

Becks follows her finger, her excitement rising and falling as her eyes sweep past luxurious yachts, shabby sailboats, and futuristic kiteboats, until they land on an old and dusty racing boat from before the war. A little more than a purple, fiberglass triangle with a small 4-passenger cockpit and a massive engine under a prow spray-painted with a tacky, syncretic mix of catholic and pre-Columbian imagery.

"THAT!? What a piece of...!" she stops when a figure emerges from the boat's interior. She lowers her sunglasses "Junk..."

The tall, broad-shouldered Indian man with mirrored sunglasses, a pristine lavender shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, and beige shorts, cleans the last remains of engine grease from his sculpted forearms and throws the rag aside, the piece of fabric seemingly floating in the air.

Rebecca stares in awe as the young man turns around, notices the two girls atop the canal, and waves hello with a gleaming white smile. If it weren't for the whimsical vessel around him he would look right at home in the ad for a pretentious perfume brand or a James Bond movie.

"Yeah, I’m sorry I didn't warn you, it's actually louder and more uncomfortable than what it seems at first glance. When it goes at full speed it feels like you’re inside a hurricane while someone kicks you in the butt over and over." explains Caro, mortified "But it's giga fast! So... More brothels for us to visittt…?"

She raises her shoulders, unsure how else to sweeten the deal. She watches Rebecca’s paralyzed face until she remembers something and reaches into her Alaska-themed tote bag.

“Ah yes! I got us some raincoats so we don’t mess our clothes too…”

Rebecca suddenly wakes up and yanks Caro closer holding her by the arms.

"Did you ask him!?" she hisses.

"Uh?"

"What we talked about last Sunday! Did you ASK him if he would join us at the hotel!?” she removes her sunglasses, stares at the Asian girl with a desperate look “Oh God, please tell me you're not one of those families who thinks sex between cousins is incest…!"

"Um..." Caro looks at Becks' manic eyes, nods "Yeah, I asked him. He said he would think about it."

"Santa Maria madre de dios..." murmurs Rebecca releasing Caro and drawing a cross over her chest. She looks down at her groin "Hope you're ready! Don't let me down coochie!"

Caro rolls her eyes and facepalms, amused by the other girl’s overexcitement. She grabs Becks’ wrist and guides her down the ramp towards the grape-colored boat where the twenty-year-old stud stands on the boat’s coaming waiting for them.

"This is Ramesh, a cousin from my third mom's side." says Caro with a smile waving her hand between them, enjoying the moment.

Ram nods and jumps off the boat, landing in front of Becks as if he were weightless. He extends a hand to the black preteen who can barely contain herself.

"H-hi mister... I’m R-Rebecca…” she says trembling from excitement “Y-you can also call me Becksss..."

Her voice trails off when his adult-sized fingers hold her small hand as if it were a delicate butterfly. The girl's knees buckle slightly.

"Pleased to meet you, Rebecca. A friend of Carolina is a friend of mine…" says Ram in a silky, alluring voice. His Hindi accent massaging each phoneme of her name with expertise.

The twelve-year-old girl doesn't respond, her jaw loose and her body swaying slightly, about to faint.

Caro runs to steady her by the waist and guides her towards the racing boat.

"Okay! Let's get going! Those boys aren't going to fuck themselves!" she throws a go-easy-on-her look at Ram as they walk past. Seconds later, the wheeled suitcase rolls by, following them.

"Can't we skip the brothels and go to the hotel directly...?" says Becks in a dreamy voice as she walks, her head wobbling as she throws hungry glances over her shoulder.

Ram smiles and waves at the two tweens as they hop onboard, his sexy smile vanishing the second they're out of sight and turning into a frown.

He takes off his mirrored sunglasses to clean the sweat off his forehead, revealing a nasty row of stitches crowning his eyebrow.

"Here we go..." he mutters and puts the glasses back on. He kneels to untie the moorings.

The Folder

A tall, slender woman in high heels and an impeccable business suit of a dark hexagonal fabric walks across a minimalist showroom towards the two wet kids who have been loitering around her store. The preteens drip water from their chins and feet and whisper excitedly as they take turns watching through the rows of microscopes displaying the store’s latest products.

"Hello," says the saleswoman in a friendly, yet slightly hostile tone "How can I help you, sweethearts? Are you looking for a bathroom?"

The two girls jump in surprise, one trembling from nervousness while the other shakes in barely contained excitement.

The nervous one speaks first "Um, no, t-thank you, Miss. We’re just looking for the latest, newest products. We were told we could find them at this store."

The woman tilts her head ever so slightly. She smiles and points at the microscope they’re standing next to.

"Well, you are. These third-generation nanos include all the most recent developments from Mumbai. They resist higher temperatures, emit less residual heat, and live twice as long as the previous generation. These features make them particularly useful in medical fields like gene therapy, oncology, and tissue repair." she reaches into her pocket and extracts a scalpel sealed in plastic "Would you girls want a demonstration?"

The two preteens jump and take a step away.

