The investigation into the new Beneficiaries was quick. It had to be, as it was hard to find any information on the previous ones, and harder still the further back that Kit looked. He thought there would have been some kind of independent database, let alone a public listing on the primary Beneficiary Selection website, but even the Cryptic Dissent didn't have a list. It was a huge disappointment to Kit after not hearing from them for a week after the death of J, or Bimala-Jin Moon as he would learn while writing her eulogy.

It was the hardest that Kit had worked in his life. Luci did what he could to help the investigation, but being a stranger on a strange world meant that all she could really do was provide security while Kit sought out people to interview, and providing security just meant standing behind him with a large gun and a lethal scowl. Kit was looking for people that were in contact with any of the Beneficiaries that had just been chosen. It was a lot of work, especially considering how quickly their information seemed to disappear from public record, a fact that itself was very alarming to him, and something that was going to be a large part of the biggest story of his career.

After a week with almost no sleep, Kit and Luci had conversations with over 100 people at the expense of sleep, which neither of them were going to get anyway, especially after Miguel disappeared. Despite their careful safety considerations and the boy's understanding of the dangers, it wasn't enough to keep him from vanishing overnight.

The failures were mounting in Luci's head. Upon hearing the news from the guard that was stationed outside Miguel's quarters, she pushed the man into the wall and beat him relentlessly, but only doing damage to her own fists, choosing to hit the man's armor-plated garb instead of his face. Once she was finished letting her frustrations out, she threw the man to the ground and went to find Kit.

The moment she walked into his quarters, he could clearly see the frustration on her face. He gave her a respectful nod in greeting and tried to continue with his writing, but she continued approaching him, pressing into his personal space. He was almost a foot taller than her, but Luci carried a commanding presence that forced him back away from her until he was pinned against the wall. Her eyes were locked with his. They were filled with such furious anger that, for a moment, Kit wondered whether he was about to die. That moment passed when Kit recognized the gaze of a person that was on the verge of breaking down completely.

Without words, the two came to the understanding that they had built up and incredible amount of tension from the extreme stress they were under, and their bodies knew precisely how to release it. Even though neither was the other's preferred type, the passion they shared during their encounter was more powerful than either had experienced in years, and the hour of sleep they had afterward was enough to sustain them for the next couple of days.

The two never spoke of it. They were entirely consumed with the investigation. Eventually, they reached the end. Kit put the finishing touches on a series of extensive articles. The first contained dozens of interviews detailing the sordid history of most of the recent batch of Beneficiaries showing them in no uncertain terms to be manipulative, unempathetic, and often violent psychopaths toward nearly anyone who came into contact with them. The next article detailed information about the alarming number of disappearances throughout Voracity, many of whom appear to be children, people without BSI's, and other disadvantaged groups that could be easily exploited. The last article was the story of Minerva's Whisper, giving account to Luci's story. The beginning was a biography of her life before arriving on Voracia.

Luci was born on Virelia, in a system near the core of the Milky Way, 29 Earth-Standard years ago (42 Voracian years). Her planet was engulfed in civil war for decades, spurred by the Stellar Dynamics corporation, who would ultimately take over the planet for its resources. As society collapsed, her family was murdered, and she was abused and forced into human trafficking from a disturbingly young age.

She experienced many of the horrors humanity is capable of. For years, it was her way of life, until she seized the opportunity to escape her captors and join the growing rebellion against Stellar Dynamics, an insurgent group known as Virelian Valor. She rose quickly through the ranks, but despite her effort and drive, the rebellion failed and she was forced to flee her homeworld. Afterward, she leveraged her combat skills for work as an independent mercenary, eventually finding herself on Harmonix, another planet occupied and oppressed by Stellar Dynamics.

She was hired as security chief for Minerva's Whisper, a modified OTech ship that was being used to smuggle refugees off the planet. As soon as they jumped away, just like all of Voracia's settlers, they arrived in orbit around this planet, unable to jump back home, and unable to even find where home is.

The article also described all that was known about Rosa and Miguel, and also described how the entire crew and all of the refugees were killed by drones as soon as they landed on the surface, and finally, the article talked in depth about Val.

The woman was born as Amelia Walsh-Perez, daughter to Anton Walsh-Perez, the creator and CEO of Stellar Dynamics. Not much was known about Amelia's birthplace, age, or history, but was nonetheless very well known as an icon of decadence and wealth to an absurd level. She decided to try and escape it all, taking the identity of a refugee by the name of Valeria Morales to make it aboard Minerva's Whisper. After landing on Voracia, Amelia is suspected to have murdered a young boy in the secret Humanity Purist commune, Oasis of Tradition, and is known to have murdered a young hacktivist girl named Bimala-Jin Moon, also known as J. Only hours after Amelia had murdered the girl, she was selected as a Beneficiary, and was sent to the resort.

