The mixture of surprise, hate, and a tinge of fear on Luci's face was an aphrodisiac to Val, the sight flooding her body with endorphins and adrenaline. She could tell how much Luci wanted to kill her, and Val was hoping she would try, but the woman had more restraint than Val gave her credit for. Still, the world-shattering reveal to Luci was the cherry on top of this most fortunate day. Val took one final look at Luci before she was ushered into the ship tucked behind the stage.

She immediately recognized the design as that of the original OTech ships from the Milky Way. The inside was set up much like the common area of a luxurious cruise, waited by Oracle's androids and occupied by the previous eighteen beneficiaries. Val had little interest in conversing with the other winners, so she went to the bar. The android bartender was behind the counter, cleaning a glass in a skeuomorphic display as he turned toward Val.

"Congratulations on your win!" He said. "Can I get you anything as a celebratory drink?"

"Sure!" Val replied. "What do you have?"

"We have many beverage types available, from soft beverages like sparkling water, coffees, and milk, but we also offer a wide selection of alcoholic drinks such as aged whiskey, cocktails, and a selection of vintage wines. Any of these drinks can also be spiked with your choice of amphetamines, mescaline, LSD, THC, adrenochrome, or any number of drugs that can be synthesized on board."

Val was spoiled for choice. Many of the options were things she hadn't heard of before. She was tempted to try a cocktail with everything in it, but thought it might be better to pace herself, at least until she settled into wherever she would be staying at the resort. She ordered a coffee spiked with light THC. When it was delivered to her, she left the bar and started walking around the common area of the ship. Much like herself, most of the other winners seemed to be keeping to themselves. Val found an empty seat and began sipping at her coffee as the rest of the winners filled the ship. Once the last beneficiary boarded, the outer doors closed and an Oracle android stepped into the center of the common area.

"Welcome, beneficiaries, and congratulations! We are departing for the resort and will arrive within a few minutes. In the meantime, please enjoy your beverages!"

As the android spoke, Val could already feel her weight change with the ship's ascension into the sky. The other beneficiaries were startled by the shift, unaccustomed as Val was to travel by OTech ship. She tried to pay close attention to the movement of the ship, in particular, to see if there were any more noticeable shifts in gravity that would indicate an FTL jump. She didn't feel any, but a well-plotted jump to a planet of similar mass wouldn't have been noticeable anyway.

Just as Oracle had said, the ship came to rest a few minutes later. After Oracle announced their arrival, the ship doors opened onto a lavishly decorated circular landing surrounded by a beautiful violet forest framed by scenic mountains in every direction. On the platform stood twenty-one androids, each one was an individual in appearance based on the preferences of each beneficiary, at least, judging by the android approaching Val that was the spitting image of J. Shivers shot down Val's spine. It was like she was looking at a ghost, the pure white style of the android's hair, eyes, and clothes lending to its ethereal visage.

"Welcome to the Beneficiary's Resort!" The android said. "I will be your concierge during your stay. Please speak to me if you need anything. I will be showing you around the resort, starting with the event hall where you can meet and mingle with the other current and former beneficiaries, after which I will show you to your personal bungalow."

Val reached her hand out and shook that of the androids. Its skin was soft and warm, and were it not for the white hair, eyes, and its precise, deliberate movements, Val would have easily mistaken it for human.

"Thank you, uh," Val said, "what do I call you?"

"Oracle is generally what most people call us, but I'm more than happy if you choose something else."

"Okay, well, uh, thank you Oracle!"

As Val gripped its hand and looked over it's gentle smile, she couldn't help but wonder just how anthropomorphic it was, maybe due to how much it looked like J. Already, Val was thinking about cutting it open and seeing what its blood, flesh, and bones looked like.

After all of the beneficiaries were greeted, they were lead to the nearby event hall, already bustling with many of the previous round of winners. Val, still not sure of what to expect, tried to read the faces of the previous beneficiaries. Some of them appeared well rested and happy on the surface, but almost universally, there was a tinge of concern. Looking around the hall, Val could see nearly every one of them was on edge. She imagined it was because they were about to return back to Voracity, to a mundane life of doing whatever they wish, just within the safety of virtual and augmented reality.

It still wasn't quite clear to Val what would be allowed here. She understood what the concept of "true freedom" meant, but she was unsure quite what it meant this alien planet. She looked around for a friendly face, or at least a face that was friendly beyond the shallow surface. She settled on a woman sitting on a beach chair being given a colorful beverage from her large male-presenting concierge. As Val approached, she waited for the woman to acknowledge her presence.

"Hello!" Val said.

"Hey there!" The woman replied with a smile.

"May I have a seat?"

"Sure thing!"

As Val sat down on the chair next to her, the woman reached her free hand out.

"Jane," she said. Val shook her hand.

