Vengeance, Thy Name Is
Chapter 5 — The Game
“That kind of mania is a waste of our time?” Claudia demanded with a look of total disgust on her face.
“Marion, have you not been listening to half the words that are coming out of either my mouth or the mouths of your unitmates? Compare that to the Japanese, the Russians, the slave mills, and a few of the other enemies we’ll be facing, and they might as well be fluffy little teddy bears,” Anna replied.
“Fair enough,” Claudia admitted, looking green around the gills.
“Yeah, at least Northern State still has legible autographs,” Rhonda said.
“Colleges use mind control and controllers as much as everyone else,” Brenna said, looking like a thundercloud. “Where d’you want me to start? Maybe St. Joseph’s, where their motto is ‘we learn so we can serve’? Or how ‘bout Ted Baker? Do you want me to get into Ted Baker Christian College? I heard stories ‘bout them...”
“And the schools that don’t have controllers on campus use others to protect their student bodies. I thought we should have gone a few hours further west,” Cheryl added.
“Do I want to know?”
“Another place my brother tried to apply, but he had a... certain genetic defect that kept them from being interested,” Cheryl replied, rolling her eyes in pure disgust.
“Look, it could always be worse,” Gianna argued.
“That’s true,” Cynthia agreed, looking melancholy for a moment. “But we can’t shoot everyone. So we have to go for the worst of the worst, and there are enough of them.”
“Glad to know you’ve got your priorities in order, Webber,” Anna said. “And part of why we have come to this begotten chunk of upstate New York is so you can be familiar with Northern State’s methods and external signs and symbols so when you’re finally ready to go on assignment, you’ll be more than prepared.”
“Oooh, can I rehab Kereee-L? I’ll treat her good!” Rhonda exclaimed.
“Maybe not that specific person, but you might get your hands on a Bulldog by the time all’s said and done. Did you hear people whispering about MCM? You did? Good for you, Lucatelli. That’s short for Mind Control and Manipulation. Yes, they’re teaching controllers. Twenty-something athletes overwhelmed with the need for sex, starving for glory, accustomed to having everything given to them, and being forced to live in the real world where no one outside the state of Minnesota cares who they are. As you can clearly see, this will end well for all parties concerned,” Anna replied.
“So we’re gonna be chasing some charmers and watch swingers? Shit, we’ve done better in practice,” Brenna said angrily.
“Oh, this bunch is in their own league, in more ways than one. Got word from one of their alumnae during Chicago that some of their grads are trading in some heavy shit. It’ll be right up Claudia’s alley. But that’s all I can say for now. That, and it’s almost game time, so we’d better get back,” Anna said, smiling obscurely as they headed out to the van.
The arena looked like a smaller version of Northern State, with the large Northern State contingent outnumbering the sizable fanbase of Poughkeepsie. “Easy to see what side everyone’s on. It’s either the standing or sitting sections,” Claudia said with a laugh.
“Ain’t you glad we got front row seats, then?” Rhonda replied with a wink.
“I can see you are,” Claudia replied. “The locals will probably get pissed if you’re outright ogling the opposition.”
“Not if I get my hot little hands on-”
“Oh, for God’s sake, I’ve got a bullet in my bag if you need to use the bathroom,” Cheryl interrupted.
“Don’t mind her. She was following Northern State for years before she was even following her girlfriend,” Cynthia explained.
“You know, I think I could have guessed,” Claudia replied dryly.
Any further discussion was cut off by the start of the game. From the outset, it was clear that while Poughkeepsie was smarter and had some skills, the coordination and teamwork of Northern State were almost supernatural, with plays that seemed like they would require telepathy to work. “This is what I took you here to see, not Peterson’s ass. This isn’t your average ‘let’s wipe out their egos and make sure they all love their teammates’ machine. We’ll save that for the Okies and Brenna. We’ve suspected this for years, but it’s more obvious now. They’re so coordinated that they can communicate with each other and read their opponents’ moves. Nothing much more than replacing hand signals, but if you sharpen a mind that much, it’s going to end up being used to cut, and if you make them bloodthirsty, they’re going to want more blood,” Anna said.
“Yeah, and they make ‘em hotter than Aussies to boot,” Rhonda said. Everyone rolled their eyes, and Cheryl ostentatiously started rummaging through her bag.
“Besides the cost of travel, that was the other reason we didn’t go to a home game. I have no desire to explain to anyone in the chain of command how I managed to lose one of my people to a class 4 cult. Enjoy the rest of the game, if you happen to think seventy-point blowouts are entertainment. Do not attempt to find your own entertainment, Wilson, as we do not yet have the proper diplomatic channels to prevent you from getting torn to shreds if you try to upshorts Ms. Vickie P during a game, is that clear?”
