[Content Warning: Contains sexual and other mature themes]53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRbEwgbI5BC
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiMu6y9Fi3
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.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwgM4p3rBu
I can’t help being nervous on the walk over. I’d Sold before, but I have no idea what to expect from Buying.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTFW1LCGzm
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.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPw5pCbxoE
“Good morning darling,” she says, giving a small, fluid wave of her fingers as I sit down. “You must be…”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDjsJFofgY
“Aaron,” I offer.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qo8WN4w0r
“Aaron,” she repeats, still smiling. “Of course! Pleasure to meet you, Aaron.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbWWgwij0R
We shake hands. She doesn’t give me her name. She doesn’t have to.
She asks, “Have you done this before, Aaron?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAXlOtZpGT
I shake my head and take a nervous breath. “First time. As a Buyer, at least.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkXMJ9G698
“Your first time Buying! And at twenty years old? You must be quite the intrepid soul!”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAQKFWHBL2
I shrug. “I was popular in high school. My parents had a big house—plenty of room for parties.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJjvgf2k9y
“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.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15dtTlEYIp
“Thanks,” I say, smiling.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0GkTPDSvF
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?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XLN0vQxWe
I wave my hand dismissively. “Hardly. I’ve never understood how anyone could be into that, physically or mentally.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxyP7u1usl
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?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kK6iSD7Sv
“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.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6DZe3vy3C
“Aah. The beginning of the Wane.” She chuckles. “Your adolescent Stockpile has reached its peak. That’s common, I’m afraid.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAhD4iIr7l
“What’s it like? Does it get worse?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCS28myI08z
She laughs a little louder. “I’m not sure.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsrGyBQ7pH
I furrow my brow at her. She winks at me. “Shall I go over my contract now?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICjuqA8IB9
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.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaF5dcemNB
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.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMA5VF7f3h
My fingers tighten reflexively and I gulp. “Oh, yes.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMAopiMZ6q
She raises her eyebrows. “Surely someone like you isn’t wanting for that, darling.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwEEwljlma
Another rush of endorphins. “Outside of school? You would be surprised.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKRUqWvGAY
“Mm. Well don’t worry. We’ll set you up.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXPTntLT9j
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?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDIslK9gdU
“Sixteen fragments,” she says crisply.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBn9mNVMV1a
My eyes widen. “Sixteen?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3ZhiHfN35
“With my discount,” she adds, taking another sip of her drink. “And that’s only because I’m on holiday.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qItZDxq1M
I shake my head, staring down at the tablecloth in shock. “Sixteen,” I repeat.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJpF1hXYBZ
“Its your first time, Aaron,” she says, adopting a smirk. “You won’t have another first this good, trust me.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0HaaUHhJ3
“Sixteen is enough to Frag me,” I say, turning my shock back on her.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGSeQMJGEz
She levels her index finger and thumb at me. “Only a little bit. It’s nowhere close to turning you into a Split.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzbkHZ0hv6
I sit back and close my eyes. “Sixteen…”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡta0Q6KXwQs
“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.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnoSF7rSuA
I gulp, opening my eyes. “No... I’m good. Let’s do it.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEMdQd32p7
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.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwNvHpTeGK
She digs her nails into my palm and I’m gone.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbplTThOHhH
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.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccLgYaxYvy
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.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41XVIwYm7C
But then I feel the Drain.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKraIaZYdf
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.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5h2thdFwT8
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.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRR3Ovfrpy
“My God,” I whisper. I can feel them—all the new memories I’ve never actually experienced but remember. I still feel like her.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGILBJ6eN3
She cracks her eyes open at me after a while. “Satisfied?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Y9dhYcJl4
I breathe a long sigh. “Very.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GPuayet3l
“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.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ykjIDBMBI
I nod slowly. “I will.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gkyboM50g
“Will there be anything else?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9v02q8EvP
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.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfY2EwHhNeZ
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.”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkigCL6ya1
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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