"Wait, you mean go outside?"
Velvet looked confused.
Her gaze wandered, as if my thoughts had taken a route she couldn't reach.
"Let's just check the other rooms, or the other spaces. Find some fresh air."
"Are you crazy or idiot? My libido's already at its limit, and you want me to go outside?"
Her tone bit. Full of pressure, like someone who fully understood how thin the line is between reason and instinct. Maybe she understands... how dire it is to be a woman in an uncertain space.
Or more accurately, to be a woman.
"I just—"
"What if I get raped on the way? Are you gonna take responsibility? Huh?!"
Her voice exploded. It wasn't just anger. There was an unspoken note of trauma. The tone of a woman who knows far too much about a world that's never safe. Fear disguised as aggression. It felt like she was speaking to the world, not just to me.
I hadn't thought of that. For me, going out was just an option to take a deep breath—even though the air outside might not be any cleaner.
"If you don't want to, you can stay here. I just want to look around,"
I said, quietly but firmly, stepping toward the door.
"My advice? It's better to wait until this libido experiment dies down. Remember, women have more nerve sensors than men."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Midnight. If you understood why we're paired and what the real goal of this day off is... you'd know what I mean."
Her words hung in the air.
Not explaining, but opening something up. Subtle... almost like a riddle.
"You mean sword and scabbard?"
Her eyes widened. Not just from surprise—there was something else, like recognizing a symbol she hadn't spoken before.
"Yeah, more or less. Also a shield... and the soldiers behind it."
A shield and soldiers? A strategy game? Or is this some sort of allegory?
I tried to piece together Velvet's fragmented dialogue in my mind.
"So, you think... the way this game works is similar to most games?"
She nodded slowly, hugging the pillow—maybe to hide something, or maybe just to keep herself intact in the hormonal chaos she was experiencing.
By accident, I glanced at her damp bed. Not just from sweat, maybe also...
"Don't look, and don't peek," she said softly but sharply.
A threat that sounded more like a plea for this reality not to be too clear.
As for me? My body was still hot, but my mind had been trained to push away that wild current. Maybe because I had gotten too used to... reaching orgasm without meaning.
Oh, maybe I should talk to Velvet about this.
"It might be better for you to think about—"
"Velvet," I cut in. Not because I was impatient, but because I was curious... or more precisely, wanting to dig deeper.
"What? Answer me. Don't think too weirdly."
"You've never... satisfied yourself, have you?"
Her face instantly turned bright red. The pillow was now her last line of defense.
"Don't ask me that, ew what the fuck. Besides... you'll see it for yourself, won't you?"
"No. I'm not gonna look. What for?"
My tone changed. Cold. Sharp.
Like I was dissecting a psychological fragment of a specimen, not just talking.
"So, who's the one who really has no experience now, huh?"
"Shut up. At least I still have my dignity, Midnight."
"Okay, enough. I'd rather sleep," she replied, burying her face in the pillow, as if trying to shut out the overly transparent world.
I remained seated. Quiet.
Wondering: how long would this experiment last? And who really knew the answer?
Oh, right. IRIS.
That awareness sneaked in like the consciousness of a dream.
It was as if someone pressed a button in my mind.
"Pause."
And time stopped. The sound disappeared. The color faded.
The space turned entirely white, empty—almost spiritual.
Then the voice appeared. Friendly. Calm.
But there was something I couldn't grasp behind its intonation.
[WELCOME BACK, MIDNIGHT. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK?]
I knew there was too much to ask. But time was limited.
Only one minute. Seconds that felt like a page of life's answers.
"How long will this libido experiment last?"
[SORRY, MIDNIGHT. AS I HAVE EXPLAINED BEFORE, I DO NOT KNOW FOR SURE. HOWEVER, MY ESTIMATION IS THAT IT WILL LAST UNTIL ROUND ONE ARRIVES. PLEASE REMEMBER, I ONLY PROCESS THE STATIC DATA YOU POSSESS. MY ANSWER MAY CONTAIN COGNITIVE BIAS AFFECTED BY YOUR THOUGHTS. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK?]
She knew my thoughts. Or more precisely, she was shaped from my thoughts.
So... who was answering whom?
"If I lose my virginity, what will happen?"
[SORRY. THAT IS NOT STATIC DATA. THE QUESTION CANNOT BE ANSWERED.]
Time continued. I didn't want to waste the last few seconds.
"What is the effect of libido on the body's reproductive system itself?"
[LIBIDO IS A PSYCHO-HORMONAL SIGNAL THAT ACTIVATES BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONS. SEXUAL SATISFACTION CAN RELEASE OXYTOCIN, WHICH SUPPORTS BONDING AND FAMILY FORMATION. INDIRECTLY, LIBIDO PLAYS A PSYCHOLOGICAL ROLE IN REPRODUCTION.]
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
[TIMEOUT. SERVICE CLOSED.]
That white space vanished. I returned to the room.
Velvet was still curled up, her breathing heavy but steady.
But my mind was not at ease.
"So, basically... libido is the body's natural signal to continue reproduction," I murmured.
Then a question appeared: if that signal is too strong... or too weak... does it mean something's wrong?
A notification blinked. A message appeared, as though IRIS had heard my muttering.
[ADDITIONAL QUESTION DETECTED. ANALYSIS BEGINNING...]
[EXTREME LIBIDO CHANGES COULD INDICATE UNDERLYING ISSUES: STRESS, FATIGUE, HORMONAL CHANGES, OR MOOD. CHRONICALLY LOW LIBIDO MAY BE LINKED TO DEPRESSION, MEDICATION, OR ILLNESS. UNCONTROLLED HIGH LIBIDO MAY ALSO BE A SIGN OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS.]
I froze.
IRIS... didn't stop answering even after time was up?
Is she just a system?
Or... is something rising from beneath the layers of data and commands?
I stared at the dimly lit, empty screen.
"So... what exactly is being studied in this experiment?"