Rhonda attempted to bat her eyelashes in a “who, me?” look. No one was fooled.
“So let me see if I’ve got all this information straight. They turn them into super athletes with sex drives beyond the impossible and egos the size of small planets, use them as commodities, and then just... cut them loose? And they only have one person brave enough to act as a reformer? What kind of fucked up world is this anyway?” Claudia said, her doubts returning again.
“Trust me, this is a small-time operation the way these things go. Even the rejects make a little something out of themselves, for the most part, even if it’s just trading on their name in their old stomping grounds. The ones they raise to control, though... there’s no limit to what kind of demons the devil may spawn. I know a little about Northern State- I was a high school coach for seventeen years before I lost my team. I had all the sharks down in a notebook in my desk. Northern, Central, Western State, St. Joseph’s, Ted Baker- I never lost a kid to any of them. Northern State sunk their teeth into one of my girls, and I had to bench her for a month to lower her profile. She never knew I saved her life- but she kicked a lot of Bulldog ass at Michigan. It was getting to the point where I was relieved if one of my girls took a bribe, because at least that was a choice.”
“You were a coach in high school? Where? Not Ohio- my brother played basketball, ended up at Toledo, so maybe I’d have heard of you in Ohio.”
“Girls’ soccer in Louisiana, so I’m not surprised. Like that stops the feeding frenzy. At least we didn’t have to worry about Europe salivating the way the boys did- after what I’m sure Gianna’s told you, I don’t think I have to tell you why that would be a bad thing. But... we shouldn’t talk about this part in public. Come on,” Cynthia said, drawing an envelope out of her bag and pulling Claudia into the ladies room.
“Uh, Cynthia, I think this might be a good time to tell you-”
“Neither do I, but the Poughkeepsie fans are leaving and Northern State’s too busy celebrating to notice, and this is the only place we can talk without being disturbed. Look at these,” Cynthia said, handing Claudia the envelope.
“Electra blueprints? Here? Those devils came over here? That goes against everything we studied about the Japanese!” Claudia said in shock.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures. They’re selling their materials to pay for the damage your uncle caused. I was supposed to be on that mission, but your uncle had already heard that you were skeptical about your sister, and I’d be dead without him. Because you’re his niece, you’re the only person I’m willing to reveal this to, and even that takes a direct order.”
“Do I want to know?” Claudia asked.
“Probably not, but this is need-to-know. Cynthia Webber isn’t my real name. Again, I’m only telling you this on a direct order. You need to know what you’re getting into with me on your team at all times.”
“You make it sound like we need to share a bed. What’s the big deal?” Claudia demanded, growing impatient.
“Interesting turn of phrase there.” Cynthia sighed and dropped her voice to a whisper so low Claudia could barely hear it. “My real name is Gabby Lewis. Okay, you haven’t dropped dead and you didn’t leap for my throat.”
“No, not yet, but you’re that- that monster? Lewis? What? No, not- shit, I can see it past the makeup now. You’re the one wanted for all those molestation charges. What the fuck? Literally, what the fuck? Why are you here? How could you be-”
“A survivor? A victim? I’ve told you nothing but the truth, except for my name. I took that from two of my idols in my younger days. Colonel Marion’s idea. He knew I’d need a false identity to move freely. But this is the only group who would believe what had happened and would understand that not only am I innocent, I’m more a victim than anyone here. You think I’d take second in command to anyone less? I was set to lead this team. I’m not as strong in the head, but I know what’s coming and can stop it before it hits me. Picked it up as a goalie- didn’t realize it would save me. But when we heard about you, I passed a member off to another group. She was a good soldier, but she had no one good skill. You... you’re a Marion. I saw when you came in and passed all of those tests with flying colors without even realizing what you were doing. You’re a leader and a planner. You’ll put the plans together and we’ll execute them.”
“But how are you here? They still put your poster up in the post office! You’re wanted in all fifty states! How did someone like you end up second only to al Qudia on the wanted posters?”
“Started with a road trip. We had a big tournament in Philadelphia, and we had to drive all the way to Louisiana, so I arranged for one last night. Let a cheap rate at a decent looking suburban hotel sucker me. Checked in, tried to sleep, then I noticed the porno. I knew it was taking me over. I was on fire the second my eyes made contact with the girl on the screen, just like they designed. If I’d given up then... they have a caste system there. The sooner you surrender and obey, the less kinky your future is. Not that I knew that then, and not that I... it doesn’t matter. I fought it. I recognized the subliminals. It took an hour of blank staring, but I jerked myself awake and unplugged the TV. But my girls were all goners. I had a pass key- standard practice for school coaches, so it didn’t surprise me, but I’m sure they thought having a MILF coach quality controlling each girl for the buyers would be a good selling point. By the time I woke up, they were all on each other, two by two. They were so gone their eyes were rolled back in their heads, like they’d been born that way. They were just being guided by pulses of pleasure, jerking forward like a bunch of puppets. I checked the assistants, and they were just as out. I tried to run, but the cops knocked me out with some lights.