"No! T-thank you! Maybe another time.” says the nervous girl with a giggle “I-it's the first time we've seen nanos in person, so it's a lot to take in..."

"Ah! I see..." says the woman with a wink and pockets the surgical knife "You're one of today's lucky 4,000."

"We’re what now…?" says the other girl, speaking for the first time.

The saleswoman smiles and starts a rehearsed spiel.

“Each day four thousand Americans experience something new for the first time in their lives. And as nanobots leave the confines of labs and factories all around the world, we’re proud to say we’re responsible for a large portion of these four thousand unforgettable experiences from bringing the wonders of nanotechnology to the average person!" she waves at the blank wall behind her which explodes with animated infographics.

The two girls stare marveled at the corporate ad before it vanishes with another wave of the woman’s hand after a few seconds.

“Of course, ‘average person’ is understood as paying customers…” she stands between the tweens and the microscopes, blocking their access “Can I help you with something else sweethearts? Are you waiting for your parents?"

The two girls shake their heads no, disappointed. One whispers in the ear of the other.

"I don't think this is the right place. She didn't react to the passphrase…"

“Y-yeah, I think you’re right…” whispers the other girl. She turns to the woman and forces a smile “Sorry for taking your time Miss, we’ll be going.”

They turn towards the exit at the center of store’s wide glass façade showing a lively shopping mall on the other side. The crowds of shoppers suddenly disappears when the glass wall turns opaque, even their sound seem to vanish.

"Oh! I’m so sorry sweethearts,” says the woman behind them “I forgot that we have contractors coming over and I programmed the security system to close early today. Let me open these doors so you can exit…"

The elegant woman walks past them, the click-clack of her high heels failing to produce any echo despite the cavernous, minimalist store around them.

“Um… Miss?” says the dark-skinned girl with a short afro, no longer sounding as excited as before.

“Yes, just one second sweetie, I’m not sure where I left my keys…” says the woman standing by the glass doors patting her suit pockets “So, you say your parents aren’t around uh? How so…? You came alone?”

The girls move closer together, sensing something is wrong.

“Miss, we just want to see the newest products. That’s all.” says the light-skinned girl with spiky short hair taking a step forward, a lot less nervous than before.

“Yes, I heard you the first time honey. But if you don’t mind me asking, who told you about our newest products?” her hand emerges from her pocket with the unsheathed scalpel between her fingers “And who have you told about them?”

The store’s lights turn off, leaving the girls in near-total darkness except for a faint row of lights from the bases of the microscopes.

“Miss, wait! We just want to have sex with boys!” yells the curly-haired girl in a panic.

The woman smirks in the dark “If you want to fuck ‘boys’ you can find them scavenging for food on the mall’s dumpster. Do you even know what kind of store you walked in…?”

She turns to face them, the inside of her eyes bouncing light like those of a cat at night. The girls jump and take a step back. The woman tilts her head.

“People don’t come here to have sex with ‘boys’ sweetie_.._. They come to buy the last tickets available to become part of the middle class before the poor people go extinct. Now, who told you about this place!?”

She starts walking towards them with the scalpel in hand, the click-clack of her heels approaching like a rattlesnake.

The black girl screams and moves back, the androgynous girl places in front of her.

“Sam told us the passphrase!” she yells protecting her friend.

The saleswoman stops. A second later the lights turn on and the glass wall turns transparent, the footsteps and laughs of the customers return as if nothing had happened.

“That little shit and her big mouth...” mutters the woman pocketing the scalpel. She sighs and looks at the girls still hugging each other “And just so you know, the new passphrase is answering ‘yes’ when asked if you’re looking for a bathroom. Samantha doesn’t know about this change because it happened after her mom grounded her.” the woman’s demeanor suddenly returns to her previous, non-threatening self. She waves at the back of the store with a warm smile “Now ladies, if you’ll accompany me this way for a quick STD test before we get started…”

She walks away click-clacking on her high heels, the two girls stare with wide-opened eyes at the cat-like woman as she disappears past a bend on the wall.

“Why didn’t you start by mentioning this Samantha person?” hisses Rebecca into Caro’s ear.

“Because it’s dangerous! Ram said we should use it ONLY as a last resort! Now she thinks we’re friends of the Boss’s daughter.”

“’Boss’? Who's Boss?”

“No idea, but he said they’re not someone we want to mess with.”

Becks shivers “They can’t be scarier than Jane Voorhees over there… I bet there’s already a crime podcast out there looking for her.”

Caro chuckles despite herself. Rebecca smiles and rubs her arm, trying to ease the pent-up tension.

“Come on, let’s see what’s so special about these boys that they put the Terminator in charge of hiding them…”

***

A small but cozy room with an ‘employees only’ door, a large couch, coffee table, some file cabinets, and a 3x3 wooden organizer on the wall with a single golden bag folded inside each space.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it? And the good news is you’re both clean. Now, ladies…” says the saleswoman inviting the two girls to take a sit on the expensive couch.

The preteens nod and sit close together with their pinkies still inside their mouths from the prick of the blood test. The woman grabs two golden bags from the 3x3 organizer and holds one open in front of Caro.

