Flawless Crystal, Chapter 4

Crystal slept through her alarm for the first time in recent memory, and when she woke up she was a little embarrassed to find out that she had been humping one of her pillows for much of the night. The bottom half of it was completely sodden, and the entire room had the powerful scent of her sweat and arousal.
	"Fuck," Crystal whispered, reluctantly pushing the pillow away from herself.
	She thought pleasantly back on her dreams of passionate lovemaking (at least how she imagined it to be, as a virgin) and the Rift. Most of the details slipped away, and she couldn't even recall if she was with a man, or a woman, even a robot servant.
	Her sheets and her pajamas quickly became cool and clammy to the touch, and everything needed to be washed – something that embarrassed the girl, making a mess with her sex dreams. But the first thing she did was check her Rift helmet, and was horrified to see that she still had 162 hours to wait until she could login again. Why did they have that stupid feature?! But then she remembered its advice to download the Rift app on her phone, and subscribe to the newsletter, etc.. Apparently, doing these things would each take an hour off her cooldown timer, so she hurried to get it done.
	But when she read the terms of service, she was slightly taken aback. They were draconian: downloading this app allowed Remya's company to read and edit all her texts and emails, to view her photos, access her camera and microphone, and even restrict her use of other apps. They could also decide how long Crystal could use her phone, locking it remotely if necessary, and they prohibited her from disparaging Rift Valley and certain other companies. This was the only way to get the Rift newsletter though, which would further reduce her cooldown time, so she decided to just go with it.
	When she downloaded it, a blonde little faerie popped up on her screen, floating around excitedly.
	"Hi! I'm Nina!" she said, after Crystal had put in her wireless earbuds,
	"I'm kind of your personal assistant. I can help you make the right decisions to get back into the Rift faster."
	"Okay, thanks! " Crystal replied, "so what do we need to do?"
	"So this morning, let's have you skip your shower. Just use some dry shampoo instead."
	Crystal was annoyed at this suggestion – she felt dirty with all that sweat and... other stuff still on her body.
	"I don't think that's necessary," Crystal argued, "I mean, how would my shower affect when I can go to the Rift?"
	"See, that's the problem!" Nina said,
	"You think you always know what's best. Maybe this tiny little concession is a way you can show that someone else can be right once in a while."
	"But like, I have PE today."
	"I know," Nina said, "I have your schedule. That's why it's such a good thing; this is a decision you wouldn't normally make. So it can help create a different way of thinking, so you are more ready for the Rift. If you do it, I can offer you two hours off~"
	"Deal!"
	"Yay!" Nina cheered, "Now, let's have breakfast. I already had R-22 prepare something for you."
	"Oh, thanks!"
	Although Crystal didn't like that Nina had networked into her home service system that quickly and was already giving R-22 order, she didn't want to upset this relationship. She tried not to focus on how unsettling it was for one autonomous AI to give another autonomous AI commands without a human intermediary, and instead thought about how she had already earned more than 3 hours off – in only 30 minutes real-world time!
	Her mood took a dive when she saw what was for breakfast.
	R-22 had prepared her a big glass of grapefruit juice, which was something she didn't have a taste for. Beside that was some buttered toast – Crystal didn't eat gluten – and a cup of yogurt.
	"I don't mean to be rude, but this isn't the sort of stuff I usually eat," Crystal said.
	 "Exactly. This is like a test. We need to see how well you can suspend your disbelief. While you eat this, I want you to pretend like it's the best thing you've ever eaten. Then, based on how authentic you are, I can award time to you."
	This made absolutely no sense to Crystal.
	"How would that help me, exactly?"
	"Because it is training your mind. When you drink that juice, you will feel your 'dislike' reflex. And when you overrule that feeling, you will strengthen that part of your brain that can believe in fantasy."
	Crystal could only frown as she saw the little bits of pulp floating around the glass. For her, grapefruit was particularly vile – a byproduct of her genetic therapy, which gave her more flavor receptors on her tongue.
