Cenerea, 3rd planet from the star Letria. Regalius, The Homeland,

Central Region, Just Outside Of The Capitol City,

The Arcturan Estate, Current Day

Emerging from the horrific dungeon, Wendy's once white dress was now completely drenched in red along with every centimeter of her body. Light pierced her eyes as she entered the bright adjacent room. She quickly lifted a hand and squinted from the pain of the radiant energy. As her sight slowly returned, she found herself surrounded by Elle's sisters and their slaves kneeling before her. She recognized scores of high-ranking Homeland officials and celebrities interspersed in the assembly. Wendy noted the seven sisters accompanying her and Jinah into the stony chamber at the beginning of The Twelve were still wearing their red dresses. They darted into the room behind her as she walked further in.

Wendy spotted several Arcturan women fearfully glance up at her as she slowly walked by them. Judging from their reactions, Wendy was afraid of what she might behold when she finally stood in front of a mirror. The crowd stood as she walked by.

"Long live Queen Lucenda!" the room shouted in unison. Wendy grimaced at the sound of Elle's real name echoing through the chamber. She nodded to the crowd and began looking for an exit. She desperately wished to get into a shower.

...

"Dammit, I look like the girl from the movie Carrie!" Wendy exclaimed staring at her awful, nauseating reflection in the shiny glass. The horrible image she beheld was a near perfect copy of the girl on the cinema poster.

"What is a moo-vee carry, Mother?" asked one of Elle's sisters, busily laying out Wendy's clothing on the surface of a massive four post bed.

"Nothing. Forget I said it."

"Yes, Mother," the girl replied.

"Where is the shower?"

"Your bath?"

"Whatever you want to call it," Wendy retorted in annoyance.

"You mean is your bath ready, ma'am?"

"Fine. Is my bath ready, then?" Wendy shouted angrily over her shoulder, no need for an Elle impersonation at this point. She was ready to begin the process of removing the dried human fluids and remains from her body.

Another woman with fiery locks appeared from an adjacent room and bowed, "Yes, ma'am it is."

"Excellent..." The newly crowned Mother Arcturis paused before she said, "Thank you." Wendy would have to be careful with those kinds of faux pas for the time being. She strode into Jinah's excessively large bathroom and was greeted by four more Arcturan women in white dresses standing waist deep in the steaming water of her apparent bath. They all bowed in unison. At this point, Wendy didn't care what they were doing there; she just wanted to be clean.

She attempted to lift the dress from her body only to find it was well attached to her skin. "Someone get me a knife or something and help me cut this fucking thing off!" Wendy yelled in frustration, realizing Jay would have probably said that her Arcturan was showing, but she wouldn't have cared. She was over it.

The four women scrambled from the water, two slipping on the tile in their haste, and falling to their rears. Wendy tried not to laugh, managing to release only a snicker, and look away. Finally, one of the two remaining handmaidens secured a pair of scissors. She rushed up to her new queen and slowly began removing the stained material.

Wendy eased her naked body into the water creating an ever expanding crimson ring on its steamy surface. She lay back trying to enjoy the sensation, but as she closed her eyes to relax, her mind filled with the terrible visions of The Twelve; one horror after the next. She quickly sat up to find the quartet of ladies had joined her once again in the water and were staring at her. She looked at them warily. "What do you want?" she asked sharply.

One of them slowly lifted a hand. "Um, to help you bathe, ma'am," the sister said sheepishly. The other three women looked at each other and then back to Wendy in confusion.

"Seriously?" the scientist asked. The women looked hurt. She sighed, trying to imagine what Elle would do. She rolled her eyes, "Fuck it, do your jobs." Reluctantly, Wendy stood.

The women dove in like factory machines, each one evidently the cleaning expert for a different quarter of her body.

"Whoa, there missy! I can handle that area!" Wendy exclaimed as one of them became a little too intimate.

The girl bowed and glanced up at Wendy with sadness. "I am so sorry, my queen. I did not mean to offend you with my poor service."

The new Mother Arcturis inhaled. She could either apologize, which wouldn't play out very well. Or she could send the girl away, which would be terrible since the young woman did nothing wrong. Or she could just let the girl do her job. Wendy shook her head. "You didn't offend me. Go ahead." Wendy squinted, trying to ignore the activity.

The girl regained her chipper demeanor and rejoined her sisters in happily washing their new matriarch, an event Wendy found in the end to be quite an experience.

...

The comm unit buzzed. "Jay?" said the familiar feminine voice.

"Hey, what's up, babe? Where are you?"

"At the mansion."

"What are you doing over there?"

"I need you to come over."
"I will have to bring Josh."

"That's fine, just come on. I have to tell you something."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, but hurry up, it's important"

The gates opened before Jay could produce his credentials. They were obviously waiting on him. Josh waved to the guards as they drove past, one of the uniformed men waved back, then quickly returned to attention. Jay smiled at the small kindness.

The Scientist General gave the sleek, black transport's activator to a waiting valet and walked around to open the door for his son. Josh launched from the vehicle and quickly darted up the stairs, rapidly increasing the distance between his father and him. "Boy! Slow down before you hurt yourself!"