“Your electronics please.”

“Um, but how about the payment?”

“It’s fine Milady, we’ll sort those technicalities at the end.” her smile widens “It’s not as if you could leave the building.”

Carolina gulps and drops Abuelita’s smartphone along with her tinted glasses inside. The woman closes the bag and opens the other one for Rebecca who throws her round sunglasses.

The woman in the grey business suit nods and stores each bag in a different spot on the wooden organizer. She motions at the girls to stand up, extracts a small beeping wand from one of her pockets, and waves it up and down their bodies searching for any leftover trackers.

The beeps grow urgent when the wand hovers behind Becks’ butt. The woman looks at the girl and raises an eyebrow.

The twelve-year-old sighs and reaches a hand under her dotted dress. After a ‘pop’, she produces a heart-shaped butt plug she tries to give to the woman who immediately recoils and hurries to fetch another golden bag to put it in.

Caro blinks and stares at the black girl with a questioning look. She shrugs

“Bluetooth...” she explains.

The woman returns with an opened bag where Becks throws the chrome butt plug. She stores it on the same spot on the 3x3 organizer.

“You have 9 boys here?” asks Caro pointing at the piece of furniture.

The woman hesitates but nods. She opens a drawer from the file cabinets and carefully extracts a small yellow box with the ominous warning sign of a magnifying glass with a small dot at its center.

“Now ladies, this is the tricky part. Hold still and do your best not to blink or rub your eyes. The nanos will feel hot at first while they form a grid over your corneas. This is perfectly normal and lasts less than a minute. Are we ready?”

The tweens nod, hands joined together as they sit close on the couch. The woman takes a deep breath and opens the yellow box. Inside there’s a simple glass dropper with a minuscule amount of transparent liquid.

She moves in front of them and snaps her fingers above the girl’s heads drawing their attention. She moves the dropper and expertly throws a single drop on their eyes, snapping her fingers some more to keep them from looking away.

“It feels… spicy.” grumbles Rebecca while clenching Caro’s hand, fighting the urge to rub her eyes. Carolina meanwhile looks undisturbed as she stares unblinking at the ceiling.

The woman checks the time on her silver wristwatch. She nods and hands them soft metallic napkins to clean leftover tears.

“All set. Don’t stare at the sun for at least two hours, most nanos will have died out by then and can be safely washed away. Remember to rest your eyes if they grow hot again.”

“Um, everything looks the same…” says Becks blinking and looking around.

“Yes, they’ll activate in a few minutes. In the meantime,” she opens a drawer with rows of leather folders and extracts one. She opens it and places it on the coffee table in front of the girls “Ladies, today’s selection…”

The girls look at the single sheet of paper inside the folder and gasp at the same time.

Caro had never seen so many zeroes printed in what looked at first glance like a simple restaurant menu. A tasteful flowery background, a few lines of text, and no pictures.

“Antarctic mansions must be really expensive…” she mutters to herself as she reads the 5-figure prices with bulging eyes.

Becks frowns but quickly returns her attention to the ‘menu’, her legs growing uneasy as she reads the detailed explanations under each item on the list, not quite believing it.

“You weren’t kidding right!? I can pick ANY option?” she asks Caro who nods in response, then turns to the woman “And… The boys you got here can do all this_!?_”

The woman smiles.

“Of course. All sex milestones and orgasms are 100% guaranteed with a AAA privacy grading. Just remember you can pick only one session, you both can’t pick the same, and we have a one-hour limit followed by a one-hour rest. Other than that, it’s all fair game.”

Rebecca lets out a laugh, awed. She turns to Caro still staring at the prices and holds her by the elbows.

“How are we going to do thi__s_!?_ We could stay here all weekend!”

Caro blinks, waking up from a spell.

“Uh? N-no! We have to keep going! Remember our plan.” she leans in to whisper “And remember who we’re looking for…”

Becks squirms and rattles on the sofa, overwhelmed by her choice of options.

“Oh God, I need a trillionaire cousin.” she bites her lip, reads the ‘menu’ one last time to make sure she’s not forgetting anything, and puts a finger on the paper “THIS! I want this! The Star of Bethleh… whatever it's called, that one!”

“Excellent choice.” says the woman with a smile, she turns to the Asian girl “And the other lady?”

Caro’s eyes dart between the sheet of paper with a flower background, the file cabinet with the leather folders, and the wooden organizer with a golden bag neatly folded inside each empty cube.

She grabs the folder and closes it.

“I want neither. I want to fuck the 10th boy you’re keeping in reserve, and I want him all to myself.”

Silence in the room. Becks smiles apologetically and opens the folder back up.

“I’m sorry, I’ll help her decide. Um, Caro? This ‘Trillium’ option sounds like a lot of fun…”

“He’s a very recent acquisition Milady,” interrupts the saleswoman “One of the rarest kinds. Our client coming later today wouldn’t be happy to know someone took him from them.”

Caro perks up “Just how recent are we’re talking about?”

The woman smiles “Straight out of the water, so to speak.” she points at the paper “Twice the price of the ‘Zantedeschia’ option. Just for you.”