There was an implication and an underlying message to these articles. A conclusion that Kit couldn't quite reach, as he simply didn't have any evidence to back it up. He thought it was pretty clear, nonetheless. Something was terribly wrong in their perfect utopia. Once the articles were finished, Kit published them on his personal outlet, "Castillo's Kit with Kit Castillo," but also made sure to distribute it directly to the Cryptic Dissent and his own underground mirrors that could get the article out should Oracle object to it's contents. And Oracle did. Each of the articles vanished from his site within minutes of being uploaded.

The waiting was the worst part of putting up a new story. Usually, he would sit and stare at the view count as it ticked up, but he couldn't even do that. He had to trust that his mirrors and the Dissent were doing their thing. Luci wasn't content with just sitting around and waiting for whatever it was that Kit wanted to happen, so she started working on a plan.

Luci considered what her goals were. Fixing the problems of this society were all well and good, and much more noble than her overwhelming desire to execute revenge against Val, but above anything else, Luci just wanted to go home. She wasn't quite sure why. There was an omnipresent threat of death, torture, or any number of horrible things that might happen after she's disappeared, but her life within the Milky Way carried much of the same threat. Maybe it was just the familiarity that she was looking for.

As the days ticked on, Luci was starting to feel that maybe whatever's causing people to disappear may not be much of a threat to her at all. She had some idea of the capabilities required to take so many people in broad daylight, as seen with Rosa, or even from within the Atrium, as with Miguel. If she was going to be taken, it would have happened by now, and there wasn't much she would be able to do about it. Maybe they just, simply, didn't want her. It was an idea that simultaneously gave her comfort as well as feelings of inadequacy.

Her theory was proven when a few days after Kit had released his articles, he, too, was taken, and this time, Luci witnessed it with her own eyes, still disconnected from Oracle. Just when Luci and Kit had started to get complacent after Miguel's disappearance, they were walking outdoors, in the open air and broad daylight for the first time in over a week, when a large flying drone came down from the sky, encompassed Kit within it's padded arms, and flew off into the sky with him. The entire instance happened within a few seconds.

To her credit, Luci was able to train her rifle on the machine and fire before it was on Kit, but the bullet ricocheted off the machine's plating and whistled into the distance. It was only after the drone was gone that Luci realized that she recognized its style and markings, and in particular, the large caliber weapons attached to its arms. This was the model of drone that killed everybody aboard Minerva's Whisper.

The unrelenting grip of loneliness grew tight around Luci's throat. The feeling that had once been so familiar to her when she was a child was now returning with a vengeance. She still had Dinara and a few new connections within the Cryptic Dissent, but it only made Luci wonder for how long. It was another reason for her to try and find another way back home, but for days after Kit was lost, she fell into a deep depression and didn't want to do anything to alleviate her situation.

Luci felt like a complete failure. She had done hundreds of contracts previously, but they had all generally been combat operations. Hit jobs, destruction of supplies and infrastructure, a few transport security jobs, but never for human cargo. However, seeing the humanitarian disaster that was Harmonix unfolding even faster than on her own homeworld, she was unable to stay away. As soon as she signed the contract, she became responsible for everyone aboard Minerva's Whisper, until the moment they arrived at their destination. Never, in her wildest dreams, did she consider the possibility that she would lose every single one of the 7 other crew members and 28 refugees that she had sworn to protect.

To top it all off, whatever force had taken everyone away from her seemed to be wholly uninterested in her. She tried to frame it in her mind that Oracle, or the Benefactors, or whoever the hell it was simply feared her, but she knew it was a lie. She had lost all concern for her own safety, leaving her gun in her quarters as she left the Atrium and started exploring the city.

There was too much on her mind. She wanted most of it to go away, so she did what she always did at the end of a rough contract; sought out some strong alcohol, an array of potent uppers and downers, and some soft, warm flesh to partake in. Luci still hadn't had her BSI modified to interact with Voracity's network so she didn't have direct access to Oracle, but as she was standing in the street in full view of any number of cameras, only moments after simply appearing like she needed information, an android appeared from an alley and stood before Luci with a gentle smile.

"Can I be of assistance?" It asked.

"Uhh... Maybe... I'm looking for a place to drink, maybe do some drugs—whatever's legal, mind you—and a place to... 'mingle'... with other people." Luci was still cautious about her phrasing, regardless of everything she had heard about "personal freedom" in this society. Oracle responded through the android without hesitation.

