Her Secrets, My Body

For a $5 million research stipend, I agreed to let the System install an empathic link inside my body.

"Subject. Are you sure you want to proceed? Once installed, the procedure cannot be reversed. This is a prototype. Side effects are not fully characterized."

I looked at the sidewalk-stall clothes my girlfriend Cara Lake had bought herself, and the drugstore-grade makeup on her vanity. I nodded.

That night, while she was out at her bar job.

A current came up out of nowhere inside me. My whole body lit up with a sickening pleasure that did not belong to me.

Seven times.

A few days later I waited near the club where she worked. I overheard her with her friends.

"Cara. You're something else. Pouring La Prairie into a plastic bag and using it like that? Faking poor like a champion. Doesn't Adam ever notice?"

"Notice? He's stupid. He'll believe anything I say. His father got hit by a car, lay in bed without the money for treatment, died alone. I told Adam I couldn't help. He stayed up all night comforting me. I almost died laughing."

The laughter went into me like a knife. I got out of there. The tears came on the walk home.

I picked up the phone.

"Professor. I'll go to the classified institute. I'll go now."

"That's good news, Adam. About time you came around. But your girlfriend, is she really going to wait that long? It's not a year or two."

The phrase 'your girlfriend' went through my chest like a needle. I made my voice light.

"It's all right, Professor. We broke up."

"Oh. Then we're set. I'm putting your name in tonight. We deploy in five days. Another faculty member will reach out about the paperwork."

I hung up.

I scooped a handful of tap water onto my face. I could not tell what was water and what was not.

The private booth I had been in was still noisy. I let out a small, self-mocking laugh and stepped into the elevator.

I pressed the wrong button and ended up in the underground parking garage.

I turned to head back, but suddenly, a wave of warmth surged through my body. I stiffened. That hard-to-describe sensation came over me again.

A car alarm went off not far away. I turned instinctively.

Cara was there.

A man had one hand around her neck, pushing her into the car. Before long, the car started rocking with their movement.

The heat inside me grew stronger. I stood in the corner, motionless, tears slowly running down my face.

From a distance, the woman’s voice grew faster, more urgent. The man let out a low, muffled sound.

As it peaked, I felt a surge of sensation I could not put into words.

I bit down hard enough to draw blood. I lowered my gaze to the ground.

Before this, I had always felt sorry for Cara coming home from night shifts, pale, with dark circles under her eyes. I did not want her to work so hard. I also wanted to improve our life.

So I agreed to let the system implant an immature 'empathic ability' into me.

In return, I would receive five million.

I had planned to use that money to buy a home, a car, and invest for Cara so she could start over.

I had not expected reality to hit this fast.

Seven times in one night. No wonder she came home exhausted.

I was about to leave when the two of them finished dressing.

The man suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist and spoke softly.

"Ms. Lake, aren't you tired of playing poor? Or do you really plan to marry him?"

Cara raised a brow, hooked a finger under his chin, and pushed his face aside. Her voice turned cold.

"Is that any of your business?"

The man sounded unwilling to let it go.

"It’s not. But he’s coming back. Are you really going to let him see you like this?"

Cara froze at those words, her legs stiff.

Seeing her reaction, I felt something unexpected–curiosity.

That 'he'…

Who was he?