Carmen is recruited for beta testing

"Carmen, wait."

The punkish girl stopped and turned, eyebrow raised.

"I'll talk to Leah. You should drop by the apartment later," I said.

Carmen frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely." The only thing I wasn't sure of was what I'd do with Carmen once I got to work on her.

Her frown deepened. "I'd rather hear that from Leah."

"Look, Leah's stuck in something tough," I said. "These days it's like she's a totally different person. It'll be good for her to see a familiar face, not just my beautiful mug."

Carmen still remained hesitant.

"Bring beer?" I asked, hopefully.

This, of all things, was a more convincing argument. Carmen lit up. "'Kay. I'll drop by around 5. That work?"

I nodded, Carmen seemed hopeful, and we went our separate ways.

I went home and prepped.

Around 5, there was a knock at the door. I opened it on Carmen. A six-pack of cheap beer hung from her off hand, and as always, the caustic scent of cigarette smoke emanated from her person. "Yo."

"I'm glad you're here. Leah will be too," I said, inviting Carmen inside and directing her to the couch. I sat across from her in the beat-up armchair we'd pulled out of Leah's parents' basement years ago.

Carmen made herself comfortable on the couch, tossed me a beer, and picked one out for herself. "How long has Leah been cooped up in her room?" The woman spared a worried glance toward Leah's bedroom door.

"On and off. She'll be out soon I'm sure," I said. I pulled out a small blanket to make myself comfortable, and offered one to Carmen too. She politely declined.

Carmen and I shot the breeze for a minute, till I asked her about how her art class with Leah was going - that got her fired up.

"It was easier when I could work with Leah on assignments," said Carmen. "I'll manage but it's not half as fun. The professor has bad taste, and he's a pretentious asshole whenever he dives into critique..."

When I was certain Carmen was thoroughly engaged in the conversation, I surreptitiously texted Leah from beneath my lap blanket to get ready.

A moment later, behind Carmen, out of view, Leah's door cracked open. The girl slunk out, my helmet in her hands.

Silent and expressionless, Leah crept up behind Carmen like a spider.

"His rate my professor scores sucked and they're only going downhill, so it's not a real surprise. What matters is he rarely fails anyone, just gives bad grades. Still, he won't be teaching courses here much longer if I have anything to say about," said Carmen. "Soon as professor assessments come in you can bet I'll -"

Leah placed the VR headset over Carmen's head and fastened her already-paired smartwatch around Carmen's wrist.

"Huh? Oh," said Carmen, head tilting slightly upwards, but it was too late. With a sigh, the woman went limp against the couch.

"Good girl," I said, standing from my chair.

Leah looked up with a soft smile. "You're welcome, Mac," she said, her voice uncharacteristically smooth. "Would you like me to get your laptop?"

"Please do."

Leah blithely went into her room and returned with my computer. This, she gave into my hands. The data from Carmen's brain was already streaming in, all 5.5GB of it.

"Mac, who is that?" asked Leah, looking over at Carmen's entranced form with a curious smile.

"Thanks to you, she's another tester," I said, cradling my laptop in one arm and cupping Leah's ass through her jeans with another.

Leah squeaked at the contact and glued herself to my side. "Like Hana?" she asked, tilting her head and hugging my waist.

"Not exactly like Hana, but yes," I said, massaging her ass.

Leah smiled and licked her lips. "That's interesting."

"Yes, she is," I said, opening Carmen's memory files and scanning the top of the list.

True to my word, this time I'd be careful. I wouldn't miss any important details. With it being Friday, there was no rush. We had the whole weekend to ourselves.

After having some fun with Leah, I sent her off to continue studying my porn collection, and sat down for some one-on-one time with Carmen. After pawing at her nice soft tits for 5 or 10 minutes, I fixed Carmen's bra and shirt back into place and began probing her memories in earnest.

What I saw shocked me.

Carmen's most important memories were painful to watch. Carmen as a child being screamed at by her father. Being beaten by her mother. And her father was an alcoholic whose best contribution to her life was being killed in a drunk driving incident when Carmen was just 7 years old. At least after that Carmen's mom stopped the physical ****, but it was only replaced by an incessant stream of emotional **** - belittling comments, psychological manipulation to make Carmen feel bad about every last little thing she did.

Carmen's happiest memory was running away from home and being taken in by a family friend. Her worst was when her father came home early one day and caught his wife beating her, only to beat her mother instead right in front of her. The man was a monster.

Looking at Carmen now - the brightly colored hair, the cigarettes and booze, the tough-as-nails attitude, her fierce protectiveness of her friends - I understood I was looking at a broken person doing her damndest to pick up the pieces.

I felt pity. And guilt. Here Carmen was trying to look out for Leah, where I'd simply turned our mutual friend into my pet project.

Still. The sensation of Carmen's big soft boobs in my hands, the look of her bright blue eyes filled with worry... guilt alone couldn't overcome my desires. Not anymore. My appetite had only grown since making Hana and Leah my own personal projects.

I wanted more. And Carmen was right here.