Podcasts about New Eden

It is the second-to-last episode of Player 1 vs The World's StrangeCast podcast for 2025. It's almost 2026 time and Adnan Riaz and Adam Evalt are here to talk all of the latest news and discussions around Life Is Strange, Deck Nine, Square Enix, Don't Nod, Don't Nod Montreal, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and much more!

Wishing you all a great holiday season. Games discussed include ARC Raiders, PUBG Black Budget, Hades, BallXPit, Hunt Showdown, Bratz Rhythm&Style and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SUPPORTAMI SU PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/kristalcrosspatreon OFFERTA DEL GIORNO | Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden ▶ -90% ▶ 5.14€ https://www.instant-gaming.com/it/13295-comprare-banishers-ghosts-of-new-eden-pc-gioco-steam/?igr=kristalcrossgaming La maglietta LFDM sul LFDM STORE! - https://kristal-cross-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur/ AFFILIATI: INSTANT GAMING: https://tinyurl.com/3ywv525u EMP: https://tidd.ly/3MTjbcC PAMPLING: codice KRISTALCROSS THOMANN: https://thmn.to/thocf/4ucalotott SPONSOR - ABBONAMENTO AL CANALE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-isEtNtS2_30c5ANuEEyKQ/join DONAZIONI: https://paypal.me/kristalcross Lista Desideri Amazon: https://www.amazon.it/hz/wishlist/ls/CMIUI1RB3GH9?ref_=wl_share CAPITOLI: 00:00 Benvenuti su Kristal News! 00:35 PROBLEMI dentro NAUGHTY DOG? CRUNCH e SCADENZE. 10:46 Detective Cross 12:43 NEWS A RUOTA 21:47 OFFERTA del GIORNO! 22:39 La ELITE dei MALNATI su PATREON 23:29 Grazie della visione! Le #KristalNews sono anche in PODCAST! https://www.spreaker.com/show/kristalnews-il-podcast Disponibile anche su SPOTIFY, APPLE PODCAST, ecc ecc SECONDO CANALE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO13aJlGKgOVYq7-yMe_lPA SEGUIMI IN LIVE SU TWITCH: https://www.twitch.tv/kristalcrossgaming SOCIAL & COMMUNITY: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kristalcrossgaming/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/kristalcrossgaming/ GRUPPO TELEGRAM: https://t.me/joinchat/APAtYQ5DPmVA3AHTl8mBcA VUOI SPEDIRMI QUALCOSA? Mandalo a: BAR 2EMME VIA TORINO 243 SAN BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO 63074 (AP) --------------------- IMPORTANTE SCRIVI NELL'INTESTAZIONE "PER KRISTAL CROSS" ---------------------------------------- VUOI SENTIRE I MIEI LAVORI? IL SITO DEL MIO STUDIO http://www.kristalcrossmusicproduction.com/page0/page0.html LE MIE BAND: THE LOTUS: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLotusChannel LOST RESONANCE FOUND: https://www.youtube.com/user/lostresonancefound Grazie per la visita da Kristal Cross!Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/kristalnews-il-podcast--4936119/support.

Join Heather, Leon, Stu, and TommyT in this week's pre festive episode of Game Older as we dive Game of the Year picks! From the triple A to the indie hits of 2025 everyone has a fave & and everyone has a say on how they really feel about the Game Awards . No tom this week due to illness

Have you ever wondered what heaven, the New Eden, is going to be like? Pastor Luke preaches from Revelation 22:1-5.

Player 1 vs The World's​ StrangeCast has returned, folks! The Lost Records Journal co-hosts Adnan Riaz and Adam Evalt are BACK for ‘Side A' of an all-new episode. The first part is all about Don't Nod Montreal's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, the 2025 narrative adventure title from the creators of the Life Is Strange series!

This past Sunday, we heard a letter read from Joel, our Pastor for Preaching & Oversight, as he begins a 3-month sabbatical (November - January).

Rev 22:1-5 Have you ever gotten used to something that you knew was less ideal? Maybe it was an old car. You know there are newer, nicer cars, but you're just used to the old one. Perhaps that same mindset has invaded your view of the world around you. God is presenting heaven to us at the end of Revelation. And even in the light of this beautiful, new creation, we can sometimes still find ourselves gazing up on this world instead of the world to come. Join us as we gaze upon this new creation that is to come.

Orion Sa-Solo's EVE StoryA relative asked me to play EVE Online in 2013 and then immediately pushed me into starting an industry corp in High Sec Yulai Heavy Industries. We mined together, built ships and eventually even capitals as we grew into a solid group, then ventured into Null Sec as renters. Over time we drifted apart, and I discovered PvP was what I wanted to do so I shuttered my corp. I eventually found more friends, became a director of Lethal Injection and moved around to multiple groups as we grew; CO2, The Culture, Triumvirate, and Pandemic Legion even dipped my toes into wormholes for a short time (WHs are scary; you really need Rat Jesus). Today I'm having a blast in Faction Warfare with the Minmatar Fleet Alliance. I've experienced all corners of space and I want to carry that breadth of knowledge to help everyone be heard.Areas of ExpertisePvPNull Sec/High SecSmall/Medium/Large gang PvPQualities That Set Me ApartI've flown across just about every region of New Eden, been shot at, and shot just about everyone. I'm a D-tier FC, C-tier nano pilot, and B-tier local trash talker. I understand the perspectives of pilots in High Sec, Low Sec, Null Sec, Faction Warfare, and Wormholes—and I'll make sure all voices are heard and concerns addressed. I'm not tied to anything other than helping CCP and the CSM help to keep making improvements on the game.Why I'm Applying for the CSMEVE and its pilots helped me through some of the toughest parts of my life. I want to give back by improving the game I love. I see room for more content and fresh objectives, and I'm committed to pushing for features that keep players engaged across every space.What Players Can Expect From MeA CSM who listens to every pilot, regardless of playstyle or localeActive relaying of your concerns, ideas, and feedbackAdvocate for new and balanced content in HS, LS, Null, FW, and WHsKey ProposalsNo citadel can be neutral in FW space put it on the line join one or the other.More Carrier/Dread iterationMore mechanics to prevent afk plexingAn in-game Abyssal marketplace the pilots yearn for a market!More dynamic community events that draw pilots out of their usual systems and spotlight every career path

Episode 396 – Battlefield 6In today's episode of PS This Is Awesome! A listener breaks down Borderlands 4's new reactive level scaling system while Fred defends his “flawless” Mekadragon run in Cyber Shadow—despite some questionable criticism from a fellow gamer. Fred's been juggling Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Battlefield 6, while Jake continues exploring Ghost of Yotei. Fred also grabbed Valiant Hearts for his backlog.On the news front, Sony's reportedly gearing up PS6 production for early 2027, hinting at a possible late-2027 or early-2028 launch. Meanwhile, Battlefield 6 storms the UK charts with a dominant PS5 debut, and Sucker Punch confirms it's focusing on one project at a time—so don't expect inFAMOUS remasters anytime soon. Remedy's FBC: Firebreak faces financial struggles, highlighting fatigue in the live-service market.Looking ahead, Blood West and The Cabin Factory drop October 16th, followed by Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, Ninja Gaiden 4, Painkiller, and Jurassic World Evolution 3 arriving October 21st. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings, Pilots. This is my very first ever CSM campaign.I started out in EVE Online in Autumn of 2011 at the suggestion of a former co-worker from a former business I used to work for, I wasn't too serious about his claims about EVE Online at the time until I did my research online, gotten the Commissioned Officer's Edition box at my local Gamestop, which I still have to this day, and I haven't looked back ever since.My Expertise on said subjectsPlanetary Interaction - Besides looking in awe of New Eden's most beautiful celestials and yet overlooked by some, I am a big supporter of PI Colonies not only for extracting resources from the ground up, as a Colonial Owner, where are my neighbors in this wonderful community? I would like to shake things up on a magnitude that gives interesting parties a look and possibly do something from orbit, if you know what I mean.PvP - I've dealt with fleet fights, Faction Warfare, and heck even I screwed around in lowsec areas where I really shouldn't have. Knowing a few meta tips and tricks, there has to be a motivation as to why should anyone join your fleet?The FPS Element - I've played all sorts of First Person Shooters going on 24 years now, been a closed beta tester for Dust 514 in 2012 all the way until TACNET shutdown, what I can bring to the table is that there's a LOT of PI Colonies sitting around and what we can do about that by giving players the chance to actually defend your colonies.

Fred is still plunging into Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, Jake takes on Ghost of Yotei, and we share some awesome listener feedback about self-care and making sure we're not burning the candle at both ends. Thanks to everyone for understanding our short break! In news, Battlefield 6 physical copies have leaked ahead of release, which is surprising for two reasons — hardly anyone buys physical games anymore, and most don't actually contain the game on the disc. This one does, though online is still required even for the campaign. October's PS Plus Essential lineup features Alan Wake 2, Goat Simulator 3, and Cocoon. Rumors are swirling that Xbox might not release a next-gen console at all, which could leave PlayStation unmatched when the PS6 eventually launches. There's also talk of a new DualSense controller with a removable battery, and reports that EA may be going private amid a potential $50 billion buyout. Short, spooky, and full of PlayStation talk. We also dive into the State of Play that we didn't get a chance to discuss last week. — it's good to be back!By joining our Patreon community for ONLY $1.00 per month, you'll also enjoy these exclusive benefits:Early Access: Be the first to listen to our episodes as soon as they're ready. Get ahead of the game and dive into the latest news, reviews, and discussions.Personalized Shoutout: As a token of our gratitude for your support, we'll give you a special shout out during one of our podcast episodes, acknowledging your contribution and dedication to our show.Custom Die-Cut Vinyl Sticker: Receive an exclusive custom die-cut vinyl sticker featuring our podcast's unique design. Showcase your support with this limited-edition collectible.Your support goes a long way in helping us continue to create the content you love. It's a simple and direct way to show your appreciation for our podcast.To become a patron and unlock these exciting benefits, visit www.patreon.com/psthisisawesome today. Your support keeps us going and ensures that we can keep delivering top-notch PlayStation content.Please, if you enjoyed the content or even if you didn't quite enjoy this one, we encourage you to come back. We try to offer something for everybody. Please share with your friends and help us spread the show as we try to build a bigger community here! As always you can support our show at our Patreon Page. Thanks for listening.http://www.patreon.com/psthisisawesome Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My name is Youngpuke2, and I am rerunning for CSM this year. My primary focus is on improving and iterating low-sec, npc-null, and null-sec as an advocate for small to medium alliances that are typically not represented on the CSM. Even though, I may not live in your space I try to bring voices and perspectives from alliances that may not be often heard on the CSM. Over the past year, I have advocated heavily for alliances in low-sec, wormholes, and null-sec. Trying to help CCP understand the difficulties of building up alliances and creating the stories we love in New Eden.My perspectives come from living in all areas of K-space. I have spent most of my career FCing small gang to mid-scale PvP settings. I am the alliance executor of an alliance called Sedition. We are a low-sec and NPC null PVP alliance. I love Eve Online, and I want to be your next CSM Representative as I was for CSM 19.Here are some of my idea documents that I would like to be seen implemented across space. I will be adding to these documents while I meet with various alliances over the course of the next 2-3 weeks. Details below.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YjHil2ebd1vW284bxzkTqysb-1LJfSm7kd8J7Tunku4/edit?usp=sharinghttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1hOxAXVLEet9B6k_ftSaoP2fL3_X1F1XgQEXzSGLhQLA/edit?usp=sharing

The LLAP crew have watched the fifth episode of season 3 of For All Mankind, "New Eden" (2022), as part of the For All Mankind podcast review series. This panel of science fiction enthusiasts discuss the episode and break it all down.Live Long and PodcastFor All Mankind S3 E6 - "New Eden" (2022) | Episode ReviewFirst Aired: July 15, 2022In-universe year: 1995Date of Podcast: October 6, 2025For All Mankind Review SeriesTHIS WEEK'S PODCASTERSDave Mader, Kevin Millard, Adam Woodward, Jody Simpson, Heather Narduzzi, Jeff MaderLIVE LONG AND PODCAST FOUNDED BYDave Mader and Jaemeel RobinsonA PROUD MEMBER OF THE UNITED FEDERATION OF PODCASTSCheck us out online at https://www.ufpodcasts.com/livelongandpodcastPRODUCERDave MaderSupport us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LiveLongandPodcastStreaming live on Twitch, Youtube and Facebook:Twitch Channel: https://www.twitch.tv/livelongandpodcastYouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/livelongandpodcastFacebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/LiveLongAndPodcastThe Moment of Triumph by MaxKoMusic | https://maxkomusic.com/Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/Audio version available wherever you get your audio podcasts.Listen to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0yIEMJhawSLGAozJAh4EdGListen via Anchor: https://anchor.fm/livelongandpodcast#forallmankind #startrek #livelongandpodcast #ufp #unitedfederationofpodcasts 0:00 Intro Credit Sequence1:40 Beginning of Podcast23:11 Screenshots and Plotbreakdown1:29:46 Fun Facts1:35:19 Ratings1:39:23 Outro

Kshal Aideron for CSM20 - Getting Players to Undocko7 pilots,I'm Kshal Aideron, founder of EVE Rookies and the new CEO of Wormlife.Over my 5.5 years of playing Eve, I've focused on building stronger communities. Even before founding Eve Rookies, I was active across Eve's online spaces encouraging players to undock and join the new player roams I FC'd.Today, EVE Rookies is 4500 players strong and standing up 100+ fleets a month while helping over a thousand players a year experience content in every corner of New Eden.That brings me to CSM20. My campaign boils down to one mission:“Getting players to undock.”Let's face it. If players don't undock ships, there's no content. If there's no content, we're all going to be in the safety of our hangers spinning our ships.Look, Null will always have representation on the CSM. At least half of the 12 seats will go to block-backed players, and that makes sense! Null has the largest population and needs voices for CCP's vision of that space.But what happens when CCP decides to touch areas of the game nobody from Null has played since starting in EVE? Or haven't touched for over a decade? That's where lack of perspective becomes a problem for the rest of New Eden.That's where I come in. I get players to undock.Through EVE Rookies (and now Wormlife), I help shape and maintain a fleet schedule of 100+ fleets a month. I partner with smaller groups so they are able to undock more often. I even work with individuals who come in to learn the content so they can turn around and build content for other communities (i.e. incursions in null sec).So while my expertise over the past 5 years is the new player experience, as well as building strong communities, I also bring something broader. The general player experience.I talk to players across highsec, lowsec, wormholes, markets and even Pochven and null and do my best to bring their voices forward to be heard....

Latest EONE episode discusses the latest Patch notes with some commentary. Rambo discusses the recent 'drama' within SHH regarding some corps/alliances leaving the Silent Federation. Amongst other discussions and talk about the recent super losses and player frustrations. 

What a privilege, introducing Device Nation to bestselling Sci-Fi Author, Programmer, and Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Kishore Tipirneni!The developer of "Tempida", an awesome AI-Scribe program to help Surgeons with mind-numbing EHR documentation. A great app, a great add to any Reps bag!200 Free minutes here: https://app.tempida.com/SignUp?ref=KE8080OMThe Complete Trilogy: https://www.amazon.com/New-Eden-3-book-series/dp/B08HVF54KJDr. Tipirneni Clinic: https://www.desertorthocenter.com/kishore-tipirneni-md-hip-knee-shoulder-elbow-surgeon-phoenix-az.htmlTempida Website: https://tempida.com/ Support the show

Every 5th Sunday, our gathering is a time of reflection, sharing, and Scripture reading. In this time, Joel McCarty recounts God's faithfulness about the history of New Eden and shares about his upcoming sabbatical. The time of sharing also includes thoughts from other elders and members, including our hope to send out one of our members to plant a church. We closed our time of reflection by reading from Ephesians 1:16-2:10.

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (Don't Nod, 2023) represents a different type of game that Don't Nod has been making alongside their popular choice-based narrative games like Life is Strange and Lost Records: Bloom and Rage. With 2018's Vampyr, Don't Nod took a swing a narrative, decisions-matter action RPG, and while I liked Vampyr a lot, the decisions-matter part of it left a lot to be desired. Five years later, they took another swing at that type of game with Banishers, and really righted that specific area. Decisions matter in Banishers in a way they don't matter in most games, and it led to one of the most effective stories I've played in a while. Guest info: Erik (he/him) * Listen to Pages of Play podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pages-of-play/id1755937349 * Check out Erik's written work on So Many Games https://somanygames.co.uk/ TIMESTAMPS * 0:00 Title Card * 0:32 Intros * 5:03 Histories with Don't Nod and Banishers * 8:29 Opening Thoughts * 16:22 Story/World Setup and Characters * 28:43 Inciting Plot Event and Choice/Morality System * 37:51 Tough Choices * 48:02 Presentation and Side Quest Writing * 59:00 Combat * 1:13:37 World Design and Vibes * 1:22:50 Boss Fights * 1:27:20 Recommendations * 1:30:20 Pages of Play Podcast * 1:36:38 SPOILER WALL and Patron Thank-Yous * 1:38:06 Spoiler Section- Side Stories Tying Into the Main Story * 2:17:10 Spoiler Section- The Nightmare * 2:32:08 Spoiler Section- Endings Music used in the episode is credited to Trevor Morris. Tracks used: Main Menu, The Harrows, Intimate Moment- Harmony Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

This weeks crew: Webby, Peebs, Darren, Graham We discuss the Battlefield Beta at great length. Could this be a 'Return to form'? Other discussion points include; Elite Dangerous, Circuit Superstars, Fragpunk, Banishers Ghosts of New Eden, Killing Floor 3, Lies of P, Mafia The Old Country and much more. https://www.patreon.com/360gamercast https://discord.gg/CqDMSg9 https://www.facebook.com/groups/360gamercast/ https://twitter.com/Webby360G https://twitter.com/360GamerCast All Access Patrons - John Smith Philip Thompson

On this week's ALL-NEW episode of Gameware Express, we're talking about our favorite video game crossovers as well as Banisher's: Ghosts of New Eden, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, fun barcades, the Limited Run Games store, last week's Nintendo Direct, upcoming new releases and more! This week's cast: Adam Arinder Neal Bonham Renee Martin Stephen Martin Music Credits: Outro -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-z-ENnmCkQ Outro 2 -- Scott Bezdek RSS Feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:61611947/sounds.rss August 6, 2025

This week, Neil Druckmann left HBO's The Last Of Us to focus on Intergalactic, we are getting a new Ghost of Yotei state of play, and a bunch of other video games news. Special guest Gianni DiCrosta drops by - check him out everywhere @giannidicrosta! Timecodes What we're playing - 11:00 Legacy of Kain - 11:20 Tales of the Shire - 13:34 Bully - 26:18 Borderlands 3 - 32:08  Wheel World - 36:30ish  Dungeons of Hinterberg Platinum review - 39:07 Banishers Ghosts of New Eden -  41:27 Jusant - 43:52 DK Bananza - 49:20 Scarlet Nexus - 55:30 Grounded 2 - 1:01:31 TMNT - 1:04:50 News Spotlight - 1:11:50 Follow us! www.dropindropoutpod.com Bluesky, YouTube, IG, Threads and TikTok @spotlightgamespod Twitch.tv/spotlightgamespod Join our discord! https://discord.gg/Vxvp2sX64Z Email the show: mail@spotlightgames.net RSS Feed: https://spotlightgames.libsyn.com/rss Spotlight Games Theme by Chike Okaro @bassicfun Thanks for listening! 

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 2 The Start of Something New Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. Grierson finally sat forward, meeting me energy-to-energy as he kept my gaze locked in. "And yet, here we are, Mr. Black. We can either come up with a deal, or I swear to Christ and all the Saints that the government will seize this land for eminent domain under the emergency provisions of the pandemic and you won't be able to do a fucking thing about it." "Sell, or die," I said. "So you can build a 'resettlement camp?' Jesus Christ, yourself. If you know so much about my family history, you know building a fucking 'camp' of any sort on this land would be the absolute last thing I would bend over for." "I didn't say 'camp.'" Grierson said. "No matter what your Native, and Japanese, forebears had to go through, listen to me; this is the farthest thing from that." I was 1/32nd native from my father's side and 1/16th Japanese from my mother's side. Again, not the hardest thing to dig up, but while I had the black hair of both those ancestries, I mostly just looked like a tall white guy with a pretty generic last name. No one ever assumed I was anything else in passing. "What does that even mean?" Erica asked. "It means we aren't building concentration camps," Grierson said, glancing over at her. "We aren't building a reservation, or an internment camp, or any of the other shitty things our and other governments have done to people." He looked back at me again. "We're going to develop this land into a neighborhood. The God damned fanciest kind of gated community you can think of. Big houses, big properties, for people who do or did important work to settle in safety and stability as we try to survive this shit show virus." "None of this answers why," I said. "Why should I agree to this? Why shouldn't I make it so fucking annoying that you go find a different patch of land and leave me alone?" Grierson frowned, though I had the feeling he'd been planning this from the start. He wanted me to work to peel back the layers of information, to earn the answers because that would make me believe them more. It would tick off boxes in my psychology and experience. The fucking problem was even though I knew he was doing it, it was also working. "Because you'd be saving lives," Grierson answered. "Our pilot development down in California is called New Eden; the place is only two-thirds built to starting specs, and we're already out of room on the next five phases of development once it's opened. Now it's my job to set up the next locations and get them rolling because our current projections are that within the next six months, the death toll is only going to skyrocket. We can't even get a grasp on what the numbers might reasonably be because the range is so fucking staggering. Millions is the easy number, Mr. Black." It was my turn to say it. "Fuck." "Now, you're not going to hear that on the TV," Walters said. "You won't hear it from the CDC, or the other health agencies. The only reason we are cleared to tell you this is because folks in our circles have developed the preference to work with reasonable people when they are useful. And also, who would fucking believe you?" "Here's our offer," Grierson said, pulling out a slip of folded paper from inside his suit jacket and putting it on the coffee table. "That's the hard cash number we've designated for this deal. No taxes. Straight transfer from us to you. There will also be other perks, including homes inside the settlement for you and Mr. Lacoste. Things are about to get really weird in the world. Have you heard anything about the Tier system?" "Nothing," I said, but Leo spoke up. "I saw some rumors. It's supposed to be some kind of a terrifying triage, right?" he asked. "Who's the most worthy kind of shit. People started protesting, but I thought it got debunked." Grierson nodded. "Oh, we stopped the protests, but it's all too real. I won't hide it; I find the entire thing absolutely un-American. It's the kind of shit the Chinese government operates, but it is what it is." Walters drained the last of his coffee and set the mug onto the coaster on the coffee table politely. "Suffice it to say, it's a sort of social karma system. The more important you are to society, the more protections and comforts you're afforded as we roll out our limited resources on quarantine defenses. There's 5 tiers, one being the lowest and five the highest. Most of society will land in the 1's and 2's, including all three of you. This development we'll be building is mostly going to house 3's and 4's. As part of the deal, we'll place Leo at tier 3 for resettlement purposes, and you Harrison would be placed at tier 4 despite your lack of qualification in the matter." This entire conversation felt like I was running downhill trying to keep up with an avalanche. "That sounds an awful lot like a really great way to set up for corruption," I said. "A fucking caste society? Really?" "It's already done," Grierson said. "Believe me, there were a lot of in-the-know people against the idea. But it's the only idea that works in this situation. We've gamed it out to the Nth degree. Leo, your description is pretty much the best that we were able to make internally. We're triaging society to make sure it stays together and can weather this hurricane." "What would we tier at without this?" Leo asked. "Leo Lacoste," Grierson said, talking as if he were reading directly off of a portfolio even though he rattled it off without referencing anything. "Positives: Early thirties age bracket, relatively fit and healthy. Low-to-Mid career path; carpentry skills of moderate qualification. No criminal record. Negatives: No community investment. Likely rating: Tier 1." "Harrison Black," he continued. "Positives: Early thirties age bracket, relatively fit and healthy. Former military service including Military Police service, honorable discharge at the rank of MP Investigations Special Agent, no known psychological impacts. No criminal record. Negatives: No community investment, null-rank career; freelance artist. Likely rating: Tier 1." "To be fair, there is a big question mark on your file that we couldn't fill," Walters said. "Your honorable discharge happened mid-tour, without any reported incidents or injuries. It's surprising you haven't been called back into at least reserve service with the Emergencies Acts. A decent answer would probably bump you up to tier two." "I can't talk about it," I said. Erica snorted and rolled her eyes, and both men looked at her. "Erica," I warned her. "What?" she demanded. "They just called you 'low tier,' Harri. If you're not going to tell them then I will." "I can't talk about it," I said again. "Harrison knocked out an Air Force bigwig when he was an MP and stationed in Germany," Leo cut in. "The guy was abusing and trying to blackmail a female subordinate into sex. The only reason we know is because she tracked Harri down a few years ago and we met her in a bar in Portland." "The bigwig was politically protected and nothing happened in the end," Erica said. "At least, that's what she said. He got shuffled around, and Harrison got the boot." "I got an honorable discharge instead of a court martial for striking a very superior officer of a different branch," I said. "And part of that deal was that I not talk about it." "Well that explains some things," Grierson said. "It wouldn't change anything though. If you were doing something more useful with your life than painting little pictures, you might have made tier two or three without this offer." "Says you," Erica scoffed. "Art is useful. And important!" Grierson pursed his lips slightly. "Erica Lacoste. Not an official resident of the property, but I know enough. Positives: Early thirties age bracket, relatively fit and healthy. Negatives: Criminal record, including battery, two counts of public drunkenness, and public urination. No community investment. Null rank career; tattoo artist. Likely rating: Tier 1." "Hey, fuck you too," Erica said, and pointed her middle finger at Grierson, along with a scowl to go with it. Honestly, none of that was surprising news about Erica for me except for the Battery charge, I definitely needed to get that story out of her. "Okay, we get it," I said, interrupting what I had a feeling was about to become a degenerating path of conversation. "You know about us. You do realize this is all a little much, right? It comes across as insane." "Of course it does," Grierson sighed. "But a year ago, only bored analysts tripping on LSD were asked to think about these kinds of situations. Now we're in it, right in the damned middle of the clusterfuck." "You should really look at the offer," Walters said, gesturing to the folded paper I hadn't looked into yet. It sat on the coffee table like an accusing finger pointed at me by my father, and his father before him. How dare I even consider this? "So it's a butt load of cash," I said, still not opening the paper. "And we get treated like what, royalty? And in exchange, I lose my family legacy." "Royalty is a stretch; you're selling us land, not curing cancer. We'll take care of you like valued members of society. You'll also get early access to the vaccine," Grierson said. "There's a vaccine?" Leo immediately asked. "Social media has been wild with rumors but,” "It's still experimental," Walters said. "And undergoing trials. But it's functioning, with some unconventional side effects. They're still doing long-term tests down in California, but we're going to start rolling it out down there any day now once the doctors are happy with the plan. That's how bad we need it, FDA bullshit be damned." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Flipside, stick. If I don't cut a deal, you'll use the might of the US government to bend me over and rip my family legacy right out of my ass." "You got it. But like I said, we prefer working with people. There's always a silver lining to making friends," Walters said. "Fuck," I said again. Then I flipped one half of the paper open and looked at the number written on the inside. There were a damn lot of zeros. "I need to call my sister," I said. "But pending her approval, I'll lease it to you. All 560 acres, for a hundred years less a day; that's what people do, right? And Leo and I get to pick where our houses are built." "That's not how this works," Walters said. "It's my counter offer," I said. "Hold on," Grierson said, raising a hand to his partner. He narrowed his eyes as he looked me over again. He was a man who made judgment calls on the fly, despite his ability to reel off memorized facts like he'd been living with them for years. I could practically see the rusty old gears turning behind his grizzled facade. "Fuck it," he finally said. "We need to survive the next six months, year, five years and decade before anyone will be worrying about next century. Make your call." "You're really doing this?" Leo asked me as I stood up and fished in my pocket for my cell. "My family has had to defend this land from everything and everyone except the federal government," I said. "Up until now, they might be the only people who haven't thought they had some claim to it. Obviously, this will all need to be in writing before I make a final agreement, but look at the news; everything they're saying makes some sort of terrible sense. And I'd rather get the carrot than a stick so far up my ass it's tickling my brain stem." I went outside to the porch to make the call to Valerie, my older sister. It was quicker than I thought it would be; Val and her husband Brad were hearing horror stories from their nursing friends in the local hospitals, and she immediately understood the position we were in. We hadn't always gotten along the best growing up, but if Val had one thing it was a practical head on her shoulders. When I came back inside, I nodded to Grierson. "Add in another house for my sister and her family, and we've got a deal." "In exchange for the Lease, and the extra house," Walters said, "We're going to need your help in identifying the landscape. I assume you know it fairly well; we'll want you to walk our surveyors through to show any odd landscape elements, seasonal issues like flood areas, that sort of thing." "Done, as long as I can point out the shit they shouldn't fuck with and they actually listen," I said. "There are some pretty big old growth trees out there that would be a fucking shame to cut down." "I understand your concerns, son," Grierson said, as he stood and offered his hand. "But believe me when I say this; we aren't looking to build any high rises or pave over the place. These developments are for people important to society for one reason or another, and that means we're making sure to give them the best we can. Landscape included." One last deep breath and I reached out and hovered my own hand near his. "In writing before it's official." "The contract will be done by this afternoon and we'll email it over. Our lawyers work on our timeline, not their own," he said and grasped my hand in his. We both had larger hands than most, but I could immediately tell he had the grip of a man made from the iron bones of a hard life. I'd like to think he felt the same in my grip, but I had a feeling he'd shaken hands with much harder and scarier people than me. "When can we get vaccinated?" Leo asked. "If we're going to be working with surveyors and shit, shouldn't we all be as safe as we can?" "We have a testing site opening up in Portland as we speak, so it can get done as soon as possible," Walters said. "Though, as I mentioned, things are a little bit unorthodox right now. Harrison and Leo, you'll need these codes. Get online this afternoon, go to the website and fill out the questionnaire. It's extremely important you are entirely truthful. Your answers will affect how your tier ranking will play out for you as we roll it out over the next few months across the west coast." He pulled out two business cards from a pocket, each with their names, an URL and a twenty-five-digit passcode, and handed them to Leo and me. "What about me?" Erica asked. "Vaccination side effects and implementation are different between men and women," Grierson said. "Just like the virus is overly affecting men, the vaccine has different effects. If you want your vaccine immediately, Miss Lacoste, you're going to need to fly with us back up to Portland and attend the information session this afternoon that some of our volunteer human guinea pigs are doing. Then, if you agree to the risks and side effects, we can have you immunized as soon as tomorrow morning." Things moved quickly after that. Erica went to pack an overnight bag and put on her 'going out into the world' gear that she usually wore for grocery trips into town; she'd be put up in a quarantine hotel while in Portland for the night before she returned the next day. Within ten minutes she was ready to go and Walters was escorting her out, and the helicopter was warming up its rotors with a whining hum in the front yard. "I'm glad you agreed to the deal," Grierson said, offering his hand to me again, which I shook. "You may not fully understand what you've agreed to yet, but when you do I expect a more enthusiastic thank you. I get that the cash wasn't the important factor with you, son. I grew up on a ranch in North Dakota, I know what family land means. This place is going to do a lot of good for people." "Are you managing the development?" I asked, raising my voice to be heard over the rising thrum of the helicopter. "Not a chance," he said. "It'll be managed by the Air Force, they've been spearheading with the CDC on all these efforts. I'm just the pre-show, but I'll be around to check in on the progress every once in a while, and do the problem solving other people can't handle." "What does that look like?" I asked. "Any way it needs to," he grinned, and I saw the look that all veteran soldiers had. An acceptance that violence could come easily into the life of a person, and that they knew how to handle it when it came. "And don't be alarmed, but we've already had a crew starting to widen your driveway down at the highway. They'll work through the night and probably make it up here by tomorrow morning." "What's the rush?" I asked. Grierson barked a laugh as he started backing away from me towards the open helicopter door. Sour-puss lady was leaning out, holding onto the door and looking like she was about to try and scold Grierson for keeping them waiting. "Kid, in two weeks' time there's going to be well over a thousand lumberjacks, construction workers, surveyors and architects up here. Government moves slow, but OGA were designed to do the opposite. Your life is about to get a little crazy, I'd strap in." I had too many questions to even start one as Grierson hopped into the dark interior of the helicopter. The door slammed, the motor whined at a higher pitch, and it leapt into the sky and started heading north. "Hey, does this questionnaire strike you as way too fucking personal?" "Hmm?" I asked. I was sitting on the front porch with my laptop open, but I hadn't even keyed in the website URL. Instead, I'd been sitting there for over an hour just looking out at the trees, wondering if I'd just betrayed six generations of my family in under thirty minutes. "These questions," Leo said, holding up his own laptop. He'd stepped out the front door and had a look of confusion plastered on his face. "It's like... sex stuff. Shit I wouldn't talk to you about, let alone the government." "What?" I asked. "Are you sure you're on the right site? It's supposed to be about the tier thing." "Yeah, I'm sure. Dot-Gov link and everything." "Fucking OGA," I grimaced. "You and that Agent dude kept saying that. What does it mean?" I sighed. "Other Government Agency. It's kind of a military meme for when someone from the CIA doesn't want to say they are from the CIA. Or, if you're into conspiracies, it's completely separate from the CIA but they're so secretive they don't even have a name." Leo just shook his head and sighed before sitting down in the other deck chair. He joined me in looking out at the forested hills that had surrounded us for the last five years. "Did I fuck everything up?" I asked him. "What? No," he said. "Well, I mean, it's hard to know. But no, I don't think so." "This is all going to go away," I said, gesturing out to the wilds that had been my childhood, and our shared backyard. "My family has been on this land for over a hundred and fifty years, and I just agreed to let the government wipe it out." "It's not like you had much of a choice, Harrison. Carrot and stick, like you said. And whether those guys were CIA or something else, they definitely seemed to have a really big fucking stick. They flew in on a damn helicopter." "Still," I said. "I feel like I'm selling out my childhood." We talked for a while, reminiscing. Leo let me tell some old family stories he'd already heard a half dozen times before. We joked about the shit we'd gotten up to, living out in our backwoods paradise. "Maybe it's time for a change," I sighed. "This was never going to last forever." "Felt like it though, didn't it?" Leo asked. "Yeah, it did." Poing! Leo's laptop, sitting forgotten, made a horrible noise. He glanced at it, "Ah, shit. I timed out. Now I gotta start all over again." He started typing away, and I finally opened my own laptop. The first thing I did was open my emails, and sitting right at the top, already marked with an 'important' star, was the email with the contract. Everything is as discussed. Print and sign, someone will be by tomorrow to collect. Make sure you fill out the questionnaire!; Walters. "Jesus," I muttered. "They really are putting a lot of emphasis on this thing." I opened up the website, starting by filling out all the basic information. Then, just like Leo said, it started to get weird. It was like filling out the most invasive and specific dating app ever. "I feel like they're going to try and 3D Print me a girlfriend," Leo laughed at one point. "Maybe it's cloning," I snickered. "That's fair. I wonder if they can clone me an Angelina Jolie?" "Gone in 60 Seconds Jolie, or Wanted Jolie?" I asked. He snorted. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith Jolie will always be my peak. Or Tomb Raider." "Ugh," I scoffed. We went back and forth like that, laughing at the ridiculousness of the questions and suggestions. The list of kinks we were attracted to, or turned off by was immense. We had to help each other even figure out what some of them were. I found myself ticking off some that surprised me because I'd never considered them before but they sounded hot. Other stuff I down voted hard, and I couldn't believe someone would ever admit to the government that they were into them. Hell, one of the suggested kinks was the government. Who the fuck got hot under the collar about bureaucracy and paperwork? I mean, I guess someone would, somewhere, or it wouldn't have been on the list. "What did you put for that last one?" Leo asked me as I was closing my laptop. "The relationship style scale?" I asked. "Yeah. I put a full 10, polyamory all the way. How hot would it be to be some sheikh with a harem of ladies?" "I went for a 6," I said. "I'm not going to turn down a threesome or anything if that's what my girl wants, but I'm also not into the idea of sharing with another boner." Leo shrugged, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "I don't know, my dude. The Agents did say the world is changing. Maybe the norm will be great big orgies next year, and we'll all be smashing like it's our jobs." I snorted and smirked. "Yeah, sure. Society threatens to collapse and we all devolve into Eyes Wide Shut perverts." "One can dream," Leo laughed. We spent the evening starting to pack. It was tough, since we weren't really sure what the actual plan was. The contract fully outlined that we'd be getting new residences in the development, which was being called 'Valhalla,' but it wasn't exactly clear what the timeline was. I pushed for Leo to get packing sooner than later. My days in the military had me trained to expect 'hurry up and wait' to never mean waiting on the little guy, and right now we were definitely the little guy. We were woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of machinery, and we got dressed and rode the ATVs down the driveway. The gravel trail stretched about a half mile from the highway up to the house, but we only made it around a couple of bends before we came to the lights and action. "Stop right there," someone with a megaphone called to us, and we pulled our rides to a halt and cut the engines. "Who the fuck are you?" the voice asked. "Harrison Black. You're on my,” I had to stop myself. As of that evening, I'd signed the contract. It wasn't mine anymore. "We live here," I corrected. "Oh, it's you," said the voice. One of the workers stepped forward. He had on a big, bright orange reflective vest, and had a clipboard in one hand and the megaphone in the other. "Keep working, boys!" he shouted, and the machinery ground into action again. He approached us and stopped about ten feet away, despite needing to shout to be heard over the machinery. "Sorry about the noise. We've got orders to get this road done up to your house by tomorrow." "We heard," Leo said. "How does this all work?" I asked. "Shouldn't you guys be in quarantine gear or something?" "We got tested twice over the last two days in preparation for the job," the guy said. "Everyone on the crew is clean, and we all damn well needed the work. Fastest turnaround and the highest pay I've ever seen. Still, we're supposed to keep our distance from anyone other than the team. You guys get tested?" "No," I shouted back. "But the Government guys who set this up didn't seem to care." "Yeah, they did that with us, too. Acted like they were immune. Hell, maybe they are," the worker said. "You hear about what that idiot in the White House said yesterday?" We traded some stories we'd heard. It was strange, usually Leo and I were pretty private with strangers, but after so long in isolation with just each other and Erica, and the fucking weird encounter with the Agents, it was nice to just shoot the shit with someone new and normal. Even if it was shouting over the sound of machinery. Williams was the foreman of the operation that was clearing the trees to either side of the road. Another crew was working behind them, and trucks were already dumping off heavy set gravel at the entrance to widen it into a three-lane road. By morning they expected to have all of the trees, stumps and all, ripped out and stacked up for processing, and the driveway would be graded and levelled by lunch. The speed at which the crew worked was almost frightening. They were all experienced hands and did everything safely, but it was clear that they were motivated. While we were talking, Leo and I had to back up our ATVs twice to clear space for the crew to move ahead. Eventually, we said good night to Williams and headed back up to the house. I went back to bed, wondering if I'd made a terrible mistake. True to their words, by the time Leo and I woke up in the early morning, the clanging and crashing was just fifty yards from the front door. We made a couple big pots of coffee and brought it out to the guys, and one at a time they all walked over to the stump we used as a table and poured it into their thermoses while we stayed back. I had to make two more trips with more fresh coffee to cover everyone; in the dark it had been hard to tell how many people were working stretched out along the driveway. The clearing crew itself had to be thirty people, and a tired but thankful Williams said the gravel grading and levelling crew was probably just as big. "I'm sure we'll see you around," Williams called as the workers started packing up their equipment and prepping their heavier machinery for transport. "Supposed to be lots more work to do up here, yeah?" "Guess so," I called back. "Where are you guys headed now?" "They set us up in a motel about 20 minutes south. We've got guys on the crew from all over; they recruited all of us to fly out for this work, all expenses paid. Gotta tell you, it felt like hitting the lottery after sitting around in quarantine with my savings siphoning away." They left behind stacks of logs and stumps along the side of the now widened driveway area, and soon Leo and I were prepping a whole new serving of coffee as the morning wore on and the grading crew made its way up my old driveway. The guys on that crew were a little more hesitant to chat since they felt like they were running behind schedule, but they were happy enough to take the hot coffee after a whole night of work. It was around noon when one of the grading crew came up and knocked on the front door of the house. I'd been busy cleaning out the attic; one of those jobs I'd always had on my list of things to do around the property but never got around to. If there was anything up there worth saving, I hadn't found it yet, but it was worth the look. I came down to the front door covered in dust. The guy took one look at me from where he'd backed to 'social distance' and started laughing. I took one look at him, covered in gravel dust with rings of sweat from where he'd taken off his hard hat, and laughed right back. "Sir," he finally said after a minute, "We just thought you should know that the crew down at the far end of the road said someone in a green pickup truck drove by real slow a few times. The third time they pulled over and asked what was going on, but the boys down there followed orders and didn't tell him anything, so he peeled out. Just figured we'd let you know." "I appreciate that," I said, and sighed in the way that only old family history could make me sigh. Deep, long and aggravated. "And I think I know who it probably was. Thanks for letting me know." He nodded and went back to work. I didn't even think to ask what all was going on down at the end of the new road they had installed until he was already at the other end of the yard. "What's up?" Leo asked when I went to join him in the barn. "One of the crew guys said they saw a green pickup doing drive-buys." "Hah! Well, I guess that's not going to be your problem anymore, is it?" Leo laughed. I smirked. "Not legally. I'm sure I'm still going to be on Kara's shit-list and get a fucking earful though." I ended up spending the early afternoon helping Leo pack up a bunch of his woodworking equipment. The smaller stuff was fairly easy, but he needed the extra body for some of the larger presses and table-mounted saws. It felt like we'd barely made a dent when the double-honk of a car broke our concentration. We both headed around the side of the barn to find Erica getting out of the passenger seat of a black town car that had eaten a whole lot of the fresh gravel dust and now looked like someone had dusted it with flour. Sour-puss Agent Maggie was getting out of the driver's seat. "Hey, sis, how was it?" Leo asked. "Umm-Hmm," Erica said, shaking her head and holding up a finger to keep him from hugging her. "I need to talk to both of you inside." She had nervous energy going on, bouncing her weight on one leg and chewing on the corner of her lower lip. "Give me twenty; no, give me thirty minutes." "Is everything alright?" I asked. Erica was already moving quickly into the house. She'd had a look on her face like she was sick, and flushed with a fever or something. I turned to Agent Maggie. "Did something happen? She didn't catch the virus, did she?" "No," sour-puss said, that permanent sneer never breaking. "She knows everything she needs to, and needs to talk. Just do what she says." "What are you talking about?" I asked. Leo had followed Erica inside to make sure she was Okay. "Look, prick. Your little 'send her to the car' thing yesterday made me look bad, and now I'm stuck as a glorified cab driver while my boss and my partner are off to another shitty corner of the country like this one to bribe someone else into handing over their property to the government. Just fuck off inside and enjoy your new fucking world, you Mamoa-wannabe jerk." She got back in her car and slammed the door closed, then started to peel away and spin the car around before slamming the breaks and rolling down the window. "I'll be back again in a few hours with Lacosta's partner. He needs to be here waiting." "What?" I asked. She just flashed me her middle finger as she drove away. God damn woman, I sighed, watching her kick up dust and loose stones as she drove way too fast down the brand new gravel road. I shook my head and went inside. Erica was already upstairs and I could hear the shower running. Leo just shook his head and shrugged, "She wouldn't say anything. Just muttered about needing to get ready for something." "This is weird," I said. "I'm really fucking hoping this whole thing isn't going to blow up in our faces." "If it is, we might as well take it head on. Too late to do anything else," Leo said. "That's too fucking true, my friend," I said. Thirty-five minutes later Erica, dressed in a pair of her tight jeans with all the holes 'stylishly' cut into them down the legs and a black Metallica hoodie, strutted down the stairs and immediately began pacing and fidgeting with the strings of her sweater hood. She had done her full makeup, and seeing her like that was almost as shocking as the first time she'd gone without it; it had been a month since she had bothered with makeup at all, since even when she went out on grocery runs she was entirely covered up. "Sit," she demanded when we joined her in the living room, pointing me to my usual chair and Leo to the couch. He furrowed his brow as he watched his sister's nervous energy, but I wasn't sure it was because he was worried or didn't like her ordering him around. Their whole twin thing had always been more bouncing off each other than working in parallel. "Alright, alright," I said, hands up as I went to sit. "What's going on, E?" She stopped pacing and looked at both of us, transferring her energy into tapping her foot. I'd only ever seen her like this once before, right before we'd had our big group conversation about her staying indefinitely through the quarantine. Later, she'd elaborated to me a little bit more as to why she'd been so nervous; beyond the pandemic dangers, and feeling alone if she left, Erica had been chipping in for groceries with us, but that was it; the woman couldn't work during the pandemic, and tattooing hadn't exactly fueled her savings accounts. Everything all piling on at once had turned her into a nervous wreck, the opposite of her usual self. So what was doing this to her now? "Erica," Leo said, snapping her out of the train of thought she'd lost herself in staring at me. Her gaze was intense, only added to by her sexy post-punk look. It was like she'd erected a wall of armor around herself, or was taking on a persona that she'd let drop. "Right, sorry, I'm just really fucking distracted," she said. "Look, there's no way to say this easily without sounding sort of crazy at first, Okay? So I'm just going to say it, and you both need to listen cause I'm only explaining it once, alright?" Leo and I both nodded. "Alright, so the vaccine isn't just like, a shot. Well, it is for women. I got it this morning, and I'm something like 97% immune to the virus. But for men it isn't a shot. I did that information session and they showed us a bunch of research I only half-understood thanks to my AP bio classes back in high school, but I definitely got the video. The vaccine is pretty much lethal for men, and it has some weird side effects for women. They couldn't remove those aspects, so they modified it in other ways to try and adjust." "So how are we supposed to get vaccinated?" Leo asked. Erica licked her lips, and I realized she was sweating slightly. She glared at her brother, then looked at me and her eyes softened, then hardened, and I couldn't tell if she was angry at me or what. Then she glared back at her brother again. "They basically turned the vaccine into an STD, and it's the only way for men to get vaccinated. It's not permanent and needs frequent upkeep in both men and women, and it turns women fucking horny as hell if they go without for too long." "I'm sorry, what!?" Leo burst out. "And you took the shot?" "Just shut up, Leo!" Erica tried to shout him down. "I heard all the evidence, I weighed my options, and I decided this was the best thing to do. The whole tier system thing? I did the same questionnaire as you guys did, and they gave me a list of good matches. People I could go become a partner of. Like, sexually, and maybe romantically. We'd live together in quarantine, screw each other into immunity, and be that way for the foreseeable future until they fix this vaccine." "That's so fucked up," I said. "They wanted you to just shack up with someone you didn't know?" "Yeah, except someone I did know was on my list," she said. "Who?" Leo asked. "Are you moving back to Portland?" Erica turned from her brother and looked right at me. "Oh, no," Leo said. "No, no, no. You two are not becoming fuck buddies. We discussed this, Erica!" "Wait, what?" I said. "You discussed,” "Not important!" Leo shouted. "It's not important. It's not happening." "It's too late, Leo," Erica said. Then she turned to me. "At least, it is if you're into it. Look, Harrison, you can say no. I can't make you do this. What's-her-name will come back and get me, and I'll pick someone else on that list they gave me, and I'll go stay with them wherever they are. No hard feelings, you've done so much for me already that I can't even start to say thank you properly. But fuck I really want to fuck you. I've been getting off thinking about you almost exclusively for weeks, and the only reason I never asked you out in all these years is because I promised Leo back in high school I wouldn't ever date his friends." "And this is better?!" Leo squawked. "Shut up, Leo!" Erica shouted back at him. "You're not seriously considering this, are you?" Leo asked me. "You can't; Why; Come on, dude. She's my twin sister, it would be like... ugh!" He threw his hands up in the air in frustration. I rubbed my face with both hands and took in a deep breath before looking back at the siblings. "Alright," I said slowly. "First off, Erica, is this the vaccine talking? Just try and focus, cause this sounds an awful lot like some crazy date-rape drug and not a vaccine." "God, fuck. Why do men have to make things so hard?" she said. "I've wanted to fuck you for ages, Harrison. You being on my compatibility list at the vaccine center just made the decision fucking convenient instead of a fantasy." I turned to Leo. "Would you rather it be me, or some freak you know nothing about?" "I'd rather it be no one!" Leo said. "That's not an option anymore," Erica growled. "I've already got the shot. I'm just going to get hornier and hornier until I fucking snap, Leo. Then I'll fuck anything that fucking moves, that's the way it works. I need to bond with someone or I'll lose my goddamn mind. There are still a few days before I apparently go full-on bitch-in-heat feral, but I'm already feeling an itch all over and the only thing that I know, I know, is going to relieve that itch is cock." "Jaysus," I muttered, sitting back. Erica turned back to me, hugging herself. "Please, Harrison? Just; just tell me yes or no. Standing here without an answer is killing me, cause I don't know if I need to fight the feeling or I can give in." "I; Erica, you are absolutely gorgeous. I always assumed you weren't interested in me, or just wanted a friend. Honestly, I sort of thought you were gay with the comments you make about the women you work on in your shop. You're always talking about perky tits and firm asses and stuff like that," I said. "I'm Bi," she clarified. "And I work with people's bodies all day. I know what's hot and what's not for me, and Harri, you've fucking revved my engine since that first weekend Leo introduced us. I just want to rub my body all over,” "Erica!" Leo interrupted her. "Sorry, sorry, too much," she said. "I told you, this fucking vaccine is damn distracting right now. I need some relief here." "I'll do it," I said. "I just; this feels like the drug or whatever talking, Erica. Are you absolutely sure?" She was on me, straddling my lap and pressing her mouth to mine. Erica grabbed my head in her hands as she started forcefully making out with me, muttering 'Thank you' over and over into my lips. Her tongue pushed against mine, and then she grabbed my hands with hers and pulled them around to grab her ass. It was wonderfully firm, with a good amount of muscle that kept it looking full even if it wasn't particularly plump. "At least go get a room," Leo growled loudly. I pushed Erica back far enough that we could look each other in the eyes. Hers were bright, lucid, and silently pleading with me in a way that made her seem smaller and more vulnerable than the tough chick I'd come to know. "Let's go upstairs," I said to her. "I didn't mean literally get a room, right now," Leo said. "We need to talk this over! You made me a promise, Erica." "Shut up, Leo," Erica said. "I'll make it up to you, this isn't the end of the world. Probably. I think." She grabbed my hand, scrambled out of my lap and started pulling me up out of my chair. "What the fuck am I supposed to do?" Leo asked. "How am I getting vaccinated?" "Whenever they find someone who actually wants to fuck you, dorkus," Erica told her brother. "That lady agent said she'd be back in a few hours with your 'partner,'" I told him as I passed by, still getting pulled by Erica towards the stairs. "I didn't know what she meant at the time, but I guess;?" "Is she hot?" Leo asked me. I was already getting pulled up the stairs. "How am I supposed to know?" I yelled down to him. It's funny how energy can rise and fall at the drop of a hat. Erica pulled me into the guest bedroom she'd been using as her bedroom, slammed the door shut and turned to me; and stopped. She bit her lip, one leg bouncing at the knee as she shifted her weight. "Second thoughts?" I asked. "No, no," Erica said, shaking her head. "Definitely not. God, fuck, no. I didn't want to get into it in front of Leo like that, but you're also just being so you that I feel like I need to explain myself more." "So tell me," I said, sitting down on the bed. Erica started pacing again but stopped after one back-and-forth. "Okay, look. What I said down there is true. I would have asked you out years ago, after that first time we met at Burleson's when Leo brought you around." "The pub around the corner from your shop? That wasn't the first time we met," I said. "I know," she replied. "That was when you were moving into Leo's apartment. We passed each other in the building lobby and I saw you glance at my tits. I thought you were just another fuckboy asshole." "Wait, I don't remember that," I said. "Why didn't you ever tell me that happened? I thought the first time was when you gave Leo the fish tattoo on his side." "That's the first time we actually spoke," Erica said. "And you had an uphill fucking battle to try and change my mind about my first impression of you. You only made it far enough that I didn't bitch about Leo bringing you to the pub a couple nights later. That was when I got to actually focus on talking to you instead of chatting while I was at work. I also remember being super fucking pissed at Leo that night, because I asked him if I could go back on our deal from high school and hook up with you, and he said no." "Okay, whoa; we could have been having sex for seven years and you held to an agreement you made in high school? What was this fucking thing, a treaty ratified by the Pope?" Erica snorted a laugh and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "No, it was stupid. And honestly, looking back, we probably would have had a lot better of a time if he and I had agreed on the opposite. But Leo was a jock, and I was a scene girl, and we made an agreement that we didn't want each other messing with our friend groups. So no dating, no crushing, no nothing if the other twin claimed them first. We wanted to guard what we had, instead of helping each other out." I huffed a soft laugh. "Sounds like teenage bullshit to me." "Yeah, well, I'll just claim twin loyalty, Okay?" Erica said. "But that's not the really fucked up thing about this. When you invited me down from the city to stay with you guys, Leo and I had a separate talk. Harrison, my brother fucking loves you. Not like in a sexual way, but you're the best friend he's ever had. Period. No doubt about it. And he may not have ever said it to you but he was really worried that I would screw up the dynamic you guys have; and now here I am doing it." Erica squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her face to the ceiling. "Shit, maybe this was a bad idea after all. Fuck, he's never going to forgive me, I,” "Hey, hey," I said, standing and pulling her into a hug. Erica was a tall woman, easily 5'9 or a bit more, but I still towered over her with my 6'6". She clung to the sides of my shirt instead of hugging back, but buried her face into my chest. "I didn't know any of this, E. But we're all adults, we can handle this better than making promises we don't want to keep." "I know," she mumbled into my shirt, and slowly let go of my sides and slid her arms around until she was hugging me back. "You should know that I would have asked you out in a second if I thought you were interested," I said. "I'm still not exactly comfortable with the big picture on all of this, but this right here? I will definitely take this silver lining." "God, you make me so hot, Harrison," Erica said, and she looked up into my eyes. I kissed her as we held each other. Her considerable chest was pressing against my sternum, and as she shifted her arms up to wrap them around my neck and pull me closer to her, I lowered mine until I hooked my fingers into the belt loops of her jeans. We held that for a while, eyes closed and enjoying the feeling like we were teenagers again. God, we're both over thirty, I laughed in my head. We should be a lot bet