Becks’ eyes pop open. Caro smiles and stands up.

“Good! I look forward smelling the salt off his hair, so to speak.” she says trying to imitate Ramesh’s way with words, even with a bit of his accent “As for your other three boys in stock, send them to your client in compensation, my treat. Oh! And don’t bother giving my ‘rare catch’ instructions on how to please me,” she winks “We’ll figure it out…”

The tall woman rolls her eyes and nods. She walks to the door with the ‘employees only’ sign.

“Samantha’s friends alright…” she whispers and opens the door, revealing an elevator car with red velvet walls on the other side.

She steps aside and points at each girl.

“Floor 73 and 87. Have fun ladies.”

Lucky 4,000

“Can your family adopt me?” says Rebecca staring in the distance as the two girls stand side by side under the red glow of the elevator.

Caro takes a deep breath. She looks at Becks and shrugs slightly.

“Um, Ram’s not my cousin. And this trip isn’t about having sex with boys.” she gulps “I’ve been lying to you. Sorry…”

The black girl smiles to herself. She nods.

“Yeah, I know.”

Caro frowns, Becks smiles.

“You’re a bad liar.” she says simply “Well, not really, you’re awesome at pretending to be someone else. Like you did just now with the serial-killer-lady. But when it comes to ‘lying’.” she shrugs “You’re so transparent it’s a bit embarrassing.”

“Wow… Okay… Um, then why have you…?”

“Played along?” she shrugs and scratches her nose “Because despite it you’re the coolest person I know. Ever since I first saw you on the street I’ve been hoping some of that cool spills on me.” she giggles “Hey, you think we’re going to die this weekend?”

“What…!? N-NO!”

Becks shrugs “It’s fine, the Earth is dying anyway. I don’t want to grow up to be some old wrinkly woman with only a few other old wrinkly women and lots of robots to keep me company... The Terminator lady is right you know? That’s all that’s going to be left by 2150.” she shudders “No. Thank. You.”

Carolina drops her shoulders and looks at Rebecca with a mortified face. She moves to hug her, but the black girl laughs and takes a step back.

“Hey, don’t be so dramatic! You’re killing the mood and I need my coochie to be wet for what’s coming next. I have A LOT of boys to fuck in just one hour!”

Caro chuckles and nods, rubbing small tears from her eyes. Becks smiles and gives her a quick peck on the cheek, then she notices something on the ceiling and points at the security camera.

“Hey, didn’t she say we had AAA privacy?”

Caro looks up. She shrugs.

“We do, that’s a semantic camera. Ram says it’s very expensive to have people watching monitors all day, so they just have bots writing on the blockchain what everyone is doing instead. They do the same in love hotels, in fact, I think this whole building is one of them.” she motions at the rows of buttons on the elevator panel “There’s no way they have fertile boys on each floor. All the rest are probably regular adults fooling around.”

“Oh yeah! That makes sense...” she turns to Caro “And you two seem to know each other very well despite not being related. You even speak like him sometimes.”

“Um, yeah, it has been a hectic week. We spent a lot of time preparing for this.”

“’Preparing’ uh…?” says Becks raising an eyebrow “Is that what is called nowadays? You think I can ‘prepare’ with Ramesh when we’re back at the hotel?”

The Asian girl giggles, but then she winces and bends her body slightly, a hand on her stomach. Rebecca’s smile falters.

“You okay?”

Caro nods “Yeah, it’s my tummy. It has been rumbling like crazy all day.”

Becks smiles “Yeah, love does that to you. Hope I feel it someday.”

Carolina rolls her eyes “I’ve told you, I don’t love Miguel. He’s my…”

“Your responsibility, I remember.” says Becks with a wink “Keep telling yourself tha… Aaaah!” she says ending on a scream of panic.

Caro looks up, hesitates for a second, and holds the petite girl by the shoulders.

“Hey! It’s okay! It’s just the nanos in our eyes! They’re activating.”

“But I’m blind! I can’t see your head! It’s all blurry!”

“Yeah, that’s the point! So that we can’t identify the boys. But it’s fine, nanos don’t survive for more than a couple of hours.”

“But how will we recognize Miguel?”

Caro opens her mouth to speak but stops. She wets her lips.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.”

A beeping sound. The elevator doors open and the girls get the surreal feeling that they’ve been inside a closet all along as they’re faced with the simple corridor of a luxurious apartment. It seems each stop of the elevator leads directly to a residence rather than a lobby or corridor connecting several of them.

“I think this is your stop.” says Becks pointing at the number on the panel.

“Yeah, I guess it is…” murmurs Caro taking a cautious step out the elevator, feeling like she was teleported straight into someone else’s house.

“Okay! Have fun and… Guess I’ll see you back at the boat!” says Becks waving her goodbye.

“Uh? Why do you think you’ll be done before me?”

The elevator doors start to close. Becks giggles and speaks through the shrinking gap.

“Because I’ll be fucking six boys while YOU will be making love with Miguellll…” she says teasingly “Oh! And try not to die! We’ve yet to have sex!”

