Chapter 9

Ron couldn’t believe it. He rubbed Susie’s shoulders as he looked over what could only be called a serial killer hunting board. There were dozens of colors of post-its. A rainbow of six threads overlaid Veidt’s notes to the path of personality changes experienced by his six women. There were pictures and printouts. He had to buy a second corkboard to hold her entire map.

“Alright, this is so much clearer,” he smiled for the room. “Where’s Jocelyn?”

Cass laid her highlighter on the papers on her lap. “It is getting close to ten and it was difficult to focus with her sighing all of the time. I sent her to make coffee.”

“Good initiative,” Ron smiled. “We’re two steps away from reset. The dangers of striking without all six of you is totally clear. With no way to restore the woman he loved ... I don’t think I could follow in Veidt’s euthanizing footsteps, but I’d hate to think what I’d resort to. Stop bringing yourself down, Ron. You’re inches from the cure.”

“Coffee.” Jocelyn came out of the kitchen carrying the pot. “You might want to pitch whatever’s in your mugs.”

Ron stopped himself. Cass was laser focused. She was amazing. She was near perfect as an assistant. She smiled. Fuck, it would be criminal to take that mind and that tenacity away from the project.

Susie left his hands and collected their mugs from the desk. She took them to dump in the sink. She was on her game too. He had talked to her math and physics professors. They were in as much love with Cass and Susie as he was. It would only serve their education to keep them as they were.

“Oh my God, coffee!” Jocelyn took her first sip to his left. The others. No, Jocelyn was dour but she was here because she was useful. Lyssa was sex and advertising but she was killing it. He couldn’t go a day without hearing from her coach that Lyssa was going to take them through the world series! An overstatement for women’s college softball. It was just Olive really that was in danger. She just needed someone to look out for her. What could go wrong? GP would jump to have Olive as her charge.

“Thank you,” he sipped the coffee. “I think this is it for tonight. Once we’re fueled up, let’s get into the bed.”

“And tomorrow we bring everyone here for the cure?” Cass asked.

“That might not be the best option,” he decided. “I love you girls like this.”

Susie had to hug him hard for that. Jocelyn rolled her eyes.

“Yes, the sex and aethetics are pleasing. I’d like to shift my research focus,” Cass declared.

“To what?”

“I want to look to confirm if there is a time limit by which--”

The sex burner started ringing. It was Lyssa, but it wasn’t a picture of her butthole this time. Shit.

“Hey?” he answered.

“Did you know Olive has a hearing for sexual harassment tomorrow?” Lyssa worried.

“What? Who touched my girl?” Ron shocked himself with his tone.

“Me a few times. Anyway, um, if she’s convicted she might get kicked out of school.”

She was going to flunk out if he left her as is. What was she taking? Political science, maybe? Cass and Susie were in STEM and Jocelyn in languages. The kind of stuff to bring the whole world together. He didn’t want to ruin their futures for a future campaign staffer.

“Well, that’s--”

“And if she gets kicked out she loses her visa and gets shipped back to Bogota,” Lyssa said. “What are you wearing?”

“Gray socks,” Ron ground his teeth as he answered. No one was punting his girl off the continent. “When tomorrow? Where?”

He hung up the phone. Cass had capped all of her markers and was putting them back into their package. Jocelyn poured herself a third coffee. Susie was stripping off her pajama bottoms and smirking at him.

“No dice, girls. We have more work to do,” Ron said. He looked at Susie. “We’ll have to make this quick.”

In the deepest conference room of the darkest corner at the damnedest scheduled time, Olive sat down at a reserved table with a big lovely smile. A half dozen women from the faculty, three other cheerleaders, the coach of the women’s softball team, and Professor Geraldine Portnoy were all scattered about the room. No one but Olive looked happy.

“Call to order? Everyone who has to be here is?” The administrator who had called the tribunal asked.

GP raised her hand. Her classic iconic bushy red hair was gone. She had buzzed down to all but a slight wave over the top of her head. That wave had been dyed blue. Extra earrings dotted her left ear. The tattoo on her neck and collar was still under bandages.

“The bench recognizes Geraldine Portnoy.”

“Great, yeah,” she said. “I have no reason to be here. I’m going to go. Good luck, Olive.”

“No, you were mentioned in the briefs. You are required to be here,” The administrator sighed. Though it might be easier if she left.

“Fuck.” GP said. She waved for the event to continue.

