"Nooo," Tippy managed to moan. She was held in my arms like a puppet with no strings. Her whole body hung boneless. "I can't… No more… You're gonna… kill me…"
I bent over her chest, my tongue sliding up over her nipple. Despite her assurances she could go no further, her nipple was hard and alert.
You'd think that after so many Nekos, I'd be bored. That I'd have done everything humanly conceivable to them. That there was no position I hadn't tried. No body type I hadn't explored.
You'd think I was just going through the motions.
But you'd be wrong. Every Neko is different.
Licorice, for example, yipped when she was cumming. And Skye would grip my hair and snarl. Shadowpaw, endearingly, would make little mewing sounds and a tear or two would leak down her cute cheeks as emotions flooded her brain.
And Tippy swore. A lot. She'd clearly watched a lot of Pornhub. Her demands were straight out of a bad porn script. Each one more ridiculous than the last.
My hands glided up her waist and up behind her shoulders as I lifted her up into a cuddle. The car reeked of our lust.
My seat was soaked.
She was soaked.
I leaned back, holding her close as her muffled words slurred out of her mouth.
"Please… No more…"
I scritched her ears, chuckling at her exhaustion. "Don't worry, Neko. That's all for today."
"Thank god…"
"We'll do it again tomorrow."
"Jesus…" Pause. Her little fingers gripped my shoulders. "Okay…"
Licorice had climbed into the front seat beside Skye. She twisted towards us. "Umm…"
"Yes, Licorice," I said. "There's an order, and I didn't forget."
"So…"
"You're next, yes." I shifted a little uncomfortably in the wet seat. I'd need to change my pants before we got out. This had actually been a stupid idea. Shadowpaw's smirking face next to me revealed she already knew this. "Actually, that reminds me. As my Personal Assistant, I'm going to start getting you to keep track of the order. Syrup used to do it for me in Neytoria. It'll probably be one of your most important tasks. No one should miss out on their turn. We'll go over the details later, but you were right to think that fairness is more important to me than anything."
"Yes, Bexley."
Tippy drooled on me. I felt the wet spot slide down my bare chest. I patted her back, cradling her almost like a child. A very large child. Thankfully, my Strength stat meant she hardly weighed anything to me.
"We'll need gas soon," Skye said.
Licorice pulled out her new phone and started tapping away. "I'll check where the next stop is."
"I've got a question," Shadowpaw piped up. "You said we have stats, too. And skills."
I nodded. "That's right."
"What are mine?"
The other Nekos all looked at me. Except Tippy, who couldn't move.
I could feel their little hearts race all of a sudden. Everyone who discovers their stats always gets enthusiastic about it. They can't help it. I think that's why the System made itself like this.
To make us play life like a game.
An addictive and dangerous game.
I pursed my lips, wondering how much to tell them. Some things wouldn't make sense to them yet. It'd just confuse them.
So, I decided to keep it simple.
I gave them a quick outline of what I could see and their personal stats. While Licorice looked a bit disappointed, the others seemed comfortable. Shadowpaw, of course, crossed her arms and looked smug.
"I need to stress," I said, sensing Licorice's discomfort. "Some Nekos hardly ever raise their stats much higher than what they start with. It all depends on their class and whether they choose to further it. It's really not a good way to measure your importance to me."
Skye glanced at me via the mirror. "Why wouldn't they want to level them up?"
"Nekos are lazy," I told her. "Well. Most of them. It's just how Nekos are. Sure, they'll stand up and fight in an army when they need to, but mostly they like to lay around and enjoy the sun."
"Like cats," Licorice said.
"Exactly." I reached out and gently scritched her waiting ears. "But I think if Nekos were related to any specific type of cat on this world, it'd be more like to a Lion. Or a Tiger. Nekos can be fierce when roused. And much faster than normal humans. An army of Nekos is a powerful and unstoppable thing."
"I don't think the government would let you make an army," Shadowpaw said.
"They won't be able to stop me." I resisted the urge to laugh as she looked down, obviously dubious but not wanting to contradict me. "I know what you're thinking, Shadowpaw. You think the government has guns and bombs and an army all of its own. You think as soon as a few Nekos get together, they'll wipe us out like we were a cult in Texas."
The Nekos all nodded. They'd been thinking the same thing. This also didn't surprise me. Nekos were remarkably similar in their basic thought patterns. Especially in matters relating to security.
