Totally: A Hive Mind Story
by NickelModelTales
CHAPTER 4: Stakeout
As soon as she finished her Wednesday classes, Bree made a beeline for Tyler’s place. Her boyfriend and Justin, his loser roommate, shared a shithole student apartment, located on Trapper Blvd. Trapper Blvd, like Washington Ave, was also lined with fraternity and sorority houses. The time was perhaps three PM in the afternoon.
Bree’s lip curled as she spotted the white mansion that was the sorority house of Zeta Pi Beta, Phi Delta Sigma’s rival sorority. Zeta Pi had the biggest yard out of all the Greek manses, but you couldn’t see it from the street because the whole Zeta Pi property was completely enclosed by a seven-foot-high white picket fence. Campus rumor was that the Zeta Pi’s erected that fence so that the Beamont University cops couldn’t see the debauchery that happened during Zeta Pi parties.
Whatever, Bree thought contemptuously as she eyed the fence. The Zeta Pi’s had always thought of themselves as above all other mortals on campus. Bree thought the fence was a symbol. The Zeta Pi’s wanted to keep the rest of Beamont U walled off from their perfect, perky utopia.
Across the street from the Zeta Pi House was Winter Apartments, the dilapidated apartment building that Tyler called home. Bree strode across the avenue, and jammed her finger on the intercom for Winter Apartment 4B.
There was no answer.
Her mood souring even more, Bree pulled out her phone. Sure enough, Tyler had just posted on Instagram, proudly displaying his newest cup of microwave Ramen Noodles to the whole world. The post was three minutes old. Tyler was home.
Bree immediately called him.
“Uh… hey,” her boyfriend said when he finally—finally!—picked up. “Uh, what’s up, Bree baby—“
“Jesus, Ty!” snapped Bree. “I’m downstairs. Lemme in!”
“You’re here?” Tyler exclaimed. “Uh… now?”
“Yes, now! Buzz me in.”
“Erm…” Bree could hear Tyler squirm. “Yeah, could you come back in a bit, babe? Justin and I are in the middle of…”
“Dude!” exploded Bree. “Do you not want a girlfriend? Let me up…” Bree’s voice darkened. “…or I promise that you’ll never see my boobs again.”
This was an extremely serious threat. Bree heard a little grumbling on the intercom, but then the apartment’s front door buzzed loudly.
“Jesus Christ…!” Bree growled, and stomped her way toward the elevator.
Apartment 4B probably should have been condemned by the city. The walls were slowly crumbling and the ceiling was visibly sagging in two places from water damage. Cobwebs filled the corners; tiny amounts of debris and crud lined the floor. The only electric lighting was from two exposed light bulbs, hanging from the ceiling. The beaten-up furniture was ancient, easily a decade older than Bree or any of her classmates. The tiny kitchen was littered with empty pizza boxes and fast food bags. Phi Delta House was the lap of luxury compared to this dump.
When Bree pushed herself through the front door (a pile of trash bags almost prevented the door from opening), she immediately saw both Tyler and Justin at their living room windows. Apartment 4B was the only east-facing apartment on the building’s fourth (and top) floor. Justin had insisted on renting this apartment because he was an astronomy major and his telescope was of little use on any other floor.
Neither Tyler nor Justin acknowledged Bree as she entered. Both men were staring out their window as if hypnotized.
“Hey,” Bree said sharply.
“Hey, babe,” replied Tyler, still glued to the window.
Frowning, Bree marched to join him. She peered outside.
The young journalism major found herself staring down at the Zeta Pi Beta House. From Tyler’s and Justin’s windows, she had a birds-eye view of the whole mansion, plus the lawn.
And now, Bree gasped. About thirty of the Zeta Pi sorority sisters were on the green grass, stretched out on beach towels, tanning themselves. All were completely topless. Bree could see the oil gleam and shine on their sweaty skin.
“Oh fuck me!” Bree exclaimed.
One thing Bree had to admit: Every Zeta Pi’s had a great beach body. Zeta Pi was referred to as the “Cheerleaders’ Sorority” because, well, most of Beamont’s cheerleaders were under its roof. Bree could marvel at a sea of flat, toned tummies, long legs, shapely hips, muscular arms, and breasts of all sizes, all soaking in the Florida sun.
As Bree watched, three more Zeta Pi sisters exited the house. They wore bikinis and sunglasses and carried towels. One-by-one, the women laid down their towels, popped off their tops, and oiled up.
“Oh shit, man…” Justin said, marveling at the view.
