The Cosmos, The Arrivals, Book 1, Chapter 3, Babs Anticipates Tiffany, Robyn & Steph: Roommates, Day 1, Section 1, Babs: Bedroom Roommate Tiffany also Old Steph & Robyn. ¶ A steep and angular stairway adjacent to the Back Door alcove makes two sharp left turns as Babs ascends from the Kitchen to the second floor; it’s a counterclockwise upward spiral that is the only way for Cosmos to get to and from their windowless accommodations upstairs. At the top, the stairway terminates in a hallway that runs the width of the back of the Cosmos House. ¶ Directly ahead, across the hallway, Babs walks through a doorway into her assigned Bedroom, a windowless compartment slightly bigger than a Pullman roomette. BB comes into the room delicately—as much as a barefoot Bikini Babe can be delicate. She tamps down residual unease as she crosses the threshold into a chamber she wasn’t allowed to enter last Term. Her eyes scan the room, and she silently considers. {This was Steph’s room last Term, when she was a Monitor and I was a newbie Pledge.} ¶ BB looks to the bed bunk to her right, and speaks out loud, “Except you’re {my} bunk now!” ¶ She leans over, looks at the alcove underneath her bunk bed, and fits her mind around its last occupant. {Steph’s Roommate Robyn slept down in there last Term.} ¶ Babs fits her hips into the space between the bunks and a desk that faces the door. {Last Term I might have looked in and seen the desk and bunks, but I’ve never really been inside the Bedroom before.} ¶ BB passes her body around to the back of the desk and looks back out the doorway. The Bedroom is a tight fit, even for a Bikini Babe. BB looks left and right, out the door, then overcomes her awkwardness, sits on the only chair behind the desk, and digests her new home. ¶ Boss Babe tosses her hair back, straightens her shoulders, waves her hands, and exorcises the spirit of Steph Sorostitute out of the Bedroom. “Be gone, Steph Sorostitute! So much for history. This Bedroom no longer belongs to you. It belongs to….” ¶ ¶ ¶ BB blinks. {Steph is not entirely gone from the Cosmos House.} ¶ Bikini Babe grabs the front of her bra straps with thumbs and fingers and hikes. She turns and looks at the bunk bed, running the length of the wall to her left, with an open space above. ¶ Boss Babe knows who shall now sle.ep on the top bunk: “Me!” She casts her eyes downward and looks at the lower alcove. “Last Term Robyn lived there. And it’s as long and wide as my bunk on the top, only at floor level, with only a couple feet headroom.” ¶ {I don’t know if Robyn is entirely gone or not. I know I am avoiding the question, but wherever Robyn might be sle.eping this Term, she will not be crawling into this luxurious sle.eping accommodation. Because I know who will be.} Boss Babe stands up, fits her palms into the bare skin above her pubic bone, and considers the lower bunk. {Well. According to the Manifest—and I did memorize it completely—a Pledge Tiffany shall be my Roommate this Term.} BB eyes the lower bunk and concludes the obvious, “So Tiffany will sle.ep under there!” ¶ Images of Tiffany Porn Star Calendar dance through Babs’ head. Just before she came upstairs BB had snuck a look at a different Kitchen Calendar month, and she recoiled at a close-up of Tiffany’s face surrounded by cocks, her open mouth overflowing with ejaculate. {I couldn’t determine if Tiffany was being degraded or conquering,} Babs analyzes, {but I have to admit, I respect self-discipline.} ¶ Babs sits. She draws her thighs together and squares her jaw and chest. She ruminates, {When I memorized the Manifest it said, “Tiffany, two Garments.” And I assumed a broken Monitor arriving.} ¶ Opting Down. ¶ {But the Manifest doesn’t indicate directionality or if Garments are adding on or wasting away.} ¶ “What if Tiffany really is Tiffany Calendar Porn Star? And a Double Opt Up?” ¶ Babs lifts both hands, cups both breasts, and shakes so that her bra fits best. She twitches her head and one eye. She looks out the doorway, across the hallway, and into the top of the stairway. Nothing there. Babs rests her elbows on the desk and her chin on her elbows and munches her thoughts. {Maybe the Manifest and the Calendar are just coincidence? Because why would this Tiffany Porn Star receive a double promotion—from Whore to Stripper to Pledge? That’s two ranks—and two pieces of clothing! How could any Whore obtain so much rising momentum?} ¶ BB sits back, crosses her arms in front of her, and worries out loud, “And be my Roommate this Term?”