I think it's because we're like one big pride. Eventually everyone sort of adopts the same traits.
"That's because even though you're Nekos now, all your experiences are Earth experiences," I told them. "You still have half your mind stuck in a cage. You forget the real power here is inside you. You all have stats, skills, and spells."
"I don't have any," Licorice muttered.
"Not yet. But you will. Soon, you'll all feel like superheroes." I felt Tippy stir a little, but I held her where she was. "As soon as we're settled in LA, I'll help you to progress yourselves. I'll show you what you need to do. By the time the government realises we're raising an army, they won't be able to do a thing about it. Guns are like the bows of Neyteria. On their own, they seem powerful. But in the hands of a skilled Neko, they're monstrous. Just you wait and see. In Neyteria, an arrow is never just an arrow. Here, a bullet won't just be a bullet. Even a handful of Nekos will stroll through an army like it wasn't even there."
I knew they didn't understand. Not yet.
Maybe a small part of them thought I was crazy. I felt like all my Nekos think I'm crazy sometimes.
And I'm fine with that.
You see, my Intelligence stat had been extremely high. While some of the advantages of that were lost to me now, I still had most of my memories. And those memories showed me times I doubted my sanity.
Times I stared deep into a mirror and wondered just who I was.
Times I stood upon a mountain of corpses, covered in blood, a Neko in each arm begging me to take them right then and there as I wondered if madness had swept any hint of the man I had been away.
And, eventually, one night as I lay in a room surrounded by dozens of exhausted and naked Nekos, it hit me. Like a light in the dark.
I was not crazy.
I was not mad.
No.
I was absolutely fucking batshit insane.
And it didn't matter.
Because I was everything I needed to be to protect my Nekos.
I remember the feeling of peace which had covered me like a warm snuggly Neko. It left me smiling in the dark. Never again did I vomit at the sight of disembowelled enemies or the rotted remains of my foes.
Never again would I hesitate to split a man in half for the crime of offending a Neko. Nor would I feel shame for what I had become.
That night, filled with warmth, I truly accepted who and what I was.
And, as that warmth filled me again, I felt a pleasant bell chime deep within me and a soft blue glow filled the cabin and made my Nekos squeal.
Skye stamped her foot and the SUV screeched to a halt.
"What the fuck was that?"
"Master! Bexley!" Licorice threw herself at me, ignoring Tippy so she could grab my head in her hands. "Are you okay?"
I did laugh at them this time, reaching out to pat them affectionately one by one. "Relax, Nekos! That was just the System rewarding me with an achievement. I already know why, but I'll check it in a moment." I looked at Skye, whose eyes were wide in confusion. "It's okay. It happens sometimes. The System always acknowledges and rewards important moments in our lives."
When we were moving again, I brought up the notification and read it out to them as I confirmed what I already knew. Only, this time, the words were slightly different.
Achievement Granted!
Achievement: I Am What I Am (Still Am)
Achievement Bonuses: Skill Pattern – Identity Modification
I scratched my head at that.
A skill pattern was like a recipe. I could use it to give either myself or a Neko a particular skill. When I had gotten this achievement before, it had given me the ability to alter my personal chit.
In Neyteria, everyone carried a personal chit. It was basically a small crystal which could be used by guards to identify you.
I guessed this would be similar, but wasn't sure how it would work. I had never had a driver's licence. And I didn't have any other forms of identification. Would it work on all of them? Or only one kind?
While I thought about it, the air in front of me began to sparkle. As Nekos gasped, I reached into the sparkles and pulled out a small scroll. Rolled up, it was not much bigger than a pencil.
Unrolling it, I saw it was exactly what I thought it was. Simply a short description advising it would transfer the skill Identify Self to a target. So, I could give it to myself or to a Neko.
My first instinct was to give it to myself.
But a small line at the end of the scroll made me pause. Conditions on patterns were quite common. But this was a class condition. Only a Rogue could use it.
"Well," I said, handing it to Shadowpaw. "That makes it an easy decision."
"Umm, what do I do with this?"
"Hold it up in front of you. A little higher. That's right. Now, concentrate on the paper and as clearly as you can, think the word, use."
"Use?"
"That's right."
She screwed her face up tight, eyes glaring fiercely at the paper. For a moment, it looked like nothing would happen.
Then, she screamed.