The chrome doors close. Caro laughs despite herself but then winces again, her insides twitching. She looks down the corridor and takes a deep breath, preparing herself.

She starts walking towards what seems to be the apartment’s living room, her body trembling as the reality of what she’s about to do starts to sink in.

She takes a turn and steps inside a brightly lit room with a 12’ ceiling, then immediately jumps back when confronted with a spectacular view of the city and ocean seen from up high across the massive window spanning the whole length of the residence.

"Why is everything always so high...?" she mutters with her back glued to the wall.

Caro looks around but sees nothing too out of the ordinary, just the sort of tasteful, high-class hotel loft with a cozy living room, full bar, and twin doors leading to a main suite like the ones she has seen in countless movies or shows that would make her giddy with excitement in other circumstances.

She looks at the wall-sized window, gulps, and squeezes her eyes shut. She forces herself to walk towards it with her hand extended until she touches the cold glass surface.

She takes a breath and slowly opens her eyes, confirms to her detriment it's not a screen, and shudders when she finds herself faced with a dizzying view of the mall and surrounding commercial district dozens of stories below.

The eleven-year-old shudders and looks up further in the horizon. She notices something and glues herself to the glass with hands around her eyes as she scans the piers packed with tiny boats in the distance.

She smiles when she finally sees the purple speck of the racing boat, her fears diminishing ever so slightly.

The twin doors to the main suite open and close. Caro turns and sees the last glimpse of an olive butt from a nude boy that walked straight from the elevator into the bedroom before vanishing from sight.

The girl's shoulders drop, her eyes open wide, and her mouth starts quivering. She stands still for a moment, sniffs loud, and starts walking towards the bedroom, nearly running at the end when she opens the wooden doors and finds a thin Latin boy sitting on the edge of the white king bed covering his crotch with both hands.

"At your service ma dame..." he manages to say before Caro jumps next to him and hugs him tight. As if trying to fuse with his body.

"I found you... I found you..." she whimpers with her face buried on his neck. She separates, holds his blurry head between her hands, and smiles wide, eyes pouring tears.

She leans forward and kisses his lips, the boy tenses.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I should've jumped when you told me, I should've trusted you..." she says pecking his lips with small, feather-like kisses “I hope you forgive me someday…”

Carolina hugs the boy's boney torso again and laughs, feeling the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders. Once her laugh dies down she closes her eyes and starts bawling, overwhelmed with emotion.

"Um... You okay Mon Chum?" mutters the boy in a Québécois accent, unsure what to do.

Caro straightens and holds his blurry head between her hands again. She narrows her eyes trying to understand his expression, but she can only see a mishmash of browns and blacks.

"Oh my God, what did they do to you!? Are you okay? Some kind of brainwashing? Amnesia?"

"Uh..."

"It's ME! Do you also have nanos in your eyes? Is it my hair?" she grabs one of his hands and places it on her breast "It's me! Carolina, Caro, Carlos, the dumb-stupid-girl who didn't keep her promise to keep you safe! Whatever you want to call me." she smiles and kisses his cheek, whispers into his ear "You can even call me your novia if you want..."

She sits closer and kisses his lips again, only slower, taking her time, getting familiar with his taste. After a while of just sitting without moving the boy starts to relax and meets her kisses, his enthusiasm quickly raising.

Caro giggles, her tongue pokes tentatively out of her mouth and searches his. The boy tenses at first but relaxes shortly after. He starts to reciprocate and soon the silence of the bedroom gets replaced by the wet sounds of their mouths.

His hand seems to remember where it is and squeezes her budding breast. Caro smiles and puts his other hand still covering his penis atop her free breast. Then she hops atop his lap and starts grinding her panty-covered crotch against his hard penis. The boy shudders and moans into their kiss.

She squeaks from happiness and launches another barrage of small kisses all over his face, slowly moving down his neck until she stumbles across a black metal collar.

She gasps and holds it in her hands, stares distraught at the boy's blurry face.

"I-it's okay Miguel, I'll find a way to get you out of here..."

The nude boy seems to deactivate, his hands release her breasts and land on his sides.

"Calisse… I'm a clone, ain’t I…?" he looks away, heartbroken "La mère promised me I wasn't, but I KNEW I saw a garçon like me on the bus that day.”

“What…?” says Caro stopping her caresses.

“Or maybe...? Maybe I'm the original one and he was my clone?" he sighs, confused "Tabarnak..."

The girl’s eyes shift from side to side, thinking. She pats and squeezes the boy's arms, shoulders, and sides of his torso, inspecting him. It's all the same shapes she remembers, but there's definitely more meat from better nutrition.

She finally reaches between their bodies and jolts when her fingers brush against a smattering of pubic hair. She hops off his lap and stands a couple feet away.

"How old are you?"

"Treize. Um, I mean... thirteen."

"Wow…! Okay, um, you're kinda short for your age."

"Hey, that hurts."

"Sorry... Wait, you’re thirteen and you’re still fertile!?"

