Rei locked her bedroom door.
Then she engaged the deadbolt. Then she shoved her desk chair under the handle.
Only then did she let herself breathe.
The air in the room was stagnant, but compared to the oppressive humidity of the street, it felt safe. It smelled like her. Old paper. Laundry. And the sharp, undeniable scent of arousal that had followed her home like a stray dog.
She leaned back against the door. She slid down until she hit the floor. Her legs were shaking so badly they vibrated against the carpet.
[ HEAT: 48% (CRITICAL) ]
[ SANITY: 55% (FRAGILE) ]
[ STATUS: WET / UNSTABLE ]
She looked down at her gray sweatpants.
The fabric between her thighs was dark. Soaked through. It clung to her skin. Cold and clammy now that she had stopped moving.
"Leakage," she whispered. She peeled the fabric away from her skin.
It made a wet, sucking sound that made her toes curl.
"I am leaking everywhere."
BZZT.
The air in the center of the room shimmered. A holographic window expanded. Nyx's face appeared.
She wasn't in the room physically this time. Just a high-definition 4K live feed floating above the bed. She was wearing reading glasses. She was looking over a digital clipboard.
"You are running hot, Asset," Nyx said. Her voice was crisp. "And your cortisol levels are interfering with the System's background processes."
"I just found out my mom is working in a brothel," Rei snapped. She tore off her hoodie and threw it into the corner. She was left in just the oversized t-shirt and the ruined sweatpants. "I think I'm allowed some cortisol."
"Emotions are inefficient," Nyx countered. "However, your physiological state is a liability. If you enter REM sleep with your Heat at 48%, the System will interpret your unconscious dreams as a request for 'Auto-Play'."
Nyx lowered her glasses.
"You will trigger a Wet Dream Overheat event. The AI takes the wheel. And the AI... doesn't care about your comfort settings."
Rei shuddered. She didn't want to wake up with her body hijacked by a horny algorithm.
"So what?" Rei asked. She stood up and kicked off the sweatpants. They landed with a heavy PLAP on the floor. "I just stay awake forever?"
"No," Nyx said. "You perform maintenance. You vent the excess pressure. You reset the machine."
A new icon flashed on Rei's HUD. It looked like a power button inside a heart.
[ SKILL AVAILABLE: MANUAL OVERRIDE (LVL 1) ]
[ EFFECT: HEAT REDUCTION (-50%) / SANITY RESTORATION (+30%) ]
[ COST: TIME & STAMINA ]
"Do it," Nyx commanded. "Clear the cache. You can't plan a rescue mission with a brain full of fog."
Rei hesitated.
The throb between her legs was a heavy, demanding pulse. She was so wet it felt like she was bleeding heat. The friction from the walk had primed her. Edged her. It left her nerves raw and exposed.
She needed it. Not just for the pleasure. For the silence.
"Fine," Rei whispered. "Tactical reset."
She crawled onto the bed. The cool air of the room hit her lower body. She lay back. She spread her legs.
She felt exposed. Vulnerable. A specimen on a slide.
"Good," Nyx purred from the hologram. "Initiating System Guidance. We aren't just rubbing one out, Rei. We are optimizing."
A ghost-like wireframe appeared over Rei's own hand. A digital guide showing the perfect grip.
[ GUIDANCE ACTIVE ]
[ TARGET: CLITORAL HOOD ]
[ PRESSURE: 40% ]
Rei reached down. Her fingers brushed against her own slickness.
She was soaked. Thick, clear fluid coated her fingers instantly.
"Guidance Active," Nyx said.
Rei's hand began to move.
It wasn't a full override this time. It was subtle. A "ghost" sensation overlaid her hand. Nyx correcting her grip. Adjusting her speed.
When she tried to go too fast, desperate to just get it over with, the System added resistance to her muscles. Slowing her down.
RUB. CIRCLE. SLIDE.
