AN: Enjoy 3 chs back to back. So, gimme those powerstones.đź’Žđź’Ž
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[Titan Studios] [Noon]
Caroline walked beside Halle through the bright corridor of Titan's photoshoot section, still wearing the silk robe the styling team had thrown over her campaign outfit. Her hair had been pinned back for the shoot, her makeup was flawless, and she looked far too glamorous to be glaring at a phone with an annoyed look.
"I don't get it," Caroline said as she scrolled through her social media mentions. "Why do I get the tag of Mistress when Max gets to have the tag of Boobelecious Beauty?"
Halle glanced at Caroline's chest before she could stop herself, then quickly looked back at Caroline's face with a knowing smile. Caroline noticed how Halle looked at the chest.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Caroline said while making two exaggerated circles in the air with her hands. "I don't have giant watermelons, but that still doesn't mean my whole public identity has to become Mistress."
Halle tried to keep a straight face as they walked past a rack of dresses, but her shoulders shook with quiet laughter. "Caroline, nobody is saying that you need to compete with Max."
Caroline pushed open the changing room door and stepped inside, still looking personally offended by the universe. "I don't want to compete with Max, because competing with Max is like competing with a drunk hurricane holding a designer handbag."
Halle followed her in and closed the door behind them.
Caroline walked toward the mirror and pointed at her own reflection with both hands. "Can't they call me Perky Cutie or Charming Caroline? Okay, that sounded much better in my head, but you get what I mean, don't you?"
Halle sat on the small couch near the wall and crossed one leg over the other. "Charming Caroline actually sounds nice, but I'm pretty sure your fans would still find a way to turn it into something wild."
Caroline dropped into the chair in front of the mirror and stared at herself like she was preparing a speech to the United Nations. "They already do that with everything I post. Yesterday I uploaded one picture of my new heels, and some guy wrote an entire paragraph asking me to step on him and his dignity."
Halle covered her mouth, trying not to laugh too loudly.Â
"Hey, not funny. They're actually insane," Caroline continued while pulling the pins from her hair. "I get fan letters asking me to insult them and spit and step on them. Hell, some even want me to kick their balls. I was like what the fuck?! Are they for real?"
Halle raised an eyebrow with amused surprise. "You do have a very specific kind of fan club."
Caroline turned around in her chair and pointed at Halle like she had found a witness. "Exactly. I don't know how it happened. Max has the wild party fans, you have the elegant movie fans, Angelina has the dark goddess fans, Scarlett has half the internet wanting to marry her, and Lilly has cosplay fans."
Halle smiled gently as she listened.
"And me," Caroline said, pressing one hand against her chest, "I somehow got an army of people begging me to call them pathetic through social media."
Halle's smile grew warmer. "Maybe they like how confident you are."
Caroline blinked at that answer, then looked away for a second as her expression softened.
"I am confident," Caroline said, although her voice lost some of its dramatic edge. "Most days, anyway, but that doesn't mean I like the way people look at me as if I were a BDSM pornstar."
Halle shook her head as she leaned back against the couch and watched Caroline in the mirror. "Caroline, people online grab one part of you and turn it into the whole story because it's easier than seeing a full person."
Caroline looked back at her reflection and slowly pulled another pin from her hair. "Yeah, well, they picked a really weird part. I'm rich, funny, hot, stylish, and somehow the internet landed on mistress energy."
Halle reached for a loose makeup brush on the table beside her and turned it between her fingers. "You do have that sharp, bossy confidence when the camera is on you. Some people just don't know what to do with it, so they make it sexual."
Caroline made a face at herself in the mirror while smoothing down the robe over her lap. "I like being sexy. I love being sexy. I'm not sitting here pretending I want to dress like a church bulletin. I just don't want every photo to turn into some guy begging me to call him a worthless little wallet."
Halle's eyebrows lifted as she tried not to laugh again. "That one sounds very specific, and I'm guessing it happened more than once."
Caroline turned in the chair again and gave her a dead serious look. "Three times this week. Three different men asked me to financially ruin them at the cupcake shop, and honestly, part of me respected the honesty."
Halle chuckled while Caroline fought a smile and failed. The tension in the room eased a little, though Caroline still looked at herself with that strange mix of pride and doubt.
Halle stood and moved behind her, resting both hands gently on Caroline's shoulders. "You're allowed to change the image if it doesn't feel good anymore."
Caroline met her eyes in the mirror, quiet for once. "What if people stop liking me?"
Before Halle could answer, an assistant knocked on the door, cutting their dilemma-filled conversation short. "Ms. Channing, Ms. Berry, the next shot is ready."
...
...
[Meanwhile] [Alex's Office]
Alex sat alone in his office with the lights dimmed, the blinds half closed, and the new Mass Effect trailer playing across the wall screen.
The opening was perfect.
The Titan logo appeared first with a little sound effect, followed by the usual warnings. Then the screen faded into deep space, where distant stars burned across the black like tiny wounds.
The focus shifted inside a spaceship.
A faint distress signal cuts through the silence. Static rises as the Normandy drifts through deep space, its hull catching the light of a distant star.
