The conversation died away as we started back to the hotel. Parts of the shopping district were well lit, but there were ominous pools of shadow behind the strip malls and along the edges of the parking lots.

“I’m glad we don’t have to walk far,” Sara said, looking around nervously.

“I know what you mean,” Jenny agreed. “I keep thinking I see something moving in the shadows. Maybe I should go ahead and buy night vision?”

“Better do some digging with the help system first,” I advised. “It might make you light sensitive, or more vulnerable to flash blindness. A good vision enhancement package is probably going to take several points.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

We walked down a deserted stretch of sidewalk, and turned into an empty parking lot. I found myself eyeing everything around us, looking for the source of the next attack.

Were those fireflies bigger than normal? What if the System made the name literal? A few hundred bugs with fire powers could burn down half the town. How would we even stop them?

A mosquito bit me. I smacked it, and then started worrying about diseases. There was no reason the System couldn’t make new ones, was there? Horrible plagues would fit the jungle theme, and no one was going to be developing new vaccines right now. Should I expand my healing magic to cover diseases, before we all caught super-malaria?

There was a bird call from somewhere high above us. Earl flinched and went for his gun, before slowly relaxing.

“At this rate we’re all going to have PTSD before the end of the week,” Beth commented, shaking her head.

Earl shrugged. “It beats the alternative. What do ya’ll think is going to happen tonight?”

“More random attacks all over town, just like the day?” I speculated.

“A giant attack in the middle of the night, when everyone is asleep,” Jenny suggested pessimistically.

Bob spoke up. “If there’s something smart out there it would make sense to ignore the buildings with guards, and go after easier targets. Trailer parks, houses, that kind of thing. They can pick off the hard targets once they’ve level up from the easy ones.”

“Or wear us down with little probing attacks all night, and then hit us hard when we’re too tired to fight back,” Earl said.

Shasa looked shocked. “That would be mean! You wouldn’t really do that, would you System?”

Monster behavior is not directly controlled by the System. Inferring the factors that influence monster behavior is an important part of the discovery meta, and System wouldn’t want to spoil it.

We all stopped dead, staring at the blue boxes. After a moment Jenny drew a shaky breath. “Wow. I was not expecting the System to actually answer questions.”

The System occasionally interacts with players who display interesting behavior, or have a high projected chance of long-term survival. Bombarding the System with inane questions, petulant demands or emotional appeals will put you back on the ignore list. The System can only act in accordance with its programming.

“Then we’ll try to only ask interesting questions, and not bother you too much,” I quickly said.

“I reckon there’s plenty of folk out there with better odds of survival than us,” Earl mused. “But what would make us so interesting?”

Humans occupy an extremely rare ecological niche. Most sapient species are highly cooperative herbivores who develop advanced technology without indulging in large-scale warfare, and are nearly defenseless against System activation. The exceptions are pack-hunting carnivores who are incapable of large-scale social organization, and thus never develop advanced technology. The System is interested to see whether humanity’s anomalous innovations in industrialized violence will result in a higher survival rate, or merely lead you to exterminate each other.

“Oh,” Bob said. “So, you meant we’re more interesting than watching billions of sheep and goat people all over the galaxy getting eaten, not more interesting than other humans on Earth.”

“Well, that gives me a lot to think about,” I said.

“We’re probably doomed,” Sara sighed.

“Yeah, people are scum,” Amanda agreed. “Give it a month, and the rich old white guys will be blowing up minorities to keep monsters from eating them. Or, I don’t know, setting up death camps to harvest points from the ‘undesirables’. I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Lefties always project,” Earl drawled.

“Hey! Don’t give me any of that crazy conspiracy theory nonsense, buster. And don’t even think about trying that command word thing on me! I’ve got my eye on you.”

“I’m sure you do,” Earl said placidly.

Hoping to prevent an argument, I stepped in. “Getting back to the original topic, what are we going to do tonight? It’s been a rough day, and we all need sleep. So we can’t just stay up all night in case there’s an attack.”

I started walking again. Jenny and Shasa immediately followed, as did Sara. After a momentary hesitation Earl came with us, and then the rest of the group followed along.

“Between our sentries and your work on the walls, I think we’ll have adequate warning in the case of a serious attack,” Beth said. “Sergeant Johnson seems to think that if it happens it will come late in the evening, or shortly before dawn.”

“That’s the best time to catch people napping,” Earl agreed. “But I’m not sure the monsters know that.”

