La La and Li Li walk over to Teri and literally pick her up and take her to Fernando. Among other things, he sees that their soup bowls are empty and their lunch finished.
“If you are done with your meal, take the bowls to my camper and have Joanna show you how to wash up and take care of your mess. It would be very helpful if you did that while I talk to Teri.” Fernando tells them.
They both nod at each other before going and picking up after themselves and taking the empties and wrappers to the Dub Box camper behind his bus. Teri tried to leave with them but Fernando reaches out and grabs her by the wrist.
“Calm yourself down, little one. You and I are going to have a talk.” Fernando tells her, making her to turn around and face him. He adds, “I’m going to let you go and I want you to stand there so we can have this little talk.”
Teri looks at him nervously as if she did something to get into trouble. But as promised, Fernando lets her go and then shifts himself back into his driver’s seat.
He then throws at her his first question, “Teri, hope I got your name right. Do you trust me? Not respect. Respect is given, trust must be earned.”
“I... I trust you.” Teri begins, “Am I in trouble?”
“No you are not. And I do not want you to get into trouble.” He tells her.
Teri looks down at the floor between then and nods.
“Look. The girls showed me how to make you do things that I want you to do. I do not think that is fair to you to put you through that. So I am not going to do it, not to you or anyone else. Understand what I’m trying to say?” He says and asks.
She looks up at him, trying to hold back tears of a punished little girl and nods.
“Look, Teri. Do not punish yourself for you did nothing wrong. Understand that first. I just do not want you to get into more trouble. You are a cute and lovely girl. There is nothing out there worth getting in trouble for. Last thing I want you to be is in trouble for something worthless and stupid. It is not worth getting in trouble for. Understand that. So, whatever it is Maribelle told you to get from the house, get it. But if Moro or anyone else wants to know what that is you are getting, you tell them ‘This is personal and private. Please go away.’ If they do not leave, tell them that you will tell me and I will get them into a lot more trouble than it is worth. Moro wants to help out carry Maribelle’s things and see what we can do with it. But she is not to go through them, that is your job. As far as I know, we need the wine from the cellar if it is still there. And whatever Maribelle needs and her personal things like clothing to bring them over here and we can look through them later. Understand what I’m telling you?” Fernando explains sternly.
“I understand.” Teri tells her.
“What is this about getting in trouble?” General Jastrey says from behind Teri as she steps into view.
“It’s a personal thing but I’m dealing with it.” Fernando tells her. He then asks, “Is your meeting over?”
“Not yet. My part is. Now it is my commanding officers turn.” The general says. She then throws at Fernando, “Though I do not approve, but you can do that Sex-Kitten trick of tickling her girlie parts to get her into submission and then she will do anything you tell to.”
“That is not my way of doing things.” Fernando begins. “There is also a problem of conflicting orders from two different people she trusts that would get her into more trouble. No, I want Teri here to do this on her own.” He pauses for a second before asking, “How do you about that ‘trick’?”
“We had to put down a lot of Sex-Kittens who were ordered to kill people through that method. At first we did not know what was going on until we found out you can tickle them into submission to get sex from them, but we tried it out on other commands, and it turns out that it works that way. So this little cute furball can be ordered to kill you but there is one thing we do not understand as to why it does not work with everyone.” General Jastrey explains.
“A real Manchurian Candidate. I believe the order must come from somebody she trusts.” Fernando explains.
“A Manchurian Candidate? That explains a lot then.” General Jastrey says, “That is a term I have not heard since my father was general, and it fits them appropriately. The Sex-Kittens are just a weapon for the master to use.”
“I’m nobody’s master, nobody is. The anti-slavery treaty extends to humans, mutants and wessens. Anybody not adhering to it will be dealt with accordingly.” Fernando points out.
“I know that. As the law enforcement of town, I will put down any wessen used as weapon against anyone and their master will be put down after a trail as well.” General Jastrey says.
“Don’t wessens have the same rights as humans? That is what I am trying to push because not all wessens can be cured, and for those who cannot be cured, they need some protection under the law.” Fernando asks and explains.
“I understand that all too well, and I do agree. But once a Sex-Kitten is order to kill somebody, they continue to kill until ordered to stop. That is why they have to be put down.” General Jastrey explains.
“With such a weakness, I am surprised that it does not happen often. I mean, at the houses of ill-repute, how can they not be ordered by their customers to go out and kill?” Fernando asks.
“Most likely their first order was to only take orders from one person, the master, usually. But since Master Jenkins is missing, that would make Maribelle her master.” General Jastrey tells him, “Over 20 years ago, there were a lot of Sex-Kittens ordered to kill others in those days.”
“That makes a lot of sense now.” Fernando says more to himself.