"I'm Amelia," Val replied, "it's nice to meet you!"

"Welcome to the resort! I hope you enjoy your stay!"

"Thanks! I'm sure that I will, but..."

"You're not really sure what to do?" Jane asked with a smile. Val nodded. "I'm not sure it really helps, but... do whatever the hell you want!"

"Yeah..." Val laughed, "That's what has always been said about this place but, what if what I want is-"

"I'm going to stop you right there and let you know that whatever your desire is, Oracle will be able to accommodate it. I mean, there's nothing stopping me from having my concierge fuck the hell out of me right here in front of you and everyone else. In fact..." Jane looked up at her large concierge and bit her lip. Val could see where this was going.

"Ah... that's okay, you don't have to..."

"I know I don't have to, but I kinda want to..."

"I see... well... public sex isn't necessarily my thing."

"Not yet... maybe you should try it sometime?" Jane laughed again. "Though, I see your concierge looks a bit more... delicate than mine. Is it possible that your desires might be a little... darker?" The woman gave Val a sly smile. Val looked away, blushing. "Like I said earlier, Oracle can accommodate anything."

As Jane spoke, movement caught her eye from behind Val. There was a faint look of surprise on her face when she continued speaking.

"Well... almost anything, but this should give you an idea of what's possible." Jane motioned behind Val.

When Val turned, the sight instantly sent a chill down her spine. Moving up toward the event hall from one of the surrounding bungalows was a wild eyed and angry man clad only in an open robe and slippers. It wasn't the fact that he was openly displaying nudity that caught her attention at first. It was the dark red spots on the robe's fabric and staining the skin all over his pelvis, mouth and lower jaw. Furthermore, he was pulling something behind him. The sound of subdued whimpers and cries hit Val's ears before she saw what it was coming from.

In the mans grip was a boy, completely nude and futilely fighting against the much larger man's strength, and a young woman concierge following behind. Tears were streaming from the boy's reddened eyes. Eventually, the sounds of the boys whimpers caught the attention of most of the other beneficiaries, and was met with gasps and faint murmuring. Once the man reached the central circle of the event hall, he threw the boy forward, who stumbled and fell to the floor, then scrambled to get up and away from the man, but was stopped by a foot coming down hard against his back, flattening him against the ground. The man looked around to see that he hadn't quite caught the attention of everyone yet.

"Listen up!" The man shouted. Everybody was now watching the spectacle. The man continued, "if you really think that you can do anything in this place, well, you're just as much a fool as I was!"

The man removed his foot from the boys back only to kick him in the ribs to roll him over, where the man came down hard with his knees against the boy's arms. The boy was pinned facing upward toward the man, struggling with all his might to get away, but there was nowhere he could go.

"Please! Don't hurt me!" The boy shouted with absolute fear in his eyes.

"Shut the fuck up!" The man yelled, punctuating his curse with a tightened fist against the center of the boys face.

Blood shot from the boys nose as it was instantly broken, and his cry turned into a guttural grunt. His voice started coming up again in a pained yell, but was immediately hit with the other fist. The man started laying relentless blows to the boy's head, one after another, not giving him a chance to breathe.

It was a strange feeling to Val, seeing this happen only meters away from her and all of the other guests and concierges, not a single one of them lifting a finger or moving to stop the man from his extremely violent outburst. The boy's body went from flailing desperately, to shaking uncontrollably, to twitching only when hit, and then to laying completely motionless as the man continued. Eventually the skin on the boy's face bled, then tore, and when the man felt his cranium cave in, the man gripped it through his orbital cavity and pulled a large portion of his skull from the rest of the no longer recognizable gore.

The man held it up, presenting it toward the rest of the beneficiaries. The inside of the boy's skull wasn't bone, but had a glassy, highly processed ceramic appearance. Much of the new beneficiaries already carried a look of shock from witnessing such a violent act, but few of the old guard appeared surprised. Those that did, had a look of offense and anger, not that the man would do something so brazen, but instead at the fact that the dead boy wasn't human in the first place.

"Look!" The man shouted. "Look at how they lie to you, and straight to your fucking face!" He pointed at the shard of android skull structure, then approached his own concierge and threw it at her, the piece bouncing off her chest without reaction. The man then started yelling into her face. "You really think we can't tell the difference?"

"I apologize for the inconvenience caused by the product quality, which resulted from-" The concierge's reply was cut short by the man's fist colliding with the side of it's face, knocking it to the ground.

"Fuck you!" The man yelled, then stomped hard on the android's face. "I said REAL! Not this manufactured garbage!" He punctuated his words with continued stomps against the android's head, already cracked and leaking, but displayed much less simulated fear and anguish as the one that had just been destroyed next to it. The man's tantrum came to an end once the concierge's face was in pieces, then he left to return to his bungalow in a huff.