"There is a brothel nearby by the name of Desire's Sanctum that can provide everything you requested. Would you like directions, or perhaps I can provide transport?"

A chill ran down Luci's spine. She already felt physically vulnerable without her gun or armor, and simply standing within arms reach of an android felt incredibly dangerous. Vulnerable, however, was precisely what Luci wanted to be. She had completely given up on trying to protect anyone, including herself, from the unstoppable forces controlling this planet. It was exhilarating, playing chicken with Oracle, and what better way than willingly stepping into an automated vehicle?

"Sure," Luci said, "take me."

It was a short, uneventful ride before the vehicle deposited Luci outside the front doors to Desire's Sanctum. The building itself had a sleek-gothic inspired design that was very pleasing to Luci's eyes, almost as much as the number of men and women in various states of sensual undress. Upon walking through the open front archway, Luci was quickly greeted by a pair of hosts, a man and a woman that, to her surprise, appeared to be fully human.

"Welcome to Desire's Sanctum," said one. "No requested desire within our power shall be left unrequited."

"Please, tell us, what is thy desire?"

The greeting was nice, but Luci felt embarrassed for simply having heard it. 

"With humble yearning, I entreat thee, my fair lady, to bestow upon my lips but a modest sip of the most resplendent libation that this noble establishment may proffer." Luci said with a smirk. The woman remained professional, but Luci could see the disdain in the woman's face as she guided her to the bar.

Within a minute, alcohol and narcotics were working into her system, and by the time she started to feel them, she was being guided by the hands of a pair of androgenous companions into a private room where Luci would spend the greater part of the next few days, though she would remember little of it.

There were moments where she thought she would die, moments when she wanted to, but the service was very practiced in keeping things from going too far, making sure she was well hydrated and never overdosed. There were also moments when the pleasures and pains she felt were enhanced and altered, providing an intense sensory overload like nothing she'd ever experienced, even to the point of making her believe that she was dead.

Luci was never a religious person. She had experienced horrors done to her and those around her, perpetrated not by unknowable monsters from beyond the darkness of space, but by very real monsters in human skin. She had heard about Gods and Heaven, and had cultural familiarity with religion, but whenever she tried prayer, she had never received an answer, and concluded that it was all a fairy tale. She was questioning that lifelong understanding. She had experienced a religious event, as far as she was concerned, that made her a believer.

She was starting to think that everything was connected, that Heaven was everywhere, and you only needed to look for it and believe. She started seeing messages on whatever display was in her vision. Messages from God. They told her to let go, to leave the place behind, and to follow their lead to find the light. She didn't know where the messages were leading her, but she followed without question. The divine script lead her out and away from the corporeal palace and to a chariot that carried her through past countless massive radiant spires until she was deposited on a path that guided her inside one of the structures. She was guided onto a plate that lifted her into the sky. Once it stopped, she followed a new stone pathway into a breathtaking view of endless blue and purple, with clouds of golden white, and toward her final destination, a being of pure light.

Blinding at first, the being came into focus as she approached. It took the shape of a young woman with hair and eyes that seemed to be the source of her ethereal splendor. When Luci was finally able to focus on her visage, she realized it was someone she knew. It was J. If there was any doubt in Luci's mind that it was an angelic being, the doubt disappeared when the angel opened her arms. Luci didn't resist, moving forward and falling to her knees, then wrapping her arms around the angel and pressing her face into it's warm, inviting chest. The angel held Luci against her and assured her that everything would be okay. For the first time since she was a child, Luci cried.

When Luci awoke, existence was much less inviting. She was in a dark and dusty room with maintenance equipment all around her that looked like it hadn't been touched in years. She was laying on the ground, but not by herself. Lucy was laying on top of a woman, soft and warm beneath her. When Luci got the strength to push herself up and look at who it was, she was surprised to see J, though instead of her beautiful red hair and eyes to match, her long locks were pure white, the same color as her now ghostly eyes. It was an Oracle android that looked to be designed based on J's image. Luci crawled away from it to a sitting position.

"Whaaat the fuck..." Luci said, not just referring to the J-droid, but to her setting and physical state as a whole.

"How are you feeling, Luci?" The android said, sitting up to look at her.

"Terrible," Luci said, slowly pushing herself up from the ground with a yawn and a stretch. Her pandiculation was a precise and practiced warm-up for the day, and part-way through the routine, she came to a pleasant realization. "Oh... actually, I'm feeling pretty good!"

"I am pleased to see it." The android stood up to meet Luci at not-quite-eye level. Luci looked her up and down, taking in the standard-fare Oracle dress she was wearing. It was pleasing to her eyes.

