People can justify pretty much anything to themselves

Callie’s profile image shows her in the process of taking her sleep shirt off. Her left tit is fully exposed, and you can see more than half of the right one, including the swollen dark nipple, although most of her face and hair is blocked from view by the shirt. The picture is from the waist up, although you can also see the bare skin of her right hip, and what are most likely pubes, which very probably means that she’s already taken her pants off. You briefly wonder why the Multiplier is showing you her from this specific vantage point.

You’re very confident that Callie would be overjoyed for you to see her naked in person, but you don’t know for sure that this also applies to seeing her naked via the Multiplier. And even though she’s not a Top Prospect, her feelings still matter.

For a moment, you ponder whether the ethics of the situation are affected by the fact that Callie is most likely masturbating to thoughts of you at this very moment.

The guy sitting next to you pulls the REQUESTED STOP cord, then gets to his feet; as he does, his gaze passes over your phone’s screen.

He doesn’t react to Callie’s spectacular tits. You knew that the Multiplier blocks itself from people’s sight unless you authenticate them, but it’s still weird to see it happening.

You wonder if a cat or dog could see the Multiplier… although how could you even tell? Hm. Now that you think about it, you remember videos where animals react to things on screens…

The bus slows to a stop; the guy gets off, a few more people get on – mostly men, a few women who don’t look particularly attractive. Okay, you suppose you shouldn’t be looking at porn (well, it’s effectively porn) in public, even if nobody else can see it.

You flick your finger along the glass, and Callie’s seminude slides upward and off the screen, to be replaced by her profile data.

Callie Gabrielle Attenborough

Personal Information -

• Age: 21
• Gender: Female
• Marriage status: Single
• Children: 0

Physical Information -

• Height: 5’5”
• Weight: 160
• Hair color: Black
• Eye color: Brown
• Bust: 34 DDD
• Waist: 26
• Hips: 36

Sexual experience +

Mostly you’ve been leaving Sexual Experience for later, but considering how close you came to fucking Callie, you might as well look now.

-- Oral: Nonvirgin
-- Vagina: Virgin
-- Anus: Virgin

You’re a little surprised that Callie’s still a virgin – or, well, you expect she’s a technical virgin the way Molly was: fingers, tongues, and dildos, but no penises. You’re confident that if you went back, she’d eagerly you’re on a bus full of people and if you keep thinking about this, you will 100% get an erection. Self-control. Self-control. Remember what happened last time you let yourself have an erection on a bus.

You open her log.

• Callie Attenborough: Is jealous of you. A little. -2 (-2)
• Callie Attenborough: Thinks you’re kinda cute! +1 Lust (-2/0/1)
• Callie Attenborough: REALLY likes that you’re tall! 0/0/+4 (-2/0/5)
• Callie Attenborough: Likes that you made Sweeney smile. +2/0/0 (0/0/5)
• Callie Attenborough: Is imagining you eating Sweeney’s pussy while she sits on a washing machine. -1/0/+6 (0/0/11)
• Callie Attenborough: You’re willing to very obviously lie to protect Sweeney’s feelings. +2/0/0 (1/0/11)
• Callie Attenborough: Is pretty sure you’re looking at her tits. 0/0/+3 (1/0/14)

  ---

It’s a little disappointing to learn that Callie wasn’t actually thrilled to meet you, but you suppose the
“trying to make Sweeney jealous” thing should’ve made that obvious.

• Callie Attenborough: Was expecting you’d try to flirt with her, but that’s actually a reasonable question. +4/0/0 (5/0/14)
• Callie Attenborough: Actually, now that she sees you close up, you’re really cute. 0/0/+3 (5/0/17)
• Callie Attenborough: You’re giving her a chance to talk about Sweeney, and you look genuinely interested in her answers. +2/0/0 (7/0/17)
• Callie Attenborough: Feels bad for you that you can’t smell. +1/0/0 (8/0/17)
• Callie Attenborough: Actually, holding your hand is really nice. +1/+2 Love/1 (9/2/18)
• Callie Attenborough: Is thinking about what it would feel like if you were groping her bare breasts and rubbing your thumbs on her nipples. 0/0/+6 (9/2/24)
• Callie Attenborough: Has changed her goal from making Sweeney jealous enough to fuck her, to fucking you and Sweeney together +1/0/+11 (9/2/35)

  ---

Your cock stiffens.

You are on a bus full of people, dammit. Self-control.