"Yessir!" Josh yelled back as he reached the top.

"Stay right there and wait for me!" Jay commanded. He took the boy by the hand as he caught up with him at the pinnacle of the massive stairs. The two large ornate doors swung open as they approached and the pair entered the building. Two lovely, well-clothed Arcturan sisters met them at the entrance and bowed. Jay was now officially confused for several reasons, not just because of the overt respect, but the women's state of dress.

"Please follow me, sire," one of them said.

"Did she just say sire or sir?" Jay wondered. "...had to be sir."

"...and I will take Prince Josh with me," said the other. "Queen Lucenda is waiting for you in the Throne Room, sire." The woman bowed once more and led Josh and the other woman away.

"Prince Josh and Queen Lucenda?" Jay muttered to himself. As he walked through the massive halls, he noted everyone he passed bowed to him. "What did you do, Wendy?"

Jay stepped into Mother Arcturis' chamber to find Wendy sitting on the throne adorned in full Arcturan regalia and surrounded by four handmaiden's kneeling around her throne giving her a manicure and pedicure.

"Please leave us!" Wendy commanded to the various attendants hovering around her.

The women gathered their gear and quickly vanished.

"Okay, Wendy, what the hell is going on? How did this happen?" Jay inquired.

His wife stood and stepped from the throne, sparkling from head to toe, and threw herself into his arms sobbing uncontrollably. "I am so glad you are here! It was so horrible!"

Jay was concerned. He pulled her to him and asked, "What was horrible, Wendy?"

"What I had to do!" she sobbed, lowering her eyes to the ground.

The young man pulled his wife from him so he could see her. "Look at me! What did you do?"

"I killed Mother Arcturis."

Both of Jay's eyebrows shot upwards, his face a mask of surprise. "Excuse me? Did you just say you killed Jinah?"

Wendy sniffed. "Well, she did take poison and hand me the knife to finish the job."

Jay's head was spinning. "Okay, you have me at a disadvantage here, babe. You are saying you didn't kill her out of revenge, she asked you to do it?"

"Yes."

"Goddamned Arcturans and their fucked up customs." Jay said, then shook his head. "Alright, Wendy, are you going to be okay? I mean clearly you are not at this moment. However, I guess what I should ask, should I be prepared for some sort of mental breakdown at this point? I feel one coming on myself..."

Wendy chuckled, smearing a mascara-tinted tear with the back of her hand. "No, but I might need something to help me sleep for the next several months. I'm just glad you are here, now."

"How did this happen?"

Wendy sighed, trying to decide if she was going to tell her husband or not. "Well..."

The couple flinched as the throne room doors unexpectedly burst open and several armed, sassy suit-adorned units poured in through the opening, followed by one Chancellor Connor Santum. The politician walked with a limp up to the newly-crowned royal couple.

Jay positioned himself in front of Wendy, but she stepped from behind him and bowed lightly. Jay observed her action and did the same.

"I heard we had a new Mother Arcturis in town," the old man said. "I thought it appropriate to come congratulate her in person."

Wendy was astonished how terribly time had taken a toll on the once-stately ruler of the Homeland. "Connor...erm, Chancellor Santum, what a surprise, welcome to the Arcturan estate," she said, once again dipping formerly.

"Ah, I see my Scientist General is here as well, wonderful. You really did choose well for yourself, Mrs. Arcturis," the Chancellor said as he stepped up to Jay and presented his hand.

Jay found it rather out-of-character to be the recipient of the gesture rather than the instigator in the situation, regardless, he accepted the offer. "Thank you for the compliment and the opportunity to serve the Homeland, Chancellor," Jay said politely.

"The honor is mine, young man." Connor said and then turned, grumbling under his breath. "You can leave us, now, you idiots," he said to the soldiers standing around him. "...and leave the Arcturans alone!"

"Yes, Chancellor!" the soldiers shouted in uniform reply. They saluted then backed from the room closing the large doors to the throne room behind them.

The Chancellor returned his attention to Wendy and Jay. "Now that we are all by ourselves, I believe we have some things we need to discuss." A thin smile appeared on the wrinkled face of the decrepit dictator. "I don't know if you really understand this or not, but I find myself in quite a conundrum with the two of you," he said with a cough.

"Please, Chancellor, have a seat," Jay said, presenting a chair from a nearby, glossy map table. "Here let me help you."

"Thank you, General, but, I am still capable of doing this myself," he replied, sitting down.

"Yes, sir."

"Now, as I was saying, your ascension to Mother Arcturis and..." The man lifted a boney finger, pointing it at Wendy and then toward Jay. "...your position of Scientist General and all it entails, places me in quite the predicament. Mrs. Arcturis, I have been here once before with your very own mother and that little backstabbing husband of hers, General Pha' Li. Where is he, now? In fact, where has he been for forty years? Dead, rotting in the ground! Ha...ha ha ha ha!"

Wendy and Jay shot each other a concerned look.

"I don't understand, Chancellor. What predicament do you mean?" Wendy asked nervously.

