The Mentor

by Elin Peer

  I picked up one of the little suckers myself, and soon all the boys followed and were peeling and popping.

  Kya ordered another round of water bubbles, and this time she asked for the flavored version, which was even better because the bubbles came in different colors.

  After we had filled up on salad, pizza, lasagna, and some amazing ice cream for dessert, we walked across the town to our next stop, the concert hall.

  “The Butterflies are one of our most popular music groups,” Kya told the children. “Not only will we get to be at their concert but the three band members have also agreed to meet with us after the show.” All the Motlander children made sounds of excitement.

  “You know this band?” I asked Raven.

  “Everybody knows them,” she said with a huge grin and started singing: “You’ll be my queen, let me be your dream, ya-ay…”

  Wrinkling my nose up, I asked: “What kind of music are they playing?”

  “I don’t know, the good kind,” Raven concluded and followed the group when Cindy and Varna waved us along.

  We had a balcony to ourselves from which we could look down on the scene as three men entertained around a thousand people.

  “Whoa.” Marco whistled and leaned forward with his mouth open. “It’s like a whole sea of women.”

  Finn pushed some of the children to the side to join Marco before he turned to Cindy. “Can we go down there?” he asked, bouncing from foot to foot.

  “I’m afraid you have to stay up here for safety reasons.”

  “I won’t hurt them,” Finn said and held a hand to his chest. “Candy dear, how could you think that of me?”

  “It’s Cindy.”

  “I know,” a slow smile grew on Finn’s face and he had a sparkle in his eyes when he moved closer to the woman, who had to be at least five years older than him, and not very attractive. “But you remind me of delicious candy.”

  Cindy blinked her eyes before she cleared her throat. “Ehhm, okay.”

  “So, can we?” Finn asked again and when Cindy didn’t seem to know what they were talking about any longer, he added: “Can we go down there?”

  “No, we’ll stay up here,” Varna said matter-of-factly.

  But Finn wasn’t prepared to give up. There was a sea of women and he wanted to swim. “Sweetie,” he said in a seductive voice and changed his focus to Varna. “How about you and I go down there? I always prefer to be where the party is, and I have a feeling you and I could have a lot of fun.”

  Her eyes grew big when Finn reached out and cupped her face. “Answer me this, beautiful…” He trailed off. “Is Varna short for Nirvana?”

  The short, sturdy woman looked flabbergasted. “You really think I’m beautiful?”

  “Not beautiful,” Finn said and winked at her. “You, my dear, are stunning.”

  His exaggerated seduction had me rolling my eyes. With a woman like Kya in the room, no one could call Varna beautiful. Or maybe I was just biased.

  CHAPTER 18

  Butterflies

  Kya

  I don’t think the men and the boys enjoyed the music very much. They seemed busier looking at the audience than the band members, and once it was time to go down and meet the band, Archer seemed almost reluctant. It was such an honor to meet the greatest music stars in the world, and I for one was a little giddy.

  Surrounded by women, the three members of The Butterflies stood styled in tightly fitted outfits with intricate patterns. But not even the cuteness of José, Tyler, and Peter could keep the Motlander women in the room when our group entered.

  After a short presentation by their agent, our group was encouraged to ask questions.

  “How many women have you slept with?” Solomon wanted to know.

  “Did you pick out your clothes yourself?” Hunter asked with a skeptical frown.

  “Do you make a lot of money?” William inquired.

  Luckily the band members were amused by their questions and after answering they had a few for the Nboys themselves.

  “What kind of music do you like?”

  “Is it true most men never get to see a woman in their lifetime?”

  “Are you angry that you were sent to the Northlands when you were only three?”

  Plato answered the last question with a snort. “Of course we’re not angry, why would we be? We were the lucky ones who get to live as free men.”

  “But you just said that most men never get to see a woman in their lifetime,” José argued. “That seems like an awful big price to pay.”

  “Maybe, but at least we’re not cowering to women,” Nero pointed out. “We are the proud descendants of the heroes who defied the women.”

  “But weren’t your so-called heroes brutes who mistreated women?” Peter asked with amusement in his eyes.

  Archer crossed his arms and took over. “Our forefathers weren’t a homogeneous group of people. Some of them were religious men of strong principles while others were bikers, drifters, and criminals. One thing they did have in common was a strong male pride and an unwillingness to let themselves be ruled by women.”

  “Thank you for the history lesson,” Peter joked and batted his long eyelashes at Archer. “How long are you staying in town? I would love to hear more.”

  “I’m afraid we have a very busy schedule,” I said and moved closer to Archer.

  Peter bowed his head, which made his long hair fall into his pretty face. “What a pity.”

  “They looked like girls,” Solomon announced when we left the concert hall. “Every one of those men was smaller than me, and I’m only fourteen; I mean did you even see their bodies? They didn’t have an ounce of muscle.”

  “They are very beautiful for Motlander men,” I defended my countrymen. “Not everyone finds muscles attractive.”