Welcome to Episode 144. We got an episode about hunting ghosts were we don't even make one Ghostbusters joke.The Game:Banishers: Ghosts of New EdenIntro Song "Letting Go" by Emerge.Title Art by Devious.Pixel.Internet Presence Preamble by Brandon Little.Podcast edited by Brian Owsley.Sweet Jams:"Main Menu""Harmony"These tracks and more can be found on the Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden OST.The Internet:TwitchYouTubeBlue SkyDiscordFacebookInstagramLock Stock StorePatreonSuspension of DisbeliefBlake's Story "They Come This Night"2smokingcontrollers@gmail.comThe End

Bienvenidas y bienvenidos a Recarga Activa, el podcast diario de AnaitGames en el que filtramos lo más relevante de la actualidad del videojuego en pildorazos de 15 minutos. La Recarga Activa de hoy: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl se publicará en PlayStation 5 a finales de año Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden y Cyberpunk 2077, entre los juegos del Plus de este mes Rare hablará del futuro de Sea of Thieves en el Community Direct de esta tarde Suscríbete para recibir el siguiente episodio en tu gestor de podcasts favorito. Puedes apoyar nuestro proyecto (y acceder a un montón de contenido exclusivo) en Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anaitreload ♫ Sintonía del programa: Senseless, de Johny Grimes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 23 Planning Ceremonies.. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.  As Maya, Sarah, & Emily headed into the house, Emily pulling the wheelie bag behind her, all of the luggage taken into the house, as Andy glanced over to look at Phil, as Linda moved over to stand closer to him. "You didn't have to bring her over here yourself Phil," Andy said to him. "You've got plenty of people over at the base for that kind of thing." "Not as many as I used to," he said. "You heard about this Valhalla Shores they've set up over in Pacifica?" Andy nodded. "Yeah, the other Phil called a little earlier today, told me he'd been moved into there. Why, are they taking some of your people?" "Seems like it. Maya was in the last batch of people we were doing serum injections for here in New Eden for the foreseeable future. Me and my team have been retasked, with studying the long term effects of the treatment, and with finding a way to help women survive if their male partner is killed. This thing we've got, it's kept a bunch of us alive, but the last thing I ever intended was for it to be binding men and women together." "Fucking McCallister," Linda grumbled. "Who?" Andy asked. "Don't worry about it," Phil said. "Anyway, they're using the base next to Valhalla Shores to be doing serum induction and pairing now. New Eden's mostly a closed community at this point." "Mostly?" "Nothing's ever truly completely done, so if we get special requests, or emergency needs, we'll add some more people to New Eden, but they want us focused on countering these side effects so badly that even the people who are being moved into Dos Eden are mostly going to be dosed elsewhere. There's a large facility in Oakland that's basically going to be the headquarters for serum induction, even though I told them it would probably be easier for all the Dos Eden people to just be inducted here, but the higher ups are adamant I start working some of this out." "I mean, that's probably for the best, isn't it, Phil? What happens right now if a man dies and he's partnered to multiple women? They just go insane?" "Well, no," Phil said, "but it's not pretty. We have a sort of temporary work around, but I think it's cruel, and it's certainly not anything I want to be advertising." "The hell are you talking about, Phil?" "So fairly early on in the crisis, we had to send some samples out to Washington, so they could see about getting some key people inoculated against the virus. We sent enough that all of Congress and the Joint Chiefs of Staff could've taken it if they wanted, but almost to a man they refused. The military leaders were a lot smarter about it, though, and many of them decided to have their partners take the treatment, so they would have some level of immunity from DuoHalo. The fact that General Brown, who took over for General Goldfein in August, was so proactive in making sure the top brass at the Air Force were inoculated might just be the defining action that saved this country from extinction." "Once again," Linda said with a sigh, "the black guy has to work three times as hard just to get so much as a thank you." "Well, when I have the privilege of meeting General Brown, I'm going to thank him hard enough for three people, because he's basically the only reason any of us are alive," Phil said. "He sprung into action, and made sure that we were working to get our solution, the only workable solution, out to as many people as possible, as quickly as we could. And he's the person who assigned you to me, Linda, so for that I'll be eternally grateful, because you've saved my life more than a couple of times over the past few months, in more ways than one." "I told you, the sniper was a freebie, so he doesn't count," she said, a hint of flirting layered into her voice. "So that means you only owe me, like, three or four, tops. All the emotional, mental stuff, that's all Audrey's doing. She's the one who takes care of your brain while I take care of the body." "Oh she does her share of body care too," Phil teased back. "I suppose," Linda said with a wink. "Anyway, tell Andy what you needed to." "I'm getting there, Linda, just be cool." "Pssht. Like you know anybody cooler than me." Phil looked back to Andy with a grin and a shrug. "When she's right, she's right. Did Lesser Phil say much about Valhalla Shores?" "Only that they were super strict about their quarantine rules. He was calling to tell me he didn't think he'd be able to do poker for the foreseeable future, because he couldn't come and go any more. He said that if he left the area, he had to spend a week in quarantine before he'd be allowed back in to see the rest of his family. Struck me as sort of an over reach, considering we're all basically immune to DuoHalo, as long as we're having regular contact with our partners, right?" "Theoretically, yeah, although we're still doing a lot of testing on that," he said. "Well, I guess the Air Force is doing that testing, because right now, I'm just focused on making sure we get women the ability to survive the death of their partners." "You said you had a workaround." "Not a good one," Linda interjected. "Agreed," Phil said. "So if a man dies, as long as his body isn't too badly damaged, we can harvest slightly necrotized semen from his corpse, introduce that into one of his partners, and it will act as a sort of a reset function, but the woman needs to be reimprinted almost immediately. As soon as the necrotized semen hits her system, she'll basically be in a state like the one you found Piper in, in a crude, violent frenzy." "Jesus," Andy said, "who the hell knows about this?" "The women who are staffing what few emergency rooms we have open near any induction centers, and the staff of the centers themselves, so we're keeping the loop pretty small on it, at least for the time being. It's given me a starting place on where to work on a reset serum, but I'm still quite a ways from having anything even vaguely useful." "Have you considered trying to get the serum to work on men without the need of the pairing?" Phil shot him an annoyed look. "What a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?" he said, slapping his forehead. "Yes, I fucking thought of that, but it's almost like our serum is actively fighting against pairing with immunization suspensions. We suspect we had someone sabotaging the project from the get go, so it's entirely possible the bastard had this whole thing baked in there for some other reason. God only knows what the sick motherfucker thought he was going to do with it." "If you think you had a saboteur  " "No," Linda interjected, "we know we had one. His ass fled to Russia." "Russia? Seriously?" "It's part of the reason their military and political cabinets are in so much better shape than ours, although they clearly didn't have the infrastructure to mass produce it, considering how horrible the casualties of their population are. While the Russian authorities had plenty for themselves and their generals, their population was hit harder than almost anyone else's, with close to 90% of the Russian male population dead. Putin's not anywhere near as scary when most of his military bases are staffed by corpses, and there's nobody to climb inside of his tanks." "But what about all the women of Russia? With so few men there, there's no way your system would work, would it?" Phil nodded. "I mean, DuoHalo isn't anywhere near as fatal to women as it is to men, so I think the Russian gambit is to just hope enough women survive DuoHalo naturally as to keep the country even vaguely functional, while all the important men have at least a dozen partners each, to ensure they're always completely buffered from the DuoHalo virus. I'm almost wondering if this was what the saboteur had in mind when he started tampering with my serum in its early days, trying to invent something that would enslave women to men. Christ, if he was still here, I'd shoot him myself," the Filipino American man said, scratching the back of his neck. "Get to the point, babe," Linda told him. "Our absence off base raises red flags the longer we're gone, and the last thing we want is them getting suspicious." "Suspicious?" Andy scowled at his good friend for a moment. "Phil, what the hell are you up to?" "You remember when you told me a few years ago that you thought one of your superiors was actively getting in the way of you getting promoted?" "I do remember that," Andy said, "and I also remember you telling me that I was being paranoid and that I should just forget about it." "Yeah, well, maybe I was wrong, okay, and maybe someone's actively trying to keep my project from developing a version of the serum without the sexual side effects." "Phil are you  " "Listen, will you?" Phil said, grabbing his friend's shoulder. "The military has thought overpopulation was a giant problem in the U.S. dating back thirty years, and they had all sorts of contingency plans to reduce the population, not only of our country, but of the entire world. They called it the 'die back' contingency. I know it sounds insane  " "It sounds insane, Phil, because it is insane. Our own government planning mass casualty events across the globe?" "It was all supposed to be theoretical, Andy, whitepapers and proof of concept stuff, but nobody was every supposed to have built anything, but I'm starting to think that's what DuoHalo is, somebody's die back contingency that got loose and got out of control, because the Russians acted way too quickly quarantining their people for them to have just 'gotten lucky.' They knew this was coming, long before anyone else did, so I think it's their fuckup, and they just got lucky that we had something that could counteract it, and so be it if it's got some mad scientist's project woven into it. That just gave them a foothold into getting their hands on it." "Phil, we've known each other a long time, and if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you love your secrets, so if you're telling me all this, there's got to be a very good reason for it. You wouldn't give me a peek behind the velvet rope like this without an extremely important cause. What's going on?" His friend sighed, glancing over at Linda, who simply shrugged, before he looked back at Andy. "I've doled out a lot of favors over the last several months, so now it's time for me to ask one of you, and it's kind of a big one, so if you say no, hey, I get it, but realize I need someone I can trust on this." "Talk to me, Phil." "So you know how we had someone defect to Russia?" "Yeah?" "The Russians had some defect to us." "Seriously?" "It gets funnier," Linda said, a grin on her face. "So the guy who defected from us, the one who we think caused a lot of the mess with the imprinting in our serum, his name was Adam McCallister." "Okay." "The group that defected from Russia? The person who reached out to me on their behalf was Adam's wife, Evie." "Adam and Eve?" Andy asked. "Are you putting me on?" "Wish I was," Phil sighed, leaning his back against the door of his car. "She reached out to me personally with an offer. I get her paired to some rich fella who's going to take care of her, and she's going to help us crack the unpairing/repairing problem." "Phil,” "I'm not asking you to take her, Andy, relax. I was hoping maybe you could reach out to Watkins and see if he'd be willing to take her in." "Nate said he did feel like he owed me a couple still, even with all the money he gave me." "That's not the whole of it, though." "What else,” "So Evie McCallister has with her a pair of men who are imprinted on each other." "Wait, what?" Andy said. "I thought being homosexual was like a giant taboo in Russia." "They certainly frown on it, which is why two of the scientists who were working with Adam McCallister didn't reveal they were gay until they'd devised a work around, a sort of Rosetta Stone for this whole thing. That's what let them flee." "Just give him the short and quick, hon," Linda said to Phil. "Okay, long story short  " "Too late!" both he and Phil said in unison before chuckling. "Right," Phil continued. "So one of the two men has what he describes as 'reassignment sperm,' in that his sperm isn't toxic, even to women who are imprinted already. A small amount of it will essentially reset a woman, but she'll immediately go into the state we've seen with using the necrotized sperm, which is part of the reason I believe Evie when she told me all of this." "You haven't tested it yet?" "I'm getting to that. This guy, Sergei, has a variation of our serum running through his veins, and it might eventually lead to some kind version of the serum where people don't have to be paired to one another, but we are a long way from that right now. He also claims it can pair two men together, which was a large part of the reason he and his boyfriend fled here with Evie McCallister. In Russia, they'd both have been killed, but if he's right, we could, albeit very slowly, at least start getting gay men paired up and resistant to DuoHalo. But I've been keeping this on the down low because I'm worried that if some people on the base found out, they'd try and quash it." "You can't believe that," Andy said." "Wish I didn't, but I do. They're mostly focused on making sure I can get women to survive their partner's death. There hasn't been any push on us trying to get a solution for gay men and women, so now that I may have a partial one here, I'm doing everything I can to validate it quickly and pushed out in front of as many people as possible. It's really not scalable, but at this point, I'll take what I can get, you know?" "So what do you need from me?" "We've got Evie, Sergei and Sergei's boyfriend Andrei stashed in a house over in Dos Eden. Now I can't go over there, because if I do, they're going to know I was there, and I don't want to bring her in until I've validated her claims. Do you have anyone in your family who wouldn't mind fooling around with some other guy for a bit?" "My family's all here by choice, Phil," Andy said. "What about your cook, Jenny?" Linda asked. "Didn't you say she's married to your gardener, and they're both just with you to stay healthy? Think she'd be okay to help you test this all out?" "She doesn't want to leave the family, Linda, even if she's not emotionally invested in me like my partners are." "She wouldn't leave your family, Andy. She'd just be on a very short, temporary loan, and she's not going to have to sleep with anyone she doesn't want to," Phil said. "I can talk to her about it, but lay it out for me how it's all going to work." "You take her over to the house, along with one of your male friends, Eric or Xander, whichever one Jenny wouldn't mind having one evening of fun with. You put a little bit of Sergei's cum on her skin, just to prove it doesn't have any sort of adverse reaction. If it's all good, you have her taste a little bit, and then she should go back to the imprinting state, and you let your friend imprint her. A couple of days later, you do it again, but reimprint her back to you. If Evie's telling the truth, it'll only be a few days and then everything will be back to the way it was. And if she's not, the minute Jenny touches Sergei's semen, she'll have an adverse reaction and she doesn't have to go any further." Phil sighed, shrugging a little. "I need someone I can trust on this, Andy, and I don't know who else to turn to. If you don't think she'll go for it, you don't have to bring it up, and I'll, I'll see if there's anybody else I can ask. I could ask Xander, I guess." "No," Andy sighed, shaking his head. "You ask Xander and he'll feel obligated to try and help you. I'll talk to Jenny and Katie, and I'll let them decide. Fair?" "Fair enough," Phil agreed. "Get blood samples at every stage in between. Take Niko with you, and she'll know how to do it." "What have you got that girl up to behind my back, Phil?" "Oh hell no," his friend laughed. "If you can't get her to tell you, what the hell makes you think I'm gonna tell you? She'd kick my ass if I said anything. You can ask her again." "She'll probably tell me what she told me last time,  I shouldn't worry about it." "It took a long while for Phil to trust me as well, Andy, so I wouldn't worry about it," Linda said with a smile. "You guys are so used to thinking you have to be self reliant, how you need to be tough, that it takes you a while to get used to the idea of having a woman take care of your helpless asses. But you'll learn. You all do eventually." "Well, I feel like I just got scolding by the nuns at Saint Agnes Academy again. How about you, Andy?" Phil chuckled. "I didn't go to Catholic school, Phil, but I know the sentiment. I guess we just have to trust they're doing everything they can to keep us safe." "Even when you're both being a pain in the ass about it," Linda said, just the tiniest undercurrent of genuine annoyance to her voice. "Sorry Linda," they both said in unison. "You're both forgiven, but we really gotta get back to the base, Phil, otherwise Fielder's going to get suspicious, and that's the last thing you want." "She's right," Phil said, giving Andy a hug. "Thanks for even considering it. I know it's nuts, but if you follow the instructions I gave you, worst case scenario is that Jenny gets a rash on her skin for a couple of days." "Like I said, it's their decision, not mine." "Right. Right right right. Anyway, if you decide to do it, I can give you all the instructions when we're over in a couple of days for the party." "God, that is just two days away, isn't it? Crazy how time flies." Phil let go of Andy and headed back to his car. "Stay safe, man. Niko or Lexi with you at all times if you leave this house. And don't tell anyone about this little Evie thing that you don't have to." "I'm gonna tell my family, Phil." Phil shrugged a little bit, opening the door of his car. "If it was me, I would keep it to only the very few who need to know. Anyway, your house, your call. See you in a couple of days, man." He and Linda hopped into their car and drove down the driveway and headed off into the evening air. "That's the difference between you and me, Phil," Andy said to himself. "I'm no good at keeping secrets." He walked inside to find Aisling waiting for him, a warm smile on her face as she slid her arm around his waist and saddled up next to him as they walked to the dining room. "Why the long face, Andy?" "Phil dropped a bit of a heavy thing on me, and it's a lot to think about. I'm not built for this cloak and dagger shit like he is." On the stroll to dinner, Andy explained to her everything that Phil and Linda had told him, as she peppered him with questions along the way. At the end, she suggested he wait until later in the evening to talk to Jenny and Katie about it. When they got to the dining room, Andy was pleased to find nearly everyone there, Lauren and Taylor having texted earlier that they were just going to grab dinner at the training grounds tonight and would be back late. Emily, Sarah and Maya were a couple cocktails in already, but all of them were in that pleasant space between buzzed and tipsy, talking up a storm, and as soon as Andy and Ash walked into the room, Emily immediately ushered them over to make sure that Andy was sitting next to Maya, Ash on the other side of him. Early on, the girls had tried convincing Andy to always sit at the head of the table, and he'd told them exactly what they could do with that idea, so the table seating constantly shuffled, and nobody sat at either end of the table two nights in a row, so that it was clearly established that nobody was more or less important than anyone else. It was a symbolic thing, but Andy was the first to point out that symbols have power, and their subliminal influence should never be underestimated. Dinner gave everyone a chance to take turns grilling Maya, which let Andy just sort of sit and listen. After he'd made the decision of who he would offer spots in his house, he'd talked to each of the girls over Zoom for about an hour, letting them ask him whatever questions they wanted while he'd asked them a few as well. It wasn't enough time to get to truly know each other, but it gave both him and the woman in question a chance to check for any real deal breakers that they might have overlooked, so many of the questions the girl were asking Maya were things Andy already knew the answers to, although she did have one surprise up her sleeve for him. "So what's your favorite of Andy's books," Sarah asked her. "I know you have to have read some of them right now, since I gave you all of them the last time I saw you, a few years ago." Maya tilted her head to one side, a wry grin spreading wide on her face. "You're not going to believe me." "Is it 'The Trouble With Werebears,' because if you say it is, I'm gonna have to shield you from Andy throwing a dinner roll at you," the tall redhead giggled. Maya reached into her satchel and pulled out a book, setting it down on the table. It had dozens of post it notes sticking out from it, and the cover was starting to bend back a little. Andy glanced over and then his eyes widened in surprise. "No! Really?" The book in question was easily the least popular thing he'd ever written, partially because it was so far out of his normal wheelhouse. "I think it's easily your best work, and frankly, I'm surprised nobody's ever tried to make a movie out of it, which was something I wanted to talk to you about." Emily reached over and picked up the book. "'Fatal Alliances?' This isn't a Druid Gunslinger book. I don't know that I've ever seen Sarah reading this." "Oh I read it," Sarah said. "But it's super fucking sad. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's fucking hot, and I get why maybe it was too fucking steamy for the mainstream, but it's such a fucking downer ending that it isn't something I wanted to come back to that fucking often, even as great as it is." "What's it about, love?" Emily asked him. Maya decided to answer instead. "It's a Cold War story about two spies, one American and one Soviet, and they're each sort of fatal honey traps. Anyone who either of them has sex with dies within a couple of days, from what looks like natural causes, except that their bodies are generating some kind of sexually transmitted poison. They're considered important assets, the assassins you send when you want no traces left behind. They both witness something they shouldn't one night in East Berlin, and so they flee together. After killing their respective bosses, the two decide they're done with this world, so they have sex with each other, and die in each other's arms a few days later. If you expounded upon the action sequences, fleshed them out a bit more, this could be an excellent fucking movie." She paused for a second. "It could be my excellent fucking movie. Who owns the rights to this, Andy?" Maya asked him, taking the book back from Emily. "Nobody?" he chuckled. "Well, I guess that means I still do. Nobody had that much interest in it, so I didn't worry about it. Hell, I know it's out of print, so I'm a little amazed you got that copy." "I got her everything, Andy," Sarah told him. "And you know me. What I want, I fucking get." "So I have learned," he nodded. "Yeah, I can have my agent draw up a contract to let you get the rights to it." "Soon," Maya said, "before the Druid Gunslinger film makes everyone claw at all your old work." "I barely sold fifty thousand copies of 'Fatal Alliances,' Maya, so I think you're overestimating people's interest in the property." "Believe me, Andy, I know what I'm talking about." Dinner carried on with several conversations going on and Andy drifting in between them. One of the things he'd learned early on as his family grew was that as soon as they had moved into the mansion, the family size had grown too large for there to only be one conversation at the dinner table. He'd also stressed a number of times that the girls shouldn't always stick to their usual cliques and should intermingle, making sure to spend a little time with all the other girls over the course of any given week, and it was starting to settle into cycles. When Jenny was bringing out dessert, Andy grabbed her and asked her and Katie to meet him in his office in a few hours, so he could talk to them about something. Jenny seemed a little nervous and Andy said it wasn't anything bad, and they shouldn't worry. After dinner had wrapped up, the whole family began carrying dishes into the kitchen, refusing to let Jenny and Nicolette clear the table entirely by themselves, as Andy, Maya, Emily and Sarah started walking down the hall towards Maya's room. "So whaddaya think, Maya?" Sarah asked eagerly. It was clear that the relationships between Sarah and Maya and the relationships between Emily and Maya were very different, with Sarah acting almost like Maya's eager little sister, and Emily more like Maya's old friend. "You okay with staying?" "Yeah, I think I can make all this work for me," she said. "Good people, good environment, the dogs seem happy enough, and with the shooting studios in Oakland, Marin and Pleasanton, I can definitely carve out a career here. So sure, why not? I'll pitch in with you lot and call this home." "Marvelous," Emily said, leaning in to kiss Maya on the cheek. "Sarah and I will leave you and Andrew to make your final arrangements, and we will see you tomorrow. Good night!" "Night Maya!" Sarah said, taking a turn to kiss Maya on the cheek, before she and Emily headed back up the hallway towards the stairs, Maya's bedroom on the ground floor so the dogs could easily walk right out into the back yard. Katie had even set up the fenced area so that Maya could simply slide open the deck door in her bedroom and let the dogs run straight out into it unsupervised. "This new world's pretty fuckin' crazy," Maya said, looking up at him as they reached the door to her bedroom. "You must feel like the luckiest man in the world." Andy sighed a little. "I mean, on one hand, sure. On the other, my brother and most of my oldest friends died to DuoHalo over the last few months, so a lot of times, I'm dealing with survivor's guilt, y'know? Why'd I make it and not them?" Maya took his hand in hers, shaking her head at him. "Don't get caught up in your head about it. It's too big for anyone to think about, so you just have to learn to roll with it." "Yeah, thanks. That's what everyone keeps telling me, so I'm doing what I can to not dwell on it too much. Anyway, I'm glad you've decided to join the family, and when you feel like the time is right, just let me know and we can make it official." Maya squeezed his hand a little bit, as if she thought he might be planning to pull away. "Look, I talked to Em and Sares about it while you were talking with your friend, and I decided I want our first time to be like normal people, without all the complications of imprinting tied to it, so I was thinking maybe you could come in, and I could give you a hummer to get over that whole hump, so that when we do bump uglies for the first time, we feel a little more like regular people. That cool?" Andy smiled at her. "Hey, whatever you want, Maya. We don't even have to do the imprinting now if you don't want to." She looked down, unable to look him in the eyes for the moment. "That's just it, Andy. I do want to. And we do kinda have to, because sometime in the middle of dinner, I realized it was getting harder to think clearly, and the one thing I don't ever want is to feel out of control of my own body. So is it cool if we just do this now? I'm sure you've banged, like, five or six people already today,” "Actually, it was a pretty light day today," he chuckled. "I provided for Jenny and Katie this morning, and Ash snuck in while I was writing to have a quickie as a break, to make sure I wasn't sitting all day." "Good," Maya growled at him, as she grabbed his shirt, "then you'll have a nice fat fucking load for me to swallow." She pushed him into her bedroom, and closed the door behind her. The sliding door was open just enough so that the dogs could come and go, and that made it cool inside, the evening November air chilling the room a bit. "How should I do this?" "The minute you get it,you're going to black out, so maybe I should lay down on the bed and you should just  " Maya peeled her tanktop up and over her head, revealing small tan tits with tiny brown nipples atop of them, tossing it aside. "I think I'm the most flat chested girl in this house, so I hope you're okay with that," she said, unbuckling the belt holding up her cargo pants as he crossed the room to her. She must have had some large tattoo on her back, because Andy could see what looked like a portion of a serpent's tail curving around her waist. He turned her head up suddenly and leaned down to press his lips against hers in an intense kiss, feeling her tense up for just a brief second before settling into it, relaxing. "You are absolutely fucking beautiful, Maya, and I don't ever want you to think I'm just okay with you. Got it?" Maya grinned up at him, a softening in her eyes. "Em's right. You are a magnificent and sappy bastard, but that makes you lovable. Can I finish getting naked now, or you wanna make out a bit more first?" "I wanna make out a bit more first," he said, grinning back at her. "Yeah, okay." They locked lips again, but even while they did, Andy could feel Maya's hands unbuttoning his jeans, unzipping them. He was about to shift to help her take them off, but when he did, she pulled back from the kiss, shaking her head. "Leave'em on. I like the idea of feeling like a couple of teenagers trying to get each other off quick before the parents come home." She turned them both and pushed him back onto the bed with enough sudden force that he didn't even see it coming and just fell backwards before she dropped her cargo pants down and stepped out of them, leaving her in just a large pair of cotton panties. She started climbing onto the bed next to him. "It's also that time of the month, and while Em said you aren't squeamish about playing on the field during red tide, not for our first time." Andy moved just a little bit, shifting to brace his shoulders against the pillows at the head of the bed, so he'd be able to watch her. "Whatever makes you comfortable." Maya frowned a little, her eyes narrowing at him. "Take a more active hand in this, would you? I don't even know if you're ready for this." "I don't know if you're ready for this, Maya, but you are gorgeous and I can't wait to feel you sucking my cock." She winked at him, the frown disappearing. "That's the spirit. Now let's see this mythical first contact orgasm," she said, stroking his cock, sitting on her knees alongside him. Maya moved to bend down, placing one hand against the top of the bed as the other brought his cock to her lips, a jewel of opaque white emerging from the tip of his cock to greet her. She leaned down and let her tongue swipe the dollop of precum into her mouth, and suddenly began to shake, her hand letting go of his cock to thrust down atop of the bed, keeping her up on all fours as an intense carnal moan ripped from her lungs, her face obscured from his view by that curtain of green hair. "You motherfucker," Maya eventually spat in between giggles and gasps. "You said it was gonna be strong, not, like, the strongest fucking thing I'd ever fucking felt." "The imprinting one's even stronger, everyone says." "Em said it was like being consumed by an orgasm until she blacked out," Maya said, tossing her hair out of her face to turn her brown eyes up at him. "She wasn't kidding?" "That's in line with how most of  " He was mid sentence when Maya suddenly shoved her face down onto his cock, forcing it into her throat before pulling her head up, her tongue spiraling around the head of his cock before she pushed her head back down onto it again. Over the last several months, he'd gotten more than his fair share of blowjobs, far more than he'd ever thought he would get in his lifetime, and he felt like he'd gotten familiar with most of the rhythms and styles, but there was something hungry about the way Maya was doing it, like she didn't want to pause, didn't want to break, hell, didn't even want to breathe until she got what she wanted. Her hands were gripping onto his hips, as her mouth slurped along the length of his shaft, from tip to base, trying to hold down with it engulfed for as long as she could every so often, no warning given when she was deepthroating or just quickly fucking her face onto his cock. He was along for the ride. Andy could feel himself starting to get close, when Maya popped her head off, one of her hands stroking his cock feverishly while her eyes held his gaze with her own, as he suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights, or a small animal caught under the gaze of a predator, the look on her face having total control of the situation. "You're gonna give me what I want, Andy," she growled at him, licking her lips. "And I'm gonna swallow you down and wake up a new woman, a kept woman, a bonded woman, a woman with a man who makes her cum like a fucking hurricane. You have no idea how hard I'm gonna fuck the shit out of you soon, but for now, you're gonna give me what I want. It's not your fucking cum, it's mine." She looked back down and started thrusting her face onto his cock as quickly and deeply as she could, letting spit drool from her lips all over his balls, filthy 'gluck gluck' sounds coming from the motions, until finally Andy knew his resolve was shot, but he wanted to have one stab at surprising her, so just before his balls drew up, his hands both reached down to grab her head and pushed her face down until her nose was buried in the trimmed pubic hairs of his crotch, and the first load of his cum blasted right against the back of her throat, setting her into a a fit of orgasms, at which point Andy was mostly just holding her head, while she spasmed in time with him, feeling her do her best to swallow it all before he pulled her head off of his shaft and rolled her limp body onto her side, as she whispered that word that haunted him now, "Imprinting." Andy moved to get her beneath the sheets and made sure the dogs were inside the room before he closed the outside door, so that the room would warm up. He would make a point to stop and tell Nicolette to come and open the door in the late morning so the dogs could go back out and do their business even while Maya completed the process. She looked peaceful beneath the sheets. There were a few speckles of his jizz on her cheeks, so he took one of his fingers and wiped them off, sliding the finger into her lips, which she seemed to instinctively suckle on for a moment before he pulled his finger free, having spent long enough in the room that she'd fallen silent. He moved outside of her room, and closed the door behind him, leaning his back against it with a slight smile of relief. That, he figured, would be the last person ever added to his family, if he had anything to say about it. Of course, as Emily had pointed out not so long ago, he really did have very little say about it. Chapter 40 He desperately wanted to get to bed, but there was work to be done before he could sleep, and his brain was still moving a mile a minute. It generally did, but his conversation earlier in the day had been rolling around in circles over and over again. Phil was one of the smartest people he'd ever met, but Andy knew everyone was capable of making mistakes. There was something they were missing about all the information Phil had presented to them. Phil's plan had all the things it should, but there was so much that Phil hadn't had time to tell them. He wasn't sure what he thought he might glean from it, but he decided to let it keep running on cycles in the back of his brain for the rest of the night. He hoped maybe it would just come to him. Different people in his household went to bed at different times, and typically, Piper and Sheridan went to bed not too long after dinner. He glanced at his watch, seeing it was just past 10:30, and he figured they were probably crawling into bed about now, since both were early risers. Niko was probably also heading to bed about now, so she could be up early in the morning, in case Lexi woke up before most of the house was up. Niko tended to be an early riser as well, as did Lauren and Taylor, so they were also probably also turning in for the night. Hannah and Asha were typical college students without classes, so they'd be up past midnight gossiping, and Taylor was probably more than a little sad she couldn't join them, but as she'd told Andy at dinner, she was taking her responsibilities over at 49ers HQ very seriously. Fi and Moira were trying to get adjusted to West Coast time, but the jet lag hadn't fully let go of them yet, so Andy guessed they were probably starting to get ready for bed as well. Em and Sarah kept their own schedules, but since Em planned to talk to her family in the morning, she had likely turned in also, and where Em went, Sarah usually followed, so he was fairly certain they were both snuggling up in bed, bemoaning the lack of him there, but knowing that he would join them when he was ready. Tala and Jade had formed a surprising friendship and had spent most of the day getting the pool house further converted into a workspace for the curvier woman. Jade was used to teaching, so he suspected she probably had also turned in relatively early. Aisling, however, kept her schedule in tune with his, and so he knew she'd be up, and willing to watch a bit of television before turning in for the night. He'd found that she'd never seen Farscape so as of late, they'd been making a point to watch an episode or two before bed every night, and in between they'd chat a little bit about their respective days. He was going to head down to the living room that was furthest from the bedrooms, which had sort of become the default theater room of the house, but found Ash in the kitchen, sneaking herself a pickle from the fridge, so they sat around the kitchen island to have their chat before their nightly television binge. This particular night Andy walked Ash through what Phil had asked of him, and as he talked through it, she asked pointed questions, most of which he didn't have an answer to, but eventually, she asked one that he hadn't even thought of, and it all snapped into sense for him. "So why not just use this Evie as the test case, instead of asking Jenny to do it?" she said to him. "What?" Andy asked, as if it hadn't even occurred to him. "Look, she made it here safely, right?" "Right." "That means she was imprinted, and if Evie's being asked to be imprinted to Nate, that means she was already imprinted to this McCallister prick, and you can use that to analyze her blood and the effect it's having on it. Shit, you could smear a little of McCallister's precum onto her skin at first, check that it causes a rash, then give her a little from the guy who's supposedly a de imprinter, then have Nate imprint her and take her blood again. I mean, if this Evie wants to get out from under her husband, ex husband or whatever, then she's gotta to be willing to show she believes in all of this." "I don't tell you that you're brilliant often enough, Ash," he said, leaning into to kiss her, which started tender but definitely amped up in intensity a bit before she pulled back, a wry smile on her face. "You don't, but it's okay," she said. "You say it lots, and lots is brilliant. Before we head to bed tonight, though, mister, I was given a request this morning, so we're going to go and fulfill it, you and I. The request was made to me, because they were worried you might take offense to it, but I want you to know, in advance, this is what everyone wants, they're hoping you'll lean into it, at least a little, and the safeword, should it be needed, is limoncello. Okay?" She was pulling him to his feet, that playful expression widening on her face, as he waggled his eyebrows. "You girls certainly do love testing me," he told her. "This one's not me at all, love," she said, sliding her arm around his waist. "It's more of just a thing to show you what you can be capable of when it's asked of you, and this particular play partner wants even more than you gave her last time." "Uh oh," he said. "That sounds like I'm not living up to my end of the bargain." "Stop. No," she said, squeezing his hip. "You did great, but the girls in question just want you to know you can and should go further." She led him down towards the room they'd been planning to go to anyway, the basement living room, but instead of heading for the television, Andy saw that over near where he'd usually sit, one woman was standing and another was kneeling, the room barely lit, as if the atmosphere of it was important to the ambiance of the moment. Andy's nighttime eyesight wasn't great, but as they got closer, he could make out who the two people were. The woman standing was Nicolette, but she had ditched her typical French maid's outfit for something that looked a lot more dominatrix. She wore a leather corset that was tied tight to force her tits into nearly a shelf of flesh, propped up and pushed out but still marginally covered. She also had black leather shorts, fishnet stockings and long leather high heeled boots that came up to her mid thigh. The heels were at least a few inches, because it made Nicolette look huge, her blonde hair done up in a tight bun atop her head. In her hand was the end of a long leash. At the end of the leash, on her knees, was Whitney, completely nude except for the collar around her neck, her hair done up in jetblack pigtails, her pale white flesh almost the shade of moonlight in the summer. Her arms were folded together in front of her to make her smaller tits press together, the rosy pinkness of her nipples like strawberries, her wrists resting on top of one another, as if she expected them to be bound at some point, or maybe they already were in her mind. He could see the black curls of her pubic V peeking from between her thighs. Ash took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "You did well with Whitney the first time, babes," she whispered to him. "But you need to know you can go further, you should go further, at least every so often, and that she doesn't just want you to do that, she's going to get off on it. I know that part of you is in there," she said, kissing his cheek. "We just need to wake the bastard up." Andy wasn't entirely surprised by all of this, if he was being honest with himself. Early on, he thought he'd given Nicolette exactly what she wanted, and then around when all the girls had presented their friends for consideration for the house, Nicolette had told him to go even harder at her. So he had. He'd been nervous out of his mind when he'd done it, almost certain that she was going to scream for him to stop, that he was being too rough, that she didn't want it. Instead, she had thanked him at the end of it, and told him that she was very glad he was learning that not all of his partners enjoyed the same kind of sex, and that that wasn't a bad thing. His first time with Whitney had been something of an eyeopener as well, as she wanted him to go at her hard. He thought he'd done enough to satiate her desires, but apparently she wanted to take him even further. He wasn't even entirely sure what that entailed. "Heya Master," Nicolette purred at him. "I think it's time you give your little porcelain slut a real go, don't you? She's been itching for round two, and it's about time you step up your game. Haven't you, slut?" She gave Whitney a nudge with her foot, and the brunette nodded. "Yes Master. Our first time was very nice, but you're capable of being stronger, harsher, more forceful," she said, not lifting her eyes. "And this slut wants to see what you're truly capable of." "I'm worried your friend's been hyping me up too much, Whitney," Andy said, stepping closer, Aisling walking along with him, as Nicolette toyed with the end of the leash idly. "I'm not entirely sure I'm capable of what you think I am." "She told your slut that you bent her over a table in the hallway and pounded her slippery cunt until your cock was slick enough to jam up her ass, and then pounded her until she came so hard her knees were shaking and she couldn't sit properly for a few days." "Well, I  " "She told your slut that you grabbed a fistful of her hair and shoved her face up against the wall and pinned her there while you had your way with her, drilling her like she was just an object for you to take your pleasure from." Ash giggled. "It certainly sounded like that from down the hallway," she said to him. "Don't you start," he replied. "She even told me you shoved her panties in her mouth to keep her from making too much noise, even though you like it when a slut uses filthy words, because you wanted to demonstrate how much control you had over her." "That wasn't  " "That was fucking hot was what it was, Master," Nicolette said, licking her lips. "I almost expected you to put your hands around my throat for a bit, and that would've just made me cum even harder. At first, he didn't even take them off, slut, he just tugged them aside, like they were an impediment that bothered him." "Your slut finds all of that very attractive, Master, and if she might be so bold," she said, turning her icy blue eyes upwards to look at him, "she very much wants to meet that man." "You can do this, Andy," Aisling whispered into his ear. "And both Nicolette and I will be right here, making sure you don't chicken out and/or go too far, whichever you're more afraid of." He inhaled a deep breath, and Whitney suddenly turned her eyes back downwards, as if she were a child caught looking at something she wasn't supposed to. "Before I start this, I want to confirm something. Aisling told me your safeword is limoncello. Is that correct, Whitney?" "It is, Master." "And you will use it if I cross a line?" "This slut does not think you're capable of that, Master." He stepped closely and reached forward, his fingertips pinching one of her nipples hard between his thumb and forefinger, seeing her wince even as she moaned a little bit. "No one knows what a man is capable of, Whitney, especially when he's pressed too much or too hard." "Yes Master," Whitney said. "Your slut apologizes Master." "Now answer my fucking question," he growled. He wasn't setting out to hurt her, but at this point, it had been made abundantly clear to him that he had a part to play, and if that was what Whitney wanted from him, it was what he intended to deliver. "If Master his slut beyond what she is capable of withstanding, Master, she will say the word and ask for relief," she said quietly, licking her tongue out over her bright red lips. "But until then, she implores you to have at her without mercy or reservation." "What limits do you have, Whitney?" he said, unbuckling his belt, grabbing the metal buckle, a simple square with a single stem in it, pulling on it to force the leather to come slowly slithering through his belt loops. "For you, Master? None at all. Your slut will do whatever it is you ask of her." He snapped the end of his belt out and then bent it in half, holding it on the ends as he pushed the belt together, forming a giant circle between two lines of leather, then yanking them apart to make a loud crack as he snapped one against the other. "You seem awfully confident of that." He wasn't sure who moaned the loudest at that motion, Whitney, Nicolette or Aisling. "She is at her best when she is fulfilling her purpose, Master," Nicolette said to him, a hint of amusement in her voice "Pleasure and pain are kissing cousins in our world." "Did I ask your fucking opinion?" he said sharply to Nicolette, and he felt like he must have done so very convincingly, because he could see her breath catch a moment, although he knew it was excitement he saw behind her eyes, not fear. "No Master. Sorry Master." He looked down at Whitney, towering over her, as she remained perfectly still. "When Nicolette came to me and asked me to bring you into my home, Whitney, she told me of your previous partner, and how the relationship you and he had was one of total dominance and submission. That you did nothing without his permission. That you enjoyed being commanded, being told exactly what you did and did have his consent to do, and that you found freedom in surrendering your own initiative." "Yes Master," Whitney said. "I can fulfill that role for you, but it will take some adaptation on your part, because as much as you may want to surrender complete and total control to someone else, I don't want complete and total control over someone else. Not all the time, anyway." He traced a fingertip along her cheek, and he could feel her leaning in towards his touch, as if she took comfort from the very contact of his skin against hers. "I'm probably capable of giving you what you want. I can push and pull you into place, slap your ass while I'm thrusting my cock into one of your holes with the kind of roughness from the more disgruntled pornography I've seen. I think I'm likely perceptive enough to know when strikes have crossed from pleasurable pain into pure pain, at least most of time. I think I can live up to my end of the bargain on this, but there are a handful of rules that are non negotiable, you understand?" "Tell your slut of your rules, Master, and she will follow them," Whitney said, pressing a kiss to his fingertip. "They aren't much, but they're important to me. The first is that you will need to be in charge of your own voice, and that if you aren't using it, I will start to doubt myself, and think I am doing something unwelcome. Nicolette told me you're unaccustomed to speaking without being ordered to speak, but this is a rule I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist upon. You will speak whenever you think is appropriate or even might be welcomed. If you think I am at all doubting my actions, and you want more instead of less, you will need to provide the carrot, understood." Whitney nodded. "She does, Master. Might you provide guidance as to how she should speak?" "The filthier the better," Nicolette said with a giggle, looking at Andy as if she was afraid he might scold her, but when she saw the smile on his face, she decided to elaborate. "I told you, Master loves dirty talk, so if you talk, whore, you should be talking dirty. Nothing clinical, only perverse. You do not have breasts, you have tits. You do not have a vagina, you have a pussy or a twat or a cunt. And although I know it goes against everything you've been taught for the last few years, you're going to have to be a little proactive here, slut." Whitney frowned a little, sighing slightly. "That, makes this slut nervous, ma'am," she said, turning to look up to Nicolette. "How will she know when it is right to remain in her place and when it is right to act unbidden?" Andy reached down and turned Whitney's head to look at him. "You'll act on instinct, much like you're entrusting me to do. And I do not expect perfection. You will make mistakes, and, frankly, I think you'll probably enjoy being punished for them, so maybe I expect some of the mistakes will be intentional and some will be accidental, but very little in this life is truly unforgivable, Whitney, and I think we'll both do well to remember that." "Yes Master," she said, looking up at him with adoring eyes. "What other rules do you have for your slut?" "When you want to see this particular stripe of me, Whitney, you will need to initiate it, you will need to ask for it, and not just subtly, but actually vocalize and express your desire for the closed fist instead of the open hand," he said. "By you regularly reminding me that you enjoy this, it will reinforce in my mind what you expect out of our arrangement." "Did, did this slut not express it well enough before, Master?" "With communication, Whitney, more is always better," he said confidently. To be continued in part 25, by CorruptingPower for Literotica.

