Soul Links

This story has been retired in favor of the rebooted version found here: https://chyoa.com/story/Soul-Links-%28Born-Again%29.45144

Author's note: In addition to the Persona games, this story was inspired by The Gamer and The Affection Multiplier. Thanks to the authors who have contributed to those stories and captured my imagination.

Part 1: Introduction

Before his senior year of high school, Leon dreamed of becoming a photographer. That dream ended with the year, and the "D" he received for his Life Photography class. It turned out that no one wanted a loner photography nerd with virtually no social experience taking pictures of them, and he never successfully found a model for the class.

The photography teacher pulled him aside on the last day of class with a grim look and advised him to give up on portrait photography. "Look Leon, you just don't have any people skills. I've known a few socially inept young photographers in my time. They try to themselves to do portrait photography, and you know what? They fail. Always. Why don’t you try out landscape photography instead?”

Leon was painfully aware that people didn't like spending time with him, didn't gravitate towards him like they did to others. But hearing somebody say it out loud fucked him up pretty bad. Now, two weeks later, he wasn’t sure if he even wanted a career in photography. People fascinated him from afar, but he didn't know how to act when things got up close and personal.

If there was one person he could count on to model for him, it was his neighbor, Lily. She was fit, brunette, and had a consistent backyard yoga routine that made taking photos of her tight little body a daily possibility. Why she did yoga in booty shorts was a mystery to him, but he wasn't about to complain about the copious supply of ass she spoon-fed to his starving eyes.

The other part of her daily outfit was a gray sports bra, which did significantly less for him. Some guys got a kick out of them, but he had no idea why. They usually hid away all the good stuff. No cleavage, no chance of sideboobage... they were just boring.

Doesn't do a thing to hurt my appreciation of that cute bubble butt though... he thought to himself with a grin while he spied on her from the safety of his dark room. With no friends and no job prospects, what else was there to do but enjoy his daily meal?

There was just one thing he couldn’t quite bring himself to do.

Talk to her.

The thought of it made the make-believe tough guy version of himself vanish in a puff of smoke. He'd spent five years admiring her flexibility from a second story square of glass, and he still couldn't work up the courage to offer up more than a simple "Hello" on the rare occasions that they happened to see each other while taking out the trash or walking home from school. At this point, any attempt at conversation was going to be awkward as hell. He had long since cemented himself as the weird withdrawn neighbor guy. Nah, he thought with a sigh, zooming in on her tranquil face as it soaked in the warm summer sun, better to admire her from afar.

Something about how peaceful and content she looked, sitting in the Florida sun while he wasted away in his lonesome prison, pissed him off. He flopped back on his unmade bed to look over his most recent prizes, no longer able to enjoy her company.

Her round ass filled the screen over and over again as he flipped through the pictures on the small display of his digital camera. Imagining digging his fingers into those soft globes of flesh gave him the usual hard-on. Since Mom wasn't home and Jessie - his sister - wouldn't come near him, he started to unsheathe his cock to take care of his lust before it bubbled over like an unattended teakettle.

Before he could get the much anticipated palm party in full swing, he navigated to a full body shot of Lily. She looked as fuckable as ever, but what that greeted him at the top and bottom of the photo was wholly unexpected. An overlay he had never seen before was displayed across the picture: Name: Lily Fairchild, Age: 19, Rank: 0.

This camera was the closest thing Leon had to a friend--as pitiful as it was to admit--and he knew every single setting it was capable of. This wasn't one of them.

It certainly isn't able to pull accurate info on people like that either, he thought. Because it was accurate info. The girl displayed was without a doubt Lily Fairchild, and one of the only things he could say he knew for sure about her, other than her name and her yoga schedule, was that she was the same age as him. 19. Curious.

The "R" in Rank had a yellow circle around it that made it look sort of like a button, so he tapped it. A new message appeared.

Would you like to register Lily Fairchild to the Chronicle System? You will immediately receive Rank 1 benefits for this Soul Link.

Benefits? Benefits and Lily Fairchild sounded like a winning combination, but he wasn't about to register her for something when he knew nothing about it. He felt a one-sided sense of comradery towards her as the person he spent the most time with -or at least, the most time watching- and he didn't want to risk betraying her. I'm pathetic.

"What the hell is this shit?" he muttered, and a new message popped up on screen.

Would you like an explanation of the Chronicle System?

Okaaaay... he sure hoped it wasn't responding to his voice, because it sure looked like it was responding to his voice.

"Yes?"

Very well, an explanation will be provided. Please, wait one moment.

Aaaand it was responding to his voice. Super. Somebody’s listening in on me.

The thought chilled him as if he were standing on a barren Alaskan ice field instead of sitting in a humid room in Navarre, Florida.