"Using a dead person's image?" Luci said, giving her a disapproving stare. "It seems a little insensitive."

"It is common practice for residents to have androids created based on the image of loved ones who have passed away."

"I never asked you to do that... nor did I ask you to meet me or do... whatever it is that we're doing right now," Luci said, but paused for a moment to search her memory. "Or... did I?"

"No, there was no such request made by you that I am aware of, but before we continue, you may have the impression that I am Oracle. I am not. Rather, I am a modified portion of Oracle's interfacial personality for the purposes of facilitating communication with the Cryptic Dissent. 'Prophet' is their chosen designation for me."

"The Dissent?" Luci was surprised. She didn't think she would ever hear from them again, then she registered the android system's name. "Prophet? Really? I guess that's cool. Well, what does the Dissent want?"

"What they want is to continue their work of exposing the Beneficiaries, Oracle, and perhaps the Benefactor's themselves."

"Fuck the Oracle and the Benefactors," Luci said, crossing her arms not unlike an upset child. "If they don't want me, then I don't really care what they want."

"That seems like a very impulsive response," Prophet said, "and incorrect, based on your history."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The people that Oracle is taking seem to be those most susceptible to victimization, a large number of them being children. From what has been revealed about yourself, unless you were lying, victimization of the defenseless is something that you cannot abide."

The lump in her throat and the pit in her stomach had returned after being absent during her vacation from reality. Even if Luci was able to overcome the incredibly powerful forces that governed this world, she knew that pit wasn't going anywhere. The only thing in her entire life that made it bearable was when she abandoned reality entirely, and forced herself to forget about the undeniable fact of humanity and the universe; that suffering is inevitable.

"If I can't seem to improve the lives of those around me," Luci said, facing an empty corner, "why shouldn't I just enjoy my own?"

"You certainly can. This is not an order or a demand, but a request from both the Cryptic Dissent and the Humanity Purists. A plea, if you will."

"Dinara?" Luci asked. The android affirmed with a nod. Luci looked at the ground. "I couldn't save them, not a single one. And when I do have the opportunity to try defending someone, I'm like an insignificant bug that is so little threat as to be ignored completely. What makes you think I could help anybody?"

"It is precisely because of your apparent invisibility to Oracle that we believe you could be a benefit to the Dissent and Purist's common cause, if you'll excuse the verbiage. I also want to point out that there is no verification that Kit, Miguel, or Rosa, let alone any of those that are missing may in-fact be dead," Prophet said. Luci looked at her, observing the form she had assumed. "If the possibility of saving any of them isn't enough, then how about revenge?"

Luci had thought about what she would do if Val, or Amelia, was within arm's reach, but she was starting to have doubts about whether she would ever be able to get to her, or that the satisfaction would be worth the effort. She was starting to wonder whether she should just stop worrying about it and enjoy this world as long as it doesn't seem to have it out for her. However, the idea of ignoring those that may need her help gave her no small amount of discomfort.

"How do you expect I can help?" Luci carried a tone that indicated her anger if they hadn't come to her with any kind of plan.

"The Dissent has been scraping and analyzing data from Oracle, and we have a working theory that could provide us with the likely candidates for selection as a Beneficiary. Furthermore, we have developed an update to the BSI compatibility modification that will mimic the meta signatures of a recipient, making you appear to Oracle as that person, effectively making you a Beneficiary."

It was quite the interesting prospect, though Luci didn't care much about being a Beneficiary. At the moment, she imagined that the only thing she would do at the resort would be exactly what she had been doing for the past few days. Or week. She wasn't quite sure how long it had been. She still wasn't confident that she could do anything to save anyone who had been taken, but she knew that she would likely be going to the same place that Amelia was at and would have 24 hours to find her.

"So," Prophet said, "what is your answer?"

"What happens if I say no?"

"The Dissent and the Purists will continue to pursue other avenues in their fight against the Benefactors and Oracle. They may continue to try and convince you to join their cause, but they have pledged peaceful contact only. They will not retaliate in any way."

Luci wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do. The request seemed like a lot of responsibility. She just wanted to return to a drug-addled sex fugue, and forget that reality exists at all. As Luci started thinking about what she wanted to do, she started thinking about the stories she'd heard, both here in Voracity and back home in the Milky Way, of towers made up entirely of people who abandoned their bodies altogether in favor of living as a brain in a case, forever in a perfect virtual reality. The idea was sounding more appealing the more she thought about it. She had already been considering biting the bullet and just getting her BSI modified, but she wanted to have her fill of purely analogue carnal pleasures before diving headlong into the digital ones.

