Alli and her three friends, Mary, Coco and Clara just know the mission is to diffuse a potential threat from a new weapon by Madame Lucinda - the most powerful woman in the State -. The four of them approach the high tech conference room located at a secret basement level below City Hall as undercover guests. Clara marks potential exits while Alli marks every face in the room while remaining unnoticed. The high tech conference room at the center of the basement level is surrounded by thick sound proof and - from the look of it - bullet proof glass. Most guests are gathered inside already, and Mary already sits among them.
Alli notices a tall slim man wearing all black at the right corner outside of the glass conference room. He is holding a bright orange beverage. He seems impatient for everyone to come in. What kind of flavor is neon orange?, Alli thinks to herself. It definitely does not look right. Something about the consistency of the liquid. And without more hesitation, Alli makes a bee-line towards the tall man and tries to take the cup out of his hand and to both of their surprise, she succeeds. With nowhere to go in a place surrounded by Madame Lucinda's trusted advisors and with the tall man's face changing from surprised to alarmed rather quickly, Alli proceeds to drink the neon orange liquid. But before she can get the cup to her mouth, the tall man tries to get the cup back. And the orange liquid splashes onto one of the conference's glass walls.
The glass seems to glow neon orange now, as if the liquid remained static where it splashed and not dropped to the floor. The tall man, now noticeably angry and irritated moves his hands dramatically to call the guards. Coco and Mary see how people's attention inside the glass room begin to drift towards what the tall man is yelling to the guards about. The next minute happened so quickly. Alli sees Clara spot her. They are only a few feet from each other. Clara rushes toward Alli. But Alli turns around to face the glass wall, takes a step towards it and presses her lips against the liquid and starts to drink it. Next thing Alli knows is Clara is shoving her to the nearest door with wide-eyed Coco and Mary beside them. The tall man with at least four guards close behind them.
They run through a series of dark hallways and stairs. Up, up, up. Clara leads the way into a tunnel, more of an oversized plastic pipe. They all have to crawl to get inside. Alli can sense the concern on Clara's face, even as the four of them are moving inside the ridiculously hot tunnel as fast they can. They finally emerge on a fully furnished apartment. As Alli looks around, she recognizes the place. They are in one of the shared dorms from the College across from City Hall. It has a wide living room with two stunned-faced girl students facing them. There is a door leading to the bathroom, another to the bedroom and the hallway leading to the rest of the dorm where probably more students are gathered from the sound of it.
Mary uses her care-free cool-girl attitude and convinces the girls to let them rest here for a while, claiming they were running away from an angry ex-boyfriend. Mary proposes to the girls to go out to party at 32tap (apparently the hottest place for college students now) while they cover for them as she is sure their chaperone is someplace lurking in the building. Mary somehow gets the two girls to agree and they go out after a few minutes. Leaving Alli and her three friends alone. Coco asks Alli at least twenty questions on what happened. Alli does not feel any different. Clara and Mary take the two beds while Coco goes to the windows and closes the curtains. Alli decides she will take a shower while Mary and Clara rest and Coco takes guard. That hot tunnel has been hell.
Alli undresses and steps in the shower. The bathroom door leads to the toilet, but the shower is really just hidden by a clever corner. No privacy. How she hated College dorms. She unties her long blonde hair, letting the water wash over her. Closes her eyes, feeling calm. There is something happening in her body. She can feel it hug her mind. Nothing is wrong though. No pain. Just a sense of belonging. Alli is snapped out of her thoughts by a dark haired woman which seems to be on her fifty's: the chaperone. Alli says a quiet 'hi it's occupied'. The chaperone moves along to the bedroom. Pokes her head in to see the back of Mary's and Clara's messy hair resting in their pillows perfectly positioned, as Coco hides in the closet. The chaperone does not give it a second thought and walks along and leaves. Alli tries her best to take the remaining shampoo off her hair and stumbles into the bedroom. Mary has left the bed for her. Alli pulls up the white thick covers over her head. One of Coco's questions resonating in her head. What if whatever power the orange liquid gave her can be transferred to someone else? Alli makes a small drop of blood from the tip of her index finger fall onto the stuffed animal that looks like a tiny dog. Nothing happens. She tries to touch it with the sweat off her forehead. Nothing happens. Utter calm encompass her and she lets her eyes rest.
Alli wakes up as Clara announces it is time to leave. It is almost dawn outside. They all take whatever serves as a bag and grab anything helpful for their journey ahead: socks, deodorant, candy, chips. These college students have so much unnecessary make up, Alli thinks to herself while looking for something useful. Clara gives the unspoken order and the three of them follow.
They walk through narrow streets and hills for about half a day with Clara leading the way. They had made it to the outskirts of the city. When suddenly, and without any warning, the same slim tall man all dressed in black, who was holding the bright neon orange liquid at City Hall, blocks their path with about twenty five guards. The guards tie the four women's hands and move them to a black bus. The four women are now tied to the railing above and the bus starts to move. Dark windows. Alli teases the tall man on why he needed so much backup. He only jokingly replies nothing could happen to her until she reaches the operating room. Alli goes silent.
They reach an estate. Feel the bus move through the rocky pavement leading up to the main house. The tall ornate doors of the house open as the guards lead the four women into a grand reception hall. Red wine carpets, gold finished mirrors, wood carved furniture, and a chandelier hanging in the center of the room. They are at Madame Lucinda's house. Alli, still hand tied, proceeds to take a few steps ahead and prepares her voice to address at least forty people who have gathered around Madame Lucinda. Clara spots the hospital stretcher and equipment in the corner of the room and gives an all knowing concerned look at Alli. These people are prepared to extract every last drop of the orange power from Alli. And they have gathered in fine clothes to witness.
Alli at last proceeds to speak:
"Greetings, Madame Lucinda. Thank you for welcoming us into your home. I see now you are Monica's mother. The resemblance to your only daughter is uncanny. As you see, we went to college together. And we all knew Monica married Maurice at a young age so she could have a baby. They tried unsuccessfully for a long time. And in a series of unfortunate events, Monica passed away last Spring. But you see, I know the orange power is not a threat or a weapon, it is no more than Monica and Maurice's seed blended together. And your plan was to offer it to the highest bidder to be the host. The host to the heir of your Empire. I am not here to take your dream of being a grandmother away. I am here to tell you, your grandson has started growing within me. He is very sweet. However, if you dare to move him to another host, he will be torn in two and will never be fully himself. As you see, he is a part of me already. I can feel his presence hug my mind. I will be your host and grant you the wish of having a grandson."
Coco opens her mouth in absolute shock. Clara smiles. And Madame Lucinda bows her head accepting what she just heard Alli say.
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