"I'm not, I hit spermarche at eleven." he looks away, shifts uncomfortable in place "But I'm still a virgin... That's what you paid for, right?"

"'The rarest kind'..." repeats Caro to herself, finally piecing the puzzle together. She puts her hands on her face and growls in frustration "God, what are the chances…? Wait...!" she turns towards him "How many of you are out there?"

"Pardon?"

"At this 'Farm' thing! How many boys have you seen who look like you?"

"Uh, none so far, but..."

"Are you SURE!? Haven't you seen another one with your same genotype? H-he should have arrived sometime last Sunday!"

He smirks "Mon Chum, I haven’t seen any other garçons. I was at the église last Sunday. Then yesterday on my way home a van pulled next to me and some femmes in bikinis shoved me inside and brought me here."

"Really!?" she says, shocked "Just like that...?"

He shrugs, scratches the back of his neck "Ouais, just like that... Um, I'm sorry I'm not the garçon you were looking for but, um, you think we can have relations sexuelles now?" he points at the camera on the ceiling "The bots are waiting, and I want to go home. The scary dame said she'll let me go once we... Um,” he makes finger quotes “‘Go all the way’."

"Ah…" Caro smiles and shakes her head "No, it's okay, I should go now. I'll tell her you were great."

"T-that's not how it works Mon Chum_!_ The scary dame was VERY specific about this. I can’t go home until the bots mark your blockchain contract as fulfilled, a_nd since_ you didn't specify other ‘sex milestones’ or ‘orgasm garanties’, we MUST have relations sexuelles. Otherwise she’ll lock me up and wait for another client to show up. And, um..." he looks away, embarrassed "I would rather ‘go all the way’ with you than with whatever vieille dame pays for me next..."

Carolina blinks. She holds her palms up.

"Wow... Okay, this is a lot to take in. Plus, I've never, um..." she moves restless in place, her hands reach instinctively to where her long hair was but find nothing to hold on to. She snaps her fingers “Ah! I know! What if we trick the bots? Make them think we had 'sex’ when in reality we... Didn't."

"Uh, I guess? But wouldn't it be easier if we just...?"

"No, no, this should work, most bots are terrible at telling if something is a sex act, it’s like asking them to tell if something is art.” she pushes her panties down and waves them for the camera to see "That's why Mom says to never trust semantic cameras and record yourself with a phone instead. Bots get so confused by sex they ignore everything else unless it’s something really extreme like a weapon or blood..."

She throws the panties away and walks towards the naked boy who recoils instinctively.

"It's ok, we’ll just grind as before, that should do it."

She sits back on his lap, her pussy mound pressing his half-erect penis.

"Osti!"

"Sorry!" she shifts in place "There, better?"

He nods and puts his arms behind him to support her weight as the eleven-year-old starts to slide forwards and backs atop of him, using his shoulders as leverage.

The two kids throw glances at the camera as they move together, neither knowing what to do despite a lifetime of sexual acts being fed to them daily, from hardcore porn in immersive virtual realities to crossword puzzles on the back of cereal boxes.

"How will we know it's working?" he whispers.

"I dunno… Maybe it already did? Um, how about you? How are you supposed to know when you can go home?"

"Tu as raison! She said something about this thingie changing when we ‘go all the way’." he points at his black collar "I guess it reacts to the blockchain, but I'm not sure if it goes beep or bzzzt or what..."

She giggles "Yeah, that should be it. Let me know when it happens then."

"Mets-en..."

The two tweens continue grinding, their breathing growing more and more labored from the sustained effort. Caro tries to pretend like she’s moaning from pleasure but falls into a giggle fit from the absurdity of her acting. The boy laughs as well.

After a few more minutes grinding, she brushes sweat off her forehead and rests for a moment with her head on the cranny of the boy's neck. She inhales deep.

"God, you smell just like him..." she says short of breath.

"Who? This ‘Manuel’ garçon?"

"Miguel..."

"Oh, sorry. Well, we are twins. Sort of...”

"Yeah!" she giggles "Um, maybe if we... Kiss again that will... Be enough to trigger the thingie on your neck?"

He's about to answer when Caro leans forwards and kisses him hard. His arms buckle and he falls back on the bed.

Carolina doesn't flinch, she continues kissing him and grinding her bare pussy against his hard penis caught between their warm bodies. She moves faster, deeper, hungrier.

"Osti!"

"Sorry..." she mutters with her lips on his and slows down her movements. She moves a fleck of hair off her face "Hey, do you remember anything... About where you come from...? Did your parents find you on the side of a road? Or what?"

"No... Ça a pas d'allure..." he says between their clumsy kisses "I've always assumed I was theirs... We even look similar..." he shrugs "I'll have to ask them why they took me for a suitcase... Why there's more like me."

"Yes, please do... And let me know the answer... It may help me find Miguel..." she says between slurps.

"Mets-en... But how will I find you...?"

Caro stops, she supports herself on her elbows and looks hungrily at the blurry face of the boy, her face red, her breath labored.

"I know...! Search the blockchain for the users who lost their virginities today and message them..." she chuckles "There may be more than just two... But it should be less than 4 thousand."