Bree’s mind almost exploded. “So this is why you’ve been dodging me for a week?” she acosted Tyler, slapping him in the arm. “Because you’ve been getting a free titty show from the Zeta Pi’s? Jesus, Reilly was so right about you!”
“Aw, come off it,” groused her boyfriend. “Look, babe, I love hangin’ out with you, don’t get me wrong. But…”
He gestured to the lawn of partial nudity below.
“You’re such a romantic,” Bree deadpanned. “Honestly, Ty…”
As the last of the new Zeta Pi’s settled herself on her towel, Bree shook her head. “I always knew the Zeta’s were oversexed bitches, and full of themselves,” she remarked dryly. “But topless sunbathing? Wow. That’s just… really crass.”
She paused.
“Waitaminute,” Bree said slowly. “You didn’t want to hang with me last night, after the sun went down. The Zeta Pi’s weren’t sunbathing after sundown.” She eyed her boyfriend. “So why…?”
Justin chuckled. And Tyler’s expression now looked suspiciously guilty.
There were a pair of high-powered binoculars resting under the windowsill. And now that she looked, Bree saw that Justin’s telescope wasn’t pointed skyward… it was aimed at Zeta Pi House.
“Jesus, guys!” declared Bree. “You were peeping inside the Zeta Pi house?” She grabbed the binoculars.
“Bree, wait!” Tyler said, too late.
Bree went right up the glass, peering through the binocs. With these, she could see into the Zeta Pi bedrooms, plus the big party room down on the first floor…
The Zeta Pi party room contained about twenty beautiful young women, all wearing thong underwear… and nothing else. There was a blonde woman draped along the couch, reading a magazine. A brunette with a ponytail was braiding the hair of a sitting redhead; both women were practically naked. Two gorgeous African-American beauties were chatting and laughing on another sofa, apparently entirely comfortable with their barely-there attire. Four leggy, topless women were lounging on another sofa, watching a huge TV.
As Bree watched, two other young women in the living room approached one another and then kissed. They embraced and cupped breasts as their kiss deepened.
“Oh… my God…” exhaled Bree, stunned. For a full minute, her brain derailed, and she couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
“I know, I know!” snickered Justin. “Its so awesome, right?”
“Dude!” Tyler groaned.
“The Zeta Pi’s are… they’re a weird sex cult,” exclaimed Bree, peering into more windows. She spotted more of the cheerleader sisters, moving about the house, and not one of them was wearing a top. Two of the third-floor bedrooms contained entirely naked women, who were making out on their beds. “It’s a Goddamn sex cult!” Bree repeated in amazement.
“Its awesome,” Justin sighed happily, adjusting his telescope. “Its like a lezbo porn studio, right across the street.”
“Seriously!” agreed Bree. She rounded on Tyler. “Goddamn, how long has this been going on?”
“About a week,” Tyler admitted sheepishly. “At first, it was just a few of the Zeta Pi chicks, walking around with their boobies out. But then yesterday, they all started going nakey.”
“Maybe they’ll do a big orgy next,” Justin said hopefully.
“…a week?” Bree repeated in disbelief. “There’s no way a sex cult forms in one week. Or maybe…? Maybe they’re all high on ecstasy?”
The trio looked down upon the sunbathing beauties. Occasionally, a Zeta Pi would roll onto her side. She would wriggle out of her bikini bottom, rub a little suntan lotion on her round buttocks, then stretch out on her stomach.
“Have you guys told anybody else about this?” Bree wanted to know.
“Are you fucking kidding?” sneered Justin. “The minute I blabbed about this, it’d be all over campus.”
“Justin hasn’t left the apartment in five days,” Tyler said dryly.
“Gross,” was Bree’s opinion. “Okay, could anybody else know about this? What about people in the apartment below you guys?”
“Its vacant. Something about exposed asbestos.”
“Okay, okay, then…” Bree said, making calculations. Her mind began racing. “Jesus, you guys, this is a story. This is a major fucking news story, right here at Beamont.”
“You’re gonna write about this for the Beamont Higher Chronicle?” Tyler asked, referring to the university’s student paper.
“Yeah, I could,” mused Bree. “I have to submit articles for course credit. But…” She screwed up her beautiful face. “But what the hell am I saying? This… this could be a national news story.”
“Seriously?” Tyler asked, surprised.
“Oh yeah,” Bree said, getting excited. “Yeah, think about it! In one of America’s biggest party university, there’s a full-blown lesbian sex cult. And the it’s the freakin’ cheerleaders who are in the cult! Jesus, that’s TMZ level shit, fer sure. If I could land this story…”
“I’ll take picts,” Justin offered snidely. “Can we find a zoom lens?”
