The officers escorting them followed down the long corridor between Ward Ocho and Ward Nueve. They stopped when the corridor adjoined the main building of the IMCQ.

Felicité and Tasìa kept marching forward, but the Argentinian would not look in Tasìa's direction. Her long legs kept her at an advanced pace.

Whatever it was she knew about the Sigrid Rosa, Felicité now viewed Tasìa in a different, unflattering it seemed, light than before.

Tasìa wondered further if they even had a partnership now.

She would have to give Felicité time to digest what she learned before they could move forward.

The Argentinian was a strong, centered woman. She would ultimately do what was in her best interest.

The shift let out at its regular time. Tasìa decided to take a left turn towards the kitchen. Este-Oeste worked as the veggie prep girl on the evening shift so the AM cooks would have everything at hand in the morning.

Este-Oeste was just let out of the kitchen by the staff. She nodded and smiled at the person holding the door, whom Tasìa could not see.

Her walk was a sprinted swish. She acknowledged Tasìa with a nod, but did not stop. In fact, she moved quickly to get away from her.

For Tasìa, it was the perfect time to tease her.

"Uh-huh. Hey you. Where are you going so fast?"

"Don't blow my shit."

"It's just us. No COs around to bust you. The way you are walking with that tight butt swivel, it is kind of having an effect on me."

Tasìa caught up to her and walked behind.

"Sorry, I don't play for that team."

Tasìa laughed. "Skinny girl with haunches like those, you could make a lot of money here if you did."

Tasìa reached out and grabbed a butt cheek. Clenched in her hands was not the flesh of a skinny girl's rump, but the plastic of a five-pound bag of cheese.

She then grabbed Este-Oeste by the belt for a better look.

Beneath the girl's bloomers were two five-pound bags of cheese fastened in place with the back straps of thong underwear.

"What are you making for dinner, tonight," Tasìa asked.

"Hungry?"

"Famished. You would not believe the kind of evening I have had."

"I'm thinking deep-fried tamales in wraps, and some pork sauteed in onions, chilies, and lime."

"Sounds wonderful. Marcìa?"

"Yes," Este-Oeste asked in a doubtful tone.

"As good a nip and tuck your butt was looking to have got, the boob-job is just the opposite. Terrible. It looks like they dumped a block of butter down each of your cups and called it a day."

Este-Oeste peeked down her shirt and gasped.

"That is exactly what they left there. Do you think I should sue?"

"For every penny. But I have to say, you are looking a little fat of late around your stomach and thighs."

Tasìa smacked the bulk of something hidden along the band at Marcìa's tummy.

They reached a small yard between the main building and the dorm for the worker's collective. A covered walkway extended twenty-five yards between the two. Pic-nic tables lined up on both sides.

Este-Oeste stopped at the doorsteps. A devilish smirk invaded her face. Tasìa could tell her frizzy haired friend was about to get her revenge.

"It's funny, Tasìa. You never mention either girlfriends, nor boyfriends in your life. What team do you play on?"

Tasìa felt caught in the open. She never talked about her problems with intimacy.

"The Incubus is kind of hot," she answered.

"True. Truly true. But that definitely does not answer my question."

"If I'm exclusively attracted to hermaphrodites it does."

Este-Oeste laughed. "Now, you are really evading my question, Tasìa. I don't care if you are into girls. I want to know what makes Tasìa del Alma-Gris happy."

"I spent my youth in a convent."

"You ran like a wild child for several years on the loose around Esconda Vida; crazy were your opportunities for hook-ups in that scene. Are you telling me you never did?"

Este-Oeste wasn't going to drop it. Tasìa gave her a wane smile.

"I had two infatuations in those, shall we say, 'formative' years," she said. "One was love, the other nothing more than hero worship."

Her fingers displayed two.

She thought of Cuervo and Green-Eyed Elise. Tasìa continued.

"One died on me. The other betrayed me."

Este-Oeste knew both of those stories of death and betrayal in Tasìa's past. It satisfied her curiosity, and she nodded as if it was exactly what she suspected.

As they walked past the officer's station, Missi gave Este-Oeste a stare. The skinny girl nodded back in affirmation letting her know that the kitchen heist was a success.

Missi would be expecting a meal out of the arrangement. She caught sight of Tasìa following behind Este-Oeste in tow.

"Hey, Tasìa," she yelled. "What is going on over there in SIU?"

As the duty officer, she was restricted from leaving the dorm. Her access to campus-wide information was also limited during sectional lockdowns.

