Awakening: Prodigy

10: An Unyielding Perspective

POV Seth

Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, the horizon had blanketed the sky over the Academy campus in hues of reds and purples, signaling that the evening's curfew wasn't far. This terrible session would reach its conclusion, and Seth would bury himself in his nightmares, leaving the tempting mystery pill on his torturer's altar. He would not be returning to another session.

Everything she had brought up barely mattered in the grand scheme of things. He'd survive as long as he maintained his position at the head of the Squad and as a student at the Academy.

When he thought this session couldn't get any worse, the therapist prompted, "Regina's betrayal must have shaken you." It almost sounded like a question.

Seth had to be careful about how he answered anything regarding Regina. This viper wouldn't hesitate to turn that girl's good fortune into a nightmare. After all, Regina lacked the generational pedigree that doctor Yan would approve of.

"What are you getting at?" Seth tried not to sound curt, but his patience with this woman was at its limit. Her change of tactics had not gone unnoticed, opting to attack Seth's defenses on two fronts, wearing him thinner. She had saved the most sensitive issue for last, long after she had eroded his tolerance of her through trivial stressors. Doctor Margaret Yan was a formidable opponent.

"The signing of her marriage contract," doctor Yan smiled. She enjoyed stabbing him through the heart.

His breath caught and his stomach knotted, but he forced a smile, refusing to allow this terrible woman her victory. "I'm happy for her." He didn't elaborate. Anything he said might ruin Regina's arrangement.

Regina was an unsponsored third year Tier 1 student at the Academy. It was with a note of pride that she was the first in her family to attend. Unfortunately, she is also the only member of her large family who will ever attend.

She and Seth had dated in their second year, as part of a mutual agreement. Regina was direct with her offer, testing Seth's wants against her judgment of his character. She was committed to her goal in attaining a favorable marriage contract, and in order to attain her goal, she needed to make a few sacrifices. To safely navigate the hormonal minefield that was an unsupervised campus full of teenagers, she established a relationship with someone who was just as focused on their own goals as she was on hers.

Regina had three choices for her life path. Service on the Killing Fields, like Seth. A marriage contract, where she would provide offspring to one genetic donor, with the legal requirement being six children. Or through a breeding contract to provide offspring to the highest bidder. Breeders were bound by the base requirement of six off-spring but often remained a breeder throughout their lives. They had a strict no contact policy with their children or their lovers.

Regina was family oriented, but had a deep loathing of Breeders, lowering their status as being little more than whores. In the end, she only ever really had one choice. She had listed herself as a marriage candidate when she was twelve.

No institute would allow a child marriage, but the candidate could start gaining a resume of offers pretty much since birth, increasing her desirability factor.

With parental consent, Regina could marry as young as sixteen. Her parents had stipulated that the only reason they'd permit such a crude arrangement was if the chosen partner was of a higher social status. What they really meant was that her future husband had to earn more money than they did. They had aspirations for their Regina, university, and a career path filled with the opportunities they never had.

She had never considered the possibility of marrying before eighteen. As far as the elites were concerned, she had too many flaws. Her pedigree being chief among the errors in her character. She presented traces of the exotic lineage of the old tribes that used to roam the lands in ancient times. For a woman of her social status, her confidence was unwarranted, her intelligence was a threat when they demanded subservience and obedience. Her beauty was the only desirable element for the elite, but from the messages she had shared with Seth, he felt she was more of a collector's piece than a human.