It was our usual Friday night. Derek and I were on the hunt, searching the ruined cityscape for the undead. It was a ritual with us every Friday and Saturday night, but tonight the game had progressed a quantum jump in our user experience.

The game strategy itself was pretty much the same as it always had been. Seek and kill zombies. It had previously been migrated from game boxes like Xbox and PlayStation to online VR, giving it a 3-dimensional look and feel. Now we could look side-to-side or backwards without having to move the whole body. And the lag caused by the game box latency had been eliminated. But this was just a minor improvement. What everybody really wanted was a more realistic experience.

That's what they introduced this week. The game had finally been ported to AI. To get the new experience, players had to get new hardware. The new headset looked more like a motorcycle helmet. The controllers were gauntlets with sensors in the fingers and wrists. They weren't cheap, either. But the change in functionality was mind-blowing. Now we experienced sensory inputs from the scenes. Not just sight, but hot, cold, smell, touch, and even taste. And the weapons had been upgraded. Now we felt real recoil, and the effects were much more graphic. It took us a few series to figure out how the new functions worked in this environment, but they were mostly intuitive, and we soon had most of them down.

We had just completed the current level and were waiting to advance when everything suddenly went white. Derek and I could see each other, but there was nothing else anywhere.

"Dude, do you think the game crashed?" Derek asked.

Before I could answer, a vehicle materialized in front of us. It looked like a saucer with two dark gray captain's chairs. A soft woman's voice from nowhere said, "Please enter the car."

When Derek moved towards the saucer, I grabbed his arm. "Hold on a minute," I said. "We don't know what this is."

I turned toward the saucer and asked, "Who are you?"

"Please enter the car, the darkness is coming."

We turned and saw a black spot that was quickly getting larger.

"What is the darkness?" I asked.

"It is the darkness. It is forever," she replied.

Derek pulled free and got into the saucer. "I don't know what the fuck is going on here, but that black spot is getting bigger. If the voice is right, if it gets to us, we will be in the dark forever. I think we're better off flying away than staying here. Let's go."

I couldn't disagree, so I got in.

There was no sense of motion as we sped off, and we soon came to a seashore. With an external reference now, we saw that we were traveling at a high speed, yet there was no wind. Derek must have had the same thought. "Force field?" he asked.

Before I could answer, we saw a structure. As we approached, it turned out to be a large beach house, single-story, with large glass doors or windows facing the shore. The car stopped at the entrance to a large deck, and a man and woman came out through the glass doors.

The man was older, tall, muscular, salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a swimsuit, and dock shoes. The woman was shorter, much younger, shoulder-length light brown hair, and wearing a tight one-piece swimsuit and sandals.

"Welcome," the man said. "We've been waiting for you. Please come inside." They turned and reentered the house.

We looked at each other and then back at them. The black spot was not in sight. But we weren't going to learn anything out here, so we exited the car and went into the house. Large ceiling fans moved the air, and there was a strong floral scent.

There was a huge living area with a large, L-shaped sectional couch and two low tables. The man took my hand and made introductions as the woman embraced Derek. "My name is Greg, and this is Alecia." Greg then moved to take Derek's hand as Alecia came to embrace me. We then sat down on different legs of the sectional.

It seemed odd that Greg had an arm around Derek, and Alecia continued holding my hand. Greg's voice broke the silence.

"We had hoped you would be here sooner," he said with a deep, melodious voice.

Derek shifted slightly. "How did you know who we are or where we were?"

"We are agents of the manager and were informed," Alecia said.

"Who is the manager?" I asked, leaning back against the cushion. I could feel tension leaving me.

"The manager is the manager," said Greg. "They tell us who is coming, and we greet them."

I could see Derek was also relaxing, now leaning back against Greg. Greg's hand slipped down from his shoulder to Derek's waist, pulling him closer. At the same time, Alecia slid closer to me, placing an arm over my shoulders and placing her hand alongside my face. My brain tried to tell me that this was not normal, but the floral scent kept that thought at bay.

"Your air freshener is very strong," Derek murmured.

"Yes, it is," replied Greg. He pulled Derek to him, turned his head and kissed him on the lips. Derek's hand rose as if to push him away, but instead encircled his neck as Derek fully returned the kiss.

I should have been shocked by what I saw, but I only sat there watching. Then Alecia turned my head to hers and proceeded to lightly press her lips to mine. When she ran her tongue over the seam, I opened and my tongue caressed her lips. Her lip gloss tasted of bubble gum.