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 22 Andy answers the ladies most vulnerable concerns.. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. "So why me, huh?" Sarah asked her. "Why'd'ja choose me to play with you and Andy?" Piper bit her bottom lip, as if she was a tad nervous, before she shyly looked up at Sarah. "'Cause I'm kinda turned on with how you talk, Sarah, and I was kinda hoping you could talk to me that way while I was trying to make our man happy?" Despite all the massive confidence he'd seen Piper bearing almost the entire time he'd known her, she seemed almost nervous that Sarah would consider turning her down, as if her voiced desire was a step too far beyond the pale. Sarah licked her lips as her eyes widened. "I will totally fucking do that as long as you agree to just one fucking condition. If you don't, well, I can just go upstairs and leave you two to it." Andy was about to ask, but Piper beat him to it. "What condition is that?" "You can't, like, get fucking mad at me for anything I say, or anything I call you. 'Cause if I'm gonna fucking do this, then I'm gonna fucking do this, and I can't be all in my fucking head about you thinking I'm being mean or rude or shit. So you can't be all pissed off that I call you dirty things if you're fucking asking me to talk fucking dirty to you," Sarah giggled. "That cool, bitch?" "Not only do I promise not to get mad, Sares," Piper said to her. "I promise to like it." Sarah nodded. "Good, then why the fuck aren't you on top of that cock already?" Piper pursed her lips into a smile. "I was waiting for you to tell me I could, Andy." Sarah's hand swatted over and spanked Piper's ass with a loud smack. "He shouldn't have to tell you, you daft bitch. You wanted to fuck him, he totally didn't say 'not now' or some shit, so that means fucking time is on!" In the middle of Sarah's sentence, Piper reached down to grab his cock and get it aligned so she could slide right down onto it, straddling him to get his cock as deep inside of her as she could, her other hand resting on his shoulder. "That's a good girl," Sarah purred. "Don't you feel so much better without an empty cunt, you athletic slut you?" Piper nodded, leaning over to kiss Sarah again, although Sarah pushed her back after a few seconds, clearly intent on keeping her mouth free so she could talk to her. "I've had like a dozen partners, and not one of them made me feel like Andy does," Piper said, looking at Sarah's face. Sarah slapped Piper's ass again, this time even harder. "So why are you fucking telling me, bitch? Am I the one whose cock is jammed up your stupid snatch?" Piper moaned as Sarah's fingernails dragged against that reddening flesh, shaking her head, turning to look at Andy. "You feel so fucking good inside of me, Andy," she said to him. "Thank you for taking me in." On 'in,' she bounced down hard in his lap. "Thank you for saving my friend." On 'friend,' she did it again. "It's a shame you're on fucking birth control," Sarah teased, "because these are fucking breeding hips, and you'd look super fucking cute with a baby bump, but I guess you need to go and win your gold medal before we can talk about getting you bred like a proper bitch." Piper's tongue swiped out over her own lips, as she nodded. "I'll do it eventually," she said eagerly. "I'll happily bear your child, Andy, but I gotta do the Olympics first, to prove to myself that I can really do it." "You don't  " Andy started but Piper kissed him once more, jamming her tongue into his mouth sloppily, making sure to silence him. "Hmm, I think she likes the idea of you fucking breeding her, Andy," Sarah said with a laugh. "The idea of you pumping her fucking cunt so full of fuck cream that it's practically oozing out of her, so messy and sloppy, like a good little whore. You like that image don't you, Pipes?" The athletic brunette nodded quickly. "I do I do I fucking do so fucking much," she panted, as Sarah reached one of her hands in to pinch one of Piper's tan nipples firmly, giving it a twist, which made the girl groan huskily. "And yet, you're still fucking holding back," Sarah scolded. "You gotta fucking give in like a good girl, otherwise you won't get what you fucking what, what I know you think you fucking deserve, but you don't deserve it until you've ditched all those fucking fears and embraced who the fuck you are from now on." She gave Piper's ass another hard smack before sliding her hand around the athlete's waist, moving her thumb down to rub against Piper's clit, as Andy felt her start to tighten up even more around his shaft. "But I bet, I just fucking bet, that if you just let it out, let it all fucking out, you'd feel fucking better, and you'd get what a good bitch deserves." "Fuck, Sarah, you're so fucking good with those fingers," Piper whimpered. "Damn fucking straight I am," Sarah said. "But I'm gonna stop if you don't cut loose." "I'm, I'm fucking scared," Piper whispered quietly. "We all were, Pipes, but you learn to fucking let go and trust, not just in Andy but in the family, in all the fucking rest of us, that we've got your fucking back, that we're gonna fucking take care of you, so either you're fucking in or you're out, what's it gonna be, bitch?" "I'm in,” she cried, her voice shredded and frantic, clearly about to have an immense orgasm. "I'm in I'm in I'm so fucking in,” "Not fucking yet you aren't," Sarah said harshly. "Gotta let that last fucking guard down, gotta let that last fucking truth out. You'll feel better, bitch, but you gotta fucking say it,” "Andy Rook, I fucking love you!" Piper shouted before she kissed him hard, and she started to have a monstrous orgasm, her whole body violently trembling, and the spasms of her cunt around his cock forced his own release, as he started spewing arcing loads of steaming jism inside of her, the two of them locked together on top and bottom, the intensity of the orgasm cratering them out. As soon as it had passed, Piper buried her face into Andy's neck, laughing a little bit even as he could feel her eyes watering, tears of joy slipping from her face. "I thought I'd never say that to another person as long as I fucking lived," she whispered against his skin, "but I do, I fucking love you, Andy Rook." "And I love you too, Piper Brown," he said, stroking her hair with one hand, his other intertwined with Sarah's. They stayed like that for a minute or so before Piper started to giggle, turning to look over at Sarah. "I don't know how you do it," she said to the tall redhead, "sitting there watching and not demanding to get involved." "Oh I'm happy enough to wait my fucking turn," Sarah giggled. "But pretty quick Imma need you to get off of him so I can fucking get off." Piper's giggle burst from her as she nodded then leaned over to kiss Sarah. "Thank you for that," she told her. "I hate having to ask for help." "That's what family's for," Sarah answered. "But get a little, give a little, so Imma also need you to help me out here." The brunette climbed from his lap, and his cock was absolutely soaked with their juices, and while he was starting to soften, that feral look in Sarah's eyes told him he wasn't done yet, and made him begin to stiffen up again. "Whatever you need, Sares," Piper said, "I got you, boo." "I'll just need a helping hand," Sarah said, getting up off the couch. Andy tried to get up as well, but Sarah shoved him back down once more. "Who told you you could fucking get up?" she giggled. "I need you to stay there and let me run the fucking show this time, 'cause I'm a little fucking nervous, and I want to have the fucking control to do this how I think fucking feels right. I hope that's fucking okay with you, because if it isn't, well, I don't fucking care, now, do I?" Andy wasn't entirely sure what Sarah had in mind, as she turned away from him and moved to straddle his legs, but very quickly, it dawned on him what she was doing. "I can't fucking believe Emily did this shit before I did," Sarah said, reaching one hand back to grab his cock. Her position had her legs spread wide, as she moved to rub the tip of his cock along her cunt before dragging it downward, nestling it against the rosebud of her asshole. "Had to be fucking first to something, I guess." He could feel the tall woman getting his cock aligned right and then slowly started sitting down on it, his shaft pulsing in excitement as he felt her body, tight and a little unprepared, try and resist his cock's entrance before she finally seemed to lose patience with her own hole, as she pushed down to get the head of his cock inside of her ass. Her head leaned back, her eyes looking up at the ceiling, as a guttural, almost paleolithic, moan of pain and pleasure boiled out of her. "Fuck that's fucking big that's big holy fucking shit balls that's a big fat fucking cock and it's fucking going up my fucking ass oh my fucking God what the fuck am I doing?" "We can stop if  "   Sarah looked back over her shoulder at Andy with a wildness in her eyes that he'd never seen before, a deranged grin on her face. "Stop? Are you out of your fucking mind? This is the greatest fucking feeling I've ever fucking felt in my fucking life! Why the fuck would I want you to fucking stop?! I want fucking all of it!" she said to him as she pushed herself down onto his cock until he was buried as deeply as he could get inside of her backdoor, the tall girl's skin covered with a layer of goosebumps that made the fine red hairs of her arms stand on end, her body vibrating in orgasm as she did. "Jesus Fucking Christ, I feel like such an utter fucking whore and I fucking love it! You've got that big fucking cock jammed right up my fucking virgin asshole and it made me fucking cum just going the fuck in, so now you gotta fuck me or I gotta fuck you but somebody's gotta fuck somebody right the fuck now!" Piper had sort of been standing off to the side a little bit, and one of Sarah's hands shot up and grabbed one of the brunette's wrists, yanking her close. "Er, what, what am I supposed to be doing here, Sarah?" "You can fucking rub or you can fucking lick, but you gotta fucking work that fucking clit of mine while he's fucking my ass, so get fucking to it!" she barked, and the commanding tone to her voice made it clear the actress was not asking for input on the matter. The tanned athlete took one of her hands timidly down to rub against Sarah's cunt before moving to stroke her clit, as Sarah began to bounce up and down in his lap, one hand on the arm of the couch, the other on Andy's hip. In this position, Sarah had completely control of the tempo and the force with which she slid her ass down onto his cock, something he'd expected her to use to keep it slow and tender, but instead, Sarah was practically trying to break the couch, slamming her ass down into his lap as hard as she cold each time, while Piper was caressing her clit. "Fuck that's so fucking good oh my god why didn't I ever get fucked in the ass before I love this so fucking much but it's all your ass, Andy, Daddy, it's only ever your fucking ass, you're the only one to ever fuck me this way, and I fucking love that and I keep God! I keep fucking cumming over and over again, so please Daddy, please please please cum in my fucking virgin ass and let me fucking feel it, let me feel you own the last fucking bit of me no man's ever had, because I don't need any other fucking man but you because I fucking love the ever loving shit out of you you big cocked motherfucker you hear me I fucking love you Andy so fucking cum, cum right the fuck up my ass! Fuck! Fuck! Muph!" She leaned her head back at the end onto his shoulder, craning her neck so that she could jam her lips against his, as he felt Piper's other hand cradling his balls, squeezing them gently, and the sensations were all too much, as his body let loose another orgasm, flooding Sarah's rectum with a gusher of an orgasm as their tongues clung to each other before they both slumped back, his back against the couch, her back against his chest, both of them nearly too exhausted to move. Huginn, who had remained completely undisturbed by all of this, finally had had enough, and the black cat got up and hopped down the couch, moving to a different unoccupied couch, hopping back up, curling into a ball and settling down once more, a perturbed look on his face. Then Sarah began to feverishly giggle, waves of curved red hair over her face before she pushed them out. "Em was fucking right. That was totally fucking amazeballs. Thanks Pipes." Piper winked a little bit as she pushed a fingertip inside of Sarah's cunt, causing the actress to gasp a little bit in surprise before Piper slid the finger back out, lifting it up to her lips, licking it in front of the two of them. "We're definitely gonna need a shower before we get into bed," she said, and they all laughed at that. Chapter 38 In a rather unusual turn of events, Andy woke the next morning on November 18th to an empty bed. It wasn't uncommon for him to awake with only a couple of the girls still in bed asleep with him, but a totally empty bed was almost an unheard of experience at this point. He glanced at his Apple Watch and saw that it was around 10:30, which meant he'd definitely slept in a bit. Like most writers, Andy was generally a nocturnal creature, staying up late and getting up late, which had put his schedule at odds with some members of the family, but they'd mostly learned to make it work. He slipped on some boxers, pulled on his jeans and tugged on a t shirt,  this particular one a gift from some fantasy convention he'd been a guest speaker at,  and headed over to the balcony, stepping out onto it with a smirk. Down at the pool, most of the girls were nearly finishing their morning work out, being led by Sheridan, a sea of sports bras and yoga pants, doing the last part of their high intensity section of the workout, and Andy could vaguely hear Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" being played from a portable speaker near them. (Andy still wasn't sure which bothered him more, the fact that they were listening to Vanilla Ice or the fact that Vanilla Ice opened that song with "Stop! Collaborate and listen!" and yet there were no signs of any collaboration going on. In fact, it didn't seem like Ice understood what the word collaborate meant. The writer in him just couldn't bear it.) Lauren and Taylor weren't there as he expected they'd gone in to work today, especially since it was Taylor's first day of working in months. He hoped that she fit in well with the 49ers organization, but at this point, he wasn't entirely even sure who was working there. Niko also wasn't working out as he figured she'd gone to work at the base today. He wasn't sure what her schedule was like these days so he trusted her to let him know when she was coming and going and when it would be important for him to know. She was more than capable enough to manage her own schedule. It was nice to spot that both Fiona and Moira were in the group, between Ash and Sarah in the front row of three, and both seemed to be in good spirits. Moira's unruly mass of red curls had been braided into a tightly woven tail that whipped behind her as she danced to the beat of the music, occasionally slapping against either Fi or Sarah, both of whom laughed wildly when it did. It made Moira look a little like a redheaded version of the original polygon model of Tomb Raider, now that he thought about it. The weather was still mostly overcast, and it looked like rain might even be on the schedule for later in the day, something he didn't mind one bit. California had mostly been in a drought for years, and any rain the state could get was seen as a blessing, particularly since they now lived in more densely wooded areas. The last thing Andy wanted was a wild fire to take his new home. He leaned against the railing, just enjoying looking over both the estate and his family before Sheridan finally spotted him up on the higher floor balcony as the song came to an end. She pointed to Andy to draw the girls' attention to him, as all of them turned to look at him. The words were out of his mouth before he even knew he was saying them. "Good morning, angels," he shouted to them. "Good morning Andy!" they shot back in matching cadence. "You know, you really ought to join us some mornings, Andrew," Emily teased politely. "Hmm. I'd be worried about making a fool of myself." "I can make sure we don't overwhelm you on your first work out, dude," Sheridan said to him with a wink and a grin. "Let's give it a go tomorrow, 'kay?" Andy groaned a little bit. "God help me. Okay, I'll give it a try, but no making fun of me!" All the girls made various catty comments and gestures as he rolled his eyes and headed back into the house. He had a little bit before any of them were back inside anyway, even if they were finished with their workout. While the pool house was being converted into Tala's workshop, it still had a large group shower room, and the girls tended to go and cool down in there before splitting off afterwards. A few of them would go and shower in their own individual bathrooms, but the majority of them enjoyed the communal experience, as it let them all continue to get to know each other. Andy headed down to the kitchen and found that Jenny had made him a mini breakfast burrito that was waiting with a glass of pineapple juice on the little kitchen island, Katie also sort of milling around the room as both women bowed to him when he entered. He'd tried to get them to stop doing that, but he'd learned that attempting to discourage his staff of anything generally only resulted in them doing it even more than they were originally, so he was trying a new tactic now,  let them burn themselves out on it and hope they'd stop on their own. "Enjoy your breakfast, sir!" Jenny said, moving around the counter before dropping down onto her knees. "I know I'll enjoy mine!" Her fingertips unbuttoned Andy's jeans and he was thankful he hadn't put on a belt this morning, as Jenny began to lick and suck on his cock, slowly running her tongue along it while her wife watched on, although there was an unusual expression on Katie's face, something Andy wasn't quite sure of. "What's on your mind, Katie?" he said, feeling Jenny's lips slowly push down around his length. They had told him before that they wanted to make getting their needed dose as low impact for him as possible, and had stressed that they enjoyed this sort of casual acquisition. "You look like you're worried about something." The Hispanic girl sighed and nodded. "I, I wanted to discuss something with you, sir, but I wasn't sure quite how to bring it up. Shit, I'm nervous even thinking about it now." Andy nodded, chewing a mouthful of his food before taking a sip from the glass to wash it down. "Look, you don't have to tell me anything, Katie, but if something's on your mind, you'll probably feel better if you just get it out of your head. No matter how much worse you think it'll be if you say it, letting it rattle around your brain like a cage full of bees is only going to be worse." "I suppose that's fair, sir," Katie said, chewing on her finger nervously. "It's just, this isn't the sort of thing I thought I'd ever say, sir, and it makes me feel strange. I think it's probably just part of whatever the treatment's doing to me, but it's, it feels like it's both a part of me and not a part of me, you know? Like some part of me I didn't know about but was lingering in the dark shadows of my mind the whole time?" Andy frowned a little. "No, I can't say I do know what you're talking about." Jenny's mouth popped off his cock as she made an exasperated noise from his waistline. "Uuuugh! Just tell him already!" she said, frustration in her voice, before she pushed her lips back down around his cock once more. "Sir, I think, I think I'd like for you to fuck me, maybe just the once, maybe just to see if maybe I might like it," Katie said, her voice sounded terrified that he would reject her or yell at her. "I mean, I don't have a problem with if both of you don't, but you certainly needn't do it on my behalf, Katie," Andy told her, as Jenny started to suck harder, as if to pull the resistance out of him. "You made it very clear to me when I arrived that you were a lesbian, though, and I wouldn't dream of asking you to change that." Katie threw her hands up, her eyes widening a little bit, almost in shock at herself. "That's just it! I am! I know I am! I've always thought girls were the only sexy things in the world! The idea of being with dudes just made me uneasy! I imagine I felt about guys the same way you feel about guys,  I don't want to be with that!" "Then why  " "I don't know, alright?! I don't fucking get it! Thinking about any other man just makes my stomach all queasy and nauseous, but the last few weeks, when I've been thinking about what it looks like when I see you fucking Jenny, I don't feel like I do when I think about any other man, and I don't understand what's going on!" The woman looked like she was about to cry, and Andy reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling her over towards him, his fingertips curling around hers. "I am never going to make you do anything you don't want to do, Katie," he said sternly. "But they did tell us that the serum was going to have some side effects, and that it was likely going to make some physiological changes to our bodies, some foreseen and some unforeseen." Jenny had eased off the speed of the blowjob a bit, but hadn't stopped entirely. "If you want to try actual sex with me, I'm not opposed to that, but  " "But you don't want me to think I'm doing it on your account. I'm not, sir, I assure you! I don't even know where these thoughts are coming from, but I told Jenny about a week ago, I had a sex dream with you in it, and we were fucking, and in the dream, it seemed like I liked it quite a lot," Katie sighed. "I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything,” "They say sex dreams generally aren't about sex." "But, but when you were taking Whitney the other day? I found myself getting wet, thinking about what it would be like, what it would be like to be her, to be getting fucked by you, and, and I think I want to try that at some point, not the tying up or collaring or anything but, but I think I'd like for you to fuck me once, just to see, just to see if I really do feel differently about you than I do all the other men in the world,” "And you're okay with this, Jenny?" he said, reaching down to stroke Jenny's hair back. Jenny nodded, popping her lips off his cock with a loud smack. "I still want both of us to be there any time you dose either of us, sir, but if this is a thing she wants to try, well, it would be unfairly judgmental of me to fuck you myself and not allow her to do so as well. 'Sides, she told me about these feelings long before she told you, and that's all that really matters." She smiled at him kindly, then lowered her lips back down around his shaft once more, her eyes still looking up at when she did. "Then it's fine with me, Katie," he said, looking back at the Hispanic woman, one of her hands being held by him, the other being held by Jenny from below. "Thank you, sir," Katie said. "For being willing to do that with me, and for not judging me because of it." "Katie, look. If you want to try it, that's fine. If you try it and you don't like it, that's fine. If you try and do like it and want it more regularly, that's fine. If you change your mind right before we're about to do it, that's fine. Whatever you want here, it's fine. I just want you to be satisfied with whatever decision you made, and I want it made because it's what you want, and not what you think I want, okay? I am surrounded by beautiful women, and I'm just trying to do everything I can to do right by all of you. So whatever you want, you just need to tell me." She nodded, before looking down with a smile. "You were taking your time because I was talking to him, weren't you, Jen?" The curvy girl between his legs giggled a little and nodded, then started thrusting her face into his lap faster and more intently, and Andy could feel that release building up inside of him, even as he finished the last bite of breakfast. He was more than a little taken back when Katie leaned in and whispered into his ear, "My wife's such a good little cocksucker, isn't she? Give us our breakfast, Master, that fucking load of hot cum right into her fucking mouth." The unexpected words made his cock throb and finally he pumped a few squirts of his cum into Jenny's mouth, as she shuddered at his feet. The woman kept her lips sealed just past the head of his cock while her fingers jerked along the rest of his length, making sure to milk out the last of it before she pulled her head back, keeping her lips pursed together before standing up and immediately kissing Katie, swapping that cum between them, Katie's form trembling as she leaned against Jenny, the Latina being held up by her wife for just a moment until the orgasm passed. Both women pulled from the kiss, licking each others lips for just a moment before turning to look over at Andy, almost as if they were ready for a second course right now. Katie winked at him. "You know, I know it's all chemical, but dios mio if that orgasm from tasting your cum doesn't leave one sweet ass high,” Jenny moved to tuck his cock back into his pants, zipping them back up and buttoning them, as she glanced over at Katie. "Don't forget to update the Needs Board, hun," she told her wife, who nodded in response. "Got it, babe. Anyway, sir, let me think about it, but next time, I think I'd like you to fuck Jenny with me there, and then fuck me with Jenny there, so I have some time to let it settle in my brain that I'm going to go through with it," Katie said to him. "You know, actually fucking a dude." "Whatever you want, Katie." "Thank you, sir. Oh, don't forget, you have a phone meeting at 2 with that director candidate, Erica Xiao." He nodded. "Good. Yes. Thank you for reminding me. I might have forgotten if you hadn't." Jenny snickered a little. "Em would've had your balls if you had." "She's got them anyway," Katie shot back. Andy arched an eyebrow at them. "Don't you two start." He drank the last of his pineapple juice then pushed the plate forward. "Thanks Jenny, for everything. I'm going to head to my office. Maybe send down lunch a little after one." "Yes sir. Also, don't forget that Miss Steele will be here sometime today." "Oh right," Andy said, chuckling. "Sometimes everything gets so busy, I can barely remember my own name, much less who's coming and going. Katie, can you set up a large portion of the back yard to fence off, so that Maya's dogs will have a place to run and play without us worrying about them getting into the pool if she wants to leave them outside?" "Miss Steele's got dogs?" Katie said, groaning. "Great. Now I get to start having to watch the backyard for landmines." "That's why I was thinking if we gave them their own area that's fenced off, at least we'd have it clearly marked that it's the part of the yard with occasional hazards, although Sarah insisted that Maya is known to always clean up after her dogs. Maybe put a bin outside for her to toss them all?" Katie nodded. "I can spend the day prepping the yard so we're not all worried about stepping in dog shit when we're walking in the grass." "Good on you." "Did Miss Washington said what kinds of dogs they were, sir?" Jenny asked. "Pomeranians, I think," Andy said. "Those aren't dogs, those are animated dustmops," Katie said with an amused snort. "And here I was worried they would be Saint Bernards or Rottweilers." As he headed down to his office, he was starting to run through the checklist of things he needed to do today in his head. He definitely wanted to talk to Moira now that she was up, but he figured he would let her come to him in her own time, as it had been so long since they'd really talked to one another. He would need to pair with Maya when she arrived, and he also needed to check on Lexi and see how she was doing. As much as he wanted to head over to Xander's and see his friend's new house and meet all the rest of his partners, Xander had asked him to wait until the weekend, so he would have more of a chance to get settled, both into the house and into the household. He was almost at the door of his office when his iPhone began to ring, and he fished it out of his pocket, surprised to see Phil The Younger a.k.a. Lesser Phil a.k.a. Phil Pak (not Phil Marcos), on the screen, as he answered it. "Heya man, long time no talk!" Andy said to him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" "Nothing good I'm afraid," Lesser Phil sighed. "I'm not going to be able to make poker night on Friday. In fact, I may not be able to make poker night for a while, I'm afraid." "That sucks man. What's going on?" "Well, me and the family were relocated, so we're quite a bit further from you now, and the place where we're at is very strict on quarantine procedures, so if we came and saw you and the rest of the gang for poker, we'd have to quarantine for a week before we would be allowed back in to our house, so while we'll try and do it a couple of times a year, for the foreseeable future, it's probably off the table." "Where's they move you to that's got such strict guidelines?" "They're calling the place Valhalla Shores. They decided that they didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket and have New Eden be the only place for Level Fives in the Bay area, so they built a new one over closer to the coast. We're where Pacifica used to be, basically, although I think they tore almost all the old city down and put up this place, like a giant gated mansion community. It's a little snobby for my liking, personally, but you know how Brandy has always been in terms of keeping up with Joneses, so when the NSA offered to move us over to here, she made me jump on it immediately. It's mostly just spooks and techbros over here," he sighed. "You'd fucking hate it. I know I do, but it keeps peace in my household, and that's about all I can ask." "Wait, techbros and spies crossbreeding? That sounds like a horrible idea, like, just the worst. On the other hand, if your quarantine protocols are that strict, it might mean I never have to deal with techbros again, and that might make the whole thing absolutely worth while. Hey, can I recommend a couple of cockish investors over here in New Eden to get transferred over there?" Phil the Younger laughed. "You fuckin' wish, dude. Whole place is fucking creepy anyway. Brandy says some of the women are kind of Stepford ish, and she feels like they're definitely an in crowd and an out crowd and she has zero interest in joining the in crowd. They keep trying to get her to join one of their hot yoga classes, but she said they'd have to break her legs to get her to do that shit. I hope she was being figurative, but you know Brandy." "That I do. Well, we'll miss seeing you guys, but I get it. You're doing what you have to do to keep your family safe and sound. Keep us posted, but I appreciate you calling to tell me personally." "Copy that, man," he said. "See you on the other side." After Lesser Phil had hung up, Andy wondered how many actual community hubs had formed in the Bay area since the cultural rebuilding had started. He also wondered how hard it would be for him or any members of his family to leave New Eden, even for a short while. He'd been craving an animal style In N Out burger for nearly a year now, and while he could ask Jenny to make something equivalent, there was nothing quite like having the real deal. He was certain Niko would know what the current entrance/exit policy for New Eden was, and he resolved to ask her when he saw her. It couldn't be that strict, he realized, because Lauren had been coming and going to the training camp for over a week now. Maybe he could just get in the Tesla and drive down to an In N Out, assuming he could find one that was open. When he walked into his office, he saw that his two cats, Muninn and Huginn, were curled together in a bundle in his writing chair, the two forming a sort of gray black yin yang symbol. Also, as promised, atop of his desk was a brand new laptop, a silver MacBook, with a Post It note on top of it. It was from Whitney (he could recognize her meticulous handwriting) and said "Try it. If you hate it, we'll get something different. “w" As much as he wanted to move the two cats so he could sit down in the chair where he got his best work done, he decided it was okay to sit at the desk for a while, even though it felt way more formal, although he realized he wasn't doing much creative today, mostly just the assorted busywork that sprung up around the actual creative process. The new laptop was set up with access to his emails and had all of his writing transferred onto it, so he could consult back to other things as he started answering questions from his agent and his editor, losing an hour or so before there was a knock at the door. "Come on in," he said. The door opened and Moira and Fiona slipped in together, closing the door behind them. All of their possessions clearly hadn't arrived from cross country yet, because he noticed each of them was wearing one of his t shirts, the fabric hanging big and loose over them like an overcoat. Moira had on one of his Biffy Clyro shirts, which he found fitting, whereas Fiona had clearly dived way back into the depths of his closet and was wearing a Gin Blossoms t shirt. "It's good ta see ya again, Andrew," Moira said shyly, smiling across the room at him. "I've missed ye something fierce." "How are you feeling, Moira? I knew the serum can react strangely to people who've had complicated medical history, and I imagine dengue fever isn't the only strange bug you've picked up over your wild and crazy life." "I cannae tell ye how great I feel, Andrew," she said, starting to move across the room to him. "An' how thankful I am ye trusted Fi enough t' let her bring me in wit' her. Yer, nae mad, are ye?" He shook his head. "Look, Moira. We had a wonderful time together, but that was decades ago. But I've always trusted Fi, and if you and her were together before now, there's no reason any of that should change." "Of course it'll have t' change, ye big dummy," she giggled. "Ye know she's always loved ye, ye daft shite? E'en when I came inta her life, that has nae changed." "Except she's changed and I've changed, so maybe it has changed too." "You haven't changed that much, Andy," Fi said, "and neither have I. You still trusted me enough to offer me a place in your family, even when I had a condition I wouldn't tell you about." "Were ye surprised when ye saw me?" Moira asked him. "Well, I'd figured it out before I saw you. I figured it out as soon as I heard your voice, and that let me put two and two together. But I was very surprised when I heard your voice, yeah." "Surprised inna good way, I kin hope?" "Naturally, although I was hoping you were going to be happy with me, even with the weight I've put on and the hair I've lost," he chuckled. "I think ye look sexy, ya galoot," Moira twittered. "Hold me hands, Fi. It's all I kin do t' keep from havin' a crack at him right now." Fiona wrapped her arms around Moira's waist, shaking her head. "He's not going anywhere, Moira," she said with a kind ease. "Aye, an' neither are we, an' I don' wannae be too far behind the other gare ruls, an' two of 'em are already in th' lead." "One day at a time, love. One day at a time." "You two want to sit and have a chat?" Andy said. On the other side of his desk were two chairs, so he could entertain meetings in here if he needed, although the chairs held the cats more often than they held people. "Oh aye, let's have a chinwaggle," Moira said, slipping from Fiona's arms, moving over towards Andy's desk, but instead of moving to sit in one of the chairs across the desk, she moved to slide herself up and into his lap, her legs dangling over one of the arms of the chair. Fi then moved across the room, and moved his laptop to one side, so she could scoot her ass up and onto his desk directly in front of him, making sure not to knock anything off. "So tell m  " he started to say before Moira leaned in and kissed him hard, her body light in his lap, but the strength with which she pulled his lips onto her own was more than a bit forceful. "I bloody love ye, Andy," Moira said to him. "And Jaysis, do you smell fookin' amazin'." Andy grinned a bit, arching an eyebrow. "Sounds like you may have picked up a little bit of Piper's superpower along the way. I wonder if that's a side effect of the dengue fever antibodies you have in your system." "I cannae tell ye where it comes from, but Jaysis, you smell better'n any meal I've ever eaten in me life. I want ta breathe ye all day long,” She buried her face against the nape of his neck, as he looked to Fiona for sympathy, but saw only mirth on her face. "So, Moira, tell me what you've been up to since we last saw each other." "School," she said, pronouncing the word like 'skoo will,' "then more school, then residency, then Doctors Without Borders, at least until I ran in ta Fi again in DC. It's no tha' excitin'." "Doctors Without Borders, tending to patients in the middle of warzones? That's the absolute definition of exciting to me." "Then you're a fool," she giggled. "I mean, yeh, I was shot at now an' again, but that's a part o' life anyway, isn't it? I was tendin' to kids who needed doctors, an' while I loved tha' work, when I shacked up with Fi again, she wanted me to be safer, wha'ever th' hell tha' means." "It means you're saving lives without people trying to take yours, Mo," Fiona scolded, kicking the Scottish lass with the tip of her leather boot. "She's still undecided whether she wants to take up private practice here in New Eden, or if she wants to go and work in the hospital they're finishing up alongside the base." "In a few years, anyway," Moira said. "After I've given ye a son." Andy's head leaned back a little bit. "Little early to be thinking about stuff like that, isn't it, Moira?" "Like hell, Andy," Moira said, pulling her face back from his neck so she could look him in the eyes again. "You," she said, tapping his chest with a fingertip, "need children. I," she continued, tapping her own, "want tae have one or two before I get back to the medical life. So all we're doin' is just wastin' fookin' time until you get me ripe." "You still don't need to rush right into it, Moira," Andy said, stroking his fingertips against the back of her neck. "Take some time to get settled and comfortable here in the household before you go rushing straight towards the respawning finish line." "Spoken like a laddie who doesnae realize our clocks 'r tickin'," she grumbled. "But, aye, I'll do me best nae to rush it too much. And all the other gare ruls have bin sooo kind tae us. I didnae know what t' expect, 'specially wit' all th' famous faces y'got around these parts." "They're just people, like anyone else," Andy replied. "Think how I feel, trying not to let anyone down." "Ach, yer daft, laddie," Moira said, tickling him a flash. "Yer a good man, an' tha's all tha' matters." "Emily told us all about her experiences this morning, what with the poker game and how it felt being traded like cattle. She was horrified by what horrible things the few remaining men in power are up to, and Niko explained how she basically had to force you to get into the game to rescue Asha and her mother from Covington," Fiona said. "I'm sure that must've been quite taxing." "You had to risk people to win people, and while I certainly didn't want my ex as part of my life, I didn't want to consign her to a life with someone horrible either," he sighed. "I feel very fortunate that it all worked out in my favor, but it was such a gigantic risk." Fiona tugged his chair a little closer to the desk with her leather boot, shrugging. "Life's one colossal risk, Andy. You've always known that." "You think your mother's going to be okay with you being part of a polypod, Moira? I only met her the once, but she struck me as an especially stern Catholic." "When th' news comes out, she'll come 'round, 'specially since th' Pope's apparently okay wit' it, or so we were told a' th' base," Moira shrugged. "Besides, it saves me th' trouble from havin' t' tell 'er I'm shacked up wit' Fi here. She's still nae comfortable wit' 'th' gays,'" she said, making air quotes with her fingers. "Didnae know how t' break it t' her tha' her daughter's as queer as a two dollar bill." "I hope I'm not coming between you two," Andy said. "Nah," Fiona laughed. "We're both bi, and both need some cock in our life. Yours'll do. It was generally my favorite." "An' mine, although I didnae try tha' many." "Tell him how many, Mo." "I don' wanna." "C'mon." "Fi,” "Mo,” Moira sighed. "Fine, wha'ever. I've only had three cocks, Andy, an' yours was right smack dab in th' middle. Me first was a boy in school, and me most recent was another doctor jus' before I hooked up with Fi again. I generally prefer gare ruls to lads, but ye always felt, felt like home t' me." "She was worried that her piercings were going to put you off her," Fi said. "Between the nose stud and the pierced nipples, she told Niko that she felt too different than anyone else it sounded like you had in the family." "I'll admit, I'm not generally a big fan of excessive piercings, but the whole look works on you, Moira. I mean, if you'd had one of those septum piercings like a bull ring, I might have had some reservations, but who am I to tell someone what they do to their body?" Fiona giggled slightly. "I jokingly suggested she get one of her eyebrows pierced once and she slugged me hard enough that she almost dislocated my shoulder." "Do I look like I wanna join bloody Evanescence?" Moira growled. "Did you two decide if you want a bedroom to yourselves, or one each?" Moira shook her head. "We're wit' you, laddie, no matter where y' lay yer head down." "Although I was thinking I might turn one of them into an office for me to work, if that's okay," Fiona said. "Sort of like your little office here." "Yeah, of course," Andy said. "Whatever you want. At some point, all the rooms will be spoken for, but until they are, they're fair game for whoever wants them." "At some point, some of them are going to have to be nurseries," Fiona stressed. "Especially since you've already got two pregnant ladies in the house. How far along are they?" "A couple of months," Andy said. "So it's still early days, and we haven't really told many people outside of the family yet, since the first few months are the diciest." "When's th' big wedding gonnae be?" Moira asked. "Niko told me her family wouldn't give two shits if the wedding happened after the kid was born, but Ash said her family might have some issues with it, so she and I might have a legal ceremony beforehand and then when the world is open again, when I have the giant wedding ceremony, she'd be part of that too." "Seems a fair compromise," Fi agreed. "It would also mean you have someone to function as Head of Household if you were incapacitated and needed someone to make a decision on your behalf." "Don't go planning to have me put into a medical coma any time soon, Fi," Andy joked. "That's still a few months down the way." "Good thing you've got yourself a doctor in the house now, hmm?" "How're you two feeling about all of this? I know it's a lot to process all at once." "It's a lot of bloody names ta learn," Moira grumbled. "I almost want ta see nametags on e'eryone fer a few months." "You'll pick them up pretty quick," Andy said. "And I was smart or lucky enough to not get any two partners with the same first name, thank god for that." "I dinnae find out if they tol' you, Andy," Moira interrupted, "but jus' so ye know, my cycle's shorter than th' rest of th' gare ruls. They kin go about ten days 'fore they cannae think clearly, but I kin only go about six." "Nobody told me that, no," Andy said. "Any other differences I should know about?" "Nothin' ye need concern yerself with," she replied, kissing his cheek. "I'm sure all th' lasses have got their own quirks so ye need nae concern yerself." "Alright then, I'll try not to worry. Anyway, I appreciate you stopping by to say hello, but I do have an online meeting in just a little bit, so I hate to kick you out but  " "No no! You've got work to do, so c'mon, Mo," Fiona said, hopping off his desk, pulling Moira from his lap. "Let the man talk to the voices in his computer." Moira leaned down and kissed him one final time, resting her face against his for what felt like minutes before she smiled and pulled back. "I love ye, ye daft git." "Love you both," he said, as they slipped out of his office. The meeting went as well as could be expected, and Erica Xiao seemed like she might actually be a good choice for directing the first Druid Gunslinger movie, as she seemed to intuitively grasp the undercurrents of the story without having to explicitly call them out, something that was a refreshing change of pace from the first couple of candidates he'd interviewed. Of course, he didn't get the final say on who was directing the movie, but Working Title seemed to genuinely care that he liked the director, so that they would remain true to the books. They'd gone against authors' wishes before, and it hadn't gone well for them, so now they were trying to make sure the author approved of, or at least understood the reasoning for, any changes that were made in the process of translating it from a book to a movie. After that, he decided he needed to go and check on Lexi. Even though Phil had told him that her imprinting process time would take a bit longer, he thought it wise to swing by and make sure that she wasn't in any pain, but when he arrived by her door, he found Niko sitting on a chair in front of it, a Lee Child book in her hands. "Hey Niko," Andy said, approaching her. "I thought you were on the base today?" Niko shook her head, smiling at him as she tucked a slip of paper in as a bookmark before closing the paperback up, setting it on a table next to her. "With Lexi having a different reaction to the serum, Phil asked me to stay here and keep tabs on her, and report in what other irregularities she was going through, especially since I noticed a few right away." Andy's brow furrowed in worry. "How concerned should I be?" Niko sort of tilted her head a little. "That's just the thing, babe. I don't think you need to be at all worried, but you are definitely going to have a challenge on your hands for the first few days after she wakes up. I think letting Jenny help with that, though, would be a wise move." "What the hell does that mean, Niko?" She jerked her head over her shoulder. "C'mere and lemme show you." After sliding off the chair, she opened the door and they both stepped into the room, and Andy immediately started to panic, but he felt Niko's hand take his and squeeze it reassuringly. "She's fine, Andy, regardless of how she looks." "What, what the hell is happening to her?" There was a large growth on one side of her, a faded white swell over her body, and Andy didn't even know what exactly he was looking at. "She's healing," Niko said. "The reason you're going to want Jenny to help is that by the time she wakes up, I think Lexi's not going to have any scars left. It's almost like she's shedding the scarred layer of skin and replacing it with fresh, newly healed skin, like a snake molting. We've seen it in rare cases on the base. I told you early on that I knew the serum did some basic additional healing when it was first taken into the woman's body, but that level of healing varies a lot from patient to patient, more than anything else about it. When she was injected on the base, I knew there was a, call it ten to fifteen percent chance this might happen, that the serum might go into overdrive with her scars and began repairing the skin and the nerves, but I didn't want to get her hopes up in case it didn't happen, because we still don't know what does and doesn't cause the reaction." "And, and you're telling me her skin will just be back to normal?" "Whoa, easy there. 'Normal' is a very flexible word, and one that we don't like using on the base," Niko told him. "She's likely to be healed but considering all of those nerves will be freshly regrown, they are going to be hyper sensitive, and that means people are going to have to be careful around her, because it'll be easy to overwhelm her until those nerves have gotten accustomed to working again and they know how to moderate their intake. We also have no idea what it's going to do to her PTSD, if anything, and that's what we need to keep an eye on." "But, she is going to be okay, right?" "This isn't going to be a problem, Andy, but it's up to all of us to make sure that the repercussions of her sudden healing don't overwhelm her. But I think it'll be okay." Andy sighed, turning to press a kiss against Niko's cheek. "Is there anything else you aren't telling me?" "Honey, what I'm not telling you could fill up Levi's Stadium, but you just have to trust me that I'm doing it all with your best interests at heart, okay?" He chuckled, shaking his head. "You're lucky you're so cute." "It's one of my natural defense mechanisms," she teased. "C'mon, let's leave her be." They stepped back out into the hallway and Niko closed the door behind her. "I figured I should be here when she wakes up, so I can explain to her all of what happened, and prepare her for what to expect. It's the least I can do." She jerked her chin upward, to get Andy to look behind him. "Looks like you're up." Nicolette was walking down the hall, a soft smile on her face. "Just letting you know, Master, that Miss Steele's ride over just buzzed the gate and she should be at the front door any minute. Miss Washington and Miss Stevens said they would meet you there." Andy kissed Niko again before turning to walk with Nicolette towards the stairs, heading to the front door. "Showtime!" Chapter 39 It was with a little surprise that Andy stepped out of his front door to see a familiar electric blue Tesla parked in front of it, Phil helping Maya remove her things from his trunk. "Hello Maya," Andy said, walking down the steps towards her, seeing Emily and Sarah were already there, Emily talking with Maya while Sarah was crouched down next to the little carrier, giving the dogs inside scratches while cooing at t

