Game night

For the last three classes, Ivy and James sat next to each other as they often did, though their endless flirting was halved from their usual amount. Ivy ended up answering questions in classes that she never would've normally known, but Lucas's presence in her really did have an effect. James was stunned, as he found himself having discussions about mathematics and physics just like he normally would with Lucas. It made sense with Lucas partly in control of Ivy's body, but in the fifty-fifty mix, it meant it was still both Ivy and Lucas together, in a partnership that surprised even them. Ivy at times seemed surprised after a discussion--the fact that certain things were clicking for her was the product of two minds together. All in all, the result was actually an incredibly intelligent person pulling off of the strengths of two, it seemed.

But, Ivy and Lucas seemed to like this mix, more than James would've expected. She seemed pretty happy, going so far as to wrap an arm around James at the end of the day, willing to again pretend to be just Ivy the girlfriend for appearance's sake, more relaxed from the morning, or even from the lunch hour. Ivy even went so far as to give James a quick kiss this time.

"So, what are we gonna do tonight, Ivy?" a pleasantly surprised James asked, choosing to forget about Lucas for a bit. "Probably get that mask recharging, then you want to come over to my place for a movie?"

Ivy fidgeted. "Actually, would you mind if I kept it on? The battery can handle it, I can charge it overnight. I just... I'm feeling pretty good like this. Part of me doesn't want to watch stuff on that tiny hospital TV tonight, and the other part of me kind of is still on a bit of a high from answering all those questions today. My parents are out of town for the weekend, let's get some food from Taco Zone and head there to play some games?"

Ivy wasn't much of a gamer, but Lucas definitely was. She had always been **** to play anything, but it seems like this was sounding more like a typical game night with Lucas than a date night with Ivy...

Even so, James nodded. "Yeah, sure, let's do it. What are you thinking, that puzzle game you got earlier?"

"Uh," Ivy blinked a little. "Maybe more like Call of Honor?"

Now that was a surprise. James didn't realize just how much his girlfriend was changing in preference due to Lucas's influence. That was the dream, though, right? Having Ivy finally sharing some interests of his own? But, it didn't matter. They could play anything, because James was secretly looking forward to testing out the Hilda AI without their knowledge. He had hoped that Ivy would want to keep this mask on for this very reason, even though he wasn't going to admit it! While he was happy with Ivy as his girlfriend, James had seen an opportunity with this augmented version of her, even if he was hesitant to say it.

James drove Ivy to get tacos for dinner--not her typical choice, but it sounded good to everyone. Ivy seemed pleasantly surprised by Lucas's influence in picking out food, or her tastes had been modified by him, or something, it was hard to say. But she really dug in once the duo made it back to Ivy's house, slipping inside. Ivy's family had a fairly large place, with a whole home theater room that was her dad's pride and joy and he rarely let anyone in. So naturally, that was the best place to hook up the Hideki Snap for some games!

Soon, James and Ivy were on the couch, running through the war simulator. Ivy wasn't as talented as Lucas was, with only half of his influence. "Hey, uh, James? You said you could adjust the mix? I want to win a match for once, put me at like... ninety percent Luke for this next round."

"Yeah, sure thing. Hilda, change the mix to ninety percent. How does that feel?" James asked.

Hilda's AI beeped in affirmation, but Ivy blinked. "How does what feel? You didn't do anything yet, bud."

James tilted his head, and then remembered. He put awareness off in this Half-Doll mode, and Hilda was one of the things Ivy and Lucas were made to ignore! So even that command was apparently stripped from their awareness. "Uh, right, guess I didn't. AscendOS, mix at ninety percent. How's that?"

The command didn't actually do anything, but it satisfied Ivy, who was grinning like an idiot. "Thanks, yeah, I feel it now! Let's crush some randos."

James and Ivy suddenly saw their win rate increase in online mode, enough that they could just chat casually throughout the match. "So, uh, Lucas, how's it feeling so far?"