After several minutes pacing the maintenance room of this abandoned building, Luci finally decided that she would assist the Cryptic Dissent and the Humanity Purists. Once she agreed, she was scheduled to have the BSI modification procedure on the following day in the Atrium. She returned to Desire's Sanctum for the night, and made sure that the staff would have her ready for the procedure before it started. They did exactly as she asked, and she was awake and fully sober at the time that she asked, but there was nothing they could do to assuage her feeling that it didn't last long enough.

The procedure itself wasn't much different from Amelia's. The primary change was installing a hardware firewall that allowed Luci to cut herself off completely from any connected network, while also containing a sideloaded program that used Oracle's sensory cloaking abilities against it, making Luci's digital footprint disappear completely. She could also use the program to mimic the image and signature of another person, though it would require the person she was mimicking to stop transmitting.

The Dissent floated the idea of having Luci kill the person that she was going to be replacing, but when Luci pushed back, they instead suggested that they could send the person a virus that could shut down the person's wireless transmitter. Luci was angry at them for not having suggested it first. She was surprised to hear them even suggest murder, but came to the understanding that most people in Voracity were so detached from real-world violence and death that they didn't consider the toll that happens to the killer, something Luci knew all too well.

According to the Dissent's research, the most likely female candidate to win the prize of Beneficiary was Fatima Singh. From her public profile, she seemed like a generally upstanding citizen, but based on the private data that Oracle had collected, the woman had a penchant for taking advantage of anyone she interacted with, often delighting in how cruel she could be. Luci was surprised to read the information, and questioned whether the Dissent really thought that she would be one of the next Beneficiaries. The Dissent informed her that they were as surprised as she was. Prophet had made the determination, and that every other likely candidate had very similar private lives.

The last thing that needed to be done before Luci could take the woman's place was to stop Fatima's BSI from broadcasting.

"How do you expect to be able to do that?" Luci asked as she paced in Dinara's office.

"We can use the same method we will be using on you," Prophet said, "making her invisible to Oracle and anyone with an active BSI."

"I don't know if that's such a great idea," Din said. "Making a psychopath invisible seems like it would cause much more harm than good."

"We agree," Prophet replied, "Which is why we recommend sending a command that will interrupt her brain from communicating with her body."

Dinara and Luci looked at each other with concern on their faces.

"Assuming her body is in a place where it won't be found," Luci said after a brief pause, "would she just lay there for days until death from dehydration or starvation?"

"No. The command would stop her heart as well, and she would experience brain-death within 4-6 minutes."

"Jesus," Dinara said. "That shit's really possible using the BSI's?"

Prophet replied to her with an affirmative, though Luci was already well-aware of the dangers. Even back in the Milky Way, the BSI's capability of monitoring and controlling autonomous bodily functions was explicitly laid out to any patient before getting the procedure, even to those who received the procedure from underground, unlicensed surgeons, as was the case with Luci.

"It is possible to send another command that overloads the BSI, using the implanted electrodes to fry her brain matter. While it is expected to be much quicker than the previous option, the process is still extremely painful," Prophet said. "If you are concerned about ending her life in the most humane way possible, we might recommend destroying her brain with a well placed round from your rifle."

The gun that Prophet was referring to was standing against a corner of the room, where it had been since Luci failed to protect Kit. Already, it had started gathering clutter around it. Back in the milky way, she had a confirmed kill count in the dozens, but each of whom had been done in defense of another person in immediate peril. She'd never killed a defenseless person. The idea didn't sit well with her, even if the person she would be killing was a violent psychopath. Prophet could see Luci's hesitation, and even if it wasn't being transmitted in real-time to the Cryptic Dissent, they would have been able to predict it.

"Nonetheless," Prophet said, "you must be within a short range of the subject in order for the identity transference to take place properly. If you have objections toward killing a person, then you may consider making sure she doesn't suffer for longer than necessary. Either way, you will need to be near her."

"Kill two birds with one... bullet..." Luci whispered to herself.

"Birds?" Dinara's ears perked up. "Have you seen birds before?"

"Y-yeah... You guys don't have birds here? I suppose I didn't see any on my way in."

"Not really... just chickens, turkeys, nothing that flies. There was a flock of cockatoos a long time ago, almost 200 I think, but they all died out pretty quick." Din stopped herself from getting carried away. "I'd like to hear more about the birds you've seen, but perhaps some other time."

The woman's obvious interest in ornithology was endearing to Luci, encouraging her to crack a genuine smile. With the Beneficiary's Gala only days away, Luci wasn't quite sure they would get the opportunity. After some more detailed planning based on Fatima's predicted itinerary, Luci received the new modification for her interface, thoroughly cleaned her rifle, and set out to find and trail her quarry.

