As if there was any doubt what you would do.

God dammit. As I stare at Maria, I can feel my dick staring to wake up. She's such a sexy woman, and the thought of having her wrap those luscious lips around my shaft is driving me insane. I can't count the number of times I've fantasized about having a shot with Maria. I guess that's not too surprising given my track record. I like hot women, what can I say? Besides, I already know what Violet would tell me to do if she were here. I'm probably going to regret this decision...

I point the remote at Maria and press the green button. I hesitate for a moment as my thumb hovers over the red button, but it eventually comes down, starting the process I've become all too familiar with. I glance around to make sure no one is around me before looking back down at the screen. What am I about to do to you, Maria?

- SELECTED TARGET: MARIA DAVIS -

Identity: Soldier

Well, I always did like the idea of a woman in uniform, and Maria certainly has the body to pull off something like that. Still though, I'm not sure how I feel about this one. What exactly is this going to do to her? I don't typically think nice and sweet when I think of a soldier. I would also question the sexual nature of this identity, but I know the remote will find some perverted way to spin it. Let's see if the attribute gives me a better idea of what I'm dealing with.

Initial Attribute Unlocked

TO SERVE AND PROTECT

The target will slowly begin to prioritize the user's health, safety, and comfort above all else. In addition, the target will have drastically increased strength when attempting to defend the user.

Hold on a second... what? So I have a bodyguard now? I don't really feel like I need a bodyguard. And I certainly hope I won't ever need one. The thought of Maria hurting someone is also something I don't really like thinking about. Paying a bit more attention to the wording, I notice the specific addition of the word "comfort" in the first sentence. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a subtle way of slipping in a slight sexual angle, given what I know about the Random Remote. Overall, I'm still on the fence about how this identity turned out. Hopefully seeing how Maria acts in class today will help me make up my mind.

Now that that's done, I put the remote away and step into the classroom. Maria sees me come in and greets me with her typical smile. I'm glad to see that still hasn't changed yet.

"Good morning, Matt!" She welcomes me.

"Morning, Maria," I say as I smile back.

"Well? How are my eyes looking?" Maria asks while looking directly at me.

"Hmm... let's see..." I say while stepping closer. "They look like they're a bit on the green side today."

"You know what that means." I don't. "Sounds like today I'm going to have some good luck!"

I can't help but chuckle at the dumb grin on my teacher's face. She really is great at putting people at ease. As silly as our little eye color ritual is, I'm always happy to do it with her. Hopefully being my personal soldier won't change that.

After a short conversation about how our weeks are going, I sit in my seat and Maria begins today's discussion. Just like every health class, the whole thing is kept fairly light and low-pressure, which I definitely appreciate. It also doesn't seem like Maria is showing any signs of changing, though I'm not sure why she would in such a relaxed environment.

In the last half hour of class, Maria asks us to break up into small groups to answer a few questions. It's nothing too difficult, so no one is really bothered by the request. As the groups begin talking, she makes her way to each one to hear what's going on and occasionally throw in her own comments. I end up in a group with a couple of guys who all seem pretty nice, although I'll admit one of them is a bit... touchy. You know those people that like to put their hands all over you while they talk? One of those guys. I am used to that kind of thing since my sister Julia is also one of those people, so it doesn't bother me too much. That being said, however, it does still make me slightly uncomfortable being touched so much by someone who is basically a stranger.

At one point, I make a joke, causing the guy to laugh before punching me in the arm. It doesn't exactly hurt, but it's also not a light tap. Maria notices him when he does it and quickly makes her way over to us. As she does, she keeps up her warm disposition, but I notice an unusual... something in her eyes.

"Ned? Could you not punch Matt?" She says in a calm, yet firm tone.

"Huh? What are you talking about? We're just palling around," the guy replies back.

"I don't think Matt feels the same way. In fact, it seems to me like you're bothering him. Please, just keep your hands off him."

Well, this is a little awkward. I should probably break this up before something happens. As I open my mouth to speak, the guy roughly pats me on the back, interrupting my train of thought.

"I'm not bothering anybody. See? We're getting along just fine," he says while resting his arm on me.

The man pulls his arm back to pat me one more time. Suddenly, Maria hand shoots out with lightning speed, grabbing onto his wrist, stopping it from moving. There's still no sign of any anger on her face.

"Hey! What gives?" My classmate asks. "Um... ow... OW! What are you doing?! Let go of me!"

Everyone turns their attention to the scene unfolding before me when the guy yells. I look at Maria to see her tightly gripping his wrist. Uh oh. I can tell just from a glance that she's really squeezing that thing. It looks like the remote wasn't kidding about that increased strength thing.

"Maria, please stop. I'm fine now. I promise," I plead.

Hearing the sincerity in my voice, Maria lets go of the man. He recoils in pain as she does so.

"I hope you learned your lesson. Don't ever touch Matt again," Maria says in an intimidating voice, despite maintaining an otherwise relaxed appearance.

No one seems to know what to say after that moment. I try to apologize for what just happened, but it seems like the guy is still too in shock to respond. I look around the room to find everyone still staring at Maria as she walks back to the front of the room. Not even a minute after that incident, Maria returns to her normal self like nothing happened. It's almost like a switch flipped in her brain when she thought I was in trouble, only to immediately flip back once it was over.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Maria genuinely asks. "Oh, I bet I know what this is about. You all are eager to get out of here, aren't you? Alright, class is dismissed. Go have a good weekend, everyone!"

It takes a little bit before the class starts quietly shuffling out of the room. Well, except for that Ned guy, who books it out as fast as he can. So... it's safe to say that went poorly. It's hard to know how each identity will affect each person when I use the remote on them, but there is no way I could have expected Maria to react how she did. It looks like I'll have to be extra careful around her from now on. I don't want her to seriously hurt anyone, and I equally don't want her to get in trouble for hurting someone. She did seems to respond to me when I told her I was fine, so maybe I can help control her now that I understand what I'm dealing with.

I also hope this transformation will be a little sexier at some point. I won't lie, the idea of strong woman prioritizing me over anything else in her life does have an appeal to it, but breaking some random dude's wrist is a bit of a turn-off for me. Which I think is understandable. I guess all I can do now is wait and see what happens while keeping an eye on her.

As I pack up my stuff and prepare to leave, I pull out my phone and realize I got a text at some point. I must not have noticed it during all the commotion. Unsure of who it could be, I give the message a quick read.

Rose: Hey, Matt. It's Rose. Do you think you could come by the restaurant right now? I could really use some help with something.

Rose? I can't say I was expecting that. I wonder what she could want. With how all over the place she is, it's hard to say for sure. I guess there's only way to find out...