Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

Author:Lucy A. Snyder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

CHAPTER 14

Gregory wasn’t a steady regular, but he’d seen me a few times before and had behaved himself perfectly well. And he’d passed our background check with a gleaming gold star. He was shy, polite. Wrestling with gender dysphoria. After a couple of sessions, it was clear he hated existing in a male body. He’d been fronting hard to be who he thought people expected him to be, and it was taking an incredible toll on him emotionally and psychologically. But because his family is (in their own special suburban ways) just as shitty and regressive as my uncle Robert, the notion of identifying as someone other than a man made him straight-up panicky. I got the impression he had a steady girlfriend, but when I asked about her, he clammed up hard.

He mostly wanted me to peg him. Mostly. I kept condoms handy just in case.

Because he seemed scared to death that someone might photograph him, I set things up so he could use the online system to schedule and pay for sessions, rather than having to arrive in person to negotiate scenes. And, more to the point, he could use the secret biometrics-equipped side door that’s actually a block away and goes underground. Because of all the news vans camping in the parking lot across the street, the owners wanted to make sure that celebrities could come and go without harassment. But ordinary people stand to lose, too, if the flocking paparazzi stick cameras in their faces, so we offer back passage as a courtesy to good returning clients.

If Em or the receptionist had seen Gregory walk through the front door, or if the security guard hadn’t been half asleep when he let Gregory go inside … well, none of this would have happened.

I thought I knew all about PVG. The CDC agreed to work closely with brothels in our state to limit the possibility of on-site transmission—thus our swift vaccinations. They’d been sending us weekly informational videos and pamphlets. Big nerd that I am, I read it all, and more.

Viruses have always fascinated me. I mean, think about it: They work by giving an unsuspecting cell new assembly instructions. It’s just … new information. That doesn’t seem so bad, does it? And yet it can be a complete horror show.

This is what I knew about PVG: Within a week of transmission, an infected person typically gets a mild to moderate headache and some nausea. Maybe some diarrhea. For some people, that’s all that happens. After a few days of taking it easy, they’re back to normal. For a few others, the infection takes root in their brain instead of their guts. They suffer delusions and mood changes that may or may not attract the attention of medical professionals or law enforcement. (Trust me, our society tends to assume that dangerously psychotic white men are just having a bad day until they make it a bad day for the whole house, too.)

But for others the headache turns into the most awful vise-grip migraine they’ve ever had.

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