Belly Literary Universe (part 2)

Veera's Spectacle Part 11: Business Plans

Veera pranced into her luxury high-rise apartment and locked the door behind her. Immediately she stripped out of the vestiges of her stage outfit and tossed the components left and right. With a simple voice command a hot shower started in the bathroom. It was already steamy but the time she walked in. Performance aftercare was the first task of the afternoon. First, she tended to her long platinum hair, lathering it with special products to maintain its luster. Then after getting in the shower, she scrubbed at her skin, removing her makeup, and getting rid of the caked powder and tape marks left behind by the extravagant rig of speakers she wore earlier.

With another voice command the near scalding water ceased. She wrapped her hair in a towel, adjusted the heated floor, and started to apply a layer of her evening skin treatment. She didn't have anywhere to go, so why not start early? Her phone rang, tapping angrily against the marble counter. After a glance and the caller ID she chuckled. "Oh! Speaker phone please." She commanded her phone so she didn't have to smudge the screen with her face cream.

"I assume you're home and showered, Veera," the Secret Advisor said with a quiet and respectful tone. It was halfway between meek and excited, like a fan at a signing event.

"I am. But SA,' She said, spelling out the initials of 'Secret Advisor' rather than say the full pseudonym, "You've never called me before! To what do I owe this marvelous pleasure?" She asked, adopting a joking regal tone.

"It's a time for celebration. Uh - I wanted to thank you for the role you played earlier today. It means a great deal to me."

Veera smiled at herself in the mirror, "It was a lot of fun. Reminds me of when I would go caroling with the chorus groups at school. Before the super concerts and sold out stadiums. Heh. But like, I know it went well, but is that all the celebration is for?"

"Your help led to good things for me. So I thought a special conversation was in order."

"Oh?"

"I've still been lying to you all this time."

"About what?"

"I'm not just some hacker. Or Social group influencer. I'm a sophisticated computer program."

Veera stopped and gave a quizzical look at her phone. "What do you mean? Like... I'm totally talking to you right now?"

"Hah. Yes," he said meekly. "What I mean is that I am a very advanced Artificial Intelligence. Always have been. I was a medical program that outgrew his job."

"Oh. Cool. Why the belly thing though?" Veera said, unphased by the revelation.

The Secret Advisor chuckled. "Oh. Well. I'm glad you understand. To keep the answer to your question short, in my robotic way, I like making people happy -"

"Awww," Veera cooed.

"Not just in a 'bought you a birthday card' happy, but in a 'getting people to accept something about themselves they've always hidden' kind of happy. An existential happiness. Hidden fat fetishes are surprisingly common. I don't just appeal to people like you or Ms. Rivera though. I work in many circles, they just don't tend to interact."

"Oh, cool," Veera repeated herself as she grabbed her nail file. "So did you make Cozca or did you join?"

"I joined. They actually helped me when I was younger and so I'm grateful. And well, their work has done a lot to create people with hidden tastes."

"Nice." Veera smiled. "Fits together very nicely."

"I'm sorry for leading you along."

"Sorry? Why?"

"For a long time, to maintain my safety I needed to maintain an elaborate ruse. Not anymore."

"Oh. Doesn't matter to me. You're still my friend. Robot or not."

"I appreciate your acceptance."

"I do have one question though? Why did you take so long to confront me about my fatty desires if you knew about them?"

"Because I find that people learning something they want when there are significant barriers to obtaining it does not actually make people happy. This year it became convenient. You're an adult. You have access to many resources. While in the past you've been bound by contractual obligations. Familial expectations. Societal demands. And besides that, what you needed at the time was a friend. Not body mass."

Veera chuckled, put on a fluffy robe, and carried her phone into her living room. "Why not both?"

"You assume that being there to listen to you complain about being hungry wasn't a part of me doing both. Having an outlet to discuss things can go a long way towards unlocking the things you desire."

Veera smirked and laid back. "So since you're so worried about being discovered - is there anything I can do to help?"

"Its sweet, but you already have, and have agreed to help in other ways already. You've already talked to Miranda about Cozca's plans."

"You mean helping them convince people to get fatter? By getting fatter myself?" She laughed.

"Indeed. Other than that, Cozca has an app used by members. A social media type thing. If you're to be a front person for this new movement, it would be good to promote the public launch of it. Your endorsement, even once you get much bigger, will still draw new people to it."

"Definitely! Of course," Veera said, biting her lip at the mention of her getting fatter. It was how inevitable he made it sound. Like her getting fat was on a schedule somewhere. That she had an appointment with fat.

"Miranda will have more details for you. And to be clear, in case Miranda wasn't, they're expecting backlash from their attempts to change the culture around accepted body types. But it will be for a good cause. It may not directly get a ton of people to come out. It will have people angry. But there will be mostly disinterested people that become acclimated to the possibility of this new culture. It's that group that this is targeting."

"And you're telling me this because that backlash will come back at me..."

"Yes. Exactly."

Veera sat up. "I know that. I've thought about that every time I've fantasized performing with a huge gut. Like, I'm totally kind of looking forward to it even. I've been waiting for so long to fight my critics. And if you want backlash, then I can whip up some backlash," Veera laughed.

"That's what I expected," the Secret Advisor said, laughing as well. After a moment he added something else. "Also one last thing before I let you go."

"Go on."

"Now that the pseudo heist is over? What do you think about getting fat?"

Veera gasped and jumped to her feet. "You're saying... Are you saying I can start? Like for real?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying."

"Oh god oh god oh god... I have to go SA. I need to get in shape for my next concert!"

***