“Rex…”
“Yes, my love?”
“Did your promises mean anything? When you were lying to me about almost everything?”
“Which promises?”
“The ones where I was your woman, and you’d not take any other? There were thousands of females who wanted to be your mate last night. You could have a harem the size of a planet if you wanted.”
“Ah,” he says. “Yes, my love. I did not lie to you to get you into my bed. I made that vow, and I intend to keep it. You are my mate, for better and for worse. If you loathe me, you loathe me. I will have to accept that.”
“I don’t hate you,” I admit in a small voice. “I want to hate you, but I don’t. Though you shouldn’t have made a scene with me. You shouldn’t have punished me for the crowd. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I…”
“You were acting out,” he says. “And I had to do what the crowd needed to see. But tomorrow, we will be away from this place. I am taking you to my world.”
“The world you tried to pawn?”
“The world I did pawn. But I’m done selling out. We’re leaving.”
We do try to leave. We put on our nice new clothes and Rex assures himself that his bank account is in good order and he calls for a space ride. That, I learn, is not a new sex position. It’s a ship that’s not his, but will pick up travelers and take them where they want to go for a fee. I’d say we have our bags packed, but we have no bags. We have nothing.
“Where do you think you are going?”
Eschaton is suddenly before us, extra shiny and smiley and less trustworthy than ever. I don’t know how he materializes like that, but I know there’s no way this is good for us.
“Home,” Rex says. “We survived. We won the game. We’re going now.”
“I don’t think so,” Eschaton replies. “There is a sixty-month contract in place on the human. She will be used to advertise everything from soap to sex toys. You knew that, Rex.”
“Sixty months is too long.”
“A contract is a contract,” Eschaton insists.
“I never signed a contract!” I protest, but nobody is listening to me.
“You’ve tortured her long enough in the Dinodome. She was made for that, but she wasn’t made for this. You know what she is. She’s a chaos bringer. You’ll never be able to get what you want out of her. She’ll destroy your every attempt at using her.”
“And you will make her obey. That is your contract.”
“I did not agree to be a handler for your human advertising asset.”
“You did, actually. It’s in the small print. Yes, your kingdom has been relieved of all debts to my organization. And we are providing all the drought relief we promised we would. Your citizens are no longer starving. And your sons are no longer pointless wastrels. Thirteen of them have come to power, carved up the realm, riches, and harems. Isn’t it amazing what can happen in a matter of months. They don’t need you, Rex. But the human does. I assure you, her contract is airtight. She is blood bound to serve us, even if ownership is technically yours.”
“Rex?”
“He’s technically right,” Rex growls. I notice that Eschaton’s news has unsettled Rex greatly. I guess hearing your kids stole all your shit while you were fighting for your life is kind of bad news. I feel bad for him. And I’ve resolved to stop making everything so hard for everyone. I have been given a second, or maybe third chance at life. I don’t want to waste it.
“I can do a couple of ads. Long as they’re not too lame.”
“Smart girl. You will be paid for them, of course. You will be rich beyond imagination.”
“Hurray.”
Some time later…
I force a big, plastic smile to my face. “One out of all Dinodome survivors eats Professor Porgypuff’s Rice Cereal, fortified with extra titanium and packed with radiation — this isn’t actually radioactive, is it?”
“CUT!” The director screams the word. “Can you not just read the script wall? It’s simple enough.”
“I’m wondering if the bullshit garbage ‘food’ you’re getting me to shill is going to kill me with radiation.”
“It’s not radioactive. Obviously. But don’t eat any. It’s poisonous.”
“Why are you selling poisonous cereal?”
“Stop asking questions and read the words out loud, or at least move your lips. We’ll dub voices over afterward.”
I come off the set after way too many hours. This is more grueling than trying to survive in a world where most of the beasts are actively trying to eat me. At least a dinosaur just wants to consume your flesh and use it for nutrition. These predators want to wring every drip of marketability out of me.
Rex is standing with his arms over his chest. He does not look impressed with my performance.