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 21 Andy's spirits are lifted by an old friend. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Chapter 36 Half an hour later, his phone rang and Andy glanced down to see it was Phil calling, a picture of him with the words "Phil The Elder" superimposed over part of it. The poker group actually had two Phils in it,  Phil Marcos and Phil Pak. The two men were dramatically different from one another, but also remarkably similar in others. They shared the same first name, so the group had given them nicknames when they were talking about them if it could've been either of them. Phil Marcos a.k.a. Phil The Elder a.k.a. Greater Phil was 34, Filipino and worked for Boeing with the Air Force at a base in the East Bay, and was certainly the closer friend to Andy. They'd met at a local comic book store just after Andy had moved out to the West Coast, and had hit it off immediately. When Andy had started his poker group up a few years later, Phil was one of the first people Andy had called. Phil Pak, a.k.a. Phil The Younger a.k.a. Lesser Phil was 32, Korean and worked for the NSA out of San Francisco, and not someone they'd seen as often as they liked. For the last couple of years, Lesser Phil had been trying to convince Andy to come work as a data analyst for the NSA in terms of interpretation and extrapolation. Lesser Phil had been a college friend of Eric's, and had been introduced to Andy only a few months after he'd met Greater Phil. While Andy still typically thought of them as Greater and Lesser Phil, he tried not to call them that out loud, and had them as Phil The Elder and Phil The Younger in his phone. Andy asked if it was a common name, and Eric remarked that he knew at least a couple more Phils but none he knew that well. Andy told him he'd had a similar problem with Jennys in high school. "Talk to me, Phil," Andy said to his friend. "You heard the recording. Should I be worried?" "Concerned, yes. Worried, no," Phil sighed. He sounded exhausted on the other end of the line, but as of late, Phil had always sounded exhausted. Whatever he was doing over at the base, it was certainly taking a toll on his friend. "So the good news is that in the long run, it shouldn't make too much of a difference. But that reaction means that Lexi had been infected with the Orange Variant of the DuoHalo virus before we introduced the serum to her body." "The 'Orange Variant?'" "We started naming them after colors, working our way through the spectrum. The Red Variant was first but it died off very quickly, so this is the second one," he grumbled. "But she isn't our first exposure to it, so we know how the serum's going to generally react to it, and what it's going to do to her. There are only two real major differences you're going to need to worry about." "Is she going to be okay?" "I told you, in the long run, it shouldn't make too much of a difference. The two differences you need to pay attention to are this,  first, her margin of error for recursion is far less forgiving. That means don't ever make her go more than a week without getting some Rook juice, if you know what I mean, otherwise she see temporary cognitive decline set in pretty fast, and she'll be ripping your clothes off no matter where you are, so keep that in mind." "Every seven days minimum," Andy repeated, writing it down on a notepad in his writing office. "What's the other major difference I need to worry about?" "It shouldn't even be a concern, but you should still know about it. You know how other men's semen will typically make an imprinted woman ill?" "Sure?" "Those who've been exposed to the Orange Variant, if they come in contact with the semen of a man other than those they're imprinted with, they go into a violent fit of rage, attacking anyone other than their imprinted man on sight. Those rage fits tend to be relatively short lived,  only a hour at most,  but they're still incredibly dangerous and not the kind of thing you want sprung on you as a surprise." "And this is my bodyguard who has this," Andy sighed. "Oh it's fine," Phil chuckled. "She won't harm you, and you know how to protect your family better than anyone. I think anyone who tried to use it as a weakness against Lexi would probably not live to regret it. She'll also be imprinting for longer than normal, so if she's sleeping for like a day and a half, don't worry about it. That's to be expected." "You doing okay, Phil?" Andy asked. "You look like shit, and I'm more worried about you now than I am Lexi." Phil sighed then laughed a little bit. "You know me. I'll sleep when I'm dead. Lots of long days in the office turning into long nights, and on top of that, Audrey and Linda are making sure that I have several partners as well, so that my immunity to DuoHalo continues to be strong. We're not entirely sure of the science of it yet, but it looks like the more people inside a particular polypod, the stronger the internal herd immunity the male at the center get is. Once we knew that for certain, my two queens made sure I had a good litter of partners in our household. So I'm up to eleven myself now." "I still can't believe I'm a level five and you're not, Phil," Andy said, deliberately testing a theory by trying to bait it out of his friend. "Okay, Andy, you got me," Phil said with amusement. "I'm also a level five. I was lying to you earlier, for security reasons. In fact, I think technically I was one of the first level fives. I've also technically had DuoHalo, but I can't really get into the details of that all that much. Let's just say that when we're finally through this whole pandemic, I'm going to have a bunch of stories to tell you that will blow your mind. I probably have to get clearance for you so that I can tell you some of them, but it'll be worth it." "I've always known you were up to something over there, Phil," Andy laughed. "I just couldn't figure out what it was." "Greater Phil, International Man of Mystery. It's got a nice ring to it." "Speaking of Mystery. Poker, this week. Let's do it." "Yeah, sure," Phil said. "I could use a break, so you call everyone else, and I'll make a point of coming over with as much of the family as I can convince to come out, although it has that weird side effect of making every poker night feel like a giant party where we're all hiding from our wives. Maybe we should see if there's enough interest to set up a second table and we can mix and match, so you can spend a bit more time meeting my partners and vice versa." "Well, you see Niko all the time, what with her being at your work, so you probably know her about as well as I do." "That girl's got secrets upon secrets, Andy." That caught him a little off guard. He wasn't bothered by it, but he was amused at the idea of her trying to hide something from him. "Niko? My Niko? I can't see it. She's open and transparent about everything with me." "Sure, okay. Didn't you feel that way about Erin?" "That was different?" "Was it though?" Phil said in a tone that immediately conjured the Smug Thor meme to his mind. "I mean, sure, Niko's secrets are probably being kept from you for the right reasons, as opposed to Erin's, but secrets are secrets." "The last thing I need is you making me more paranoid, Phil." "Forget I said anything. Oh, one last bit of news for you. Maya won't be there until tomorrow midday. Turns out she's also got the Orange Variant, so we're making sure the serum is getting a good foothold before we send her over to you. It's all just safety precautions, but it'll be over soon enough." "Great. We can do poker night on the 20th, so we can all watch the President's speech and the 60 Minutes story together." "Sounds like fun," Phil agreed. "Hopefully Katie Couric's team caught my good side. See you on Friday." As Andy hung up the phone, he noticed that Whitney was lingering in the doorway. She was dressed impeccably in a white button up shirt and a black pencil skirt with black pantyhose on beneath, and the shirt was just barely thin enough that he could see hints of her red bra on underneath. "Have you got a moment, sir?" "Sure thing, Whitney, what's up?" "Just wanted to go over the set up work I've done for the house so you know what's going on, and to ask you a few questions so I can start the process of replacing your laptop for you," she said, her hands folded together in front of her, her eyes mostly lowered. "Sounds great, but Whitney, you don't have to look down all the time. I know you're more used to a stern hand than I am, and I'll do my best to be what you like when we're intimate, but when you're acting in your duties as the house IT manager, you need to relax a little more and try to fit in." Whitney smirked a little bit, those dark red lips perked up as she lifted her head, nodding at him with a little smile. "Oh, I know, sir. I think I mostly just wanted to see if you would notice. Shall we?" For the next half an hour, Whitney explained to him in good detail all the changes she'd gone about to the house in the last day, getting all the rooms configured to work within the house's larger intranet. As it turned out, there were multiple LAN ports in the walls of every room in the house, it seemed like, and once again, Andy found himself wondering who this house had been built for originally. In addition to making sure all the ports were working, Whitney had also set up wireless hubs and repeaters all throughout the house, enough so that no matter where a person was in the house, they should always have a good signal to the internet. The house's security systems ran on an entirely separate network, one with minimal external connectivity, and Whitney said that she would work with Lexi to make sure the system was up to whatever standards his new head of security had in mind. They walked while they talked, and outside in the back, Andy could see Katie astride her riding lawn mower, zipping in lines across the monstrous amount of green grass in his back yard, making sure to get all of it cut even and levelly. He could also see Tala hauling things into the back house with the help of Nicolette, who had ditched the maid outfit for the time being for a more practical set of blue jeans and a baggy t shirt covered in paint splotches. All of the changes, Whitney assured him, had been done with minimal disruption to anyone's work in the house, and she'd been trying to get as much of it today, as it was a Sunday. The last thing they talked about was his replacement laptop, something that Andy was remarkably picky about. Oh, he didn't care about the things most people cared about,  when it came to processors and memory, Andy insisted none of that mattered to him,  but the thing he was adamant about was that the keyboard feel as close to the one on the laptop he was currently using, an eight year old IBM ThinkPad. Too many keyboards were difficult to use for long periods at a time, and considering how many words Andy found himself putting into his laptop on a daily basis, if the keyboard was unwieldy, the laptop might as well be non existent. Whitney made a special note that "keyboard feel" was of the utmost import, and she insisted to him, she would do her best to get him a good replacement within a week or so. She had already begun backing up all the files from his existing laptop to the house's master network, as well as to a backup kept in a fire safe, so that even if disaster struck, he would still have his work in a safe location. Andy did tell her that she didn't have to work full time on the weekends, and that she should make a point of getting settled into her own room, and spending some time catching up with her friend Nicolette who had brought her here. Whitney had smiled at that, and agreed to go get changed so she could help Tala move in, and then they could all help Whitney get moved in afterwards. He was starting to walk back towards his office when he ran into Lauren, clearly just back from a jog around the neighborhood, sweaty and out of breath, a big smile on her face. "Hey there, fella, just the bloke I was lookin' to have a moment with. Got a snip?" He grinned, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sure, what's up?" "I've been thinking, and I think maybe we should let Taylor off the hook now," she said, looking down at her feet for a second. "I know, I know, I was the one who set the whole month punishment in place but, strewth, seeing her walking around naked all the time is starting to make me feel bad. I'm thinking she's learned her lesson, and she knows she's got lots of trust to earn back from me, so I'm only keeping her from getting to spend time learning more about all the other amazing sheilas you have in this house, and that's not fair of me." "I agree," Andy chuckled, "but I didn't want to be the one to tell you, seeing how fire and brimstone you were about the whole thing when you set the rules in place." "Strewth," she muttered. "Was it really that much a dunnybrook?" "I was a little worried the heavens were going to part and you were going to call down lightning bolts from the skies," he said, the smile wide on his face. "Real wrath of god type shit." "Bugger. Anyway, you should tell'er that you've talked me down, and that you laid down the law, and you decided, and eventually I relented, that she is done with that punishment and should just join the family like all the other birds. Make it clear you decided, not me, so I still get to keep a bit of that big scary reputation." Andy rolled his eyes but nodded. "Sure sure, you'll look mean. You'll look really scary. Anyway, I'll go find her and tell her while you're hopping into the shower." "Stink that bad, do I?" "Your sweatstains have got sweatstains, Lauren," he said with a laugh as he was backing away from her, while she mimed punching motions in his direction. He wasn't certain where he'd find Taylor in the house, so he decided just to go wandering the halls and see where he stumbled into her. He found her in Hannah's room, where she, Asha and Hannah were sitting on the bed, gossiping. Asha and Hannah hadn't bothered to change out of their pajamas, enjoying a lazy Sunday, while Taylor sat nude with her back against the wall. One of his two cats, Muninn, the Russian blue, was sitting on the bed near Asha, who was petting him idly. All three girls tensed a little bit when he entered the room,  Taylor wasn't supposed to be sitting up on furniture unless Lauren or himself had told her to do so, but Andy hadn't really followed the rules at all, and had made it clear multiple times that Taylor's 'punishment,' such as it was, was mostly for Lauren's mollification, and that if Taylor slipped on the rules from time to time while she wasn't around, he didn't particularly care. "No no, don't get up, Taylor, it's fine," he said, coming into the room. "In fact, it's what I came to talk to you about." "You need to get Nicolette to turn up the house furnace, babe," Asha said to him. "If I'd ta walk around all day in me skivvies, I know I'd be freezin'." "Totally, Daddy," Hannah said. He'd repeatedly told her that she didn't have to call him that (in fact, going so far as to hint that it made him a little uncomfortable when she did) but she had repeatedly answered that she liked calling him that, so she wasn't going to stop any time soon. At least she knew enough not to do it when other people were around the house. "We're just talkin' anyway, so I told her to hop up here, so if you gotta punish someone, it should be me." "You look far too eager when you suggest that, Hannah," he told the Asian teenager. "Anyway, I had a talk with Lauren just a little bit ago. I told her this is my house, and I'm in charge, and that I've decided you've served this part of your punishment long enough. You're free to get dressed, wear clothes around the house, sleep wherever you want, sit wherever you want. You can get your phone back, and you can start working with Lauren at the 49ers camp whenever you feel like you're ready. You're a full member of the household now, and there's no reason for this silly punishment to go on any further. And you can certainly take off that ridiculous dog collar." Taylor's bright blue eyes had been focused on him the entire time he'd been talking, and she slipped off the bed quickly to throw her arms around him, pressing those impressive tits of hers against his chest as she hugged him very tightly, clinging to him, even as he could hear her sniffling back some tears. "Thank you, Andy," she said quietly. "I know Lauren's still mad at me, but this has been really hard, being made to feel like less than a person." He wrapped his arms around her, patting her bare back. "I know, and I get that, but you also have to realize that cheating on her hurt her in a way she'd never been hurt before, and that won't go away fully for a long long time. Just because you're done with all of this doesn't mean you're done with all of that. I know you know that, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded that you're going to be repairing that damage between you two for years to come. You screwed up, but there's a way back from that, as long as you're willing to put in the work and learn from your mistakes." Taylor pulled back, looking at him as something just dawned on her. "So, wait, all the rules have been lifted? Like all all of them?" He tilted his head a little. "Yyyyes? Why, is there one in particular you're asking about?" "So, like, next time, y'know, when me and you, then we can,” He bit back a smile and nodded. "Yes, yes we can. And if you want to masturbate again, you're welcome to start doing that too." She shook her head over dramatically once then leaned in to kiss him. "After we've had our first time together, our first real time together, then I will, but I want the first thing inside of my cunt after all this time to be your cock. If that's okay," she said, biting her lip nervously. "Of course it's okay. I think your next day in the rotation was going to be the 20th, but if you want, we can try and find some time before then instead. It can even be just the two of us, without Lauren around, if that's what you want." She pouted again for a moment. "Anything I want?" "Well, within my usual limits, but sure." She slipped her arms away from him, and turned back to look at Asha and Hannah, extending a hand to each of them. "I want the four of us together, for my first time normally with you, Andy," she said, as Asha took one hand and Hannah took the other. "Oh rrrrreally?" Asha said, dragging the sound out, her London accent dripping through the word. "All four of us together? Sounds like a spot of fun. I'm game if you are, Whiskers," she said, looking over at Hannah with a smile. "Anything you can throw at me, I can totally handle, Goldfish," Hannah shot back at her friend. Clearly the girls had developed nicknames for each other when he wasn't around. "I was supposed to have tomorrow night, Daddy, so instead of it just being me, it'll be all three of us, if that's totally cool and shit." "Yeah, that's, ahem, totally cool. And shit." He leaned in to give Taylor a quick kiss, but she kissed him back harder than expected, and it lasted longer than he'd planned, not that he minded. "And you, young lady, should get some clothes on, and maybe unpack your stuff, whether that's in your own room or in Lauren's room, that's up to you." "Oh it totally all goes in with Lauren," Taylor said. "I don't even want my own room. Either I'm in her bed or yours. You want to come help me move in, girls?" "You couldn't stop us, love," Asha said. "Last one there has a smelly cunt!" Hannah said as she bolted towards the door, Asha and Taylor just a step or two behind her. "Y'know," Andy said to himself and the cat, "I feel like I should've yelled that there's no running in the house after them, but I just know it wouldn't have done any good." "Meow," Muninn said to him in response. "Oh hush," Andy said. "What the hell do you know?" "Meow," Muninn agreed. "Damn straight." After leaving Hannah's room, he was halfway down the hall when he ran into Sarah, who was wearing one of his t shirts, one for a band called Stereophonics, and sweatpants beneath it, her hair done up in the least stylish ponytail he'd ever seen from her, as if she'd just put her red mane up to get it out of the way for a while. "Hey you," she said, her pearly white smile beaming at him. "Maya should be here any minute, and I know you're just gonna love her." "I actually spoke to Phil a little bit ago, and she's not going to be here until tomorrow, but she's still coming, don't you worry." He explained the Orange Variant to her, and while she was a little disappointed that her friend's arrival would be delayed, she understood that Maya's health was the most important thing, and the base didn't want to let her out of their sight until she was ready. "What've you been up to today?" She rolled her oceanic blue eyes at him with a big harumph. "Reading screenplays that my agent sent over, trying to pick my next project. It's looking like everyone's going to want to do serialized television right now, because they can get more content out of smaller budgets, but so many of these stories are just so boring," she groaned. "It's like my agent's only sending me the same stuff." "Well," he said, taking her hand in his as they walked down the hallway, "tell your agent what you want then, whether that's more drama, more action, more comedy, more whatever it is you want more of. They only know what you want when you tell them. I had to learn the same lesson with my literary agent early on." She squeezed his hand thankfully. "My agent really should know better, but you're right. I can get her on the hunt for the kinds of things I want to be doing. You know there aren't really any good spy stories on television right now? I should see if she can get me something like that. I'll give her a call tomorrow, see if maybe she can reach out to the production companies, see who's already got projects winding up I can try and piggyback onto." They walked past the door of Emily and Sarah's workspace, and Andy noticed it was closed. He pointed with his other hand at the closed door as they kept on walking. "Em in some kind of meeting?" Sarah nodded. "London based production company wanted to reach out to her, so she's taking the call today, but she should be out in an hour or so." The doorbell rang, and Sarah arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought you said Maya wouldn't be here until tomorrow." "That's what Phil told me," he said, as the two of them started to head downstairs, although Andy could hear someone answering the door, followed by a loud squeal of recognition. When they came down the stairs, Andy could see it was Piper who'd answered the door, and she had her arms wrapped around a short blonde girl, hugging her tightly. "Andy! Sarah! Brooke's here!" Piper said to them, swinging the shorter girl around a bit. "That's great, but I thought she was  " "Surprise, man!" Xander said as he stepped in through the doorway. Andy let go of Sarah's hand and rushed down the rest of the stairs, suddenly stopping about six feet away from the door. "Are you...?" "Paired with three people this morning, so I'm 100% safe as houses," his tattooed friend said. Once he'd gotten the word 'paired' out, Andy had continued rushing his best friend, wrapping his arms around the burly guy, giving him a hell of a hug. "Oh Jesus, it's good to know you're safe, man," Andy sighed. "And it's so fucking good to see you. I know we hung out last December, but fuck, these eleven months have felt like five fucking years,” "Glad to see my mouth's rubbing off on you," Sarah laughed, closing the distance to meet them. "Xander, these are my partners Piper Brown and Sarah Washington, both of whom you've talked to a bit through FaceTime. Piper, Sarah, this is my best and oldest friend, Xander Baker, whom I've known since we were both, like, what, 6?" Xander laughed, nodding. "6, 7, something like that. However old we were in kindergarten." "Not very," Andy said. "Not enough!" Xander replied. "Anyway, Andy, Sarah, this is my soon to be partner Brooke Maloney, whom I have your partner Piper to thank for." "Well," Piper laughed, "I'd originally pitched her to come here and be Andy's partner, but he realized she'd be a much better fit for you, considering how much you both love classic cars, although really, I think it was just so he didn't have to hear her singing Vince Gill songs around the house all the time, 'cause she does that a lot, and I hope they warned you about that, Xander." "She can be singing Vince Gill while I'm singing Wu Tang Clan, and somewhere in the middle, over the engine of a Dodge Charger, I think we can make it work," Xander said. "Honestly, Pipes," Brooke said to her, "the only reason he said soon to be is because I wanted to come over and say thank you to y'all, and let Xander have a bit of time with his friend before we got to bumpin' uglies. But all the other gals in his house have just been so sweet, y'all, I can't wait for you to meet'em." "Why don't Piper and I give you a tour of the place, Brooke," Sarah said, "and the boys can do a little bit of catching up. You want me to have Jenny bring drinks to you out on the patio, hun?" "Yeah," Andy said, "I'll take a pina colada. Xander?" "Just a Corona." Sarah nodded. "Drinks coming up! This way ladies!" she said, marching them down towards the kitchen first. "Jesus Andy," Xander said quietly. "You really bagged Sarah Washington. I mean, I know I've talked to her vidchat, but seeing her in person like this,” "Seriously, I don't deserve this much luck," Andy said with a chuckle as he started to lead his best friend towards the back patio. "Oh fuck you," Xander teased. "You deserve exactly this much luck. Our entire lives, I've been watching you do good things for people left and right and never asking for so much as a thank you in return, and this is what karma has brought you, dude, so live a little. Enjoy it." As they moved out onto the patio, Xander shook his head. "I will say, however, that my house isn't quite as big as yours is. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fucking palace compared to that one bedroom shithole I lived in back in Ohio, but I'm just saying,” Andy rolled his eyes with a smirk. "You know I didn't pick the places myself, right jackass?" "I guess so," Xander said, as the two men moved to sit down on deck chairs near the pool. It was cool for November but not so cold that either man felt like they needed to add layers, both having grown up in the Midwest, where California winters would be considered nice spring days. "God, I'm really here. It's wild, man." "It's great having you out here, Xander. Jesus, the stories I have to tell you. You're here early, though. I didn't expect you out here for at least a few more days." "Turns out these DuoHalo Variants are pretty intense," Xander sighed, "and since they were pairing me up with someone in the military, they wanted to make sure I got hooked into the system as quickly as they could, so everything got very rush rush rush. When you told me to be ready to go at a moment's notice, you weren't kidding. As soon as we finished up that conversation, I started packing, and just barely got done before they showed up to cart me away. They're even taking care of selling my house for me, although I suspect it's just going to become government housing or something." "Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me," Andy agreed. "God, it's good to have you here, man." "Well if it isn't my favorite hoodrat," Fiona said, carrying out a tray with three drinks on it, setting it down on a table as Xander immediately got up and hugged him hard. "How you been, lunkhead?" "Better now that I know you made it here okay, muckraker," he teased back. "How the hell you been Fi?" "Better now that I know you ditched that crazy ex of yours," she laughed. "Can I say it?" "Oh I think you've earned it." "I told you that girl was no good." "You did indeed tell me that," Xander agreed, taking his bottle of Corona from the drinks tray, as Andy grabbed his pina colada and Fi grabbed a tall glass of wine. "Hey hey hey, the gang's all back," Fi said with a smile. "To old friends and new flames." "To life, liberty and us getting through this fucking plague together," Xander toasted. "To family," Andy corrected. "To family!" they all toasted together, clinking glasses. Piper has a confession to make.. Chapter 37 The conversation had gone far into the evening, with members of the household coming in and out several times, joining for a while before leaving the trio to their own devices once more, mostly anyway, a couple of Andy's partners choosing to remain longer. Sarah and Aisling in particular were intent on getting as many stories about Andy's youth as they could, and he felt a little like they hoped either Xander or Fiona would tell them embarrassing tales from their college years. While Fi had been mostly coy about the years they'd spent at university, Xander, by contrast, had been eager to tell at least a handful of hilarious and ridiculous stories about the troubles they'd found themselves in during their misspent youth. Despite how flustered he got a couple of times, it was a wonderful night of reminiscing, and a chance for the girls to see Andy in a different light. A piece of advice Andy had never let go of was that as you got older, it was almost important to keep people around you who knew you when you were young and fearless. At least a few times, he'd managed to deflect the conversation off himself and onto other people, a detour letting both Sarah and Emily talk about their experiences making movies, and Xander talking about the process of being relocated from Ohio out to California. Xander's trip had been surprisingly surreal, and he told the group about it in explicit detail. He'd been loaded into an isolation chamber on a cargo plane along with twenty other men, each in their own little plastic bubble tent, although each of the tent also had curtains that could be dropped for privacy. Xander told them he'd found that odd but understood why eventually. The plane had been mostly full of men when it picked Xander up in Ohio. The little isolation chamber was like a emergency field hospital's clean room, with a mattress on the floor as well as a few days of rations, both food and water, and a little sealable chemical toilet. Nearly everything was ziptied to weights to keep it steady. There was also a little headset that connected to a series of voice chat channels all the men could use to talk to one another. The main channel had been too hectic for Xander to stay in for more than a handful of minutes, but he'd eventually peeled off a couple of the men in the plane into a separate channel, and was able to both give them some information and get some on his own. All of the men on the plane had been gathered from cities in the central and eastern United States, and were being ferried out to partners, generally military but some in other branches of the government, and they weren't being let out of their isolation chambers until they'd been paired up with at least one woman, thus, the beds and the privacy curtains. At least a couple of the pods had not only men in them, but also a woman in the middle of the imprinting process . The government didn't want to risk the life of any man, so this was an emergency plan decided to keep as many people as they could safe. The two men Xander spent the afternoon talking with were Klaus, a 26 year old Master Sergeant from Georgia that Xander felt like was probably in special ops of some kind, and Bill, a 34 year old schoolteacher from Tennessee who was being paired up with a prominent Silicon Valley businesswoman he'd dated back in high school. Klaus clearly knew far more than he wanted to share with Xander and Bill, but he'd done his best to give the two men some information to make their journey a little less panic stricken. There were two women in the isolation chamber with Klaus, a twenty year old blonde named Olivia and a twenty two year old Korean American named Naya, or so Klaus told them, as both women were still in the middle of the imprinting process. The man was part of the security forces for the flying hospital that was transporting men and women around the country. He knew what he could and couldn't tell Xander and Bill, and just having a conversation with Klaus had made Xander feel more safe in their travels. He had a calm and casual demeanor to him while discussing how everything had been carefully planned, even if it all felt pretty slapdash. He couldn't answer all of their questions, for security reasons, but he told the two men that the airplane had basically been in motion nonstop for the last three weeks, doing its best to ferry people around the nation. Xander had asked him if it was truly necessary, only to be told how high the casualty rate was for men around the nation. Klaus had seen the stacks of bodies, and the man sounded rattled when he described the hundreds of empty apartments he'd seen in his native Queens, as the corpses had filled up dump trucks, and they'd had to conceal the bodies as they were taking them out in the dead of night. Klaus told them he'd been in a biohazard suit for most of the last week, but now that he had two partners, he would be able to go out and provide an escort for everyone going to and from the plane, although he planned to return to his isolation room with his two partners in between each stop they made. From Ohio they flew down to Nebraska, stopping at Offut Air Force Base, where they picked up a handful of soldiers and dropped off a handful of women. Bill had asked Klaus how long they'd been running these routes. Klaus said they'd been running for a few weeks now, and they were only one of five planes that were crisscrossing the nation. Olivia and Naya had both been brought into the inoculation center in Denver earlier and then swapped planes to meet up with him in New York, where they'd met up after he'd returned bringing in another stable of surviving men. All privacy had basically gone out the window. Klaus told him that most of the men had the option to wait until they were in a house or an apartment or something, but Klaus had been told by his commanding officer that they couldn't spare him that much time, so he needed to just get on with his business on the plane so he could get back to work as soon as he was done. By the time they'd touched down at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Bill had been just about ready to break out into full fledged panic, between the constant shift in air pressure, the take offs and landings done without proper seatbelts and his inability to go anywhere that wasn't his little sealed off compartment, but a quick talking to from Xander had gotten the man to cool down at least a little bit. They were barely on the ground in Nevada an hour, taking people off and bringing new people on, as well as refueling the plan, before taking off again, landing at Oakland airport a few hours later under the cover of night. Their cellphones had been taken from them when they'd arrived at the plane, so Xander had been forced to guess at the time, but he would've placed their arrival in Oakland at something around 2 a.m. or so, although the lock in had made it impossible to use traffic as a gauge. In Oakland, everyone had been taken from their individual compartments and loaded onto a large troop transport truck, with no caution given to cross contamination or infection, as they were all told they would be getting paired up within a few hours, so even if they caught DuoHalo now, it wouldn't matter. Xander had been concerned by that but he had decided to go along with it, because Klaus seemed to consider the whole thing fine, and he was the one loading people onto the trucks. The trucks had ferried them from Oakland up to a staging area next to the lab near Mount Diablo, just adjacent to New Eden, and once there, they'd been introduced to their new partners and from there, sorted into where they were going to go. The building they were using as a staging area felt like a converted aircraft hangar, with a high curved metal ceiling and big fluorescent lights hanging high above them. Although there were some tented parts of the space, similar to what had been inside the cargo hold of the airplane that had brought him here, most of the space was open, with long painted striped lines on the ground, leading people through the processing. Men weren't being given any injections, something Xander had thought was odd, until all the men were given a five minute lecture on "Your New Reality," something that the men were told to take deadly seriously. The lecture included basic things like how they would be receiving their vaccinations (sexually transmitted from their new partners), how their partners would need sexual satisfaction about once a week or so, how their semen would be toxic to any woman they weren't paired with, and how if they ever felt like they were coming down with the symptoms of DuoHalo they should have sex with one of their partners immediately, which would resolve them. At the point when the men had been told that their semen would be toxic to any woman they weren't paired with, a handful of the men had quietly jeered and rolled their eyes, but the next slide in the presentation showed a wound on a woman's arm that had silenced all that nonsense quickly. The end of the lecture included a video message from President Pelosi, urging the men to consider fatherhood like a new version of the World War 2 draft,  every man needed to do his service to help save the country. Extensive tax breaks and financial aid would be provided to families with multiple children, it was stressed. The country needed to be rebuilt. As soon as the lecture was done, they'd been marched single file to a series of processing windows, over a dozen clerks taking people's names and social security numbers before assigning them a holding area to head over to, where they would meet their partners. A sticker was placed on their chest before they were sent on their way. It had all felt very assembly line, as if there wasn't time for kindness or courtesies, and people were simply being pushed through the grinder as quickly as possible. Klaus had joked around with them on the ride over that while it might seem rough, it was being done for optimal performance in getting people in and through the system and into their new lives, wherever they may be. Xander had heard several different locations mentioned,  the San Jose highrises, the Stanford campus, the Berkeley campus, the SF towers, the Altamont sprawl, the Tracy ghosttown,  but when it came time for him to be told where to go, he was told he wouldn't need to go far, as he was being assigned to Dos Eden, the first expansion zone to New Eden. He'd been given four partners on site, with one more to be waiting for him at the location. They'd been waiting for him in the holding area assigned to him, each having arrived sometime over the previous day, so they'd all had a chance to get to know one another. Letting the women have some time to bond in advance of the man's arrival seemed smart to Xander, as they could size each other up without having to worry about keeping their new mate's attention. The women had also been given their injections in the holding area, and so Xander assumed the spaces had also doubled as observation areas, making sure none of the women had suffered any adverse reactions to their injections the day before. Captain Betsy Ross had turned out to be a complete knockout, a blonde pint size pocket rocket dynamo who was training men nearly twice her size in hand to hand close quarters combat, and they had clicked immediately, almost as if they were custom made for each other. She'd kissed him hard enough to nearly knock him off his feet before he'd even been able to say hello. The second woman had been Serena Ortiz, a Latina woman in her late twenties who was a U.S. Marshall, and had built a career out of tracking down fugitives. Tall and statuesque, she had a certain grace to how she'd moved, he'd noticed immediately. She'd spent the past few hours talking with Betsy before Xander's arrival, and the two already had a friendly relationship, having bonded over the fact that they could both kick Xander's ass if needed. The third was a slender blonde woman in her late 30s who had looked hauntingly familiar before her introduction, but Xander had struggled to place her, even after she identified herself as Alicia Geller. When she'd told Xander that he would likely know the role she'd played in her youth, Rascal Rachel, that had made it all come together immediately. Alicia was a child actress who had been the star of a popular kids show until she'd grown out of it and the show had been canceled. Instead of continuing acting, she had retired from show business and gone into education, teaching history to high school students. She seemed a little shy, but had assured him that once they'd had time to get to know one another, she would come out of her shell. The final one on site had been Brooke, and she'd detailed the story to him how her friend Piper was paired up with Andy, and that they had recommended Brooke pair up with Xander, so she had. She'd been wearing a Shelby GT Cobra necklace when they met, and Xander had known it was going to work out just fine. A second sticker was placed on his chest and the girls were told to stay with him, as everyone was sorted into lines and sent towards trucks. Most of the trucks were large troop transports, but Xander had been surprised to see that the vehicle he and his partners were set to was much smaller, and they were the only group loaded up onto it. He'd felt a little bad, since really they could've just been loaded up into an Escalade, him, his four new partners and the MP driving them over to their new home. On the way over, the MP delivered the final set of instructions to Xander, as to why his fifth partner hadn't been waiting for him at the base and was, instead, at the new home. Her name was KC Kadrey, and she was a 20 year old Vietnamese American student over at Stanford, studying mechanical engineering. She'd needed to get her injections a couple of days prior, and there had been some concerns that she might simply just grab the first man she saw and go after him, so she'd been taken to their new home and allowed to settle in. But, the MP warned him, it meant that she might be a bit intense when they arrived. She'd also brought her golden retriever with her, and keeping the large dog at the staging area had seemed problematic. Xander, like all the men who'd been on the airplane, had been forced to travel light, a single wheelie suitcase all he'd been allowed to bring with him. All of his things that had been picked up in Ohio would show up at some point within the next few weeks as the truck conveying them drove cross country, but until they, he would have to make due with the things he had. Xander had been forced to argue with the people picking him up that the one car he'd been restoring, a black 1970 Barracuda, would be part of the things taken to his new home, and while the discussion had gotten a little heated, eventually the people picking him up had relented and loaded it into the truck with the rest of his stuff. Each of the women had a similar amount of things with them, and when they arrived at their new home, they all felt woefully unprepared. Dos Eden was technically part of New Eden, but it was an expansion to the original enclave, and the dwellings there were much more of nice houses than they were the sorts of mansions and manors that made up New Eden itself. The MP driving them over had said she lived in Dos Eden, and she was incredibly thankful, as it meant having a family was a distinct possibility, while the people in many of the other locations were going to be doing lots of relocating and readjusting over the next few years. Those in the tower condo buildings were generally being given an entire floor to themselves, and as needed walls would be knocked down and units combined as families expanded. The views were nice, the MP told them, but it just didn't feel like a home. When they pulled up to the house just around dawn, Xander was a little surprised by it. They had told him not to expect a grandiose mansion, but the home was far nicer than any place he'd ever lived in before, a two story building with five bedrooms and four bathrooms, so not enough that each person had their own bedroom, but they would make it work, all of them agreed. It was mostly glass walls, and Xander found himself thankful for the ring of trees, and the high fences, that would provide him with at least a little privacy from his neighbors, who were only a short walk away on either side. It had a three car garage, and Xander was told there were new Teslas charging inside for them. (Xander immediately planned to turn one of the three garage spaces into his own little workshop where he'd continue restoring the Barracuda.) The driveway was long enough that they would be able to comfortably fit at least four more cars out front if needed. The place had its own pool with hot tub, however, something Xander was astonished to find. He'd never lived in a place with a pool before, and now his home had one. They'd barely gotten in the door before KC had rushed Xander, practically mauling him with love in the entry way to the home. She'd been coherent enough to talk with him, the two of them moving into the master bedroom before he'd had sex with her and she'd fallen into her imprinting process. The other girls had moved into the bedroom somewhere in the middle of their tryst and Betsy had immediately insisted on going second, having stripped down while watching Xander and KC. Alicia had gone third, leaving him with only Serena and Brooke conscious. The three of them had taken a shower together, and somewhere in the middle of the shower, Serena had decided she couldn't wait any further, and had gone through part of the process in the shower and the rest bent over the bathroom countertop. As much as he wanted to, he told Brooke that he was going to need a while before he could imprint her, his entire body more than a little exhausted, as the chemicals from the four women had been flowing through his bloodstream, giving him immunity from DuoHalo and doing some rather significant changes to his body. Brooke had laughed and just suggested they go over to visit Andy and Piper, which brought them up to now. "Fuckin' hell," Andy laughed. "No fucking wonder you look exhausted, Xan. How much have you slept in the last two days?" "Oh, we took a nap after we settled into the house, and I slept a bit on the plane while it was hauling our asses through the skies," his best friend said with a chuckle. "So yeah not as much as I should but more than I do some days. Was your experience similar, Fi?" Fiona's journey had been very similar, with her and Moira catching an earlier flight out of Washington a few days ago, although their plane had made only one additional stop before landing in Oakland, their plane having gone straight from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, where many of the men in the chambers had been unloaded and several women had been loaded on board. Because Fi and Moira had been traveling together, they'd had each other to talk with and neither had felt especially lonely during the voyage. Fi even admitted they had spent much of the time talking about Andy, speculating how much he might or might not have changed over the years. As the hour grew late, Brooke returned to the main room with Piper, suggesting she and Xander head home, reminding the two old friends that they now lived less than fifteen minutes apart, and could see each other as often as they wanted to, but Andy and Xander still hugged for a long minute, thankful to have reconnected on the other side of the disaster, before they walked the two to the door and sent them home. Several of the girls had peeled off and gone to bed over the course of the evening, and at the end of the night, the only people still awake were Andy, Piper and Sarah. Aisling had been the very last to go to bed before reminding Sarah not to stay up too late, otherwise she would be too tired to talk to Maya when she arrived tomorrow, but Sarah had laughed it off and dismissed it. After closing the door behind Xander, he walked back down stairs, intending to clean up the remaining empty beer bottles and glasses left behind in the living room, only to find that Nicolette had beaten him to it, having cleaned it all up and then disappearing into her room for the night, so he couldn't even say thank you to her. "I swear, we've got a ninja for a French maid around this house," he muttered to himself with amusement. Huginn, his black cat, stood up from his perch on the back of one of the couches, stretched by arching his back, then moved to sit back down exactly where he was. "I feel ya, bud," he agreed with the cat. "We should probably see about getting to bed, don't you think, ladies?" Piper shook her head, pushing Andy back to sit down on the couch. "Not for a bit. You can sleep when you're dead," she said with a grin. "Don't you agree, Sarah?" "Oh totally," the tall redhead said, moving to slide in to one side of Andy on the couch. "You lose one third of your life sleeping, well, I mean I guess you don't really lose it since you have to sleep otherwise you'll go insane, but it's, like, a lot a lot of time to be spending doing just one thing." "Besides, I have to say thank you for making sure you brought my best friend to be nearby so I didn't feel so lonely all the time," Piper said, peeling her shirt up and over her head, tossing it aside, leaving her in a sports bra and tight fitted blue jeans, her toned stomach bared to the cool night air. "We've been kinda dancing around each other for the last few weeks, Andy, and I don't want you to think I'm not grateful, because I'm very thankful for all the things you've done for me since we've met." "Piper, you don't have  " he started before she lifted her hand up to cover his mouth, "Andy, enough," she giggled. "You can just say 'you're welcome' when you're being thanked for something, you know. You don't have to try and play down the work that went into it." He smirked a little bit, as she pulled her hand back. "I just don't want you to feel like you owe me anything." "Oh, but Andy, I do owe you," she said, bending down to press a kiss to his lips, just a soft and quick one. "You got me away from that asshole Covington. When I couldn't think straight, you did everything you could to bring me back to being me again, and that's not something anyone would do." She inhaled the scent of him, and he could swear he saw her pupils dilate a little in response. "You remember how I told you I could smell you from far away? I still can, but the raw musk of you is even more intense up close, and I fucking love how you smell, you sexy bastard. It makes me feel warm and safe and gooey and sticky and protected all at once. And I know that at least some of that is just the chemicals flowing through my brain bonding me to you, but you know what?" She leaned in and nibbled on his earlobe a little bit. "I've decided that I don't fucking care why I feel how I feel. I feel how I feel and that's all that fucking matters. You've kept me safe. You've given me space when I wanted it, and been happy to talk with me when I needed that. You helped me get my friend here and kept her safe, and as soon as you thought it was time, you pushed my ass to get back to work and reminded me not to give up on my dreams. So don't you dare fucking tell me I don't have to repay you, because even if you don't think that I do, I do, and I want to." "You're the only one of the girls who says she can smell me anywhere in the house, Piper," he told her. "I hope that's not a sign that anything's wrong because Covington held off so long on letting you get imprinted after the injections." "Oh, there's nothing wrong with me, Andy," she purred, unbuttoning her jeans before pushing them down to her ankles, not having bothered to put shoes on earlier, stepping out of them and her panties, leaving her in just the sports bra. She had such an athletic body that it had a tendency to make Andy feel a little ashamed of how out of shape he was. "I'm just different, that's all. Being able to smell you when you're in the house? I consider that a benefit, not a side effect. I get a little anxious when you leave and I can't smell you, not so much that it bothers me, but just enough that I notice the feeling of longing I have that you aren't on hand. And I've reread that letter you left me over a dozen times, because each time, I think I fall for you a little more." She grinned, grabbing her sports bra, pulling it up over her head, tossing it aside. "So yeah, I was scared of saying that, but I'm definitely falling for you, Andrew Rook. Falling in love with you. That's why I was so deep in thought the other morning. You didn't do anything to make me upset or angry. I just was worried about how to tell you." "Piper, Why would you be worried?" Andy said with a kind smile. "You've got so many beautiful women here, Andy," she said, gesturing back to the house. "I mean, shit, you've got Sarah Fucking Washington with her arm around you right now! I know I'm fit, but I'm not beautiful like she and Em are." At that, he raised a single finger, pointing at her. "How dare you," he said, his tone evening a little bit. "You are fucking stunning, I mean beautiful like you cannot even imagine and I do not want to hear you saying you're not beautiful ever again, okay? Because whatever dumb ass boyfriend or athlete you met who said you weren't pretty was the biggest fucking moron you ever met, and you shouldn't give whatever that prick said another thought ever again. Tell her I'm right, Sarah," he said with a soft laugh, shaking his head. "Yep yep yep," Sarah said with a giggle. "Stop being fucking stupid because you're not just pretty, you're fucking hot, and every girl in this house who likes girls thinks so. Shit, I heard Katie telling Jenny that if she wanted to give her a hall pass for her birthday, she'd want to use it on you over all the other girls in the house." Piper giggled, shaking her head, her dark hair covering her eyes for a minute. "You're fucking lying, Sarah." "Cross my fucking heart, swear to fucking God, may she strike me the fuck down if I'm lying. Katie thinks you're the hottest bitch in the house, so you need to shut the fuck up about saying you aren't fucking pretty because that's the stupidest fucking thing anyone's said today, and people talk, like, the worst amount of shit in this house when they think people aren't listening," Sarah said, rolling her eyes, as if she found the whole thing hilariously sad. "Well, that's something I wouldn't have believed if you hadn't told me," Piper replied with a smile. "And I was talking about us dancing around each other, Andy, and I want to apologize for that. I know we've had a handful of encounters, but I've been, guarded, and I'm sorry for how guarded I've been emotionally. I think maybe I was a little hurt that you didn't want to bring Brooke into this house, even though I know you said you thought she'd be a better match with Xander. I thought maybe that was a polite way of you trying to duck out of meeting her,” She looked down at her feet. "I feel a bit guilty about that right now, having spent a bunch of the evening talking with her. I have known that girl almost half a de

