It took a few minutes for Wendel to shake himself out of the frenzy Gia had worked him into. Of course he had hired her, as much for her self-defense training as for her other talents. In fact, he considered starting her employment right in the interview, letting her follow through on her threat. However, it would be hasty, and Rashja was still at a premium. He massaged his fingers, still store from when she twisted the gun free, and checked his wrist, slightly abraded where the plastic tie had cuffed his hand. Hardly noticable. When he felt composed, he picked the next folder off the stack of applicants. 

Immediatly after opening the folder, he pushed the button on his intercom. "Jane, please come in here. Now." She was staging applications far down the hall, so it took a minute for her to arrive. The distance was a precaution he felt would give him some additional privacy for the interviews. Something it turned out was much needed. When she finally entered, she had a silly smirk that telegraphed she knew exactly why she was being called in. He tossed the folder across the desk towards her. "What's the meaning of this?" The application in the folder was one Jane had submitted for herself. 

It's not that he hadn't considered having his assistant join the Protectorate. In some ways, it would be quite convenient. She wasn't anywhere near as attractive as the sexy girls who had flowed through the door today. She was merely pretty, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the Rashja infusion process. Judy was part of Wendel's real-world, the business world, the world where you didn't bed your assistant, at least not as part of her job description. He previously decided he'd offer it to only once they had found another method to deliver the Rashja. 

"Mr. Varden. Is it really so surprising? Since I took this job, I've been flown around the world on your private jets, attended dinners with royalty as your attache, and seen things I never knew existed -- all just as you promised. It's been truly amazing." She sat, pausing. "At the same time, I've become desensitized to it all. I've learned to expect the un-expected. I watch you buy and sell multi-million dollar companies like it's a game of chess, and multi-million dollar houses like they are matchbox cars. When you asked for two women matching a very precise, and suggestive, list of specifications, I assumed what anyone would. I think you tried to tell me what was coming, but I didn't believe you. Until I saw them. Transformed.

"At first i was simply shocked. Then all I could think was, why didn't I walk through those doors that day? Why wasn't it me? When you asked me to find more candidates, I realized this was my chance. Is it really so surprising that I'd want what they have? Please Mr. Varden. Interview me. Reject me if you have to, but I want a shot at it. I want.." Wendel held up his hand cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Judy. Please understand, this is a very specific job with a very specific set of requirements, some of which can be quite, demanding." He picked up the file, and flipped a few pages. He looked at the sexual background section, and noted her very 'normal' answers. Several past monogamous partners. No current boyfriend. Her take on sex in the workplace, "a bad personal decision, a bad career move, or both." He shook his head. "Judy. It's not that I don't want you in the Protectorate. I do. It's just, not time." He lamented saying it. 

Her head dropped ever so slightly, showing her disappointment. "I was hoping for an interview. Just to be treated like everyone else, but I can see you've made up your mind." Wendel felt a tinge of an uncommon emotion, was it guilt? Judy had been his right hand for years now. She knew every detail, every dirty secret in his life, and she handled them all with decorum. How could he not be straight with her about this? 

"Judy, I'm going to be entirely straight with you. I can see you want to be involved, but at what cost? How far are you willing to go? It is not merely a job, it's a lifestyle. The Protectorate requires total commitment of your mind and body." Even trying to be straight he found himself falling short of anything that would sound like court-worthy sexual harassment. Her expression merely peaked up with curiosity. "The transformation, the sernasa we call it, is caused by a substance called the Rashja. The only effective dosing mechanism we have today, the ONLY mechanism that works, is sex." He paused, staring stoicly at her to gague her reaction. Her expression shifted from curiosity to surprise, then shock, as her jaw slowly fell open. He let the seriousness of what he was saying set in for another moment.

"I am dead serious. This is not a ploy. This is the reason for my peculiar recruiting requirements. The women you've seen transformed received the Rashja through intimate contact. Sex. We hope to someday find another transfer mechanism. Right now, this is what we have. Do you want it that badly? If not, you need to turn around and walk right out that door." He didn't expect her retreat to take long.

Even in a world where Jane thought she had seen and heard just about everything, Wendel's world, this was hard to process. As her mind spun over the facts, trying to make sense of it all, her head involuntarily cocked to the side. The whole situation was too shocking to quickly comprehend. First she had seen women somehow transformed into towering goddesses, nine-feet-tall, maybe more. Now she was being told the transformation was triggered by sex? Despite having seen them with her own eyes, the entire situation seemed like an elaborate hoax. She had even started to doubt what she had seen, now on more than one occasion. None of which answered his question. If that's what it took, if she had to have sex to be transformed, would she? She looked back at Wendel and provided the most honest answer she could, spoken in the form of a question, "I don't know?"

Wendel expected her to be gone by now, instead after her response she was sitting, puzzling. Had he under-estimated her? Or was it simply his own view that this situation was so perverted and ridiculous, no reasonable person would accept it. "Well Judy, it sounds like you have some things to think about. There is no need to make a decision right now. As for the interview, it's over. You are welcome to join the Protectorate whenever you choose. Do you have any other questions right now, or should we get back to our interview schedule?"

Judy felt both excited and confused at his offer. She had a zillion questions. How was this possible? How did he find it? What does it feel like? How long does it take? Does it last forever? Each question individually seemed so petty. Then she realized what would get rid of her doubts. "Just one question. Can I see it?" She sat up in her seat, her body language showing her interest. "Can I see it happen before I decide?"