Shannon frowned. "So, what, Brayden lost his chances with most of the women who would have actually been on his Team?"
"Worse. There weren't enough men in the pool when this happened to really show a spread of options and scores. The pairings were decent, so the ladies tended to accept what they thought was the best they'd get, but none of them got the opportunity for what we are sharing with Adam. Add the fact that this meant the average compatibility with Brayden was much lower, and it resulted in a lot of predictable friction for the cameras to eat up."
***
Late June 2020
The ladies had indeed emerged from their rooms over the next few days, like a multitude of beautiful butterflies breaking free of their cocoons. That is where all similarity to butterflies ceased for the vast majority of the contestants. Even in the introductory day or two, before the first event was announced, they began rapidly forming into cliques and clubs meant to tear down their opponents and get at the prize: the penis of one Brayden Tremaine. About a quarter of them weren't shy about offering their bodies to him before the games even began, whether it was because they thought he was a good lay, KNEW he was a good lay (a couple of prior shows did get a bit steamy behind the scenes), or for a competitive edge. By day two, he thought he was going to lose his mind before the real filming got started.
Sheila helped. When the cameras weren't around, she helped steady him and catch him up on gossip that he wasn't tracking about some of the girls. Brayden found himself hoping that about two thirds of the contestants flunked out early, since he had no desire to have them in the same room for more than a quick screw and scram. And not even that for a couple of them. He really wondered how people like that had managed to be among the best available for him to match with. It just... didn't seem right.
Filming the intro finally arrived, and he got to announce that the themes of the competition would be domestic skills, teamwork, and then individual appeal. In that order. He'd been allowed to decide that much for the show, since he'd be the one stuck with them forever. Brayden hoped that cooking and cleaning would immediately disqualify most of the worst offenders. The writers designed the challenges, though. The ladies all had rooms to maintain and apartments to share, so the first competition would be to get them configured, organized, and decorated. Brayden's disappointment was immense. Almost as immense as when the judging was done and half the contestants sent home, and he received word that his first pairing had been picked for him. London Forrest. Possibly his least favorite person presently in MTV's employ.
***
Shannon facepalmed. "They HAD to know that was a really bad pick. How'd she even get past the round about domesticity, anyway?"
"By convincing the others in her apartment to follow her directions and present a united theme. She did a lot of pointing and insulting, plus a little bit of hanging up pictures, while the others did the dirty work." Callie's face betrayed the disgust she felt at those words. "Still, you're right that it was a terrible pick. Probably the worst real compatibility of anyone present. Just... the choice was bad for a different reason than you think."
***
Two days later
Brayden looked at the shoebox in his hands and shuddered a bit. Knowing what was in it was a weight on his mind well beyond the mere ounces that gravity decided its contents weighed on a scale.
In what would no doubt be filmed for drama, he had gone around to find two of the ladies competing for positions on his Team. Two he felt comfortable with, who liked him and had worked well with him before. He'd gone to Lindsey's room first, the sweet girl with the Hollywood-nerd vibe, gone right past her apartment-mates, and talked to her directly. Asked her, plain as day, for a wild romp in her bedroom before he was tied down by his first pairing.
She'd blushed, smiled, and nodded. Then blushed more when her apartment-mates cheered. They'd closed the door, he had put on music which he knew MTV didn't have the rights to so that the audio feed would cut, at a volume a step or two louder than normal so that they'd have another layer of protection.
Lindsey realized something was up when the music came on, she was always sharp, and when he'd pressed down into her and whispered his plan in her ear she'd confirmed she got it by squeezing her vaginal muscles on him twice. And then they had a wild romp for about fifteen minutes, because why waste the opportunity?
He'd always been known for making the "walk of shame" into a "strut of pride," and had confidently returned to his room to get cleaned up and ready for the next step. When the knock came at his door, he'd already known who it was going to be. Clara did most of her television on survivalist shows and hiking treks. Though they hadn't ever been on the same shows before this one, they'd hit it off when they crossed paths in the social scene. She, apparently, was jealous and wanted what Lindsey had gotten. It took some extra effort to get started, but it was well worth it. Especially when he whispered the start of phase two to her
She left before long, and so did he. Passing by the room where the medical team was administering the first of the injections to London so that she'd be fully ready in the morning, waiting to see the lights on the camera go out as Sheila used her production access to temporarily cut the recording, to the display box that held the other three doses, unlocked now due to the medics needing access.
His phone vibrated against his hip. Lindsey had come through with three numbers: 92, 89, 81. Then another, 42. He knew it. A third text came through, a mail icon with a running man next to it. Time to go.
He left the box, transferring the three remaining injections to a cushioned shoebox and closing the display. He swung by his room to grab a backpack he'd discreetly packed in the closet while rummaging for other things, hidden by hanging clothes. He got to the emergency escape stairway, shoved a paperclip into a small hole that would make sure the alarm didn't sound, and waited perhaps sixty seconds for Sheila, Lindsey, and Clara to show. Clara made sure the doses were administered without the fuss the show was trying to make over it, and the three escaped into the night.
Six hours later, in a cheap hotel on the outskirts of Seattle, the three ladies were bonded to Braden.
***
"I've taught High School for a decade, and I've never seen a stunt that took as much guts as that. Look at the layout! The sheer number of cameras everywhere!"
"And the production team thought they'd just gone to sleep," said Callie. "Nobody bothered checking on them for another six hours."
Shannon's eyes were wide. "What the heck happened to LONDON? She got her shot and was marinating in it, then she wakes up and the guy she was supposed to bond to just isn't there? Heck, why did the executives even pick her, if everyone hates her so much?"
Callie clicked yet another file, this one looking like a courtroom transcription. "Both of those tidbits came out in testimony. This one answers the second question, they literally wanted her out of the way and forced the pairing so that she'd get tamed or something, and it let them have a way to stop using her in their shows. She was sex appeal and a heel, nothing else, so if she couldn't have sex with anyone else then that was that. No consideration for her Oracle score, in direct violation of their contract with DHS. No consideration for Brayden's happiness, nor hers. As for what happened to her, MTV had every male they had access to in range to get there within a day or two take an Oracle survey, then offered her to them from the top down. One eventually said yes, though who it may be is not on record for the court to protect his identity."
Adam nodded. "Must not be a big name, then. They'd have made a big deal about the celebrity dating if he was even if they couldn't talk about the serum itself."
Callie chucked some more. "Yep. So, Lindsey got into their computers because she knew the default passwords they used. Once there, she accessed the production notes, Oracle scores, and other info for proof... then emailed her findings to all four of the escapees via anonymous accounts, plus a lawyer she knew in the area. Sheila used her access to make sure their movements weren't recorded, making it look like the systems glitched. Clara served as team medic, bodyguard, and has a house in Lacey they retreated to afterwards. Incidentally, all three had either worked well with Brayden in the past or at least got along well with him, and the two who were competitors got solid passes on the domestic and teamwork event they competed in. Word is that they're rather happy with the arrangement."
"I'd bet I know at least one person who isn't as happy with the story." Shannon inserted.
