26
TESSA
LEAVING SEATTLE…
I was still studyingmy new appearance—well, my old appearance brought back like a mind-bending blast from the past—when the white-suited Betas pressed onto the now relaxed spa scene. One of them was still clutching the bright red envelope, another had a shimmering length of mesh and crystal dotted material draped over her forearm, and two were pushing and fiddling with what appeared to be a pink and gray carriage for young pups… only in place of the typical sloped seat, there was an enclosed egg shaped dome with a transparent window extending from the front to the top. I tried to remember the names Beta Grouse called them, but everything was just a jumble in my head. Aside from that, my focus was entirely locked on the stroller.
“What in the world is that for?” With wide eyes, I stepped away from the quartet. Beta Love number two—who seconds earlier I’d decided to rename Beta ‘Loves to be a Dick’—floated through my brain. More specifically, his mention of why a genetic panel had been necessary. Pups. The client might want pups.
“The cat,” the short, pixie-haired Beta female pushing the stroller answered.
The one helping her turned around with a flourish, having nowunzipped the clear viewing port so that it flapped forward to create a sizable entrance. “It’s one of the best. We had to rush across town to get it in time.”
I stepped forward tentatively. “The Eros Institute got me a… cat stroller?”
“No, the client did,” The red envelope wielding Beta corrected. “It really is unusual for a client to be so compromising.” After she said it, she clamped her mouth shut. I wondered if she recalled Beta Grouse berating her for questioning the situation. “Please place your cat inside.”
When I hesitated, the woman sighed. “Have you not been given clear proof that we are all duty-bound to honor the contract addendum?”
“I guess that’s true.” I bit my lower lip, still unwilling to fully trust anyone that was involved in this entire, despicable charade.
Finally, figuring there really was no other choice than cooperating at this point, I closed the distance to the carrier and set Josie inside. The same Beta who’d opened the carrier zipped the window panel back up. I felt okay, even though I was no longer holding Josie. I could see her clearly at least.
Red envelope Beta checked a slim watch circling her wrist. “Put the cloak on her, Tan. We’re running behind schedule and product shipment is already downstairs.”
The one holding the sparkling, opalescent cloth stepped forward. She lifted it, letting it cascade to the floor, revealing it was a long, hooded cape. She moved around me, draping it around my shoulders before moving in front and securing it around my neck. She lifted the hood into place. It was constructed in such a way that it shielded the upper half of my face, leaving only my lips and chin exposed. I looked through the silky mesh, catching sight of myself in the mirror again. I was a walking, glittering mystery.
“Perfect,” Beta Tan murmured as she adjusted the hood.
“Why do I have to be covered like this?” I played with the cloak, fluttering it around me like I was some heroine in a fantasy movie. “It’s a little over the top.”
“The Eros Institute only offers the very best, no matter the product.Outside of this building, no one knows what you were before scent-matching. As far as the world is concerned, you are an Omega like no other. You are… incomparable.” Tan cupped my chin gently, tilting my face upward, as if checking to make sure the hood was secure. “Creating an aura of pricelessness ensures that our clients feel they’re getting their money’s worth.”
It was the most any of the four had said since shepherding me from Grouse’s office.
“That’s enough, Tan.” Red envelope snapped.
The gears turned in my head, other names cropping back into tangible memory. There was a Tan… a Fay. The one with the red envelope, the one Grouse had chastised, was… Janet? No, Janice. If I’d ever heard the fourth’s name, it completely escaped me. I clung to the remembrance of their names, as if it mattered, as if it would somehow help me on this next step in the journey I’d unwittingly started walking. Someone stepped forward, dotting a gloss across my lips. They launched forward and then retreated so quickly that I barely had time to register their existence and could almost have convinced myself they were a mirage if not for the sticky addition to my mouth.
“It’s time to go,” Janice announced as I stood there stupidly smacking and rubbing my lips together, trying to distribute the gloss. “Tan in front with me. Fay and Mel, behind the product. Keep only enough distance to allow for the stroller.”
Mel. The fourth’s name was Mel.
“Yes, Beta Janice,” the other three quipped before moving into their places. Once again, I was at the center of the parade. We moved slower this time, music streaming from unseen speakers, as if this really was some sort of ritual procession. I didn’t like how I felt. Each footfall made me feel increasingly more like a sacrificial lamb headed for slaughter. Despite the unease flowing through my body, I walked at their pace and wondered if this was a death march or a stroll towards fated future.
We entered a different elevator. It was black, glossy like obsidian. The inside was likewise dark, making it difficult to even see Josie curled up against the pillow inside the carriage. Shadows, in a cramped space. Toomany bodies, too close together. It felt like doom incarnate. When the elevator began descending, the hallway music continued as if it had a mind of its own and was intent on stalking us through the building. I watched the levels pass quickly, their numbers temporarily glowing above the doors as we approached and then passed them over. I anticipated exiting onto the first floor and seeing the expansive foyer with its snippy receptionist, sparse plants, and too-cheery posters of happy couples. But the elevator kept descending past the ground floor. The letters B1 lit up seconds later as the elevator shuddered to a halt. The doors opposite where we’d entered slid open to reveal an underground parking garage.
A security booth a few paces past the elevators contained a portly, squat man wearing a too-tight uniform. He greeted the four women surrounding me as we approached. They exchanged pleasantries for a while, and then the chubby, pink-cheeked man picked up a radio. He depressed a side button and waited out the crackle before speaking.
“Darryl and Mitch, we’re all ready for the hand-off. Over.”
More crackling, then a fuzzy voice through the speaker. “Copy that, Jack. On our way.”
A few heartbeats later, a black limousine pulled into view, coming to a stop a few yards away. I don’t know who I expected to exit the vehicle, but it probably should have been a new duo of Men in Black Betas. My heart raced a little at the sight of them, but they weren’t the ones who’d chased me down in the city. These men were about the same height. One of them had a tawny gold mullet and a thick porn mustache. The other had oiled black hair, styled in a deep side part as if he was auditioning for a revival of Grease later, and angling for the lead.
They closed the distance; the mullet man held a folio case, and the Danny Zuko wannabe had a cigarette tucked behind his ear. The smoker couldn’t stop glancing my way. There was something in his gaze akin to curiosity or…maybe jealousy?Betas could be that way though, hungry for something they could never have in our society.
Wordlessly, Beta Janice took a clipboard from the security guard. She checked a few boxes and signed it before handing it to one of the darksuited men. He followed her example, checking and signing before passing the clipboard back. Janice double checked it and tucked it under her arm. Then the folio case was flipped open, revealing a tablet. More checks, more signatures. They talked briefly about the transportation arrangements. A private jet. How long the flight would take. Where they were landing. Los Angeles. Still the West Coast. It gave me a little solace that I wasn’t traveling too far from home. A mediator would be at the airport, apparently. Someone to act as a sort of diplomat between the client and the delivery agents, ensuring the product’s arrival went smoothly.