	"Can I at least put some salt on it?"
	"No. That would undermine the whole purpose of this exercise. Please drink the juice now."
	The blonde teenager pouted a little bit, before reaching out to drink the entire glass in one go. It was so disgusting!! She couldn't keep from grimacing as she swallowed the sour, burning, bitter juice that practically made her teeth sting.
	"Mm, that's so good!" Crystal said, although the look on her face suggested the exact opposite.
	The toast was alright, but the yogurt was lacking in any sort of seasoning or sugar; the tartness of it made even worse by the fact that her tongue was still coated in citric acid. This was the worst breakfast she had in recent memory, and she was surprised that something as simple as eating food could be so unpleasant. She remembered the Rift, though, and that was enough to carry her through this task; she smiled and tried to make overly-exaggerated expressions of delight. Nina wasn't very impressed. R-22 watched this unfold as well – she looked like a cyborg woman, something like a doll or mannequin made of sterile white plastic, given a pretty face then come to life.
	"Well, it's a start," Nina decided in judgment of Crystal's performance,
	"But you really should have licked the bowl clean. Isn't that what you would do if you really liked it?"
	"Uh, no, because I'm not a dog?" Crystal answered. She was starting to get annoyed at this little faerie that looked cute and playful, only to mask how bossy she was about everything.
	"Well, the best I can give you is twelve minutes off. But if you wash your own dishes, I will double it."
	Crystal tried to contain her anger. She put herself through that terrible food for a measly twelve minutes? And why would she wash her own dishes? That was the whole reason they had R-22! She hadn't washed her dishes since ... ever! Those were her first thoughts, but then she started to think about the utility of doubling her time.
	"Okay, I'll do it," Crystal said.
	It was a novel experience taking her own dishes to the sink – novel, but awkward and tedious compared to just walking away from the table. She felt especially weird having R – 22 standing over her, supervising her progress. Now her domestic servant robot was watching her do the exact sort of domestic labor that they had purchased it to do; R-22 even inspected the dishes afterwards to make sure that they were done properly, holding them in her sterile plastic hands to examine them excruciating detail.
	"Crystal, clean the glass again. You missed the interior corners of it," Nina told her.
	Now she would be even more late to school! Properly chastened, she picked up the glass and used a differently-shaped sponge to scrub the corners and get her time off.
	The only reason that Crystal chose to overlook all of these annoyances was because the Rift was so good. She only had marvelously positive thoughts when she remembered that game. The thrill of being a monarch and the responsibilities she had to her subjects, even if they were only made of data. If she were to be honest with herself, she had gotten very high from playing Rift Valley – like floating on a pink cloud that softened life's rough edges and made things more fun and happy. She wanted more of that good feeling.
	Yes, she had a primal desire to get back to the Rift; she knew that the next session would be even more fun and she spent a lot of time thinking of improvements she would make to her kingdom to repel the drow menace. Her desire to return to the Rift and the fear of having it taken from her outweighed whatever annoying stuff that Nina put her through.
	So far, at least.
	"Uh, Nina, what's going on? My password isn't working," Crystal asked later that morning after several failed attempts to put use her phone.
	"Oh, sometimes you have to unlock it by taking a selfie now! Look at the camera and smile," Nina said.
	Crystal had never taken a selfie before; they were seen as passe nowadays. And that was putting aside the invasive nature of pointing a camera at herself randomly whenever she wanted to use her phone.
	"Can we change that?" Crystal requested, "I don't really like taking selfies."
	"These tasks were chosen by the algorithm, and they all sort of connect to each other. Think about it: you will get back to your kingdom faster every time you use your phone. Isn't that worth it?"
	Hearing about her kingdom sent darts of excitement through Crystal's body – she could see the adoration in the faces of her subjects as they awaited her noble commands, feel the weight of the scepter in her hands.
	"Just give it a try before you decide," Nina wheedled her.
