Vox Mentis

Fine, but I'd better not have to deal with Jane for much longer.

Persuade him that you still get the money, since you came all the way out here and all. Jane is full of shit and needs to clarify her rules. Once those things are established we'll go back to the house.

"Oh, fine," you say. "But I better not have to deal with Jane much longer. Also, I still want the money. And tell Jane her rules need to be clearer."

"Alright," says Eliot, raising his hands in mock surrender. "As you wish."

~

You return to your room and dump your bag. You don't think you'll have to wait long and you are right. The curly-haired boy comes in and looks at you angrily. "I thought you left."

"I changed my mind."

"Or someone changed it for you?" He folds his arms. "They only take one of us."

The angel girl appears in the doorway. You say, "They only take one?"

"I never heard that," says the angel girl.

"On the last day, if there's more than one candidate left, you have to persuade the others to quit. That's how you make it."

"I never heard that," says the girl, "and I say, welcome back, Elise."

"You're an idiot," says the boy.

"You're an asshole," says the girl.

The boy looks at her. "You might as well leave now, I bet you're persuasive as hell, to people who know your parents. In student council, you're a queen. But you're only here because it's supposed to be the best, and that's what good little girls do. They do their best."

The girl's cheeks flame. "Is this supposed to make me quit?"

"I already know how to make you quit. Have Daddy call and say he misses you."

The girl turns and leaves. You hear her feet slapping down the corridor. You look at the boy.

"This school is mine," he says.

~

Early next morning, Jane drives you downtown. She barely speaks and you're still pissed at her so it's a quiet journey. You pull into a parking garage and Jane kills the engine. You unbuckle but Jane doesn't move.

"Eliot thinks you're worth persisting with," Jane says to the rearview mirror. "It seems pointless to me. But occasionally he sees things."

You keep your mouth shut. You don't like her, she doesn't like you, hopefully soon enough your interactions with her will come to an end.

"Usually, this examination is administered by a junior staff member." Jane pops open the glove box and applies big sunglasses. They make her look elegant and sexy, not like a nun at all. "But since you are so allegedly bursting with potential, I wanted to see for myself."

She leads you to a nondescript street corner, where there's a grocer, a newspaper stand, and a dog tied to a NO STANDING pole. One of those things is important, you figure. Jane glances at her watch. It's early but the sun is peeking above the buildings and seems excited to be there. It you're going to hang around out here, you should lose the jacket.

"Our purpose today is to test your vocabulary," Jane says. "By which I mean your array of useful words." This doesn't clarify anything for you. "Are you ready?"

"Sure," you say.

Jane's sunglasses swing to the far sidewalk, which is empty. You wait. "A whore is 'one who desires.' The word is Proto-Indo-European. From the same root as love. Did you know that?"

"No."

"Today, the word is used to describe any person who can be persuaded. Most obviously, by money for sex. But also more generally. One may 'whore oneself' by performing any kind of vaguely unpleasant act in exchange for reward."

You shift from one foot to the other.

"A similar term is proselyte. Typically used in a religious sense, to denote a person converting from one faith to another. Like a whore, a proselyte is persuaded to perform an act. The difference is that a whore does what she knows is wrong for reward, while a proselyte does what she has been persuaded to believe is right." She glances at you. "You are to remain within three feet of where you currently stand. If you move beyond that radius, you fail the examination. You are to persuade people on that side of the road to cross to this side. You may not use the same method of persuasion more than once per person or group. Each person or group you fail to persuade is a strike. After three strikes, the test ends. You begin now."

You stare. Jane nods to the far sidewalk. A girl in a track suit is jogging down it.

What do you do?