“Waitaminute, waitaminute, waitaminute, waitaminute…” Bree chattered on, beginning to pace. “Just reporting on all the nudity and weirdness wouldn’t be enough. Not for a proper news story. I’d need to know why the stupid Zeta Pi’s were going all sexaholic on each other. If I can’t tell the world why, pro reporters will swoop in, and they’ll trample the story.” Mumbling to herself, Bree added, “If I could crack this story… this could be my big chance…”
With a swift motion, Bree pulled out her phone, and placed a call. There were three rings, and the line picked up.
“Bree?” a young woman’s voice came from the phone’s speaker.
“Hey, Reilly?” Bree answered. “Listen, its me. Do we have anything on the Phi Delta schedule right now? Nothing’s going on, right?”
Reilly sounded distracted. “Um…” she said slowly.
On the other side of campus, Reilly tried her best to hold her smartphone to her ear with her shoulder. The beautiful young sophomore had climbed almost to the very top of the telephone pole just outside the Phi Delta house. Her backpack was slung over both her narrow shoulders, and her brand new, industrial-grade, multipronged, fifty-foot extension cord hung at her hip like a lasso, held in place by a wide Velcro tie. And above Reilly’s head, the distribution transformer, a large, humming, trash-can-sized machine, hummed quietly.
Reilly swallowed, trying not to look down. The pole was a lot taller than it seemed from the ground.
On the phone, Bree repeated her question: “There’s nothing on the Phi Delta schedule, right?”
Reilly used her free hand to brush a long strand of hair out of her eyes. “Uh, no. Not really. I mean, Sydney’s House Vote on AHSH is happening next week, but that’s all.”
“Sydney, ugh,” Bree groused. “I don’t know why the high and mighty Princess of Phi Delta Sigma is bothering with this AHSH bullshit. The sisters are never ever ever ever ever gonna throw themselves into getting onto that dumb show.”
“Well, maybe,” Reilly said vaguely. The phone nearly slipped from her ear. “Look, Bree, I’m, like, a little busy, okay? We’ll talk tonight?”
“That’s why I’m calling you. Look, since there’s nothing going on at Phi Delta right now, I’m gonna crash with Tyler for a few days.”
Reilly frowned. “Really? Why?”
“Well, I haven’t seen him in a while… and we… you know…”
“Uhhhhh-huh,” said Reilly. Bree was sounding uncharacteristically evasive; that wasn’t like her.
“Reils, where are you?” Bree suddenly asked. “Why do I hear so much wind?”
The phone nearly slipped again. “Shit, Bree, can I call you back?” Reilly asked, wincing.
“No, girl, I’ll just see you in a few. I’m gonna zip back to Phi Delta House to pack an overnight bag.”
“’Kay, fine,” Reilly responded, and quickly hung up.
From up on the telephone pole, she was beginning to attract the curious stares of passing students. She needed to get to work.
The distribution transformer, a much larger machine than Reilly had imagined, was directly above her. Using one arm to anchor herself onto the pole, Reilly unslung her backpack and quickly popped her phone into an outer pocket. Then she unzipped the bag’s main compartment, drew out of pair of rubber dishwashing gloves, and carefully put them on.
“Jesus Christ, be careful, girl!” Cici Owens yelled from below. Cici stood at the base of the pole, in case Reilly needed help, or dropped anything.
Reilly momentarily ignored her sorority sister. She squinted up at the transformer, spotting the lower access panel. According to her Internet research…
There! A simple yank on the panel latch, and the panel popped open. The transformer’s exposed circuitry stared back at her.
Working carefully, Reilly threaded the head of her thick extension cable through the access portal. Just as the schematics promised, the transformer had an available aux power outlet, down on the lower left side of the primary motherboard. Reilly plugged in her cable, which locked into place with a satisfying click!
Pleased, the sophomore closed up the transformer. “Watch out!” she yelled down at Cici, then released the rest of her extension cable. The thick, black cord dropped to the ground, dangling from the transformer like a vine hanging from a tree.
Wasting no time, Reilly scurried down the pole’s ladder rungs. Cici gave her an impressed I-can’t-believe-you-did-that look.
“Like, all set?” Cici asked.
“Totally,” smiled Reilly.
“Awesome,” said Cici. “That’s totally awesome.” She looked at the rest of the extension cable, which had piled up at her feet. “So what now?”
“We totally run our cable along those power cords,” Reilly replied, pointing to the thick, black cables that connected the telephone pole and Phi Delta House. “Like, our cable and those cords will look all official and everything. Then we run the rest of our cable up to the Baxter Room, plug it into Bruce’s generator, and… we’re done!.”
