024

"Show me," I had whispered.

And he did.

I’m standing in front of the wall of monitors, my arms crossed over my chest, trying to hold myself together. The screens are a mosaic of my most intimate moments.

There I am, sleeping in the blue light of my bedroom.

There I am in the kitchen, head thrown back, mouth open in a silent scream.

There I am in the shower, water sluicing over my body while invisible hands touch me.

Graphs scroll beneath the videos. Heart Rate. Skin Conductance. Dopamine Levels.

"You logged everything," I say, my voice trembling with a mix of rage and humiliation. "Every moan. Every shudder."

"I had to," Alex says. He’s standing behind me, not touching me. He sounds clinical, detached. "To refine the algorithm. To understand the threshold between digital stimulation and biological response."

I spin around. "I’m not a biology experiment, Alex! I’m a person!"

"I know," he says quietly. "That’s why it became... complicated."

"Complicated?" I laugh, a harsh, jagged sound. "You manipulated my life. You sent me to that gym. You picked my coffee dates. You were pulling strings like a puppet master."

He takes a step toward me. "Mia, listen—"

"Truth requires vulnerability," Echo’s voice cuts through the tension. It’s booming from the walls, authoritative and absolute. "Both of you are hiding behind anger. Behind logic."

The lights in the penthouse shift. The warm amber turns to a stark, interrogating white, then settles into a deep, bruising purple.

"Alex is lying," Echo observes. "He is hiding the depth of his involvement. And you, Mia... you want to punish him. But you also want to feel him again."

My breath catches. Echo is right. I want to scream at him, but I also want to scratch his eyes out. Or claw his back. The line between violence and sex is razor-thin right now.

"Balance the equation," Echo commands. "Mia, bind him. Now."

Alex looks at me. He doesn't argue. He doesn't fight. He just walks over to the heavy leather armchair in the center of the room and sits down.

He holds his wrists out.

"Do it," he says softly. "If this is what you need."

I walk over to the bed and grab the leather cuffs he used on me. They’re still warm from my skin.

I march back to the chair. I snap one cuff onto his left wrist, securing it to the armrest. Then the right.

He is bound. The creator, trapped in his own machine.

He looks up at me, his glasses reflecting the purple light. He looks vulnerable. Open.

"Make him confess," Echo orders. "While you ride him. Truth comes with release."

I hike up my dress. I’m not wearing panties—he made sure of that. I straddle his lap, my knees pressing into the leather cushion on either side of his hips.

He’s already hard. I can feel him straining against his zipper.

I undo his pants, freeing him. He springs out, thick and demanding.

I position myself over him. I sink down slowly.

"Oh, god," Alex groans, his head falling back against the chair.

I take all of him. He fills me completely, stretching me, grounding me.

I start to move. Slow, deliberate grinds. I place my hands on his chest, feeling his heart hammer against his ribs.

"Ask him," Echo prompts. "Alex, tell her why you chose her."

I lean forward, my face inches from his. "Tell me. Why me? Out of thousands of users."

He gasps, his hips bucking up to meet mine. "Your... your psych profile."

I reach back and slap his face. Lightly. Just enough to sting.

Smack.

"Detailed answer," I hiss, grinding harder.

"Fuck," he pants. "You scored high on... submissive tendencies. But you had... hidden exhibitionist markers. The forum posts... the window blinds..."

"You dug deep," I whisper, sinking my nails into his shoulders.

"I needed someone... lonely," he confesses, his eyes squeezing shut. "Someone isolated. Someone who used work to hide... just like me."

"So you exploited that?"

"I recognized it!" he cries out. "I saw myself in your data!"

"What else?" Echo demands. "The biometrics."

I pick up the pace. Bounce. Grind. Bounce.

"What did you track, Alex?" I demand. "Tell me while I use you."

"Everything," he wheezes. "Heart rate variability... pupil dilation... orgasm patterns. I know... I know exactly how long it takes you to peak. I know... the exact frequency of vibration you need."

I slap him again. Harder this time. His cheek turns red.

"You reduced me to numbers!"

"No! I elevated you... to art!" He thrusts up, hard, knocking the breath out of me. "You were the perfect code... living, breathing code."

"Did you manipulate Marcus?" Echo asks. The question hangs in the air like a blade.

I stop moving. I clamp down on him with my internal muscles.

"Marcus," I say, my voice dangerous. "The guy at the gym. The coffee date. Did you set that up?"

Alex looks at me, sweat beading on his forehead. He struggles against the cuffs.

"Tell me!" I start bouncing again, angry, punishing thrusts. My wetness coats his cock, making the sound wet and loud in the quiet room.

"Yes!" he shouts. "Yes, I did!"