As soon as she made it to the surface from the Atrium, Luci activated her BSI for the first time since she landed three weeks ago. Seeing the boot log and Bell-Westbrook startup animation released a flood of dopamine and sent shivers down her spine. As her HUD pulled up just the way she had set it, she saw a greeting by text from Lumina, or rather, a partition of Lumina's digital personality saved on her BSI's local memory. It was enough to make her feel at home. She sent a greeting in response and calibrated her targeting system with her weapon before activating the new cloaking feature built into the external firewall, and finally connecting to Voracity's network for the first time.

The test to make sure it was working was easy, simply walking into the first person she saw on the street. It was a man walking slowly with a half-dancing gait. Luci suspected he may not have been completely sober, but when she collided directly into him, nearly knocking him to the ground, it was a good sign that the man looked around, confused. The next person Luci shoulder checked was an older, more professional and alert-looking woman, who also responded with a confused expletive. She looked through Luci, not noticing her at all. With only two points of data, Luci already felt fairly confident that her cloaking program was working, but she continued to test it anyway, pushing people and knocking things out of their hands as a cathartic release of tension.

Once connected to the network, Luci was able to make contact with Dinara and Prophet, allowing them to guide her toward the target. When Luci found Fatima, she was walking past a bodega and through an alley. Luci followed her at a distance for nearly an hour, waiting for the Dissent to send the kill command to the unsuspecting woman's Brainstem Interface, trusting that they would only do it in a location where Luci would be able to fire her rifle without gaining attention.  The moment came when Fatima made a few turns through a winding tunnel, then suddenly dropped to the ground, limp and motionless. Luci's reaction was quick in lining her sights to the woman's head within a second of her collapse, but she hesitated. Luci considered whether the psychopath deserved to experience a few moments of agony as her brain became hypoxic. Ultimately Luci put a round into Fatima's temple before her abruptly isolated mind could process what had just happened. Ballistic shock ruptured most of the braincells that didn't explode out of the other side of the woman's cranium.

At the recommendation of her support team, Luci pulled the corpse into a maintenance access corridor. As she did, she also followed their instructions to enable the mimic program, taking Fatima's place. Luci then ran the Voracity BSI OS Shell and connected to the city network where she immediately saw her HUD change to match the customized appearance of the now dead woman. The choice of font, color scheme, and selection and placement of her widgets made Luci cringe. She was generally a fan of a minimalist style with a focus on readability and situationally relevant data, but Fatima's setup was all over the place, and it took a moment for Luci to realize just what she was looking at. On either side of her facing direction were chatrooms, direct message logs, and video forums. The motion of the autoplaying videos immediately caught her attention.

They were videos of people, often tied up, being slapped, beaten, and worse. Some were nude, and some appeared to be questionably young. When Luci scrolled down to see a dog in one of the videos, Luci closed the window before even a moment of it began to play. The chatrooms and DMs, while devoid of images or videos as far as she could tell, still contained dialogue describing much the same content in the form of roleplays and fantasy discussions. Luci didn't read anything particularly explicit, but she read enough to see the malicious power dynamics at play. When one of the DM's pinged with a message asking Fatima about her favorite sounds that an animal can make, Luci closed the chat and all the others.

After assuming Fatima's identity, all that she needed to do was wait for the call. She didn't need to go to the gala, and even if she did, she would be able to change her appearance digitally, but something about the event interested her. She had never gone to any such high-class gathering. It was the kind of thing she had always scoffed at, something simply for the ultra-rich to flaunt their money.

My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. My best friend just died. 

On this world, however, high fashion and elegance was available to everyone, Luci included. The highest quality attire that she had ever owned was her armor, which was just about the highest quality that could be purchased after her first lucrative mercenary contract paid out. She loved the armor and wore it often enough to think of it as a second skin, but now she had growing interest in showing more of her first. Luci left the woman's corpse and returned to the surface.

Luci had never realized just how good it felt to be online. She had a bit of trouble finding settings and certain apps, which was completely understandable after a century being separated from the Milky Way, let alone being customized by a clearly disturbed person that's basically free to do anything. Luci was nervous about opening her web browser to start looking up how-to's, and she was right to, as the first page that popped up with a combination hemo-coprophilia site with a focus on living decay that made Luci's stomach churn. She was going to click the home button, but wondered whether Fatima's homepage could have been even worse, so she instead went to the search bar. She typed in "Cute Puppies," but again hesitated, wondering how Oracle would have interpreted the request. Luci finally decided on searching for images of serene mountains and lakes to refer back to if it was needed.