"Slower," Nyx instructed. Her voice seemed to drop an octave. Resonating in Rei's chest. "Don't rush the yield. Optimization requires patience, my pet. If you finish in thirty seconds, you gain nothing but a mess. If you last five minutes? You gain Endurance XP."
"I hate grinding," Rei whimpered.
But she obeyed. The sensation was maddening. The System knew exactly where the nerve cluster was. It circled it. Teased it. Slipping through the wet folds with mechanical precision.
"Fuck," Rei gasped. Her hips bucked up off the mattress. "Nyx, please."
"Please what?" Nyx asked coolly. "Please stop? Or please continue?"
"Faster," Rei begged. "Please. Just let me..."
"Denied," Nyx said. "Your endurance stat is pathetic. We need to build tolerance."
The invisible guide forced Rei's hand to change rhythm. Instead of the frantic rubbing she was used to, it switched to deep, slow pressure. Grinding.
SQUELCH. DRAG. GRIND.
The sound was obscene in the quiet room. Rei threw her head back. Her mouth hung open in a silent scream. Her other hand clawed at the bedsheets, twisting the fabric.
The pleasure wasn't a spike. It was a rising tide.
It started in her pelvis and flooded outward. Heating her blood. Her nipples were hard. Aching against her t-shirt. Her toes curled.
[ HEAT: 55%... 60%... ]
[ WARNING: THE SWEET SPOT ]
[ XP MULTIPLIER: x2.0 ]
"Hold," Nyx ordered.
Rei's hand froze.
"No!" Rei cried out. Her body jerked. "No, don't stop! I'm right there!"
"Hold," Nyx said sharply. "Let the sensors calibrate. Feel the burn, Asset. That aching need? That is your battery charging."
Rei lay there. Panting. Her chest heaved. Her hand was clamped over her wetness. Motionless. Trapping the heat.
She was trembling violently. The edge was a physical cliff she was dangling off of.
"You're cruel," Rei sobbed. Tears pricked her eyes.
"I am efficient," Nyx corrected. "Now. Resume. Maximum RPM. Finish it."
Rei didn't need to be told twice.
She unleashed. Her fingers flew. Slick and fast. Drilling into the swollen clit with feral desperation. She abandoned the guide. She abandoned technique. She just needed out.
"Oh god. Oh god. Oh god..."
The climax hit her like a server crash.
It wasn't a wave. It was a white-out. Her vision literally glitched. Static overtook the room as her back arched off the bed. A scream ripped from her throat. Raw and animalistic.
Her inner walls clamped down. Pulsing in a rhythmic, devastating contraction.
She felt her brain short-circuit. The anxiety. The fear. The image of her mother's tired face. It all dissolved into white noise.
[ SYSTEM RESET INITIATED ]
She shook for a solid thirty seconds. Riding the aftershocks until her muscles turned to jelly.
She collapsed back onto the pillows. Her hand fell limp at her side. Covered in her own fluids.
Her chest heaved. Her heart rate monitor in the HUD slowly turned from red to green.
[ HEAT: 24% (STABLE) ]
[ SANITY: 85% (RESTORED) ]
[ DEBUFF CLEARED: ANXIETY ]
[ XP GAINED: +150 (ENDURANCE BONUS) ]
Rei lay there. Staring at the ceiling.
The Post-Nut Clarity hit. But this time, it wasn't shame. It was... silence.
Her brain was quiet. The panic was gone. She felt hollowed out. Scrubbed clean by the intensity of the release. The problem of the debt was still there, but the paralyzing fear of it was gone.
"Maintenance complete," Nyx said.
Her voice was softer now. Almost satisfied. "Good girl."
The hologram flickered and vanished.
Rei lay alone in the dark. Her breathing slowed down. She raised her hand. Looking at the slick sheen coating her fingers in the moonlight.
"I hate this," she whispered to no one.
But as she wiped her hand on the sheet and rolled over, she knew it was a lie.
She didn't hate it. She just hated that she was getting good at it.