Fragments

[Content Warning: Contains sexual and other mature themes]

I’m Buying for the first time today. It doesn’t hurt, or so I’m told.

You shouldn’t blame me. I held out for nearly twenty years. But eventually even an interesting life becomes routine. Evidently it hasn’t been interesting enough.

I can’t help being nervous on the walk over. I’d Sold before, but I have no idea what to expect from Buying.

The prospective Seller waits for me at the coffee shop near the waterfront. She’s wearing a suave, form-fitting blue dress that compliments her gold earrings and necklace. She greets me with a smile full of perfect, glistening teeth set into a perfect face when I approach. If she’s had plastic surgery then it’s too good to discern.

“Good morning darling,” she says, giving a small, fluid wave of her fingers as I sit down. “You must be…”

“Aaron,” I offer.

“Aaron,” she repeats, still smiling. “Of course! Pleasure to meet you, Aaron.”

We shake hands. She doesn’t give me her name. She doesn’t have to.

She asks, “Have you done this before, Aaron?”

I shake my head and take a nervous breath. “First time. As a Buyer, at least.”

“Your first time Buying! And at twenty years old? You must be quite the intrepid soul!”

I shrug. “I was popular in high school. My parents had a big house—plenty of room for parties.”

“And you clearly work out.” She runs her eyes over my frame. It’s not as muscular as it used to be. The compliment was probably insubstantial but a rush of endorphins drowns my judgement regardless. It’s been so long since someone last looked at me like that.

“Thanks,” I say, smiling.

She lifts her coffee to her lips while looking suggestively at me over the rim. “Before I go into it at length, would you care to tell me what it is you’re interested in? You’re not a Pain Seeker, are you?”

I wave my hand dismissively. “Hardly. I’ve never understood how anyone could be into that, physically or mentally.”

She takes a sip of her drink. “That’s good. You won’t find much of that with me. What is it you’re looking for then?”

“I’m looking for… something else,” I say, flushing. “My life isn’t bad, but I’ve started to feel... thinner, somehow. I haven’t felt that before.”

“Aah. The beginning of the Wane.” She chuckles. “Your adolescent Stockpile has reached its peak. That’s common, I’m afraid.”

“What’s it like? Does it get worse?”

She laughs a little louder. “I’m not sure.”

I furrow my brow at her. She winks at me. “Shall I go over my contract now?”

I nod and lean forward, giving her my full attention with a barely repressed shiver of excitement. She smiles and takes one last sip of her coffee before beginning. “I was born to a real estate magnate and CEO. From an early age I was given the finest education at the most exclusive schools that the northeast division has to offer.

From childhood to adulthood my Visibility Portfolio included the study of seven languages, a collection of sports ranging from soccer to skiing, and travel to no less than thirty-seven countries. I boast a wide array of accomplishments ranging from winning the Arklyn New Author award, creating a line of perfumes and colognes, and winning the Downslide Skiing Championship of ’21. I also possess an expansive history of both male and female sexual partners if that’s something you’re looking for.”

My fingers tighten reflexively and I gulp. “Oh, yes.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Surely someone like you isn’t wanting for that, darling.”

Another rush of endorphins. “Outside of school? You would be surprised.”

“Mm. Well don’t worry. We’ll set you up.”

I need to take a moment before asking the next question. She waits expectantly, allowing her humored mask to slip ever so gently in time with the seriousness of the moment. Finally, I ask, “How much?”

“Sixteen fragments,” she says crisply.

My eyes widen. “Sixteen?”

“With my discount,” she adds, taking another sip of her drink. “And that’s only because I’m on holiday.”

I shake my head, staring down at the tablecloth in shock. “Sixteen,” I repeat.

“Its your first time, Aaron,” she says, adopting a smirk. “You won’t have another first this good, trust me.”

“Sixteen is enough to Frag me,” I say, turning my shock back on her.

She levels her index finger and thumb at me. “Only a little bit. It’s nowhere close to turning you into a Split.”

I sit back and close my eyes. “Sixteen…”

“Shall we call the deal off? I unfortunately don’t have the time to negotiate. I have another Buyer in twenty minutes and a Mass Sale online to prepare for.”

I gulp, opening my eyes. “No... I’m good. Let’s do it.”

She gives me that perfect smile of hers. “So lovely to hear it. May I?”

My arm trembles as I reach out to her. She notices and places a comforting hand on my forearm. “It doesn’t hurt, darling. Take a deep breath and relax. Hardly any time will pass for me, but for you?” She chuckles. “Let’s just say that I envy your getting to experience it all for the first time.”

She digs her nails into my palm and I’m gone.

I’m getting a showpony for a birthday and riding it around a field full of more flowers than I’ve ever seen. I’m dashing down the slopes of a mountain, panting with exertion at the ice flakes cutting into my bare skin, only to lift my fists in exultation as I cross the finish line first. I’m standing atop a podium with my freshly-published novel in hand, beaming at mother and father while a judge gives me an award. I’m spending a romantic, candlelit dinner with a local boy in a small town in Spain, flirting with him in his language until things quickly devolve into sex. A similar thing happens in Japan with a gorgeous woman wearing glasses.

I am everything she is, and nothing of myself. I am everything that I’ve never been and didn’t know I wanted to be, and it is so beautiful that my body has undoubtedly started crying where I left it.

But then I feel the Drain.

One by one, sixteen fragments of myself are pulled from me and rush into her. She was right—it doesn’t hurt. And it is so, so easy.

When the last piece disappears the connection between us is severed. She sits back with a beaming smile and flushed cheeks, sighing almost lasciviously as she basks in the fresh energy that I’ve supplied her with.

“My God,” I whisper. I can feel them—all the new memories I’ve never actually experienced but remember. I still feel like her.

She cracks her eyes open at me after a while. “Satisfied?”

I breathe a long sigh. “Very.”

“I’m legally obligated to tell you that you’re not allowed to Buy for a week as you’ll Frag quicker. If too much of yourself is replaced too quickly and you become a Split then the authorities will want to know which personalities they’re dealing with, so make sure to add this transaction to your records. Contact me if you’d like a receipt later.”

I nod slowly. “I will.”

“Will there be anything else?”

I shake my head and stand up, giving her a smile much like the ones she’s given me. “Absolutely not. You’ve been wonderful, darling.”

She smiles back and gives that twiddling finger-wave at me again. “Plug in for one of my Mass Sales if you’d like another taste sometime.”

I give her the same wave in return before walking away, leaving with a little less of myself and a little more of someone else than when I had arrived.