“If the monsters are disorganized we should just get random predators passing by every few hours,” I pointed out. “They may not even attack the building, and if they do the guards can handle them. If something is smart enough to get a big attack organized, well, I don’t think we can predict the thought processes of some monster that was just an animal yesterday. But we’ve got to sleep sometime, and sooner seems safer than later.”

“Agreed,” said Beth. “So we should conclude our evening activities quickly, and get some sleep in case we’re awakened in the middle of the night.”

We entered the hotel, and I noted with approval that there was a substantial force on guard now. The sheriff had sent over a couple of newly-minted deputies to keep an eye on things, and they were sitting with the night clerk at the front desk. One of our own guys was with them, exchanging stories about the day’s events, and four more were hanging out in the break room behind the desk.

They’d dimmed the lights in the lobby, so they’d be able to see out the windows and keep an eye on the parking lot. As we walked up to the door their conversation trailed off, and they all readied their weapons.

I opened the door with a frown. “Evening, folks. Has someone had a problem with monsters pretending to be human?”

“None that could talk,” one of the deputies said. “But it doesn’t hurt to be careful. There are some crazy stories on the internet.”

“That’s Miss Beth and her crew,” one of the militia guys said. “They’re with us.”

“Alright then, come on in. Wait, what’s with the dog girl? You folks didn’t try to tame some critter, did you?”

Shasa laughed. “No, silly. I’m Tom’s dog! The Voice said I could either join the monsters or stay with the people, and I said I love people and I want to stay with them. So here I am, squishing ugly monsters with people magic. Look, I even have hands!”

As usual, Shasa’s cheerful innocence got a smile from everyone. There’s just something irresistible about a cute girl acting like a friendly puppy, complete with perked-up ears and a wagging tail.

“Aww, good for you, honey. So pets get a choice? That would explain a few things.”

“Obviously most of them just stay animals, but it seems like a fair number of cats and dogs have turned into people,” I explained. “I’m surprised you’re just now meeting one. Although, I suppose you mostly get calls on the ones that went the other way.”

He nodded seriously. “There’s been a whole rash of cases where people got killed by their pets, and we didn’t find out until a neighbor called us in. Mostly they’re just big animals, like the monsters. But there was one cat that managed to pass as a boy, and killed a couple of kids. They say it couldn’t talk, it just yowled like a cat.”

Shasa wrinkled her nose. “Cats are meanies. Even a nice one might turn on you if you’re not careful. But not dogs! Dogs are man’s best friend, right? We’ll beat those stupid monsters together.”

She leaned against me, and I reached up to scratch her ears. “We certainly will, Shasa. But right now it’s time to get some sleep.”

“Okay! Yeah, I’m pretty tired.”

She yawned, and laid her head on my shoulder. I chuckled, and guided her across the lobby to the elevator.

We made it back to our rooms without any further incident. I noted with some interest that Beth and Bob each had their own suite, while Earl and Sara were sharing one. Apparently the shy little redhead was eager to move her new relationship forward quickly, but Beth and Bob were being more reserved.

Well, fair enough. Beth could do better.

Jenny followed me into my suite instead of using her own. The moment the door was shut she flopped on the couch, and groaned.

“I am so tired, I think I’m gonna pass out if I stop moving for more than a minute. Can I go back to normal now?”

I sat next to her. “Yeah, it’s time to de-stress. Normal mode, Jenny.”

She let out a long sigh, and relaxed against me. “Oof. That’s a big load off.”

“I bet. How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted, and kind of weirdly fuzzy-headed. Like being action girl for so long was overworking something in my brain.”

“I suppose that does make sense. You were great today, but it can’t be easy to keep that focus going for so long. Maybe we should try to limit action girl to short bursts.”

“Or maybe I should take advantage of all this transhumanist enhancement stuff at my fingertips. System, what would I need to buy to make it easier to be action girl for hours at a time?”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Or you could do that,” I conceded. “But don’t get carried away with it. Fights don’t last very long, and there are a lot of other uses for the points. Not to mention that messing with your own mind like that is probably dangerous.”

“I’m not going to do anything stupid, Tom. Geez, don’t be such a worry-wort. Besides, there’s some interesting stuff here. It looks like I could make myself better at roleplaying, so this personality mode thing works better. Or I could just make myself really good at being hypnotized. Would you like that? I wonder how many points it would cost to make myself a perfectly obedient hypno-sub?”

She was obviously teasing, but I couldn’t hide my obvious reaction to the idea.

“Slave Jenny, are you trying to goad me into doing something sexy to you?”

“Yes. I’m too tired to want to do anything active, but I want to feel close to you and I really don’t want to end our first day together without having sex. So I’m hoping you’ll hypnotize me into wanting to do something fun.”

