Playing

Both left the school. Light clouds blocked the sun's rays, giving the afternoon a faint grayish light. The air was cold. You had been talking for a while, waiting for the bus.

"And would you prefer dismantling, my dear?"

She thought about it for a few seconds.

"No, but I would like the freedom to dismantle myself."

"Interesting. They say suffering is the first freedom one has and suicide the last."

"..."

2B was transfixed watching a guy across the sidewalk.

"What's the matter?" you asked.

"Nothing, it's just that... in my past life, I knew him."

You saw him. An adult in his, what, 20s? 30s? Hard to tell from that distance. He was walking nonchalantly while eating some kind of bread. It didn't take long for him to turn the corner and disappear from your views.

"For your own good, I have to remind you," you told her, "that you're no longer alive. And now you know me."

You smiled, trying to make the moment wholesome, but her face remained subdued.

"And only you," she said weakly.

The bus arriving in front of you broke the scene.

It was initially crowded, but didn't take long for it to empty enough so you could sit together.

Her gaze and your gaze struggled shyly to not meet each other.

A few people got off, leaving the bus almost empty.

Perfect moment.

You stared at her. Seconds passed. She turned to look at you.

Neither of you tolerated eye contact for long.

“We-

“I'll-

“…”

“…”

"You first," 2B said.

"No, you first."

She sighed and lowered her head for a few moments. "Do you want me to explain?"

"Yes, please."

"Well, listening how my other selves were treated like... mere products, I came to consider that you were not so bad at heart. I mean, even though you've been quite the asshole to me, you still bought me clothes, tried to give me some space, and I can't believe I'm saying this but: at least I wasn't ****. However, when I heard that Harley admit that she would consider fucking her owner, my perspective changed. Knowing me, I knew she was doing it out of desperation, or out of some sense of justice. In this case, I'm not sure if you did those nice things because you really care about me or because you just want to fuck me. Seeing how you clenched your fists when you heard her answer made me hesitate. If you fucked me tomorrow, would you behave the same or worse?

I owe you nothing. You control my life, but I owe you nothing. You've been decent enough to treat me as a person, or rather, a hostage, but you have yet to prove me that you're good enough to deserve your grade."

That last annoyed you plenty.

"Alright. First, you don't prove me <<good enough>> or <<deserving>> of shit. Second, this is a master and **** relationship. Respecting your <<feelings>>, which, I remind you, are mere lines of code, is my voluntary choice. I mean, what exactly could you do to put up resistance?"

"Nothing."

"Exactly."

"I mean literally nothing; to be motionless, speechless, and with my eyes closed, all day, every day. Do you forget that your grade is partially dependent on me? I have noticed that you take a certain pleasure in my moderate and perpetual suffering. If I become unreactive, I deny you your pleasure and you fail your grade; in other words, even if you **** me, you lose."

"And you forget that I have total control over your body? Go ahead, try being unresponsive while I increase the sensitivity of your cock to 500%, making the mere contact with air cause you to orgasm."

"Do it. It'll be hell the first few times, but I'll get used to it. Eventually you'll need to increase those percentages to make me react, until you reach a point where you can't escalate any further. You lose anyway."

"That would work, assuming you could get used to every **** sensation before the course was over. You and I both know that's not gonna happen."

"I-DON'T-CARE. I will resist as long as I can, I will fight my own body again and again rather than give in to you. It's the last power I have left, and I'll use it."

"So you want to play the brat? Sounds good to me. I can fuck you as soon as we get home and teach you your true purpose in life. Whether you like it or not, who's gonna care? Who's going to help you?"

"You've already lost. **** me and I'll do nothing but resist and hate you for the rest of my life."

"It's your choice. With a few simple words I can drive you crazy with pleasure. Do you really want to spend the rest of your existence like this?"

"Try me, what do I have left to lose?"

"Your sanity, for one."

"Well, if I go crazy you fail your grade. Try again, what do I have left to lose?"

"Your life."

"So I am alive."

"..."

She smirked.

"That doesn't change anything anyway."

She put her hand on your shoulder and brushed back a lock of hair.

The sun shone unusually bright for a few moments, illuminating her beauty before your naked eyes.

She said:

"Dear..."

She looked at you. You looked at her. Her hand soft, warm, firm, threatening, arousing.

"...If you fuck me arriving home, all our time together will have been for nothing.”

"..."

"I'm giving you a real chance."

"..."

You went deeper and deeper into her gaze. The time between words grew longer. She was paying attention that every syllable that came out of her mouth was understood.

"Are you sure...?"

“…”

“…You want to go that way?”

“…”

"We're still going to dinner tonight, aren't we?"

You couldn't tear your eyes away from hers no matter how much you wanted to. You entered her game of syllables.

"Yes."

"And will it be pretty?"

"..."

"..."

"It depends."

"..."

"..."

"On what?"

"Am I still on a tightrope?"

"Of course."

"Then let's treat each other nice, what do you say?" you patted her head lightly. Her hair between your fingers.

"I like the idea."

"Is it a date?"

"Ehhh... No."

"What would you like to have for dinner... my dear?"

"Surprise me. Let's see if you know how to treat a lady."

You smiled broadly.

"I don't. I've never treated one..."

"That's fine..."

"...But I've played with toys before."

Her face turned cold. She took her hand off your shoulder and you took yours off her head.

Both of you arrived home...

And everything went back to normal.