"I was summoned by Sovereign Lorian to discuss the Grand Championships and the same the day before with Sovereign Rafe," I say, but my voice comes out wrong.Too guilty.
"Of course you were. We all do our jobs, though most of us manage to keep our clothes on while doing them.”
"Rae," Lira says, "that's completely inappropriate. Eve has no control over what she is asked to do."
"Doesn’t she? When she was fitted with the Venus Lock, we all thought it would keep us safe from having to witness the wantonness of a human female, but apparently Eve’s sex drive is stronger than technology. So who can blame the Sovereigns? Look at her with her big breasts and brown eyes, just begging for a fuck. And now these constant summons to their offices and their personal shrine. Goddesses. Humans aren’t meant to work behind a desk."
I feel heat rising to my cheeks, shame and anger warring for dominance. "I'm their employee just like you are," I say carefully. “We both signed contracts that included the wordobey.”
Rae laughs. "Right. How many times have you been given the Devotional Drink at the morning meal? You could have kept your position and not drank it, but not only did you drink it the first time, since then you’ve been eager to have it. It’s a wonder you don’t beg for it every day.”
"You're imagining things," I start, but Lira touches my arm gently, to give me support or try to calm me, I don’t know which. But I am beyond both. "I can’t control what the Sovereigns ask of me," I say.
"Only because you don’t want to," Rae says. "Do you know what happened to the last human receptionist who caught their attention? Denise?"
“Yes, she’s at Kamos’s Palace.”
Rae's smile is cruel now. "She’s a sex slave. A human with a collar being bred like an animal.”
"Stop it," Lira says sharply.
"You see, the Sovereigns acquire beautiful things, use them up, and then discard them when they're done. You're not special, Eve. You're just their latest acquisition. And it’s annoying to the rest of us to have to pretend that you’re equal to us when you’re not."
Her words hit me hard,You’re not special, because those are exactly the same words the other girls said to me when I read that box NO CONTACT. So I bite back. "At least I'm not bitter about being passed over like an unworthy prude," I say, using the Reima Two swear wordunworthyto be extra cruel.
Rae's face darkens. "Passed over? You stupid bitch. You think I wanted their attention? No sane person would want to be their toy!"
I stand up and face her. “I think you’d drink their piss if they asked you to.”
Rae raises her hand to slap me, but Lira comes between us.
“Stop. Rae, you can have our table; we were just leaving.”
“You saw how she treated me,” Rae says as if I started this whole thing. “Thathuman. She needs to be kept on a leash.”
Lira tries to guide me away, but I don’t budge. All my anger at being discriminated against for being human in the galaxy is now directed at Rae. “Don’t touch me, Lira. I can fight my own battles.” Then to Rae I say, “You’ve been acting like a bitch ever since you met me on Falcon Station. And it’s clear now you’re jealous of humans. You wish your body looked like mine. You wish you didn’t have a flat chest and grey skin.”
Rae raises her hand to me. “Without a collar, I will have to discipline you the old-fashioned way. But I hear humans like it better this way. You’re all barbarians.”
“Hit me and see what happens.”
“Eve, you don’t know our customs. You don’t know what you’re saying,” Lira says.
I ignore Lira and don’t break eye contact with Rae.
She strikes me hard across the face. It stings, but I’ve felt much worse.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I ask.
This infuriates her, and she slaps me again. It’s weaker than the first time.
I make a fist and punch her in the face, breaking her nose with a crack. And I continue to punch her in the gut until she goes down.
Then I say to her crumbled body on the floor, “Let me know if you need another demonstration of human equality. It would be my pleasure to show you again just howequalwe are.”
Silence falls over the breakroom. Lira guides me to the door, and we exit, leaving Rae behind us.
"You are right, she is jealous," Lira says after a moment. "The Sovereigns have never shown interest in anyone the way they have with you,and it makes people uncomfortable. Not only is it a hierarchical difference… but?—"