• Callie Attenborough: You know about walkability scores. +4/0/0 (14/2/35)
• Callie Attenborough: Not only do you know about Cortez, you know that it’s deprecated. +5/0/0 (19/2/35)
• Callie Attenborough: You know about Slater-Melville. +5/0/0 (+24/2/35)
• Callie Attenborough: You’re giving her the chance to talk about urbanism and public amenities! +8/+2 /0 (32/4/35)
• Callie Attenborough: Feels bad for you that you lived in Marklin. +3/+2/0 (36/6/35)
• Callie Attenborough: Feels bad for you about the fire. +1/0/0 (37/6/35)
• Callie Attenborough: Just realized that you might be the guy from the bus who Shondra mentioned, the one she was so horny about. 0/0/+8 (37/6/43)
• Callie Attenborough: You ARE the guy from the bus! And you DID have an erection!!! 0/0/+11
  (37/6/54)
• Callie Attenborough: You have an erection right now! And she can see Sweeney’s nipples are stiff, oh my god! This is really happening, you’re gonna fuck Sweeney and then you’re gonna fuck her!!! +6/0/20 (43/6/74)

  ---

Your hands tighten on the phone, you shift in your seat, and you close your eyes for a few seconds. SELF-CONTROL.

• Callie Attenborough: That wasn’t as enthusiastic as she was expecting from a guy being offered a threesome. -1/0/-1 (42/6/73)
• Callie Attenborough: You’re yelling at her. -4/-1/0 (38/5/73)
• Callie Attenborough: She said she wasn’t a bully, and instead of agreeing, or reassuring her that you knew she meant well, you pointed out that she made Sweeney cry. -1/-1/-5 (37/4/68)
• Callie Attenborough: She knows that it’s her fault, she knows that she might have fucked up your life, but it still hurts her feelings when you talk to her like that. -3/0/0 (34/5/68)
• Callie Attenborough: Is relieved that you’ve calmed down. +2/+2/0 (36/6/68)
• Callie Attenborough: You keep interrupting her. -4/-1/0 (32/5/68)
• Callie Attenborough: You’re nine inches taller than her and at first she thought that was sexy but now you’re making her nervous. -8 /-1 /-12 (24/4/56)
• Callie Attenborough: Is actually a little uncomfortable with the idea of being fucked in the ass, even if you were the one doing it and even if it would be while she’s licking Sweeney’s pussy. 0/0/-1 (24/4/55)
• Callie Attenborough: Feels bad for you that you don’t think you’re handsome. 0/+2/0 (24/6/55)
• Callie Attenborough: You apologized for being rude to her, even though it was her fault. +8/+2/0 (32/8/55)
• Callie Attenborough: You said ‘please’. +1/+1/0 (33/9/55)
• Callie Attenborough: Realizes that she trusts you. She really does. +3/+6/0 (36/15/55)
• Callie Attenborough: You accept that she’s bi. +1/+5/0 (37/20/55)
• Callie Attenborough: You didn’t freak out when you found out she’s fucking her mom. 0/+6/+2 (37/26/78)
• Callie Attenborough: You admitted to lying to her. Yes, it was for a good reason, but still. -1/-1 /0 (36 /25/57)
• Callie Attenborough: Has a very strong image in her head of you sniffing and licking her naked body all over. 0/0/+16 (36/25/73)
• Callie Attenborough: On the one hand, you have principles and she admires that. On the other hand, it makes her feels bad about not being a better person. -1/+1/0 (35/26/73)
• Callie Attenborough: Feels really nice and safe telling you about what she wants emotionally. 0/+3/0 (35/29/73)
• Callie Attenborough: You didn’t freak out when you found out she’s fucking her sister. 0/+3/+1 (35/32/74)
• Callie Attenborough: That’s not the first time you said something that made her feel dumb, and you’re right, and she knows you’re not trying to, but she doesn’t like it. -1/0/0 (34/32/74)
• Callie Attenborough: How can you not remember that amazing conversation! -1/-4/0 (33/28/74)
• Callie Attenborough: You do remember, but now she’s confused. 0/+3/0 (33/31/74)
• Callie Attenborough: You care if she’s going to be okay. +1/+2/0 (34/33/74)
• Callie Attenborough: Asked you on a date, and you didn’t say ‘no’. It wasn’t ‘yes’, but it also wasn’t ‘no’. +1/+2/0 (35/35/74)
• Callie Attenborough: Oh my god, that hug! +5/+5/+4 (40/40/78)
• Callie Attenborough: Can feel your erection rubbing against her. 0/0/+10 (40/40/88)

  ---

And then, just as you expected:

• Callie Attenborough: Oh, I needed that. 0/0/-11 (43/40/77)
• Callie Attenborough: Oh, I needed that. 0/0/-17 (43/40/60)

  ---

No points, though, not for Callie or Sweeney, because neither of them had an Affection score above 50. You wonder if the Probability of Success affects how many points you get.

