Growing into the Job, Post 430: Out from the Crowd

“Can you believe all these people?” marveled Kori Kleinman in a covert aside to her co-worker as they stood, in most part head-and-shoulders above the gathering crowd of press, eager future patients, and random Melissa ‘fans’; the parking lot was just teeming with them. The two had been out here, on this atypically bright November day, preparing them all for the press event.

“Yeah huh,” Lexi replied, a smug look on her face. Alexa Samuels had her MBA in marketing, but her classes at Michigan had certainly not taught her to deal with anything like this. Still, she was a smart and competently charismatic girl who, maybe as a result of the few treatments of Program she’d had in her days at Evolution and now the more subtle enhancements she’d enjoyed since being assigned here at Far Horizons, was doing a good job of handling the situation. At least, she thought she was. The ribbon-cutting for the upgraded facility was slated for 13:45 , about an hour from now. Many local TV stations were on the scene, though Channel 5 would have the exclusives. 

“Katie should really be out here helping us,” Kori complained through her perfectly practiced smile, showing off her pearly whites as she fielded yet another round of inane questions, this time from a group of goggle-eyed, pimply twerps that looked like they should be in school. Questions about Melissa, of course. Still, she continued to try to beam through her forced smile. “And where the heckin’ heck is Bianca?”

“Yeah, Katie’s doing that job interview, with their old boss,” Lexi answered, handing her card to a sticky-looking guy from Channel 5 who’d wanted to talk about their camera access at the opening gala in the atrium tonight, “and Bianca’s…I dunno where Bianca is.” Though  a witch could come in really handy right about now. I'm sure they would have more than a few ways to quiet these people down. 

Kori just nodded behind subtly clenched teeth as she continued ushering people as best she could away from the front doors and the velvet-roped sections they’d set up. There were a few of the guys from the basement - Melissa’s ‘monkeys’ - that were arranging chairs behind the makeshift podium and trying their best to remain unseen. Cameras were already being assembled in place. Kori knew someone from the mayor’s office would be arriving soon, probably with their own team of people. As part of the Communications team, she knew it’d be partly her job to make sure everyone knew the deal. Lexi, though, was the one really running the show. 

Lexi Samuels, aka Agent 0FHMA011, had been placed in her position in large part to lay the groundwork for this event and to usher in what would soon follow: the aggressive marketing and expansion of Far Horizons Evolution Center into a nationwide brand of medical facilities that would prepare and serve the women of the upcoming new world order in the US. This, today, was ostensibly just a local press event, a silly ribbon-cutting to a new doctor’s office, but Lexi knew the plan was to have this ‘little event’ picked up nationally through the Movement’s burgeoning media empire. Their influence spanned an increasingly extensive web that already boggled Lexi’s mind, and the Movement’s power was only continuing to grow. Similar medical facilities had been successful in other countries where the Movement was more advanced, and had started carrying out their purpose. There was no reason that, with KOLECTV’s help, Far Horizon Evolution Centers couldn’t spring up in every major city from coast-to-coast in the next 12-18 months and from there help spread the Movement's agenda. That was the goal at least, and Lexi knew that her job security partially rested on how well things went today and tonight.  She had the support and guidance, of course, from higher-ups at Evolution, as well as Nexifem and KOLECTV, but boots-on-the-ground moments like these were really in her lap. 

Kori, a naive and semi-recent Communications grad from Syracuse, had actually been a big help. She seemed pretty committed to the cause and, without the benefit of the partial immunity to Melissa’s pheromones that Lexi’s exposure to Program had given her, Kori was also a dedicated Hive member and Melissa fan. That, for now at least, was fine. Also, her tits had recently gotten huge. 

Those pimply twerps from before were ogling them as we speak. 

“Scram you little creeps.” With a sheath of papers that held today's itinerary and logistics, Lexi shooed them away. After they scurried, a young blonde girl was left, and stood facing them seemingly undeterred. 

“Hello there,” Lexi greeted her, smiling her big smile. The young girl had caught her attention.Tanned, busty in a low-cut blue tee. Short-sleeved in the nice weather. She was fresh-faced as all get-out.

“Hi, Ms. Samuels?” the girl asked.

“Yes?” Lexi answered. If the girl knew her name, she’d done her research. 

“My name’s Tia,” she replied, “and I was wondering how I might go about applying for a lifeguard position.”

 Lexi nodded silently. There was something about this one that got her antennae up. Not in a bad way, necessarily, just up. Now, she knew they were still looking for lifeguards for the underground clinic pool. Would they hire teenagers?  “I'm afraid that’s really not my department, but…”

She looked at the girl. Young, really young. Something shimmered inside her, though. Lexi motioned her closer, speaking softly. “You’re on treatment, aren’t you?”

The girl froze, hesitating a bit. But after a quick sideways glance she replied. “No, but my teacher is. She’s in an experimental, like, study. She comes here for treatment, and it’s been working. On all of us,” she said, “so all us girls in her class have been…”

Her voice trailed off. Lexi knew what she meant to say. As natural a beauty as this girl appeared, her height, figure and composure were remarkable. 

“And the boys have been-?“  Lexi prompted, glancing and nodding at the pimply twerps that were now huddled over their phones several yards away. Her classmates, apparently. Here on a class trip? Suddenly they reminded her of small, shrunken little rodents.

“Yeah…they are.” Tia bit her lower lip as she glanced over at the little twerps, “…getting smaller.”

Lexi studied the girl’s reaction, putting it together: a high school teacher, a patient in the Product study clinic here probably, was building a hive of her students. The higher-ups, and the study-coordinator Gianna, were pretty picky-and-choosy about who they brought into the trial. This teacher must have some some sort of connection. Now it was Lexi’s turn to hesitate. She liked the girl well enough, but didn’t know what would transpire if a budding bee from another hive came to work here. What might happen if she was also exposed to Melissa’s pheromones, even if just for a few hours a week?

Could be cool.

“Tell you what,” Lexi said, “I’m going to take your pic, so I remember how adorable you are: smile…”

Tia smiled for Lexi.

“Here’s my card. Send me your stuff, if you have a resume or whatever. I’ll see what I can do about that lifeguard job…”

Lexi regarded her again, thought for a moment.

“Y’know what?” she asked, “We’re having a little gala event here tonight, celebrating the new opening.”

“Yeah I heard,” Tia answered.

This girl has done her homework, Lexi thought again. “How about you drop in, I can introduce you to a few people.”

“For real?” Tia squealed, suddenly belying her youth, eyes wide with enthusiasm.

“Yeah, for real,” Lexi smiled, seeing how the promise of such a fancy, ‘adult’ event was so exciting to the teen, “I’ll get you on the list. Seven o’clock here, tonight. Let me know if you need a dress…”

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thx to ItsThePitts for providing inspiration for the Tia character. We'll see how she...develops. And, of course, RiF for edits.