"What, like, being a girl? It's not too weird, not when mixed with Ivy. It was tough in the morning, but now that we've got this mixed mode, it feels so much more comfortable, even if I've got some of her mannerisms and stuff. Like, the boobs are distracting and stuff, but after your little fondle session at lunch I've been pretty used to them now. But everyone looks and talks to me differently. I expect that from Ivy's friends like Beth and stuff, but I'm getting used to the way you look at me."

"The way I do?" James asked, curious, though he wasn't quite done. "Hilda, come sit on my lap."

Ivy stood up briefly from the couch, stepping toward James and sitting Ivy right down on his lap, but Lucas and the hint of Ivy still present in the mix didn't even seem to register the change in position, as James wrapped his arm around her waist to grab at the controller again, while Ivy kept playing normally. "Yeah, you look at your girlfriend differently than your best friend. You're not sneaking glances at Lucas's chest or ass all day. Not that I can blame you, Ivy looks great and she likes your attention. But it took me time to resign myself to the reality that I can't keep you from your girlfriend. Truth be told, that time earlier was pretty nice... I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime. I'm happy to share, as you know! Just, I need time to get used to it.

The match ended, and James and Ivy was on the third place team. James set his controller aside for a moment, realizing he wasn't focusing much on the match anymore with Ivy sitting in his lap. Ivy squirmed a bit, feeling James's erection under her ass, but any sensory information from one of the results of a command to the Hilda AI was either discarded or explained away somehow in the algorithms, it wasn't totally obvious. It didn't matter to James, he wanted to see more of it, getting even more excited as his breathing quickened. Using Hilda like this felt like the same dangerous thrill that one might have for trying to secretly have sex in public, or going through someone's things without their knowledge. If Ivy or Lucas realized what James was going to make her do, James was convinced that Ivy would be livid. That only made it even more exciting...

"Hilda, remove your clothes down to the panties."

The match was waiting for other players to join, so Hilda stood the body up, unbuttoning her blouse again deftly, with incredible speed. "Hey, you think we'll have to know about that cyclometric function stuff for the math test next week? I think I need to study up on that more, I kept getting getting the tangent of arcsine and arccosine mixed up I think. Do you get it?"

Ivy slipped off the blouse, tossing it down, and then her chest bounced free with a swift adjustment of her bra. She still kept her back to James, focused on the screen, while she slipped out of her skirt and then socks.

"Uh, yeah, I get it. You have to just remember the table for sine, cosine, and tangent. Since the arcsine of sine is x and the same is true for cosine and arccosine, and tangent is sine over cosine, that'll help you remember if x is on the top or bottom."

Ivy sat back down in James's lap, now dressed in barely anything, just her black panties, picking up her controller. "Oh yeah, that makes sense. Wow, for some reason it didn't click until just now, thanks Jim!"

"No problem. Hey, what time is it?"

"I dunno," Ivy said.

James realized he shouldn't have asked Ivy that question, with no watch on her. "Hilda, what time is it?"

"Seven forty-two," Hilda made Ivy reply cheerily.

Still a lot of time in the evening to try things further. James kept prodding at the AI. "Hilda, instead of asking you to do something, can I ask you to make the minds just ignore something?"

"Affirmative," came the quick reply. That was promising.

"And, what if I ask you to do something that totally disrupts an activity the minds are focused on?"

It took a moment for Hilda to respond, as she searched her information banks while Ivy started playing in her next match. "For some activities, their thoughts will simply freeze until my task is completed and they return to their normal activity. Otherwise, the algorithm will compensate by providing stimulus to rationalize certain behaviors, or to essentially provide false stimulus like a hallucination. Basically, you can interrupt any task and the Ascend headgear will assure the minds are not affected so long as awareness is off."

"Ah, damn it," Ivy suddenly said, once Hilda had finished her explanation. "You gotta get back in for next round, James, this team is killing me! Literally!"

James wasn't exactly interested in playing any more games. He was thinking about what to do first with this AI control while he had the opportunity to do so..!