"Please, don't patronize me, young lady, I think you know," he said as he placed his hands in his lap. "I know you redheads have had your eyes on my position for a very long time and this is something I cannot permit!" The man narrowed his eyes at Wendy and then Jay.

"Chancellor, it sounds as if you threatening us. There is really no need."

The man's face lightened and the smile returned. "No, child, we are just talking for a moment. For now, I see no need for incivility in our discussions for the moment. In fact, you can call me Connor, Mother Arcturis."

"Likewise," she replied.

"Hmmm, you are not like the other Arcturans are you Lucenda? In some ways, yes, but I can see it in your eyes," he said, curiously examining Elle's face. "Your demeanor, it's vastly different, as well."

"How so, Connor?"

The old man sat up, tilting his head to the side. "I know it does not matter, but damned if you do not remind me of someone else I knew from so very long ago. The way you say my name..."

Wendy smiled as Jay presented a seat and assisted her with the large royal dress so she might sit. "Thank you, husband," she said.

Jay shot her a disapproving look, but it was too late.

"Right there, why would you call him husband and not slave?" Connor asked. "I have never known any Arcturan woman to do that."

Wendy thought about what the man said. "You know you are correct in your assessment of me, Connor, I am not just another Arcturan, and my tenure will be strikingly different than any before, I promise you, Chancellor," Wendy said matter-of-factly.

"I see. You are going for a more, um, progressive approach?" he asked.

Jay placed another finely carved, T'choulian wood chair down next to Wendy and took a seat by his wife. She reached over and grabbed his hand; Jay lifted it and kissed it.

"You two are almost too good to be true," the Chancellor said. "You can dispense with the storybook affection; I can tell when I am being played."

"Excuse me, sir?" Jay asked. "No one is playing you. I love Elle and she loves me, there is nothing more to it."

Connor lowered his face and glared at Jay, his eyebrows pulled together like curtains. "I know that you two are up to something, given your sudden, meteoric rise to power. Not to mention, one very high-ranking member of the Homeland Council and now, the Mother Arcturis herself, have both inexplicably died in your proximity. How do you explain those coincidences? Two positions strangely open up and create a vacuum that you both are conveniently right there, ready and able to fill."

Wendy sat forward, "Now, Connor, are you suggesting that Jay and I are gunning for your seat? It's a little early for all of that, isn't it Chancellor? I haven't even been Mother Arcturis for one day."

Jay's hair stood on end. He desperately wanted to tell Wendy to parse her words a bit more carefully.

"Ha...ha ha ha!" The politician cackled. "If I didn't know any better, I am sitting here speaking with the spirit of Wendy Powell channeled through an Arcturan!"

"Who?" Wendy and Jay asked in harmony.

"Oh, nevermind," the aging politician said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I know you Arcturans, Lucenda. You are..."

"That's right, you were married to Aunt Clarissa," Wendy interrupted, attempting her best Elle.

The dark expression coated Connor's face once more. "Prime example of the deceiving nature of you women," he said angrily.

"Chancellor, sir, we are loyal to the Homeland. If you were to understand anything about me, you would realize that I am indebted to its kindness," Jay interjected, attempting to temper the flames rising in the dictator's eyes. "The Homeland was there for me when I had no one. I, erm, we have no interest in doing anything but following your wise leadership," Jay said, lowering his head reverently.

Jay squeezed Wendy's hand and she also reluctantly bowed.

Wendy slowly raised her eyes to find Connor's firmly fixed on her.

"Right. Now, both of you listen to me very carefully, I will be watching you, have no doubt about this. And although I should probably have you both killed right here on the spot, I am in need of your services, young man." The Chancellor said, pointing a finger at Jay. "So, I imagine from just watching you two sitting here together, that if I killed her I would get nothing from you?"

Jay's fear left him, replaced by anger. "Trust me, sir, this woman and my family is my life, without them I am nothing and you would definitely get nothing from me."

"Then I won't mention the boy, either."

Wendy tensed and Jay squeezed her hand once more.

"Very well," the Chancellor grunted as he shakily stood, nearly falling into the table.

Jay offered no assistance this time.

"Mr. and Mrs. Arcturis, I will be seeing you, again, very soon."

"I would expect no less, Connor," Wendy replied as she and Jay stood to see the man out.

"...and Jay?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Get my fucking machines working!"

"Yes, Chancellor!" Jay exclaimed, standing at attention.

"Good evening to you both," the old man said, then strolled to the door. "Let me out!"

The two heavy doors flung open and Connor Santum disappeared through them.

"Now what?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know," Jay responded. "I wasn't counting on this to happen so quickly. I still have a lot to do to make these Hive Mind machines function properly."

Wendy paced around the floor of the throne room in contemplation. "You know I can't live at the house anymore."

"I know, but you still have to get your things."

"What about you?" she asked.

"What about me? We'll figure it out."

"Well, what about our, um, friends, Jay?"

"Let's talk about this stuff at the house. I am not sure I like the acoustics in here."

"Right. Let's plan for tomorrow."

"So, how about you, me, and Josh just bunk here tonight in Queen Mommy's new house."

"Funny, but don't count on me sleeping," Wendy said, sadly.