Side Story #2 Scripted Loss, Part II

[CONTENT WARNING: If you are reading Slumrat, you probably have a high tolerance for bleak things. This is going back to the Old Testament here, where nothing is nice, and no choice is good. If the theme of women being forced into having children by uncaring men/corporations/institutions/social conditions is something you would find particularly upsetting, SKIP THIS. You may want to skip this entire series of side stories, in fact.

That being said, I hope you do enjoy this. We are right back into the Magic-Cyberpunk here, and it is a trip.

Sophia was not prone to excessive sentiment. Feeling like absolute scum for what she was about to do was, therefore, the correct amount of sentiment.

One time, when Sophia was about nine, she watched a rat grab a piece of trash and try to run away with it. Another rat, maddened and scabrous, pounced on it, crushed its neck, and ate the trash. It then ate the corpse of the defeated rat, tearing into it with manic energy, stuffing itself before another could swoop in to steal the main course of its cannibal feast.

This behavior had made perfect sense to the young Sophia- these were rats from the slums, and looking around at her fellow slumrats, this was simply how slumrats were.  Now, in the present scenario, the only rat was Sophia. But, after a few years of leaving the slums, she had concluded that the rules were essentially the same. Like an algebraic expression- changing the variables didn’t change the formula.

Sophia applied a subtle coating of makeup- enough so that she looked sharp and pretty but not threatening or sexy. She dressed in much the same way- a modest white top, flattering black slacks, and a well-fitted black jacket. The jacket was subtly armored and warded, naturally, as were her… excessively practical boots. The boots did work with the outfit. They certainly spoke of a person who knew about style but lacked the money for fashion.

Putting the finishing touches on, she swallowed a bezoar, made sure her charm and glamour protective needles were inserted snugly into her chest, and her personal wards were active and fully charged. She gave her makeup one last check in the mirror, collected the asp-wand from its medicinal bath,  gave it a quick wipe-down with a lint-free cloth, slid it into its holster at the small of her back, and set off to see her victim.

First victim. If all went well, she would be ruining several lives. And terminating at least one of them.

Jun Eoh lived off campus. Her parents were seniors in the D-Tier in Starbrite, so they were able to arrange a not-too-expensive room for their golden daughter. A daughter who had excelled in her studies got into the best university in the country and had aced her SAT. When she was ready to join, it would be doubtless directly into the C-Tier and glory. To top it all off, she was physically fit and beautiful.

The last point, Sophia felt, was debatable and certainly not a good thing for Jun. Jun was girl next door pretty. There was a youth and charm to her that the pressures of university had yet to snuff. She wasn’t model pretty, or a hypnotic beauty, or any of that. She was just warm and shapely and with a smile you wanted to watch for hours. She was the dream college crush for dozens of disappointed students. Jun Eoh had, instead, fallen for a wonderful man.

Sophia verified the spell lock on her door was active, then verified the three discreet other locks and alarms she had arranged. Her roommates knew about them, of course, but they only knew how to temporarily disable them instead of disarming them. If anything happened to her enchantments, she would know someone had broken in.

She shrugged inside the armored jacket. She could never quite get comfortable in it, but the thought of leaving the apartment without it was… terrifying. Paralyzing. Her eyes constantly swept the hallway. It was a mixed-gender dorm, well-surveilled, but that didn’t mean much. There were ways around anything. Everything. And you never knew when one of your fellow dorm mates would decide that today was the day. For whatever. Not just the men, either. All hungry rats, eyeing each other.

The campus was lit up with the cool blues and hot pinks of the talisman lights that illuminated the carefully focused-group tested signs and art so incomprehensible it had to have cost millions. The buildings were huge, gilded, gaudy, and carefully distinct without being in any way actually concerned with the students who would use them.

The dorm Sophia was in was shaped like a giant sphere, with one upper quadrant disintegrating into a series of room-sized cubes that moved up into the sky. Those rooms were larger and single occupancy. Apparently, this was a very profound architectural statement. The statement apparently being “What do you mean, efficient use of the internal volume? I’m making ART!”