“Olivia Gabriela Maria Lopez,”The administrator cleared her throat. “You stand accused of sexual harassment of Eve Thompson.”

Olive giggled.

“You find this funny?” The administrator started down the latina.

“If she was a lesbian we’d call her ET!” Olive laughed. “I’ve never had sex with an alien.”

GP held her tongue and fought back her smirk. The rest of the room were quietly aghast.

“Alright, to protect Eve from trauma, we have accepted her testimony in written form. Eve, if you find the events of the tribunal to be triggering or traumatic. You are free to leave and heal as best you--”

Eve was out the door at ‘free’. She frowned so apologetically at Olive who happily waved as the girl left. The other two cheerleaders crossed their arms and smugly grinned.

“Alright, Olive--”

The door burst open. The administrator was shocked when Cass strode in. Susie scampered in behind her. Lyssa rushed around the room and hugged Olive. Ron walked over and squeezed GP’s shoulder.

“You look like hell,” she scoffed.

“I need to take those seats over there.” He pointed to a far wall outlet.

“Dr Sapkowski! What are you doing?” The administrator ignored the circle of freshmen swarming and supporting Olive. It was difficult. Lyssa apologized and put her tits back into her top.

“My girlfriend gets called down to a weird tribunal and I don’t support her?” He asked.

“Yes but--”

“This is public, is it not?” he asked. “It’s not a performance review.”

His gesture to the cheerleaders and his own gaggle of secret harem girls illuminated his point. The administrator ground her teeth. She couldn’t get rid of him if she had no chance of getting rid of them.

“Please be quiet and not disruptive,” she sighed.

“Yes, we’re going to take a seat near the back,” he agreed.

With her gesture and GP’s scowl, Ron took the seat at the far back of the room. He set the levitating plate by his foot and plugged it in.

“Dr Sapkowski!” The administrator growled.

“Charging my phone is disruptive?” he asked.

“Ugh,” she pinched her nose. The other faculty had taken it upon themselves to sit Olive’s back up into chairs. “Where were we?”

“Olive will testify,” another faculty member suggested.

“No, let’s go through the evidence first,” the administrator said. She cleared her throat and read Eve’s testimony. Eve, cornered in the showers was hit on by Olive, when she wouldn’t say yes, she was pushed to recruit her other teammates into Olive’s sex games. Eve’s only option was to storm off in anger.

“I can attest to that,” the shorter cheerleader declared.

“That’s not wrong,” Olive agreed with a head nod.

“Oh thank God!” The administrator apologized for her unprofessional outburst of relief.

“How long is that going to take?” GP asked out of the corner of her mouth.

“How long did you and Susie take in the garage?” he whispered back. He shrugged and made a gesture of locking his lips to the tired eyes of the administrator running the tribunal.

“Yes, Olive made an advance on Eve. She then accepted no for an answer. Did Olive continue her actions after she was told no? She was a perfect gentlewoman,” Cass climbed to her feet.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“She is Cass!” Olive explained.

“My name is Cassandra Hartford. A friend of Olivia Lopez. I am very concerned about her lack of defence and her inability to cross examine her accuser.”

“Sit down Ms Hartford. This is not a court of law. She is not entitled to a defence,” the administrator twitched when Cass stood straighter. “Sit down.”

“It may not be a court of law but this will have legal consequences, due process is her right. If she is found guilty, she will be deported from this country. Is that what you want?”

“Deported?” the faculty murmured. They all looked at the lesbian woman of color who couldn’t be more pleasant or photogenic.

“Olive, you are a freshman and 18 years old,” The administrator cleared her throat.

“I am!” she nodded.

“Have you, since coming to another country, far away from your family and home, been led to any, um...”

“Whatever you are trying to ask, just say it clearly,” the secretary from the science offices demanded.

“Have you been sexually recruited by any member of the faculty?”

“Oh!” The secretary reacted. She met Ron’s eyes and shook her head.

“Oh you mean going to the sex house?” Olive asked. “Sure me, and Cass, Lyssa, and Jocelyn, and Susie all go over to--”

She turned leading the room and happily pointing out each of her friends until her finger headed to the back of the room. Ron frowned, hoping it had stabilized, stepped on the top and struck it into its pad. The scales dropped from Liv’s eyes and she moved her finger to Gigi who gasped. “All over to professor Portnoy’s. She often drove us.”

“GP!” Ron stepped away shocked.

“What the? Shit!” She slapped her hands down on the table.