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 19 Jade makes her request of Andy. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Chapter 33 Andy sort of cocked his head to one side, as Emily started to break down the camera and the microphones. "I'm almost afraid to ask what you mean by that, Jade," he said with a soft chuckle. "What does 'something else in mind' mean here?" Jade blushed a little, looking away for just a moment before turning back to look at him. "I've, I've been giving it a lot of thought, Andy," she said, pausing a bit in between the words, as if she was making sure she didn't chicken out of saying any of this. "And I've been talking with Lauren some, and she's been an utter sweetheart about all of this, and she's made me realize something,” "Stop," Andy said. "Before you go any further, I want you to make sure whatever it is you're about to ask for, it's what you want. Not what Lauren wants, or what someone else suggested. This is a once in a lifetime experience, and I don't want you to regret any aspect of it." "Oh. Oh! Oh, no! I wasn't,” she said, giggling a bit. "I wasn't going to suggest I wanted this to be my first time! No no no, not at all, Andy! Gosh! But, you remember I told you I wanted to record a video to send to my father, to show him that he couldn't control me any more, right?" "Oh," he said, understanding where this was going. "Sure, and you've changed your mind and don't want to do that any more, no I get that." "No!" Jade said, shaking her head quite determined. "I still super want to do that, but I realized, uh, I'm going to go a bit, no, a lot further than I think you're expecting me to. And I don't want it to come as any great shock to you when I do." Andy got a strange smile on his face, arching an eyebrow at her. "I mean, I'm glad you're telling me in advance, because it might've come as a surprise to me, but let's be real here, do you think you're going to go further than anyone in this house has?" Jade's eyes widened a little bit, then nodded with a little impish smile. "Kinda? I mean, I'm not going to do anything you haven't seen before, but I'm certainly gonna say some stuff that might shock you a bit." "Like...?" The blonde woman sighed a little bit, folding her arms over her ample chest. "So, in talking with Lauren a lot today, I realize that I've been so darn shy with boys because of my dad, because of all the stupid bull honk he told me over the years, because of all the expectations he put on me, and I need,” She looked away again, trying to find the words she wanted to say before looking back at him with those gorgeous green eyes of hers. "I need to make as much of a break from him as I can. I need to make him want to disown me, to get me out of his life, so he can't try and control me any more, can't try and control you because I'm with you." "This is starting to sound serious," he said, as Emily tucked the camera into the bag, pushing it to one side. "You don't need to do any editing with the footage from Tala?" The tiny Brit shook her head. "Framed it clean and only recorded what we needed, so no need to do any post work," she said. "Besides, I need to be here to help support Jade. What she's going to ask of you is, very brave." "Very brave?" Andy said, looking at Emily before looking back at Jade. "What are you going to ask of me?" "I'm going to,” she said, stopping then starting again. "I'm going to ask you to be okay with whatever I say during the whole imprinting process, to not interrupt me, to let me get all of this out onto film, that I'm going to send to my dad, so that he knows I don't want him in my life, I don't need him in my life, and that he's not welcome in my life." "He's still your father. Are you sure you want to kick him out for good?" Jade sighed a little bit, sitting down on the bed next to him. "That's just it, Andy. You don't know him like I do. You don't know what I've been through growing up. How much he stressed that I had to be a prim and proper lady. Proper forks, curtsying to the right depth, never speak at a party unless spoken to first. That I couldn't have any fun because fun reflected poorly on the family's legacy. He scared off every boy I tried dating in high school and even well into college. He tried to keep me in some protective bubble, where I would be reliant on him for everything, so that I would do whatever he wanted me to. Did I tell you yet that he wanted me to have an arranged marriage?" "What? No! Really? In this day and age?" "It gets worse," Emily said, taking the camera bag to the door of the bedroom, handing it off to Nicolette, who was standing there. "Take that downstairs and when Katie Couric's crew comes to pick it up, hand it off to them with our thanks." "Yes ma'am," Nicolette said, taking the bag from her before heading down the hallway. Emily closed the door after she went, leaving Andy in the room with four conscious women,  Jade, Emily, Sheridan and Lauren,  and three unconscious women,  Tala, Fiona and Moira. "Tell him who the person he wanted you to marry was, Jade," Emily said, annoyance plain on her face. "He won't believe it." "It won't mean anything to him," Jade said, "but okay. My father wanted me to get married to Benjamin Watkins. He's  " "I know who the fuck he is, Jade." Suddenly, Andy was furious on Jade's behalf. "You've got to be fucking shitting me," he said angrily. "He's almost a decade younger than you, he's an asshole and he's a selfish little prick. How could your father possibly think that would be a good idea?" "Wait, how do you even know who Benjamin is?" Jade said, looking at her hands nervously. Andy gave Jade the short version of the poker story, explaining how he had originally gone to protect some of Niko's friends, but had ended up winning even more people, and the last one, Deborah, had been claimed by Benny before she could be brought over to Andy, which was why Hannah had joined the family instead. Benny's awful behavior on his doorstep had left Andy with a very bitter impression of the boy too stupid to be called a young man. "I mean," Andy said, "I can't imagine Nathaniel, Benny's father, even going along with that. Had your dad talked about it with him?" "I think he wanted to convince me to go along with it first before talking with the Watkins family," she grumbled. "But I never agreed to it, because I wasn't going to let my father tell me who I could or couldn't love, the jerk. And a couple of years ago, he stopped talking about that entirely, and I think I finally figured out why." "So what do you need from me with all of this, Jade?" he said to her. She smiled warmly at him. "See, that right there is how I know I made the right dang choice, Andy," she said. "You're always just asking how you can help, what you can do to make other people happy first. It's never about what you want or need." "I'm surrounded by a large number of beautiful women all competing for my time and affection," he said with a laugh. "If I ever start complaining about that, people should start punching me in the kidneys." "But yer still doin' a bangup job of makin' sure such a diverse buncha Sheilas get along with one another, Andy," Lauren said to him. "It's the least I can do." "Anyway," Jade said, "what I need is for you to be okay with whatever I'm going to say in this video we're going to make. It's, it's not going to be what you expect from me, and honestly, it might be pushing your boundaries a little bit, but I need you to know that I'm okay with it, and just because it's stuff I'm saying in the video doesn't mean it's anything we have to actually do if you don't want to." He reached over and brushed a hand across Jade's face tenderly. "I mean, I only have a couple of complete hard passes in my repertoire, but nobody's come up against any of those yet." "Anything I should know about?" "You don't want to peg, pee or poop on me, do you?" Jade giggled intensely, shaking her head. "God no." "Then it's probably fine." "We'll see if you say that after you're done imprinting me," she grinned. "You won't hear anything I say right after I'm done imprinting you," he chuckled "How long does that last, anyway?" Jade asked. "Well, I expect Whitney woke up a couple of hours ago, and Tala will wake up tomorrow midday. Fi and Moira got it this morning, so technically they should wake up in the middle of the night, but because it'll be dark outside, they may just keep on sleeping until morning. You'll be out a little longer than Tala will. It'll screw up your sleep schedule for a few days, but before you know it, it'll be back to normal." "I think we're pretty far from normal, Andy," Jade said with a nervous laugh. "You know what I mean." "Sure sure, I know what you mean." Behind her, Sheridan and Lauren helped moved Tala up, laying her down next to Moira and Fiona's sleeping bodies. "Do you want us to leave her here tonight, Andy, or put her in her own bed?" Sheridan asked him, as they made sure that the three women were close to each other without overlapping too much. Women in the imprinting process made almost no movements when they were out, so it was important to position them so they didn't have muscle cramps when they awoke. "She said wanted to wake up in the main bed for her first morning after imprinting, so she can just stay here," he said. "Jade? What about you?" "I'd like to do the same, if that's okay." "Of course it's okay," he said, leaning in to give her a sweet kiss, his fingertips brushing against her face once more. "I'm trying to get you to relax." "I know. I know I know, and I appreciate it," she said with a shy smile. "You're so gosh darn sweet. But you don't know how far I'm about to go down a path of depravity." "You don't have “ " "Andy," she said, resolve strong in her voice. "I do have to do this, so just let me do it, okay?" "Sure, okay." "Should we, are you ready to get started?" she said, looking up at him. "Are you sure you don't want me to go hop through a shower first? I'm still kinda sticky from my time spent with Tala." "No no, that'll make this all the better," she said, moving to stand up. For her interview outfit, she'd chosen a long skirt that hung down past her knees, but wasn't quite long enough to be considered a dress, and a red silk blouse that hung loosely over her ample bosom. "Emily, are you ready to start filming?" "You're sure you want me to capture everything, Jade?" Emily said. "I know we talked about this, but, everything? Nudity and everything? To your father?" Jade nodded, her gaze resolved. "I need to do this, Em, so just film it all." Emily shrugged a little, grabbing Jade's phone from the nightstand next to the bed. "If you say so, love." "Andy, could you stand up?" Jade said, as Emily moved over towards Jade, getting ready to capture what was about to happen on the iPhone. He nodded, sliding up and off the bed, moving to stand, glad that someone had turned on the heat in the house earlier in the day so he wasn't cold, standing nude in the middle of his insanely large bedroom. "Don't say much during this, okay, Andy?" Jade asked him, imploringly. "I mean, if I ask you a direct question, and it doesn't feel rhetorical, maybe answer, but err on the side of not saying anything. I need this to be all about me rather than you, no matter how much I'm going to talk about you during all of this." "Okay, I'll try and be quiet as much as I can then." "Great. Super. Thank you. Oh, if you hear me calling myself Button, it was his nickname for me growing up. So that's where that comes from. Anyway, let's get to it. Em?" she said, looking over to Emily, who was framing all of Jade in the shot on the phone. "Aaaaand, action!" Emily said, just before she hit the record button. Jade offered a brief, almost reticent smile, and it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "Hi Daddy. Button here and this is going to be the last time I reach out to you." She started slowly unbuttoning her blouse, letting it fall open, to reveal an ornate black lacy bra on beneath. "I know you wanted me to move back home until the whole plague passed, but that's not going to happen. I'm done living by your rules, not just regarding this, but everything." Andy actually felt a little bit nervous, not about being seen naked on camera, but for what Jade was going to say. She'd been purposefully vague with him, but he trusted her that she was only doing whatever she thought was necessary. "You always wanted to keep your little Button under your thumb, didn't you Daddy?" she said, sliding the blouse entirely off, tossing it aside. "But a couple of years ago, around the five year anniversary of Mom's passing, the things you said to me changed and started getting creepy. You kept talking about how much I reminded you of Mom when she was my age, how much you missed her and how your needs weren't being met." Oh, Andy thought to himself. OH. Oh shit. "I tried to tell myself that you didn't mean it, that you didn't realize what you were saying, or how inappropriate it was to be talking about your own daughter that way, but the more I told myself that, the more you seemed to be doing it." She unhooked the waist of her skirt and then let it drop to her ankles, stepping out of it before kicking off her boots, leaving her in the black bra and a matching set of black panties. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realized you weren't looking at me thinking about Mom. You were looking at me thinking I could replace Mom, and that's fucking creepy, Dad." She was fit, more fit than Andy had realized when she'd shown up in the cheerleader outfit yesterday, and her body was as toned and lithe as Sheridan's was, although maybe a little more muscular. She was an athlete, more like Piper, and she took great pride in showing her body to Andy, it seemed, or maybe showing off to her father, lashing out at him for his actions. "You wanted me to move back into the mansion so you could get me imprinted to you, didn't you, you sick fuck? You wanted your own daughter bound to you by science, reliant on your cum to keep her alive? Do you know how disgusting that is? How much it horrifies me?" She unclasped her bra behind her back and pulled it forward and off, tossing it aside, exposing her tits to both Andy and the camera, large proud swells that were just the perfect size for her body, as tanned as the rest of her, although her nipples were a bright rosy pink. "But you've lusted after your own daughter, haven't you, you sicko? You thought your wealth would let you get away with the ultimate betrayal, to have a perversion that you should have never even thought about," she growled. Andy understood now why she'd been so angry when she'd talked to him earlier in the day. Jade had clearly been thinking about her father's actions in light of what she knew about the process now, and had put two and two together to get a pretty unpleasant four. And now she was making sure her father understood that he was dead to her. "It bothers you, doesn't it, Daddy, hearing your precious little Button talking like some dirty whore? Swearing so fucking casually when you tried to drill it into her head that she should always be ladylike? Never act like some kind of cheap slut, never let a boy see or touch her special places." Jade's face was one of rage now, as she grabbed her panties and shoved them down, stepping out of them, leaving her fully exposed. She had a large triangle shaped blonde bush, neatly trimmed but still of a decent size. She also had no tanlines of any kind, making it clear she tanned in the buff, her whole skin that golden shade, the perfect California girl. "I hope seeing this video gives you a fucking heart attack, you asshole, because you're going to witness me guaranteeing that you can never fucking have me," she said, her hands on her hips, not making any effort to hide or conceal any of her gorgeous body. Andy hoped that the video did the trick, but if his time in New Eden had taught him anything, it was that the super rich were capable of nearly anything, and there were no other words to describe Jade's father, Cormack Dillon, quite so succinctly as "super rich," and that meant the man stood every chance of continuing to be a problem. "I took the DuoHalo immunity treatment yesterday, which means I'm going to get imprinted onto a man, to get the other half of it, and I know you know what that means," she said, sliding one hand over one of her tits, cupping it, for both the camera's eye as well as Andy's. "That means I'm going to be imprinted onto a man, a man who isn't you." Jade's nipple stiffened to her touch, and Andy could hear Lauren and Sheridan moving a little behind him, making sure they were completely out of the path, but he also wondered if the two weren't starting to play with themselves at least a little, because Jade had gone from schoolmarm to raw sexual carnage faster than a Lambo went from 0 to 60. "You know what that means?" Jade said, a coy smile on her face as her tongue licked her lips. "He's going to be my new Daddy, a better Daddy, a good Daddy, and he's gonna reap all the benefits that a good Daddy deserves." Her other hand moved to rub between her thighs, stroking across her cunt quite nervously, but her smile was practically eager. "I laid awake so many nights, playing with my cunt, wondering what my life was going to be like when I finally gave my cherry to someone, your words ringing in my ears how I needed to choose carefully, to pick someone who would make the family proud over someone who made me feel all warm and wobbly." Andy could feel her slowly closing the distance between them, Emily doing her best to keep her framed in the shot the entire time. "But that was what you wanted, and you're dead to me now. So I'm gonna give my cherry to my new Daddy, to a man that I chose to be with. And I'm not gonna be prim and proper about it, oh no," she purred. "I'm gonna be every bit the slut you were afraid I would turn into and more." She was only a few feet away from him when she slowly moved down onto her knees, keeping her head tipped up proudly. "He wanted to wash his cock off before I sucked him off, but I told him no," Jade giggled, scooting on her knees closer to Andy now. "I liked the idea of his cock being slick from the cunt of some other girl he'd just fucked when I blew him for the first time, so I'd get my first taste of cunt with Daddy's cock." She reached forward and grabbed Andy's shaft, giving it a gentle stroke. "See how much bigger my Daddy's cock is than yours, you senile old fucker? See how slick it is with the juices of some bitch he just met yesterday, another slut who's going to tend to his needs just like I'm going to? God, it smells so fucking good. Can I have a lick, Daddy? Just a little one?" Her intense green eyes were looking up at him, so Andy just nodded in response, as Jade let out a thankful, eager moan. "Oh thank you Daddy," she purred. "I just can't wait to be a good little Daddy's girl." Andy was glad she'd had the talk with him before this, because she'd been right,  he might have been a little uncomfortable with this had she not given him some advance warning. But she seemed to be enjoying stroking his cock for the camera, and when she leaned in, he knew what was going to happen, even if she didn't, not entirely. She'd intended to drag her tongue from the base of his cock to the tip, but only got about half way up before the mix of his semen and Tala's juices sunk into her bloodstream enough to begin the priming process, and she suddenly leaned her head back, looking straight up at the ceiling with completely defocused eyes, an intensely shredded moan erupting from her throat, that priming orgasm exploding through her body. Jade was back on her haunches, practically sitting on her heels, as her entire body shivered and quaked, the intensity of the orgasm a surprise even to Andy, who'd seen this thing happen more than anyone. The imprinting process had affected Jade stronger than anyone he'd previously paired with. "Jesus Fucking Christ," Jade hissed, finally having recovered enough strength to pull her head forward again. "That was the most intense fucking thing I've ever felt, Daddy. And I'm just getting started, because I have to thank Daddy for the gift he's giving me by taking me into his family." She kissed along the length of his cock slowly, never once taking her eyes off of Andy's, Emily having moved in, standing on the bed behind him, so she could look down with the camera. He even felt one of Emily's hand on his shoulder, making sure she was balanced properly. "I'm gonna be such a good little slut for you, Daddy," she whimpered. "I can't wait to feel you inside my cherry cheerleader cunt, to be the first and only cock I ever have inside of my sweet snatch. God, you're gonna feel so good, aren't you, Daddy?" Andy couldn't help but smirk for a moment, because he could feel Emily's nipples were rock hard through her top, pressed against his back while she continued to film. Clearly, the Brit was getting turned on by what she was watching. "That's not all I'm gonna give you, Daddy," Jade said, licking the taste of him and Tala from her lips. "I'm gonna give you everything. I'm gonna do everything. After an entire life of saying no no no, all I'm gonna tell my new Daddy is yes yes yes." She was starting to cradle his balls now, and he felt like that was a warning that she was about to crank up the tempo on him. "If Daddy wants to fuck me, I'll ask what position while I'm spreading my legs to show him I'm already wet for him. If Daddy wants me to blow him, I'll start sucking on his cock right away, no matter where we are or who's around. If he wants to knock me up, I'll beg him to breed me like his good little bitch in heat, even if we aren't married." She shivered a little bit, looking down for a second before gazing back up. "If Daddy wants to fuck me in the ass, I'll hold my cheeks apart and beg him to do it to me hard and fast, just like a good little slut, just like his good little slut should." He couldn't help himself, and his cock throbbed at that, not just from her description of it, but from the look in her eyes as she said it, like she was revealing some hidden desire that she hadn't known she wanted until she spoke the words aloud, and now that she had, it was burrowing hold in her psyche, not for now, but something definitely to be revisited lately. The look on her face was one of eagerness, like she was reveling in who she was after hiding it for so long. "To keep boys from fucking me, I had to learn how to become not just a good cocksucker, but the best cocksucker, able to get a boy off within just a minute or two of wrapping my lips around his cock, but I don't want my new Daddy to feel like he's being rushed, so enjoy this Daddy." Jade wrapped her lips around the head of his cock and slowly pushed her face down onto it, her lustrous green eyes holding his gaze the entire time, until she had her lips down around the base of his cock, no sign of coughing or choking, like she'd managed to suppress her gag reflex entirely. She slowly drew her head back, sliding her mouth off his cock with a wet pop as she grinned up at the camera. "You see that, Cormack? That's the view you always wanted of your daughter, isn't it, you twisted asshole? Down on her fucking knees with her tits out, looking up at you, her lips wrapped around your cock? But it's not your cock, is it shithead?" As she pushed her head back down onto his cock again, Andy did everything he could to keep his moan quiet, but a little bit of it slipped out, and that made Jade smile as she pulled back from his cock once more. "Hear that, Cormack? That's my new Daddy, enjoying what a good little cocksucker he's got. I asked him to stay quiet, but I'm just too skilled at sucking cock that he can't keep still. So I hope you fuck off and die, because I'm gonna get what I want now, I'm gonna be happy without you, I'm gonna get bonded to this beautiful fucking stud of a man, and he's gonna be my Daddy forever, and you're just going to be dead to me, so the sooner you fuck off and die, the better. Goodbye forever Cormack." After she said that, she started thrusting her head down his cock over and over, going from tip to base time and time again, making as much noise as she could, as much performance as it was blowjob, but damn if she wasn't right, and it was the best blowjob he'd ever gotten. Jade had total control over when his orgasm was going to hit, and just when he thought he was about to pop, she backed him away from it, just to prove that she could, then when he thought she was slowing down to prolong the video, she attacked once more, and started bobbing her head across his shaft faster and faster, and there was no stopping the collision course they were headed on. He wanted to put his hands on her head, but Emily seemed to have the shot framed exactly as she wanted, and Jade was doing her best to keep her eyes on his face and the camera the entire time, and when the moment of his release happened, he wasn't even sure where she was looking, because the intensity of the orgasm was brutal, easily the hardest he'd ever come from a blowjob. His cock blasted a hot load of cum against the back of her throat, as her lips sealed in a vacuum lock around the head of his cock, sealing him in there, not letting a drop of it spill out, all of it pouring directly into her belly, as her green eyes finally rolled back in her skull. Her mouth finally popped off his cock as she started to fall backwards, and Lauren darted in suddenly to slide her arms beneath Jade's shoulders, catching her and cradling her to lower her down onto her back, pulling her away slightly to let her legs unfold from beneath her, as Emily moved off the bed, jumping to the floor, slowly crouching down to finish on Jade's face, as the bubbly blonde proudly said 'imprinting' over and over again, an accomplished smile wide on her face. Emily tapped the Stop Recording button on the phone, and then exhaled a deep breath. "Holy fuck!" she shouted, taking one of her hands to fan her face. "I know she said to expect it to be out of character for her, but can I once again reiterate, holy fuck!" She giggled wildly, licking her lips. "I can't tell if I should send her father this video first or do my best to convince you that you can handle another round right here and now, Andrew, because, in closing, holy fuck was that hot!" Andy laughed a little bit, shaking his head. "No more. No more rounds for today. The House of Rook is officially doing no more deliveries tonight!" He crouched down and scooped Jade up into his arms,  she was light, although Emily and Lauren helped him anyway,  as he lifted her up and onto the bed, laying her down next to Tala. Once there, he moved the four of them,  Jade, Tala, Fiona and Moira,  over to one side of the bed, not pushing them off, but making sure there would still be room for his usual group of people to crawl into the bed as well in a few hours time. "Well, at the very least, I can take care of you in the shower before you make your run to Target tonight," Emily said to him. "God, can't it wait until tomorrow?" he groaned, before raising his hand. "No no, I know, we need to do it, and I agreed to do it tonight. Okay, let's go shower, and then a handful of us can make the run out and pick up supplies." After a very nice shower with Emily and Sheridan, where both girls steadfastly avoided getting their hair wet, Andy felt cleaned up and ready to round out his day. He hadn't even had dinner yet, but he decided that could wait until after the Target run. One of the things he'd learned early on, before they'd even gotten to New Eden even, was that women who lived together didn't really sync their periods up, but with a typical period lasting about five days, the more women in a household, the more likely it was someone needed additional feminine supplies. With the size of household now, he'd learned they were the most vital supply the household needed, and never, ever ever to be without. Whenever he went on a supply run, the girls drew names from a hat to decide who would go with him, because inevitably whoever went found a handful of things they just had to have and brought them home, and going to a Target with his entire family was beyond unwieldy. So as Andy checked his shopping list, the girls did their little drawing. Hannah, Aisling and Sarah won, and so the four loaded up into the Tesla Model Y and headed down to the Target. There were many things he was appreciative of about the home in New Eden that the government had gifted him with, but the one he noticed the most was its completely self reliance. The entire roof of the mansion was covered in solar panels, and Andy had been told there was a small field of them further out on his property, in the middle of a natural glade, that ran back to his house, which had power walls, storing all of that excess power. The cars were all electric. Phil had joked around that if New Eden were hit by the worst possible of storms, the town would be self sustaining for a few months before food would be the eventual first issue. Target was one of the few well established brand stores within the walls of New Eden, but it was handy enough that everyone seemed to overlook it not being a local business. There were a handful of cars in the parking lot, but it looked far from crowded. Andy parked the car and then headed in, as Hannah grabbed them a shopping cart. Andy hoped they'd only need the one, but at least half of the time, these trips involved getting a second cart. Most of his list was relatively short,  cat food, cat litter, cleaning fluid for his electric shaver, vanilla Coke if he could find it,  but the girls had their own list, and it was compiled from all the girls in the house. They mostly didn't have to do groceries,  Jenny and Katie made their own weekly run to the grocery store to keep the house stocked,  but everyone had little things they wanted for themselves. Nicolette had toilet paper delivered in bulk and was trying to convince the household to bulk order feminine supplies as well, but it seemed like each of the women in the house had their own deeply held preferences. Andy suspected Nicolette would win out in the end, and that bulk deliveries in the near future would start including things like pads and tampons (as well as diapers and other such baby supplies) eventually. For now, though, everyone was still eager to get out of the house every chance they could, the fatigue of being quarantined to a single space, even one as wonderful as the Rook Manor, getting to each of them a little bit. "Okay girls, let's split up and cover ground a bit," Ash said to the other two, "and we can meet up with Andy back in the pet supplies." Sarah, Hannah and Aisling each put a hand on top of one of the others and then said in unison "Go Rookies!" And like that, they each went their own separate direction into the large Super Target, as Andy headed over to pick up his electric razor cleaning fluid. Since their arrival, both Sarah and Emily had been trying to convince Andy to move to disposable razor blades, or even a straight razor, for shaving, but Andy had been using an electric since college and found the convenience of it too great to give up. Jenny had assured the two actresses that once Alexis showed up, Andy would learn the joy of having his face shaven by a woman with a straight razor, and once he did, he'd never want to go back. But even when she showed up tomorrow, she'd need to convince him it was the right call, so until then, he would stick to his old ways. Before he could make his way out of the razor section, Sarah came bounding around the corner, a package full of pads in one hand, a handful of make up supplies in the other, tossing all of them into the cart. "Hey, like, did you know Nate Watkins was gonna be here tonight? I saw him and one of his partners coming in as I was heading here," she said, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "I didn't," Andy said, "but it's not that big a community, so people are bound to run into one another here." "Did Phil tell you how many households are here in New Eden?" she said, sliding her arm around his waist, her body taller than his, something he still hadn't fully gotten used to. "I asked him, and I think he said about 400, although it's pretty scattered out, and some of the households are way bigger than others. We're definitely one of the bigger ones, although there's pressure on everyone to grow a bit, considering the news that'll be hitting in a couple of days." The two of them headed over to the soft drinks, and Andy was delighted to find that not only did they have vanilla Coke, they also had vanilla cherry Coke and orange vanilla Coke, so he grabbed a twelve pack of each, sliding them on the flat tray beneath the main cart itself, knowing to leave as much of the basket open for the girls as he could. "I imagine that poor Lily's going to go mental when she hears she's going to have to share poor Eric with even more girls," Ash said, tossing her collection of things into the basket. She'd come from behind Sarah and Andy, so neither had seen her coming. "But she'll just have to cope like the rest of us have." "She'll be extra picky on Eric's behalf," Andy said with a quiet smirk. "He won't want to kick up a fuss about who they send, so she'll take over the whole process and make sure nobody rocks the boat over there." "I meant to ask," Sarah said. "How come Eric's got a Chinese last name when he's Japanese?" "Well, he's actually half and half," Andy said, "but he prefers to think of himself as Japanese first and foremost, I guess, so that's how I've always thought of him. His Dad's Chinese but his mom is Japanese. They met after they'd both immigrated here in the 70s to work for tech companies. It's kind of a cute love story. They met in a class to learn English as a second language, so his dad never learned any Japanese and his mom never learned any Mandarin or Cantonese, and they only ever spoke English to each other in the house. They're both very nice people. Eric sort of speaks all three languages, but none of them that well. His Japanese is better than his Cantonese, though, or so he tells me." "That's funny," Ash said. "Lily's story is pretty much the same, half Chinese half Japanese. I guess their kids will keep the same ratio then." "Once they get around to them," Andy said. "You heard Lily, love," Ash giggled. "She's gonna get a child out of Eric even if it kills him. Her clock isn't just ticking, it's pounding out a drum beat." "No no, that's just Lily taking him Amazon style," Andy said, and both Sarah and Ash descended into fits of laughter at that, as he smirked and pushed the cart onward. They kept walking as Sarah and Ash each picked up a few things here and there,  scented candles, Fabreeze, some picture frames,  as they headed towards the pet section. "Don't freak out, Andy," Sarah said, "but I'm going to be grabbing some dog food for Maya's two pups." Andy arched an eyebrow. "Not once did you or Emily ever mention that Maya had dogs," he said, trying to put on his most disappointed look. "Don't you think that's something you should've mentioned, what with me having a couple of cats?" "That's fair, completely fair, but hear me out, just for a moment, on a counter argument," Sarah said, talking slowly, as if she was struggling to think of what she wanted to say. "Ok,” Sarah glanced over at Ash, who offered a sympathetic shrug, then back at Andy, and suddenly she grabbed him and kissed him hard, wrapping her arms around him in a constrictive hug before she pulled from the kiss and clenched him more tightly. "Okay, so we totally didn't mention it, and that's totally on Emily and me, but they're just two little Pomeranians, and they're super cute, and they're named Stan and Ollie, and I know we should've told you, but we asked Ash, and she said you're not allergic, and she didn't think you'd be upset, and I don't know why we didn't mention it during the presentations, but we didn't, and then you said yes, and we were both just so excited, and at that point, you were into the idea, and it didn't even occur to us that you might not like dogs, because I mean who doesn't love dogs, am I right, and I wasn't even thinking about it because Emily said she was gonna tell you but then she put dog food on the list for me to grab and now here I am, trying to convince you that it would be criminal to turn those two sweet little adorable faces away or hide them out back or anything when they're super well trained and lovable and  " She suddenly pulled back, glanced over at Ash, who was desperately trying to keep from breaking out into laughter, then back at Andy, sighing. "And you totally knew the dogs were coming and were fucking with me, weren't you?" At that point, Andy could finally let out the laughter that had been building and building and building inside of him as Sarah had just kept talking and talking and talking and some part of him had wanted to let her off the hook right away, but it had just so much funnier with every word. Ash was leaning against the cart, she was laughing so hard, once she finally broke. Andy squeezed Sarah tightly then pulled back and kissed her softly. "Of course the dogs are okay, Sarah," he said. "But you two definitely should have told me during the pitch, just in case I was allergic to dogs, which I'm not. But Emily brought it up to me yesterday, and I gave her a bit of stick for it, and she suggested this was how I gave you stick for your part in the matter." "Emily knew you were gonna put me up to this?" Sarah said, tilting her head to look upward. "Oh, the shit I'm gonna give that bitch when I see her,” Andy swatted his hand on Sarah's ass with a loud slap, which made her jolt a little bit into him. "Now now, I said the matter's closed, and the matter's closed, got it?" "You're fucking lucky you're so damn lovable yourself, mister man," she joked, rolling her eyes. "But okay, I guess we earned that." "Oh, Ker rist I wish I'd recorded that," Ash said, finally easing off of her laughing. "I don't know how she let that sentence run that far, but I think it could have sprinted past Piper!" As they arrived in the pet section, Hannah came to meet up with them, Nathaniel and his female partner in tow. She saw that Ash was wiping tears from her eyes still and pouted. "Aw, I missed the whole dog food fake fight, didn't I?" she said. "Oh well, look who I ran into!" It didn't surprise Andy that Hannah had stopped to talk to Nathaniel Watkins and his partner, as Watkins had been the man to bring Hannah over to him originally, which meant he'd know the Asian cheerleader longer than he had. Watkins was dressed, as ever, in cargo shorts, a bright Hawaiian shirt, socks and sandals, his black hair drawn back into a man bun, a pair of thin spectacles over his eyes. The woman next to him looked five to ten years younger than him, in probably her early to mid thirties, with eastern European features, jet black hair in bangs that hung down to her collarbone, dressed in a large loose t shirt that said "Cal Poly" on the front of it, and baggy sweatpants. It was clear, both had just decided to run errands in whatever they'd been lounging around the house in, although Watkins himself hadn't looked all that different at the poker night, or either of the times he'd come over to Andy's house, so Andy couldn't help but wonder if that was the man's standard look. Chapter 34 Uncharacteristically, Andy woke up at around 6 a.m., noticing that Fiona wasn't in the bed with all of them. He'd suspected that both she and Moira would wake up sometime in the middle of the night, but he'd hoped that they'd still sleep in some and get accustomed to local time a bit more. Fi, it seemed, couldn't do that. As carefully as he could, Andy extricated himself from the pile of naked female bodies around him and slipped out of bed. When it had been just him, Ash, Lauren and Niko, in the early days, anyone trying to leave the bed would wake everyone up, but now, after the last month or so of constant additions, people had grown much more acclimated to people moving, sliding in and out of the bed during the night without waking up. Currently the bed held Moira, Niko, Sarah, Emily, Tala, Sheridan, Lauren and Jade. He'd been a little surprised the night before when both Sheridan and Lauren had crawled into the bed as everyone was shutting down for the night, but both women insisted they each wanted their friend to have a familiar face nearby when they woke up in the house for the first time. He said he completely understood and respected that. He grabbed one his big t shirts, this one for the Chapterhouse album "Whirlpool," pulled on some boxers and some sweatpants and went to go find where Fiona had gotten herself to. Andy didn't have far to look. When he pulled the shirt on, he could see motion on the covered balcony just outside of the master bedroom, and figured it had to be her. He opened the sliding door as quietly as he possible, hearing the sound of heavy raindrops falling just feet away from the balcony, the wind not heavy enough to force them beneath the overhang. Fiona was wearing a cable knit sweater and Lululemon yoga pants, leaning against the railing, it still cool enough outside for her breath to leave a telltale cloud in the air in front of her. "This is California," she said, her voice laying plain her amusement with the weather. "I was promised sunshine and warm weather all the damn time." "It's raining," he said, moving to stand beside her. "And we need it, so don't jinx it and make it stop. Besides, it was raining the day you asked me and Xander to move in with you." She laughed a little bit, shaking her head slightly. "I can't believe you remember that," she said. "And, for the record, I asked you to move in with me, and I knew that Xander came as part of the deal at the time, because you weren't going to leave him hanging. How's he doing, anyway? I haven't talked to him since college." "You can ask him yourself when he gets here in a while." Fi turned to look at him, arching one of her impeccably well kept eyebrows in his direction. "He is not moving into this house, Andrew. This isn't the old days." Andy laughed, shaking his head. "I didn't mean here here, as in Rook Manor, but he's moving into New Eden, so he won't be too far away." He went to slide an arm around her waist, just a little hesitation in his motion, but she immediately slid in firmly against him, pressing her body against his. "I knew that, Andy. I was fucking with you. Jesus, you're an idiot sometimes," she sighed with a wide smile on her face. "So it's lucky you're so damn cute." He rolled his eyes a little bit. "Nobody thinks I'm cute but you." "Bullshit. Moira thinks you're cute." "Fine. Nobody but you and Moira." "And Niko and Emily and,” "Okay, okay, I get the point," he laughed, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "God, I missed you, Fi." "Me too. So next time, maybe call, huh?" He smirked. "You're gonna hold this over my head for a while, aren't you?" She giggled a little, nodding. "Oh yeah, bigtime. But you know me. I'll get bored with it at some point, and tease you about something new, once I have something new." Her right hand rested on his left arm, which was folded and pressed against the railing. "How the hell did we get to here, Andy?" "I mean, there's all of my life before May of this year, and then there's this year, and one of them is a lot more boring than the other, but I'll tell you all about both, given enough time. I am sorry I didn't try and find you after you cut me out, but to be fair, I didn't think you wanted me to." She nodded, giving a little shrug. "I was angry and I was dumb, Andy. It wasn't a good combination. And when I was old enough to know better, I was too scared, thinking you'd just moved on and didn't ever think about me any more." He had a short bark of laughter, shaking his head. "Yeah, get that fucking idea right out of your head now. After we split, I only had one serious girlfriend, and that was because I was comparing them to you all the time and nobody ever lived up to you." "Not even the one serious girlfriend?" "Especially not the one serious girlfriend, but at that point, I thought maybe it was me, and I was the one doing things wrong, so I stuck with it longer than I should've. You'll end up meeting her at some point around New Eden and then you'll ask yourself how she and I ever dated as long as we did." "That bad, huh?" she said, giving his arm a squeeze. She always knew exactly the level of physical touch he needed to feel reassured or put at ease. "That bad and a whole hell of a lot worse." That hung in the air for a minute or two with nobody saying anything. "You seem to have done alright for yourself this year, though," she teased. "Two actresses, two cheerleaders, an Irish lass, an Aussie, a Native knockout, a couple of athletes, an Indian knockout and your own personal staff including an honest to god French maid. I'm shocked you could find time to pencil me and Moira in." "I certainly never intended  " She reached a fingertip up to his lips to stop him from talking. "I spent a great deal of time between my arrival at the base and my injection with the serum talking about you with Niko, and she assures me that you've done everything you can to be the best man anyone here can ask for, so whatever you intended, it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? What matters now is that you've got a wonderful, if a bit immense, family, and that you wanted me and Moira to be a part of it." "Speaking of Moira, how long have you two been together?" Fi grinned, leaning her head against his chest. "About four years now. It's the reason I didn't put anything about my relationship status on my Facebook page. Didn't want Mom and Dad throwing a shitfit about it. Well, mostly Mom, I think." "So it's been serious for a while now." "Very," she said. "And she's the one who's been bitching at me to reach out to you for the last couple of years, so don't worry about her being jealous of you or anything. On our way here, she was telling me that it's felt like the entire time we've been together, there's been a part of me missing, and how she was sure that you had the missing part of me. I'm surprised you never reached out to her." "I never got her contact information all those years ago," he chuckled. "Hell, I didn't even get her last name. I still didn't know it until Niko told me yesterday." "Oh my god, really?" Fi giggled. "I guess that makes sense, because I know you would've remembered it if you'd ever learned it. You loved that damn silly movie." "Madam, I will not permit you to impugn 'Highlander' on these grounds." "Oh hush," she said. "But yes, you're going to be taking a bride from the Clan MacLeod, but there cannot only be one. You owe me a ring as well, mister." "You think that'll satiate the bloodlust of Mr. & Mrs. Smith?" he said, referring to her parents. "They already know you're back in this picture and are ecstatic," she said, kissing his cheek. "I mean, Mom's a little less thrilled with how many wives you're going to have, but I told her with all the deaths, that's the way it's going to work in this country for our generation. She's still wrapping her head around it." "Everyone in your family okay? All your brothers?" "All three were smart and locked down immediately, so everyone's okay. I'm glad you asked." "And Moira's family?" "Her mom's all that's left, and Scotland's not had a lot of problems with DuoHalo, since they seemed to take lockdown extremely seriously in the smaller villages. You can talk to her about her mom when she's up. It'll mean a lot to her that you're asking." "So how did you two hook up again?" Fiona sighed again, slumping into his body a little more. "How much of my writing career did you follow after we split?" "Most of it?" he chuckled. "I set up a Google Alert to notify me whenever your byline appeared." "You stalker," she giggled, waiting just the perfect beat before speaking again. "It's okay; I had one set up on you as well. Uh, two, actually, one for your real name and one for your pen name, once I read an article about that. Thanks for making that hard on me." "I didn't expect anyone to be following my fiction writing, Fi. But carry on with your story." "Do you remember that story I wrote about about five years back on the Syrian civil war?" "I remember you wrote a whole series of them. What, seven or eight different pieces?" She smiled up at him. "Gold star for robot boy," she said with a smirk. "You really were paying attention. That's nice to know. Anyway, the one about the Doctors Without Borders that were crossing into the firefights to provide medical aid to civilians caught in the crossfire." "Oh yeah," he said. "Those people sounded amazingly brave." "Moira was one of those people," Fi said. "Running out into firefights, scooping up kids and pulling shrapnel out of them. One of the bravest people I'd ever met, but she's been doing it for a few years, and it was starting to take a real toll on her, so I invited her to come and visit DC. A few weeks later she'd gotten a job at a hospital in Georgetown. A couple of months later we started dating. Half a year later, she moved in with me. About two years ago, we decided we both wanted to get the fuck out of DC forever, but weren't sure where to go." "Around the time you added me and Xander on Facebook." "Actually, I have a confession to make,  Moira sent you the friend request from my account," she sighed. "I was convinced you didn't even think about me any more, so one day when we were fighting, she just sat down at my computer, found you on Facebook and sent you the friend request before I could stop her." "And then you and I played the biggest, dumbest game of virtual chicken ever, waiting for the other one to reach out first," he sighed. "God, we're fucking stupid some days." To be continued in part 20, by CorruptingPower for Literotica.