	The blonde girl rolled her eyes and prepared to take her first ever selfie, mussing her hair up a little to give it more volume and deciding the best angle to capture her features. Feelings of vanity surfaced in Crystal's mind as she looked over the photo she had just taken, and it was kind of fun to take a cute little snap of herself like this.
	To her amazement, she got two entire hours worth of credit towards the Rift by taking just one photo of herself! She figured that even if the rewards went down, she could easily rack up a lot of time towards the game passively by doing this. Maybe Rift Valley would patch out some of these features if enough people complained – were other players getting 'tasks' like this to reduce the time until they could next visit the Rift?
	**
	Crystal watched the morning news on her way to school. The program was, of course, about Rift Valley – literally every channel was covering this story, one way or the other.
	Remya Cottrell looked like a cross between a CEO and a movie star, wearing a fetching black dress and stilettos as she addressed a small press conference. She had on black sunglasses that undercut her professionalism a bit, but they matched the shape of her face quite well. Crystal found herself jealous of the woman's beauty – something she rarely experienced. And the jealousy was mixed with a giddy sort of admiration, like Remya was a celebrity that she had a crush on. She wished she could see her eyes.
	Absentmindedly, Crystal re-applied her lip gloss as she watched.
	"The time limit for players to re-enter Rift Valley is a safety feature," Remya announced,
	"Therefore, it is not up for negotiation, and it cannot be bypassed."
	A pall fell over the crowd, and a few of the human reporters groaned audibly. Crystal shared their disappointment. Remya flashed a smile that wasn't very comforting, and continued:
	"To help people access Rift Valley faster, we are announcing our new Young Pioneers program. The Young Pioneers are a group of women who we have selected to help arbitrate people's tasks, so they can sync their minds with the Rift for quicker re-entry. Each woman will act as a local governess and... administratrix that you can go to, so they can help check your progress and maintain compliance. I see I have a question,"
	A member of the audience stood up. She had cornsilk blonde hair and a hunched her shoulders nervously; she wore glasses and her voice trembled as she read from her tablet.
	"S-some people are saying that Rift Valley is too good – brain scans have shown that it creates more dopamine than certain narcotics, and for a much longer period of time. Does this have anything to do with the 'cooldown period' before people can re-enter the Rift?"
	"That's just a scare tactic," Remya said, "Our scientists worked very hard to guarantee the safety of Rift, and on finding the best ways to integrate it into people's lives. The worst thing that can happen is you have a bad dream. Next question,"
	"Some people are reporting that a vow of celibacy are part of their assignments," a man stated,
	"How do you respond to the claims that these are invasive? In one case, a man reported that he was compelled to remain chaste while his girlfriend could decide for herself."
	"How can they be invasive?" Remya said, "They are voluntary. People can choose not to follow them – the same they do with any social organization. They are difficult for a reason, and it's up to the user to decide their value."
	Crystal took a selfie of her watching the news broadcast, the lighting in the car was surprisingly good. Remya didn't answer any more questions, and the program cut back to two news anchors at a desk, addressing the viewer.
	"Ayena games tumbled 40% on this day, as Rift Valley attracted rave reviews and there are rumors of a buyout.."
	The audio cut out, because Nina wanted to talk to her.
	"Crystal? The Young Pioneer leader for your group will be Bonnie Tannenbay, speaking of that program."
	"Why her?" Crystal whispered in dismay. She tried looking up more information on her phone about this Ayena Games buyout – it was important to her. But all of her searches were just filled with reviews and info-tainment, nothing substantial.
	Nina chose not to answer. Instead, she was buzzing around the screen of Crystal's phone,
	"When was the last time you used any of these apps? Do you mind if I delete them? There's not enough space for me on here!"
	Nina expanded her body so she took up the entirety of Crystal's phone screen, like it was glass and she was smashed against it from the other side.
	"Okay, sure."