"We face extinction."
Commander Shepard stands on the Normandy's command deck, staring at the galaxy map as red warning markers spread across several systems. Garrus and Ashley stand behind him as the distress signal breaks apart into screams, then vanishes into silence.
"A rogue soldier leads an unstoppable force across the galaxy."
Fast flashes. A colony burning under attack. Geth soldiers marching through smoke. A Prothean beacon igniting with violent light. Shepard collapses as visions tear through his mind.
"And only you can stop them."
The Citadel rises in breathtaking scale, peaceful and massive and many different aliens are enjoying a peaceful moment, before the image cuts to Saren walking through fire with geth moving behind him. His eyes burn with indoctrination as war spreads from system to system.
Shepard moves through battle with his squad, weapons firing as explosions light the battlefield. Multiple flashes of Liara, Wrex and Tali appeared. They were fighting side by side with Shepard. The Normandy dives past enemy fire, racing toward a dark shape hidden beyond the stars.
"Many decisions lie ahead, none of them easy."
Black screen.
The low, metallic sound of something vast awakening shakes the silence.
Title card:
MASS EFFECT
"Your choices decide the fate of our galaxy."
Alex didn't move for a few seconds. He just stared at the title card with both hands folded over his stomach, looking like a man who had just seen another empire form on the horizon.
"Travis, you overworking bastard," Alex muttered with a satisfied smile. "Gamers are gonna lose their minds over this one."
The door opened behind him before he could replay it again.
Rachel walked in wearing a dark fitted suit, her tablet tucked under one arm, her heels clicking softly against the floor. She closed the door without looking back, turned the lock with one smooth twist, and walked toward him with that calm, dangerous look that usually meant good news had been sharpened into a weapon.
Alex glanced at the locked door, then back at her. "That lock tells me the news is either very good or very illegal."
Rachel put the tab on the table, stepped around the desk, and lowered herself onto his lap as usual. One arm slid around his neck while the other rested against his chest, and she looked at the frozen Mass Effect title on the screen.
"It's good, legal enough, and extremely useful," Rachel said before leaning in and kissing him.
Alex kissed her back, one hand settling at her waist while the other rested against her thigh. The kiss lasted long enough to make the meeting notes on his desk feel personally neglected. Rachel pulled back first, her mouth still close to his, her eyes sharp and amused.
"The two dummy game studios are active," she said.
Alex's expression shifted instantly from relaxed to focused. "Give me the structure before I start celebrating."
Rachel tapped her tablet awake and turned it slightly so he could see the file. "First studio is Nebula Forge Interactive. Public face is Marcus Vale, former software systems director, clean record, real technical background, enough published work to survive questions, and just enough ego to enjoy being called a visionary."
Alex looked at the profile photo and nodded slowly. "He looks believable enough for interviews and conference panels."
"He is believable because his résumé is real," Rachel said as she swiped to the next file. "Second studio is Iron Lantern Games. Public face is Serena Holt, former creative producer with credits in animation tools, narrative systems, and interactive media pipelines. She's qualified, polished, and smart enough to follow instructions without trying to become a problem."
Alex smiled faintly. "And I'm guessing they are your people?"
Rachel looked him dead in the eye. "Yep! And they're gonna sit on their asses, count money, give interviews, smile at cameras, and take credit for games they didn't make."
Alex laughed under his breath while his fingers tightened lightly at her waist, and his right hand moved up and cupped her boob. "You know, there are people who'd kill for a job like this?" He gave a nice squeeze.
Rachel shrugged like morality had missed its appointment. "I'll kill them if they fucks things up for you. By the way..." She kissed him once. "Are you gonna creampie me?"
"In a moment," Alex nodded as he looked back at the Mass Effect title card. "Nebula Forge for sci-fi, Iron Lantern for fantasy and darker stuff."
"Exactly," Rachel said, leaning back slightly on his lap while scrolling through the corporate structure. "Nebula Forge handles anything that feels futuristic, space-based, military, tech-heavy, or horror adjacent. Iron Lantern handles fantasy RPGs, medieval horror, dark adventure games, and anything with swords, monsters, politics, or morally questionable romance options."
Alex's grin widened. "Dragon Age goes under Iron Lantern."
Rachel nodded. "That's the plan. We build a fake paper trail, create development diaries, plant concept art, generate internal emails, stage some early hiring records, and make it look like Iron Lantern has been quietly building Dragon Age under Titan."
Alex watched her with open approval. "You already did half of that, didn't you?"
Rachel gave him a flat look. "Obviously, because waiting for you to ask would've been inefficient."
Alex laughed again and pulled her closer. "You're terrifying, and I mean that with deep affection."
Rachel's eyes narrowed slightly. "Flattery works better when your dick is in my pussy."
Alex grabbed her waist properly and stood up before laying her on the table. "As you wish."
And they had sex on the table that ended with three creampies...Â
Outside, Dick from Disney was waiting for another meeting with Alex related to the channel's deal. But Alex was busy making love to Rachel. So, poor Dick had to wait for one and a half hours for the meeting.
...
-[POWERSTONES & REVIEWS]--
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