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 18 Andy tells the press his side of the story. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. As he told her the story, Katie Couric mostly let him talk, asking the occasional question,  how had he known that Dr. Varma and Asha were going to be there, what did plan to do if he lost, etc.,  before letting him continue. Andy zipped through the actual poker tournament very quickly, although he did make a point not to name names of anyone else who was there, other than Covington, despite Katie asking twice. The rush of winning lasted very briefly, he told her, as almost right after, they met Piper. When Andy described how they'd found her, in a near feral state, he spared no detail, making sure that Katie understood just how cruel Covington had been to the women he'd had under his household. He even paused to asked Katie what she thought a man like that would want both a mother and daughter for, and he watched the reporter visibly blanch at that. "How did this game even get started?" she asked him. He shrugged a little. "I don't know," he said honestly. "Niko manipulated the situation into me getting an invite, and Emily herself contributed, trying to make sure that I would win, since she wanted her and her partner Sarah to be assigned to me, since Sarah is such a huge fan of my writing." "How do you make that kind of decision? How do you decide to gamble with a woman's life in your hands?" "Very, very carefully, and not without long consideration," he sighed, sitting back in his chair. "Like I was telling you earlier, sometimes bad people do good things, and sometimes good people have to do bad things for good reasons. Niko was very close friends with Dr. Charlotte Varma, and she'd met Mister Covington more than a couple of times. One of Covington's partners, Rachel, works at the base, and helps with the scheduling and directing of where people are going, so she's probably how Covington got the game started, when he realized he could manipulate the system. I mean, I'm sure other people on the base have to be in on it, but who that is, I certainly couldn't tell you." "People like Phil Marcos?" Andy scowled at her, pointing a finger her direction. "You try and blame this on Phil and I will go to every single one of your competitors and tell them how you made that shit up to get ratings," he said angrily. "Phil's a damn good man, one of the best, and while I'm sure he's aware of the game, I'm also fairly certain that he probably can't do anything to interfere with it." "I thought Mr. Marcos was the head of the project." "Doctor Marcos is high up on the team that's developing and implementing the process, but he's certainly not in charge. There's at least a handful of people above him, and besides, Phil's only working on the process itself, not the pairing and matching of individuals. I'm sure they must've mentioned there's two divisions on the base during your tour. Phil's half works on the biology. The other team works on the sociology and matchmaking, and while Phil can trade the occasional favor to get things done a certain way on that team, he'd never have gone along with this poker thing, or for people being used as chips. Shit, he damn near tore my head off after he heard I'd gone and played in the tournament even the once. Made me promise I'd never do it again. So yes, Ms. Couric, I can guarantee you that Phil has nothing to do with the poker tournament." "You mentioned one of Covington's partners, a woman you called Rachel, was on the coordinating team. Would that be Rachel DeMarco?" "I don't know," he said. "I've never met her. Niko would know. I could ask her. Why?" "Well, Rachel DeMarco is the person who told me about your involvement in the tournament. She actually made it sound like you were running the event." "Running it?" he laughed, almost incredulous. "Fuck off. No, Ms. Couric, I was not running the tournament, nor have I played in it more than once. I went the one time as a favor to Niko, to try and keep her friends Dr. Varma and her daughter Asha safe." "So you won both Dr. Varma and her daughter Asha?" "I did." "How come Dr. Varma isn't here as well? Asha was at our first group interview." "Dr. Varma isn't attracted to white men, so she asked if she could be paired up with Phil instead. I respected her wishes, obviously." "Wait, Dr. Varma is one of Dr. Marcos' partners?" "When she arrived at the base, she was married, but her husband died very early in the initial stages of research into the DuoHalo Virus," Andy said. "In fact, Phil said quite a lot of men died on the base due to whatever incident it was that happened in the early days. He couldn't get into details, but he seemed pretty frustrated by it. But after her husband died, she slowly started falling for Phil, a sort of second act if you will, so when I rescued her and her daughter from Covington, she asked if I thought she could be paired up with Phil. I called Phil up, and he agreed, so she's paired with him, and her daughter Asha is paired up with me. We all agreed that a mother and daughter being paired up with the same man just had an ick factor that none of us were comfortable with." "The woman who died. Where did you say you met her?" "I didn't, and I know you know that. But I met her at Covington's home. She was originally scheduled to be the dealer for the poker game that night, but I made a point about never trusting a house dealer, so she was relieved of the job, and the participants all took turns acting as dealer, so no one player could sway the game that much. I suspected Covington might have been using the dealer being a member of his house to fix the game, and the last thing I wanted was a cheat." "Who else was playing?" "Where are you going with this, Ms. Couric?" "Look, Mr. Rook, you seem like a good man, a decent man, but this kind of thing, it can't be allowed to continue, a handful of men trading women like cattle. We're better than that as a country, and I believe you when you say that you were only doing it to help some people. But think about all the women who don't have someone like you looking out for them." "Right, but in giving you this list of names, I'm painting a huge target on my back here in New Eden. Are you planning on running a story just on what I tell you? Because that's a sure fire way to only make things worse." "Of course not, Mr. Rook," she said with a sigh. "But I can talk with the White House, or the Senate, and expose some of this, and get it shut down." "Well, I'm glad you believe that, Ms. Couric, but I can't say that I do. Still, I hope you succeed." "So who else was there?" "You had myself and Covington. The Mayor of New Eden, James Haunton. Financial investor Gregor Vikovic. And Jake Jacobson, ower of the AllStore group." "That's it?" Andy considered for a moment, and decided that he should let Nathaniel Watkins name slip his mind for a moment. "There was one other person there, but I don't remember who it was. Nobody I immediately recognized, and I was very focused on the game, and making sure that I didn't screw up." Andy wasn't entirely sure why he decided to conceal Watkins identity, but suspected it was because Nathaniel was the only person who'd treated him as a human being, and the fact that he'd given Andy a few hundred mil didn't hurt either. But for the most part, Watkins had seemed like a good enough person that Andy felt like giving him a pass. In the short period of time he'd talked to him, it had almost seemed like Watkins' presence at the poker game was for the same reasons he was there,  to try and protect people caught up in the mess. "And you said it's Covington who's running the event?" "Yes," Andy said. "It's always at his house, and they've apparently run it a few times before. I expect having the Mayor in his pocket certainly helped him set the whole thing up and keep it quiet, but I expect he's also got someone over at the base helping him, someone in the logistics and organzational team, but who that is, I couldn't tell you. Niko said she's been trying to find out, but that the scientists on that half of the team tend to be a bit rude to women, including those working in the security detail." "Wait a moment. You said Veronica DeLaCruz, the women who died a few days ago, she was originally supposed to be the dealer at the poker tournament?" "That's right." Katie Couric paled a moment, before she looked at Andy. "Do you think her death is at all connected to her not being able to fix the poker tournament in Mr. Covington's favor?" "Oh shit," Andy said, a little shook by the suggestion. "I hadn't even thought about that, but it's certainly possible. Believe me when I tell you that Arthur Covington strikes me as the kind of man who's capable of just about anything. And I did mention that Emily was attempting to convince Veronica to cheat on her behalf, to ensure that she and Sarah could guarantee coming to our family and not anyone else's, so it's also possible that he somehow found out about that." "Who knew about that?" "As far as I know, just Emily and myself, although I've mentioned it to a couple of the girls here, all of whom I obviously trust with my life," he said. "But it's not impossible that somehow Veronica told someone else, or that she was so frustrated with Covington that she just wanted a way out. As I said, I didn't really know her at all, so I can't say. But if you're asking me if I think it's possible Covington had her murdered, either for failing to rig the game in his favor or planning to rig the game against him and failing in that, I think it absolutely something the man is capable of." "If I informed the President's office about all of this, do you think you would manage to stay safe of repercussions, or would you be at risk?" "Don't worry about us, Ms. Couric," Andy said. "If you think you can make sure these bastards aren't trading the lives of women with no regard for their wants or desires, you absolutely should do everything you can to put a stop to it. If that means Covington wants to take a run at me because of it, well, I'll handle that when it comes up. He's exceptionally rich, but he's not invincible." "Not to remind you of things you already know, Mr. Rook," she answered, "but you were just saying a few hours ago how your health is now responsible for the well being of over a dozen women. Do you think they would all be okay with you being so cavalier with their safety?" "If it meant that hundreds if not thousands of women would get to fairly choose their partners instead of being saddled up with people they can't stand, I'm sure they would." He sighed, leaning back in his chair a little. "So how do you want to play all of this?" "It won't be part of the main story, but I'll threaten to run it if the President doesn't do something to ensure that a stop comes to this kind of thing," she said. "I just got word this morning the Presidential election's being delayed again this morning, and that'll be another thing they're going to include in the announcements. The special election will be in February, and the new President will be instated in office in March, as well as Representatives and Senators to replace all those who've been killed by the DuoHalo Virus. The Republican Party apparently wanted time to have a mini primary for the new Presidential election, so they won't know their candidate for a month, and plans to have the election in December have been scrapped. So President Pelosi will remain in power until March, and that should give her a little bit of time to try and get this mess sorted out. Because if it's happening here, I imagine it's happening in other places, and that kind of damage could scar our country for centuries." "Forgive me for asking, but you know a lot more about this than any of us do," he said. "How many centers like the base in New Eden are out there?" "They started mass production about a month or so ago, and the goal is to have every man paired with at least a couple of women before January 1st, because the casualty rates for men are so insanely high. The hope is the news story will light a fire under those who have been afraid to get vaccinated, when they hear just how many people have died because the DuoHalo virus. But there are still enclaves of men who insist they aren't going to pair up with women, because the treatment will install 5G microchips in their penises, or some such nonsense." "If we've got problems like this poker game here at the source, I imagine there's this sort of thing starting up in a number of the other pairing centers around the country, so I don't mind you showing this conversation to the President, or the Joint Chiefs of Staff, if it means ensuring that women get to decide who they get paired up with." "It's very noble of you to say that, Mr. Rook, but you know as well as I do that some men are unlikely to get paired up with women they would like. I was a little leery of the Level system when I heard about it, men being classified in terms of priority from level 1 to level 5, but I suppose it's the least worst option out of all the ones we have," she sighed. "And you assure me if I talk to any of the women here in your house individually, without you around, they will all tell me they chose to be here, in your company?" "Well, no," he admitted, "but I think they will all tell you they are happy here. But Piper, and to some extent Niko I suppose, they weren't really in their right minds when they arrived." "What do you mean by that?" "Did they not cover this when they were talking about the process with you at the base?" "No, they most assuredly did not." Andy let out another deep sigh. "Okay, so after women are administered the treatment at the base, they're kept there for 24 hours observation, to make sure there aren't any unusual reactions to the process, which is normal. Then they're delivered to their male partners whom they're going to be imprinted to." "Yes, they told us all this." "So, the longer a woman goes without imprinting, the more the chemicals start to affect her ability to think clearly. That's how Piper got into the state she was in when Niko and I first met her. She couldn't think, couldn't speak. She's thanked me, repeatedly, that we rescued her from Covington, and she's told me again and again that she's happy with us, here in our family, but the ability to make that decision was taken away from her by Covington. There is a limited window after a woman receives the initial treatment where her cognitive functions are full, and the longer she goes before imprinting, the more compromised those functions are, albeit temporarily, at least I hope." "Have you heard of women being made to wait longer before imprinting?" "Hell, I haven't heard of anything like what happened to Piper anywhere and if I had, I'd be kicking up a fucking storm," he said angrily. "I was so livid that I wanted to go and beat the shit out of Covington myself right then and there, but I also needed to make sure I got everyone out of their situations first. We were still at his home, and I'm sure he has some sort of security. What he did to Piper wasn't just unforgivable, it was criminal, or at least it should be, but we're in uncharted waters here, Ms. Couric. There's going to be an entire new wing of legislature and legal decisions spiraling out of this for decades. And nobody knows how any of it's going to turn out, because all the signposts people used to use to predict these sorts of things have been tossed in the woodchipper. I don't know how many people in Congress died, but I imagine you do." "Around 60% of the Representatives and about 70% of the Senators, as well as five of the Supreme Court Justices, although Ruth Bader Ginsberg died from cancer complications, not the DuoHalo Virus. It's an almost incomprehensible strain of the system." "I'm sure some of those people who will be elected to Congress to fill those vacancies will be men, but the overwhelming majority of them are going to be women. And that's going to change a lot about how the country operates. Not as much as I'd like, I'm sure, but a lot." "Why do you say not as much as you like?" she asked him. "I was very lucky to get level 5 status, but you know who else got level 5 status, Katie? The billionaires of America. Jeff Bezos. Bill Gates. Elon Musk. Warren Buffet. And you know the most fascinating thing about it, that I hope you focus on in your story? You know how many of those people refused treatment?" "Very few?" "Absolutely none," he said. "In fact, what I have heard is that the ultrarich were bumped to the highest possible priority, and were the very first in line to get paired up with people. Now, what level of scrutiny did those people go through in their pairing process? Not a whole lot, I imagine. In fact, I'm willing to bet that on the other side of this, when we start to see what the new world looks like, you're going to see those men with impossibly beautiful women, celebrities, athletes, women who probably wouldn't have given these men the time of day even with all their money. They did it because it ensured their survival. I know the fatality rate for women with the DuoHalo Virus is only a fraction of what it is for men, but it's still a risk. And I'm worried that those people who have insane amounts of money are going to continue to do what they've always done,  spend that money to ensure they keep making money at the expense of those without it. They will attempt to buy their way into power once again, and will simply adapt so they don't get knocked off their pedestals." "Are you considering running for office, Mr. Rook?" Andy laughed a bit at that, shaking his head. "Fuck no," he said. "But if one of the women of my household wanted to run for office, I would absolutely encourage them to do so. Despite how political I know I'm coming off right now, Ms. Couric, I would not consider myself a political activist. But I want women and men to have equal rights under the eyes of the law, the same for the rich and the poor. And this country is going to see a shakeup the likes of which it has never seen before over the coming few years, as it tries to decide and define what the new normal is, such as it is. We're in danger of having our own little French Revolution here, guillotines and all." "So let's get back on track and get back to things I can likely use when we air the special," she said with a laugh. "Has it been complicated, navigating this many relationships with this many women at all once?" "I'm not going to lie to you and say no, Katie," he chuckled. "Of course it has. But some of the decisions I made early on have helped that a lot, and thankfully, I have an amazing collection of women who have chosen to spend their lives with me." "What kinds of decisions did you make early on that you would say helped?" "Some of it is stuff that seems obvious in retrospect. No kink shaming, for example. No body shaming. No shame in general, I suppose. That was a big start. But there were also things like making sure nobody got too possessive of anyone's time." "You mean managing the amount time the women could spend with you." "Well, yes and no. I mean, obviously, yes, there's only so much of me to go around, but I also made sure that everyone made time to get to know one another in the family, even with all of our busy lives. And we do our best to try and keep arguments from getting out of hand. It helps that there's always someone else around to try and play neutral observer. Not going to bed angry is a big deal around here, and that hasn't always been easy." "How so?" "Well, when Taylor showed up, Lauren was furious. They weren't currently together before they both came here. In fact, Lauren originally wanted me to turn Taylor away, to get her out of the house, because the breakup had gone so badly. But I sat Lauren down and talked it over with her, made sure she had time to think it all out and make a decision with a clear head, rather than out of anger, which is what she would've done if I'd taken her first opinion. At the end of the day, they've repaired that relationship, but it wasn't easy going at first." "Do you ever feel like you're going to upset one of the girls by spending too much time with another, or that you have to do or say something to keep the peace between some of them?" "My relationship with each of these women is a unique thing, and they're all very different from one another. Also, they all have relationships with each other, so when I'm not around, they have their own preferred cliques and groups." "Anyone left out?" "Not that I know of. I certainly hope not. I've tried to make sure that everyone in the house has at least a few people other than me that they feel they can go and hang out with, talk with, spend time with, so if I'm busy, which happens from time to time, there's always someone else just as important to them to talk out whatever's going on." "Can you tell me a little bit about those groups?" "Well, some are based on existing relationships. Lauren and Taylor, obviously. The same for Emily and Sarah. Aisling and Niko have been with me the longest, and have had the most time to get to know one another, so there's another group there. But Emily and Sarah also connect with Sheridan and Tala, because they all share a love of performing. Lauren and Piper connect on their athletic backgrounds, but Sheridan's an acrobat, so she can fall into that group as well. That's just the start, though. Everyone here, I think, falls into multiple groups, so nobody's limited." "And how do you determine how you distribute your sexual time evenly?" "Again, I don't know that evenly is the right word, but I suppose fairly would be a better one, because some women want more sexual time than others. Some of my partners are content just having one sexual encounter every ten days or so, but others like to make sure they're having intimate time every day or two," he said. "We actually have a chart, in one of the hallways, where we make sure every woman updates each time she's had an encounter with me that's resulted in dosing, so we don't let anyone go too long without one, because we know what happens when they do." "The people at the base were a little vague about that," she said. "I'll bet they were," he said, rolling his eyes slightly. "The longer someone goes without pairing with their imprinted partner, the more intense the need to do so gets. After around ten or eleven days, the craving can get so bad that rational thought becomes almost impossible, and the woman becomes overly sexually aggressive, to the point of basically just taking what she needs from her partner. It's something we take great strides to avoid around here. You can ask Lauren about it; she's the one who decided to test how long she could last." "And did she become overly sexually aggressive at the end of it?" "Very much so," he said, trying to hide a slight laugh of amusement. "She basically cornered me and had her way with me, not that I was complaining all that much, but still. It's a thing all women should be informed of, and I was given the impression they were telling women that when they received their treatment." "Sarah said you have four fiancees currently?" "That's right,  Aisling, Niko, Emily and Sarah." "Are you going to have more wives than that?" "I mean,” he said, trailing off. "Even that feels greedy, but I also know we're being encouraged to do this kind of thing, because of the huge amount of fatalities America's endured in the past eight months. So we'll play it by ear. Most of the women here are very new to me still, and that means there's lots to learn about each other in terms of how we integrate. I wouldn't have leaped in so fast with Sarah and Emily but they seemed so sure, and I clicked so well with them right from the start, so I decided to trust my instinct on the matter." "I have to ask you, Andy,  do you have a type? I feel like other than a few minor exceptions, all the women in your family are quite different from one another." "Physically, yeah, they're pretty different, but mentally? They're all smart, independent, capable, free spirited women. I mean, I guess I've gotten pretty lucky in that I haven't run the risk of pairing up with anyone who would be a bad fit for me. Except, I guess, my ex, but I wasn't going to let that happen." "How did that happen, anyway?" Andy shrugged. "I'm guessing that she still fell into my general type, and since she requested to be paired with me, they sent her to me, assuming I could just refuse to pair with her and send her back to the base if I had a real problem with her." "You said you found another solution for her?" "Well, she was chosen by someone else in the poker game, but the man who took her, the guy who's name I can't remember, he seemed like a good enough man, and my ex seemed happy enough to take the match, so I'm assuming they worked it out between them." "Why do I have the feeling you know the man's name but are protecting him?" "Even if I was, which I'm not saying that I am, it would be for the right reasons and not the wrong ones. I got the impression that the man was doing his best to try and get women away from men they didn't want to be with. I can't prove that, obviously, but I've learned to trust my instinct on these things, and I wouldn't want to get him in the soup for trying to do the right thing." "Well, we'll edit that part out for the show. Were there any of your partners who initially gave you concern?" "I won't lie,  I was a little nervous about both Asha and Hannah, simply because of the age gap. I mean, I'm basically their age put together, but as both women have insisted to me, they are of legal age, capable of making their own decisions, and are happy with having me as their partner. So if the age gap doesn't bother them, who am I to let it bother me? It's just taking some getting used to." "Are you ever overwhelmed with the amount of sex you're having?" He laughed at that, then started to say something, then started laughing again before finally being able to speak. "It's almost insane to say, but there are days where it can feel like a bit much, mostly because I'm trying to make everyone happy, and I don't always remember who likes what, at least not yet. I'm sure a few years down the line it'll all be second nature, but right now, I still have to ask people what they do and don't like, even when we've already had sex a dozen times, just because I want to please them, and that goes a long way." "You said you weren't kink shaming anyone. Were you kink shamed before all of this?" "Oh sure," he said. "I have a love of dirty talk, and not everyone's into that kind of thing, and I get it. Different strokes for different folks. But we do our best and try and lean into everyone's kink at least a little bit. Some just take more getting used to than others." "Who would you say has been the hardest to adjust to?" "Nicolette, hands down," he laughed. "It's not that I'm incapable of being a dominant person; it's just not something that comes naturally to me. When we first met, and she insisted on calling me Master, that just felt odd for a while, but the last time she and I had a session together, she seemed incredibly satisfied that I'd gotten my groove with what she wanted from me. And her friend Whitney, who we inducted into the family yesterday, has similar tastes, so the two can work together to make sure I'm satisfying both of them." "Who would you say came most naturally?" "Ash, easily. We clicked immediately, and she was that perfect blend of aggressive and coy that hit all my triggers right away. All four of my fiancees, though, I have incredibly strong rapports with, so don't let me imply that I'm selling any of them short." "I don't really have time to interview them all today, so who do you think I should do one on ones with?" "Well, you should definitely interview Sarah and Emily together, as they want to make sure people understand they chose this, but also that they were a couple before any of this even started, and I know Emily wants to drive home the point that just because a woman is imprinted to a man doesn't mean she's giving up her independence or her identity, and that she certainly doesn't have to be submissive to a man if she doesn't want to." "Yes, I'd planned to talk to both of them together. I probably have time for two or three others before we do the final group interview and before you get the footage of Tala being imprinted. Thank you again for that. The base said we would obviously need to get someone's permission to show that kind of thing." "You should definitely take some time and talk with Ash, since she's certainly got the most experience at watching all of this out of anyone. She's been imprinted the longest of anyone you're likely to meet, so she has a very unique perspective on it all. It might help if you had Niko in that room as well, just because the two of them bounce off one another very well, and would help fill in some gaps for each other. And that would probably make a good link to your footage of Niko from the base." "Excellent, excellent. And one more." "I would say either take Hannah and Asha together as the last interview, or maybe interview Tala, although she's likely to be a little fidgety for the interview." "Oh? Why's that?" Andy smirked a little bit. "Well, we don't kink shame in this house, so, Tala's personal kink is to feel that sort intense sexual need someone gets from edging before getting their dosage. So she actually started the priming process for imprinting yesterday, but hasn't been imprinted yet. That's something it's not recommended you do, but it hasn't hit her too hard. We had an accident with that before, where Nicolette gave Sheridan a bit of my cum that she had stored, hoping it would take the edge off, and didn't realize it started the priming process. It was on a very chaotic day, so we found Sheridan in her room several hours later, her whole body burning up with need, having masturbated unsuccessfully for at least a few hours. It wasn't a smart thing to do, but Nicolette didn't know better and was just trying to help Sheridan. She's fine now, obviously, but it was a scary day, where Sheridan felt like her body was betraying her. Tala went into it knowing how it was going to feel, and is managing it better than Sheridan was, but I think that's because Tala wanted it to be." "Do you mind if I show the footage I'm not going to air to the President and the Joint Chiefs?" "To the President, no, but I would prefer you not show it to the Joint Chiefs, simply because that offers me at least a little anonymity. While I want to help, I also don't want to needlessly risk the lives of my family. Is that acceptable to you?" "I can agree to that, I suppose," she said. "Is there anything else I should know before we wrap up our interview?" "Did the base cover the changes that men encounter as a result of the treatment?" "Not extensively?" He grinned. "Well, I do think it's important that someone tell you that the longer men are exposed to the treatment, the more short their refractory period becomes and the more semen their testicles generate, so men shouldn't be worried about not being able to keep up. Their bodies will adapt. Just be open and transparent about what does and doesn't turn you on, and people should do fine. I mean, I have my suspicions that the brain post treatment is generating more mood stabilizing hormones, but I can't prove that for certain. I know I've certainly felt better than I have for years, but that could also just be the result of all the exercise I'm getting from all the sex I'm having, so, hard to say, but that's my theory anyway." "What's the biggest fight you've had with a partner since this all started?" He sighed, shrugging a little. "It all tends to blend together. I was pretty angry when Niko volunteered me for the poker game, but after I found out why, I understood, even if I still wasn't thrilled with the whole thing. But at some point, you have to learn to accept there's going to be little hiccups along the way. What's that maxim? Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's almost all small stuff." "I appreciate you being honest with me about the whole poker game, Mr. Rook," she said to him. "If I'm honest, I was expecting you to try and dodge the question." "What Covington's doing is horrible, and the only reason I went into that game at all was to try and save one of my partner's friends. I'm just more surprised you knew about it, since I would've figured Covington would have wanted to keep it quiet." "Maybe Rachel was acting on her own accord?" "Then why try and paint me as the person organizing it?" He shook his head. "Not likely. Anyway, if you can do me the favor and leave at least a little of me talking about the Druid Gunslinger books in the segment, that'll make us even. My agent would kill me if I wasn't trying to push for it, at least a little." "Sure, I'm okay making that exchange. Why don't I take ten to freshen up, then I'll meet Emily and Sarah in their office and start their interview?" "Sounds good," he said, shaking her hand. "I'll see you again later this afternoon." Andy took off the mic pack and then headed out of the room, moving upstairs to the master bedroom, where he expected to find most of the girls hanging out, which was where he found them. "How did it go, love?" Emily said to him, as she and Sarah walked over to him. "They know about the poker game." The girls' faces fell, and Emily looked panicked. "What do you mean?" For the next few minutes, Andy related to them what he'd just told Katie Couric, and how Ms. Couric had agreed to keep it all private between them, but was going to take it to the President, which put the two actresses at ease especially. "Is she going to ask us about it?" Sarah asked him. "I don't think so, but I can't be certain," he told her. "I think she's mostly going to focus on the relationship you two had before you got here, and how you decided to both come and join me, so however you want to spin that, I think she'll mostly go along with the story." "So other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?" Niko joked. "How do you think it went?" "Pretty well? I think?" He wasn't entirely sure. As he expected for a reporter of her caliber, she had a remarkable poker face, and he wasn't entirely certain how she was going to use what they'd talked about. "She seemed to get the impression that I was the one holding the poker game at first, but I dissuaded her of that notion quickly." "Who the hell gave her such a stupid idea?" Em asked. "One of Covington's partners, Rachel." "Oh that bitch," Niko fumed. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted her." "She was probably doing it on Covington's explicit orders," Andy said. "One of the things that Ms. Couric suggested is that maybe Veronica's death wasn't an accident, and that maybe Covington had a hand in it. I hadn't even considered it before she said it, but it made total sense after she did." One of the producers knocked on the door and then peeked her head into the bedroom. "Ms. Stevens? Ms. Washington? We're ready for you down in your office." "We will be down in just a moment," Emily said. "Thank you." The producer ducked back out, as Emily and Sarah moved to share a hug with Andy. "You're certain we will be alright, Andrew?" "If you aren't, Katie Couric'll answer to me," he laughed. "Now go get'em." Emily and Sarah released him, took each others' hand, then headed out of the bedroom towards the stairs to take them to their office on the floor below. Ash moved over to give him a long hug, snuggling her face into his shoulder for a moment before looking up at him. "Should we be worried about Covington?" "Not any more now than usually, so yes?" he grumbled. "Tala, how are you feeling? Regretting taking that early lick yesterday?" "Not regretting it at all, babe," she said with a laugh, "although if I said I wasn't feeling it, I'd definitely be lying. I feel like I've had too much sugar or caffeine, this sort of jittery buzz that makes it hard to sit still." "An itch?" Sheridan said with a laugh. "Exactly, babe, and you know just where," Tala replied, winking. "Not too much longer before you're imprinting me, yeah?" "Couple of hours, give or take." "Fab," she said, "I should be just about fully marinaded by then." For the next hour or so, Andy kept himself busy and tried to ignore the crews, although they mostly kept within Emily and Sarah's office. As tempted as he was to go and peep on their interview, he respected the two women far too much for that, and decided to just let them be. About an hour later, Sarah came to find him in his office, where he'd been doing some initial edits on the most recent draft of 'The Fatal Solstice,' and took his laptop from his lap, setting it aside. After that, before she'd even said a word to him, she slid down into his lap, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him tenderly. "You totally don't need to worry, Andy," she said to him. "It went very smoothly, and I'm sure we made you look like a champ." He leaned his head against hers a bit, letting out a relieved sigh. "Who're they talking to next?" "Ash and Niko. Katie thought it would be best to get a woman's perspective who's been imprinted since the first week the program was rolled out." "Holy shit," he said, "I didn't realize she was that early in the queue." "Seems like. We agreed to let them use our little studio for that interview as well, but they said to make sure and get everyone together again for the pick up group interview. They said they only have a couple of questions, but want to get everyone together for it." She took her hand and smoothed it over his shaved head affectionately. "You square?" "Just a little taken aback by the poker game getting talked about. It isn't exactly something I was expecting to be brought up, but I guess it's okay that it's out to a few people if it means that can put a stop to them." She leaned down and kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his head before she slid off his lap and pulled him to his feet. "Let's just hope Covington doesn't do something stupid." "Yeah, well, hope in one hand, shit in the other, see which fills up first." "I thought you weren't into coprophilia," she teased. "I'm not even going to ask why you know what the name of that philia is," he laughed. "But no, I'm most definitely not into that kind of thing." The two spent most of the hour talking through her feedback on the new book, her offering minor suggestions in a way that not only was helpful, but felt insightful. No major changes, but tiny tweaks here and there that would really tighten everything up. Before they knew it, Ash had come to find them to bring them down to the big room again, for their second group interview, which felt more like a formality, really, a chance for them to do some pick up shots, and follow up on the fact that Andy was officially engaged to four women, and that this was not only going to be legal, but encouraged under the new laws. He had expected a more indepth series of second round questions, but mostly it was simple fill ins, and a few clarifying questions. Within half an hour or so, they were done, and Katie Couric was thanking them all, Niko especially, for helping establish a single narrative thread they could follow through the entire process, as well as reiterating how brave she was, volunteering what her experiences had been like in the process of getting imprinted. Andy found himself wondering a little bit what exactly Ash and Niko had said during their private interview with the journalist, but trusted they knew what they were doing. "So all that's left is the footage of the imprinting actually happening," Katie said, as the producers were starting to pack up all the camera gear. "I understand Skip walked you through the camera set up, Ms. Stevens?" "I think we're past 'Ms. Stevens' at this point, don't you think, Katie?" Emily said to her with a soft laugh. "And yes, Skip was very helpful in answering my questions about a few key differences, but it's not all that different than the camera we have in our office, except of course for the audio set up. He did walk me through it quite well, though." "Great," she said. "I'll have them set it up in your bedroom, and you will have total control over framing, lighting, so on. I understand you've got your own editing bay here on site?" "We have been getting prepared for auditions and the like in our little studio, so yes, if there's anything we need to cut out or prune off, we will do so before we pass the footage off to you in the morning. When should we expect someone to come by?" "I was actually going to ask if we could pick up the footage and the camera later this evening," she said. "I know it's not what we originally agreed upon, but I want us to be heading back to the studio and starting to put all this together on the last flight out tonight, if at all possible." "That's really up to Andy, I think," Em said. "No, it's mostly up to Tala, let's be real," Andy said with a smirk. "I'm ready now now," Tala said, a nervous titter of laughter rolling from her lips. "I know I was all Billy Badass about being able to wait, but it's getting pretty real, dude, and, like, the faster we get up to the bedroom, I think the better off I'm gonna be, obv." "Then why don't I head upstairs with a Tala and Em and a couple of the others, and you can circle back in an hour or two for the footage," Andy told Katie. "Sound good?" "Excellent Mr. Rook, thank you once again for being so charitable, and for being so transparent about the less savory aspects of the new world you've endured." Sarah bounded over with a stack of Andy's books, one of every book in the series, all of which he'd autographed earlier in the day, and handed them to Katie Couric. "It might not be your speed, but hey, give them a read and maybe you'll fall in love with the story as much as I have," she said to the reporter. "Just the story, though," Katie said with a grin. "I already have a husband." "I wouldn't share him with you anyway, girl," Sarah chuckled, leaning down to kiss Katie on the cheek. "I think you'll really like them though." Katie scooped up the stack of books and smiled. "Thanks again, to all of you. My producer will be back in two hours to pick up the footage, the camera and the mic. I truly appreciate you being willing to share that moment with the world, Tala. It should put a lot of people's minds at ease." "Hey, Imma have a more famous sex face than Linda Lovelace," Tala said with a wink. "I can learn to live with that." "You should call your next band Sex Face, Tala," Niko said, nudging her. "OMG, I should totally call my next band Sex Face!" Tala cackled. "Anyhoo, shoo. I've got a man to get bonded to." She grabbed Andy with one hand, Emily with the other, and started leading them out of the room, heading towards the stairwell. "So who do you want around for this, Tala?" Andy said, as they started up the stairs. "Well, you and Emily, totes obvs, but my Sherbear's gonna be around as well," Tala said. "I never even asked you if you were into women as well as men," he said, a little embarrassed that he hadn't thought to bring it up before now. "Mostly dudes, well, dude singular now I s'pose, but having a bit of playtime with the girls now and again can be fun, so I'll experiment from time to time, see what feels right." "Don't forget, you're also going to imprint Jade after you're finished with Tala," Em told him. "Oh, sure sure," Tala said, "she can come up to the room as well, and she can bring Lauren with her, since I know that'll make her feel more comfortable. Honestly, whoever wants to come and hang around for it can. I totes don't care that much." "Well, too many people and it becomes harder to catch the audio of it," Em said. "Most of the audio's gonna be unairable," Tala giggled, "but I'll clean up my mouth right before he and I pop." As they reached the top of the stairs, she stopped, turned and pulled Andy down for a soft kiss, looking up at him with eyes that showed the only sign of nervousness he'd seen from the brazen Persian woman so far. "In case it hasn't sunk through your thick skull, doll, I am very grateful that you took me in and are willing to take a chance on me. I know I'm a bit more thicc than the other girls in the house, but variety is the spice of life, and Imma love you like no other." He smiled at her, his hand stroking her face a little. "As long as we make each other happy most of the time, Tala, that's all anyone can ask for." "Imma be more happy once I get my Vitamin D, if you know what I'm sayin'," she giggled, turning to walk towards the bedroom again. "She's a vixen that one," Emily whispered into his ear, nibbling on it a little. "Spicy. I like it." They headed into the bedroom, and Emily moved over to the camera, which had already been set up by the newsteam before they'd left. Em made to sure test the lighting and the sound, however, while other people slowly filtered into the room, Lauren and Jade, as well as Sheridan and Ash. "It's your first time, Tala," he said, "and I always want to make sure everyone's first time is exactly how they want it. So how do you want to do this?" "Mmm, I mostly just want you to lay there," she said, kicking off her shoes. "Let me set the pace, let me control the tempo, let me have a ride." She pulled her shirt off, tossing it aside, leaving her in a sports bra and her jeans. "I'm both a top and a bottom, babe, but this time, we need to make sure my face is in shot for it, and as happy as I am for that to happen, I don't really feel like giving the world a peekaboo of my tits. That's just for fam." She unbuttoned her jeans and slowly unzipped them, shimmying them down over her hips. Tala certainly was curvier than almost anyone else in the household, with a slightly paunchy belly, but she somehow made it look cute. The sports bra was certainly doing hard work, as the extra pounds had certainly enhanced both her bust and her ass. "So that means doggie is out, and on my back gets a bit dicey as well," she said with a smirk. "But if I'm atop you, then Em can frame my face just right." "We may need to have a couple of people hold you up at the very end," Emily said, "so when you pass out, the camera can still have a few seconds of your face while you're beginning the imprinting process." "Good looking out," Tala said as she pointed at Emily. "Sher, I know you got me on this, right?" "You know it." "Jade? You want in for the other side?" The blonde licked her lips a little bit, then nodded, saying nothing. "A'ight then, c'mon girl." Tala glanced over at Andy then cocked her head to one side quizzically. "You gonna make me beg for it, or are you gonna get undressed so we can get to this?" He laughed a little, waving a hand as he sat down on the edge of the bed and unzipped his shoes, then slid them off. He had these tactical boots he loved to wear, and the fact that they had zippers on them meant they were always snug. After shucking those, he unbuttoned the shirt and tossed it over towards the incredibly large dirty clothes hamper the room had, standing up again to unbutton his jeans, unzipping them. "Umm hmm hmm,” Tala said. "I know I've seen it a couple of times already, but damn if you aren't a mighty fine lookin' man." She pulled her sports bra up and over her head, as her mammoth tits slipped free of it, giant mounds of soft flesh capped with almost chocolate colored nipples. "These puppies are gonna do some bouncing today," she said, feeling one up, whether for her own gratification or to get Andy's engine revved up, it was hard to tell. He slipped out of his boxers and then moved up to lay down on the bed. It seemed like all of his sexual activity today was apparently going to be done on his back, he thought to himself, between Fiona and Moira riding him earlier and Tala riding him now. He wondered if Jade would just want to keep him on his back for her turn afterwards, although he assumed he was going to take a shower in between. "Let me just get a couple of pillows lined up here," he said, adjusting so that he was where he thought he needed to be for Tala to hit her mark. "Excellent, love," Emily said. "Now whenever our star is ready,” Tala slipped off her thong, and Andy saw her completely naked for the first time, her cunt shaven clean except for a small rectangle of black pubes high above it, her hips sashaying as she strode over to the bed with as much confidence as he had expected. "How's your head?" he asked her. "Still clear or is it getting harder t  " She cut him off by leaning down and kissing him hard, her hand on his chest practically pinning him down on the bed, as she slowly brought one knee up, then the other, moving to crawl atop of him, her tongue not giving him a chance to finish that sentence for at least a minute, her calloused fingertips dragging down his chest with firm intent. Tala pulled her lips back from his, as she smirked down at him. "Regretting this yet?" "Not even a little," he shot back. "You?" "Nuh uh," she replied. "I kinda wish I could've held out longer, but my cunt feels like I'm smuggling a space heater in it right now, and I think if I tried to hold out much longer, I wouldn't be able to say much." Her hips were grinding against his, his cock not lined up yet, not inside of her, like she was trying to tease them both just a little bit longer. "You don't have to say much if you don't want to, Tala." "Oh but I so very much want to, Andy," she purred at him. "I talked a bit with Sher about what gets you off, and she told me you love a dirty mouth, so I am gonna be one sweary slut for you." She kissed his nose, almost like the look on his face amused her. "I'm gonna shove your cock so deep in my snatch that you're gonna wonder if you're tapping my lungs. Gonna smack my ass down on your thighs and bounce on this glorious cock so hard, we're gonna test if this bed's strong enough. And if I break it? Well, then I'll just have to build a new one for the room, one done properly, one built to handle the sort of good hard fuckings this family is always gonna be up to." He could feel her hand reaching down to grab his shaft, stroking it just a little, but mostly guiding it to get into position. "Normally I tell someone it's their last chance to back out right before they do this, but you started the priming yesterday, which means you couldn't back out now if you wanted to," he said to her. "Does This" she said, slamming her hips down onto his cock, impaling herself until he was hilt deep inside of her cunt, "feel like I want to back out? Fuck no. You feel so fucking good inside of me, I don't even want to fucking move." She giggled a little bit, her eyes looking defocused for a second. "Oh that feels so fucking dope,”

