Chapter 6: 2100 October 9th, Saturday

So I went over to Soaph’s place in the morning, bringing a container of gams over. I managed to avoid devouring more than a couple pinch-fulls for breakfast, so the plastic tub was still mostly full. It was a decent size, enough that you could carry it with one hand without it being too awkward, but two hands was a bit easier. Medium size I guess.

Anyways so I knock on the door and hear the expected “come in!”. She lived in a single story house she rented not too far from campus. Small for a house but very spacious for any college student, especially an undergrad.

I step inside a few steps, slip my sandals off by the other shoes, then looked to my right. There’s Soaph, looking at the TV across from her. Her skin is a very light blue, and her hair a light purple: usual shades for her. She’s sitting in the middle of a large, comfy red couch. All around her are human students. She has a handsome guy to her right and a beautiful human woman to her left, both draped over her shoulders, with the man kneading at the exposed blue flesh and the woman kissing Soaph’s neck.

Her bare feet are kicked up on some jock looking fellow, on his hands and knees to be a living footstool. Her right foot is having its nails being dutifully painted by one female student holding a bottle of purple nail polish. Her left foot is getting a massage from another woman. She seems a bit more toned than the rest, with dark hair and a tan complexion.

Soaph’s eyes are closed as she’s clearly thoroughly indulged by these humans, each of whom has quite a few strands of Soaph’s glowing purple hair running into their skin. Each one is carrying an expression of utter delight. Some seem more dumb-founded, others more giddy, but they are all smiles and contentment.

Frankly, she’d look like a queen being attended to by servants if not for her attire. Clearly having a lazy morning, she had on only a black sports bra to cover her modest chest, and some black boxer shorts on for undergarments. The students at least kept their pants on, even if their tops were clearly off. Every other bit of her svelte form was bared and, if not actively pampered at that time, was probably pampered before I got there. I don’t think humans queens ever had their hair running to their servants like strings to puppets though.

“Shameless as always.”, I said to her.

She turned to me and opened her lids to a half-lidded state. Seems the most she was willing to spare given the decadence she was enjoying at the moment. At least she did mute the TV though with a button-press to the remote at her side.

“What’s there to be ashamed of? Also, please, it’s only 5 this time. You should’ve seen me last week.”

“Did they pay for this too?”

“Look I have enough money at this point, I need a little extra from my clients. I think it’s a small surcharge to pay for some of the best feelings their minds can experience.”

“You still charged them for the hair-plugs though.”

“Oh of course.”

Oh yeah, I should explain stuff not obvious to people who aren’t me. Well, among us, Soaph is most known for ‘business’. Namely, she’s known as the top hook-up on campus for ‘hair-plugging’.

I think I wrote about this earlier, but our hair is special. It’s not actually ‘hair’ like humans think of. There’s not really a great analogue to a human part come to think of it. Humans would probably have to take a Zenith biology class to understand it better.

Anyways, I guess one could think our hair as extendable and retractable... modifying limbs? Appendages? Basically we can grow or retract our hair at a moment's notice. We can slide it into the bodies of lesser creatures and do stuff with that.

Our bodies are amazing things come to think of it.

So, yeah, we can plug our hair into another creature (again, lesser ones, so humans count) and basically do all sorts of stuff. We can bump up their happy neurotransmitters, flood them with sad ones. We can simulate the reaction to any type of drug humans have made, and of course simulate new experiences. We can even make those chemicals, or modify their bodies to make it. Once ‘plugged in’ we can change others on the cellular level even.

Now all of that sounds amazing, and of course it is, but that doesn’t mean we are geniuses or anything. Like, it’s not as though, when I plug into a human, I think “ah yes let me make a chemical with the carbon atom here, a nitrogen atom there...”. It’s more... intuitive. It’s really hard to explain. Can humans explain how they move their finger, or how they keep their balance walking a tightrope? A biologist probably can, but I’m not one of those.

Yeah we can focus to more finely tune the results, but basically if am trying to make someone feel good it usually works out without me needing to fuss too much over the specific chemicals I may or may not be releasing into their brain, or what synapses I’m triggering to fire with subtle cascades of minute bits of electricity. Stuff like that!

But, it’s admittedly a skill. I can overdo things at times. Soaph is really gifted at it though. Now, it’s a something of a question among us sometimes if it’s innate or just from her experience selling hair-plugging services to humans. I think it’s both, though a bunch of the former. Everyone else in the gang agrees I think.

Anyways, while I’m on the topic of Zenith hair. Yes, we can cut it. No it doesn’t hurt. The easiest way to cut it is to just flex some muscles near where the hair comes out to sort of squeeze it off. Humans have to go to barbershops and salons to style their hair, but for us it’s more intuitive. Since the hair serves some purpose among our own kind, we often prefer medium length and looser styles. Pony tails are nice though, and there’s always trendsetters and standouts with wacky styles or shorter hair.

