[Content Warning: Contains sexual and other mature themes]73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQAcKjk98d
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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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSf13Ojn4gl
I can’t help being nervous on the walk over. I’d Sold before, but I have no idea what to expect from Buying.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIQz4IR3VL
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkV6VnVHDKH
“Good morning darling,” she says, giving a small, fluid wave of her fingers as I sit down. “You must be…”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8jgl6CrNm
“Aaron,” I offer.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RIWKnKF04
“Aaron,” she repeats, still smiling. “Of course! Pleasure to meet you, Aaron.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmbCIOXEY1
We shake hands. She doesn’t give me her name. She doesn’t have to.
She asks, “Have you done this before, Aaron?”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlGsDsKfKx
I shake my head and take a nervous breath. “First time. As a Buyer, at least.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlH9Ay678pI
“Your first time Buying! And at twenty years old? You must be quite the intrepid soul!”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡde9JZ809IE
I shrug. “I was popular in high school. My parents had a big house—plenty of room for parties.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfW1klnAf3E
“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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENGlzcY5AF
“Thanks,” I say, smiling.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXh0KkV5sa6
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?”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDmE01rowC
I wave my hand dismissively. “Hardly. I’ve never understood how anyone could be into that, physically or mentally.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmc8gH002h
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?”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnS1RxKBxU
“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.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44qczr8Uhf
“Aah. The beginning of the Wane.” She chuckles. “Your adolescent Stockpile has reached its peak. That’s common, I’m afraid.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVT7Yx1KSLv
“What’s it like? Does it get worse?”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8M2TztrOlM
She laughs a little louder. “I’m not sure.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfqE2HczQ4
I furrow my brow at her. She winks at me. “Shall I go over my contract now?”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgrZwuxY8D
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYklh1PM1j9
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.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNMWz2iRNm
My fingers tighten reflexively and I gulp. “Oh, yes.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKw49ljKNr
She raises her eyebrows. “Surely someone like you isn’t wanting for that, darling.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡConwE34zQE
Another rush of endorphins. “Outside of school? You would be surprised.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4isNR2kdI
“Mm. Well don’t worry. We’ll set you up.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8H2ZhJl53
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?”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmT9cKBYR2j
“Sixteen fragments,” she says crisply.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKllypskRVH
My eyes widen. “Sixteen?”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IRrXAQjer
“With my discount,” she adds, taking another sip of her drink. “And that’s only because I’m on holiday.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1v4UG22IdL
I shake my head, staring down at the tablecloth in shock. “Sixteen,” I repeat.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMncBnbxr3l
“Its your first time, Aaron,” she says, adopting a smirk. “You won’t have another first this good, trust me.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfL8KaBtTU5
“Sixteen is enough to Frag me,” I say, turning my shock back on her.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YnEbrtdSv
She levels her index finger and thumb at me. “Only a little bit. It’s nowhere close to turning you into a Split.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4S93gwMd2
I sit back and close my eyes. “Sixteen…”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gFRp8vLDN
“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.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPCp2mHix7
I gulp, opening my eyes. “No... I’m good. Let’s do it.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkpy0z1btT
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.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFqKNlUzI8
She digs her nails into my palm and I’m gone.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAQRo8TzsI
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6x2ZL1mWB
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIxHnwyZrX
But then I feel the Drain.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdVXfZrBaB
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjdRI40Eq1
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAKbZKudLU
“My God,” I whisper. I can feel them—all the new memories I’ve never actually experienced but remember. I still feel like her.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpsWbyp1tl
She cracks her eyes open at me after a while. “Satisfied?”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwa5cWHy53P
I breathe a long sigh. “Very.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbMXnCidZc
“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.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpCQ8t8QH4
I nod slowly. “I will.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyon9yo8Whg
“Will there be anything else?”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPESGbCwWzH
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.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5lySUcoY6
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.”73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGSo2HvyeI
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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