Beckett raised both hands in a stiff, precise gesture that looked more like a malfunctioning robot attempting a blessing than any real ceremonial flourish. His naked body remained perfectly still under the pulsing purple LEDs, skin pale and almost luminous against the black velvet furniture and the slow swirl of the hypno video behind him. The room fell quiet—not reverent quiet, but the kind of awkward hush that happens when everyone realizes the weird thing they signed up for is actually happening right now.
"The ritual is officially open," Beckett announced in that unchanging monotone, each word delivered with the emotional range of a weather report.
"Scientific order will be maintained to optimize energetic flow and minimize dissonance. Participants will proceed in strict alphabetical order by first name. Carter initiates. Retention protocols remain active until the tether achieves minimum eight ejaculations. Queries are not permitted during active phases. Begin."
Kota braced himself for chaos. He expected frantic eagerness hands grabbing, bodies pressing, the eight strangers descending like they'd been starving for months. Instead, Carter stepped forward slowly, glitter catching the LEDs like tiny stars across his cheeks and collarbones. The bubbly femboy's usual valley-girl squeal had softened into something almost shy. He stopped a foot away from where Kota still sat on the edge of the sofa, long straight hair with its white streak falling forward as he tilted his head.
"Oh my god, hi again," Carter said quietly, voice dropping from its earlier pitch. "You're literally so gorgeous up close. Like, your shoulders? Insane. And your hands look so strong but gentle? I'm kinda nervous now, which is so not me, but… can I touch you? Like, just your arm first? Only if that's okay."
Kota blinked, thrown off. He'd been ready to fend off a grabby assault, not… this. He nodded once, throat tight. Carter's fingers brushed his forearm first—light, tentative, like he was handling something fragile. "Your skin is so warm," Carter murmured, glittery lashes fluttering. "And your veins are kinda sexy? Like art. Can I sit on your lap? Slowly? Promise I won't grind too hard unless you say it's okay."
The room watched in stunned silence. Charlie, perched on a stool near the incense burner, couldn't help himself. "Oh my god he's so big it's literally glowing under the LEDs," he narrated in a rapid whisper that carried anyway. "Like the purple light is hitting him just right and it's making everything look shiny and huge and oh wow Carter's being so gentle, that's adorable, he's literally treating him like a prince or something—"
Carter ignored the commentary, climbing carefully onto Kota's lap with the same slow reverence. His cargo pants rustled softly as he settled, thighs bracketing Kota's hips. No frantic bouncing, no aggressive rolling—just gentle, rolling grinds that felt more like a slow dance than a fuck. Carter's hands slid up Kota's chest, pausing at every button.
"Can I open your shirt? Just a little? Your pecs look so strong… oh my god, is this okay? Tell me if it's too much."
Kota's head spun. The gentleness was surreal after the hallway pin-downs and Corey's relentless teasing. Carter's compliments kept coming in soft whispers "your collarbones are perfect," "your heartbeat is so steady, it's calming me down," "can I kiss your neck? Just once?"—each one paired with a tiny roll of his hips that dragged Kota's hardening cock against the rough fabric of the cargos. The room's eyes stayed glued: Toby wide-eyed and frozen on the far end of the sofa, Mort smirking from the bean bag like he was watching budget reality TV, Gideon motionless by the monolith, Charlie still whispering play-by-play commentary, Corey lounging with a jealous glint in his eye, Yuki and Kin hovering near the door like coiled springs.
The hypno spirals pulsed behind them on the giant screen, black-and-purple whorls syncing with the LEDs, the binaural tones burrowing into Kota's skull. Eight pairs of eyes. Eight strangers watching every twitch, every hitch in his breath. The pressure built fast too fast. Carter's slow, worshipful grinding, the glitter-dusted compliments, the surreal weight of being the center of this bizarre ritual it all crashed together. Kota's hands finally landed on Carter's waist, fingers digging in as his hips jerked up involuntarily. Carter gasped softly—"oh my god, yes, just like that"—and rolled down harder once, twice.
Kota came faster than he'd ever come in his life. It hit like a freight train, white-hot and overwhelming, spilling into his boxers in thick pulses while Carter kept whispering "you're so beautiful when you let go" against his ear. His whole body locked up, thighs trembling, breath punching out in short gasps. The room stayed dead silent except for Charlie's awed "oh my god he just… literally came… that was so quick and pretty…"
Beckett moved immediately. Still naked, he produced a sterile Q-tip from a small black case on the coffee table where the hell had that come from? and swabbed the wet spot on Kota's jeans with clinical precision. He carried the cotton tip to the onyx monolith like it was a holy relic, placing it carefully on the polished black surface where a small silver dish already waited. "Phase 1 complete," Beckett announced, voice flat. "Retention score: excellent. Seminal potency within optimal parameters. Amplification underway."
Corey's jealous glare sharpened from across the sofa. While Beckett was still placing the swab, Corey slid closer, thigh pressing against Kota's. He started openly grinding against Kota's leg now—slow, deliberate rolls that dragged the seam of his baggy gray jeans right over the sensitive head still trapped in wet fabric. Corey leaned in, lips brushing Kota's ear. "My turn's gonna ruin you, mate," he whispered, voice thick with heat. "Carter got the virgin treatment. I'm gonna make you beg."
Mort snorted from the bean bag. "Budget porn with extra incense. Classy."
Tension crackled higher when Kin stepped forward, towering over everyone, latex skirt riding up his monumental hips. His crazy eyes locked on the silver dish where the swab sat. "The matrix accepted the first seed," he muttered, voice trembling with reverence. "The code is shifting. We must continue the breach before the agents notice."
Yuki snapped immediately, shoving at Kin's arm. "Still going first, glitch-boy. I called dibs. Back off."
Kota already felt drained. One orgasm and his legs were shaky, cock oversensitive and twitching in his soaked boxers, head fuzzy from the hypno tones and the weight of eight stares still fixed on him. Carter had slid off his lap gently, still murmuring glittery compliments as he retreated to the side, but the room felt smaller now, hotter, the purple light pressing in like a physical thing. Only participant #1 and he was already wrecked. Five more hours max before he had to sneak back downstairs and pretend none of this happened. If he even made it that long.
OH GOD THIS WAS ONLY NUMBER ONE.