	"Thanks! So for your fitness class today, can we switch you from hot yoga to Pilates?"
	"I would prefer to stay in hot yoga," Crystal answered.
	Yoga was more her style with its slow, purposeful movement and emphasis on just being present. Pilates felt like a personal trainer forcing her to do exercise – a high-intensity work that made her abdomen and butt sore for days afterwards. She didn't see how people could like Pilates, but maybe she just had a harsh instructor that time.
	"Pilates will get you five hours credit."
	"Okay, fine."
	Crystal smiled as she saw that number go down, and started writing a review for Rift Valley on the rest of her way to school. Then she recorded a video of herself saying how much she enjoyed the Rift and how she'd recommend it to everyone, and posted it on her social media pages for another five hours.
	She got to school late, at lunch time and sat with her friends in the student commons. It was Bonnie, Lillian and Kelsey sitting on two adjacent sofas. Bonnie's face was flushed red from exercise; she had on green leggings and blue half-toe Pilates socks, and she was resting her feet on a cushion on a coffee table nearby. There was a girl Crystal only vaguely knew for her white blonde hair – Sarina – standing behind Bonnie playing with the girl's hair as she sat there chatting.
	Crystal's friends were talking about what their adventures were like in the Rift, and the sorts of assignments they were getting from their AI companions. Bonnie was the center of attention; she had the authority of the Rift behind her now. She explained that having Sarina fuss over her hair was something to help reduce her stress. Crystal felt strange when she first saw Bonnie, finding herself more timid and nervous than she normally would have been – Bonnie seemed more haughty and intimidating than just the day before.
	"It's actually a great honor, being a Young Pioneer!" Bonnie said,
	"But it's demanding... and I still have to live my normal life! Dance auditions are brutal, by the way – my feet are killing me. But don't you just LOVE that game?! I have my own kingdom!! There are literally people who just play the game so they can be subjects in my kingdom, instead of getting their own. And that's what I could do before I was even made a Pioneer."
	"I don't have a kingdom – who wants to be tied down like that?" Kelsey replied, "I'm an adventurer; in my Rift we don't need or even recognize kingdoms. But now the Rift is telling me that I need to join student council if I want to go back faster."
	"Oh yeah! That's some news I can share with you," Bonnie said,
	"The Rift wants our school to put more of a focus on structured physical activity. We are putting together competitive teams for ballet, dance, and gymnastics. Along with that, we are petitioning to add classes on stuff like the Alexander technique of motion, and how to walk properly in high heels, and etiquette. It turns out that participating in that type of highly structured exercise is helpful because you can stay synchronized longer once you are back in the Rift. It will help having people like Kelsey on the student council, to make our case."
	Crystal thought that sounded a little bit like corruption but didn't want to be the one to say anything. She decided to talk about something else.
	"Yeah I'd love to do Pilates today," Crystal said, accidentally – she had meant to say 'I HAVE to do Pilates today.'
	She thought about going back to correct herself but the moment passed.
	"I'm putting together a dance performance, and it will be great to have more people doing auditions for my newest work," Lillian said, and started talking about a woman hunting vampires using a whip.
	 Crystal subtly took a low-angle selfie to unlock her phone and check it because she got a notification. She blushed when she read what the Rift was asking her to do: 'Offer Bonnie a foot massage. Credit for 2 hours.'
	Why would they choose that? It totally distracted Crystal from the conversation they were having. How weird would she look if she just interrupted everyone, out of the blue, and asked to massage Bonnie's feet? Putting aside how she didn't like feet, the room was full of people she knew and it would be very strange for them to see her do such a thing. Bonnie was already attracting enough attention, having a girl standing by playing with her hair – Crystal was mortified to think how many more people would stare if she started doing that sort of intimate body labor for the girl. Crystal typed back that she wanted to deny this request. The screen turned red, and a warning flashed up.
	'Failure to comply: 10 hour penalty. Decline?'
	What?! That would destroy a great deal of her progress so far!