You also wonder what exactly changes in the Lust score mean. Maybe if you look at the profiles for some of the less-likely prospects, like Shondra or Tessa…

… although you don’t want to get too caught up in the Multiplier and miss your stop like you did yesterday.

You flip to the route planner app, but then your phone screen blinks and a message appears:

1% CHARGE REMAINING. CONNECT YOUR PHONE TO A POWER SOURCE.

WHAT?!? How could –

… wait, shit, that’s right – the last time you charged your phone was before you spent four hours playing Quantum Sperm Probability Eraser. Dammit.

No point getting upset about it. First things first, you check the bus route… okay, nine more stops. You memorize the street names.

(An alert comes through from the Multiplier: Callie’s had orgasm #3, and is down to 52 Lust.)

Next, you open the messenger app.

And, actually, since you have the chat open, you might as well ask…

– and then your phone shuts off.

You reflexively try to turn it back on, and feel like an idiot for doing so.

Well, you weren’t really planning to interact with anyone else for the duration of the bus ride.

You wonder – the Multiplier said it’s “always on” – or “always present”, actually. Does that mean it’ll keep affecting things even though your phone is dead?

Probably, although now you’re wondering what would happen if you let your laptop and smartwatch go dead too.

… oh fuck, your watch! You’ve had the smartwatch less than a week (it was on sale, and you were very confident you’d be getting a promotion and a raise), so you’re not used to wearing it yet, and you’re reasonably sure it’s currently under Tammy’s living room sofa.

You try to turn your phone on so you can see what time it is, and feel like an idiot again.

The bus slows to a stop, and five very attractive women get on. It feels like the universe is taunting you. Over the next several stops, they get off one by one; you briefly make eye contact with three of them, but aside from that there’s no interaction. Probably the Multiplier hasn’t noticed them, even assuming it can notice people when the phone is dead.

As the last one gets off the bus, you watch her leave – she’s got a great ass, and is wearing a very low-cut blouse – and wonder what you would’ve done if you’d had access to the Multiplier just now.

Well. Probably nothing, to be honest. A crowded bus in the middle of the day isn’t the best place to start a conversation with a pretty girl.

For a moment, you try to imagine what it’d be like to be someone who doesn’t get shy and quiet around big groups of strangers. It feels… it feels weird, and unpleasantly different from who you are as a person.

Maybe Tammy and Molly and Penelope and Sigrid and Eleanor are enough. Maybe you shouldn’t try for more.

Well. Molly would definitely be heartbroken if you don’t take Sonia. So, six girlfriends. Tammy, Molly, Penelope, Sigrid, Eleanor, Sonia. As for Olga and Maggie and Belinda… maybe you should let them go.

Maybe.

It might be nice to take another look at Belinda and Maggie’s profiles, actually… and again you feel like an idiot when you try to turn your phone on.

You check the street names. Two more stops.

You gaze out the window. There are pretty girls on the sidewalk – some Molly’s age, some your age, some Tammy’s age, some Sweeney’s age (assuming ‘girl’ is appropriate for someone who’s 40) – but so what? You’re meeting Penelope soon. Thinking about her makes you feel warm inside.

You’re positive she’ll get along great with Tammy and Molly, and not just in a sexual way… although you haven’t checked her sexual history… you know she has an ex-husband so obviously she’s not a virgin, and she was fantasizing about licking Tammy’s juices off your cock, but now you’re wondering if –

– god dammit, that’s four times you’ve tried to turn your phone on! Well, at least the frustration made it easier to stop having an erection. Thank god nobody was looking. Self-control. Self-control.

You put your phone in your pocket to avoid further temptation, then pull the REQUESTED STOP cord. A minute later, the bus slows to a halt, and you’re able to stand up without embarrassing yourself.

As you get off the bus and head for the mall, you feel like checking to see if you’re still on time, but manage to not pull your phone out of your pocket. Besides, there are clock displays here.

… okay, great, you’re actually a little early!

It’s the middle of the lunchtime rush, so there are a lot more people in the food court than yesterday. And you can’t contact Penelope to let her know you’ve arrived. But just like yesterday, “very tall long-haired redhead” should be relatively easy to spot.

You make your way over to approximately where you and Penelope were sitting yesterday, and crane your neck, trying to pick her out of the crowd.

Then you hear a scream.