"A doctor tried to kill herself."

Missi checked her watch.

"Well, I'll be damned. Right on time."

Tasìa could not tell whether or not she was joking.

She helped Este-Oeste out of her clothes. They reeked of the kitchen.

Along with her bags of cheese and blocks of butter, other food items were stashed in bread bags along Este-Oeste's thighs and stomach.

She wore steel-toed work boots two sizes too large so to sneak items in through the excess in space.

With the bags of food removed Tasìa looked Este-Oeste up and down. Thin as a rail with hips an anaconda would envy.

Este-Oeste laughed, "I told you, you can't have any of this."

Tasìa shook her head and pointed at the food collected together on the bed.

"All the good bits are now over there."

Marcìa guffawed with a loud snort. She had all the features to be quite attractive with a little effort. Even still, Este-Oeste was going back to a polyamorous relationship of two men who worshipped at her feet.

"I'm going to go ahead and take a shower," Este-Oeste announced. "Except for a little mildew you don't really smell that bad, Tasìa."

"What are you saying?"

"Let me spritz you. I need you here to melt the butter and get the meal started. You can shower later."

Este-Oeste reached down in her locker and took out a bottle of a rosewater and vanilla-bean based disinfectant. It was diluted with mineral water. She sprayed across Tasìa's chest.

"Reach up," she commanded before spritzing Tasìa's underarm pits.

When she returned the bottle to her locker, she dug deeper into it. Este-Oeste produced a round burner plate she had bought from a shop welder, and a ceramic bowl she made for herself in the art shop.

As she plugged in the burner she turned to Tasìa, and asked her, "watch the butter for me and I will return to make us a nice meal."

Later that evening, Tasìa and Este-Oeste played a deck-building game.

Tasìa had tucked her fanny pack close to Este-Oeste's locker.

"I was wondering if you could hold on to a few things for me," she asked.

"Don't be coy. Show me what you have there."

She brought out the mask, choker and matching hairpins.

"There was a lash that went with this set but, sadly, I could not fit it in my fanny pack."

"I would have never guessed something oh, so fashionable could be found anywhere on this compound. Where did you get those?"

Tasìa slunk her head down and whispered.

"If I told you, I would have to eliminate everyone here but you."

"So, you are not going to tell me? Okay . . ."

She tried to avoid lying outright. But now she had to make up a story.

"Found them hidden in the drawer of a doctor's office, over there."

Este-Oeste started to look at the set as if the items were radioactive.

"Relax, Marcìa."

Este-Oeste played with her cards, nervously. Tasìa could not help but catch a glimpse of what Marcìa planned to play. It was her nature to notice every advantage.

"When that comes up missing, they are going to shake down the entire dorm to find it. What were you thinking, mi chica?"

"It's cool. I assure you, the doctor, she is not going to miss them any time soon."

Este-Oeste paused for a moment, but then she grinned wicked.

"No, you didn't! You raided the office of the doctor that tried to kill herself? That is cold, Tasìa. So, so cold, but I like it!"

Satisfied with herself, Tasìa dug into her pack further.

"Doctor Tickle-Fanny won't be needing any of those items anytime soon. She won't be needing this, either. I found a gift for your going away party. But, we've had a festive time of it so far. So this night qualifies."

She handed over eight rolled up Ben Franklins. One hundred dollar bills, USD. The second most widely used currency in the Quadra.

"I don't know what to say," Este-Oeste said, exasperated. "It. It is . . . Just so, such a thoughtful gift."

"It only comes in one color, sadly. Green. It doesn't match your brown eyes."

"Still, it is like you reached deep into my soul and knew exactly what to get me. I love it."

"I'm glad you like it."

Este-Oeste stood up and leaned on the card table. She gazed at Tasìa with a grin.

"What are you up to, Marcìa?"

"Put the game aside a second. I have just got to see you in that get-up."

"Fine."

Este-Oeste had her sit still as she brushed Tasìa's hair out. She set her hair up with pins. She made Tasìa lift her chin up as she put the choker in place.

She placed the mask on last.

Este-Oeste came around in front of Tasìa to assess her.

"Damn!"

"What?"

"Tasìa, you look like an entirely different person," Este-Oeste said as she grabbed her mirror and held it up. "An entirely different persona."

Tasìa was startled. There was something darkly self-confident and cruelly intelligent in the visage of the person that stared back.

"What do you call this other person, Tasìa?"

Tasìa's smile seemed elegantly set. She was really getting into this.

"Demona."