Growing into the Job, Post 509: A Day at Far Horizons: EPIRI, 2:58 PM (Brain Booster)

before we get started, please feel free to review the EWCE tech in this article

Evolution Pharmaceuticals Innovation and Research institute (EPIRI)

Monday, 2:58 PM – Research Wing, Secure Area, Treatment Room H.2.4 (Electro-Wave Cognitive Enhancement (EWCE) Treatment Lab)

Re: EWCE Study Files            W00.o.7 aka O’Rourke, Kathleen   IQ(baseline): 113

                                                        W00.k.9 aka Monroe, Melissa                IQ(baseline): 86  

                                                        W00.w.8 aka Mongillo, Miranda     IQ(baseline): 118

Administrator: Evelyn Harker, PhD

The room was clinical but comfortable - a design compromise between cutting-edge research lab and high-end wellness spa. The walls were the usual sterile white of this secure area of the EPIRI wing, the floor gleaming with non-slip, hospital-grade vinyl, and the equipment lining the walls humming faintly with quiet precision. But the soft lighting, the plush recliner-style clinic beds, and the tall carafes of chilled cucumber-infused water added just enough warmth to trick the brain into relaxation.

At the center of it all, three women lay reclined in parallel beds, their heads adorned with sleek metallic EWCE headbands that pulsed with faint blue light.

Though the list of volunteers from the FHEC staff was long, Melissa Monroe, Randi Mongillo, and Katie O’Rourke were the first participants in Evolution Pharmaceuticals’ intelligence enhancement trials. This was cutting-edge neurogenesis research, and the three young women were - if this worked -  well underway to having many of their synapses rewired.  They were, though, to all appearances, treating this like a girls’ day out.

“Randi, don’t hog the remote,” Melissa whined, lazily kicking her foot toward the woman in the bed beside her. Her head tilted slightly, adjusting the thin silver band strapped across her forehead, glowing against her long brunette waves. “We should watch something…smart. Like a…documentrary.”

Randi scoffed, rolling her eyes but still smirking. “Oh yeah? Is that what you want to watch? A documenTRAry?”

“Randi, be nice,” Katie, reclining on the other side, chuckled, swirling the ice in her water glass, “How about like…a mystery show? One with, I dunno…science?” She was wearing a white top that clung to her curvy upper body, and a black skirt that did the same to the lower.

Melissa’s eyes brightened. “Yeah, like…you mean like CSI?”

“That’s not real science,” Randi snorted, in a black blouse and pencil skirt that showed off her racehorse legs.

“I dunno,” Melissa hummed, shifting against the crisp clinic sheets, resplendent in her structured white bodycon dress, “They always sound smart.”

From the side of the room, Dr. Evelyn Harker adjusted a screen displaying the three women’s neural activity. She cleared her throat quietly, as if preparing to say something, but-

“Okay, well, I’m picking something,” Randi declared, cutting right over her, flicking through the options on the mounted flatscreen. “We’re watching Heads Above Harry.”

Katie groaned. “Ugh, again?”

Melissa gasped. “YES - Jay loves this show!”

Dr. Harker blinked. “I’m not sure if-” No one acknowledged her.

Instead, Melissa clapped her hands in delight as the screen flickered to life, the theme song of the stupid-but-brilliant retro-1960’s sitcom filling the room. Filmed in black-and-white, each episode revolved around suburban dad Harry trying - and failing - to keep up with a world that is quite literally growing past him and his hapless male counterparts. Whether it’s dealing with his younger wife Maggie accidentally lifting him in a hug, his bosomy secretary Joanne making him blush at the office, or schoolgirl-down-the-street Susie towering over him at the grocery store, he’s always in over his head. Meanwhile, the women of the neighborhood are blithely beginning to embrace their newfound dominance, leaving Harry and his friend George to wonder if there’s any way to regain control - or if they should just give in. The show was big hit, a comedy with half hour episodes. It had a laugh track, which helped give it the retro feel it was going for. 

