Page 59 of Failed State

Clearing my throat, I finally speak. “Fine. You’ve suffered and you might be an ally. Let’s get this lesson over with so we can move on to the next horseshit we have to endure today.”

“I like you, Sydney. Your spirit may earn you serious consequences, but if you pay attention here, I might teach you to be strategic about how you use it. After all, we can endure the pain when it benefits us, yes?”

Whatever you say, human.

The rest of the day went fairly quickly until the session I was dreading most—until I met Chantelle, of course—Beauty Maintenance.

I cringe the second we walk in the door and see six curtained sections that obviously separate us while the bubbly looking redhead with perfect teeth and a filler-worthy smile claps her hands. This is going to be the absolute fucking worst;I was mistaken earlier. Not only do I havezerointerest in being primped and pampered, but it’s impractical for the stupid games, anyway. How will we fight with fake nails? Be for real.

“Welcome, my new creations!”

Ugh, no fucking way I’m lettingthatstand.

“I’m no one’s ‘creation’ and I resent you suggesting it,” I bite back as I wait for the others to file in. “What a stupid way to ensure we all despise you.”

Huck chuckles as he stands next to me, tucking his thumbs in his boot loops. “My sweet pea is right, little lady. Humans damn sure didn’t create any of us; all you did was abuse and imprison us.”

“So dour!” The woman tsks, wagging her finger as she looks at each of us with an assessing eye. “That will make the ‘grumpy alpha’ lovers swoon, but it will also give you wrinkles. Be careful how often you do it.”

“Supes don’t get wrinkles—well, most don’t,” Thad corrects himself as he crosses his arms over his broad chest. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Rolling her eyes, the redhead walks over to the wall, pulling an armful of robes off of hooks, then coming back to us. “You will need to go behind your curtains and put these on with your undergarments. Today, my assistants and I will work on the following treatments to get you camera-ready: waxing, trimming, plucking, injecting, buffing, and modifications. Based on my initial assessment of your team, I realize you’re allverywell proportioned and physically fit, so we are going to really lean into the team name by making you fit the ‘rebel’ image completely. I’m going to message Krista to let her know you’ll be quite late for free time in order to get a good jump on the work we need to do.”

“Wait a minute, lady—” I protest, but she shakes her head.

“Nope! Not your decision and if I have to strap any of you down, I will, but this ismycanvas, and you will behave so I can give you the best chance at winning. I understand you may think, ‘But Gemma, you don’t own my body’ and you’d be right—except unfortunately, the FSHA owns every being in the camps and you all know it, even if you hate it.”

Sebastian looks ready to rip her throat out, and Elias seems similarly affronted, while Rory just sighs. He’s used to this sort of treatment, I suppose, which makes me sad. The mage won’t fight it and his expression is telling the rest of us we shouldn’t, either. The woman won’t hesitate to make good on her threat by his defeated gaze, so we’d best get this over with.

I hate this fucking timeline.

“Fine,” I reply before any of the guys get us tied up like we’re criminally insane. “We understand what you’re saying. But we don’t have to like it or you, nor do we have to be happy about it.”

Gemma smiles brightly. “But I promise youwill. My gift—though nothing like supernaturals—is to imbue your spirits into the looks I craft and I am well paid for it because I amthatgood. If you want to regain your freedom in victory, Miss Jolie, I promise your image is a large part of that. I will give you the power to draw followers and diehard fans with the crook of a finger. You’ve lucked out in getting the absolute best tech in the entire program, and I will prove it to you if you simply let me do my job.”

Thad grunts, tilting his head as he watches the woman plead with us, then finally nods sharply. “Fine. You’re good and we should listen. How does that translate to a twice a week class?”

“I’m glad you asked, Mr. Calvin!” Gemma beams as she hands him a robe. “This look will require several sessions of prep work—getting you to the full vision I have for you—and then maintenance, just as the name of the session suggests. We have to keep colors, sculpting, and all the small pieces that aren’tas permanent as body art and other modifications fresh for the cameras and media. You will, of course, destroy some of my work during events, which my team will correct as needed. It isworkto be the avatar of your themes, and we will work all the time.”

“Does that mean there’shomework, so to speak?” Rory asks in amusement. “Things we have to do outside of class?”

“Without a doubt, Mr. Stormbringer. We will provide you with kits containing everything you need for daily care of our artwork, and you will make certain to do as asked. If you don’t, we’ll know and that would be… unfortunate. Please don’t force me to notate files that way. I don’t want to end up covering far worse things than what I plan to do to your bodies.”

And there’s the threat of torture—what a great way to end our day.

I WONDER HOW YOU COMB YOUR HAIR SO THE HORNS DON’T SHOW

RORY

This is goingto be one of the most difficult classes for everyone but me and maybe the vampire. Vicious and her guys have been living this place, surviving off the scraps, and Dante was imprisoned. None of them are used to being pampered anymore, nor having people expect you to look like a picture perfect avatar of their species. I, however, spent the past four years being a well-taken care of concubine to more rich humans and powerful supes than I can count. Maintaining the ‘look’ of upper crust beauty was part and parcel for me; it wasn’t even an option to run about looking any less than fuckable.

They won’t have to do a lot of maintenance—I haven’t been traveling that long and many of the surface adjustments they’ll need to make on the others are normal upkeep for me. I’m shaven, tattooed, and pierced in plenty of places as it is… though I could use a little time under a sun lamp to help my glow, I suppose. I won’t fight whatever else they want to do, because I learned a long time ago that being appealing kept me in relative comfort and safety.

Mostly.

Sydney will give them hell in a handbasket when they pull a Miss Congeniality on her. I’d love to watch it, but I think if we all leave her alone, she might actually acquiesce begrudgingly when the ladies servicing her transformation explain why they are doing each thing. I can’t be certain they’ll treat her kindly rather than strap her down, but the attitude of Gemma as she spoke led me to believe she will reserve that for extreme issues.

The girl is naturally beautiful—not that she knows or recognizes it—but they’re going to make her shine like a newly cut diamond. That will hook the population of femme presenting worshippers in a blink, and if the talented assistants here do the same for the rest of this crew, we’ll have those who love males as well. There’s a cunning strategy at play in this set-up by our fascist government, one that allows them to distract the world from their cruelty with well curated content.

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