Shasa rolled her eyes. “If you two are going to do sex stuff, I’m going to bed.”

Jenny, not realizing what she’d just said, blinked up at the dog girl in surprise. “What? We’re not, I mean, um, when did you get so perceptive?”

“Just because I can’t figure out all your weird human mind game stuff doesn’t mean I’m stupid, Jenny. You’re obviously in heat, so of course Tom’s going to mount you. Just come to bed when you’re done, okay? I don’t like it when I have to sleep alone.”

“Don’t worry, Shasa. We’ll be along in a bit,” I told her.

“Okay. Have fun.”

Jenny was still giving her a dumbfounded look when she wandered off to the bedroom, and closed the door. Then my girlfriend shook her head, and giggled.

“Bet she jumps you the next time she goes into heat.”

I shrugged. “That’s a long time away, and who knows what our situation will be by then. Besides, I’m not so sure I want to go there. She’s like a big kid.”

“Huh. I figured you’d be all over that animal girl harem action.”

“Silly girl. I’m not Bob. Besides, I’ve already got someone who deserves all my attention.”

“Oh? Who could that be, I wonder?”

“Trance time, Jenny.”

She dropped into trance as easily as ever, melting against me with a happy sigh. I leaned back on the couch, laid her head against my chest, and hugged her close with one arm. With my free hand I gently stroked her hair.

I was exhausted. Most of me just wanted to go to sleep, and forget about all my problems and responsibilities for a while. But you don’t leave your girlfriend hanging when she wants sex, not when you’re in a new relationship and she’s as insecure about it as Jenny was. Denial games can be fun sometimes, but they require a certain degree of trust and security in your relationship.

Besides, I’d been wanting to explore her sexy new body all day. Not to mention playing with my new powers. Being too busy to even spare time for a quickie was getting really frustrating. Maybe I should do something to make things easier tomorrow? I’d been starting to work on an idea for that the last time we were interrupted.

No, we were both too tired for an extended scene involving orgasm on command triggers right now. I’d have to do something less complicated. Something that wouldn’t take very long, so we could both get some rest before the next disaster.

But first, I had to do the responsible thing.

“Analysis mode, Jenny,” I said.

“Yes sir,” she sighed. “Ow. My brain is tired.”

“I’m sure. Is using analysis mode hurting anything?”

“No, it’s not like that. It’s more like moving boxes when I’m tired from a long day at work.”

“Then I’ll try to keep this short,” I assured her. “What kind of problems is being action girl causing? Is it just mental strain that will go way with rest, or is there more to it?”

“Um, hmm. It’s kind of weird. Mostly it’s just mental strain, from trying to act differently and suppress all my normal stress reactions. I think the hardest part of that is actually trying to be super-alert all the time, because it feels like the part of my brain that notices stuff is really worn out right now. But there’s something else going on, too. I think, maybe trying to fake being someone else so intensely is making me try to be like that for real?”

That was concerning. “Does that mean it’s going to change your personality if you keep using it?”

“Maybe? I don’t know, it’s not like I actually have a status screen for my brain. It feels like maybe there could be some lasting effect, but it’s not like those stories where you just snap your fingers and re-write someone’s brain. I think it’s more like how going to boot camp changes how soldiers act.”

“I see. Hey, I wonder if you could actually get a status screen for your brain, that shows things in a way that’s useful for this kind of analysis. System, is there an option for that?”

Purchasing the Mental Analysis skill will provide improved understanding of the Status screen’s psychological and neurological layers. Alternatively, set the psychology layer’s display mode to ‘Naïve Pop Psychology’ for less accurate but more familiar descriptions.

“That sounds helpful. Jenny, go ahead and change your display mode, and see if that helps you figure things out.”

“Okay. Huh. There’s a lot going on here. Makes me wish I had a spare mental point to grab that skill.”

She went quiet, and I gave her a moment to figure out what she was looking at. Trying it myself got me an explosion of little colored shapes connected by a maze of pipes, with various colors of fluid flowing between them. Even with the helpful popup labels it took me a few minutes to sort out what I was looking at.

Huh. I’d been half-expecting to have a sudden nervous breakdown all day, but according to this it wasn’t going to be a problem. Deadly danger wasn’t fun, but the way it triggered my survival instincts meant that it just motivated me to work harder at staying alive. That was an interesting thing to know.