Dr. Harker stood at her workstation and sighed quietly through her nose and checked the vitals of her subjects again. So far so good. Twenty minutes into the hour-and-a-half treatment and the subjects appeared completely unbothered. This was the first time EWCE was being used on non-sedated subjects, and Dr. Evie (as Melissa had already started to call her) was proceeding with caution. Honestly, if she had known that she was being sent here to the States from the Avalon Institute labs in London to boost the IQs of this bevy of overgrown office bimbos while they blithely sip electrolyte-enhanced cucumber water, she’d have put up more of a stink. Sofia Armitage had obviously bamboozled her, making her think this was all purely for research purposes. Evelyn Harker, as much as she could, simmered.

Randi and Katie, meanwhile, were playfully bickering about whether “Heads Above Harry”  was actually smart or objectively dumb. Melissa was insisting it’s genius! - and maybe EWCE was already making her smarter because she was suddenly understanding a joke that actually went way over her head the first time she saw it. 

“What’s to get, Missy?” Randi chided, “the guy can’t reach his coffee mug because his wife put it on the top shelf. It’s not brain science.”

Dr. Evi- Evelyn, Evelyn Harker, Ph.D and budding expert in the field of neuro-engineering took that as her cue and tried, once again, to interject about the seriousness of the experiment, but the three younger women kept talking right over her, commenting on the show and its gorgeous female cast members (“Are they really that tall or is that, like, CGI?”).

“Okay, here comes the funny part!” Melissa sang, adjusting the metal EWCE band around her forehead again and pointing at the screen as the hapless Harry, now at the office, also couldn’t reach his coffee mug in the breakroom. He found his face plastered into the pneumatic bosom of the young, bubble-headed Joanne as she ‘innocently’ reached above her boss to help. 

“Ttthnks Jo…” he mumbled into her blouse, nose and mouth mashed into her bullet-bra as the camera lingered on a close-up. 

Cue laugh track. 

Melissa, too, snorted with laughter, causing Randi and Katie to exchange amused glances. 

“She’s easy to entertain, I’ll give her that,” Randi quipped. 

“Oh shush, you,” Melissa scolded, “it’s funny!”

“Hey doc,” Katie called out, finally acknowledging the generally quiet, perhaps even mousy researcher that hovered over there by the monitors, “Is this thing supposed to, like, tingle?”

“The EWCE headband unit?” Dr. Harker answered, heart skipping a beat at being addressed by the utterly gorgeous blonde with the enormous baps. Well, they all had enormous baps, especially the giant brunette in the white dress, the one in the middle. “Can you descr-?”

“Yeah are you guys feeling it?’ Katie spoke on, right over the doctor, “The electricity? Tingles, like a little static shock in your brains every once in a while?”

“Hm no I haven’t felt that,” Melissa answered casually, shaking her head and turning her attention back to the tv, “It feels normal.”

“I got a little tingle at first but yeah, no,” Randi followed, pausing. She cocked her head but then continued. “Nothing now.” She also went back to watching the show, where Harry was now commiserating with Mr. Barlow, his grumpy boss, about the new coffee station setup.

Dr. Harker nodded, looking at the monitor alongside herself. “Your signals seem fine, Ms. O’Rourke,” she said, “and your vitals are stable. I wouldn’t worry.” This being the first time EWCE was being used on conscious patients, a few reports of “tingles” were hopefully nothing to worry about.

Randi let out a low chuckle, watching as Harry, now back at home, beamed with satisfaction after successfully pouring himself a cup of coffee. He’d finally retrieved the stepladder from the basement, climbed it, and pulled his favorite mug down from the newly-installed high shelf. Triumphant music swelled.

“So, Missy, what’s it going to be like for you, huh? Suddenly being a smart girl?” Randi began.

Cue laugh track.

Melissa tilted her head, mulling it over as she sipped from her electrolyte-enhanced cucumber water. "Hm I dunno..."

