[Content Warning: Contains sexual and other mature themes]96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCNZvbQGgW
96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgh1TFHAJvO
I’m Buying for the first time today. It doesn’t hurt, or so I’m told.
You shouldn’t blame me. I held out for nearly twenty years. But eventually even an interesting life becomes routine. Evidently it hasn’t been interesting enough.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNNazp9aVb
I can’t help being nervous on the walk over. I’d Sold before, but I have no idea what to expect from Buying.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcQRI6zVlh
The prospective Seller waits for me at the coffee shop near the waterfront. She’s wearing a suave, form-fitting blue dress that compliments her gold earrings and necklace. She greets me with a smile full of perfect, glistening teeth set into a perfect face when I approach. If she’s had plastic surgery then it’s too good to discern.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacjRbuhpDn
“Good morning darling,” she says, giving a small, fluid wave of her fingers as I sit down. “You must be…”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhq5EBIr0ZC
“Aaron,” I offer.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iAcgbcYjP
“Aaron,” she repeats, still smiling. “Of course! Pleasure to meet you, Aaron.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44eTl1K6Ek
We shake hands. She doesn’t give me her name. She doesn’t have to.
She asks, “Have you done this before, Aaron?”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaqf4yONca
I shake my head and take a nervous breath. “First time. As a Buyer, at least.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADWN4BDuob
“Your first time Buying! And at twenty years old? You must be quite the intrepid soul!”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVBxDwjvC1
I shrug. “I was popular in high school. My parents had a big house—plenty of room for parties.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXse8PaBob
“And you clearly work out.” She runs her eyes over my frame. It’s not as muscular as it used to be. The compliment was probably insubstantial but a rush of endorphins drowns my judgement regardless. It’s been so long since someone last looked at me like that.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cd0hyptoH
“Thanks,” I say, smiling.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWrIJxt9Jg
She lifts her coffee to her lips while looking suggestively at me over the rim. “Before I go into it at length, would you care to tell me what it is you’re interested in? You’re not a Pain Seeker, are you?”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bxJPnQNgb
I wave my hand dismissively. “Hardly. I’ve never understood how anyone could be into that, physically or mentally.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WwyexvE11
She takes a sip of her drink. “That’s good. You won’t find much of that with me. What is it you’re looking for then?”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBxEl0WkdJ
“I’m looking for… something else,” I say, flushing. “My life isn’t bad, but I’ve started to feel... thinner, somehow. I haven’t felt that before.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm92msUnRd0
“Aah. The beginning of the Wane.” She chuckles. “Your adolescent Stockpile has reached its peak. That’s common, I’m afraid.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVy9jzHWPJQ
“What’s it like? Does it get worse?”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmjvcqKO5T
She laughs a little louder. “I’m not sure.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAta65u7UZb
I furrow my brow at her. She winks at me. “Shall I go over my contract now?”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNpP0Ej96g
I nod and lean forward, giving her my full attention with a barely repressed shiver of excitement. She smiles and takes one last sip of her coffee before beginning. “I was born to a real estate magnate and CEO. From an early age I was given the finest education at the most exclusive schools that the northeast division has to offer.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RWg2jGKBh
From childhood to adulthood my Visibility Portfolio included the study of seven languages, a collection of sports ranging from soccer to skiing, and travel to no less than thirty-seven countries. I boast a wide array of accomplishments ranging from winning the Arklyn New Author award, creating a line of perfumes and colognes, and winning the Downslide Skiing Championship of ’21. I also possess an expansive history of both male and female sexual partners if that’s something you’re looking for.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQnDB70oI0
My fingers tighten reflexively and I gulp. “Oh, yes.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSKluwDOu7
She raises her eyebrows. “Surely someone like you isn’t wanting for that, darling.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ahI33n2VI
Another rush of endorphins. “Outside of school? You would be surprised.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtO9EGYWOXX
“Mm. Well don’t worry. We’ll set you up.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSeIin0biM
