Let's run back the tape on that.

"...just curious how much is gonna, you know, be left," Tilda finished with a coy smile. Matt suddenly found himself nursing a small crush. His wife stared past him, completely oblivious. He searched her eyes for any flicker of intelligence, but she was lost in her own world.

"Not much," Matt muttered. "But you sound like you've already made up your mind. So why are you here?"

Tilda grinned and put her hands up. "Busted! I thought she was hot and I wanted to fuck with her."

"So you pretended you were going to get the booster so you could 'fuck with' my wife?" Matt asked angrily.

"Oh, no, you misunderstand," she told him as she took Penny's hand in hers. She led the smiling woman to the kitchen. Penny moved slowly and gracefully, her eyes vacant. "I'm going to get the booster for sure. And I really was curious about it too! I just mostly wanna fuck with your wife. Take my executive function out for one last night out on the town before I, you know..." Tilda trailed off as she mimed an icepick lobotomy.

"Christ, that's a lot." Matt was stunned. "But I guess, I mean, you can probably-"

He paused abruptly and looked at her thoughtfully, then started laughing. She laughed too. Penny continued to stare at the wall behind her. Tilda wondered what, if anything, was going through her head.

Matt had gotten out a bottle of bourbon and was pouring two shots. "I'm sorry, I forgot who I was talking to for a moment," he said as he held one out.

"Th-" Tilda had barely opened her mouth when Matt threw the drink in her face. She spluttered and gasped, caught completely off guard. Her makeup ran and whiskey dripped from her hair. She looked at him with shock and noted distantly that Penny was giggling at her.

"What was that for?" she asked.

Matt tipped back his own shot and slammed the glass on the counter. "Did it bother you? Don't answer, I know it didn't. You're talking about your brain like you're gonna miss it, but you won't be able to. Just like you can't be mad that I threw my drink in your fucking face, you brain-damaged husk. I'm talking to you like you're a real person, that somewhere in there-" he tapped her forehead, "-is a human being. But there's not, and if you stay it's because I want to see it. It is not an act of kindness, it is not for you, it is completely selfish so don't you think for a fucking second you can relate to me."

"Fuck me," Tilda said and turned to Penny. "Is he always like this?"

Penny stared through her. Matt handed her a glass of whiskey. "You wanna see what it's like? Throw it in her face."

Tilda shrugged and did as she was told. Pennies eyes alit with surprise and she jumped slightly before settling back down with her eyes closed.

"That's what it's like. It's like being a zombie. She's just sitting there and being happy. That's all she can do anymore."

Tilda was almost unbearably horny. She was turned on just by being near a boosted, and that description sent her into overdrive. She took Penny's hand in her left and Matt's in her right and led them to the bedroom. Penny kept her eyes closed, her face placid and serene as the moon. Tilda guided her to the bedside and the three stood facing one another. She still hadn't uttered a word.

"I'll make you a deal," she told Matt. His expression of surprise turned into laughter.

"For what?" he asked. "What could you possibly have to offer me?"

"This," she said as she removed her shirt in one motion. Without a bra, her tits jiggled as she spoke. "Me."

"What, you're gonna have sex with me?"

"No, not just that," she said patiently. "After the booster. You can have me."

He was shocked. "You mean, like... you? Like, be your master?"

She blushed. "Closer to a caretaker. But that includes sexual privileges. I'm consenting now and you know I'll consent then."

"But... what about the farm?" Low-functioning boosteds without a designated caretaker were generally relegated to publicly-funded facilities nicknamed "farms." They did the basic minimum to ensure the boosteds were healthy and comfortable, which for many of them wasn't much. Not all patients were low-functioning, though; a popular series of detective novels had been written by a boosted man from a farm.

"That's the default, but I don't care. It won't make any difference to me whether I'm here or at the farm. You can start yourself a little harem! Plus you get all kinds of kickbacks for taking care of boosteds. And all I want in return is some time with your lady friend here. Not private time, you can watch or participate. You set the rules and boundaries and I'll follow 'em and at the end, you get yourself another hot sexdoll."

Matt was taken completely aback. He looked to Penny and saw nothing. He opened his mouth to speak and-

"Cold!"