Katie stretched in her reclined seat, the soft glow of her EWCE headband flickering and pulsing in the clinic's light. “Yeah I mean, you’ve been getting taller, stronger-"

"...started turning into a fucking supergirl...” Randi interjected.

"...you're more gorgeous every day, and yeah there are all these new weird things you can do," Katie continued, "I mean, I've got this thing I've been able to start to do with my voice, and my eyes, and Randi's got her, uh, big mouth-"

"Love you too, sweetie..." Randi smirked.

"It's all so wild," Katie pressed on, "you're turning us into these...whatevers. And you yourself...you're amazing, with all these things you can do now. But-"

“...but you still can’t spell for shit,” Randi drawled.

Katie snorted.

“Hey!” Melissa whined, playfully kicking her foot toward Randi’s bed again. “I can spell… some stuff.” She giggled.

“Uh-huh,” Randi smirked, watching as, onscreen, 6'6" wholesomely cute schoolgirl-next-door Susie stopped by and, without thinking, patted Harry on the head. Harry groaned and rolled his eyes.

Cue laugh track.

Melissa sighed dramatically, shifting against the crisp white sheets. “It's true. I always change, like, physically, but never really get any smarter,” she admitted. “So I’m soooo excited for this treatment!" She looked across the room to the Ph.D., who was monitoring the, uh, monitors. "Dr. Evie! How am I doing?? Am I smarter yet???"

Dr. Harker, still analyzing their brain scans, sighed quietly. "As we explained, we don't expect results today, immediately," she answered, "it will take anywhere from seven to fourt-"

Katie swirled the ice in her glass, and spoke again right over the doctor, who shook her head and went back to the display screen. “And how’s he gonna handle it, after these treatments kick in next week or whenever,” she asked, raising a sculpted brow at her Amazonian friend, “all this beauty and brains?”

Melissa blinked. “You mean Jay?”

“Yeah, Squirt,” Randi chimed in, shifting onto her elbow, turning to Melissa, "How's he gonna feel?"

Onscreen, the final gag was playing out, with Harry's secretary Joanne rearranging the coffee shelves at work - one for 'Boys' and one for 'Girls' - and picking up her boss Harry's. On it she planted a big, glossy red lipstick mark. 

“A bunch of the other girls are coming in for this treatment over the next few days," Randi continued, "What’s he gonna think once we’re all G-cup super-geniuses?”

Melissa giggled. “‘G-cup’? That’s adorable.”

Katie smirked, shaking her head. Yeah, even she herself was well on her way past the beginning of the alphabet, and Melissa was already swimming in the deep end of bra cup-sizes.  “Right now he’s just a tiny nerd in a sea of Amazons, but at least he’s the smart one,” she said, “What’s he gonna do when we can all out-think him?”

Melissa bit her lip, picturing it: Jay looking up at her in awe, but this time? Not just because she was big and beautiful, but because she was finally smarter than him. It was a thrilling image, a dynamic she’d given up considering before now. She’d been subject to batteries upon batteries of cognitive exams her whole life, written testing and far far worse. Despite all the advances in other parts of her body, her brain was stuck at just above “moron” levels. She never really understood all the results of these tests, but they always told her that her IQ generally hovered in the mid- to high-80’s. She didn’t really know what that meant, but she knew it wasn’t great. “I don’t know,” she finally offered, swirling her drink as she confided in her friends, “I just can’t wait to, like, beat him in chess or something.”

A beat.

“Ms. Monroe,” the doctor began, “You have to understand that the treatment can give a moderate boost to intelligence, but-“

Randi raised a brow, ignoring what the lab lady was saying and addressing her friend. “You know how to play chess?”

Melissa paused.

"Not yet,” she admitted with a shrug, her slight smile blooming into an eager grin.

Katie tapped her nails against her glass, studying the ice swirl, as if seeing something new. And wincing.

“You okay, Katie?” Randi asked, brow knit. 

“Is everything alright, Ms. O’Rourke?” asked the PhD. 