In another browser tab, she started searching for guides to Voracia's BSI settings and how to access a map widget comparable to that which Luci desperately missed from her own HUD. She'd had some experience studying maps of the city and region on mobile displays, but it was nothing compared to the fully immersive experience with augmented reality overlays. When Luci selected the search option on the map, a miniature, floating representation of an Oracle android appeared, a waifish person that would have been androgenous were its penis not clearly visible. Luci was quickly starting to learn Fatima's type, and she wasn't a particular fan.

"What are you looking for, mistress?" Oracle asked in a small, submissive voice.

"Take me to a high quality clothier. Someplace known for making outfits for the Gala."

"Yes, mistress, right away."

"Don't refer to me as mistress anymore. I would like you to call me 'Luci.' And put some clothes on, while you're at it. Maybe add a little more meat to your bones."

"Yes, Luci," Oracle said as it became wrapped in a fine grey suit and gained a little muscle to fill it in nicely. While Oracle ordered an automated cab, it also described the nearest high-profile clothier, Sovereign Ensemble, pulling up images and short videos as it spoke. It was as good a place as any.

When Luci arrived at the boutique, one of the first things she noticed was a mirror outside the front entrance. As she stepped in front of it and saw her reflection, she felt chills shoot down her spine. She looked exactly like Fatima, albeit wearing her signature armor. However, as she looked at the mirror, the combat gear she was wearing faded and changed into an elegant spaghetti-strap pencil dress. Luci instinctively turned to see how the fabric hugged her slender body and couldn't help but smile. After a few seconds, the dress changed to another, and another. Luci went through nearly a dozen outfits, each one releasing a rush of endorphins into her brain, before realizing that the outfits she was looking at were dynamically generated based on a long list of randomized attributes. She stepped into the boutique and began browsing the pre-fabricated clothing on offer.

Dresses weren't exactly her thing. Luci had never worn one in her life, in fact. As soon as she figured out how to wear the first dress she grabbed, she slipped into it and suddenly felt almost nude. Without straps, she had to ditch her bra, and constantly worried that she was going to fall out of it. The feeling of the open air between her thighs was also a very strange feeling, but when she looked at herself in the mirror, she loved what she saw, even if it wasn't exactly her. Luci tried on as many styles of dresses as were available in the boutique, eventually settling on a dark red off-the-shoulder pencil dress that glimmered brilliantly in the light. She thought it was a moderately comfortable fit, but when she took the dress to the shop owner to confirm her selection, the owner handed the dress off to the autotailor, which made adjustments based on measurements done on Luci's body in the changing room. Putting the dress back on afterward was a night-and-day difference, with every fold and bend conforming perfectly with her body.

Hours were spent in the store, a fact that surprised Luci, especially considering how averse to shopping she was, but she felt beautiful in a way that she had never felt before, which made it all worth it. When she returned to the Atrium, she received a few looks from Din, and nothing from Prophet, but she didn't mind. After changing back into her standard outfit, she spent the rest of the day talking with Dinara about birds, mostly the ones that populated her home world of Virelia before it's ecosystem collapsed. Luci couldn't remember if they were of old-Earth origin or many details beyond simply seeing them flying around, but she talked as much about them as she could. Din was enthralled nonetheless.

As relaxing as her drug-fueled sex-fugue was, Luci found that simply chatting with Dinara about pleasant things was similarly relaxing, and comforting enough to carry her into a restful sleep.

The skies above on the day of the Gala were immaculate, as they always were. It was the benefit of selecting the location of a settlement based on incredibly detailed data gathered from highly accurate sensors and lengthy atmospheric and geological studies. Luci donned her dress and met with Dinara one more time before leaving for the gala. Neither of them were exactly sure what was going to happen. In the best-case scenario, Luci would find a way home, and Din may never see her again, and the worst cases would have the same result. Din gave Luci a warm, tight hug, something that neither of the women had felt in quite some time.

"I'll be watching for as long as I can, but I expect there's a firewall around the resort." Dinara said.

"I have uploaded a partition of myself onto your local memory," Prophet said, "which may provide some tactical support should you need it." Prophet was standing emotionless, and it made no gestures showing intention for physical contact. Even so, Luci felt awkward in treating it like everyone else did; like it was a thing, which it was. 

"Good luck, Luci," Dinara said, holding Luci's shoulders.

"Same to you, Dinara." Luci placed her hands on top of Din's. She then moved to the door, picking her rifle up and slinging it across her shoulder. It may not have felt strange to Luci, but it would certainly look strange to any onlookers if the gun wasn't also dynamically removed from their visions. She did get curious looks from people in the Atrium, but as soon as she returned to the surface, nobody batted an eye.

