Harelip Durant led the Elf out of the girl’s boudoir. Aelina sat back on the fur mat, obedient. The sallow-faced hag walked in smiling. Compared to before, her cheeks were swollen and red, making that smile a bit comical. A short knife with chipped edges now hung at her waist.

Aelina watched her sit beside her and draw the knife, laying it across her palm. The hag smiled at Aelina. “Don’t be scared, little darling. This knife keeps clueless dogs from touching you. It also keeps the rabbit-boss from hitting my face.”

“It looks dull.”

“Oh, I know No-Nose well. He’s my nephew. He’s silly most days, but timid and obedient. He does whatever I say. Little darling, tell me what magic you used to seduce my nephew. I felt something off earlier. The air was sweeter than honey. Now the sweetness is gone.”

Aelina didn’t answer. Her eyes glowed with a faint gold as she stared at the hag’s sallow face. Outside, a man’s horrific scream tore the air, mixed with the crackle of fire. The pitch was shrill and crazed, chilling to the bone. Aelina caught the stink of burning flesh. She heard Durant roaring.

“I’ll say it again! Whoever can’t keep his dog in his pants, I’ll throw him on the woodpile and burn him alive!”

No-Nose was stubbornly tough. He’d been stabbed several times and still hadn’t died. That toughness now gave him nothing but pain. Aelina and the smiling hag listened in silence as the screams outside slowly dropped in volume. She could still hear the firewood crackling and snapping. In her mind, she pictured a gravely wounded caveman writhing on a burning pyre, snapping one blazing stick after another, but never escaping the flames.

At last, the screaming outside went quiet. In the hag’s smile, Aelina saw pain. A murky tear slid down that wax-yellow, rough face, rolled over the swollen cheek, and fell.

“You’ve got a secret. I can smell it. My nose is sharp, sharper than the biggest dog in camp.” She craned her head, sniffing around Aelina, circling once. Aelina watched her in silence. The hag’s gaze fixed on Aelina’s thigh. “So fragrant. It’s coming from there, isn’t it?”

Aelina kept staring, a dangerous chill gathering in her eyes.

The hag set the nicked short knife against Aelina’s neck. “Talk! Is it?!”

Being threatened by a primitive with a primitive weapon. She glared at the hag, furious, but powerless. The hag wasn’t scared at all. She reached both hands toward the space between Aelina’s legs. “I’ll pry them open and check myself.”

“If I scream right now, will your boss come in and kill you? The same way he killed your filthy ape?”

“No! He’ll reward me!” the hag shouted, about to act.

“Fine.” Aelina ran a quick calculation on fate. Lying flat was optimal. She spoke:

“This body model emits a scent that makes males lose control.”

“What does that mean?”

“It secretes a pheromone coded GRD-8647. For the exact formula, consult WWW.JJDWF....”

The barrage of strange technical terms hit the hag square in the soul.

What is she saying? No, she must be toying with me.

Aelina recalculated fate, then suddenly yelled, “Help! The old hag is going to rape me!”

The hag froze, then flushed with rage. She pressed down and roared, “You slut, you lied to me!”

Durant burst into the tent, furious, a vicious blade in his hand. Seeing the hag on top of Aelina, he shouted, “Damn it! You’re all insane! Don’t touch my treasure!” He raised the blade to strike.

The hag threw her hands up at once. Under the crush of life and death, she figured it out.

“Listen to me!”

Durant eyed her, suspicious. “Talk.”

“She’s a born slut. She gives off a strange fragrance. Didn’t you smell it?”

Harelip Durant sniffed the sweetness in the air. Heat rushed to his head. He understood.

“Heh. You really were born for this.”

The scar at his mouth glowed redder. He stared greedily at Aelina. Aelina began to cry, softly. Her mind was a mess. Durant looked at her flushed cheeks. He licked his dry lips. At last, he spat hard on the ground. “For the sake of that little membrane of yours!”

He turned and walked out.

Safe for now? Her hands trembled. Through her fingers, she watched Durant’s back leave. The fear didn’t leave her. Down there, she felt empty, the autumn chill touching skin directly. The thought of becoming a slave to primitive apes—

Terror flooded her.

Is this karma? I’ve become the sex doll I custom-made myself...

Outside, a woman’s wail rose, bleak. It was like an omen of her future.

I hurt someone...

No! These damned apes. Stupid minds, primitive culture, backward tech. They should kneel and submit to me. I’m smarter than all their brains put together. The tech I hold, if printed, could drown this planet. They will be conquered by me. They should be conquered by me.

As long as— as long as I escape and get my Molecular Reconstructor.

Don’t worry. They’re just a bunch of apes. Everything… will go to plan.

Night deepened. The sallow-faced hag, drowsy, fell asleep. The tent went quiet, leaving only the sounds from outside.

Aelina’s head swarmed with worries about the future.

Aelina, human citizen, born in a gestation machine.

True name: asynchronousjavascriptxml550e8400e29b41d4a716451655443960. The birthing machine generated that unique code as her name, based on homeworld time and machine parameters. She was born by machine and raised by society. He grew up bullied, laughably, because he was the only boy in class. The girls loved picking on the oddball. So, when he grew up, he feared women and hated human society. The only love he could accept was a “maid” who submitted to him in all ways. For that, he even sniffed a pile of perverts’ stockings, breaking the law...

Aelina quietly clenched her fists. A clear goal formed in her mind.

At least civilize these savage apes first.

With her goal set, she closed her eyes and entered standby. In theory, this body needs only half an hour of sleep a day. But that burns too much energy. In another world, she can only refuel by eating, an inefficient method.

By her fate calculations, the chance would come.

One hour, eight minutes, and fifty-two seconds later, an uninvited guest slipped toward the tent. Aelina opened her eyes. In the darkness, her pupils gleamed.

He’s here. Everything is going as expected.