“Yeah I’m fine,” the blonde answered, shrugging off her friend's concern, “So, Dr. J -  is he seeing patients today? In the old office?”

Melissa waved a lazy hand, adjusting the EWCE band over her forehead. Hers was flickering a bit spasmodically. “No. He did this morning. Now he’s upstairs in his room, taking a nap.”

Randi scoffed. “Of course he is.”

Melissa pouted, then giggled. “Oh leave him alone! He’s exhausted!” she laughed, “We had our first appointment in the Regression Clinic earlier, and it, like, totally wiped him out. Well, it may have been that and, uh…” 

With a grin, Melissa made a hard-to-misinterpret pumping motion with her right hand.

“...me,” she finished, “in my office.”

Randi and Katie chuckled at Melissa, and from the corner she had grabbed Dr. Harker’s attention as well.

Melissa smiled, adjusting her long legs beneath the crisp white sheets. “Anyway yeah, well, Jewel is seeing his afternoon patients today,” she explained breezily.

Both women blinked, nodded.

“Jewel?” Randi repeated,  “The new PA?”

“Yeah she’s great, right?”

Katie pursed her lips. “She’s a…big girl, huh?”

Randi smirked. “Like, big-big. Like, this ‘Program’ stuff - the stuff they’re talking about, the stuff the Coronado girls have been on -  big. Like she’s been eating it for breakfast.”

Melissa giggled, waving a hand, completely oblivious to their subtle wariness. “Yeah maybe. But she’s super helpful, though, now that he won’t have Vida or Morgan to help see his patients. I’m sure Jay really likes having her around.”

Katie and Randi exchanged another glance.

Randi snorted. “I’ll bet he does.”

Melissa tilted her head, confused.

Katie just shook her head, taking another sip of water. “And what exactly did you guys do in the Regression Clinic, anyway?”

“Oh! It was great!” Melissa beamed, sitting up a little in bed. “Dr. Chou is so nice and-“

“‘Nice’?” Randi asked, “I actually heard she was pretty intense.”

“Well, she was nice to us…well, to me at least. She really gets me and Jay, how I feel about him.”

“Mmhm,” Randi hummed, “Like how you feel you want to adopt him?”

Melissa, either ignoring or missing the implication, kept going. “I think Regression Therapy for him is going to bring us sooo much closer. I actually go back tomorrow for a private session.”

Katie arched a brow. “Private, huh?”

Melissa nodded enthusiastically. “Uh-huh! Dr. Chou says it’s important for me to have my own time to… you know, explore my goals for his therapy, separately from Jay.”

Randi made a face. “That sounds ominous,” she offered, “I love it.”

“Yeah,” Melissa giggled, “It’s gonna be, like, super fun.”

“Anyway,” Randi said, stretching her arms, “the girls are going out for drinks after work tonight -  first big day in the new clinics and all. You’re in, right?”

Melissa’s face fell, just slightly. “Awwwww I can’t….”

“Oh, come on,” Katie teased, “You deserve to celebrate. You worked so hard for this. You’re even getting your brains zapped and everything.”

Melissa laughed but shook her head. “No no no I can’t. Jay and I have a meeting. We’re going out to dinner. With Lucia Antonucci.”

“Lucia?” Randi’s brows shot up. “Antonucci?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait - Lucia Lucia?” Katie asked, sitting up slightly, “The carrier dress model??”

“Yeah,” Melissa frowned, “How many Lucia Antonuccis do we know?”

“The Lucia Antonucci?” Randi repeated, exchanging a glance with Katie.

Melissa just nodded, as if it was no big deal.

Randi let out a low whistle. “Dang, girl. You’re playing in the big leagues now. What’s the meeting about? I know she’s starting her own clothing line. Does she want a model for her Big and Tall stuff?”

Melissa giggled. “Haha I know, right?” She bit her lip, obviously a little excited about the meeting. She paused, and then added: “But it’s actually Jay that they want to talk to.”

“Squirt?” Randi replied, obviously a bit taken aback. “Why??” There was unmistakable concern in the normally insouciant girl’s voice. 