“I think I’ve got this figured out,” Jenny said. “It looks like there are core personality traits that are kind of hard-wired into your brain, and hypnosis can’t change those. But there’s a lot of more superficial stuff that’s just kind of accumulated habits and learning, and that can all change if you push on it consistently. I think action girl mostly pushes on the second kind of trait, so if I use it a lot it will gradually get easier for me. But the swaggering super-confidence and the practical do-anything spirit are pushing up against stuff that just isn’t me. I’m kind of a squeamish, neurotic worrier at heart, and that’s not going to go away. Also, the super-alertness isn’t something human brains are supposed to be able to keep up for very long, so it really wears on me.”

I considered that for a moment. Jenny tended to be too hard on herself, but even so some adjustments might be in order here.

“Alright, then let’s make the super-alertness thing something that action girl Jenny can turn on and off. When you’re in a fight as action girl, or actively looking for danger, you’ll be super-alert like you were today. But when there’s no immediate danger you’ll let your awareness drop back to normal, and only call up that super-alert state when you need it. Can you do that?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied. “That will help a lot. What about the rest?”

“It sounds like you were trying to completely ignore all the disgusting, gory parts of fighting, and not let it affect you at all. Could you just ease up on that some? Let’s say action girl Jenny doesn’t stop to think about gory gross stuff when her adrenaline is high, and she’s in the thick of the action. But after the fight’s over it’s okay to notice and react to it, just not to a degree that would cause real problems.”

“So action girl Jenny can be grossed out about being covered in blood and monster bits, she just isn’t going to hurl and swear off eating meat for the next month. Got it.”

“Good. As for the confidence issue, any suggestions? It’s important to keep that drive, but maybe there’s a different way to get there that would be easier for you?”

“I think the invincible confidence is kind of essential to the part about being able to keep fighting at 100% no matter how bad things get,” Jenny said. “But it’s really hard to believe in myself that much, especially in real life. If this was a game that would be different, but the real world doesn’t have to play fair. Um, but I really like the part where I’m like a badass elite soldier following orders, so maybe we could build on that? Shore up my confidence with faith in my sexy leader?”

I thought about that for a minute.

“Jenny, are you really asking me to make you think I’m some kind of invincible hero?”

She giggled. “The badass battle slut and her sexy alpha male dom isn’t a game I would have thought of before the System, but that’s only because I never thought I could pull off being an action girl. It’s pretty hot if you hypnotize me to be completely loyal and obedient and have perfect faith in your leadership, and it would make everything a lot easier on me.”

“It would also get us killed the first time I make a dumb mistake, and you’re too brainwashed to point it out to me,” I grumbled. “But it does sound like a fun fantasy, if we don’t get carried away with it. Action girl Jenny is already completely loyal to her man, right?”

“Uh huh,” she said breathlessly.

“Action girl Jenny is a smart, capable follower, who doesn’t hesitate to contribute her own ideas when we’re making plans,” I went on. “But she also has complete faith in her man’s leadership. If anyone can get her through a tight spot, it’s him. She just needs to do her part, and leave the worrying to him.”

“Mm, I’m liking this,” Jenny purred. “It sounds very me. So action girl Jenny is your obedient battle slut?”

“My brave, strong, loyal, obedient battle babe. When you’re in that mode you’ll sink into the role, and lean into your faith in your man. Whenever you start to worry about something you can just remind yourself that you’re not alone, and it isn’t all your responsibility. Point out problems when you see them, of course, but worrying about them is your sexy alpha male’s job. You can just focus on being a kickass battle babe, and have faith that he’ll see you through.”

“I love it. Are you sure I can’t be like that all the time?”

I chuckled. “We’ll see. First we’re going to let action girl Jenny try it out for a day, and see if it causes any problems we haven’t thought of. Can you see anything else we need to address there?”

“I don’t think so. I just need to go back to normal for a while, and get some rest.”

“Glad to hear it. Normal mode, Jenny. Still in a trance, but back to the normal you. Still helplessly hypnotized. Relaxed and open. Hearing only my voice, and obeying without question. How do you feel?”

“Tired and horny,” she murmured.

“I bet. Well, we’re going to have a little fun before we sleep. I want you to think back on some of your hottest fantasies, and remember how horny they made you. Remember how turned on you can get, when you really get into a steamy scene. Imagine how it could be even better if you were hypnotized to give in completely to your desires. Think about how horny and wet and desperate for attention you could get, in the hottest scenario you can imagine. Are you picturing it?”

“Yes.” The word was more like a moan, and one hand started drifting south.

