“Yes,” Alex replied sullenly. “Very flattering. Are you really so confident in the Black Sun?”
“Of course,” Anastasia said, blinking and looking a touch surprised at the question. “You needn’t take it from me, though. Ask Emily what she thinks the next time she tries to take you home — oh, she may couch the language a bit more, but I promise you that she sees what I see.”
“Which is?”
“The Black Sun Cartel is roughly the same size as the entirety of the Hegemony. With our affiliate cartels, we are somewhat larger. And we have no internal divisions or disputes; unlike the Hegemony, we do not waste our energy fighting each other.” Anastasia glanced briefly up at the clock on the wall, and then back to Alex. “If you factor in the Academy, there are an average of nearly two students affiliated with Black Sun for every one affiliated with Hegemony. Time and circumstances are on our side, Alex, and we are patient. We have been waiting for generations for the time to be right, and we won’t move until it is. And everyone can see the tide changing.”
“That all sounds great. I’m happy for you, really. But, if you don’t need me, then why are we having this conversation?”
Anastasia gave him another, more predatory smile, and he liked this one even less.
“We are, of course, not overlooking your considerable potential.” Anastasia paused and cocked her head to the side. “And then, there is the fact that I cannot simply allow you to join the Hegemony.”
“Oh?” Alex said, grimacing. “And how would you stop me, assuming I even wanted to do that?”
“I won’t try and persuade you the way Emily would, if that’s what you are thinking,” Anastasia laughed. “No offense. I was going to try reason, actually. I don’t think you would want to join the losing side in a fight if you had other options. The more you learn about the Hegemony, the less, I think, that you will find yourself sympathetic toward them. Don’t think that because Emily is a nice person that the Hegemony itself is benign.”
“And if reason doesn’t work? What’s after that? Vaguely worded threats, maybe?”
“No,” Anastasia said emphatically. “I don’t make threats. I have never seen the point. The next step would be bribery, to be frank. If you have no interest in doing the right thing, then perhaps you would be interested in doing right by yourself. So, if a number were to pop into that busy head of yours, well, you come speak to me directly, and I will be happy to make it happen.”
“You mean, like, money?” Alex asked, wide-eyed.
“Yes, Alex.” Anastasia said, amused. “I mean money. In virtually any amount that you care to name. Or, any other kind of material possession. Cars, houses, those blinking black boxes that boys love so much, whatever you like.”
“Wow,” Alex said faintly, his head swimming. “I have to at least give you points for honesty and forwardness, if nothing else.”
“Go ahead,” Anastasia said encouragingly, “pick a number. Surprise me.”
“Not right now,” Alex said, then caught Anastasia’s superior look and hurriedly added, “maybe never.”
“In my experience, the only things in this world that don’t have a price are those without value. And despite all appearances, you certainly do have value. Let us assume,” Anastasia said reasonably, “that I am simply offering to pay you with the wrong currency. Shall we talk for a moment about your little friend Emily? She’s certainly found a receptive audience in you.”
“What?”
“Surely you have noticed that, lovely though she is, Emily is hardly the only girl on campus, yes?” Anastasia’s eyes were full of laughter, her face a bit cruel. “I mentioned that the majority of the students are destined for the Black Sun, after graduation, which means they are going to find themselves under my jurisdiction, eventually. I am certain that I could make any introductions that you might need. Similarly, I can assure you that they any advances you make will be well-received.”
Alex looked at her with obvious shock and distaste.
“That’s going a bit too far.”
“Would you prefer that I invite you home? Make moon eyes at you during class?” Anastasia said mockingly. “I am trying to make a point, Alex. I don’t want you on my side as much as you want to be on my side. I can make things very easy for you.”
“And I’m guessing,” Alex said warily, “that on the flip side, you could make it very hard for me, right?”
Anastasia appeared to consider a moment before responding, and in the interval, Alex noticed her eyes dart back up to the clock. If she had someplace else to be, he wondered irritably, why didn’t she just go?
“I suppose I could,” Anastasia allowed, looking displeased. “But I don’t care much for that sort of thing. I am not here to try and make you do anything. Particularly not something that I have the utmost confidence that you will do of your own free will, eventually.”
“How can you be so sure?” Alex wondered aloud. He found Anastasia’s tremendous confidence unnerving — her demeanor was so self-assured and authoritative that he had to stop himself from nodding along in agreement as she spoke. He’d underestimated Anastasia, in more ways than one, he realized. “Are you one of those people who can see the future or something?”
“No one that I’m aware of can ‘see the future’. If you are referring to precognition, then no, I am not a precognitive.” She smiled almost wistfully, much to Alex’s surprise. “It would be much more convenient if I were, though. Have you ever read a report written by a group of precognitives, who are collectively trying to out-think other groups of competing precognitives?” Anastasia clucked disapprovingly. “It borders on utter gibberish, let me tell you.”
“Fascinating,” Alex muttered.
“Oh, don’t be sullen,” Anastasia scolded. “I offered all the money, power and girls that you could desire. How can that possibly be such a bad thing? Or, is it that you prefer Emily’s recruitment tactics?”
“You seriously need to stop bringing that up,” Alex said petulantly. “I barely even know her. And, no one is recruiting me into anything.”
“Certainly. I assume that it is normal for you, then, arriving at a new school, to have the prettiest girl in class fascinated by you from day one, yes? Does that sort of thing happen to you often, Alex?”
Alex looked concerned for a moment, and then his gaze hardened.
“Wait,” he said slowly. “Are you threatening Emily?”
“Honestly!” Anastasia scoffed, looking scandalized. “How often do I have to say it? I don’t make threats, Alex, and I am certainly not threatening poor Emily. Even if you want to see her, what is it to me? You won’t necessarily fall in love. And even if you were to get married, that still wouldn’t change a thing.”
“What?” Alex said, putting his head in his hands, frustrated. “I thought — I mean, Michael said that she was part of the Hegemony, and…”
“Michael is a great teacher, but he lacks political savvy,” Anastasia said with conviction. “If you feel like taking Emily up on her rather obvious offer, then go right ahead. I have heard good things. It isn’t as if you automatically join the Hegemony, because the girl you are dating happens to be a member. Anyway, do you plan on spending the rest of your life with the first girl who is willing to sleep with you? And, who is to say that she will remain in the Raleigh Cartel, for that matter?”
Alex wanted to smack his hands down on the mat, to push her away from him, to stand up and yell until he was hoarse. Alex did none of these things, because he was not stupid, and this was not the first time this had happened to him.
He couldn’t even remember the guy’s name. Nothing in the faculty, which was a sort of cross between a mental institution and a prison, had seemed to happen without the deeply tanned Mexican’s hands getting involved. Alex had the bad fortune to meet the man in person, something that rarely happened to anonymous white convicts, but the whole ‘killing your entire family’ thing seemed to resonate with him on a level that Alex found profoundly disturbing. He did not want to talk to him about that, didn’t like the man’s warm smile and dead eyes, and in any other situation, Alex would have simply left. He’d taken a number of beatings for doing exactly that, and he was not afraid of another.