Melissa shrugged. “I dunno.”

Katie smirked, but understood the situation. Dr. J - or, rather “Dr. Vulni” - had risen to a bit of weird Internet fame, being ‘the man that shrinks’ - and might be able to make women grow. Melissa, and really all the girls, had sort of unconsciously started to become very protective of him. They knew that there might be those out there who would look to use, or abuse, his image. Or him.  “Well, Missy, good thing you’re here today for your brain upgrade,” Katie drawled, “you’re gonna have to be real smart for that meeting.”

“Um, once again, ladies,” Dr. Harker, obviously still listening from the corner, interjected, “the EWCE neurogenesis and remodulation doesn’t work that qu-“

Randi snorted. “Yeah sorry but you’re still just gonna be the muscle and mammaries for that meeting,” she jibed, “All brawn, all boobs, no brains.”

Melissa stuck her tongue out. Then she took a sip of her water. “So, yeah. I’m gonna miss girls’ night out because of this meeting. Plus, Jay and I have homework from the therapist.”

That got immediate attention. Randi and Katie both leaned in towards Mellissa, eyes gleaming.

“Homework?” Randi repeated, lips twitching.

Melissa nodded innocently.

Katie’s grin stretched. “Oh, we have to hear this.”

Melissa blinked.

Randi smirked. “You can’t just drop that and not tell us what it is.”

Melissa giggled, cheeks going slightly pink.

Randi’s smirk grew. “Oh my god. It’s sex stuff, isn’t it?”

Katie let out a delighted laugh. “IT’S SEX STUFF.”

Melissa shrieked. “NO!” But then she laughed, snorting, covering her mouth. “And, remember, Randi - language.”

Randi waved her off, cackling. “It totally is….it’s sex stuff. Mommy and baby rolling around in bed together…”

“It’s not!”

“Then what is it?” Katie prodded, grinning ear to ear.

Melissa crossed her arms over her big boobs, huffing. “It’s - it’s just relationship exercises..!” 

A pause. 

“…and maybe a little sex stuff.”

Randi and Katie were now howling.

Melissa pouted, playfully. “You guys are the worst.” The dark, secret glint of a smile, though, was unmistakable. 

Randi smirked. “We love you too, babe.”

Suddenly, and drawing the attention of her two friends, Katie shifted in her reclined bed, exhaling sharply through her nose and putting fingers to her temples.. “Okay. Okay, yeah. That’s…definitely a little weird now.”

Dr. Harker’s head snapped up immediately.

Randi, who had been smirking at Melissa’s residual pout over their teasing, had turned to Katie. “Weird how?”

Katie pressed her two fingers to her temple, her long nails tapping lightly against the glowing metal headband. “I dunno. Just… stronger? Like, not just little tingles anymore. More like… buzzing.”

Dr. Harker was already at her bedside, scanning the readings on the screen beside her. “Your wave activity still looks normal,” she assured her, voice carefully neutral, “Your vitals are fine. I can turn the device off if you-”

“No, no, no, no, no.” Katie shook her head rapidly. “Keep it going. I’m okay.”

Melissa, who had been half-watching their exchange, perked up. “You sure, sweetie?”

Randi, also leaned over, added, “Yeah you don’t want those pretty blonde brains of yours too scrambled. Maybe you should take a break?”

Katie’s eyes glittered, a bit strangely. “Yeah, no, I’m okay.”

Randi let out a soft snort - “Okay, tough guy,” - and leaned back in her bed. 

Melissa giggled. “I think she wants more tingles.”

Dr. Harker hesitated, clearly unsure how to process Katie’s reaction. This is not how research subjects are supposed to respond. But… the readings were stable, for now. Still, she made a note on her tablet:

“Subject O’Rourke, K exhibiting heightened sensitivity to EWCE stimulation. Request for continued intensity despite increased sensory response.”

Meanwhile, the Heads Above Harry episode had ended, the closing credits rolling over the familiar 1960s jingle. Melissa clapped her hands together. “Okay! Next episode!”

