[Content Warning: Contains sexual and other mature themes]58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzO2IMtSHw5
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsp5Rq62Xb
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qgTDjIoOp
I can’t help being nervous on the walk over. I’d Sold before, but I have no idea what to expect from Buying.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOodODLTT7
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvNH1bP3nN
“Good morning darling,” she says, giving a small, fluid wave of her fingers as I sit down. “You must be…”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9Yqzw86M8
“Aaron,” I offer.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUEaDWReHC
“Aaron,” she repeats, still smiling. “Of course! Pleasure to meet you, Aaron.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMhMSyNhKw
We shake hands. She doesn’t give me her name. She doesn’t have to.
She asks, “Have you done this before, Aaron?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqFHhxcl9S
I shake my head and take a nervous breath. “First time. As a Buyer, at least.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAn3WBB2ct
“Your first time Buying! And at twenty years old? You must be quite the intrepid soul!”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEL3pLKhjAe
I shrug. “I was popular in high school. My parents had a big house—plenty of room for parties.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0un9uA2OyW
“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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeno8FrM2p3
“Thanks,” I say, smiling.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBYbNZpuG6n
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?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLTa0OWnan
I wave my hand dismissively. “Hardly. I’ve never understood how anyone could be into that, physically or mentally.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxApPmHSF8e
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?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sogl7NAnD
“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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKI2GYyPP2
“Aah. The beginning of the Wane.” She chuckles. “Your adolescent Stockpile has reached its peak. That’s common, I’m afraid.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1DUR2bgEz
“What’s it like? Does it get worse?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYWRNh9YYs
She laughs a little louder. “I’m not sure.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeGjgO0zRY
I furrow my brow at her. She winks at me. “Shall I go over my contract now?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGyvs3drNM
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtjgwjDrf3
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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnJee5xUxO
My fingers tighten reflexively and I gulp. “Oh, yes.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzK7eXh23C5
She raises her eyebrows. “Surely someone like you isn’t wanting for that, darling.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvsQY7uSvf
Another rush of endorphins. “Outside of school? You would be surprised.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJGgP7Zr26
“Mm. Well don’t worry. We’ll set you up.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7TQtczMHc
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?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VxP4adITk
“Sixteen fragments,” she says crisply.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MQBQYR6vI
My eyes widen. “Sixteen?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxftRuu4k5
“With my discount,” she adds, taking another sip of her drink. “And that’s only because I’m on holiday.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZuOL3zzaV
I shake my head, staring down at the tablecloth in shock. “Sixteen,” I repeat.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyYJJdnDwq
“Its your first time, Aaron,” she says, adopting a smirk. “You won’t have another first this good, trust me.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GUaRYZXRC
“Sixteen is enough to Frag me,” I say, turning my shock back on her.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFc19BBuEF0
She levels her index finger and thumb at me. “Only a little bit. It’s nowhere close to turning you into a Split.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLR9GJIiGhL
I sit back and close my eyes. “Sixteen…”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjBY5PoQge
“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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujUnSvCe0r
I gulp, opening my eyes. “No... I’m good. Let’s do it.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjW239ZIGV
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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS51otu0N2g
She digs her nails into my palm and I’m gone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qpAZk3vMS
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDbqC9R4Wh
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sXinZ3CIz
But then I feel the Drain.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynCpPFDnbn
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6VoLOQTbp
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaHwe4JwaG
“My God,” I whisper. I can feel them—all the new memories I’ve never actually experienced but remember. I still feel like her.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNnrfdsmbc
She cracks her eyes open at me after a while. “Satisfied?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0vJdK51zO
I breathe a long sigh. “Very.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0enSAUgPet
“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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZH9xU5Urfz
I nod slowly. “I will.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4p4MDJ3Mbz
“Will there be anything else?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmNZM2xfaA
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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhpIepdOer
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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0B7cAdqNx
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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