“The entire town is a maze. They’ll offer you false help, try to poison you, use classic techniques, pretend to be a friend- anything to get you in their tights. Those things are nasty, scary engineering. Every slight move, every vibration, feels like a direct hit, just orgasm after orgasm until there’s no soul, just a shell to program into a fuckdoll. They tried to lure me back, but I had my guard up. I had a taste and it was enough. Didn’t sleep for days, didn’t eat except what I could find. Just took off into the woods and kept running. I knew they were all dead, everyone I’d watched grow up before my eyes, everyone I knew, everyone the school and my city trusted me to protect, everyone that I’d failed. I knew there were controllers and monsters out there, but I never stared Satan in the face until that day. And the part that scared me most was that I’d escaped hell... and I was going to be blamed for the devil’s work. They could have caught me, but they didn’t need a leather bitch so much as they needed a scapegoat. So they planted the story in their dolls when they shipped them back to their families for storage, fanned the flames, and rounded up the mobs to get them after me and hide the colleges who were putting their bids for hot co-eds to suck off their football stars.
“Within days I was the Gabby Lewis you know. I had my own America’s Most Wanted episode and I was a fugitive on the run. Meanwhile, they took some more athletes from my town, even used their fuckdolls to take the class president and a few better-looking teachers remotely to further the story.”
“Get everyone to hang you, and they’re off the hook. Charming,” Claudia said. The story was crazy, but it made more sense than the lie that had been spun, and she had seen too much with her own eyes and heard too much from her uncle not to believe Cynthia... Gabby. Looking down at the papers, she understood that the United States had become such a cruel, cutthroat place that Electra could sell their weapons to make up losses. Claudia was starting to understand the full extent of what she was up against: Satan, Lucifer, Damian, and maybe even Hades.
“Worse. Much worse. Surprised you didn’t see the next step ahead. They look like heroes, so they get more coaches bring their teams through there, more kids dropping by, because they think they’re safe. They were starting to be suspected, now they look like a good wholesome town that will stand together to protect innocent girls. Last I heard, their factory’s running full speed ahead. Better yet, they can get SSes by the dozen, thanks to their good PR in the athletic community. Oh, that’s Sporty Sluts. They’re more durable and come toned. They make a better product,” Cynthia explained, her words dripping with disgust.
“So you lived on the lam...”
“A year or so. Saved my head, wore makeup, avoided anyone with cameltoe, lived off of odd jobs and charity as I made my way down the coast. I was going to sneak myself off to an island and live with the shame of losing my team. 22, when you count my assistants and the one mother who helped chaperone. But Miami is LL capital of the world. Being stalked by hundreds of Latinas in white leather tights and pastel tube tops may seem like a joke, but I almost ended up Cherry Hill’s first Prison Bitch model. Colonel Marion gave me the plans himself. They’re industrious and innovative fuckers. They were going to erase me, let me stand trial, and ship me in as sexual contraband for lifers in exchange for- I don’t even want to think about it. God bless the free market. One of them had me in the back of the limo, wiring me up and knocking me out with a massage and subliminals. But the Men of Wealth and Taste had me traced for a while. I woke up with all my clothes on, next to your uncle, and I think you know the rest.”
“Coast Guard found clothes but no body, somewhere towards Cuba, presumed dead. News broke...”
“Ten days ago. Yeah, I’m the second newest. As you can see, leadership’s not exactly a seniority thing around here. I’ve had too much exposure to subliminals, so I don’t do Movie Night well, which was one of the reasons I stepped down for you. But you’ve heard all our stories now, and you know that we’re guiltless, but we’re not innocent. We want these bastards dead. They killed our friends, our families, the people we were supposed to protect, but we can’t let them take our souls for it. Don’t back out on us now. Don’t let your doubts get the better of you, or they’ll win.” Cynthia jabbed her finger at the blueprints Claudia held. “You lead us, you give us missions, and we will do everything and beyond. Now finish your training so we can show you what you’re made of.” Claudia had never seen that fire out of her before, and she was impressed as they headed out of the bathroom.
“I say 6.7, if Claudia was in there that long and didn’t say a word,” Rhonda teased with a wink.
“Very funny, Rhonda. I think we’re the last people here. Let’s get back to base,” Claudia replied with a cruel smile, meeting Rhonda’s eyes without fear.