Sophia hadn’t rated a room with a window. She was in a six-person dorm, mid-way up, a third of the way in. Still a better dorm than the one shaped like a golden, glowing woman. The rooms there were bizarrely shaped, the walls amplified sound, and the windows leaked. Black mold lived more happily there than the students. The students were periodically reminded to not release air demons for cleaning, as “This violates the exclusivity contract with our cleaning solutions Partner.”

Best university in the country. Largest endowment in the world. Sophie got the hood of her jacket up, triple-checked the wards, and went for a social call. The burning names of the building’s sponsors were ignored behind her. Don’t expect the students to give a damn just because you gave a lot of money to the university. She didn’t understand how those rich people didn’t know that.

Jun Eoh’s apartment was small and shared with another woman. Her roommate was currently not-exactly-living with her boyfriend at the moment, a state much envied by Jun Eoh, though the privacy had been useful. It was only a couple of blocks off campus, which made it prime housing for students, and a worryingly slum-like area for the wealthy downtown of Harban. Sophia and Jun Eoh might not have been friends, but they were friendly, which was enough. They knew the same people.

“So, Sophia, what dragged you out of the lab?” Jun asked once tea, and snacks had been arranged. She had offered a sort of alcoholic spritzer thing, but Sophia had demurred. Far, far too easy to taint. And she didn’t trust Jun enough to get drunk around her. She didn’t really trust anyone that much.

“Anxiety. You may want to get yourself a drink, as this is going to be a difficult chat.”

“Well, that’s fun. And you just turned down a drink.”

“I have an allergy. You don’t.”

“Point.” Jun fished a neon yellow bottle out of the fridge and cracked it open. “Alright, lay it on me.”

“Interesting choice of words. But we’ll get to that. I’m going to cast a quick spell. It’s harmless, basically seeing if you have a particular heritable condition.” Sophia pulled the talisman out of her pocket and activated it. She past her SAT’s, naturally, with a biomagical focus. Starbrite was keeping a spot open for her once she got her degree. Or sooner if she crashed out of this program. The consequences of which would be… severe. Life altering. The spell swept over Jun and quickly turned dark blue. Negative.

“Alright, about what I expected. Unfortunately for me, you do not have the ability to conceive children with Nephilim. Though I am happy to report your womb and reproductive system generally are in perfect condition.”

“Sophia, what the fuck?!”

“Have a drink and listen.” Sophia gathered herself. “Has Scunthorpe told you anything about the project we are working on?”

“Baron knows how to be discreet,” Jun smiled, then continued, “but he has let a few details drop here and there.”

“Well, let me drop a few more. We are trying to enhance people without having to use the cosmic energy system we are all born with. Enhancement without cultivation, in other words. Something more reliable and healthier than drugs or demon possession, but not relying on magical technology. Making humans inherently better.”

“And I suppose the Nephilim could be considered “Humans but better,” in a lot of ways.” Jun frowned.

“Correct. To the point where they can actually impregnate someone on a different planet. It requires a significant magic ritual on our end, but it’s doable.”

“Ok, but… why are you talking to me about it? You just said I’m not compatible.”

“No, it would have been too much to hope for, really.” Sophia sighed, hating what she was about to do next. But it was necessary to survive. So she opened her eyes and looked seriously at the nice young lady full of hopes and dreams and potential in front of her.

“You, Jun, are convenient. For me and Scunthorpe both.”

There was an awful silence. Sophia continued. “He’s graduating soon. Getting a job high up in Starbrite. He won’t be involved with the department anymore, but his family will keep sponsoring the professor… as long as they see progress. Which means he won’t be gone entirely, possibly. Potentially. If he has a good reason to check back.”

Sophia leaned in. “A reason like his secondary side chick being pregnant with the Nephilim baby his family is so interested in.”

“Get out. Get the fuck out NOW!”

“Oh, please! You aren’t his girlfriend. You aren’t his other, less public girlfriend. What exactly are you to him? Be honest with yourself. You. Are. Convenient. You are the pretty-enough low-maintenance girl that is available where he works and is grateful for whatever he throws your way.” Sophia’s voice was ice cold and adder sharp. “When he graduates, he’s blocking your calls. If you don’t know it, you are in denial. BUT. You can change that. Go from someone convenient to someone he cares about. Someone he needs.”