I need to take a moment before asking the next question. She waits expectantly, allowing her humored mask to slip ever so gently in time with the seriousness of the moment. Finally, I ask, “How much?”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPyPB9vJEj
“Sixteen fragments,” she says crisply.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyABMLu1vB
My eyes widen. “Sixteen?”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIycoebOqAY
“With my discount,” she adds, taking another sip of her drink. “And that’s only because I’m on holiday.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUdP7VRNOE
I shake my head, staring down at the tablecloth in shock. “Sixteen,” I repeat.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8bAjeSYVq
“Its your first time, Aaron,” she says, adopting a smirk. “You won’t have another first this good, trust me.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5TDGrDVX8
“Sixteen is enough to Frag me,” I say, turning my shock back on her.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LtPLM4q82
She levels her index finger and thumb at me. “Only a little bit. It’s nowhere close to turning you into a Split.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VxkrmaAjO
I sit back and close my eyes. “Sixteen…”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRcH9YBXay
“Shall we call the deal off? I unfortunately don’t have the time to negotiate. I have another Buyer in twenty minutes and a Mass Sale online to prepare for.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqriYRTsZ1y
I gulp, opening my eyes. “No... I’m good. Let’s do it.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBw8S8a6VjU
She gives me that perfect smile of hers. “So lovely to hear it. May I?”
My arm trembles as I reach out to her. She notices and places a comforting hand on my forearm. “It doesn’t hurt, darling. Take a deep breath and relax. Hardly any time will pass for me, but for you?” She chuckles. “Let’s just say that I envy your getting to experience it all for the first time.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKNRghex90
She digs her nails into my palm and I’m gone.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCE860nZlU
I’m getting a showpony for a birthday and riding it around a field full of more flowers than I’ve ever seen. I’m dashing down the slopes of a mountain, panting with exertion at the ice flakes cutting into my bare skin, only to lift my fists in exultation as I cross the finish line first. I’m standing atop a podium with my freshly-published novel in hand, beaming at mother and father while a judge gives me an award. I’m spending a romantic, candlelit dinner with a local boy in a small town in Spain, flirting with him in his language until things quickly devolve into sex. A similar thing happens in Japan with a gorgeous woman wearing glasses.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FcwXY6A3r
I am everything she is, and nothing of myself. I am everything that I’ve never been and didn’t know I wanted to be, and it is so beautiful that my body has undoubtedly started crying where I left it.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYB7DzqPdD8
But then I feel the Drain.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcrKvY3s2u
One by one, sixteen fragments of myself are pulled from me and rush into her. She was right—it doesn’t hurt. And it is so, so easy.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbovwxmuKC4
When the last piece disappears the connection between us is severed. She sits back with a beaming smile and flushed cheeks, sighing almost lasciviously as she basks in the fresh energy that I’ve supplied her with.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5gzi1aB7y
“My God,” I whisper. I can feel them—all the new memories I’ve never actually experienced but remember. I still feel like her.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNkYsRUArT
She cracks her eyes open at me after a while. “Satisfied?”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQ5toNYL9q
I breathe a long sigh. “Very.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXrt1TFNMT
“I’m legally obligated to tell you that you’re not allowed to Buy for a week as you’ll Frag quicker. If too much of yourself is replaced too quickly and you become a Split then the authorities will want to know which personalities they’re dealing with, so make sure to add this transaction to your records. Contact me if you’d like a receipt later.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEC9oS7fr5
I nod slowly. “I will.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoKhmW7tMc
“Will there be anything else?”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyu8WuJAZKX
I shake my head and stand up, giving her a smile much like the ones she’s given me. “Absolutely not. You’ve been wonderful, darling.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MDtaJdy8Q
She smiles back and gives that twiddling finger-wave at me again. “Plug in for one of my Mass Sales if you’d like another taste sometime.”96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGNYm61IvD
I give her the same wave in return before walking away, leaving with a little less of myself and a little more of someone else than when I had arrived.
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