"Jesus Christ!" Val said.

"Any questions?" Jane asked, taking a sip from her drink. Val couldn't draw her eyes away from the bodies.

"Real?" Val asked.

"Yep. If you want some playthings, just ask your concierge, and they'll be able to provide you some."

"Just... not real ones?"

"Oh, absolutely she'll bring you real ones! But, you know, there's only so many out there, and that guy, well, he's been going through them like tissue paper. It hasn't really affected me, but there are a few other beneficiaries that didn't seem to care for it."

"Who is he?" Val asked.

"Hmmm..." Jane put a finger to her chin. "I think it's like 'Corval' or something? I'm not really sure." She turned toward her concierge. "Oracle?"

"The man's name is Andrew Corval," it said. Jane smirked and leaned back in her chair.

"Nailed it," she said, then took a sip of her drink.

"What does he do back in Voracity?" Instead of asking Jane, Val turned toward her own concierge.

"I'm afraid that information is private at his request," it said.

"So?" Val raised an eyebrow. "If I'm truly free in this place, why can't I have that information?"

"You are free to make the request. However, I do not have the ability to answer. I would recommend making the request in person."

Val wasn't satisfied with the answer, and already was thinking of ways to punish her concierge when they arrived at her bungalow. As she thought about what she would do, she started considering what other things she could try.

"So, tell me, what kinds of stuff have you done since you got here? I mean, besides that..." Val pointed at Jane's large android. Jane laughed.

"I've gone through a few playthings myself. Usually, I like to direct and watch while it does stuff with them."

"Really?" Val asked, and Jane nodded. Val shivered at the thought. "That's... amazing!"

"You think so?" Jane said, then put on a sly smile. "You wanna see?"

The women stood up from their chairs and started moving toward Jane's bungalow. Val fell behind so she could speak with her concierge.

"If she asks her concierge to attack me, are you going to be able to defend me?"

"I will do what I can, but the best defense will be simply telling it to stop."

"That's not very reassuring," Val said. "What if she tries to attack me?"

"In that case, I would be able to provide any needed medical assistance. However, I cannot interfere with the actions of another beneficiary. Should you wish to continue interacting with her or any other beneficiary at the resort, do so at your own risk."

"Okay..." Again, Val wasn't quite sure she liked the answer, but it made sense, and now she knew to be on the lookout.

A few minutes later, they arrived at Jane's bungalow. It was large and sleek, combining hard edges with soft curves, and plenty of floor-to-ceiling windows that reflected the beautiful lavender flora that made up the natural wall around the building. Inside the building was a large, open living area combined with a fully equipped, gourmet kitchen. It was nice, and reminded Val of some of the exotic excursions that she went on with her father when she was younger. She felt like she was home again.

Jane stopped in the kitchen to grab a refill of her drink before guiding Val toward the stairs. She motioned toward the flight going up.

"The bedroom is up there," Jane said, then turned and stepped onto the downward flight, "and down here is the playroom!" She winked at Val and continued on. Val followed behind her.

Down the stairs and to a heavy, polished steel door. It opened as Jane approached, and a wave of sound was the first thing through the opening. The deafening audio was a mixture of discordant screams, forceful percussive beats, and grimy electric strings. The volume of the music, if it could be called that, came down as they entered. The room was a sizeable dungeon made to highly technical specifications with dim, red LED lights lining the walls that changed to a more neutral tone when Jane stepped inside.

Along with several pieces of furniture worthy of the most disturbed minds of torturers in the middle ages, there were several people shackled to the walls, on their knees in a stress position. Every one of the men and women were nude and in varying states of dehydration or starvation. A few of them began to stir, but some remained still. Jane walked in a circle to each one of her prisoners, giving each one a hard slap in the face.

The first few reacted as expected, however weak it was, but one of the men didn't move at all, so Jane gave him another slap. Again, the man had no reaction. Jane looked back at her concierge, pointing at the man.

"Looks like we lost another one. Double check that he's gone and take him up to my bedroom."

Without hesitation, the concierge moved to the man and checked his pulse. A moment later, the corpse's wrists came free of the shackles, then the android picked him up and removed him. Jane continued her walk around the room, waking each of her playthings. Val simply stood and watched, until she reached the last one, a young woman with dark hair. Jane hit her, hard. The woman grunted and looked up at Jane, then over to Val. The look of shock that grew on the woman's face mirrored that of Val's.

"Rosa?!" Val said.

"Val?" Rosa replied in a weak, raspy voice. "Val! Please, help me-"

Rosa was hit with another slap from Jane, who then looked over at Val.

"Val?" Jane asked. "I thought you said your name was Amelia... Do you... know her?"

"I do, actually. She was one of the people I arrived with."