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 17 Andy has his interview for primetime. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.   It turned out that a dozen women all getting ready for television appearances was, in fact, a major operation. The master bathroom was large enough that four of the girls could use the mirror at the same time, but beyond that, they had to party up with "prep buddies," each making sure they were getting themselves ready as well as their prep buddy. Andy was, of course, ready long before anyone else was, even with Emily, Sarah, Ash and Niko sharing him in the shower. He left the four of them in there, although they emerged not long after, each running a hair dryer while they applied their make up and got into their outfits. He was glad to escape the bathroom as early as he did. The girls were in go mode now, and the last thing he wanted to do was get in anyone's way, so he took the time to prep the house. The house had a large empty room that seemed like it was meant to be used as a ballroom. They'd used it as their poker room on and off, but it was also just a nice place where lots of people could stand around and talk. It also had French windows opening into the garden, so the lighting of the room was excellent. Andy figured it would be the best place for the group interviews to take place. Katie and Nicolette helped him get enough chairs for everyone into the room, while Jenny was prepping a large lunch for all of them, a massive batch of jambalaya, so they would have a bit of leftovers in case the 60 Minutes crew arrived hungry. They were scheduled to arrive at one in the afternoon, and had asked them not to make plans into the evening, so clearly the interviews would take as long as they took. Nicolette had been doing cleaning a bit at a time for the last two weeks, so the only thing that really needed to get a major touch up was Andy's writing room, which the 60 Minutes people had asked to use for their one on one interviews, something he'd agreed to, although he was going to lock his laptop away before they arrived. He didn't imagine they'd want to steal his writing, but he was notoriously paranoid when it came to that sort of thing. The cats seemed extremely confused by all the hustle and bustle, but also seemed content to just rub up against the leg of whoever was closest, and follow people around when it seemed like they were going from one place to another. Andy also took time to check in with both Tala and Jade, making sure they doing okay and still on board with talking to 60 Minutes, something he was glad he did. Tala, as expected, was starting to feel the mental itch from having been primed the day before but not yet imprinted, though she was handling it far better than Sheridan had, even if she wasn't as far along with it. She said she'd never felt quite so sexually frustrated before, but that it was a great feeling to have, and that she enjoyed her body acting with wills and wants of its own. Jade had news for him as well. "I want you to imprint me as soon as you're done imprinting Tala, Andy," the bubbly blonde said to him. "And I want you to record it. Not for 60 Minutes, though, but for my father. He has tried to control me my entire life, and I'm just friggin' sick of it, so I want him to see that his dang control is broken, and that I'm giving that control to another man, a better man. So you can use my phone to make the video of it, and I don't care what it shows and what it doesn't, as long as he sees my face when I'm taking that orgasm, when I'm starting that imprinting process, so he knows that he can't push me around any more." She'd been talking with a sort of intensity that he'd never seen from her before, and he let her finish. When she stopped talking, it was almost as thought it dawned on her how forcefully she'd been lecturing him on what to do. "That's, that's okay, right?" "You're sure about this, Jade?" he said, taking her hand in his own. "I'm sure he's done some rough things over the years, but he's still your father, and you want to be careful not to do anything you'll come to regret." "The only thing I regret is being that asshole's daughter," she said, wrath in her voice. "I know it's a lot to ask, especially since I'll be sucking you off, which means that it'll be hard not to get your cock at least a little in the shot, but it's important to me, okay? I'm, I'm reclaiming a part of myself that bastard's taken from me. So you asked me earlier what I wanted, and that's what I want. And I want him to see it while I'm imprinting, so there's no way he can talk to me about it." He nodded. "Alright then. You can change your mind at any time between now and then, but if you don't, then that's what we'll do, just for your father, just at your request. Although, you probably also want to record a message for him to go along with it before hand, so he's not just randomly getting that video without any context." She bristled in mirth, nodding quickly. "Good point. I'll record that on my phone after lunch." "Or during the time they're doing one on one interviews with anyone else. I know they're planning on doing smaller interviews, one with Emily and Sarah and one with just me, but I don't know who else they're going to want to talk to." "If they want to talk to me, they can, and if the 49ers organization has a problem with it, well, the heck with them, I don't have to continue being a cheerleader for them anymore." "Give it some thought. You've still got time." By lunchtime, everyone was ready except for the staff, who'd gone to get themselves ready once lunch had been served. Nobody was sure if the 60 Minutes crew would want to talk to them, but Andy felt it best to make sure that anyone who was willing to have a conversation with Katie Couric was in a state where they could. Nicolette had said she didn't care one way or another, and while Katie wasn't thrilled about the idea of being interviewed, she agreed that if Katie Couric wanted to talk to the two of them, she and Jenny would make themselves available for it. Over the course of lunch, it was clear the girls were doing everything they could to keep Andy's mind off the interview, as the family got to know both Tala and Jade better, while Whitney was still in Nicolette's chambers, in the middle of the imprinting process, and Fiona and Moira were in the early stages of it in the master bedroom. Tala had decided that her first project, once she got her workshop set up in the poolhouse, was going to be to make Andy a puzzle desk of his very own, and once that idea had been voiced, all the girls had thoughts and ideas on things to incorporate, with Sarah filling in suggestions based on his books, and Aisling filling in suggestions based on his life. Niko thought it should also incorporate all the girls' names, so that he might have a better time remembering everyone, which made everybody laugh, simply because the family had indeed grown so large. They were just finishing cleaning up after lunch when the doorbell rang, and Andy's heart felt like it stopped just a little. Ash poked him with a smile. "It's just the media, babes," she teased. "You'll do fine. Go say hi." He headed up from the dining room and down to the front door, where Nicolette was standing in the doorway, greeting the visitors. Standing in the doorway was Katie Couric, one of the best known journalists in America, with a couple of crew members behind her. "Hey, Ms. Couric," he said to her as he approached. "Welcome to my home." He held out his hand and she seemed thankful for the normalcy of shaking hands. "Please, Mr. Rook, call me Katie," she said, "and thank you for inviting us for the interview. I know the President's office had something to do with it, but you could have said no if you didn't want to. Having a couple of famous faces like Miss Stevens and Miss Washington selling the new normal will help the general population of the nation make more sense out of this tragic new normal." "Well, I'll call you Katie if you'll call me Andy," he said. "How's your tour of New Eden been so far? Niko mentioned you did a short interview with her at the base, although you mostly just talked with Dr. Varma and my boy Phil." "You're friends with Mr. Marcos?" she said. "Is that how you got in here?" "Well, there's a story behind that. I can tell you now, but I suspect you'd rather get it down on camera. It's not all that long a story, nor is it really that interesting. I suspect Phil's story was a lot more engaging than mine will be." "Did you get your writing room all set up for our interview?" "I did," he said, "and we also set up our ballroom with chairs, so you can talk to all of us together first. I know Em and Sarah are willing to talk to you either in their little studio, or you can use my writing study instead. It's up to you." "I'll have my team take a look at both locations while we're getting set up in the ballroom. Is everyone in the house willing to take part in the interviews?" "Two of my partners have chosen not to take part, simply because they aren't sure how their employers would react to it, but everyone else in the house is willing to chat," he said, as he felt a hand sliding onto his shoulder. He turned around to see Lauren standing behind him. "Actually, Andy, Sheridan and I have decided we're going to do it anyway, and if the Niners or the people at Cirque have a problem with it, fuck'em, we'll sue their asses into the ground," the tall blonde Aussie told him. "If this is gonna be the new normal, pretendin' like it's not is just as bad as sayin' it ain't, so we'll be there." "You're sure, Lauren?" he asked her, smoothing his hand over her hip, knowing it usually soothed her nervous when she was wound up. She placed her hand over his and gave it a soft squeeze, smiling at him. "Yeh, 'sides I dunno how much of management's gone at this point already. You gambled with us, so let us have a turn at the plow fer a change." He leaned up and kissed her softly. "Well, I've known you long enough, hon, to know if your mind's made up, there's no point in trying to talk you out of it." Andy glanced back at Katie Couric, shrugging. "Guess you get your pick of the litter then." Behind her, the crew had started ferrying in lights, tripods and camera equipment. While Andy had thought he'd only seen two additional people at first, it turned out Katie Couric traveled with a crew of nine, and there had been a second and third S U V behind the van that he hadn't seen. It felt a little like his house was being invaded, but he did his best to not get in anyone's way, as Nicolette started to lead a producer away, to show her where both Andy's writing room and the actresses' little studio were located. "C'mon, I'll take you down to the ballroom, and we can get settled there," he said, starting to lead Katie and her two companions down the hallway. One of them, Geraldine Amato, was the unit's head producer, and the other, Poppy Delgato, was the lead camera woman. "Was your crew mostly women before the plague hit?" "Mostly," she said, "although I've got a couple of men in here as well, and thankfully, they've been given the treatment via their wives. My husband has been getting it through myself as well, for about a month now." "I'm a little surprised they let your whole crew into New Eden," he said, as they headed down the stairs to the lower level. "They've been fairly paranoid about letting people in, I've been told, so I imagine you had to quarantine for a little bit after you got here." "We did," she said, stopping to look at one of the promotional posters on the wall, this one in particular for "The Trouble With Werebears." She glanced over at him with that winning smile she loved flashing on the news regularly. "In fact, Geraldine here's now sharing my husband with me, because she didn't have anyone before hand, and needed someone she could count on to be around while doing her job." She reached up and tapped at the words 'New York Times Bestselling Author' on the poster. "It says here you're a bestselling author, but I have to admit that before preparing for this interview, I'd never heard of you." He shrugged with a little smile. "There's leagues of difference between a Bestselling Fiction author and a Bestselling Genre Fiction author, I'm afraid. When you're talking non genre, you're talking hundreds of thousands of copies, but for genre, well, drop a zero off there, so if you're not into urban fantasy, I won't take it as a slight. Jim Butcher, who's probably the most popular of us working in the field, only sold a couple hundred thousand copies for his most recent Dresden Files book, and that series has a huge following, far bigger than my little corner. Hell, I think the reason a publisher finally took a gamble on me was that I was playing in a similar wheelhouse and they were hoping to piggyback off his success." "E. F. Winston is a genre writer, but her books have sold in the hundreds of millions," Katie countered. "So clearly there are breakout stars." "Ah, but those are young adult books, and the teen fiction genre has a handful of crossover success that never seemed to roll over into other things in our genres," he sighed. "The Dagger Academy books were definitely science fiction, but you didn't see a spike in sales for people like John Scalzi or William Gibson when those books took off, did you? The same for those Harry Potter books. Sold by the truckload, and yet, did many of those kids go and read works from Roger Zelazny, Fred Saberhagen, Emma Bull, Terry Pratchett, Steven Brust, Simon R. Green or any of the other massively prolific fantasy masterminds we've had working for decades? No, we're not all that different than any other form of entertainment,  everyone's just hoping that they get one big bite from the apple at some point during their career." "But I heard they're making a movie based on your books?" "Well, when two high profile actresses are willing to sign onto a project, that goes a long way into pushing it out of Movie Hell," he laughed. "The option had been signed years before that, but once Sarah and Emily expressed interest in playing supporting roles, well, that got the whole thing into turnaround quite quickly. It's like the screenwriter William Goldman always said, 'Nobody in Hollywood knows anything.'" Andy shrugged a little bit as they entered the ballroom. "Besides, I figured you'd want to get all this out during the on camera interview." "Oh, we'll go over it again then, but it doesn't hurt to do a little pre camera screening, just so I know what kinds of things you're likely to say, so I can facilitate the conversation in moving in the right directions," she said. "You've been interviewed several times before. Hasn't anyone ever done that?" "Nope," he said, moving to sit in one of the chairs in the front row. "But then again, I've never been interviewed for television before." They'd originally set up the 17 chairs as one chair facing two rows of eight, but Geraldine started moving the two rows of eight into four staggered rows of four. "We'll bring in some risers, so we can get everyone into one big shot," Geraldine told Katie. Poppy nodded. "We'll need to set up four cameras in here," she said, as she started to help Geraldine block out the room. "One for the group shot, one for Katie, one for Andy and one to rove to whoever's answering questions in the group setting. We can use fixed cameras for the first three, and I'll manage the fourth. We'll have them all rolling all the time and you can just pick and choose what you want in the editing room." "How do you want to order them, Katie?" Geraldine asked her. "Well, Andy here in the front corner, then Niko, the woman we interviewed yesterday next to him. That'll be our link between the segments. Then Sarah and Emily next to her, because star power up front. Beyond that, we can figure it out." "I'd like to insist Aisling, my first partner, be up front with me," he said, just as Ash was walking into the room, along with Emily. "The balance might be a little weird," Poppy frowned. "No no," Geraldine, "we can make that work. We'll just do five in front and three in the top row, so we frame Andy in the center, with Niko and Aisling on one side, Emily and Sarah on the other." "Good," Katie said, "that reinforces the whole 'large family' front and forward as our first visual cue, so that the viewer has to confront it right away. Does that work for you?" she said, asking Andy his opinion for the first time. "That'll work," he replied. "You can even put the three staff at the back, since they're willing to be here for this, but aren't likely to volunteer much in the way of answers." "Jenny and Katie, er, Kate might not, Master," Nicolette said, entering the room with the rest of Katie Couric's crew in tow, "but I'm certainly planning on speaking my mind given a chance, because I don't want people to be given the wrong idea." "What's the wrong idea?" Katie asked, tilting her head just a little bit. "That we're here involuntarily, or that this isn't what we wanted, or, hell, even that Master Rook here wouldn't let us change if we wanted," the French maid teased. "You know if I had a nickel for every time he's sort of reminded me I don't have to call him Master, and I've had to remind him that I like calling him Master, well, I could enjoy a nice two week stay in the Bahamas, once it's opened up again. In fact, little secret, every time he reminds me of it lately, I've just gone out of my way to say it even more, so I can watch him blush." "I think you like watching him blush," Ash said, moving to close in around Andy. "Katie Couric," Andy said, "this is my first partner, Ash Blake, and I'm sure you've probably already met Emily Stevens." Katie made it a point to shake Ash's hand first. "A pleasure, Miss Blake." She then turned to Emily, taking the tiny blonde's hand and shaking it as well. "I've actually interviewed you before, Miss Stevens, although I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't remember. You seemed quite busy on that press junket, and I know they were just wheeling journalists in and out for you." "I keep a diary of anyone who's interviewing me, Ms. Couric," Em said, a wry grin on her face, "so I assure you, I remember the interview quite well. Any surprises we should be wary of?" "Oh, I've always got a few things planned to lighten up an interview," the journalist said, somewhat evasively. "It's not like I'm interviewing Vladimir Putin or anything. You're not going to have me murdered for a question you don't like." "Well," the Brit said, "I still wouldn't anger Sarah too much. She's, excitable, and prone to fits of exaggeration." "I'm fairly certain she's never poisoned anyone to win a role, Em," Andy said to her. Emily clicked her tongue in amusement. "Let's not be too hasty with that judgment, Andy. Anyway, shall I round everyone up and we can get started?" "Yes, I think my team will be ready to start in about twenty minutes, so if you can get everyone together, that would be excellent." By the time all the girls were in the ballroom, risers had been placed under the seats, the lights and sound were set up, a boom microphone used to cover the majority of the girls, although clip on mics were used for Katie and Andy. They also had a handheld microphone that the girls could pass around if anyone wanted to give a detailed answer. They were structured as had been discussed, with Niko and Aisling to Andy's left in the front row, and Emily and Sarah to his right. Behind them, Lauren, Taylor, Sheridan and Piper sat. The third row had Asha, Hannah, Tala and Jade. In the back row sat the staff, Kate (his Katie), Jenny and Nicolette. All of the fiancees were up front, and everyone else was sat in order of arrival, with the exception of the staff, who were at the back, at their own request. It felt right that Ash was on one side of him and Emily was on the other, as if the two of them wanted to be close in case he needed support. It wasn't until Andy saw it framed up in the monitor as they were showing Katie that it dawned on him just how big his household was growing, and even still, he knew there were already three more in the house not in this shot. He was always aware of how big his family was, but seeing everyone together in one single framing shot, it really drove the size of it home, and it felt huge. "Okay, Andy, let's start with how you telling us a little bit about yourself and how you got here." For the next few minutes, Andy gave the shortest possible version of his bio, how he'd moved to California a decade and a half ago, his writing for the Silicon Valley companies, as well as his novels, which transitioned nicely into him talking about how he got his vaunted level 5 status, regaling 60 Minutes with the story of how the guy who'd come to test them, Dave, had been a big fan and given he and his then roommate Eric level 5 status as a return gift for Andy having given him an advanced copy of his next novel. "I hope I'm not getting Dave in any trouble by telling that story," he finished. "No no, each member of the initial Bay Area team was given five level 5 statuses to give away as they saw fit," Katie Couric told him. "Most of them just gave them to friends or family, but Dr. David Straussman hadn't used any of his until he met you, and there were no rules on who he could or couldn't give them to, so that's fine." "Straussman," Andy repeated. "Huh. You know, I didn't even know his last name until right now. I hope he's doing okay." "He's doing quite well," Niko said. "I see him every so often wandering around the base." "So Andy," Katie said, bringing them back on task, "how did you fill out the form you were given with the testing process?" "Well," Andy said, "Dave stressed to us when he gave us the link that we should be honest, and to answer the questions knowing we wouldn't be judged for our responses. I don't actually remember a lot of it, because it was a very long questionnaire, like, ridiculously thorough. But I suppose what you're getting at is what key things do I remember answering." "Yes, that's what I'm asking." "There were definitely questions about my sexual preferences, like, a lot of those, but there were also basic demographic questions about what range of people I felt comfortable dating, was I into women, men or both, and how did I feel about polyamory." "Did that surprise you?" she asked him. "Sure, but not as much as I expect it probably shocked people back in the Midwest. It's not what I would call common place around here, but you see it mentioned often enough in people's online dating profiles that most people have at least some awareness of it here in the Bay." "And how did you answer the polyamory question?" "I actually put 'no preference,' but you have to remember, to some extent when this started, we thought this was all some temporary thing, and we certainly didn't know that the casualties to men in America were going to be as high as they were," Andy said, sighing a little bit, Ash taking his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Do you remember what ages you put that you would be comfortable with?" "The low end was set to 18, and I didn't adjust it, and I set the high end to 35. I suspected no one younger than their mid twenties would be interested in me, so the low end didn't really matter." "You can start to see how his mind works," Hannah teased, "and how he just misses things sometimes." That let the girls have a soft laugh, releasing a little bit of the tension. "Were there any things that you said were absolute deal breakers?" Katie asked. "Just two," Andy admitted. "Must not be allergic to cats, and must not smoke, although we ended up with someone who vapes." "And who is that?" "That'd be me," Sheridan said, "but I'm working on quitting, so, it's a stopgap on the way to that. And it's been much easier stepping down from that than it was stepping to that from smoking." "Who showed up first?" "Aisling showed up I think it was actually the very next day," Andy said. "I was a little surprised how quickly everything moved. Usually anything the government's managing is a total clusterfuck, but I think since we were basically right by the site where the treatment was developed, they were rushing it out in order to keep as many people safe as they could." "Aisling, let me ask you Aisling, was Andy the sort of man you dreamed about ending up with when you entered into the process?" "At first, my head was a little clouded, because the process when it started wasn't as refined as it is now, so when I met Andy, my mind was a little fogged up with lust, but he ticked all the boxes of what I wanted out of a man. He didn't look exactly like I expected him to, but yeah, within a couple of days, I knew I loved him pretty hard. Still do." "Would he have been the kind of person you would've gravitated to in a bar?" Katie asked her. "I would've thought he was cute, but I was horrible at dating, and only had a couple'a boyfriends before him, so I'm a bad judge of character for that sort of question." "How many of you would've approached Andy in a bar?" Katie asked the group of them. Andy chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Be honest." Sarah put her hand up immediately, and Tala raised her hand as well, as the rest of the group giggled a little bit. "As progressive as we all like to think we are, Katie," Niko said, "women still generally don't approach men in bars, so maybe that's more on us than saying anything about our tastes." "Sarah, I saw you put your hand up," Katie asked. "You're an Oscar nominated actress who's know worldwide. What about Andy would've made you approach him?" Over the next couple of minutes, Sarah and Emily related the story of how they'd attended one of Andy's Q&As at ComicCon in costume, so that nobody would recognize them, and talked about how she'd had a crush on him because of his writing for a long time, which Katie laughed about, and Andy was certain would make for good television. "So how many of you would say you're in love with Andy now?" she asked the group after Sarah finished her story. About half of women raised their hands, although several of the others looked like they were considering raising their hands. The front row all raised their hands, as expected, but Lauren and Piper also raised their hands, which surprised Andy a little. "So those of you who wouldn't say you're in love with him, how would you describe your relationship with him?" "Deep respect and affection, but not at the love stage, not yet anyway," Sheridan said. Most of the other girls seemed to nod and agree with that. "Why do you say 'not yet,' Sheridan?" "You have to keep in mind, Katie, a lot of us have only known Andy a few weeks right now," she said, leaning forward just a little bit. "We had to make probably the biggest choice of our lives, and we had to do it basically on a hunch. Our choices were to defer treatment and go on being afraid we were going to die, or take the treatment and get paired up with a man for the indefinite future. That's a hell of a gamble to ask of anyone." "Who's unhappy with the decision they made, raise your hand," Katie said, only to get no hands raised in response. "Everyone's happy being paired with Andy, maybe for the rest of your lives?" "Look, Ms. Couric," Hannah said. "You're going to find every one of us girls has a different story, a unique story, and each one of us came to where we are now on an entirely different path, m'kay? But we'll all tell you the same thing,  Andy's treated us with an immense amount of respect and affection, and he's made sure that nobody's doing anything they aren't comfortable with. Shit, he's even done stuff he's been a little uncomfortable with because it's made us feel more comfortable, and how many women can say that about their partner? So while a bunch of us aren't in love with him, yet, we all admire and respect how much he's gone out of his way to make sure we feel like we're part of a goddamn family, a good goddamn family." "Do you want to continue to grow the family, Andy?" "If you ask him," Em said, jumping in before he could respond, "he wanted to stop growing it a while ago." All the girls laughed at that. "But at this point, I think we're all doing what we can to stick together, and a lot of us girls wanted to protect our friends, to keep them safe, so we took turns presenting them all to Andy, trying to convince him to bring them into our home and into our family." "Everyone had someone they wanted to pitch?" Katie said, smiling at Andy. "That must have been overwhelming." "Not everyone wanted to pitch someone, but almost everyone," he said with a laugh. "And it was a lot of names and faces that were presented all at once. I said upfront, though, that I wasn't going to bring everyone on, and that there was only so much of me to go around. In the end, I think we mostly made it work to everyone's satisfaction." "So how many more people are coming?" "Well, we have three people who are in the imprinting process right now, and two more people arriving tomorrow, and if I have any say in the matter, that will absolutely, positively, definitively be the limit of women I can handle in my life," he chuckled. "And how much say do you actually have in that matter, Andy?" "Very little!" Emily joked, and all the girls laughed, as did Katie. "It would take a super compelling case for us to add, like, anyone else to the family past that," Sarah said, "but I think it's totally for the best that we never say never. Sometimes exceptions have to be made." "Like I told you yesterday, Katie," Niko said, "I think if Andy had total control of the matter, he would've probably put a hard limit in after myself, Ash and Lauren were in his life. He told me multiple times early on that he barely felt like he deserved one amazing woman, and at that point, he already had three, so it's been a growth process." "But this is the new normal now," Katie said. "Or at least it's going to be. Families with one man and several women, because so many men in the US have died. Raise your hand if you know a man who's lost their life to the plague here in the US." All the women raised their hands, and of course Andy had his raised as well. "How does that feel?" "I think we're all suffering from some degree of post traumatic stress disorder," Piper said. "The losses, they're too big for any of us to process, so we're sort of clinging to one another, holding on to the only family that we know for certain that we can protect." "Piper, you were actually supposed to have competed in the Olympics by now. How does that feel, knowing that when it starts up again next year, the US basically doesn't have almost any of their male athletes to compete?" "At this point, it's impossible for it to even make sense in my head any more, Katie," she sighed. "Most of the people I trained with have died over the last several months. A lot of my trainers died. I've lost colleagues, friends and family members. I don't even know where to start mourning, because there's so damn many people to mourn. I consider myself lucky that my sister's husband took everything seriously, and completely refused to leave the house this year since the word of the plague got out." "It's something we've talked about in here a bunch," Andy said. "And we sort of keep coming back to that famous Stalin quote. 'A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic.' It's so many dead men that the mind can't even make sense of it. It's like 9/11, but if each of the Twin Towers was holding exclusively almost every man each of us knew and loved. My own brother died a few weeks back, and he was one of the kindest and most careful souls I know, but he ran out to help someone get their storm shutters up before a particular bad thunderstorm rolled through, and a few weeks later, he was just gone, almost overnight. It happened so fast, I didn't even hear about it until after he was already gone." "It's actually unproven that's a real Stalin quote," Tala said. "I read an article that said it was attributed to a French humorist." "Sure, but even if Stalin didn't say it," Andy said, "it's still pretty relevant here. It doesn't really matter who said it, it's the sentiment that's important. We're talking about a matter of scale, and the human mind's capacity to comprehend that scale. At the end of the day, that's a hell of a lot for anyone to handle. So we're all just doing our best." "Normally," Emily said, "when a friend or loved one dies, there is typically a funeral or a wake, a gathering of all that person's surviving circle coming together, to celebrate their passing and remember them, but we have been denied that, and it has made all their passings that much harder to process, somehow transformed them all into seeming less real, because our normal emotional milestones haven't happened along the way. We are adrift in our emotional morass." "That's true," Katie said. "We, as Americans, haven't had to confront all the deaths simply because we aren't allowed to go out and do so, and that somehow makes it feel less concrete." "It hits you every day," Jade said, "little by little. Lauren described it to me a few weeks ago as a slow motion car crash that we're all stuck in, and nobody can get out of." "So, Jade, I understand you're one of the newest arrivals here," Katie said. "Have you gone through the imprinting process yet?" "Not yet," she said. "Tala and I arrived yesterday, but we wanted to wait a little bit, to spend some time with Andy and his family, to makes sure that we would be happy getting melted into their pot. I'm happy to say we're both going to do it, but it's the kind of commitment you gotta be certain of, you know?" "Have you seen what the imprinting process is like?" "Um, yes?" she said, trying not to blush a little. "When we arrived yesterday, we had a third person with us, another woman who was joining the staff and faculty of the house, but not the family itself, a young woman named Whitney." "So, Andy, explain to me the difference between family and staff, and how you decide that." He immediately put his hands up, almost like he was at gunpoint. "First and foremost, I do not decide that," he laughed, and all the girls laughed with him. "When the military came and relocated us from our little condo and brought us here to New Eden, the house also came with three members of staff attached with it, all of whom I was told had been selected to mesh with me, and whose boxes I would tick as well." "That was the three of you in the back, Nicolette, Jenny and Kate, yes?" Katie asked. "We had all been told a bit about Andy before he arrived," Nicolette said, "and his answers to the questionnaire implied that he would eventually be willing to play into our tastes." "Eventually?" Katie asked. "Well, sure," Nicolette giggled. "I know the first few times I called him Master, it rattled his cage a little bit, but he eventually realized I liked saying it, and nobody was making me do it. One of the things that we girls all figured out early on was that just because Andy was okay with something didn't mean he had any real experience with it, so we would need to hand hold him a bit through it. So while Andy said he was okay with bondage and discipline stuff in his questionnaire, he didn't have any real practical experience in it. So we've found ways to teach him about that kind of thing without it ever feeling like we were lecturing to him. He sort of set that expectation up front when he told us communication was everything, and he couldn't have been more right." "And Kate? I hear that you and Jenny had a different experience," Katie asked. "Damn, uh? Andy?" Kate (his Katie) asked. "How real you want us to get here?" "We're not hiding anything," he chuckled, "so fire away." "So, uh, Katie," Kate coughed. "I'm actually a lesbian. Not a bisexual who mostly identifies as a lesbian, I mean straight up, hardcore, one hundred percent, unrepentant fully committed lesbian. And Jenny here is my wife, but she's bisexual." "Hi!" Jenny cheerily said with a wave. "When we signed up for this, we, ah, we were planning on hiding that from Andy, and I was simply going to fake it, and go along with the ruse, so that we could stay together, and we could still get the treatment, which, as you already know, takes both a female and a male component to work," she sighed. "So I, er, we lied, and claimed we were both bisexual. Since we were married, wherever we went, we were going to go together, and we figured we could just keep up that lie as long as we needed and make it work." "And what happened?" Katie asked. "Day two, I folded, before we'd even been imprinted," Jenny said with a shrug. "When we met him, Andy wasn't at all what any of us were expecting him to be, but I mean that in a really good way. It didn't feel right lying to him. We'd had a few days together before he showed up, the three of us, us two and Nicolette. We'd talked about it, and Nicolette volunteered to go first, so that if it didn't go well, my Katie and I could request to be moved elsewhere, since we were a little more particular than she was about how we got paired up." "What do you mean, you folded?" "I started talking to Andy, and, and it all just came tumbling out, how we were a little unsure, how my Katie wasn't really into men, and, I just felt like I had to tell him everything before we were committed to anything." "How did you react to that, Andy?" "I could tell they were afraid that I was going to be angry," Andy said, his tone as breezy and relaxed as he could keep it, "but I wasn't. Why would I be? I simply wanted to talk with them about how they wanted to handle it, because at that point, I knew a bit more about the physiological affects of the treatment than they did, so I wanted to prepare them for it, if they wanted to move forward." "Do you still consider yourself a lesbian, Kate?" Katie asked her. "Absolutely. I don't feel any sexual attraction to Andy what so ever," she said. "Now, with that said, I can also admit that I have received biochemically induced orgasms from him regularly as part of the treatment process, and I don't think that affects my sexual identity in any way. But Andy and I haven't ever had direct sex. He's offered, but he's also never pressured. I might take him up on it some day, to see if the chemical and neurological changes the treatment have made to me might compensate for my lack of sexual attraction to him, but then again, I may not. That's my decision, well, our decision, to make," she said, taking Jenny's hand in hers. "And nobody's going to tell me who and what I am. I get to decide that, and fuck anyone who says otherwise." "So if you haven't had direct sex with him, how are you getting what you need from him to keep your treatment managed? Go ahead and be as direct as you want, and we can bleep parts of it out if we need to, but I think they're just going to air it as we send it." "Well, to be frank about it, I don't ever actually fuck Andy, but that doesn't mean I don't swallow his semen. I do that around once a week, either directly from him, or second hand from my wife. I consider sucking his cock just to be another task around the house that needs doing now and again. No offense, Andy." He laughed, waving a hand in his air. "None taken, but you already know that." "And that's enough?" Katie asked. "Just swallowing semen, either directly or second hand?" Kate nodded. "It's fine. I haven't had any adverse side effects, and it's easy enough right before he's about to pop for him to point it elsewhere, or for Jenny and I to split it after he does pop. I'm never going to have an encounter with Andy without Jenny present, and she's always my focus, not him, because she's my wife, and he's just, my boss." "And everyone in the house is okay with that?" "This is the world we live in now," Lauren said. "Lotsa fellas used to get all hung up onna things that they did and didn't like, but who's got time for that anymore? Life's too short to hold onta old grudges, so if we can, we're all gonna take it on the chin and just keep movin' on together." "Now Lauren, I understand you're also a lesbian." "Nah Katie," the tall blonde Aussie corrected. "I'm definitely bisexual, but I just lean a lot more towards the ladies than I do the fellas. I very much enjoy my sexual encounters with Andy, but I'm not one of his primary partners, despite showing up so early. I'm in love with him, like he is with me, but he's not my Big Love, if you folla. I've got me own primary partner here, in Taylor. We'd split before New Eden, and when she came back, I was right pissed off, but we've worked it out, and now she and I are back to being a couple again." "Does that put you on the outs with Andy?" "Nah," she laughed, "it just means the master bed doesn't need triple reinforcement. I love Andy and all he's done for me, for alla us, but I ain't interested in being one of his wives. I wanna marry Taylor at some point, but that doesn't mean I don' wanna stay part of this family. That works for us, so, y'know, fair play." "How many people do sleep in bed with you on any given night, Andy?" "There's always at least five of us in the bed," he answered. "Myself, Ash, Niko, Emily and Sarah. But sometimes more people want to cram in, and we never say no." "What's the most the bed's ever held for a night?" "Oh, uh, everyone who isn't staff, I think, but last week, so before some people had arrived," he said, trying to remember, "so, what, 11?" "Yes, that was the maximum. On the day when we found out Andy's brother died," Emily said, "we all crawled into bed with him and just wrapped our arms around him, as we all shared a good cry, then fell asleep holding one another, but that's extremely uncommon." "Five or six would definitely be the average," Ash said. "So the four of you would say you're closer to Andy than the rest of the women in the house?" "Well, we're all his fiancees, so we'd better be, Katie!" Sarah laughed. "He asked Ash first, and then Niko asked him before he could even get the words out to her, so once he freakin' told us, me and Em, we both demanded he propose to us as well immediately, because we come as a package deal." "What do you mean by that, Sarah?" "Okay, well, here's the thing. Emily and I have been a couple for almost two years now, but we're both, well, we're both totally into dudes and chicks. So while we super love each other, we also knew we were going to need a regular cock in the equation. When we found out that the writer of my favorite freaking book series of all time was in play, we decided we had to freaking have him." Andy was a little amazed Sarah could do so much to self censor, but realized she'd probably been doing it for interviews forever. "So you put in a request for the two of you to be paired up with Andy, and the government made that happen?" There was a long pause, as everyone was trying to decide what to say and how to say it, but eventually Emily broke the silence. "Something like that, yes," she lied. "We'll put a pin in that and come back to it later," Katie said, and Andy's guard was immediately up. He'd been wondering what sort of problems this interview was going to throw up, and now he felt like he knew what one of them was. "Have you had to send anyone back, Andy? Had any partners show up that you didn't think would be compatible?" "Just one," he admitted. "My ex girlfriend was sent to me, because she hadn't disclosed that we'd been together about a decade ago. She was eager to rekindle the relationship, but I was not. It ended on terms that made me unwilling to revisit it again, so we helped her make other arrangements. We hadn't been compatible back then, and I didn't feel comfortable gambling that she'd grown enough that I would've been compatible with her now." "You didn't send her back to the government?" "New Eden isn't that large of a community, so sometimes we just see if we can make things work among ourselves first, and we found a solution that everyone seemed happy with, including my ex. In fact, the people that my partners here pitched to me that I didn't think would be good matches for our family, we worked to pair them up with other people here in New Eden instead, so they were still local and safe. It's a small town, so we have to look out for one another. Problems here are rare and generally manageable." "Not always, though, we've heard," Katie said. "I take it you've heard about the fatality that New Eden had last week?" Everyone nodded. "It was horrible, hearing about someone dying from something so easily preventable," Hannah said. "Like, they totes warned us about that ish before we left the base, so why the hell would someone chance it?" "They did warn you?" "Very thoroughly," Emily insisted, horror in her voice. "They told us multiple times, again and again and again, that if we took in semen from any man other than the one we were paired up with, it would be toxic, if not fatal. They even showed us a recording of a woman who'd already been imprinted getting semen from a man she wasn't paired up with on her skin, and the large, violent rash that immediately broke out. I am told they show that footage to everyone, to drive the point home. Seeing that sort of instantaneous reaction should've been enough to discourage anyone from testing those boundaries." "They're talking on base about showing some of the autopsy photos from the fatality to the people who are getting the treatment now," Niko said, "to make sure everyone understands how serious it is not to dally outside your family." "Have any of you ever been tempted?" "I think we all value our lives too much for that," Sarah joked. "And love Andy far too much for that," Ash said. "Definitely," Emily agreed. "Why would anyone task such a pointless risk?" "Did any of you know the woman who died, or the man she partook from that killed her?" Katie asked them. "I met her briefly," Andy said, "but I wouldn't say I knew her. And none of us ever even met the man accused of doing it to her." "Major Peters told us yesterday he's currently imprisoned at the base, pending local law enforcement being able to take custody of him. They're going to charge him with murder, they were telling us." "They should," Sarah said. "They told everyone when they brought them here to New Eden what would happen if people engaged in any form of sexual activity with anyone they're not paired with, and they fucking did it anyway!" "The problem," Andy sighed, "is that the man, whoever he is, already has multiple women paired up with him, which means that whatever they do to him is going to affect those women as well, even if it's just that they have to come to a prison for their weekly intake. Those women are already tied to him. I'm sure they're looking into some way to remove the binding and reimprint a woman onto a new person, but there's only so many problems they can solve at once." "Does it bother any of you that your health is tied to Andy's?" Katie asked the group. "Bother is the wrong word," Sheridan said, annoyance in her tone of voice. "Concern is the right word. We're very protective of Andy, because he knows our lives are all fully dependent on his for the time being, and that if he dies, we all probably die with him. So, sure, we're concerned, but I think all of us feel comfortable in knowing that Andy's got our best interests at heart, and is keeping that all in mind." "One of the two people arriving tomorrow is going to be his bodyguard," Jenny said. "A friend of mine from college, who's going to guard his life with her own." "Who's the other?" "A director friend of mine," Emily said, "whom I thought would be an excellent addition to the house. She was one of the AD's on some of the latter Dagger Academy movies." Katie Couric clapped her hands together. "Okay, why don't we take a break, then do some of the one on ones, and then we can circle back and do another group interview to close out the day. Our team can leave you one of our cameras here tonight, so you can get that video of someone being imprinted, and we'll come by and pick it up tomorrow before we leave town. We appreciate you trusting us with that, as I know it can't have been an easy decision to make, but I think that footage will go a long way to convincing people this treatment is in their best interest. As for today, we'll go ahead and finish getting set up in Andy's office, and when you're ready Andy, we can sit down and do our one on one and drill down on some things I've got further questions on." "Sure," he said, as all the girls were standing up and stretching. "Let me go grab a quick drink, and I'll meet you in my office in about ten minutes, okay?" "Sounds good." Katie and her crew were escorted by Nicolette down to Andy's office, while the girls stood up and started chatting among themselves, while Emily and Ash closed it around Andy. "That went about as well as can be expected," Emily said to them. "I feel like we've got some kind of curveball coming," Ash said, taking Andy's hand in her left and Emily's hand in her right. "After you're done, Andy, we'll talk a bit again. I'm sure you'll get surprises before any of us do." He took his time, grabbed a bottle of Vanilla Coke, drank it then headed down to his office, which today felt a little like going into a lion's den. With all the girls in the ballroom, the large group session had allowed the attention to bounce around a great deal, and he felt like he could catch his breath, but here, it was just going to be the two of them, and he didn't have anyone to run interference for him from time to time. Andy headed into his office and saw that even his cats weren't in there, likely having been moved by the production crew, as Andy moved to sit down in his writing chair, Katie Couric sitting across from him. "Are you ready?" she said to him. "Yep," he answered. "Let's do it." After the mics were checked, the cameras were tested and the lights were adjusting, Andy's one on one began with a softball question. "So how'd you fall into writing urban fantasy, Andy?" "The best advice I ever got was 'if the stories you want to read don't exist in the world, it's your job to put them there,' so I've stuck with that," he said. "I knew what kind of stories I wanted to read, and nobody was really writing those, a sort of fantasy western/samurai hybrid. I mean, you had Butcher's Dresden books, but those were more of fantasy noir hybrids, and I wanted to get into the sort of stories that people like Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone used to tell, where you could kill off characters, where actions had consequences and where you never really knew when the next gunfight was coming, because it felt like they could happen at any time. Joe Abercrombie does it in high fantasy, but I wanted something that was happening in our time, in our world.&am

