Chapter
One: The Most Beautiful Woman in the World
“And, if you’d like to hear more, please tune in next week,” Helen Argos
said with a smile, her face lightening to a beauty that transcended even
that of her ordinary perfection. Her fan base, numbering in the billions,
breathed a collective sigh as she did so, already anticipating the same
look plastered to millions of pieces of merchandise advertising Helen.
And it was not only her beauty that did it, people said, although others
scoffed at the idea. Helen appeared to be intelligent (but not too intelligent),
sweet (but not saccharine), and all together glorious in face, figure,
and personality. Was it any wonder that she had become an icon?
The television clicked off abruptly. Victoria had no idea why she
even watched anymore. She hated Helen with a passion that nearly
rivaled the love the world had for that idiotic woman. Yet a strange
compulsion drew her back, again and again, to watch Helen parade about
to the cheers of billions of adoring people, even though watching hurt
more than almost anything. She gave into the compulsion, though,
to watch the last bit of the show.
The television winked on at the touch of the remote. “And, as a special
treat to all of my favorite people,” Helen said from her confines within
the TV screen. “I will be hosting a chat over the Internet at eight o’clock
western standard time today. It will be on a first come, first serve
basis, so hurry up.” Helen winked. “I can’t wait to see everyone
there.”
Victoria sighed, shutting off the TV again. She’d almost think that
Helen enjoyed the attention from how happy she appeared and that she actually
was as good as she seemed to be. Helen had yet to be caught saying anything
snide about her fans, as so many actors had, nor did anyone know of her
doing anything particularly malicious. Oh, certainly there had been
a tabloid out about how she might be having some problems with her husband,
Michael Atriedes, but even these seemed relatively subdued, and pointed
more towards Michael having a mistress than any flaw on Helen’s part.
Victoria figured that Helen’s fans must truly wonder how any man could
prefer another woman to her, although Victoria could barely understand
why anyone would want to be married to Helen at all.
Still, such things were not her concern, and if she could only tear her
eyes away from the perpetual face of Helen Argos, her life would be well
enough. She turned back to her computer and began typing. She
had a story due, sometime in the near future, and considering what a floozy
the editor already thought she was, she didn’t want to reinforce the belief
by getting the article in late. Victoria sighed. The job wasn’t perfect,
but in many ways it felt like the best thing in the world for her.
***
The television’s image winked off.
“Hey, why’d you do that?” Alexander demanded.
“You’re not planning to watch that all day, are you?” his older brother,
Hector, asked.
“Not all day, no,” Alexander said. “But there were a few last minutes…a
couple of ending notes that I wanted to see.”
Hector sighed and, with a slight movement of his hand, flicked the TV to
life again.
“I will be hosting a chat…” the television said, its delicate female voice
coming to life.
“You’re not watching that,” Hector said with a sigh.
“What’s wrong with Helen?” Alexander said, his voice already pouting.
He’d been spoiled as a child, Hector had always thought, and Alex’s defensiveness
over Helen seemed a perfect illustration of Hector’s belief.
“Nothing,” Hector said with a sigh. “I just don’t understand your fascination
with her.”
Alex sighed at the obvious ignorance of this man who he unfortunately happened
to be related to, although his attention remained fixed on the screen.
“She’s just so wonderful…beautiful, intelligent, capable…but with an air
of innocence and fragility…”
Hector tried not to gag. He started on a new note. “How’s Octavia
doing?” he asked.
“Octavia?” Alexander said, with an idle gesture. “She’s old news.
Just as well, anyway. She can go back to her germs, or whatever.”
Hector hoped that Alexander was only simplifying the situation for him.
He did know that his brother had not seen his semi-serious girlfriend in
quite a while. And it was possible that Octavia’s interests in her
career may have driven them apart. However, Hector felt that his
younger brother’s playboy ways were the more likely cause for the relationship’s
disintegration. At times Hector wondered whether or not Alexander
was even capable of understanding what his intelligent, beautiful, ex-girlfriend
did for a living. Which was truly sad considering the fight Octavia
had gone through just to get her position at the CDC, far less the competence
it demonstrated she had…
“So you don’t miss her at all?” Hector ventured.
Alex
shrugged. “She seemed like a nice girl, and everything…but she was
too into herself. Now Helen…I don’t suppose that you could find a
way for me to meet her.”
“I don’t think that I could, no,” Hector said, glaring down at his brother
who remained on the couch, remote control in his hand.