"That's quite a range..."

"You'll figure it out..." she says kissing him again, resuming her grinds "Nothing yet on your thingie?" she pants touching the black ring around his neck.

"Uh..."

"Maybe this will help..." she sits on her knees and rushes to take off her sandals, blouse, and denim top, leaving her naked except for her short white dress.

The boy gulps when faced with the girl’s bare torso and slowly moves his hands towards her small breast buds, one slightly larger than the other. Caro bites her lip, grabs his wrists and puts his palms on her bare skin, impatient. She bends down and starts kissing his neck and collarbone, burning with desire.

"Nothing yet?" she purrs kissing his ear, grinding herself against him. The head of his penis rubbing effortlessly between her moist outer lips, her clit pressing on his frenulum.

"Osti de câlisse de ciboire de tabarnak..." gurgles the boy trembling underneath her, the brown blur of his face growing redder by the second. His hands squeeze her breasts and hard nipples, encouraging her "S-so… Wet..."

"God... These semantic cameras are hard to please..." says Caro, breathless.

She stops and lifts her body, her pulsing vulva hovering an inch off his throbbing penis.

"I think we have... No choice... But to go all the way..." she says between pants of air.

He shudders "Tiguidou..."

She laughs "You're funny... I'm sorry your first time was with me... Rather than with someone special..."

He gulps "You seem... special."

Caro smiles, beaming. She brushes another fleck of hair off her face and kisses the tip of his nose.

The eleven-year-old girl suddenly gets serious. She wets her lips and reaches a hand between their sweaty bodies, holds his throbbing boy cock, and aims it to her entrance.

The boy jolts from the touch of her fingers on his circumcised head. The skin wet and slippery. He gasps.

"Wait! What if this bleu thingie STILL doesn't react once I'm inside?"

Carolina pauses, alarmed. Then both laugh at the same time, realizing the futility of his question.

She bites her lip and nods, asking if he's ready. The boy takes a deep breath, mentally saying goodbye to his virginity. He nods.

She starts to descend on him. The head of his penis touches her outer lips and opens them easily. Caro's eyes open wide, it feels as if her whole body was welcoming him home.

She stops.

"Bleu thingie?" she says sliding away "You mean blue!?"

The boy nods, holding his breath "Ouais... The collier... T_hingie_." he pauses "Wait, what color has it been all this time?"

Both tweens freeze in place, the furnace of her crotch still kissing the head of his cock.

Carolina sighs and drops her weight on him, resigned.

"Osti!" he squeaks from his penis being pressed between their bodies.

"Sorry..." she huffs and rolls away.

The two sweaty adolescents lay on their backs staring at the ceiling. A fresh breeze cools their chests, their tummies bobbing up and down.

"Well... At least you can go home now..." says Caro catching her breath "Hug your mom from my part... She must be dead worried."

"Ouais... It's probably a good idea... To think about la mère right now..."

Caro smiles and pats his thigh, trying to cheer him up. She stares at the boy's blurry head and bites her lip.

"Hey, I want the first penis to be inside me to be from someone special... But I'm not as skittish when it comes to BJ's..." she wiggles her eyebrows "Would you want one before you go home?"

"Um, sure. But do BeeJees include alcohol? I promised la mère I wouldn't drink until I turn 18."

Caro facepalms and pops herself on an elbow. She smiles biting her lip.

"I think your mom will be okay with ‘BeeJees’..."

She grabs his still-hard penis and aims it up. Then turns her head towards it and opens her mouth. The boy’s eyes pop wide open.

Suddenly she gasps and scrambles higher on the bed, terrified. The boy frowns and looks down at his body. He yelps in surprise as well.

"Chu dans marde!" he yells recoiling from the dark red stains on the pristine white bedsheet.

"What in the world...?" mutters Caro staring at the red smudges and droplets around them. It’s a small amount in total but seems to be everywhere because the stark contrast between the reds and whites. There’s blood on the edge of the bed, her fingers, and especially between their legs, painting their genitals like some kind of war paint.

The boy raises his arms and legs inspecting his nude body, looking for the source of blood. He points at her pussy.

"Votre plotte! Were you a virgin!?"

"What…? NO! My genotype doesn't even have a hymen!" she snorts "And even if I had one, why would I be bleeding? My bunny vibrator is larger than you are."

"Hey! That hurts…"

The bedroom’s doors blast open, jolting them. The slender saleswoman rushes inside wielding an electric cattle prod and screeches to a stop when she sees the grizzly scene of the two nude kids stained with dry blood.

"What did I said I would DO to you if hurt my customers!?" she roars pointing the prod at the boy, sparkles flying from its tip.

"On se calme le pompom! I did nothing!" the boy yells moving back on the bed, his back pressed against the erotic mural on the wall.

The woman sneers and click-clacks forward, her metallic baton leading the way.

Caro jumps in front of him.

"Wait! He's telling the truth! He didn't do anything!"

The sparkling prod stops inches before touching her. The saleswoman takes a step back but keeps the baton pointing at the huddled tweens.

