Jonny, loyalty extractor from birth.

Jonny yawned and stood, noting groggily that it was after 11. He glanced at the women's clothes strewn around the room and grimaced, then picked up his phone and opened an app. After navigating a few menus, he tapped a toggle to enable Mask Mode.

It was strange how the nurses in the maternity ward always tended to him first.

Exiting his house, Jonny saw the familiar sight of Mrs. Weathers next door. She scowled at him and Jonny tried to forget that she would take a bullet to save him from a paper cut. He made his way up the driveway and glanced up and down the mostly-deserted suburban street.

The other kids started giving him their allowance. Concerned, their parents reached out. After speaking with Jonny, they all increased their children's allowances.

Jonny sighed wearily and crossed the street. He knocked on the door of the row house opposite his and after a very calculated delay, his neighbor Lily opened it. She performed mild irritation flawlessly as she asked him what he wanted.

"Keep doing what you're doing. I'll reach out if I need anything." By his sophomore year of college, Jonny had spoken this simple phrase thousands of times.

"Drop the mask," he told Lily. She immediately complied, her body language softening into an inviting pose and a smile spreading across her features. She invited him in and he accepted.

He could achieve peace on earth. Probably. But Jonny didn't want to draw too much attention to himself. If his nature ever became publicly known to people not under his sway, he'd spend the rest of his life cowering in terror every time the buzz of a distant drone entered his hearing.

"You've gotten better," he told Lily as she wiped her mouth and rose. She smiled gratefully and went to wash up. She didn't bother offering him anything to eat or drink; at this point everyone knew that all he had to do was ask. As she came back from the bathroom, her body barely concealed under the skimpy negligee he'd had designed for her, she settled in next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Jonny tried to pretend, just for a moment, that this was a gesture of genuine affection. He looked down at her and she smiled adoringly at him. The illusion shattered and he told her to make him an omelet.