“But,” Alexander said, almost begging. “You do control one of the most
powerful corporations on earth. And I figure that you owe me one
for me not trying to get a part of it when dad gave it to you, and all…I
mean, it’s not as if I’m not his son too.”
Hector allowed himself to feel a twinge of guilt…but no more than that.
It was true that Alexander had been cheated out of most of his family’s
fortune, but Hector had always felt that his father’s decision had more
to do with Alex’s irresponsibility and Hector’s natural gift with business,
than any true favoritism.
“You do remember,” Hector said at last. “That Helen doesn’t work for us.
If you wanted to get in touch with Anaji or Rose, I’m sure that we could
do it…”
Alex
shrugged, the issue obviously of little consequence for him. “Why not just
ask Ilia next time you meet with them if they could send Helen over?
They could just suggest it to her?”
“Sure,” Hector said, not feeling like prolonging the discussion. “I’ll
do that. You just…do whatever you do, all right?”
“Sure,” Alexander said, turning his gaze back to the TV.
***
Leon sat by the window, staring out at the traffic as it ran by, the headlights
glittering in the dark. As he gazed, his attention completely dedicated
to internal thought, his roommate, Patrick, crept up behind him and pummeled
him on the back.
Startled, Leon turned around, although not so abruptly that it would make
him appear surprised.
“If you want to knock my ribs out, you’ll have to hit harder,” Leon said
with a grin. “Any reason you felt the need
to molest me?”
“I didn’t molest you,” Patrick said with a grin. “Just knocked some sense
into you, that’s all.”
Leon smiled slightly, his mind already returning to his thoughts.
“Yeah, sense.”
“Is something bothering you?” Patrick asked. “Not that I care, or
anything...”
“Yeah, that’s why you asked,” Leon said with a shrug. His body almost
rippled with the motion, turning such an ambivalent motion into a statement
of passion. It was one of the things Patrick loved about his best
friend. Leon had such an inner fire that even small gestures, such
as lifting a fork to his mouth or driving were filled with tension, strength.
Leon seemed almost the opposite of Patrick, lending a fire to Patrick’s
balance, a passion to Patrick’s stability. They complimented each
other almost perfectly. But now Leon was in another of his grandiose,
morose periods where everything stood to be contemplated and the simplest
things could be analyzed into depression.
Patrick shrugged himself, although on him the gesture looked unimportant,
forgettable, the way a shrug should be. “OK, well, it’s your turn
to cook dinner.”
Leon chucked to himself slightly. “You and food. All you think about.”
“What else’s more important?” Patrick said, grinning again.
“Nothing,” Leon said, his mouth clenched in a way that virtually oozed
discontent. He paused for a long moment before continuing with, “Patrick...don’t
you ever worry about our future?”
“Our?” Patrick asked, turning his hands over. “Not particularly,
no. I figure that it’ll all come out all right. We keep our
business up. If it fails, we get jobs somewhere else or start a new
one. If it succeeds, we’ll deal with it then.”
“But,” Leon said, speaking slowly as if putting great thought into which
words followed which. “Don’t you wonder about...It’s just...I want
to succeed, but we’re competing with companies that have enough money to
buy all the best equipment, all the best minds, and then spend as much
as they want promoting their products. It just feels impossible that
we can even compete. And yet, the only alternative is to work for
the same companies, to do things that aren’t a part of me, but a part of
someone else’s vision. Sure, I probably could rise to the top of one of
them, but to do that...”
Patrick didn’t really understand what Leon’s problems were with any of
the above options, but he kept it to himself. He merely allowed himself
to wallow in the light of someone who actually felt that he could make
it into the upper hierarchies of one of the corporations.
“...I don’t know that I want to make the sacrifices, to do things not because
I want to do them, but because someone else wants me to do them...to live
for someone who’s not me, who I don’t even care for,” Leon finished.
“Is that so irrational?”
“I dunno,” Patrick said. The conversation, although interesting,
had long since gone beyond his comprehension. This was not that Patrick
was stupid. He merely lacked the ambition to care whether or not
he sold a best selling AI and became fabulously wealthy or whether he merely
worked on a team for developing office systems and then sat around with
friends and family in the evenings, relaxing in their company. Leon’s
argument interested him, but belonged to a world that he did not live in.
Leon sighed and stood, his body seeming to project even over his own huge
frame. “I’ll think about it tomorrow,” he said at last. “Maybe I
should just look for a job in industry. We’re running out of funds
and it’s probably better to give up while I still have the ability to get
into industry.”
Patrick nodded and went to the kitchen to start dinner. He’d nearly
finished it before he remembered that it was Leon’s night to cook.
