There's a vast and insidious conspiracy at play

Neha says nothing, but holds your hand tightly as she pulls you out of Selene's home. You make an attempt to speak up, but she silences you with a look. She's clearly figured out something, something that has troubled her deeply. You continue following her in silence, until she takes you to a small, nearby park. You have many fond memories of this park - in particular, making out with Neha on the bright red benches.

She drags you to one of them, and sits down. She studies your face, looking deeply into your eyes. You involuntarily gulp, causing her to snort. The spell is broken.

"Well..." she says. "That was... " she trails off.

"It was." you agree, earning another snort and a light swat.

She looks away from you, and sighs. Turning back, she speaks.

"Ok. Let's get the hard parts out of the way. Those VR things showed me some wild stuff, and I got super horny. I came a hell of a lot. And I'm guessing that evil hag Selene showed you some of it? Especially the parts with... " here, she blushes again "... Armand?"

You nod, throat dry. She blushes some more, and looks away.

"Look, I ... first, actually, did you use it too? Is that why you were so off yesterday?"

"I did," you reply. "It showed me some stuff as well... involving you..."

"And Armand." she says, guessing correctly, sighing again. "Well... at the very least, let's agree that it's fucking shitty that they're using our friend as a piece of wankbait meat."

You hadn't thought of it that way, but she's absolutely right. You and Armand have been friends practically from the cradle onward - it's infuriating that he's been reduced to an android-dildo by Selene's VR. Just as you're about to say something, Neha speaks again.

"But... the truth is, I do find Armand, especially now, extremely attractive. I... I do... have a a crush on him..."

Your stomach drops at this, and your mouth goes dry.

"But that doesn't matter," Neha says insistently, taking your hands in her. "I capital-L love you. I. Love. You. A small crush means nothing compared to that. It'll go, and we'll barely remember it."

Heart bursting, you lean over and kiss her as hard as you can. With a delighted little mewl, she reciprocates, clutching at your shoulders. When you disengage, her eyes remain closed, and she's smiling softly, still savouring the kiss.

"Woof. That was... yeah." she says dreamily.

You grin. After all, you've still got it.

"But back to business." she says, once more serious. "Selene made a mistake with her little lust traps. She showed me two things that I don't think she really meant to."

You focus on her. This is both fascinating and terrifying.

"The first was that thing with that guy at the cheer competition last year... remember, I told you about that guy who kept flirting with me?"

"Right." you say, a bit miffed. You'd been horribly jealous and angry when she'd told you the story.

Neha rolls her eyes at your expression, but goes on. "Well, how did she find out? There was nothing on social media about that. And here's the best bit. The scene the machine played had a signature*. "

"Fuck." you say. "Any chance it was a spoof?"

"Possibly, but I don't think so. And I'll tell you why. The next mistake she made involved your father and Bimbo++."

"What?" you ask, shocked.

"This past summer, I went to see your dad. For an apology, or something, especially with your birthday coming up at the time. I wanted it to be a surprise, but it didn't go well, to say the least. No one knew except me and your dad, not even the bimbo. Selene's machine showed me a video of that, with the exact words and everything. It was like a scene from a memory or something. And here's the kicker. The camera was tracking your dad, not me."

You sit back, stunned. This is... huge.

"I see you've realized the same things I did." she says, her voice grim.

"How... how did you know the camera was tracking my dad?"

"The focus, the stillness around him and not me. I'm not an expert. But the focus was definitely on him."

"And why did the horror-porno VR show you that?" you ask, dreading the answer.

"To diminish you. To make you seem ungrateful."

"Fuck. That..."

"Slimy bitch?" Neha says, with a raised brow.

"Oh, I was going to say something much worse."

"And she'd deserve it. But you see it now?"

"I do. They've been following both you and my dad for some strange reason. And they want to fuck us up. Maybe..." you trail off, the horrifying possibility making itself known.

"They had something to do with the way your dad left." Neha says, completing your sentence.

