A few little gems

After Hello, Mrs. Stepford, the most expensive ungrayed option was 1200. You figure that it’s cheaper maybe because it’s a prerequisite or something? You keep scrolling and as you scan down, you smile. Well, now. That’s more like it. And even better, they’re all available.

You waste no time clicking on the following:

Nice and Perky, I Like That!: 500 points (This person’s breasts will never sag.)

I Think I Did Okay!: 300 points (Nothing you do will make this person upset enough to negatively affect her scores.)

Dream Lover: 250 points (If this person has a sexy dream, the other person in the dream will be you.)

You look over at the numbers on the left side - 1300 points left. Way more than you should have. You realize the History has updated and you look to see what it says.

You’re A Pervert, Aren’t You? Mm-hmm: Used profile image to see someone naked for the first time; 250 points awarded

Roll With The Changes: Used app to buy a personal attribute for the first time; 100 points awarded

Hello, Dr. Frankenstein: Bought a personal attribute that makes a physical change to someone for the first time; 300 points awarded

It’s Good To Be The King: Bought a personal attribute that makes a physical change to someone’s breasts for the first time; 200 points awarded

All In The Mind: Bought a personal attribute that makes a change to someone’s mind for the first time; 100 points awarded

Lots of first-time achievements. Only to be expected, I suppose.

“Whatcha doing?”

You jerk in surprise and look over at Molly who is giggling.

“Surprised you, huh? What you looking at so intently?”

You didn’t even notice her leaving the bathroom.

“Oh, just some work stuff,” you say as casually as you can manage with your heart beating a hundred miles an hour. “How’s Tammy? Nice and relaxed yet?”

Bzzt.

“Oh, she’s doing great,” Molly says.

You look down at the app.

Molly Carter - Liked your concern on her mother’s behalf: +2 (29)

You look back up at Molly and smile. “That’s great. Obviously she had a stressful day and even though it wasn’t my intention, this last minute emergency of mine can’t have helped it.”

Molly shook her head. “Oh, don’t worry about it.”

You nod and shrug ruefully. “It is what it is,” you say in oblique agreement You shake your head and close the computer. “Enough of that for now. What else is new in your life?” you ask as you beckon Molly to join you on the couch, patting the cushion next to you to show her where you want her to sit.

She smiles and sits a little closer than you indicated. When you put your arm on top of the couch to get more room for your arm, she snuggles in a little closer, but leaves some space between you, and says, “School. Cross Country. Friends. You know how it is your first year - figuring out everything.”

You nod. Your first year was the same. Well, minus the cross country and the amount of friends you figure she has. The few friends you did have, you treasured for their rarity. Which reminds me, I haven’t touched base with some of them in awhile. Ignoring the thought for the moment, you respond, “Yeah. Well, first things first - any idea on a major or are you still undecided?”

As the two of you talk, your watch buzzes and vibrates few times. The first few times it happens, you look at her sidelong to see if she noticed since the arm around her shoulders is the one the watch is on. She showed no reaction, so eventually you settle down and ignore it, knowing you can look it up on the computer later if you care.

Even as you thought that, you knew you would - to a data analyst like you, all that detail was fascinating. You were starting to get an inkling of how the Affection Multiplier worked and you hoped that once you got more data, you would be able to figure out how to “game the system” to get more points quickly.

But that was for later. You re-focused on the conversation you were having with Molly and after a while you were genuinely engaged in the conversation enough that you wouldn’t have even thought about the Affection Multiplier if it wasn’t for the occasional beeps of your watch.

After about forty-five minutes, your conversation was interrupted as Tammy called out from the bathroom. “Molly, can you come here for a minute please?”

You couldn’t resist - as soon as Molly was out of the room, you grabbed your laptop and opened it back up. Tammy was shown dressed in a robe while talking to Molly. The fact that they were both waving their hands towards their chest and groin areas made you really wonder if there was an audio option.

Fuck it. Let’s look.