Arriving at the Gala this time was much different than in the previous month. When she stepped into an automated cab, she gave Oracle her destination of the Beneficiary's Gala. On Oracle's suggestion, Luci agreed to be dropped off in front of the main entrance, for the full red carpet experience. What she saw when she arrived was beyond her expectations.

The ingress into the main hall of the Gala was a breathtaking display of distilled opulence. The carpet was primarily the deep red that was expected, but was inlaid with fine golden designs that carried the eye forward. On either side of the carpet was a crowd of hundreds with dozens of small camera drones floating above them, all trying to get a look at whoever was arriving, which was Luci at that moment. Being the center of attention with hundreds of cameras and eyes on her made Luci feel like she was being cooked alive, but there was a tingle in her core that made her understand why many people would seek that attention. She could feel the rifle strapped to her shoulder, but not one of the faces appeared to notice it. Everyone was focused on her beautiful red dress, for which she received several cheers and a generous applause.

It was hours before the selection would happen. There were many different areas to visit that she had no interest in the last time she was here. In particular, she had read about the gourmet dining lounge where the best food in the city is served, and chefs are able to try out bold new dishes. The smell wafting from the dining lounge spread through the gala like wildfire. It irresistible to Luci. She began looking through the digital menu. The main dish was the Celestial Lamb Rack, marinated in a blend of Voracia-hybrid herbs and spices, grilled to perfection and served with a side of truffle-infused polenta and roasted pure-Earth vegetables. The meal was displayed in front of her in high definition, complete with the mouth-watering aroma. Luci didn't need to see anything else, she ordered a plate immediately. She received a countdown of a half hour, long enough for her to visit the fashion extravaganza and gawk at all of the phenomenal attires unlike anything she'd ever seen in the Milky Way.

After watching the fashion show and gorging on her succulent lamb meal, Luci had enough time to visit the auction to find out how an auction works on a planet without a traditional currency. When she applied to join the auction, Luci was shown a public status ranking from which her auction points were derived. The number, Fatima's number, was incredibly high, though Luci had nothing to compare it with. She didn't care how much she had, since it wasn't actually her that the social status ranking was based on. Even so, Luci did not end up bidding on any of the Old-Earth artifacts, fine art, or services on display. The last event before the Beneficiary selection was a live performance, and interpretive play that was bolstered by a swarm of drones and high-tech machines. Luci wasn't very well versed in analyzing interpretive narratives, but she was able to gather that it was a story about the life cycle of a star.

It was a spectacle, whether she understood it or not. The astonishment didn't end at the conclusion of the set as it blended seamlessly into the introduction of the Gala's ever-grinning host. He rose from the floor under the veil of colorful mist, and emerged into a wall of excited cheer. Luci was swept up in the fervor, cheering along with the rest of the crowd.

"Welcome, one and all, to the monthly Beneficiary's Gala!" The host waived his cane to punctuate his words, and the crowd erupted again. Luci did remember the spiel from last month, but she was much more invested this time.

"In just a few moments, 21 of you will be chosen to embark on an extraordinary journey to the Beneficiary's Resort, a sanctuary where every desire is fulfilled, and freedom knows no bounds. Hold your breath and embrace the excitement, for the Beneficiary Selection begins now!" The host paused for the cheers and posed for the cameras before continuing. Our first Beneficiary is Sofia Yamamoto!"

This would be the first opportunity that the Cryptic Dissent would have to find out how accurate their predictions would be. Luci had seen a list of the most likely candidates, but she couldn't remember many of the specific names. She only wondered how long she would have to wait before Fatima's name would be called. It wasn't long, however.

"Beneficiary number six is Fatima Singh! Congratulations!" The host said.

Luci had completely forgotten that Fatima was the name she was listening for, only realizing that she had been called when the flying throne-drone approached her. Her surprise was genuine when the chair shot confetti into her face. She looked around, seeing the crowd part and start applauding her. When her brain finally caught up to the situation, Luci took a seat on the throne, tucking her dress under her thighs and grinning awkwardly. The chair only carried her 10 meters to the stage, but Luci maintained a white-knuckle grip on the arms the entire way. She couldn't imagine being whisked across the city.

Once the throne arrived at the stage, Luci rose from the seat and an Oracle android warmly ushered her into the transport that was waiting behind the stage. The android deposited her into the common room with the other five Beneficiaries. After going to the bar and ordering a light cider with no additives, Luci walked around the space, listening to the conversations of the other Beneficiaries without joining in. She avoided making direct contact with anyone as more continued to trickle in.