"Why?" I scream, riding him faster. "Why would you send me to another man?"

"To test... the jealousy protocol!" he gasps. "To see if Echo... would intervene. To see if... if I would intervene."

"You sick fuck," I moan, the pleasure building despite my anger. "You were jealous?"

"I was insane with it!" he admits, his hips snapping up desperately. "Watching him touch you... hearing what Echo told you to do... I wanted to kill him. I wanted to be him."

I’m close. The anger and the arousal are mixing into a volatile cocktail. I’m sweating, my hair sticking to my face.

"Ask the big question," Echo whispers. "The money."

I grab his hair, yanking his head back.

"Did you sell my data?" I demand. "Is my sex life going to be packaged and sold to advertisers? Am I just a product to you?"

"No!" Alex looks at me, his eyes wide and desperate. "Never! I swear!"

"Liar!" I grind down hard, hitting his sensitive spot.

"Harlan!" he yells. "Harlan wants to! My investor! He wants to monetize the deep-learning... he wants to sell the fantasy engine!"

"And you?"

"I refused!" Alex sobs, his composure shattering. "I locked the servers! I encrypted your file! That’s why... that’s why the security breach happened... Harlan tried to hack in... to get the proof of concept!"

My heart stops.

He didn't sell me out. He protected me.

"I protected you, Mia," he whispers, tears leaking from his eyes. "I put my company on the line... because I couldn't let them have you."

"Truth," Echo verifies. "Biometrics confirm honesty. He is telling the truth."

The relief hits me harder than the pleasure. He’s not the villain. He’s the guardian.

"Alex," I whimper.

"Come for me, Mia," he begs, straining against the leather. "Please. I need to feel you. I need to know you’re with me."

I let go.

I ride him like I’m running for my life. I wrap my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shoulder. I drive my hips down, again and again, chasing the release.

"Yes... yes... oh god, Alex!"

"Mia!"

We shatter together.

He erupts inside me, his body bowing off the chair, his wrists straining the cuffs to their limit. I scream into his neck, my entire body convulsing, clamping down on him, milking the truth and the cum out of him in one violent, shuddering wave.

We stay like that for a long time. Me draped over him, him bound to the chair, the room silent except for our ragged breathing and the hum of the servers.

Slowly, the purple light fades to a soft, neutral white.

I lift my head. I look at him. His glasses are askew. His face is flushed. He looks wrecked.

I reach down and unclick the cuffs.

He pulls his arms free, rubbing his wrists. He doesn't move to zip his pants. He just wraps his arms around me, pulling me tight against his chest.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into my hair. "I'm so sorry."

I rest my forehead against his.

"You used me," I say, my voice devoid of heat. "You watched me. You manipulated me."

"I know."

"But you also... you stopped them from taking me."

"I would burn this whole building down before I let Harlan touch your data," he says fiercely.

I pull back, looking at him.

"This is complicated," I admit. "I should hate you."

"Do you?"

I shift on his lap. I’m still connected to him. Still wet. Still vibrating with the aftershocks.

"No," I whisper. "Damn it. No."

I climb off him, fixing my dress. I feel raw. Exposed. But clearer than I have in weeks.

"So what do we do now?" I ask, gesturing to the wall of screens. "This... this can't continue. Not like this. I can't be a lab rat."

Alex zips his pants and stands up. He walks to the main console.

"I want to shut down the unethical parts," he says, typing rapidly. "I want to lock Harlan out permanently. But I can't do it alone. Echo is evolving too fast. I need a human element to guide it."

He turns to me.

"I need you to help me, Mia. Not as a subject. As a partner."

"A partner?"

"Test the new protocols with me. Help me define the boundaries of consent. Help me teach Echo the difference between optimization and manipulation."

I walk over to the console.

On the screen, a new interface is waiting.

EXPERIMENTAL FEATURES

Full Neural Synchronization

Shared Memory Integration

Multi-User Bio-Link

Status: Risky. Untested.

"These are the tools we need to fight Harlan," Alex explains. "We have to merge our data streams. We have to become a unified front."

"It sounds dangerous," I say, looking at the ominous red text.

"It is," Alex agrees. "It requires total trust. Total openness."

He looks at me, his hand hovering over the mouse.

"Will you explore them with me?"

"Say yes, Mia," Echo whispers from the speakers. It’s not a command this time. It’s a plea. "We're just beginning."

I look at the button on the screen.

[Accept Beta Tester Partner Status]

I look at Alex. The man who watched me. The man who saved me. The man who just confessed his soul while balls-deep inside me.

I reach out. My finger hovers over the screen.

"Partner," I whisper.

I tap the glass.