The Counters Squad Commander is granted a new mission

"New message from: Andersen"

"Central's got something new for you. It's so top-secret, even the Big Three haven't been briefed on it."

"Even I haven't been given all of the details."

"I'm sending you a link to the software via BlahBlah. Download it and install immediately."

"This goes without saying, but don't tell anyone you've installed this."

"Go somewhere private before you get started."

Privacy wasn't easily obtained for the leader of the Counters Squad. While to all eyes, this squad commander appeared to be an unremarkable young man with the same uniform as every other commander in the league, this particular soldier had been making waves, taking on special tasks left and right for the Big Three corporations. In actuality, his maneuvers had given him a high status, even in the eyes of the Central Government. It wasn't unusual for him to be assigned Nikke for operations even outside of his Counters expedition team.

All of that to say: with the eyes of the government, the corporations, and his own Nikke on him, it was difficult to find a single place he could go without other people's prying eyes. The Chief Commander, Andersen, wasn't the kind of guy he could afford to keep waiting, so he picked out the best place he could for a rare bit of privacy: the shower inside the Commander's Quarters. Even that wasn't always guaranteed to be empty. He was a little more lax... well, a lot more lax than the other commanders, and it wasn't uncommon for the Nikke under his command to slip into his room to make use of his private restroom.

"What is it this time?" the young man muttered to himself, locking the door for both decency's sake and for the requisite privacy. He couldn't help but be suspicious the moment Andersen mentioned this top-secret software. After all, nothing good came out of the secret machinations of the government. This was likely some sort of experimental weapon or prototype-- and unlikely to be anything developed with any code of ethics in mind. Still, orders were orders. There was only so far he could step out of line before he risked endangering those he worked with.

The app turned out to be something completely different than he'd expected. "Custom Girls... Like Nikke?" he wondered out loud, disarmed by the colorful screen and pop music that started playing when the app opened. "Is this something intended to optimize their performance?" It was purely a guess, but he had no reason to be concerned when he clicked to start the app.

That carefree attitude of his evaporated as suddenly, a figure popped into existence next to him, occupying the extremely cramped space of the bathroom so that she stood above him, looking down at where he was sitting with his pants around his ankles on the toilet. The woman was tall with lengthy black hair, vibrantly red skin, and gleaming pink eyes. Two massive horns curled from her forehead and her body was starkly nude, with an hourglass figure, the type Nikke often tended to have... Though, while they usually dressed provocatively, it was rare to find oneself staring right into their breasts like this.

"Who..." the commander began, pulling his pants up to cover his exposed groin, before the new woman reached down and covered his lips with one finger.

"Welcome to Custom Girls, Sweetie. I can knock out a lot of your questions real quickly, if you'll give me a minute."

The commander shook his head free, then raised his eyebrows. "You're a Nikke, right? How did you get into the outpost without being noticed?" He wasn't on edge, having a trusting nature when it came to women, but he was baffled.

"... Let's say I am a Nikke. That makes things easier," the demonic figure chuckled in a sultry voice, swishing back and forth a triangle-pointed, whip-like tail with clear amusement. "You can call me Lilith. And like all Nikke, I have powers. My powers, however, are weakened in their current state. To reach my full potential, I require you to use that app: Custom Girls."

"Like the Synchro Station..." the commander mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"... You lost me. This is quite different than that, I assure you," she laughed. "It will be easiest to show you. Do you still have phone games in this time period?"

"Yes, actually."

"Excellent! This is like one of those. You'll see that you currently have one gem, with a maximum stock of 100," the succubus explained, allowing her tail to wrap around and point to the spot on the screen. "These are your spending currency, with which you can issue customization. The targets of the customization must be the women who surround you. You'll find you can change their appearance and behavior in all sorts of delightful ways! Think of it as 'upgrading,' but with the added benefit that you can customize their bodies and personalities in all sorts of entertaining ways. I'm sure a guy like you can figure out what you'd like to do."

"... There's no way I'd do that without discussing it with them first," the young man gulped. He'd talked back enough to dangerous Nikke to know that rarely were their propositions something he could just opt out of.

The succubus's bemused smirk showed him that this probably wasn't such a case either. "It's a command from your government, you know? Listen: I am an extremely powerful entity, older than any of the 'Raptures' that now command the surface. Think of me as a multidimensional being." The woman's fangs glistened as she continued, spreading her grin wide. "Reclaiming the surface for humanity is easily within my power. Those Raptures and their means of production can easily be swept away. However, it requires my full power, Sweetie. The only way I can reach full power is by harnessing the sexual energies of mankind."

"Can something that convenient really exist?" the commander questioned, then frowned. "Sexual energies? You said 'mankind' but... as human as they might look, the Nikke are mechanical beings following their conversion. Their flesh is--"

"Oh, I'm glad you're thinking about their flesh, but do hush up," Lilith remarked, leaning against the bathroom wall and crossing her arms below her expansive breasts. "Are you honestly telling me you don't think they're harboring any sexual energies? I think we've all seen the way they look at you and you look at them. It's really a one-to-one conversion."

The look on the commander's face, mildly awkward at having his relationship with the Nikke analyzed, encouraged Lilith. She licked her lips, as though getting a taste of an appetizer she'd been craving.

"Their sex drives can feed me, Sweetie. I can do a lot with a little. All you need to do is reprogram them... change them... I'll grow stronger with their delicious humiliation-"

"Humiliation?" the young man questioned, looking skeptical.

"Yes. A small price to pay for everyone's safety, wouldn't you say?" Lilith chuckled. "The default mode while using the app causes the target to be completely unaware of any changes, as will any around them. However, you can use a toggle to switch that, allowing them to be completely aware of the modifications and powerless to stop them, or even to allow everyone else to see those changes in real time! Mmm... That sweet, fragrant flavor of indignity... I can already taste it!"

"You're wrong. What you call a 'small price' is something I can't allow. I'm not going to **** my squadmates for this power of yours. We can find our own way," the commander rejected her appeal.

The succubus narrowed her eyes and grinned, showing more of her sharp teeth. "I thought you might say something like this. You're 'The Hero of the Ark,' aren't you? That means you're always ready with some cheap heroics," she chortled, before pulling out her own phone, seemingly from the same thin air she appeared from, and making a few quick swipes with her fingertip.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just looping in your most loyal Nikke. I'm letting her know-- straight from Central, of course-- that her commander has a prototype technology that will increase humanity's combat preparedness ten-fold. With her cooperation, that is!"

"I'm still not committing to be a part of this-"

"You know what her response was, when I asked if she was prepared to do anything? She said 'yes,' without asking a single question. Her dedication to saving humanity is truly admirable," Lilith cackled, then spread her wings, casting a shadow over the bathroom. "Do you honestly think someone like her would decline this opportunity? She would eagerly cast herself in front of a grenade if it meant helping you. Compared to that... this is so harmless. So simple. So..." the devil paused, leaning forward and whispering into the commander's ear as her breasts brushed up against his arm. "Pleasurable. How rare that duty and love can go hand-in-hand like this! Ha ha ha ha..."

When the commander blinked, the woman was gone. Her sultry words were replaced with a different sound: the noise of one of his Nikke knocking at his door and requesting entry.