An offer she could not refuse

In the training grounds.

"Level ten" commanded Cha'Rolette.

"Duchess, safety protocols do not allow..."

"Level ten," she repeated, even more firmly

The computer beeped in the affirmative. The room expanded out around her into a great rolling desert. Thirteen great hounds made of metal grew up from the floor and attacked. Cha'Rolette jumped to the side as one came down with razor sharp claws right where she had been standing.

She spun around in the air and sliced with her hand. An invisible blade cleft the machine in two. It collapsed to the ground, black fluids spilling out like blood. Four more leapt at her but she flew high into the air, her ta'atu glowing brightly with a golden light. As they passed beneath her, she thrust out her hand and one exploded from within.

The parts hung in a cloud without falling, and then she swept her hand aside, and the pieces of metal flew through the air like shrapnel, shredding apart two more as they tried to creep up behind her.

She spun around, looking for the rest, when she noticed Gerald watching her from up on the observation deck.

"I've been looking for you," he said.

Two hounds crouched low with a mechanical hiss, and then pounced at her, one from the left and one from the right. She dropped down beneath them and brought her hands together. With invisible hands they were pulled together, colliding in midair where she had been, and crushed flat, spraying out black liquid everywhere.

"No one asked you to," she spat. She clenched her fist and another hound's head crumpled like a tin can.

"You looked upset, I thought we could talk."

Her ta'atu curled up and she surfed quickly along the sand. Two of the beasts matched her speed, sprinting alongside her as she crested a sand dune. She kicked out with one leg, and a blade of invisible energy passed through one of them, severing off all four limbs. It fell to the ground and skidded to a halt, while its companion released a gout of fire from its maw. She stopped and brought her hands up to her temples, and the fire parted and passed around her without doing any harm. Then, she thrust up and something punctured the machine from below, skewing it up into the air.

"I'm tripling the food donations I'm making to your mission each week"

"That is very kind of you."

Cha'Rolette leaned back, falling to the ground just as a hound flew past her from the side, its metal jaws snapping shut where her head had been only a moment before. She kicked up with a leg and the machine was split from head to crotch.

"We've also merged two of the smaller delivery companies, which means we have one more building than we need on the south side. I'm thinking it would make a good mission site."

As she rose to her feet, a hound pounced on top of her. She held out her hand and it hit an invisible wall.

"You are very generous. Opening up a third mission will allow us to bring in more people; a lot more good will be done. But that is not why I am here. I came to find out why you are so angry."

She picked up her hand and the hound was plucked up into the air. It struggled, kicking with its limbs as it was lifted high above her.

"I'm not angry."

When another hound circled in, she dropped her hand and the one she held came crashing down on top of it, destroying both.

"Why should I care? I'm a Ssykes, the number one student in this school."

When she turned to look at the final hound, her eyes glowed brightly, and it backed away in fear. As it tried to turn and run, she charged straight at it, slamming it with a wall of energy that picked it up and smashed it flat against the wall of the arena.

"I can have any man I want. Why should I even notice a little flea like you? You are beneath me."

"Okay, I guess this was a mistake. I'm sorry to have bothered you" said Gerald as he turned to walk away.

As he walked away, she stood there amid the destruction and debris, breathing heavily, sweat rolling down her face. The sand was soaked with black ichor all around her.

"You were drooling over her."

Gerald stopped. "What?"

A droplet fell off the tip of her perfect little nose. "You couldn't stop staring at her, right there in front of everybody. You were like some kneebo in heat."

Gerald scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, I was kind of startled. That's not something you see every day."

She stood up, looking sad. "You've never looked at me that way."

"You know I try not to do that."

Alone there in the center of the arena, she wrapped her arms around herself. "I know, but... it hurts me when you do." She looked up at him. "Can't you just be a real person, just for once?"

Gerald moved to deny, but the way she was looking at him was completely disarming. There was no pride in her eyes, just a simple honest pleading. This was the real Cha'Rolette.

Gerald leaned forward against the railing and looked at his hands. "You... are probably the most physically beautiful woman I have ever seen," he admitted.

"Then why hide what you feel? Why not just be yourself?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because..." He looked away. "Because naturally I am lazy, deceitful, greedy, jealous, and prideful. The rest of you deserve better than that. I can't afford to simply wallow in who I am, I must be better than that."

She looked at him with sympathy. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

Gerald climbed over the railing and landed down in the sand. "Where's the big guys?"

"My keepers? They have some business to attend to. I'm not to leave campus."

Cadbury flopped down and got her head stuck in the sand.

"Perfect. You know what cheers me up when I'm feeling down?" he asked as he jogged up to where she was.

"Do you ever feel down?"

"Only when I'm not helping people." He ran up and put his hand out. "Come on, the kids have been asking about you."

"You know I can't. I have evening tutors."

"It'll be okay, I got someone to take your place."

She furrowed her brow. "What?"

* * *

In the Dorav Building, a very angry and very pink copy of Cha'Rolette sat in the chair before an aged tutor.

"Calculate the circumference of a gellar field in the absence of necass."

"Energy in taus divided by the radius cubed, invert the remainder," the copy grumbled, entering her answer into the computer.

The tutor squinted with her grey fading eyes and put her hand up to her hairy ear. "Oh, your voice sounds so sweet today, Duchess. You must be in love."

Cha'Rolette's copy suppressed a snarl.

"Now explain in thirty thousand words or more the historical repercussions of the B'Hejegrah uprising."

She grabbed her ta'atu and pulled on them, her pink ringlets stretching as if they were made of rubber. "Blerg!"

* * *

Cha'Rolette's jaw hung open. "How in the world did you get Zurra to help you spend time with me?"

Gerald gave a roguish little grin. "I made her an offer she couldn't refuse."

* * *

One hour earlier, Zurra folded her arms defiantly. "Not a chance. If that baguette-head was on fire I wouldn't spit on her to put it out."

Gerald rolled his eyes. "Well, that's not a very nice thing to... wait, you can't spit."

"I can do anything I want."

"You don't have any salivary glands... or any organs for that matter. Come to think of it, how do you eat?"

"You don't think I can spit? Just watch me." She leaned back and snorted up a big loogie in her mouth, then hocked it forward. The big pink droplet hung down from her lips awkwardly. She clumsily shook her face about, but it wouldn't snap off.

"You are a class act, Zuri, don't let anyone ever tell you different."

Zurra sucked the droplet back up into herself. "I'm still not helping you."

"Oh, but I think you'll want to after I offer you something in trade."

Zurra turned her head. "There is nothing you could..."

Gerald leaned forward and whispered into her ear. "If you do this for me, I'll show you what my ideal woman looks like."

Her eyes shot open.

* * *

An hour later, Cha'Rolette looked upon Dyson with new eyes. "An offer she couldn't refuse, huh? Perhaps there's hope for you yet."