"What, like... she's a Beneficiary or something? I've had her for a few days now, so..." Jane raised an eyebrow. "Ohhh, you're not talking about the Milky Way shit, are you?"

"I told you..." Rosa said under her breath, resulting in another hit to the side of her head.

"Quiet! I wasn't talking to you," Jane said, then motioned for Val to continue.

"Well, yeah, actually. We landed here about a week ago, coming from a planet in the Milky Way."

"Wow!" Jane laughed, "that's wild! I've had a few of them say that since I've been here, but I thought it was just some kind of brainwashing thing."

"Other people have said that?"

"Yep. Since I've been here, I've had like... three other ones mention something like that, I think? If it's true, you must be amazingly lucky to arrive here and become a beneficiary." Jane looked Val up and down. "You think some of that luck'll rub off on me? I'd love to be chosen to be a benefactor tomorrow..."

"I'm not totally against it..." Val said. "After you leave, do you think I could have this one?" She pointed toward Rosa. Jane looked back and forth. Val could see the consideration rolling around in her head.

"Hmm... I don't know. I was kind of looking forward to finishing them all off before I leave.." Jane looked at Val, who could see in her smile that she was looking to do whatever was most inconvenient to her. Val simply smiled back, then motioned for her concierge.

"Could you grab me another drink from the kitchen?" Val asked. The concierge nodded, but Val grabbed her arm and leaned in to whisper in her ear before letting her go. As Val's concierge was leaving the dungeon, Jane's was just returning.

"Just in time!" Jane said. "Let's go ahead and give our new friend here a little show, shall we?"

"I'd like that, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, I just had this installed the other day, but haven't had a chance to use it." Jane walked to a long platform in the middle of the room, longer than a standard bed, with a pair of shackles attached to steel cables at both sides. "You ever seen a persons limbs pulled from their sockets?"

"No, can't say that I have."

"Me either! Not purposefully, at least. My concierge has gotten a little rough a few times, but this thing is apparently called a 'rack,' a design that was used in the middle ages." Jane snapped at her concierge and pointed at Rosa, who's constant state of fear was becoming more extreme as the large android approached.

The moment that Rosa's manacles were released, she tried running toward the door, but was quickly stopped by the android gripping a fist full of her hair. Rosa yelped and lost her footing, then started struggling ferociously as he dragged her to the table.

"Wow! She's still got a lot of fight in her!" Jane said with a laugh. As the woman was forced onto the table and each of her wrists and ankles bound, Jane's hands started wandering around her body.

Val's concierge arrived through the door carrying a new drink for her, but was also gripping a large chef's knife that she had retrieved from the kitchen. Jane's focus was on the naked woman on the table, and when Val walked up behind her and gently placed a hand on her body, she fell back into Val's with a comfortable smile. Val traced a finger from her stomach and up her blouse, then gently traced the woman's neckline. Jane moaned and leaned her head back onto Val's shoulder.

"You move quick," Jane said, "We haven't even started yet!"

With Jane's neck and chest open to her, Val raised the knife to the notch between her collarbones. With her eyes closed, Jane didn't know what was happening until the knife was already deep inside her torso, the blade long enough to pierce her heart. Once the knife was firmly in place, Val pushed and pulled forcefully at the handle, making sure it did as much damage as possible before she let go and stepped away. Jane tried to grab the handle, but the incredible pain sapped her strength immediately, and she fell to the floor.

The large concierge was fast, but not fast enough to make it around the table before Jane hit the ground. The android quickly gathered her and carried her through the door, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Now Val was alone with Rosa. She walked up to the table.

"Oh, my God!" Rosa said. "Thank you, Val!"

There was no response. Val stood over Rosa, looking her nude body up and down. The way she was looking at Rosa made her very uncomfortable, and then Val placed a single finger on her stomach, and traced a line up between her breasts and to her neck.

"Val?" Rosa's ecstatic mood was fading fast. "What... what are you doing? Get me out of here!"

"It's alright, Rosa. I'm here now. You don't have to worry any more," Val said, with a smile creeping across her face. "I have a plan."

There was a worry that there would be retaliation for what Val did to Jane, but for the rest of the night, no such action came. At noon on the next day, the Benefactor selection had begun. The event was much more contained and subdued than the Beneficiary's Gala the night before, with only the current and former beneficiaries in attendance at the resort's event hall. A standard-model Oracle android in an elegant dress presented itself at the center of the hall. Much of it's speech was a fond farewell to the beneficiaries that would be returning home, but the speech ended with the much anticipated selection.

"Without further ado, I present to you this month's beneficiary to join our Benefactors for an eternity of decadence, and to continue guiding Voracia into prosperity!" The android smiled and waited for the audience to finish clapping. "And our Benefactors have selected... Andrew Corval!"