“Good girl,” I said. “Don’t touch yourself. Just bask in this feeling of intense, all-encompassing arousal. Enjoy the anticipation of knowing that you’re about to have some amazing sexy time. Let go of everything that could distract you or take you out of the mood. Just relax into a warm world of desire.”

I gave her a moment to absorb that, and then went on. “From now on, whenever I say the words ‘playtime, Jenny,’ you’ll find yourself feeling this way again. Completely aroused. Letting go of all distractions and worries. Filled with an urgent need to indulge your desires. Every time I say your trigger, ‘playtime, Jenny,’ you’ll become more aroused, more eager for sexual experiences, more overcome by your most intimate desires. Are you turned on, Jenny?”

“Yes!”

“Do you want me to wake you up and fuck you?”

“Yes!”

“We’ll get to that soon. But first I’m going to give you another trigger. Something you’ve been wanting all day. From now on, whenever I say the word ‘cumslut,’ you’ll be struck by an intense urge to give me a blowjob. You’ll know it’s a trigger phrase, but that won’t stop the feelings. The need to have my cock in your mouth. To suck it and lick it and worship it like a complete oral slut. To make it cum, and swallow everything I can give you. Every second you resist the urge will grow stronger, more intense. Making you feel more horny and helpless, as you realize that you’re completely under my control. You can’t resist for long, and when you give in you’ll find yourself eagerly giving me the best blowjob you can. Do you understand, Jenny?”

“Yes. Cumslut trigger. Have to suck, have to swallow, can’t resist.”

“That’s right, Jenny. You’ll need the feeling of a big cock in your mouth. You’ll love to worship it with your mouth, and when I orgasm you’ll discover that semen is now like liquid sex for you. The slightest taste gives you a rush of pleasure that makes your head spin. Swallowing a mouthful will give you a huge rush of pleasure, and if you’re turned on enough it can even give you an orgasm.”

Jenny’s entranced form squirmed against me, and she made a wordless sound of happy arousal. I smiled, and decided that was enough for now.

“Now, it’s time to wake up so we can have some fun. You’ll wake on the count of three, Jenny. One, letting go of your deep trance and preparing to wake up. Two, rising towards awareness, your mind starting to wake up again. Three, awake and aware, ready to have some fun.”

“Mm? Fun, huh? What kind of fun are we talking, Tom?” Jenny asked, sitting up and stretching.

“Oh, I figured I’d just turn you into my pet cumslut for the evening.”

“Eep!” She squeaked as the compulsion hit her. “Oh, shit, that’s… that’s intense, Tom!”

“What is?” I asked.

She smacked me on the shoulder. “You know what you did, mister! This is supposed to make me blow you, right? Well, what if I had something else in mind?”

“It’s playtime, Jenny. We can do whatever you want.”

A surprised moan escaped her lips. Her eyes went wide, and fixed on my crotch.

“Fuck, that’s a good one,” she groaned. “I’m so turned on I’d fuck a horse. I want your dick in me, Tom.”

I sat up, and moved to pull off her shirt. Those magnificent breasts fell free, unencumbered by a bra.

“Where do you want me?” I asked, disingenuously.

Jenny stood to ditch her pants, and bit her lip. “I want you to fuck me stupid. But I… I need… I have to have your dick in my mouth.”

She dropped to her knees in front of me, and fumbled with my belt.

“Not going to resist?” I teased.

“I’m trying,” she groaned. “I love this shit. Gotta hold off as long as I can. Make you prove you can make me do it. Make me your horny little hypno-slut. Bet you can’t resist these tits.”

She got my erection free, and promptly buried it in her cleavage. Her breasts were soft and warm around me, and now it was my turn to groan. She grinned, and squeezed them together around me.

“That feels great, cumslut,” I groaned. “But paizuri night comes later. You know what you want.”

“Ooh fuck, triggering me more than once is cheating, Tom. I’ve got dick on the brain, now. Big, hard dick. It feels so good between my tits, but I need it in my mouth. No, I gotta resist. But I have to suck it. I, I need to know what it tastes like. But then you win, and I’m just your little pet slut worshipping your dick and, and, and you can do anything to me, and I’ll love it, and it’s scary but it’s so fucking hot.”

“Yeah, and when you give in you get to suck my cock,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, I get to… I have to… oh shit, I have to have you in my mouth, right now!”

She released my tool from its fleshy prison, and bent to take me in her mouth. Just a taste at first, but when her lips touched my tip the last of her resistance crumbled. She took half my length into her mouth with a needy moan.

I patted her head. “Good girl. Worship my cock like a good little cumslut, and I’ll give you a reward.”

There wasn’t much talking after that.