Hyperfixation Station

The only reason she specifies heterosexual men is because she 1) wants to avoid potential distractions and 2) heterosexual men will give her the larger applicant pool. If heterosexual women was the larger applicant pool, it would have been them etc etc. She’s not a misogynist, she’s practical and therefore made the logical choice that would give the mission the absolute highest chance of success.

Eva even says that if he wants women to be the more logical choice, Grace should encourage his female students to go into STEM. Are those the words of a misogynist? She doesn’t say women are weaker or incapable.

If there were more women in STEM than men, that would have been her choice. Simple as that.

"DuBois," a snicker escaped her and Stratt geared herself up for more uncontrollable laughter, but Ilyukhina wrestled it back under control before it could get out of hand again, "thinks you and Grace are, and these are exact words, 'engaged in sexual congress'. Apparently, Grace was little too adamant when trying to dispel rumors about us and started new rumor."

Well then. Stratt blinked. That was new. Her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out how anyone could come to that conclusion. It was true that she and Grace were frequently together, but it was as Ilyukhina said. Grace was the unofficial second-in-command. She needed him around for a variety of reasons, the most important of which was understanding the science. Other than herself, he knew the most about the project. It was a necessary redundancy, in case anything happened to her, there was someone to take over. Stratt was so distracted that she almost missed what Ilyukhina said next.

"And I just…encouraged it," Ilyukhina said with a shrug and an impish grin.

Stratt stopped. She stopped moving. Stopped breathing. Stopped blinking. "You," she choked out, "what?"

"Grace was very clear, you are not sleeping together," Ilyukhina said, letting her arms fall out to her sides so that she was laying back and staring at the ceiling. "Very emphatic, I would have been offended." She hefted her upper body back onto her elbows to look at Eva again. "I told him maybe he should, you are uptight, would be good."

A high, strained sound rang through the room before Eva managed to contain it. "Olesya."

Ilyukhina sat all the way up, her eyes fixed on Stratt. "You are not happy?"

Stratt let her head fall into her hands before running them over her hair and looking down at Olesya, who had shifted to sit cross-legged at her feet. "Ilyukhina," the other woman's smile turned into a pout, "you told my second-in-command, a man no less, to have sex with me as a relaxation exercise," Stratt said, enunciating each word with precision.