Frank Thompson - A father beaten down by work and family (ThreeNipps)

Note: This story will focus only on the protagonist, Frank, and his experience using the Affection Multiplier. There will be themes in this story so if that isn't your thing, it's probably best to ignore this branch. As for other themes, I'm undecided. Maybe a little bit of everything. This branch will be a bit of a slower burn that focuses heavily on building the characters and story. It will probably be mostly linear without alternate paths. Although that could change.

Exhausted and already drained, you sit down at your desk at exactly 8am. Booting up your work computer, you reflect on the events of the morning. It was worse than usual. It's not that your wife and daughter are mean to you, they just don't even seem to notice you. Your daughter Ava, 18 years old and about to graduate high school, can't be bothered to look away from her phone for five seconds. When she does, it's to talk to your wife, Natalie. Whenever you try to talk to her, all you get is a grunt or a one word answer. You get that teenagers think their parents are lame but god damn...

Natalie, your wife of 20 years, isn't much better. When she does show you affection, it's in the form of a quick peck on the lips. That's literally it. The two of you haven't had sex in over two years. Part of you understands. She's aged gracefully, keeping her beauty into her forties. You on the other hand... not so much. Still, you are supposed to love each other, right? Thinking about the possibility that your wife no longer loves you makes you sick to your stomach.

What your wife and daughter don't know is that their lack of affection towards you has a devastating effect. It eats you up inside and slowly builds up over time. It was all you could do to not cry in the car on the way to work this morning...

Normally going to work would be a break but not anymore. Two years ago you lost your longtime job. It paid well and you genuinely enjoyed it. into a job search as a man in your 40s was an awful experience. You know a lot about computers but people in this industry are looking to hire young people. After several months of searching, you were to take this entry level job at a small tech company. Due to the large cut in pay, your wife was to go back to work. You know that this played a part in the straining of your relationship.

The people here are so young that you feel like an old man, out of place. Your coworkers have no interest getting to know you. Some of them laugh behind your back, not even really caring if you notice. Your boss, ten years your younger, treats you like a second class citizen. The worst part of working here is your desk mate, Hana. She's a young woman and in her mid 20s if you had to guess. She's devastatingly beautiful. You believe she's of Japanese descent. You don't really know anything about her and you've sat next to her for two years. Occasionally she will change her hair color to something crazy. One time she caught you staring and gave you a creeped out look. To her, it's like you don't exist 99 percent of the time. She just sits there with her headphones on and works away at her computer. If you tried to greet her or wish her good morning, the best you would get back is a quick glance.

Tired of sulking about the state of your life, you focus on your computer. Something isn't right. There's a new icon on your desktop. You definitely didn't put that there and to your knowledge, nobody has been on your account. The icon reads "AMA" in red block letters with a heart and a plus sign logo.

You mutter under your breath, "The fuck is that..."

You poke around in the files of your computer but can't even find where it's installed. It's like it doesn't exist. You feel strangely compelled to click it.