"Whoever 'they' is." you grumble.

"Well, on that front, we do have some clues, don't we?" Neha says, a spark of optimism in her voice?

"We do?"

"Well, I have two, and you have one." She says. "The VR machines-" she explains, looking at the blank look on your face. "They were tampered with expertly - and Selene's no expert at that. She also said she'd worked with the company as a consultant." she elaborates.

"Zygmus. Zygmus Enterprises." you say.

"That's the one. And just as I went out to get your clothes - by the way, you look so silly and soooooooo cute in those panties - " she smirks at you, as you grumble under your breath, " anyway, I heard her say something like 'Ira says this improves their odds of success'. So we have two names, Zygmus and Ira." She tilts her head, thinking. "But how do we investigate them? Zygmus is a company, so there will be documents about them. But Ira?"

You pause, before taking a deep breath.

"There's one thing I can do. This morning, Selene - when she showed me your VR thing - she told me... she told me she would help me with my fantasies. All I had to do was go back. If I do, maybe I can find out about Ira."

"What did it show you?" she asks, softly.

"It showed me you. You, getting more pleasure than I think I ever have done. And... part of me wants it for you." you say, shamefacedly.

"You sweet, stupid boy." she says, hugging you firmly. "You're all I need, you know that?"

"I do. But... there are times I do wish I could give you more." b

You and Neha lapse into silence once more.

"I think I have to do it. It's the only way to get information on Ira."

Neha nods, clearly unhappy. "But I think part of whatever sick plan Selene has involves corrupting or ruining us somehow. I don't want to risk you, baby."

"What choice do we have? They're dangerous. They're following you around like they're the CIA or something... you and my father. Will they come after your parents next? My mom? Sarah, or Armand?"

Neha lets out a small, distressed sound. She can't disagree with anything that you're saying. "And I don't think we can go to the cops either. That ass Doherty came by in the morning to check on us. He and Selene seemed quite chummy."

"I assumed as much." you say.

Once again, you lapse into silence. But then, unwanted, an idea bubbles up inside you. A way to perhaps knock Selene off balance. A way to kickstart matters and **** a mistake.

"What if we broke up."

"What." Neha says flatly. Her eyes are narrowing in anger, and she's crossed her arms across her chest.

"Not really... but we could tell people we're on a break, or we're open, until the summer. And we'd be having an affair in secret or something. That way, maybe Selene would be knocked off kilter."

"Your grand plan has a flaw. Couldn't be in secret - they're probably tracking us." she continues, her voice, if anything, even flatter than before.

"But you see the point, you're not denying that." you respond.

"Yes, but just because I see the point, doesn't mean we're going to follow through. It'd be like if a computer told us that we'd help the economy by killing all the poor... we still wouldn't do it, even if it would work."

"But do we have a choice?" you ask.

Neha stands up, seething, She lets out a wordless scream and kicks a nearby tree trunk. She leans on it, breathing heavily, before turning to you. There's an absolutely woeful look on her face.

"You're right," she says, voice wobbly. "But I hate it. I hate that we have to do it."

You get up from the bench and walk to her, and envelop her in a hug.

"I know. But we need to do this."

"Ok. But we need a, I don't know, secret keeper. Someone that we can trust to go to the other and deliver a message. And someone that Zygmus or Selene or Ira or the fucking Illuminati won't suspect." she says. "So that means no parents, no Armand for you, no Sarah for me..."

"Agreed," you say.

"And maybe it's best that we don;t know each others secret keeper. For safety. But the secret keeper should be able to talk to each of us if the other's in trouble."

"I can do that. Set up a bespoke signature for it. And if we need to talk or share info as well."

"So we're committed. Until July then?" Neha asks.

"Sounds about right. At least we'll be able to figure something out by then. Besides, we don't need to start immediately. School will be closed for a few days more."

Neha hugs you again, and you walk out of the park, toward an uncertain future.