The Lost Records Journal and StrangeCast co-hosts Adnan Riaz and Adam Evalt are now back with the second part, aptly named 'Side B,' of episode 101 of Player 1 vs The World's flagship Life Is Strange fan podcast! It's time to continue all of the latest news and discussions around Don't Nod Entertainment, Deck Nine, Square Enix's Life Is Strange series, Don't Nod Montreal's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and much more!

Rambo and Jubi go over the latest happenings in New Eden!- Patch notes & Cheating- Penalties- Discord drama- BilliBilli livestream- Super Vac discussion- Community news- Blow Me Mountain- Cover what we missed.

It's now time for the second part, aptly named 'Side B,' of Player 1 vs The World's milestone 100th episode of our flagship Life Is Strange fan podcast, StrangeCast! Of course, StrangeCast is *THE* place to be for all of the latest content around Square Enix's Life Is Strange franchise, developers Deck Nine and Don't Nod Entertainment and Don't Nod Montreal's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage!Timestamps:00:00 -- Introduction00:14 -- Pre-podcast chat between Adnan Riaz and Adam Evalt; this is the second part of Player 1 vs The World's two-part 100th episode of StrangeCast02:10 -- Adam's podcast personality for StrangeCast and The Lost Records Journal and what he's actually like in real life03:58 -- Don't Nod shares more details about the ending of Don't Nod Montreal's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage in its 2024 annual financial report08:03 -- (SPOILER WARNING FROM HERE ON OUT) Don't Nod reveals three inspirations behind Don't Nod Montreal's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage13:14 -- Don't Nod Montreal's next project after Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is hinted at in the financial report22:34 -- Don't Nod opens up on the ‘priority development areas' in the ‘coming period'; it wants to put its titles ‘on mobile gaming platforms'25:39 -- Don't Nod once again makes its stance clear on working with third-party publishers30:29 -- Don't Nod CEO and chairman Oskar Guilbert sends a message about Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage33:27 -- Don't Nod drops an eye-opening assessment on three areas of impact for developers in the gaming industry37:12 -- Don't Nod Montreal has “implemented contextual colors” for the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller; what Don't Nod Montreal studio executive producer Luc Baghadoust had to say on the new update40:09 -- Kid Katana Records has tested and approved the Lost Records: Bloom & Rage vinyl40:31 -- Milk & Bone (Laurence Lafond-Beaulne and Camille Poliquin) talked about people playing their track ‘Forgone,' which featured in Don't Nod Montreal's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage41:54 -- Comment from the listener! (Thanks, @DeathsAvarice!

It's a landmark episode for Player 1 vs The World's StrangeCast podcast. Four years on from its debut on our YouTube channel, our flagship Life Is Strange podcast has finally reached 100 episodes! The Lost Records Journal and StrangeCast co-hosts Adnan Riaz and Adam Evalt are back to mark the special occasion for the Life Is Strange podcast that was made by fans for fans in 2021.Our 100th episode of StrangeCast is a two-part special, which has been divided into 'Side A' and 'Side B.' StrangeCast's Side A drops today (14th May) and Side B will arrive on Friday (16th May). There are a lot of bits for Adnan and Adam to cover in the two episodes, including all of the latest news around Deck Nine, Don't Nod, Square Enix's Life Is Strange franchise and Don't Nod Montreal's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage!Timestamps:00:00 -- Introduction00:14 -- The usual pre-podcast chat between Adnan Riaz and Adam Evalt02:27 -- What Aysha Farah, a writer on Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, said about Deck Nine's polarising 2024 title on her recent appearance on the 'Aunty Sochelle Hour-ish Show' podcast15:33 -- Beethoven & Dinosaur's Mixtape, which will be published by Annapurna Interactive, is now heading to the 2025 Tribeca Festival in June25:43 -- Don't Nod on the commercial success of Life Is Strange and Vampyr and the French developer and publisher's royalties from its backlog, including details on Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Jusant35:49 -- Don't Nod on the major critical success of Life Is Strange since its 2015 release42:40 -- Don't Nod on what is next for the company after the reorganisation project and the delay for Don't Nod Montreal's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage53:47 -- Miscellaneous news: Life Is Strange comic book writer Emma Vieceli is hosting a free acting workshop at Letchworth Comic Con in June54:30 -- Lost Records: Bloom & Rage developer Don't Nod Montreal showed its support for La rue des Femmes, a women's shelter in Montreal55:02 -- Don't Nod Montreal art director Sam Bradley has shared new concept art from Lost Records: Bloom & Rage57:18 -- Comment from the listener! (Thanks, @ThomasMurch!

Unlocking the Power of Glyconutrients with Dr. Reg McDanielIn this episode, Dr. Robert Fredrickson sits down with renowned pathologist and medical researcher Dr. Reg McDaniel to explore one of the most fascinating and underappreciated areas of nutritional science: glyconutrients. From his early discoveries involving Aloe Vera to his groundbreaking work on cellular communication and immune health, Dr. McDaniel shares decades of insight into how these plant-derived sugars support optimal function at the cellular level. Learn how modern diets fall short, why glyconutrient supplementation matters, and what this means for the future of preventive health.

Welcome back to Player 1 vs The World's StrangeCast podcast, with The Lost Records Journal co-hosts Adnan Riaz and Adam Evalt chatting about all of the latest news around Deck Nine, Don't Nod Entertainment, Square Enix's Life Is Strange franchise and Don't Nod Montreal's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.Just an FYI, folks: this week will be a double-header week for our podcasts. That's right, The Lost Records Journal and StrangeCast are both intended to return this week. For important context, too: we recorded this episode of StrangeCast straight after The Lost Records Journal; both episodes were done on Saturday last week. Stay tuned for the return of The Lost Records Journal at some point this week!Timestamps:00:00 -- Introduction00:14 -- Pre-podcast natter between Adnan Riaz and Adam Evalt, including the schedule for StrangeCast and The Lost Records Journal04:36 -- Deck Nine's Life Is Strange: Double Exposure won in the 'Public Service & Social Impact: AI, Immersive & Games' category at The Webby Awards 2025. Don't Nod's Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden lost in the 'Action & Adventure' category19:10 -- Webb Pickersgill, who was the performance director on Life Is Strange: True Colors and Double Exposure and co-director on Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, has taken up the role of 'co-dev director' for Deck Nine's cinematic co-dev partner service27:59 -- Jonathan Stauder and Aysha Farah both reacted to the two 2025 Gayming Awards nominations — ‘Game of the Year' and ‘Readers Award' — received for Deck Nine's Life Is Strange: Double Exposure37:30 -- Publisher Pix'n Love Games shared a teasing update about the artbook ‘The Art of Jusant - The Great Expedition' for Don't Nod's 2023 puzzle platformer Jusant41:41 -- SPOILER WARNING FOR LOST RECORDS: BLOOM & RAGE: comment from the listener! (Thanks, @lilbigjp1989!

Have you ever wanted to visit Eden?  Listen in as I chat with author Dell Vans about her YA fantasy series where siblings Josh and Judy find a portal... to Eden. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Portal fantasy is a particular favorite of mine, and going to Eden? Sign me up and gimme a few hours to read it, and... bliss. Right? Add to that all the best of fantastical and mythical characters from folklore the world over, and yeah. WOOT!  The Harrowing Adventures of New Eden  by Dell Vans Judy is a quiet young girl who tries to avoid her father's frequent outbursts. After a particularly abusive episode, her brother Josh reveals a secret: he's been communicating with their older brother, Danny, through a special rock outside their neighbor's home. Danny also sent Josh a map to a location in the woods outside their home, which he is gung-ho at finding. But the woods are supposed to be off-limits! What should Judy do? Eager to see their brother again, Judy reluctantly agrees to follow Josh to the location, if only as an escape from their home. Upon leaving the next morning, their father chases after them. When they arrive at the location, Danny is nowhere to be found. Instead, they find a hole. To escape their father once and for all, they jump into the hole, only to realize it's actually a portal to Eden. Yes, that Eden! Luckily, Josh and Judy run into a couple of elves named Robin and Joralf. Judy and Robin are excited to meet each other, but Josh has his doubts. Meanwhile, Joralf feels the children's sudden appearance will have dire effects throughout the land. Evil threatens to enter the land and cause an imbalance throughout the garden, which would lead to Eden's complete destruction. Joralf encourages the children to return home immediately, but Judy doesn't want to go home. However, she doesn't want to be what kills all of Eden's inhabitants-mermaids, jackalopes, kalavinkas, Nephilim, and so much more-either. There's a problem, though: Judy accidentally broke the crystal that operates the portal! There's only one other option; the group must find the Archangel Uriel before Eden collapses. It's going to take a lot of determination and resolve to fight through roaring rivers, major lightning storms, deception, killer birds, and mutinies to get there. Can Josh and Judy find Uriel before the building natural disasters tear Eden apart? Follow Judy through the portal and find out! Learn more about Dell on her WEBSITE and follow her on X (Twitter/X= Twix) and GoodReads. Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at: Apple Castbox Google Play Libsyn RSS Spotify Amazon and more!

The New Eden

Jeff interviews Rhema Trayner, where they continue their discussion on the Mountain of God, with a specific focus on being the temple of God, the Ekklesia and the restoration of Eden. FOLLOW US: https://linktr.ee/elijahfireshow /// ElijahFire and ElijahStreams are part of Elijah List Ministries. Thank you for making the always-free Elijah List Ministries possible! Click here to learn how to partner with us: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/elijahfirepodcast

**This conversation is full spoilers**In this episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers, Andrew, Aubrey and Dylan are experimenting with a new format for episodes focused on a single game. For the pilot episode if this format, they are discussing Banishers: Ghost of New Eden!Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a title crafted by the renowned studio DON'T NOD, known for their acclaimed works Life is Strange and Vampyr. Immerse in an unforgettable action RPG that takes you on an exhilarating journey between life, death, love and sacrifices.You assume the roles of a couple of Banishers, experienced spirit hunters, entrusted with the daunting task of lifting a malevolent and ominous curse. Become a beacon of hope in a world consumed by darkness and find a way to reunite with the love of your life.In New Eden, 1695, communities of settlers are plagued by a haunting curse. As Banishers, step into their lives, investigate the source of evil, unravel chilling mysteries, explore diverse landscapes, and interact with unforgettable characters whose fate lies in your hands.Play as both characters, combining Red's weaponry with Antea's supernatural abilities into a unique combat system where you fight spectral apparitions with fluid attacks. A mix of combat styles are available thanks to Red's rifle, sword, and firebane alongside Antea's ethereal attacks.WEBSITE https://www.fngamers.com/DISCORD https://discord.gg/euhEYZxC58 TWITTERhttps://twitter.com/F_N_GamerzINSTAGRAMhttps://www.instagram.com/yourfriendlyneighborhoodgamers/YOUTUBEhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRgS_YRAM8_PlWNvxrjQshAFANTASY CRITIC LEAGUEhttps://www.fantasycritic.games/league/021e0fef-fd55-4c89-b380-4418c51a7727/2025Support the show

Guy has found New Eden in Adelaide, South Australia. Tim is resting, dragon-like, on his horde of downloaded media in Auckland. On both sides of the Tasman, eyes are turned towards the comeback kid, P. Schwartz, as he takes the screen for S3 of White Lotus (except for Tim, who hasn't gotten around to it yet.) Our eternal sponsor, Random Word Generator, brings us the most kiwi edition of Word of the Week yet.Get episodes early and in video on our Substack! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friend of the show Kris Graft joins Ash and Brandon diving into the rest of 2024's games, from GOTY contenders to Soccer 2: The Even More Beautiful Game. Hosted by Brandon Sheffield, with Ash Parrish and Kris Graft. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Watch episodes with full video on YouTube Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums SHOW NOTES: 1: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (03:48) Dragon Age: The Veilguard Dragon Age series Football Manager series 2: Helldivers II (12:03) Helldivers II 3: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (15:04) Balatro Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II Stellar Blade S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Sam Barlow Dear Esther Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 4: Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure (19:15) Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure 5: Senua's Saga: Hellblade II (20:48) Senua's Saga: Hellblade II Indika 6: Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics (23:50) Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 7: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (25:04) The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom 8: Mario & Luigi: Brothership (26:29) Mario & Luigi: Brothership 9: Palworld (27:36) Metaphor: ReFantazio Persona series Palworld Pokémon universe Rust DayZ 10: Ace Attorney Investigations Collection (30:03) Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Ace Attorney / Gyakuten Saiban series Shu Takumi Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 11: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (32:12) Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden DON'T NOD Entertainment SARL Life is Strange series Vampyr 12: Tokyo Xtreme Racer (37:25) Prince of Persia: the Lost Crown Animal Well Tokyo Xtreme Racer Tokyo Xtreme Racer / Shutokō Battle series Gran Turismo series 13: The Rogue Prince of Persia (41:17) The Rogue Prince of Persia Dead Cells Hades II 14: Dubio (43:23) Dubio 15: Cruel (45:18) Cruel 16: Hades II (46:31) Hades II 17: GranBlue Fantasy: Relink (49:23) GranBlue Fantasy: Relink GranBlue Fantasy: Versus 18: Marvel Rivals (52:52) Marvel Rivals Overwatch 19: Thronefall (55:41) Thronefall 20: Tales of Kenzera: Zau (56:42) Caves of Qud Dwarf Fortress Tales of Kenzera: Zau Abubakar Salim 21: Arco (59:55) Arco The Last of Us 22: South Park the Pinball Machine (01:02:30) South Park Pindigo 23: Princess Peach: Showtime! (01:05:28) Princess Peach: Showtime! Super Princess Peach Super Mario Odyssey 24: Unicorn Overlord (01:07:11) Unicorn Overlord Fire Emblem: Engage Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp Triange Strategy Final Fantasy XII 25: Tomb Raider I•II•III: Remastered (01:11:57) Tomb Raider I•II•III: Remastered GameFAQs 26: Penny's Big Breakaway (01:14:57) Black Myth: Wukong Penny's Big Breakaway Insert Credit Gaiden #10 - Brandon in Tokyo, 2024 Freedom Planet Sonic X Shadow Generations Sonic Superstars NiGHTS into Dreams… 27: Pepper Grinder (01:18:58) Pepper Grinder Celeste Drill Dozer 28: Castaway (01:20:40) Castaway 29: The Crush House (01:22:00) The Crush House 30: Read Only Memories: Neurodiver (01:23:38) Read Only Memories: Neurodiver Snatcher Demonschool Hyper Gunsport 31: SCHiM (01:25:17) SCHiM 32: Sonic X Shadow Generations (01:26:55) Sonic X Shadow Generations Sonic Generations Sonic Frontiers Balan Wonderworld 33: Black Myth: Wukong (01:30:20) Black Myth: Wukong Wuxia Stellar Blade Infinity Nikki 34: Rise of the Rōnin (01:37:08) Rise of the Rōnin Nioh Tenchu series Dynasty Warriors: Origins Trek to Yomi Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Ninja Gaiden Black 35: Manor Lords (01:40:24) Manor Lords Age of Empires series Sid Meier's Civilization series Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty Command & Conquer series Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings LIGHTNING ROUND: Brandon's Remaining Games (01:43:17) Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Metal Slug Tactics Slitterhead Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn The First Descendant Kill Knight Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Shadows of Doubt Wizardry Another Crab's Treasure Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition This week's Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

Friend of the show Kris Graft joins Ash and Brandon diving into the rest of 2024's games, from GOTY contenders to Soccer 2: The Even More Beautiful Game. Hosted by Brandon Sheffield, with Ash Parrish and Kris Graft. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Watch episodes with full video on YouTube Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums SHOW NOTES: 1: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (03:48) Dragon Age: The Veilguard Dragon Age series Football Manager series 2: Helldivers II (12:03) Helldivers II 3: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (15:04) Balatro Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II Stellar Blade S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Sam Barlow Dear Esther Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 4: Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure (19:15) Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure 5: Senua's Saga: Hellblade II (20:48) Senua's Saga: Hellblade II Indika 6: Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics (23:50) Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 7: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (25:04) The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom 8: Mario & Luigi: Brothership (26:29) Mario & Luigi: Brothership 9: Palworld (27:36) Metaphor: ReFantazio Persona series Palworld Pokémon universe Rust DayZ 10: Ace Attorney Investigations Collection (30:03) Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Ace Attorney / Gyakuten Saiban series Shu Takumi Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 11: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (32:12) Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden DON'T NOD Entertainment SARL Life is Strange series Vampyr 12: Tokyo Xtreme Racer (37:25) Prince of Persia: the Lost Crown Animal Well Tokyo Xtreme Racer Tokyo Xtreme Racer / Shutokō Battle series Gran Turismo series 13: The Rogue Prince of Persia (41:17) The Rogue Prince of Persia Dead Cells Hades II 14: Dubio (43:23) Dubio 15: Cruel (45:18) Cruel 16: Hades II (46:31) Hades II 17: GranBlue Fantasy: Relink (49:23) GranBlue Fantasy: Relink GranBlue Fantasy: Versus 18: Marvel Rivals (52:52) Marvel Rivals Overwatch 19: Thronefall (55:41) Thronefall 20: Tales of Kenzera: Zau (56:42) Caves of Qud Dwarf Fortress Tales of Kenzera: Zau Abubakar Salim 21: Arco (59:55) Arco The Last of Us 22: South Park the Pinball Machine (01:02:30) South Park Pindigo 23: Princess Peach: Showtime! (01:05:28) Princess Peach: Showtime! Super Princess Peach Super Mario Odyssey 24: Unicorn Overlord (01:07:11) Unicorn Overlord Fire Emblem: Engage Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp Triange Strategy Final Fantasy XII 25: Tomb Raider I•II•III: Remastered (01:11:57) Tomb Raider I•II•III: Remastered GameFAQs 26: Penny's Big Breakaway (01:14:57) Black Myth: Wukong Penny's Big Breakaway Insert Credit Gaiden #10 - Brandon in Tokyo, 2024 Freedom Planet Sonic X Shadow Generations Sonic Superstars NiGHTS into Dreams… 27: Pepper Grinder (01:18:58) Pepper Grinder Celeste Drill Dozer 28: Castaway (01:20:40) Castaway 29: The Crush House (01:22:00) The Crush House 30: Read Only Memories: Neurodiver (01:23:38) Read Only Memories: Neurodiver Snatcher Demonschool Hyper Gunsport 31: SCHiM (01:25:17) SCHiM 32: Sonic X Shadow Generations (01:26:55) Sonic X Shadow Generations Sonic Generations Sonic Frontiers Balan Wonderworld 33: Black Myth: Wukong (01:30:20) Black Myth: Wukong Wuxia Stellar Blade Infinity Nikki 34: Rise of the Rōnin (01:37:08) Rise of the Rōnin Nioh Tenchu series Dynasty Warriors: Origins Trek to Yomi Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Ninja Gaiden Black 35: Manor Lords (01:40:24) Manor Lords Age of Empires series Sid Meier's Civilization series Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty Command & Conquer series Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings LIGHTNING ROUND: Brandon's Remaining Games (01:43:17) Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Metal Slug Tactics Slitterhead Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn The First Descendant Kill Knight Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Shadows of Doubt Wizardry Another Crab's Treasure Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition This week's Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

We have changed the numbering system for the podcast to include all the original 360G and Mojo recordings. Welcome to the last podcast of 2024 with Webby, Peebs, Stunty, Switch and Graham. We discuss loads of games, the latest news, tomatoes, perfect pints and general cool stuff. We hope you enjoy the show and we look forward to recording the GOTY show in January. Games played: BLOPS, Persona 3 Reload, Unicorn Overlord, Stellar Blade, Metaphor, Flight Sim 2024, Red Dead 2, GTA 3 definitive, Vice City definitive, Synapse, PSVR2, Banishers Ghosts of New Eden, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and more. https://www.patreon.com/360gamercast https://discord.gg/CqDMSg9 https://www.facebook.com/groups/360gamercast/ https://twitter.com/Webby360G https://twitter.com/360GamerCast All Access Patrons - John Smith Philip Thompson