	"Bonnie, can I ask you something one on one, as a Young Pioneer?" Crystal asked.
	"Okay! Sarina, you wait here. I'll be right back. Come on, Crys."
	The two girls walked into the hallway.
	"I just got a request, that I'm supposed to give you a foot massage?"
	"Oh PERFECT!! I've been wanting one so bad! Okay, so what's the issue?"
	"You don't think that's a weird thing to ask? Kind of awkward? And then if I say no, there's a penalty."
	Bonnie was not sympathetic.
	"Well, you can decide whether to do the task or not – that's the point of it, right? Maybe they picked it for you because they knew you'd make a big deal about this when it's really nothing. It's just my feet, Crystal. They're nice, I promise."
	 "Okay, fine." Crystal whispered – somehow between the way Bonnie argued it and the obvious carrot and stick, they had gotten her to think this was a good idea.
	She immediately regretted her decision, and she started blushing as they walked back together, although Bonnie was in great spirits. She took off her Pilates socks and placed them on the coffee table right beside where Crystal would be sitting, because apparently they were too precious to rest on the floor!
	"Can I do a foot massage for you now, Bonnie?" Crystal said, her cheeks going an even brighter shade of red when she saw the surprised looks from her friends.
	"Yes, I'd love one, thank you," Bonnie replied, "You can just focus on the arches, to start."
	Bonnie insisted on resting her feet on Crystal's lap for the massage; they were warm and very soft to the touch. Crystal was deeply frustrated at all of this. It was upsetting having Bonnie's feet in her lap, this close to her, practically pinning her to the table from how much weight the girl was resting on her while her friends looked on. It was at this point that Crystal had a moment of clarity about her situation: she was doing something that she absolutely loathed, for more time to play a video game. She gazed down at Bonnie's feet and tried to ignore her friends' reactions as she reached down and took one of them with both hands, kneading Bonnie Tannenbay's graceful arches in front of everyone, using her thumbs.
	Crystal had no idea how to give a good foot massage. She could tell that Bonnie did have nice feet but all she could think to do was randomly putting pressure on different parts.
	"Uh, have you ever done this before? That doesn't feel very good," Bonnie complained after Crystal had done this for a while.
	"No, I haven't done this before."
	"Okay. Well like, have the Rift send you instructions or something," Bonnie said, "I have really high standards for a foot massage."
	Here she was, not only embarrassing herself by taking part in all of this, but making things worse by doing a bad job and drawing more attention to herself! Nina flashed back on her screen, telling her to put both earbuds in. Then the faerie coached Crystal on how to give the perfect foot massage with advice such as, "Only look at Bonnie's feet while you do this, don't look at your friends. You need to maintain a mind-eye link with what your hands are doing," and "Remember to smile! She can feel it through the massage."
	And after she put her earbuds in, Nina set them so that they muted all outside conversations – so Crystal couldn't even hear her friends' conversation over Nina's constant overbearing presence. She spent the whole lunch like that, with Nina giving her near-constant feedback and directions on how to gently pull on Bonnie's toes, or use repetitive scissor-strokes up and down her insteps. Bonnie's feet were clean enough but Crystal noticed a faint aroma like expensive new shoes and gently worn socks. Although Bonnie's feet were aesthetically nice, Crystal still felt her deep-seated dislike of feet so she had to force herself to go through with it. She tried telling herself that, 'it's just feet. It's not a big deal,' but she knew it was a lie – this was humiliating.
	That was just lunch.
	Pilates was next, even worse than she remembered, because they now had a robotic assistant to help teach the class. To give it the best feedback, Crystal and her classmates now had cameras recording their session, so that the instructor could analyze it to know exactly who was slacking, and precisely which mistakes each girl made. It was still Miss Jeanette teaching it – a South African woman with short hair and an unsmiling demeanor.
	"Vanessa, engage your abdominal muscles. That's it. And I want a higher range of motion in your arms, more up! More down!"