  “Okay,” Solomon said. “So, let me ask you this, Kya, if you had to choose between one of those three girly men and one of our men, who would you choose?”

  “You would have to be more specific than that, Solo. I’m sure there are great men on each side, and contrary to what you might think, attraction isn’t just about looks.”

  “What if the choice was between me and one of those three?” Archer asked. He didn’t look at me or else he would’ve seen me shooting daggers with my eyes. How dared he bring this up in front of the children?

  “Oh, look, there’s the hotel.” I sped up to avoid answering that question. But it only worked until Archer found me later that night. I was sharing a room with Shelly, and we had just checked up on the children and made sure they were all comfortable when a light tap on our door made me open it.

  Archer stood leaning against the doorframe. “Hey, can I come in?”

  “Actually, we were just going to bed. Now isn’t the best time.”

  “I just have a few questions about tomorrow.”

  Looking back at Shelly, I said: “You get some sleep. Archer and I will just go down to the lobby for a little while and talk.”

  Of course, we didn’t. Archer had managed to get his own room and although I was still annoyed with him for putting me on the spot like that with his question, I went with him.

  He had only just closed the door behind us when he fired the stupid question at me again. “So, who would you choose? Me or one of the butterfly boys?”

  “What do you think?” I said with irritation.

  “How would I know when you refuse to answer the question?”

  “Archer, I don’t even know them.”

  He backed me to the bed, kissing me like a starving man. “I want to hear you say that you would choose me,” he muttered against my neck.

  “Why? I’m here with you, aren’t I?”

  “Choose me!”

  “Archer, we spoke about this.”

  He tensed.

  “Why can’t we just be lovers?” I whispered and because I was becoming addicted to his strong body and tantalizing kisses, I pulled him closer, guiding him down on the bed with me.
/>
  “Kya.” The heat from his breath warmed my collarbone and I spread my legs wider, making room for the large man on top of me. When he spoke again, his deep voice vibrated through me. “I want you to love me.”

  Swallowing hard, I lifted my head to lock eyes with him. “What did you say?”

  Archer’s piercing blue eyes met mine. “I want you to love me.”

  “I don’t think that would be very wise of me.”

  He closed his eyes and tensed his jaw.

  “Sex, Archer,” I reminded him. “That’s all I can offer you.”

  We didn’t talk more after that. His lovemaking was rougher than normal and I knew he was punishing me for hurting him.

  “Spread your legs for me,” he said and took me with a ferocity that I hadn’t experienced before.

  Archer filled me, and with every powerful thrust, he pushed me higher on the bed, as if he somehow wanted to climb into me.

  I didn’t complain because I knew I was doing the right thing, and I couldn’t allow myself to love Archer. I wasn’t cruel enough to tell Archer what he wanted to hear, only to leave him in a few years. He might not understand it, but I was doing him a favor by keeping things simple between us.

  I had promised myself that I would return to the Motherlands after my three years in the Northlands, and I would keep that promise. Sure, I loved being in Archer’s arms, and I loved it when we laughed together while we were still sweaty and catching our breaths. But those moments were short and stolen; and the rest of the time, we were still like oil and water.

  I told myself that I couldn’t love someone that I wanted to strangle at times and whom I didn’t share values with, and I certainly couldn’t love someone who had no problem spanking me. That would’ve made me a masochist, and I was many things, but not that!

  CHAPTER 19

  The Factory

  Archer

  On our second day in the Motherlands, we went to visit a factory that produced robots.

  The facility was modern and white, and the guide excitedly told us about the advanced functions of the robots.

  “Welcome to Advanced Technologies, the biggest manufacturer in the Motherlands. In this particular facility, we produce robots and drones, but we have four other plants spread around the world. One focuses on medical technology, another on audio and visual technology, and the last one on environmental technology,” he said and introduced himself as James Madsen, the owner of the factory.

  To be honest, I think all us Northlanders had a hard time focusing on his words. Instead we were fascinated by his nail polish and his thin eyebrows that had a peculiar shape.

  “What’s special about this facility is that we have a large research and development department too.”

  Nikola’s hand shot up. “Do you make submarines?”

  “What’s a submarine?” Willow asked.

  “They are these cool underwater boats where you could sneak up on others and pop out of the water like a cannon,” Nikola hurried to explain. “There used to a be a ton of them before the Toxic War and the crew would stay under water for days. They had sleeping quarters and everything.”

  “Yes,” James said, “I know what you mean but those boats were produced for a military purpose, which we have no use for. The closest things we have are small subs that our environmental department produces to help marine biologists in their work.”

  “What about transporting people from one place to another?” Storm asked. “I’ve heard that in the old days they had advanced technology and were able to beam people from one place to another.”

  James frowned and shifted his balance to one leg. “What an interesting question, and one that has been discussed for many years now. It is true that the Toxic War set us back technology-wise. With the old Internet being completely corrupted and for the most part useless, it has taken many years to get to where we are now. It was a proud breakthrough when we recreated virtual reality and holograms, but despite our great efforts we have yet to discover the technology behind beaming people and things from one place to another.” James lifted his hand. “But I have to be honest with you, there are those among our finest scientists who speculate that this technique never existed in the first place.”