“Sex-Kittens are ordered to accept what happens to them as if they allowed it to happen. That is why you can rape them and they would not go to the police or their masters and say what had happened to them unless confronted with the fact of what happened. And until the law is passed to protect them, raping a wessen is not illegal to do.” The general explains. She adds, “Thanks to you, all that is going to change. Thing is, you won’t be here to see it.”
“I’ll be around one day. I’m just passing through and will pass through again.” Fernando tells her.
“So, this little cute furball been ordered to kill somebody?” General Jastrey says as she pulls out her service handgun, putting it to the back of Teri’s head.
“She’s under my protection, General. And that is what I am trying to find out and deal with. Right now it is only rumors and conjecture, and going through that to find the truth is the problem. So please put away the firearm, I’m in control here and she is under my protection.” Fernando tells her.
General Jastrey puts away her firearm, “I hope. If I find she harmed anyone because she was ordered to, I will be the one putting her down, and not even you are going to stop me.”
“General, I usually do not do this, but...” He lifts his head higher up for her to see before removing his glasses off his face. And then he stares into her eyes and points at his, “Don’t ever cross that line with me. I can take this town as easily as I took the Slavers, but I am not a power hungry idiot wanting followers to do as I tell them.” He then reaches into his jacket and pulls out and takes off his Square Head Jesus Crucifix.
“The chain of Gold Head of the Savior and eyes of an Angel... You’re the Time Lord, aren’t you.” General Jastrey tells him.
“That is yet to be decided. But let’s say I am. What is going to happen next?” He says to her.
“It is said that the Time Lord will come with his band and will bring peace to those willing to accept his terms and torment to those who goes against him and towns will either flourish or burn.” The General says.
“Then you have nothing to fear from me. It is those who have kidnapped Val that has something to fear. For now I will play it by their terms.” Fernando tells her as he begins to put on his glasses and chain.
“I do not ask this from anybody, but when you get Val, have some mercy for them. Some are forced to work for them and need liberation, not annihilation. Everyone else you can burn.” The General explains.
“We will see. I just have one thing to ask.” Fernando says.
“What is it?” General Jastrey asks.
“I have heard about the stories of the Time Lord. He walks with a cane, wears a dark rescue jacket from New York, and dark glasses. Why have you not said anything?” Fernando asks.
“I met the Time Lord long ago when I was a girl. It is those eyes you and he have I will never forget. But there have been many who came back pretending to be you, doing minor miracles, saying how things used to be in the past, and having such canes of energy and power but none of them had your eyes. I also have a puzzle that only he and his assistant can solve in less than a minute. I’ll be back, it is in the trunk of my car.” General Jastrey explains before she trots over to her car. She comes back, running like one many years younger than she is with a wooden box under her arm. She reaches over to him, handing him the box.
Fernando pulls out a mixed up Rubix Cube and a mechanical stop-watch. He hands the watch over to the General, “Anybody can solve this.”
“Anybody can solve it; that is true. But only the Time Lord can do it in under a minute.” General Jastrey points out. She adds, “Whenever you are ready.”
Fernando lets out a sigh, “I wonder how many of these are out there.”
“Many. The Time Lord left them behind as a test to prove who he and his assistant are as they can solve it in under a minute.” The General says, throwing in, “Whenever you are ready.”
“Alright, go.” He tells her. He spins one side to see how tight or lose the cube was, and once figuring that out, he spins the 25 key twists of the solution on the cube without needing to look at it, taking a bit less than a second per turn. He then holds out the cube to General Jastrey after the 25 turns. She switches off the stop watch and looks at the cube in near disbelief. Past pretenders of the Time Lord have taken hours to solve the puzzle though the time limit to solve it was a minute or less and many stated that it was impossible to so. And there is was, solved in less than 30 seconds.
The General takes the cube and mixes it up before putting it back with the stop watch in the wooden box it was in on Fernando’s lap.
“General?” Fernando calls to her.
“I’m sorry to have doubted you.” General Jastrey says to him.
“It’s understandable.” Fernando says to her.
“There is one problem.” General Jastrey says before she leans over to Teri, and pulls her tightly against her and puts her hand up inside her skirt and massages her ‘girl parts,’ whispering in her ear “If you value your life, you are to never tell anyone you are with the Time Lord. You are to listen to what he tells you above anyone else, above your master, above the law giver – me, above all. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, yes you do you.” Teri says.
“Then you are going to be a nice little Sex-Kitten and not do anything that would hurt anybody.” General Jastrey explains in her ear.
All Teri can do at this point is just nod.
“Say it – ‘Teri will be a good little wessen girl...’” General Jastrey tells her in her ear.
It takes a while for Teri to recompose herself enough to repeat those words “Teri... will be... a good... little wessen... girl...”
“Say it again.” General Jastrey tells her.
“Teri will be... a good... little wessen girl...” Teri says.
“Again.” General Jastrey orders her.
