Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 130317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
But though he wasn’t smiling, he was thinking. An idea was forming as The Prophet talked about his image being broadcast to every single screen in the Dome.
As slowly and unobtrusively as he could, Sev reached into his pocket and activated the tiny camera bug he’d brought with him that day. He hadn’t had much time to use it at work—though he had recorded one or two of his male coworkers talking about how they liked to “punish” their wives—but he thought it might come in handy now.
He could feel the tickle of the tiny mechanical feet as the camera bug crawled up the underside of his wrist. He hoped The Prophet wouldn’t notice when it finally took off. It was programmed to be unobtrusive, so hopefully it would fly low and—
Suddenly, the bug took flight, its mechanical wings whirring as it launched itself through the air.
“What’s that? An insect of some kind? I don’t like insects!” The Prophet exclaimed, pointing his blaster at the green blur that was the camera bug as it zipped up towards the ceiling. He fired but missed and Sev used the distraction to lunge forward.
He meant to grab the blaster out of The Prophet’s hand but the other male moved at the last instant. Instead, Sev’s fingers caught on the fine-link golden chain which held the sparking thing The Prophet had called “The Charmer” around his neck.
With a jerk, he yanked off the mysterious jewelry and held it up, dangling from his fist.
“Give that back at once.” The Prophet sounded upset but he also sounded…different. His voice was higher and the deep notes of self assurance and charm were suddenly gone.
Sev focused on him and saw that the other male looked different too. He was shorter—considerably shorter. He had shrunk at least a foot and a half, Sev estimated. Also, his thick silver hair was now thinning into a receding hairline and his formerly lush beard was patchy. There were scars on his face, as though he might have had really bad adolescent acne, his eyes were squinty and too close together, and the rest of his features were nothing extraordinary either.
“Fuck!” Sev breathed looking at the glimmering thing hanging from his fist. “This fucking thing changes everything!”
“Give it back, I said!” The Prophet jabbed his blaster in Sev’s face and Sev was forced to hand the delicate, glimmering thing back to him. The prophet tried to put it back on but the chain was broken. “Now look what you’ve done!” he snapped in his high voice, glaring at Sev. “You’ve broken the chain—I need to wear it around my neck to give my lecture!”
“So that’s the way you’re controlling everyone here,” Sev said and added, “Mia, you can open your eyes now.”
His partner’s eyes fluttered open and she stared at the shrunken Prophet in surprise.
“Wow—he’s not much taller than me,” she murmured to Sev.
“Shut up!” The Prophet snapped.
“She’s right though—you’re a little guy,” Sev pointed out. “I bet without that piece of magic jewelry, you never would have been able to get this whole cult going. How did you find it, anyway?”
“That’s a lie!” the tiny Prophet—or Chud Brumpkin, which was his real name Sev reminded himself—stormed. “I don’t even need this thing anymore!” He shook The Charmer which winked and flickered at the end of its golden chain. “The PPP is well established now—The Charmer just helped me bring it all together.”
“All so you could ‘punish’ women and have as many Concubines as you wanted?” Sev asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s right.” Chud Brumpkin lifted his narrow chin and threw out his skinny chest. “There are too many uppity bitches who don’t know their place in this universe—I was raised high in order to bring them low and teach them their true place—at a man’s feet!”
“Wow, you really hate women, don’t you?” Mia murmured, shaking her head. “Is that because you couldn’t get anyone to sleep with you?”
“Shut up!” the former Prophet screamed at her. “Women are only good for four things!” He counted them off on his fingers. “Fucking, cooking, cleaning, and baby making. That’s their natural place in the world and with the help of The Charmer, I found several other men who felt the same way.”
“Like the scientist who helped you build the Dome in the first place?” Mia asked.
“Or whoever it was that formulated that fucking Nutrient Crème,” Sev growled. He didn’t believe for a moment that the runty little male before them had done any of those things himself. It was clear that without the Charmer, his IQ had dropped almost as drastically as his height.
“The Nutrient Crème is the best thing we ever did here at the PPP Dome,” Chud Brumpkin snapped. “It’s instantly addictive and keeps females docile and horny at the same time—always wanting to be fucked. Not to mention it fills their tits with milk and nectar that has to get pumped and fucked out on the milking mat.” He leered at Mia. “Not gonna lie—milking porn is kind of a kink of mine. Spanking too.”