Shopping

After your shower, and after grooming yourself for the first time since you last had human interaction, you and the girls had some Chinese takeout for lunch. They complimented how you trimmed and shaped your beard, and Cassie even said you looked handsome. You noticed she was blushing when she said it, and it conjured fantastical thoughts in your head that this girl might actually be into you. In return, you complimented them on the job well done in getting the place cleaned.

During lunch, you talked about their first year in college and how it went for them. It was mostly taking General Education classes and volleyball practice. You were surprised to learn they’ve kept contact with each other when Cassie and her mom moved out, and how they were both ecstatic to reunite when they learned that they both got accepted as varsity volleyball recruits for the same college.

Cassie told you that her mom was probably going to spend her summer with her new pro-baller boyfriend in a different country, which resulted in Stella inviting Cassie to stay with you and her for the summer.

You told them how your next book was practically finished, but still asked your publisher to move the publication date for personal reasons, which they fully agreed to as they sympathized with your situation — but it also meant you had nothing to really do for months and that was partly why they saw you in the state you were in just this morning.

Cassie also mentioned that she missed your cooking, how she fondly remembers the dishes you made for her and your family back when you were still babysitting her. With that suggestion, the three of you agree that they’ll continue the clean-up of the apartment while you go shop for groceries.

You went to your barber first, since you didn’t want to continue looking like a mess while you were out; then proceeded to the grocery store. With all your tasks done, you’re now inside your car with the groceries loaded in the back, and you’re staring at your phone once again. It’s working perfectly fine now, after you charged it’s battery while having lunch, and the Affection Multiplier just looks like any other app on your phone.

With everything that’s happened after lunch, you’re definitely starting to accept the idea, albeit slowly, that this thing might be real and might be magic. You try to recall every indication that this thing could be the real deal:

First, the moment you plugged it into a charger earlier, you noticed that the battery was at 0% and charging, but the Affection Multiplier was still functional. The phone really wasn’t on, and you could still access the app.

Second, all Stella could see when you first tried showing the app to her earlier was a black screen because your phone was off.

Third, when you tried showing it to her again after lunch before you left, and while the app was on her profile page, you showed your phone screen to her asking her “What do you think?” to be as vague as possible, and she told you she thought it was sweet that her photo as a kid was your wallpaper.

Fourth, when you showed the same page to Cassie after she was curious about Stella’s remark, she also could only see your wallpaper and not the Affection Multiplier page that was open. Which leads you to the conclusion that you’re the only one who can see this thing, and you’re stone-cold sober now. No way you’re hallucinating this.

Fifth, the folder for “Recent Interactions” before you left to buy groceries added a profile for Tanya Ramirez.

- Ramirez, Antonia - Affection Score: 41. (+13)

Lust Score: 67. (+19)

So she’s a good friend who has no romantic feelings for you, but probably would come on to you given the chance. Knowing Tanya, you wouldn’t think that’s too far-fetched from reality. Hell, she practically came on to you earlier today already. Which makes her score the most believable one you’ve seen today.

So if this thing has one score that’s not completely unbelievable, and Stella practically admitted earlier that her 100 Affection Score reflects what she felt, doesn’t that mean Cassie’s scores are around the realm of possibility too?

- Jones, Cassandra - Affection Score: 86. (+4)

Love Score: 29 (+7)

Lust Score: 57 (+28)

You’re not sure how to interpret that Affection Score since it doubled after one interaction earlier; but, then again, it is possible she had the perception of you as a trusted parental figure before she moved out and it only decayed over time due to not seeing you, but resurged after seeing you again… Okay, a bit of a stretch but not entirely impossible.

If that’s the case, that means she has a teenage infatuation with you to the point of wanting to go steady, and also probably has thoughts of banging you. Again, both not outside the realm of possibility; especially after noticing how she looks at you sometimes.

With all that being said, you decide it’s time to test how magical this thing might actually be; which is why you’re staring at the glossary for Traits which you unlocked after maxing Stella’s Affection score.

-Traits: By buying Traits, you can artificially add qualities and characteristics to yourself or someone you know. These Traits do not completely alter the personality of a person, but are integrated in a seamless way to mix with their natural idiosyncrasy.

-Example: If you buy the Trait “Loves Dogs” for a person who hates dogs, this individual will not simply start loving dogs, but will slowly come to the realization that dogs are not so bad, then they will like them, then they will love them. The period of time for this change varies depending on the trait and the person it’s bought for.

There are 3 types of traits:

-Friendship Traits: They’re bought using Friendship Points. They affect friendly relationships and social characteristics.

-Romantic Traits: They’re bought using Love Points. They affect romantic relationships and intimate interactions.

-Sexual Traits: They’re bought using Lust Points. They affect sexual relationships and fetishes.

You can cancel any trait’s effect at any time, but you won’t get a point refund. For more information, read each Trait’s description.

-Friendship, Love, and Lust Points: You earn 50 points each time you reach a score of 50 in any progress bar with a different person for the first time.

Available points: 150 Friendship points / 0 Love points / 100 Lust points

Yeah, that makes sense. Based on the given example, about the “Loves Dogs” trait, it gave you an idea to test if this thing could be real or not. In the Traits Catalogue, when you sorted it by Most Recommended, you found exactly what you were looking for.

-Non-smoker (10 pts): You form the habit of not smoking. Any smokers who acquire this trait will eventually quit for good without suffering from any physiological side-effects during the transition.

If you buy this for yourself and for Stella, and you both quit cold turkey, you wouldn’t deny it any longer. Magic is real, and you’ve been given a way to utilize it.

You buy the trait for both you and Stella. You appreciate the fact that this magical app treats Trait buying with seriousness, since it asked you to confirm twice if you were sure about what you were purchasing. You’ve checked the other recommended traits that you can currently afford, and the Non-smoker trait’s probably the cheapest and most practical way to test if this magic is real or not. Best case scenario, magic is real and you just found a painless way for you and your daughter to quit a vice; worst case scenario is that you’re losing your mind. Seems like a fair trade.

Having thought it through, you confirmed twice both times that you’re buying the traits for you and your daughter. With that, the app updates your points:

Available points: 130 Friendship points / 0 Love points / 100 Lust points

No turning back now. You start your car’s engine and drive home.

Author’s Note(s): The glossary for Traits, the explanation for the different points and how the point system works are all from Fantasy’s David Walker branch.

I am aware of the issue of introducing a Trait to someone without their consent, and I will hopefully address that in-story some other time in the future (Although I have a general plan, I’m writing this as I go along so not sure when that’ll happen, but I do hope to address it). As for now, I decided to use a trait that wouldn’t be too controversial to **** on someone. I have nothing against smoking as I’m a smoker myself, but my parents definitely prefer I wasn’t; and I hopefully gave a solid enough hint in the previous chapter that Stella just started smoking recently as a coping mechanism, and not something she actively wishes she was doing.

Editor’s note: From my standpoint consent is a non-issue in these stories. Real life is different. And as a nicotine addict myself if there were a magical way to quit I’d take it in a heartbeat.

On another note, no author has had me this excited to be an editor in a long time. I’m loving where this is going and can’t wait for more

~W.