“Teri will be a good... little wessen girl...” Teri says.
“And don’t you forget it.” General Jastrey tells her before letting her go.
Teri stands there leaning against the camper door, slightly shaking from being brought to a near orgasmic state.
“That was uncalled for.” Fernando tells the General.
“To insure the safety of those around us from a programmed Sex-Kitten, it was.” General Jastrey says to him.
“If you know the Time Lord, then you know I do not operate in this manner of forcing anyone to do anything. People have choices, including wessens and mutants.” Fernando tells her.
“As you told me long ago, people do have choices when they have free will. A programmed Sex-Kitten does not have a free will. They are, as you stated to my father long ago, ‘Brain Washed.’ ‘Brain Washed’ as in programmed to do whatever it is they are told to do.” General Jastrey explains.
Fernando thinks, though not liking the situation or what was done to Teri. He eventually asks, “This ‘weakness,’ it only applies Sex-Kittens or to all Wessens?”
“Only to Sex-Kittens, as they are programmed from the lab like that for one, and they are highly receptive to orders as part of that programming for two. All others do as they are told as per their jobs and think accordingly to get the job done. Sex-Kittens just have one primary task, any other tasks they do are taught to them, so Sex-Kittens can do as the master wants in the house. In this case the Master being Maribelle.” The General explains.
“But slavery is over, and no one is a master of anyone else.” Fernando throws back at General Jastery.
“I know that, you know that, Terri now knows that. But enforcing that law is going to be with problems, that is my problem in this.” General Jastrey tells him before asking, “We got an hour before the meeting. Got anything to ask or say before the meeting?”
“Just one.” Fernando says.
“What is it?” General Jastrey asks.
Fernando was about to say it but realizing Teri was there, replies, “I will tell you right before the meeting.” He tells her.
“I see.” General Jastrey replies.
“I do want to make some kind of deal where the effected farms are put back operations somehow. But that is a deal that we need to discuss after the meeting with the farm owners.” He explains.
“I see what you are getting at, and I agree. But there are at least seven families I have not heard from, some who sit on the council with Master Jenkins. Who knows what have happened to them?” General Jastrey says with concern in her voice.
We’ll discuss this after the meeting, with those we have here.” Fernando says.
“Alright, I’ll see you later.” General Jastrey says before she takes the wooden box from Fernando and heads to Hondo’s camper’s direction.
Fernando turns his attention to Teri, letting out a sigh in deep thought.
“I’m sorry for what happened, Teri. I should have done something to stop it.” He tells her.
“Don’t be. I... I deserved it in some way.” Teri says to him.
“No one deserves to be manipulated like that. No one.” He replies.
“But, it is the way we are. It is our place to be done to like that.” She tries to explain.
“I would not do you like that.” He tells her.
Teri looks at the ground, thinking before she asks, “Do you like me?”
“Don’t get me wrong, Teri. I don’t like anyone right now. I’ll honor and respect you like any other person and trust you up to a point. Do right by me and I will make things as easy for you to make you happy as best as I can. But that includes everybody, not just you.” He tells her.
“Oh... I thought...” Teri begins to say.
“Let me ask, do you like me?” He throws at her before she could finish her statement. It catches her off her guard.
“Uhm...” She begins, trying to think of the right words to say, but can’t, forcing her to say the truth as she knows it, “I do... like you. And I hope you would like me, but you said you like no one, so... uhm... I do not know what to say.”
“Look, Teri. I’m not telling what to do or how to feel. I’m not asking what you should do, you are to do as you think you need to do for it is right for you. If you want to like me, I’m not stopping you from doing so. But I am not going to do you wrong, I am not going to hurt you unless you do something to hurt others here. I will do what I can to protect you as I do the others. I promise you that. But I need you to understand that I may not like you like you like me.” He explains to her.
“Uhm... Fernando. Can you take me to town?” Teri asks.
“You need something I can buy you?” Fernando asks.
“Uhm... I would like some alone time with you, in a rented bed in a rented private room, in town. So I can show you how much I like you.” She nervously says to him.
“There is not enough time for that. Even if there was time, it, for me, would be for the wrong reasons.” He begins to tell her, adding, “But... Just listen to me. Maybe in fight town we can have that, just you and I. I just want to know everything about fight town, and I need a special girl that could do me favors, do things for me that I hope won’t get her in trouble. You think you can do that, for me?”
“I’ll do anything for you.” She tells him.
“Even if other girls are with us?” He asks.
“You mean La La and Li Li?” She asks.
“The four of us? Yes.” He answers.
“Fernando?” She calls to him.
“Yeah?” He replies.
“Could you come with Moro and me so I can get Maribelle’s things? I really want you to be there, I do not want to hurt Moro if she goes searching in places she does not belong.” Teri asks.
“I can go with you. That is not a problem for me.” Fernando tells her.