"Milady, get out of the way! This drone must be punished for what he did to you!"

"But he didn't do anything! He wasn't even inside me!"

"He WASN'T!?" she points the prod at her "Then you're the one who has some explaining to do..."

Caro hesitates, she sees the woman moving around the bed to get closer and jumps on her heels to keep herself between the naked boy and the cattle prod.

"No, no, he WAS inside me! But he didn't hurt me! I swear! The blood just... appeared for some reason!" she says waving her hands in front of her.

"Blood appeared for some reason!?" the woman repeats, mockingly "You got your theology mixed-up Milady, you're supposed to bleed through the eyes, not the snatch! Either this drone hurt you, you suffer from an undiagnosed medical condition, or you're the first woman to menstruate without the help of drugs in the past 30 years. And I know from your genotype and blood tests which scenario is more likely!"

"Comme toé! We're telling the truth!" yells the boy behind Caro, staring at the prod's sparkling tip with wide-opened eyes.

"Shut up!" she roars, silencing them.

The woman sneers and moves the prod closer. Caro screams and moves her hands away, the sparkling tip inches off her heaving chest.

"You're both full of shit, and to be honest Milady, I don't care whether he hurt you or not. All I care is that the cleaning bots will report washing blood from these bedsheets, and I better have a credible explanation as to WHY when the Boss comes asking. And she WILL come asking! Especially once Sam opens her big mouth and tells her all about her classmate's 'bloody' experience at my brothel!"

"No Miss! I won't tell Sam! I swear!"

"That's not good enough!"

She inches the prod closer. Caro and the boy press further together.

"It's quite simple Milady..." says the woman in the dark business suit tilting her head, looking like a cat about to snack on a mouse "Get out of the way so I can punish this drone, or stick to your story about 'blood appearing for some reason'__, and I'll tell the Boss he tried to use you as a human shield and I had NO choice but to shock both of you." she smiles, maniacally "What's it going to be, Milady...?"

The boy steels his nerves and tries to move past Caro to face the woman head-on. Yet the eleven-year-old girl holds firm and keeps him behind her.

"The blood just appeared, I swear to God." she says staring at the woman's fiery eyes "There may be cameras on the ceiling, but the bots are not the only ones watching!" she slowly joins her palms in front of her "Miss, please... Sometimes things ‘happen’ and they don’t make sense. And it doesn’t matter if people believe you or not, if you get into trouble because of it or not, or even if there’s no bots or video of it happening..." she blinks, a part of her realizing something "It still happened."

A pause, the cattle prod continues to sparkle in the tense silence of the room.

"What a load of bullshit..." the woman snorts.

The bare-chested girl closes her eyes and clenches her teeth, readying herself for some new, unimaginable pain.

The sparkles stop. The woman moves the baton away.

“But you're correct, I have no way of telling what really happened here.” she smirks" And neither does the Boss… You're lucky she and Sam are not on speaking terms after the whole ‘incident’ last week. If they can’t talk about something as meaningful as Samantha’s birthday without falling into a shouting match, you bet they won't be texting gossip about the supernatural experiences of her middle school friends."

She raises the cattle prod and points it back at the naked kids, gluing them to the wall.

"But they may reconcile in the future, and once they do, you BETTER have kept your mouth shut…" she says in a hiss "You don't want me as you enemy Milady. I have nanos downstairs that will make you WISH I had skinned you alive instead!" she lowers the prod "Now get on the elevator, head to the 83rd floor, and fetch your horny friend. Then leave these facilities with extreme haste, jump out the window if you have to. For God may have shown mercy on you today, but I sure WON'T if I ever see your faces again!”

Carolina squirms and nods. She looks anxious at her clothes on the floor.

"A-and our stuff...?"

“You’ll find your electronics in the mall’s dumpster, yet another reason to hurry up.”

“I-I meant if we can get dress…”

"NOT MY PROBLEM!" barks the woman waving at the door.

Both tweens yelp and jump off the bed. Caro only manages to grab her denim top before the boy yanks her by the wrist and takes her out the bedroom.

"Déguédine!" he yells, hurrying her.

They bolt inside the open elevator car, but before Caro can push a button the boy remembers something and runs back.

“Une seconde!”

The nude thirteen-year-old runs back to the main suite and peeks inside, sees the sleek saleswoman in the same position as they left her, standing by the side of the king bed with the cattle prod in her hand and eyes lost in the distance.

He opens his mouth to speak but quickly reconsiders it. He sees Carolina’s panties on the floor and snatches them, then runs across the high-class residence back to red velvet elevator where the girl is busy sliding her denim garment back on.

"You returned for my underwear?"

"Non, I had u_n pressentiment_. I thought she would want us to take the bedsheets. Weren't they the whole reason she couldn't let us go?"

Caro pauses, her denim jacket halfway up her shoulder. She shakes her head, grabs the panties, and presses the ‘close doors’ button repeatedly.

“Not our problem.”

The two bloodied kids wait anxious for the elevator’s doors to close. Their hands instinctively reaching to one another as the metallic panels slide and close shut.

To be continued…

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