Calista Elise Medley

  Socializer

  Level 407

  REP: 78/100

  SB: 87%

  EB: 70%

  MB: 85% Needs Attention

  Flaw Level 23

  FP: 8/10

  Calista’s designer pen flitted in the air, leaving behind glowing, hovering lines that traced out a brand-new dress for her personal portfolio. Since these were rough drafts that didn’t give away too much, the fans were allowed to see the design process, so the micro-cameras were on.

  She was in the middle of her spacious, pastel-pink-themed room, her hover-chair rotating slowly so she could see the potential new dress from all perspectives. “I feel like that skirt’s a little curvy…” Calista said aloud. She preferred working silently, but if she wanted to keep viewers engaged, she had to explain her process. She lifted her arm to edit it, wincing at the uncomfortable sensation in her ballooned arm.

  She hated this look. She looked ridiculous, everything hurt now, and sleeping was a nightmare, so she had to take so much sleep aid that her capsule had to alert her three times to wake up that morning. All her sleeved tops were puffed up to accommodate the new size. She winced at another flare-up and put her arm down, pretending to stare at the new dress thoughtfully. How was she supposed to dance like that?

  Right… the choreography. She had to find time to come up with a different, ‘non-violent’ routine. It was all the way back to Level 1, as it always was with her mother nitpicking everything she did.

  “Do you need help?” nine-year-old Quinlan asked, sitting on Calista’s sleep capsule. He peeked at her through his shaggy black hair, his gray eyes showing concern. He’d entered her room without permission and tried bugging her, bringing entertainment to the fans and a distraction for Calista. She appreciated his presence.

  He was busy on his Pet screen, which was projected from the hovering, silver sphere. He was as tech-savvy as Katelyn, making his own AU Games. They were very basic at the moment, sticking to runner games and some DanceSim routines, which Calista loved to test out for him, since she loved playing DanceSim to relax. She saw him going far in the gaming industry, even as an Earthian.

  And as long as she stayed the ‘heir’, both he and Katelyn would do so.

  “You’d mess it up,” she joked, answering his question.

  “Why don’t you add some devil horns to it?”

  “Shut up.”

  “Or make the skirt fart out a rainbow.”

  Calista genuinely laughed, seeing the fans’ amused reactions popping out of the viewer tracker. Quinlan’s tag popped up:

  Quinlan Medley

  Socializer Relative

  Level Up!

  84 -> 85

  For their Relationship, their bar had just surpassed Best Friend status. Calista wanted to be closer to him, but the chaotic life of her channel and getting into school barely left her any time to spend with her siblings.

  On her holo-call desk, a screen appeared. Calista turned, thinking it was some message from her mother about another Mod Spa appointment, or an order to apologize for who-knows-what-else. There was always someone somewhere getting uber-offended about something, usually something they previously supported.

  ‘DON’T SAY ANYTHING,’ the screen said. Calista quirked her brows, confused. It followed with, ‘THEY CAN’T SEE THIS’.

  The all-caps was worrying her. What had happened? Was it some unhinged fan? Were they threatening the family again?

  ‘I’M HACKING YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOW.’

  Katelyn. What on Earth? Was she out of her mind? Calista returned to her designing, trying to act casual. “Went into sleep mode for a second,” she said with a small, ‘cute’ laugh. “Uber-distracted, am I right?” she squealed, making herself cringe. Despite how stupid she felt, it worked:

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  Charm +3

  Manipulation +2

  She glanced at Quinlan, who continued programming his game. She had to act as casual as him. “Anyways… right. The skirt.” She held her breath to bear the pain in her right arm as she retraced the line. She couldn’t take any more pain meds for the next few hours, so she had no choice but to put up with it.

  ‘THEY’LL SEE A LOOPING GENERATED FEED. WE ONLY HAVE TEN MINUTES.’

  A timer counting down from five seconds appeared. When it ended, the viewer tracker disappeared and Katelyn walked through the previously-locked door. The timer restarted, now starting from ten minutes.

  “What are you doing?” Calista closed her design platform and stood. “If Mom finds out, she’ll kill you.”

  “‘Hacking’ means she won’t find out,” Quinlan pointed out.

  Katelyn’s green eyes briefly glanced at Calista’s modded arms with concern. “I have something to tell you, and I need you to listen with an open mind and a calm mood.”

  Quinlan’s eyes widened and he closed his game. Calista stared at her. “…You’re scaring me.”

  “Just listen. First off… I haven’t been honest with you.” Katelyn looked down and played with her crooked nails, her blond bob shading her face. Calista always preferred her old, long hairstyle, but after the incident at the Sociapalooza, Katelyn had stuck to short hair. “I’m sorry, Cali. I just knew that if I told you, eventually you’d have to tell Mom— I know you’re not a Rat Bug, but with how she is with you, I figured she’d eventually break it out of you, and if something happened-”

  “Okay, okay, slow down. What didn’t you tell me?” Calista put her hands on Katelyn’s shoulders, ignoring the pain.