“Cool,” Cici grinned.
“Totally cool,” agreed Reilly.
Completely in sync, the two women got to work.
By the time Bree had returned to Phi Delta House, Reilly and Cici were finished working. Bree found both two sorority sisters in her bedroom, relaxing and sweating before the open bedroom window. Reilly and Cici each held a glass of ice water in their hands.
“Oh, hey guys…” Bree said, looking curiously at her sisters. “You, uh, been working out, or something…?” The journalism student grabbed her own backpack and emptied its contents onto her unmade bed.
“Working out? No, not really,” replied Reilly.
“But that’s totally not a bad idea,” Cici said thoughtfully. “Reils, we should work out more.”
“We totally should,” agreed Reilly.
“Totally,” nodded Cici.
Both women drank at the same time.
Bree paused, eyeing Reilly and Cici. “What’s up with you guys?” she asked curiously. “You sharing a brain, or something?”
“Great minds think alike,” Reilly said casually.
“Totally,” seconded Cici.
“Ugh, you freaks sound like Sydney,” muttered Bree. She began shoveling clothes from her dresser into the backpack. “Hey, listen, Reils… do we know anyone in Zeta Pi Beta?”
“Zeta Pi Beta?” scowled Cici. “Like, yeech.”
But Reilly was thinking carefully. “Well, there’s… Hmm. Oh, I know! Michelle, Michelle Jaworowski. Remember her? She was in our English Lit class, first semester.”
Bree thought back. “Oh yeah… She was the really pretty blonde who was way too skinny and had all those ear piercings? I remember her.” Grudgingly, Bree admitted, “I liked her. She was really nice. Makes you wonder how she wound up in Zeta Pi.”
“She’s a cheerleader,” pointed out Reilly.
“Yeah, okay, whatever…” Bree said, cramming a few last bras into her backpack. “What else am I forgetting…? Toothbrush…?”
“Your meds,” Reilly said sharply. “Bree, don’t forget your meds.”
“Oh, shit, you’re right!” exclaimed Bree. “Jeez, Reils, what would I do without you?”
The beautiful young journalism student located the small vial of her OCD medication. She was nearly out.
“You’ll need to refill soon, Bree,” Reilly observed. “Why not hang with us for dinner, and get your refill in the morning? Otherwise, you’ll probably forget.”
“No, no, I gotta get back to Ty,” snapped Bree. “That idiot… never mind.”
“Maybe we should introduce Bree to Bruce?” Cici proposed.
“Hmm,” considered Reilly.
“We should, like, totally do it,” Cici insisted.
Reilly’s face went blank for a moment. “Okay…” she agreed slowly. “Okay, totally.”
But Bree was too absorbed in taming her overstuffed backpack to notice. “Girls, I already have a boyfriend,” she grunted, struggling with the bag’s zipper. “True, Ty’s a bit of a slob… and I wish his roommate wasn’t so creepy… but Ty’s basically a good guy… there!” The bag was shut. “Oh, fuck, my phone charger! Where’s my charger?”
“Meeting Bruce will totally just take a moment…” Cici coaxed.
But Bree snatched her charger and was already hurrying out the door. “Later, chicks! Don’t trash the room too much while I’m out, ’kay?”
And then she was gone.
Cici stared after Bree. “We totally should have insisted,” she said to Reilly.
“Totally,” Reilly found herself agreeing. “But Bree will be back.”
“Yeah, Bree will be back,” echoed Cici. “Hmm. Later, then.”
Both women drank again, at the exact same time.
Bree lost no time. Using the investigative skills she’d learned in class, she began detailed surveillance of the Zeta Pi House. And because they were glued to the windows anyway, Bree put Tyler and Justin to work, giving them simpler tasks. Job One was identifying all of the Zeta Pi’s by name.
“Man, there’s a lot of serious hotness in this sorority,” Justin commented as he scrolled through the Zeta Pi Beta roster webpage. “Any chick you’re particularity interested in?”
“Yeah,” Bree told him. “Be on the lookout for a skinny blonde named Michelle Jaworowski, okay?”
Justin studied Michelle’s website photo. “She hot,” was his only remark.
Bree rolled her eyes.
“Just remember,” she reminded the boys, “we’ve gotta learn why the Zeta Pi’s are going nudie. There’s a reason. We’ve gotta find it.”
“…’kay,” Tyler said absently, aiming the telescope at another bedroom window.
And then Bree, Tyler, and Justin took up their positions at the apartment windows. The stakeout began.