Anyways, “hair-plugging” is basically the slang for putting your hair into a lesser creature, usually to give them a buzz. Humans love this and they pop top dollar for it. There’s always demand. Like, humans used to outlaw certain substances, but now there’s not much a point since a Zenith can make the effects of those substances and the substances themselves with a single strand of hair.

The practice isn’t outlawed, but you’re not supposed to do it without a license and it’s heavily regulated. Otherwise, humans with poor self-control would spend all their money it, among other reasons.

Now none of that matters to Soaph though. The fines aren’t too bad if caught. Way, way less than profit. It’s about the same cost as delimbing a human, and they don’t scale per ‘session’. It’s also not really investigated at all unless a huge issue. College students deserve a bit of fun I think is the idea there.

Anyways, back to the day’s entry of events.

So I asked her “well, do they know they are getting that pheromone treatment too?”

She snickered. “Some do. I’m not really wiping their memory or anything. It’s just a pleasurable cocktail of sorts, tilted towards their personal requests. For some things might be a bit blurry at the end, and the others will have had such a good time they won’t care. I’ve done this all before you know.”

“Yeah fair. Anyways, party is on for tonight right?”

“Tonight?”, said Soaph. Her eyelids shot open. “No, the party’s tomorrow night Zlee.”

“What? I thought it was tonight.”, I said.

“No no, it’s tomorrow.”

“But tomorrow’s Sunday.”

“Yeah but Monday’s a holiday. It’s Peace Day, did you really forget?”

“Err maybe.”

“The day our kind made the peace deal with the humans? It’s kind of important, planet-wide holiday and all.”

She laughed.

“Ok, I guess it’s silly to forget. Already so tomorrow then.”, I grumbled. “I brought over some gams and everything though.”

“Oh!”, said Soaph. “Thanks. That’s no big deal. They’ll last more than a day around here. Just dump them in the tank with the others.”

Soaph was one of the types who kept gams as ‘pets’. Well pets isn’t the best word. They are kept more for ‘fun’. She throws parties enough that it makes sense for her to keep them around.

So I walked over to the room nearby, near the kitchen, where there was the giant clear enclosure. I guess you could call it a tank, but there was no water in it. There were some tiny decorative buildings like the kind you might put in a fish tank. The gams couldn’t go in them though, cause the little windows and doors were just painted on. Wouldn’t want them to hide out in the there, then you’d need to shake them out or use pheromones or something.

Anyways she had thousands and thousands of the little guys. I opened my tub and just dumped them in with all the others. Some screams rang out, always amusing. The little things were resilient enough I didn’t worry about the fall distance.

I shook out the container, but there were still some stragglers so I just reached with my fingers and snatched them up. If they want to get eaten so bad who am I to complain right?

Then I noticed Soaph eyeing the scene, visibly thinking with a purse of her lips to the side.

“Let me guess you want some?” I said, walking back over. “You should’ve asked before I dumped them.”

She laughed.

“It’s ok.”, she said. Then she looked to that toned woman massaging her left foot.

“Daisy, it was Daisy right? Go get me a small bowl of gams and a glass of cleaner.”

With pheromones and who knows what else floating around in her brain, the human woman stood up and started walking towards the kitchen. I noticed then that some of the gams from my container spilled, just a few. The woman’s bare right foot came down on all of them. She squashed them flat but didn’t skip a beat, just walked right into the kitchen and fetched a bowl and a glass. Big dumb happy expression on her face, and Soaph’s hair still stuck in her neck, extending out from Soaph’s head like a bunch of tiny glowing leashes.

“A bit early for cleaner don’t you think?”

She scoffed.

“Since when are you such a buzzkill? It’s the weekend. You know I have good control. Speaking of which, did Nyrle want to come?”, she said.

“Nah she has a project to finish. She overloaded on credits this semester.”, I replied.

“Ah ok. Probably for the best. Mitch is doing something next week though.”

“Who’s Mitch?”

The human painting Soaph’s right toe nails had finished. Soaph wiggled her toes, admiring the work, then told the student to start rubbing her leg. Daisy returned with a bowl of gams in one hand and a class of clear-ish liquid in the other. She whispered to the woman massing her left shoulder to take up the bowl and start feeding her. The blonde woman dutifully did so, and Soaph opened her mouth to accept a handful offering of gams.

Such decadence am I right? Anyways Daisy was told to get back to work on the foot while Soaph answered.

“Mitch is a human client of mine.”