	Vanessa was athletic, dark-haired, 19 but even she was pouring sweat halfway through the class, scowling at the burning feeling in her abdomen, from the previous exercise that the instructor put them through. Everyone was struggling. Crystal fared worse than most, though, because she didn't even have an athletic background – her body was naturally fit without the need for exercise. But this just caused Miss Jenette to assume that Crystal was in better shape than she actually was, and was just being lazy by not doing the full exercise.
	   "Keep those legs stable, Crystal!" the racially ambiguous fitness instructor said, as the girl did her best to climb both hands up her leg as she kept it high in the air pointing towards the ceiling.
	There was a strong focus on synchronizing the class together; Miss Jeanette (and the robotic assistant especially) wanted the girls to do everything in unison, moving their cotton and lyrca-clad limbs with the utmost grace and perfect timing.
	"Okay, left foot is over the bar, the ball of your right foot is aligned with your sit bones. Hands behind your head, and press up! And down. A little faster, Denise, and don't pause at the top. We will do thirty, then switch! From one!"
	"Fuck!" Crystal whispered to herself.
	Now she was really wished that she took a shower in the morning; she was very self-conscious that the girls next to her would notice.
	"Alright ladies, strap on your ankle weights for this next one!"
	Crystal reached down and picked up the ankle weights, which were made of bibbed lace because it helped to see the movements of their legs better, and did many more exercises. The entire time, a robotic assistant woman walked between the tables, and Miss Jeanette valued its opinion and feedback highly. Crystal suspected that the AI had its own demands for this class, that Miss Jeanette was just trying to get the students to behave according to its standards of mechanical perfection.
	It was disquieting for Crystal to have this new presence controlling her life in so many ways. As she kept up with this grueling exercise, she weighed in her mind whether the Rift was worth all of this, and the memory of the game was as brilliant and tempting as always. She figured that she would play along with this for a while, until she got bored of the Rift, then when she stopped playing she would just remember this as a strange fad she took part in for a while.
	At the end of the class, Miss Jeanette thanked the students for their hard work, and sent out grades for how well each student did. For once, Crystal wasn't in the top of the class, and it put her in a bad mood reading the negative comments that the AI wrote about her doing stuff like 'improper dorsiflexion' and 'no post-lateral breathing'. But at least now she could shower. Nina didn't stop her.
	She was sitting down at her AI tutor, ready to start her school day finally at like 2:30 PM. But before she could log in, Nina contacted her.
	"Crystal, the school is adding a new type of hot yoga, and we want you to assist with the class."
	Crystal was uncomfortable from that description, already.
	"Assist? What does that mean? I'm not a yoga teacher," she said.
	"Oh, don't worry about that part; you will just be the assistant. Your job will be to go around the students and wipe their bodies off with towels, and offer them water. Maybe fan them a little – just think of what you'd want done to you during class. And I'll be there too, to help guide you on what to do."
	Crystal had to find a private place to talk about this preposterous job.
	"You want me to go to a yoga class and towel off all the women as they get sweaty? During the entire hot yoga class? Nina, I don't understand these assignments!"
	"What's not to get?" Nina countered,
	"You can agree to it, and we give you twenty-four hours off. Or you can say no, and we will just forget about it. Maybe this will make you more comfortable with uncomfortable situations: like exposure therapy!"
	By this point, it was clear that Nina would never give her an unbiased answer to a question. Could there be any possible rationale behind this, or was she just humiliating herself more by believing such a thing? What the Rift was asking was over the line; it always was, and the line kept moving. First they had her massaging Bonnie's feet, now she would be the lowly towel girl in the yoga class, kneeling before her classmates and wiping the sweat from their fit, athletic bodies. She cringed, even thinking about it, but she knew she would say 'yes.'
	"Fine. What time does the class start?"
	"Not today, but soon. We just need a few more people to show interest," Nina answered, "and to decide how to grade it. Obviously."