Katie, however, had picked up her phone. She frowned. “Wait wait wait…hold up.”

Melissa blinked. “Hm?”

Katie tapped at her screen. “I just got an alert. Some big thing happening in Central America. Another revolution?”

Randi groaned. “Jesus, Katie, can we not?”

“Randi, c’mon,” Melissa scolded, “Language.”

“Fox Women,” Katie announced, gesturing over towards Randi, who had the remote, to change the channel.

Randi rolled her eyes but didn’t protest as she flicked to the news channel.

On-screen, the blonde anchor - impossibly gorgeous, all shining hair and bone structure that should’ve been criminal - was mid-sentence, her voice smooth and urgent. “…-ibility for the explosion at the Valkyrie Motors satellite office in Zurich is still unclaimed by any terrorist organization, but authorities are investigating potential ties to-”

Melissa wasn’t listening to her words. She was staring, slack-jawed, at the anchor - and her chest. “She’s gorgeous. And she’s got huge boobies. Has she always had such huge boobies?”

“Pot and Kettle much?” Randi snorted, always incredulous how her longtime friend could sometimes be so blissfully unaware of how her own proportions put most all others - even this Fox knockout - to shame. “Anyway, it’s Fox Women, babe. They all do now.”

Katie, meanwhile, had her eyes on the news ticker scrolling across the bottom of the screen:

BREAKING NEWS: REPORTS OF MILITARY SURRENDER TO REBEL FORCES IN EL SALVADOR - COMMANDER PAULINA MORALES ANNOUNCES TAKEOVER BY RFC, CLAIMING ‘A NEW DAWN FOR CENTRAL AMERICA’

Katie inhaled sharply. “Holy shit. The RFC is no joke.”

Melissa, still fixated on the anchor’s curves, and her makeup, and her smile, analyzing them, maybe learning, turned lazily toward Katie. “What’s ‘RFC’?”

Katie’s gaze was locked on the screen, something sparking in her eyes. “It’s the, um, the República Femenina de Centroamérica, I think.”

Randi arched a brow. “The what now?”

Katie finally tore her eyes away from the scrolling headline to look at her friend. “Oh, uh,” she started, and then leaned forward, eyes locked on the screen. “It's like a revolution, all women, all pissed off at the drug cartels in Central America and the corrupt governments they control. It's led by this lady - Paulina Morales, I think that's her name. She's now calling the territory she controls the República Femenina de Centroamérica,” she explained. “The Female Republic of Central America.”

Melissa blinked. “She just…made up a country?” She blinked again. “You can do that?”

Katie exhaled. “Well, early last week, there was this full-blown revolution in Honduras - she and her army took the capital, overthrew the government, executed half the male cabinet. By Saturday, it had spread to Guatemala. And now -”

She gestured toward the television. The broadcast had shifted coverage from the European bombing to El Salvador. A shaky, handheld video filled the screen. A crowd gathered in a public square, the camera struggling to focus on the scene unfolding in real-time. The women in the crowd were cheering. Chanting. Celebrating. In the center of it all, a row of men knelt on the ground - hands bound behind their backs, heads bowed, shoulders trembling. Their suits were stained with dirt, their faces streaked with sweat. They looked terrified. 

Above them, standing tall - some in makeshift uniforms, some in rebel camouflage, and some looking even more ominous in black, military-grade armor, were women. RFC soldiers, and not all appeared native Central American. But many of them seemed unnaturally huge.

Melissa’s lips parted slightly. She was suddenly rapt.

“Holy shit,” Randi muttered.

The camera zoomed in on one of the soldiers - a massive woman, broad-shouldered, muscular, a female beast of a thing in tattered camo. Her face was half-hidden behind a cloth bandana covering her nose and mouth. Without hesitation, she raised a handgun to the back of a kneeling man’s head. He was in a rumpled suit, and looked to be a-

A gunshot.

The man crumpled.

