Oath

"Shall we proceed with the oath-taking then?" Jimmy spoke out while looking at our refreshed faces.

"What is this…'oath-taking' you two have been talking about anyway?" I said with a stupid grin on my face in embarrassment to show my utter ignorance.

"Hmm…Well, it's really just a formality ceremony. If you want, we don't even need to do it, and we would just say that you have done the oath-taking here." Jimmy said with an equally stupid chuckle. "It's not like people will get mad at you for doing something that everybody hasn't even remembered anymore."

I then raised one of my eyebrows with a silly grin. "Is it that unimpressive that all members just decided to boycott it out of their heads?" I then laughed heartily, but my happy tone gradually faded when I saw the shocked faces painted all over Nicole and Jimmy's faces. "Hey… You guys, you do realize that I'm just joking, right?" I then shrugged with a chuckle to lighten up the mood further. "You guys look so stupid right now, stop it."

"Oh," Jimmy said with a chuckle; Nicole did the same after hearing what I had just said. I then sighed after seeing their now relieved faces, still not understanding why they had panicked. Jimmy then continued, "Well, I guess we're just both not very good at jokes." Jimmy said while clutching his hands tightly with a bead of sweat rushing from his scalp.

"I can tell." I then stood up with both my hands on my waist. "So, when are we gonna do this oath-taking thing? If everyone did it, I might as well do it for fairness' sake!"

"I see." Jimmy chuckled while holding a book on his left hand, extending it towards me while his right hand was raised to the level of his head. "This book is the Plural Heights manifesto that the Mother has granted to all of us for free. Before we begin, please place your left hand on top of the Mother's manifesto and raise your right hand straight."

I carefully followed Jimmy's instructions, and somehow, I could faintly feel a strange power resonating from within this thick book like it's giving my soul further power just like what Veronica would repeatedly say. I could faintly hear her voice as I placed my hand on the book as if my soul was screaming the words she would often tell.

"Now, repeat after me, I, please say your name," Jimmy spoke with that familiar gentle tone.

I did what he had instructed and uttered my name with much conviction as an unforeseen aura creeps from the veins on my palm into the rest of my body like one of that chi or chakra shit that eastern philosophers would speak of religiously.

"… do solemnly swear to devout my life in servitude to the Plural Heights family."

I happily repeated what Jimmy had said as I felt Nicole's hands traveling all over my chest from the back.

"I intend to uphold the Plural Heights' mission, vision, and values in the best of my abilities under the loving eyes of my Mother."

I felt my body being filled with much vigor as I continued to repeat every single syllable that Jimmy utters. For some reason, I haven't made any mistakes yet, although I was expecting not to be able to follow through Jimmy's pace.

"I would willingly commit myself to the Plural Heights' reasonable orders and chores according to my Mother's very wishes to further improve my spiritual vehement."

This time, what Jimmy said was longer than what I would have necessarily expected from this sort of 'repeat after me' kind of activities, which made me almost think that I would most definitely fail to utter every word of it. However, when I finally opened my mouth to speak the words which he wishes me to say, I found myself managing to repeat everything that he had just without fail like it has been long programmed in my head before this very moment.

"Lastly, I will henceforth call the woman named Veronica as Mother with or without her knowledge."

Oddly enough, what I actually almost failed to repeat are these words, for I almost stuttered while saying them. Needless to say, I still manage to pull myself together and utter them without much hesitation.

"… or so help me Mother. Faraqha, sharvhaza, dheze!" Jimmy finally spoke with a proud heave.

"… or so help me Mother. Faraqha, sharvhaza, dheze!" I repeated almost chuckling after realizing how silly this entire thing had been so far.

All three of us just laughed it off once I uttered those final words. Nicole was still hugging me on my back, making me squirm beneath my breath as I gradually started feeling her boobs bounce in all random directions around my back. I heaved a relaxed sigh with an equally calm and stupid look on my face before I saw Jimmy handing the book he was holding earlier. He then told me that it was mine now, and I am to read at least a chapter of it every week for further social points among the Plural Heights. However, Jimmy further reiterated that I am not obligated to read the book if it was not to my liking.

