Alejandra Throws the Challenge
The New World of SwapTech
chapter 14
by
deleted_user
Alejandra opened her fingers.
The sandbag hit the swamp with a thunk that echoed across the clearing. She stumbled off the pedestal, neon nails trembling, and didn’t look at Javi.
Svetlana stood alone, platinum hair dripping, arms still overhead. Ice-blue eyes blazed. She rang the bell with her foot.
“Winner,” Sienna purred from the platform. “Svetlana. To the Machine.”
The villa’s west wing was all velvet and shadows. Svetlana poured vodka into crystal, not offering any to Alejandra. “You dropped fast,” she said, sharp as a skate blade. “Scared?”
“Strategic,” Alejandra lied, wiping sweat from her olive skin. “I’m tired. You’re ruthless. Bad combo for me.”
“Mm.” Svetlana sipped. “So. We pick.”
“Reverse Charlie and Polly,” Alejandra said fast, pacing on bright tiles. “Put them back. Symmetry. Clean narrative.”
“Boring,” Svetlana spat. “They’re weak. Used. Used bodies have no leverage.”
“Fine. Bruce and Zelda.” Alejandra threw her arms up, defined abs flexing. “He’s peak physical specimen, she’s a stick. Opposites. Drama.”
“No Bruce.” Svetlana set the glass down, click. “He wins challenges. I don’t poke bears unless I’m holding a gun. Next.”
“Ken and—”
“No Ken.” Svetlana’s eyes flashed. “He’s the only one who didn’t vote Walt. Loyalty is currency. I spend it carefully.” She stepped closer, 5’9” towering over the gymnast. “You’re hiding something. You protect them. Javi. Magnus. The little doctor. The librarian.”
Alejandra’s curls bounced as she shook her head. “I barely know them—”
“Lie.” Svetlana smiled, frigid. “I see how Javi looks at you. How Magnus gives you his handkerchief like you’re a Victorian orphan. You’re a pack. A bloc.” She circled. “So here is compromise. I take one of your wolves. You pick which. Or I pick two, and you join them in the pods.”
Alejandra’s fists clenched. Neon nails dug palms.
“Ruth,” Alejandra tried. “She’s small. She won’t—”
“Ruth is smart,” Svetlana cut in. “Smart is dangerous. Try again.”
“Laurel. She’s quiet. No threat to you.”
“Quiet is patient. Patient is poisonous.” Svetlana stopped. “Magnus. Or Javi. Viking or Cowboy. Pick.”
Alejandra’s jaw ached. She thought of Magnus’s gentle hands, his destiny talk. She thought of Javi’s possessive stare, his “ma’am.”
“Magnus,” Alejandra said, the word ash. “He’s… big. He can handle displacement.”
Svetlana nodded slowly. “Good. But I want contrast. Not just size. Archetype.” She tapped her chin. “Zelda.”
“The skeleton?” Alejanda blinked. “She’s nothing like him.”
“Exactly.” Svetlana’s smile showed teeth. “The romantic Viking trapped in the phone-addicted waif. The content creator trapped in the hairy bear who hates cameras. Poetry. Chaos. And—” she leaned in, “—she’s not one of yours. I checked.”
Alejandra stared at the floor. She saw Magnus’s rune tattoos, his dinner-plate hands. She saw Zelda’s curtain bangs, her 6’1” frame like a rail.
“Do it,” Alejandra whispered. “Magnus and Zelda.”
Svetlana raised her glass. “To beautiful mistakes.”
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January 29
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