‘Well obviously he’s human’, I remembered thinking.

“He’s not that frequent a customer but he knows how to party. Nice guy. If Nyrle starts feeling left out just take her with you there. That way no worries about my place getting, you know.”, she said.

“Yeah.”, I replied.

“I’ll text you the address later. He might also be here tomorrow but we’ll see.”

She took a swig of her glass, then motioned it towards the blonde woman. Took the human a moment but she pinched up a few gams and plopped them in. Naturally they didn’t like the swim too much, and they probably liked it even less when Sophie swigged back a gulp with them in it.

I had more business than just delivering gams though, and she reminded me of it.

“Oh, speaking of who’s coming. Do you know Brock.”

“The guy with the brown hair, blue eyes, that you’re obviously crushing on.”

“Ahhh shut up!”

“Yeah I know him.”, she said.

“Well do you know if he’s coming?”

She shook her head. Her mouth opened to signal another helping of gams into her gob from her dutiful client to her left. The guy working her shoulders had his hands moved to her right thigh and he seemed to get the memo, massaging there.

With her mouth full, she had a sort of ‘eureka’ look on her face that got me intrigued. She swallowed and sighed.

“Oh, but now that you mention it, his buddy is here. Larry I think it was. No, Lance.”

“Lance?”

“Yeah, blond guy.”

“Oh yeah I guess I’ve seem them together. He’s going to the party?”

“No, he’s here right now. He wanted a psychedelic experience with his hair-plugging, which I gave but he didn’t take too well to it. I warned him it’d be random whether it was a good trip or bad with what he was willing to pay, but he seemed ok with that at the time. Once on the tip though he freaked out a bit.”

“You didn’t calm him down with pheromones or anything?”

“Yeah I did, but I took pity on him I guess and let him rest, else he’d still be plugged in rubbing my feet. Speaking of which, Daisy, your back to the foot now get on it.”

The buzzed toned woman got back to rubbing the foot Soaph had impatient wiggled.

“So he’s in the spare room in the hall just calming down. He should be fine by now actually. You can go ask him.”

“Alright thanks, I will.”

“Yeah no problem.”

Soaph swigged the last bit of her beverage down. One of her dutiful servants/clients sprinkled some gams onto her outstretched tongue after. As I walked into the adjoining hallway I heard the TV volume come back on.

I went right to the spare room, which was treated as a guest room. I opened the door and on the twin bed, sitting up with head phones in his ears was Lance. His face was at his phone, browsing some headlines while he listened I guess.

His blond hair was pretty short, shorter than Brock’s brown. His chin was weaker, build overall was weaker actually. He was dressed rather plain with a fall-appropriate hood unzipped over some short sleeve t-shirt of a band. He had some jeans on, white socks (Soaph was strict on the no shoes in house thing).

I called out to him and he turned to face me, then jump up from the bed for a moment, startled. He took the buds out of his ears and gave a meek wave.

“Oh uh, hey. You know my name?”, he said.

“Yeah I think were in a class together? Maybe we are? In any case Soaph mentioned it.”

“Ah ok. Cool.”

I could tell he was not ‘cool’. He seemed a bit nervous around me. That was kind of cute in a way. So, I walked over to his side and looked down at him, flashing my teeth in a smile.

“Name’s Zlee. Listen, I’ve been looking for Brock. Do you know if he’s coming to the party tomorrow?”

“Uhh I don’t, I mean, uh, why do you want to know.”

I ignored the disrespect of the non-answer there. Tempting as it was to just give his bones a squeeze, I knew when a softer approach was better. So, I sat down at this side. I was taller than him, by a couple inches. The dude was pretty short.

He scooted away from me a tad. I giggled.

“You’re not scared of me are you? You’re not afraid of us Zenith right? We’re students just like you, you know?”

I leaned in closer after him.

“I uh, no it’s just-”

I interrupted him.

“Brock just seems like such a cool guy. I just want to talk to him is all, get to know him.”

“Well yeah that’s the thing, Brock is a bit skittish around your kind.”

“Well I can probably help him with that. So, do you know if he’s coming?”

He scooted away from me again a couple inches.

“I uh, well I’m not really at liberty to say. You’d have to ask him.”

So, obviously, if I could ask him I would, but I can’t if I didn’t know his schedule right? He was basically trying to tell someone who could rip him in half to politely get lost. I needed my answer though.

I leaned in a bit and opened my mouth.

“You can trust me.”, I said, and as I did, I exhaled a little pink cloud. He saw it and his eyes widened but by then it was too late. I set my hand to his forearm and my touch melted him like butter.