  The 16-year-old held her breath, then burst out saying, “I don’t work at the museum.” She took another deep breath and continued with, “I work at a bar- a hacked bar… on Genesis X.” After she told Calista the whole story, Calista had collapsed into her hoverchair, processing the news.

  “Did…” She looked at Quinlan. “Did you know about this?”

  “Duh,” he said.

  “Quin,” Katelyn scolded.

  Her little sister was around all these… ruffians and barflies, all species that were so much stronger than Earthians. Her sister who was barely two years younger than she was, yet Calista saw her as a baby. She had been there for a year?!

  She found it hard to believe that the vice president of the best fighting school in the country would be at some random hacked bar, but Katelyn assured Calista it was him, and Calista was one of the few people Katelyn was (mostly) honest with. This wouldn’t be something she made up.

  Five minutes were left on the timer. “Don’t you realize what you’re asking me? I can’t go up to a hacked bar with you to meet Benson Kalley! And what’s the point, anyway? I’m stuck with this stupid Socializer school now!”

  “Maybe you’re not. This is a cosmic opportunity, Calista! If he gives you a chance and sees you have potential, you could go there and get out of this.”

  Calista laughed. She couldn’t see any way she could ever be in her preferred profession with a family like this. How would she explain her absence? How would she cover those hours of empty broadcasting? What would she tell her mother? How would she keep her from finding out?

  “Okay, let’s say I got and meet him tomorrow and somehow get away with it. Then what? I apply to the school? How am I supposed to pass?” she said, humoring Katelyn.

  “You’re good at fighting, Cali,” Katelyn insisted.

  “I haven’t trained since starting this stupid channel.”

  “You defended me last year-”

  “And look where that got us. Isn’t body-modding illegal there, anyway?”

  “You can reverse the-”

  “Look at me!” Calista burst, standing again and showing her Thickened arms. She felt tears rising to her eyes, but she wouldn’t dare set them free. “How would I ever fight like this? She won’t let me go back to normal. I’ll have to take all these meds and stuff to recover. And what will I tell all the girls watching us after I thin my arms back?”

  Katelyn only stared at her. Unlike Calista, she let her tears run down her fair cheeks. Quinlan stared blankly, but through his usual, apathetic expression, there was emotion in his eyes.

  “You know what I got in today’s fan messages?” Calista said, her voice cracking. “A six-year-old girl showing that she blew up her face and hands because she wanted to support BBS, too. Because I inspired her. Six years old, Kate. And her idiot mom was right there, all smiley and happy, thanking me. Her skin was all red, her face looked like it would burst… she could barely speak.” She inhaled, trying to swallow her tears. “Imagine what she’ll feel when she sees me deflating, saying I changed my mind. She doesn’t know how long it takes to get better. She doesn’t know how painful it is, and her mother won’t tell her the truth.”

  Calista sat down again, grunting at the sharp pain in her thighs. She hated this body. She hated this life.

  She hated herself.

  “You’re going to deflate eventually,” Katelyn reminded her. “Someone’s going to say it’s insensitive after a while.”

  “After a while. It’ll be a long time, and I won’t be able to go to that school. I’m all messed up. Years of carving, growing, shrinking, coloring…” Calista looked at the timer. Three minutes, twenty seconds left.

  “You can still do it. If you start now, you could flush it all out of your system.” Katelyn brought another hoverchair from the corner so she could sit with her.

  “I would always watch those people… amazing people.” Calista looked forlornly out the window. “All the incredible things they can do with a simple Earthian body. They looked so fast, and strong, and… free. And yet, they can stay exactly the way they were born. No mods, no additions, nothing to make them stronger. Just them and the suit.”

  “And you will be one of them. Take this chance. It’s like a Godsend!” Katelyn took her dainty hands.

  “Cali,” Quinlan said. “Something like this will never come up again. It’ll be really stupid if you waste it.”

  Calista didn’t want to admit he was right. It wasn’t worth the risk. She wasn’t meant to do what she wanted; she was meant to suffer so her siblings could do what they wanted.

  “I’ll take care of everything, I promise,” Katelyn continued. “If I could lie about my job for a year, I can come up with something for tomorrow. At least talk to him.”

  “What’s the point, Kate? What’s going to happen to you both if I don’t keep this up?” Calista stared at her sister’s face. Still pretty, still natural, still… hers. Never inflated, or sucked dry, or altered in any way. Never affected by artificial enhancement or sickness mimicry used to show ‘support’ by making it a new ‘look’ for attention. The most she’d ever done was sparkling her eyes, and that was enough.

  She always felt a little envious of her. Katelyn didn’t need any alteration to look perfect.

  “Don’t worry about me. Quin and I… we have our ways.” She looked at their brother, who nodded in agreement. “We’ll find a way out. But you’re pretty much stuck, and you only have one possible way to escape. I’m not going to let you pass it up.”

  “We’re not,” said Quinlan, finally standing from the capsule.

  Calista felt insane. Did she really think she’d get away with this?

  They were right, though. This was her only chance.