The Lust Regime

 She was once a cheerleader back in high school and naturally among the head-turners. But something switched on inside her while in college. So, she went from dancing with pompoms to carrying screaming placards. It was a kind of rebirth for Tess once she became a member of the radical minds in her otherwise conservative university.In effect Tess couldn’t manage to finish her four-year course in Sociology even if that’s a piece of cake for her, being a bookworm of stuff about politics and human behavior herself. She’s also the daughter of an academician married to a military man. Her parents separated when she’s still a toddler.Her problem had nothing to do with academic incompetence. It’s her struggle with basic compliance like attendance and punctuality. She’s too busy filling her head with -isms. Being hated by her professors appeared revolutionary.But all that is water under the bridge as she entered a room with several students anticipating her arrival that morning. It

 Camp Andrea is a place nobody knows but the ones who really saw it for real. While the Androva Empowerment Center is a hub for re-educating citizens in the realm of nationalism, productivity, and straightforwardness, based on rules by a regime under Chairman Laude, this one’s a where-to for those who need to be taught lessons. It’s actually a workplace for people to contribute to the regime’s cause, like stamping a Laudenian emblem for merchandise or sewing uniforms and fashion wears with loud designs supporting the new, empowered Androvan society.The workers here wear uniforms themselves. They come from various age groups, unlike at the Center where most of the students are young and teachable. They grew ten-fold once the Camp began its operations just a year after Chairman Laude was sworn into full power.Tess visits this place every once in a while. She is personally summoned by her boss to check how things are going and assess the effectiveness of the workforce. To Tess

 The moment she saw Tess Mondragon, Rachel knew there’s something in her and it made her feel uneasy. She sensed that the woman was studying her from head to foot. There were, of course, pleasant introductions volunteered by the company boss but once they started talking, she felt an explicable surge of bad energy come between them. It’s the same uneasiness she’d been having the past few days, the same negative vibes that hovered in the air after the nightmare she recently had.Rachel’s boss and Lovelace recently met in a social occasion and the man took the opportunity to inch his way into the circle. For Tess, that was like being handed a duplicate key to a safe box. She made it a point to represent Lovelace to her supposed visit to the man’s office. Tess is a woman with a plan and no way she could miss Rachel when she steps in the place.Tess was acting too friendly to the point the boss found a smooth path to excuse himself and give Rachel the floor to pitch. It benef

 The Androvans, majority of them, have obviously been intoxicated by the appeal of Chairman Laude that whatever he says or does, they cheer him on. Those close to him were naturally drawn to the large following the leader has gained. Lovelace developed a large fan base herself after being acknowledged for her crucial role in making Laude a beloved statesman.While Tess had unimaginable powers in hands, her stature leaned on the public perception of her authority, not really on character glamour.Tess was obviously thrilled to be introducing Hugh to Lovelace as a courtesy before she escorts him to meet and paint the Chairman. The three of them gathered at the latter’s office. Lovelace expected there won’t be any brat nephew storming her office this time.“Here’s the man who’d do the best portraits of the Chairman. We were classmates back in high school,” Tess introduced.Lovelace smiled, “Of course, I already heard his name even before you mentioned it to me. You’re gain

 The road ahead was as exciting as it was full of promise – a stretch best spent by pondering how things have unfolded way off expectations. It took a while for Hugh to get back to his consciousness after the shock of being literally shot. The bullet proof he was wearing did its job by luck. If the now-beleaguered Androva strongman took an aim at his head, he’d be a goner and not seated in a comfy backseat beside the hands-down most powerful woman in the land.  “I felt glad when you said you couldn’t do it.” Lovelace told a silent, still recovering could-have-been assassin. “As exposed to trigger-happy men as I am, to authorities dispatching enemies by guns and knives, you are a welcome change. If you did kill the Chairman, you’d still see Rachel, but likely that you would have exchanged places by then, she in freedom, you in jail. I’m tired of working around the rules to keep wrongdoers from prison walls.”Hugh contemplated on her statement, “I don’t understand why you