The camera shook as the crowd erupted into cheers.

Then, another shot. Another woman, with another man.

Then another shot.

Then another.

Then another.

More and more cheers.

Randi sucked in a breath. “They’re just-”

“Executing them,” Katie finished, “all the men, the old government.”

Melissa’s fingers curled over the blanket draped across her lap, her nails pressing into the fabric. She felt strange, not knowing something like this was even possible, women taking power like this...but she was still taking notes. 

Katie looked rapt as well as the news anchor’s perfectly polished voice filled the air: “RFC forces have seized control of key infrastructure in the capital of San Salvador, and reports indicate they have begun purging government officials. Sources on the ground say former President Marco López is missing, presumed dead. The RFC has declared that, moving forward - and I quote - "soon no man will ever again rule over Central America.”

Randi, looking across Melissa to her blonde friend, spoke up: “Katie.”

Katie blinked, snapped out of it. “Huh?”

“You’re pretty serious over there,” Randi nodded, “Thinking real hard?”

Melissa giggled. “You are! You were making, like, your serious face.”

Katie exhaled, shaking her head. “I dunno, it just-” 

“What sweetie?” Melissa asked. 

“I dunno. This Paulina Morales is a total badass,” Katie began, as onscreen the footage shifted to tanks rolling through city streets, flying a flag none of the girls recognized, “and, like, yeah - it’s becoming really hard to deny that the future is female, and America is lucky we have a woman coming into office peacefully, I guess.”

“Right…” Randi agreed. 

”Yeah, I mean, the tide is turning,” Katie continued, more serious than her usual, “Marlee Martin is going to make a lot of changes. Women are ready to take the lead in government. But is it going to be enough?”

“Damn, Blondie,” Randi teased, “You take one zap to the brain and suddenly you’re a political analyst?”

“What are you saying?” the researcher, who’d been mostly quiet, spoke up. She’d obviously been following the girls’ conversation, to the point where she’d missed a few strange blips on Katie‘s monitor.

Katie continued. “Like…Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador…they’re not that far away.” She paused, searched for the words, but they felt just out of reach.

Melissa, though, still watching the TV and tapping her fingers idly against the water glass in her hand (and doing her best not to crush it to splinters - that’d make a mess!), spoke up. “What if we had something like that?” she mused.

Randi and Katie both glanced at her.

“Like what?” Randi asked.

Melissa shrugged, now watching a militia of women command the screen with rifles. Another man was executed, to the cheers of women. “You know. That.” She didn’t elaborate. She didn’t have to.

They all knew what she meant. For a moment, none of them spoke.

Then-

“Alright, world domination talk can wait,” Randi declared, pointing the remote at the television again. “We’ve got another forty five minutes of brain building. Doc? Can we have some more water? We’re watching another episode.”

Melissa giggled, settling deeper into her reclined bed as the next episode of Heads Above Harry began to play. From across the room, Dr. Evelyn Harker tried to ignore them but found herself fetching the pitcher of iced cucumber water. She was fuming on the thought that she wasn’t paid enough to entertain this vapid, giggly nonsense. But, she was paid to monitor their brain activity, and she was missing another unusual spike on the blonde’s monitor.

As the researcher poured water for Melissa, and the opening scene of the show opened up - Harry flopping into an old, well-used armchair that immediately <crack!> collapsed below him, nearly swallowing him whole - Randi piped up with a question for her giant, Administrative Director friend.

“Hey, don’t you have something set up with Squirt’s old girlfriend this afternoon?” she asked.

“OOOooo yeah - Rina!” Melissa sang, smiling at the nice little doctor in thanks as she moved with the pitcher on to Katie, “We’re having tea after this. Thanks for reminding me!”

Onscreen, towering housewife Maggie peeked around the corner of the kitchen, into the living room, shaking her head and tutting to her husband. “Harry…that thing is a deathtrap.”

Cue laugh track.

=====================================================

thanks to Wachsende for inspiration for the RFC/revolutions below the southern border