  “It did, I’ve seen it in old movies,” Storm argued.

  “Yes, we all have, but just like time travel, 3D printers, and invisibility, we are unsure if what was described to us in books and films from that time is an actual technology, or maybe pure fiction,” James said with a slight tilt of his head. “It’s hard to tell, but then again, cleaning the earth has been our priority for centuries.” With a wave of his hand, he motioned for us to follow and pointed to a production line in front of us. “Over there, you’ll see our latest household model called Alex. The robot performs household chores with the highest efficiency yet seen.” James was obviously very proud.

  My head swung to see what had all the boys laughing. It was a display of robots by the wall.

  “What kind of chores do they perform?” Storm asked while cracking up.

  “I think you know that,” Kya said dismissively, but our tour guide didn’t seem to think sex robots were anything to be ashamed of.

  Whipping his arms in the air, James excitedly exclaimed. “Number two on the right is our best-selling female sex-bot, and can you guess which part of the world is our biggest market?”

  “Let me guess; the Northlands?” Shelly said dryly.

  “Ahh, yes, I thought she looked familiar. Finn grinned and nudged his elbow into Marco’s ribs. “Have you tried that model?”

  “Can we see it up close?” some of the boys asked, and like a child excited about sharing his toys, James steered us right to the display models.

  Shelly and Kya stayed in the background while the boys discussed the dimensions and looked closely at the different robots.

  “I can’t wait till I turn fifteen!” Solomon declared.

  “And when is that?” Marco asked him.

  “In seven months.”

  Marco smiled and patted Solomon on the shoulder. “Lucky you. The first time is always special.”

  “Archer, what is he talking about?” Shelly asked me.

  “The boys have to be fifteen before they can…” I nodded toward the robot. “You know.”

  “I see. And how does that work? I haven’t seen any at the school.”

  “We have whorehouses, just like you do,” I said.

  Shelly gave me a disturbed look. “We don’t have whorehouses.”

  “So, what would you call the places where your sex-bots are?” I asked.

  “Pleasure parlors,” she said with her eyes fixed on the ground.

  It was easy to forget that Shelly was only fifteen when you saw her teach or heard her debate, but right now she looked every bit the shy teenager.

  “Do you ever let people test them?” Marco asked James.

  “Yes.” The man clapped his hands together and lit up. “We have a focus group that gives us feedback.”

  Finn narrowed his eyes. “And who is in this focus group? Only Motlanders, I’ll bet.”

  “I’m afraid so,” the man admitted. “Obviously, we would love to have a focus group in the Northlands, but as you know, communication between our countries have been…” He frowned. “Well, limited.”

  “Ha, it would take me five minutes to put a group together,” Marco declared. “I mean, if we’re your biggest market then we should have a say in what we want.”

  The guide agreed, and happily gave his contact information to Marco and Finn, who gladly volunteered to test any robot he might have.

  “How about you?” he asked me.

  “Ehhm, yeah, all right,” I said and avoided looking at Kya.

  “You see, some of us like curvier women with boobs,” Finn declared. “And others,” his eyes fell upon me, “have a fetish for darker women.”

  “Okay, maybe we can move along,” Kya said pointedly to the guide. “I’m not sure the children need
to hear about fetishes and sex-bots.”

  The guide apologized and took us back to talking about tedious household chores that his amazing robots could perform. It was truly a state-of-the-art factory, and we all grew increasingly impressed when we moved on to see the production of drones.

  “You must be rich,” William announced when we saw the large production line.

  “We don’t have a monetary system here in the Motherlands,” Shelly explained to him.

  William frowned and pointed to the man. “But didn’t you say you were the owner?”

  “I did.” The man squared his shoulders. “This is my life’s work.”

  “What he means is that he owns the responsibility of this impressive factory,” Kya explained.

  “And I’m compensated for the many hours I put in,” James hurried to say.

  “Compensated with what?” William asked.

  “I’m what we call a distributor. My talent for running this factory rewards me with more points than I can use myself. Four times a year, I distribute my points to those who have less.”

  “What the hell is points?” Hunter asked with his arms crossed.

  “You get points when you contribute,” Kya said. “For instance, I’m a teacher, Christina is an archaeologist, and Pearl worked for the Council. The society is based on people contributing with their special gift, and the point system is a way to make sure everyone is valued and rewarded.”

  “But what do you use the points for?” William asked.

  “We use points for food, rent, transportation, and anything else we require.”

  “It’s what we call the fairness system,” Shelly added. “No one is rich and no one is poor. We all have the same opportunities.”

  William shook his head. “That has to be the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard. Are you people mentally retarded or something?”

  Finn placed a firm hand on William’s shoulder. “Now, you be nice, William; they can’t help it, and I’m sure our nice guide here wouldn’t want to share if he had a choice.”

  The man was gaping. “What kind of person would I be if I only thought of myself?”