***
“I will be hosting a chat...” the voice said as Arthur Atriedes shut off
the television. He smiled inwardly to himself as the ratings appeared
on the screen in front of him, Helen’s show topping them. Advertisers
paid heavily for the few spots allowed during her hour-long appearances,
and his products benefited from her publicity. Merchandise with her
name or image attached sold even more money than those advertised near
her, and her exclusive support for what he manufactured sold even more.
His second in command, Ulysses Laertides, stepped up behind him.
“So it seems that she’s done it again,” Ulysses said.
Arthur nodded, his gaze flickering between the screen and his brother.
“Yes. She’s the best resource we have.”
“And they say that fame is cheap.”
Arthur nodded. “ It is. But in Helen’s case we did something right.
She manages to eclipse even the greatest of other entertainers. We
could fire anyone else and get some new girl off the street to take her
place. But Helen...” Arthur paused for a moment. “She’s irreplaceable.
And nearly immortal, I might add. Her fame hasn’t decreased in her entire
thirty years on television.”
“Unusual. Especially since she hasn’t exactly changed with the times.”
“Oh, she has,” Arthur said. “Just gradually, with a sort of graceful
delicacy. Funny how people like the unchanging.”
“It gives them something secure,” Ulysses said, staring at the screen as
Helen’s perfect face was replaced by an advertisement for a skin care product
that they sold. “Amazing.”
***
“Shit,” Alexander swore at the defenseless computer.
“What is it?” Hector asked, watching as Alexander pulled the helmet off
his head.
“The chat’s full,” Alexander said. “Already. I even came two hours early.”
“Helen is popular,” Hector said, inching out of the room.
“I don’t see why they don’t let everyone in,” Alexander said with a pout.
“After all...”
“After all, you’d love to watch Helen with a billion other people, right?”
Hector said. “Just like on TV.”
“You couldn’t bring in a tech, or something, could you?” Alexander pleaded.
“And break the law?” Hector thought before instead saying. “Sorry Alex.”
He opened the door and managed to slip out and close it before Alexander
looked up again from the screen.
However, the delay only hindered Alex. He continued pounding at the
keyboard, helmet on, waiting for someone to leave so that he could steal
their place. A few minutes before the chat was due to begin, he tried
one last time and, with the chime of bells, found a translucent image of
a delicately ornamented room on his screen. His fingers reached to
the screen and touched “full contact” and the room burst into his vision
so heavily that his head hurt for several seconds before the vision dimmed
to that of ordinary life.
Alexander turned around, gazing at the room. In many ways, it bore
resemblance to the real life room of Helen’s set. The beige walls
held the same pictures, the couch had the same muted floral pattern, and
the table that Helen sat at had the same classical style and high tech
gloss that gave it the feel of something between the past and the future.
But then, unlike the set, there were forty chairs, all with other people
sitting in them, impatiently awaiting the guest of honor.
Within a few minutes, exactly on time, Helen appeared in the room, her
outline slowly becoming clearer in the vicinity of the beautifully stylish
chair that she usually sat in. Her white dress hung about her in
a fey, alluring way that added to her otherworldly beauty, complimenting
her much as the room did. She smiled and a collective sigh went through
the room, even though the participants knew that this woman was only the
mental projection of Helen onto the net.
“Hello everyone,” Helen said with a brilliant smile. “I figured that
we’d start with a question and answer period. Does anyone have anything
that they would like to ask?”
Hands
shot up in the air and Helen picked one, carefully listening to the question
and answering it, her beautiful eyes and smile focused upon the questioner
until she spoke to the next. This continued for a little over an
hour, Alexander becoming bored that he was not being picked to ask a question.
However, before the chat could end, Helen stood tall and made a slight
flicker with her wrist. For a moment, the entire room went black
and Alexander felt certain that she had abruptly ended the chat for some
reason. He was about to reach for his helmet to pull it off and reenter
the real world before the room came to life before him again, this time
only containing him and Helen.
“Don’t worry,” Helen said with a smile, walking over towards him.
She sat in the seat beside him, pulling it closer to Alexander. She
reached her hand to his side, taking his hand and holding it.
“What do you want?” Alexander asked.
“I...” Helen said with a slight smile, gripping his hand tightly. “Let’s
just say that I want to escape...and you’re the only one I can see helping
me. Would you be willing to?”
“Yes,” Alexander said with a gulp. “I’ll do anything...”
“Then here’s what you have to do,” Helen whispered in his ear, her warm
breath moist against his face.
Chapter
One: The Most Beautiful Woman in the World