There was a glassy, brittle silence now. Jun stared holes in Sophia and Sophia just sat there and let her. Feeling the moment hanging in the balance.

“And what do you need, Sophia Medici? What do you need so badly that you come all the way here to spring this shit on me?”

“I need a way out.” Sophia cast the spell again, this time on herself. Green. Positive. “I can conceive with the Nephilim. And it has been hinted to me, very strongly, that I must make a dramatic contribution to the project or I will be summarily dismissed. And this is where it all goes wrong for me, Jun.”

Sophia’s smile was painfully honest. “You are convenient but still a person. I’m not even lab equipment. I’m supplies.”

Jun snorted at that. “Testing materials.”

“And the test bed. I can’t let that happen, Jun. Once I’m in that slot in their heads, I’m never getting out again. So I either run around campus trying to find a volunteer that meets the criteria and paying for their expenses out of my own non-existent pocket or…”

“Or you find someone to split the duty with. You provide the embryo, I provide the womb. You remain useful, both immediately and in the long term, while not being a lab rat. I get continued access to Baron. And, yes, I’ll admit it, his connections and money. I do actually like him, you know. It’s not just about that.”

“I believe you. But I also know it’s crazy out there right now. Eggs cost twice what they did a year ago, milk’s almost as bad, rice costs more even after the government stepped in to stabilize prices, and we haven’t even gotten into the whole housing thing.”

“Or employment thing.” Jun nodded grimly. “Yeah. Starbrite jobs these days aren’t even gold-plated. It’s prismatic-iridium plated.”  Her face soured. “Or at least, they are if you have the System. C-Tier and up are supposed to be literally unfirable. I am hearing rumors of “rightsizing” F-Tier.”

Then why was Scunthorpe so happy about securing an “auxiliary” position? Something wasn’t adding up, and it was huge. She suddenly, deeply, missed Truth. But he couldn’t save her now. She would have to save herself.

“So we get ourselves safe. I’m going the pure academics route- my grades are good enough, and I’m building enough extracurricular credits to see me land solidly in the C-Tier. You are going to juice your way with Scunthorpe and maybe even a recommendation from the Professor. We both get in. We both get safe.”

Jun thought about it. Then let out an explosive breath. “You know you are asking me to get pregnant with a child that is also a bomb, right? Do you get that? That even a normal pregnancy would fuck me up badly, let alone whatever strain a Nephilim child puts on a human woman?”

“I will be here with you every step of the way. I will have to be. It’s my ass on the line too. Shit, I’ll move in with you to be live-in support if you need me to.”

“Might actually take you up on that in five months.” Jun shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m actually considering this. It would fuck up my academics too. And I need those almost as much as you do.”

“Not a problem. I can carry you.”

“You reckon?”

“Yes.” Sophia met her eyes with absolute confidence. “I absolutely can. Check my class rank.”

“I don’t have to, Ms. Number One.”

They lapsed into silence again.

“Fuck you for calling me a side-side chick, by the way.”

“Don’t hear you denying it. Anyway, you are missing the key thing from your perspective. In terms of getting your revenge, anyway.”

“Oh?”

“You have the womb. I have the ova. Guess which one of us gets bred by the Nephilim?”

“Prager’s mercy, Soph!”

“Call it what it is, Side-Side Chick. Surrogacy rituals are in the library, a dirt common medical procedure for the sufficiently rich. I get got, you get implanted, and we both keep the men in our lives attentive and interested. It’s our shot, Jun. We take it. We make it. Or we find a comfortable and quiet hole to die in. Looking around, it seems like a decent Plan B.”

Jun slowly nodded at that. Sophia could see the anxieties playing on her. Eating her up. The way she tried to look casual while her knuckles turned white on the bottle and her eyes fixated on a point over Sophia’s shoulder. She would say yes. Sophia had popped her little dream bubble, and the poisoned air outside had come pouring in. Chocking the young woman. Blinding her. Sophia managed to feel even worse than she did before she left the apartment. One down. A few more to go.