He then handed me a one-page contract on a long Oslo paper. Jimmy said that it's just another way to establish my membership in the Plural Heights formally. He also encouraged me to read the entire thing, but he also reminded me that everything that's written there is something that I already know. I just shrugged lazily after hearing him say that and simply signed everything that I have to sign in the contract and handed it to Jimmy equally as nonchalantly. If I already know everything written there, then I'm fairly certain that I don't need to read all of it. It's like one of those Terms and Services thingies!

After doing so, Jimmy placed my contract on a brown envelope on the side and gave me a piece of paper. "That contains your first chore as an official member."

"Errand?" I said with a confused look on my face with a dumb-founded chuckle.

"Oh? You don't know what errands are, baby?" Nicole replied with her usual gentle tone. "Well, it's no big deal, really. It's pretty much our only way to pay for our membership to the group. It's just a bunch of mundane stuff, so you don't need to think too much about it."

"Ahh… Well, I don't mind doing it for the group since they will be taking care of our child in the future for us." I said while caressing Nicole's stomach. When she saw me doing this, Nicole touched my hands and moved them along with me.

We then bid farewell Jimmy with a polite bow. When we finally left the Clockwork shop, I read my 'first errand' and saw that it was just asking me to do volunteer work in a nearby Plural Heights nursing home. Oh, so there's even an affiliated nursing home for this place. I don't mind helping out there at all. It says in the piece of paper that I have to help out for at least three days before this month ends. I don't mind that at all.

Before we could even leave the mall itself, I saw the familiar figure of the drunkard who had bothered both of us earlier in Clockwork. Right now, he's just gazing blankly at the ceiling of the mall with a pair of dead eyes. I stared at him with a grimace as I pulled Nicole away from him. However, the man didn't even notice us. He was just looking above him with a stupidly blank expression while uttering something, but his voice was so low that I could barely hear him say anything.

"… mother knows best…" I heard him whispering those familiar words repeatedly before I could leave the mall with Nicole. I quickly looked back at him as I felt my heart skip a beat.

"What's the matter?" Nicole worriedly whispered while looking up at my face with a weak frown on her face.

"No, nothing, I guess I'm just seeing things," I said with a reassuring smile as I headed out of the mall with my arms wrapped around Nicole's waist.

I then walked away from the mall with a newfound respect to this grease-filled building as my eyes gradually reflected the satisfaction I was feeling in my chest.  

***

"He didn't read the contract, huh?" Jimmy uttered while looking at the piece of paper on his hand. His eyes started to shake as he gazed at the signature at the bottom of the paper.

He then read the contract carefully as he had always done every year for the past few years…

THIS AGREEMENT made on the day ## day of ### in the year two thousand and ###.

BY AND BETWEEN: Veronica #### of Plural Heights Co. Ltd.

Hereinafter called the "Mother"

AND

###### ######

Hereinafter called the "Member"

WITNESSETH: that the Mother and Member undertake and agree as follows:

Article A THE MEMBERSHIP

The Member shall:

(a) Call the leader of the Plural Heights Premium Group as "Mother" unconditionally with or without the Mother's consent, agreement, order, or presence.

(b) May optionally call other Plural Heights Premium Group Members as "Brother" or "Sister" depending on the fellow Members' preference.

(c) Perform all monthly chores dutifully and unconditionally without the need for a reminder from the Mother or other fellow Plural Heights Premium Group members.

(d) Obey anything and everything that the Mother would say no matter how insignificant or important that order might be to the Member. (The nature of the said order will vary depending on Mother's wishes at the time the order was implemented. The Mother's order may vary from removing other people the Member may personally know out of their lives or forbidding them to utter a word, name, or figures.)

Article B FAILURE OF COMPLIANCE

If the Member failed to comply with Article A, the Mother would be obligated to:

(a) Remove the Member from Plural Heights Premium Group temporarily or permanently depending on the gravity of the Member's failure.

(b) Kill the Member.

SIGNATURES AND DATE

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Mother has caused this membership to be executed by its duly authorized officers, and the Member has set his hand as of the date first above written.

SIGNED by:

James Rodgers

Vice President of Plural Heights Premium Group

###### ######

Member