Like I wrote before, pretty much everyone in our little friend gang is especially good at something (except Maggie I guess). Soaph was great at hair-plugging. My big thing was pheromones. I was really good at that. Using the right amount, the right kind. Making the effect last as long as I wanted, just how I wanted.

Oh, I guess I also have a pretty great memory too, especially when it comes to the things people say. I mean, just look at all the conversation dumping I’ve been doing in this diary. Is that a good writing practice? Hmmmm.

Anyways, basically there was nothing I couldn’t get someone to do, be they gam or human or other creature.

Fun fact though, normally pheromones aren’t visible. It’s just humans are so bad at detecting them that there needs to be an especially strong concentration to reach them. I’m not sure if I’d call that “resistance” though. Like, we female Zenith are naturally immune, or at least no one’s ever pheromoned another Zenith. For humans it’s not like they are trying, it’s just that their sense of it is so poor. I guess it’s up in the air whether that’s a strength or a weakness.

But in the end it doesn’t matter. Any Zenith could pheromone a human with ease, at least for a bit. It’s for this reason human professors are tested daily to make sure no Zenith’s have pheromoned them for a good grade or something. Obviously that wouldn't work since memory is usually still attached, unless there’s hair-plugging involved, or the Zenith is really good at the skill.

Like me!

So anyways, now all the sudden he was all smiles looking at me. That was to be expected as my pheromones were irresistible to any human, let alone a weak looking one like himself. With Lance in a complicit state I kept my grip on his arm. My fingers gently glided against the skin there in a little dance. Each tap made him shiver.

A different sort of power than ripping someone’s arm off, but fun nonetheless.

So I started talking to him again.

“You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

“No I love you.”, he said, his voice sweet and sincere.

“As you should. Now, tell me if Brock will be at the party tonight.”

“He won’t.”

“Do you know why not?”

“He’s a bit skittish around Zenith. Also, he’s out of town that day, isn’t back till late Sunday. He’ll probably want to sleep asap though.”

“Do you know why he’s skittish around Zenith?”

“No.”

I leaned in real close, letting my exhale waft over his face.

“Are you sure?”, I asked, frowning.

“Yes! I’m sorry I really don’t know.”

I could sense the sadness in his voice. He wanted to eagerly to please me and make me happy, yet he wouldn’t dare lie to me. It was perfect!

“That’s ok. So, why don’t you tell me his entire schedule.”

He did, everything he knew at least, and I committed it to memory.

“Great, now tell me about his likes and dislikes.”, I asked afterwards.

And he did so. The most useful tidbit I gleaned was that Brock really liked rock music, in particular some band called the ‘Jam Slammers’.

“Wow thanks, you’ve been so helpful Lance. How would you like to do one more favor for me.”

“Anything for you Zlee. Anything. Name it. I’ll jump to the moon, I’ll kill I’ll-”

“Ok easy!”, I remember saying. “Do you live on campus, in a dorm?”

“Yes!”, he said.

“Ok! What would make me very happy, is for you to stand up, walk out of this room, slip your shoes back on and leave this building. Head back to your dorm the same way you got here, if possible. Then I want to you forget this conversation ever happened. You came here, got hair-plugged, calmed down in this room, and we never met. Sound good? It’d make me really happy, and you want to please me right?”

He nodded vigorously. I smiled.

“Good. Get going on that then. Now.”

He stood up and walked right out. I followed behind and saw him slip his sneakers on and walk right out. Efficient, eager to please.

It occurred to me Soaph her servants had seen what happened, but for different yet obvious reasons I probably wouldn’t need to worry much about them reminding Lance of his trip. Ultimately, the way memory erasing works with pheromones isn’t exactly erasing. Basically, my pheromones made Lance’s brain so eager to please me that it would happily self-censor the memories I said to forget. It’s not like I deleted the information from his mind, but his brain is gonna do everything it can to hide the memory from itself.

Still, it’s possible to recover that information. That’s mostly in theory though, really rare in practice until after quite some time, and if he remembers, so what! It’ll be after I’ve already connected with Brock, so-to-speak. I’m not gonna hair-plug him or anything... unless he wants me too... or if he gets really stressed out maybe. I can maybe help with that.

Anyways, after that I talked to Soaph again real fast. She offered me a glass of cleaner but I passed. I passed on the follow-up offer of a massage from one of her servants (I had a bit of class work to finish up myself sadly, else I probably would’ve indulged).

I said I’d see her at the party tomorrow and went back to campus. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, except that Nyrle wasn’t at the dining hall for diner (probably working), so that means we all got to tease Maggie a bit more than usual. She took it like a champ though.

Oh that’s right, Maggie is gonna be at the party, but no Nyrle. I didn’t even think of that at the time, but that should be fun!

---