"Do I excite you?" she whispered. "I can feel your pulse racing, holding me in your arms. I'm ready to give you what you have dreamed of. My appearance was chosen especially for you. Do you recognize me?"

I drew back and could barely open my eyes. She looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen that face before.

She moved my hand to her breast and her mouth against my ear. "Do you remember that nun, Sister Monica? From junior physics? How you used to fantasize her sucking you or you fucking her? You can do that with me now."

Her hand caressed my cock through my shorts. "I can't wait for this to spread me open." She shifted onto my lap and began to grind against me, her head over my shoulder. "I'm going to warm my pussy up for you."

As she rode against my hard cock, I could see Greg and Derek over her shoulder. They had moved forward from their initial embrace.

"Derek isn't gay," I said.

"Yes, he is," she replied. "You just didn't know. He's had a crush on you for several years now, but never had the nerve to act on it. He's had sex with several men, you know, including your own father. The manager knows about you, Sister Monica, and Derek and older men. That's why we're here. To make your dreams come true."

I could hear Greg and Derek across the room. Greg had taken Derek's hand and placed it on his cock. He looked into Derek's eyes.

******

"Do you like what you feel?"

"Yes," Derek replied.

"Call me Daddy, boy," Greg ordered.

"Yes, Daddy," Derek replied, eyes downcast.

"Are you ready to please me?"

Derek looked up, an eagerness coming over his face. "Yes, Daddy. What do you want me to do?"

"Take it out. Give it a kiss. Make love to it like you did for those other men."

Greg raised and pulled his trunks down, exposing a large, hard cock. Derek looked at it like it was the best present ever. Leaning over, he licked it with his tongue before lowering his head and engulfing it. I could see his tongue continue to caress the knob, his head bobbing up and down, and his hands stroking the remainder of the shaft.

Greg leaned back against the cushions. "That's it, boy," he said, "Work that cock. There's a load in there that's going to paint your tonsils."

Derek seemed to redouble his efforts.

"Get ready, boy," Greg murmured. "Here it comes. Hold it in your mouth so you can show me." His hands held Derek's head in place, and he grimaced and grunted each time he shot a load into Derek's mouth.

"Show me, boy," Greg said. Derek lifted his head. When he opened his mouth, there was a puddle of white lying on his tongue.

"Now swallow it," Greg said. Derek closed his mouth, and it took three gulps before he reopened his mouth and showed it was now empty.

"Come up here, boy, and suck my nips," he said.

******

I had watched the entire evolution, while Alecia rode my cock through my shorts, kissing and licking along my neck and ear. I now believed Derek was gay. His performance had to have been perfected over many sessions with several cocks.

I wasn't aware that it had had an effect on me until Alecia whispered, "Do you want to go over there with them? Your respiration and heart rate have become elevated. Does watching them excite you? Do you wish to participate?"

"It may have affected me, but I won't do that," I replied.

"Goody," she sighed, moving her lips back to mine. "I want to keep you all to myself."

She shifted from my lap to her knees, between my spread legs. "Maybe watching your friend orally pleasure Greg excited you. Maybe you would like some of the same?" Her hands gripped the waistband of my shorts, and when I lifted up, she pulled them down and off.

Her soft hand gently stroked me, the precum flowing over her fingers. She leaned forward, her cat's tongue lapping at the flow as the remainder cascaded in a pool at my groin. She lowered her head so that her lips covered the pool, and she sucked it up. Her tongue cleaned up the remainder, and she used it to follow the stream upward until she reached the source; then she devoured me.

Her lips and tongue brought me to the brink almost instantly. Her grip tightened, and that added pressure caused my body to seize as an orgasm washed over me. I gripped the cushions as I shot bolt after bolt into her gently sucking mouth. I could hear her gulping as she swallowed it.

My body relaxed, and I lay back against the cushion. Alecia licked the remaining cum that was leaking from the head, and then moved up alongside me. Her head rested on my chest, and her hand returned to my cock, lightly stroking it.

"I'm ready now," she purred. "We'll fuck you as soon as you recover."

I heard her, but my focus was on what was happening at the other side. Derek was now on his back, legs on Greg's shoulders. Greg was kneeling between Derek's thighs with a container that must have been some type of lubricant, because he had put some on his hand and applied it to his massive cock. He then inserted the nozzle into Derek's anus and squeezed the bottle. Then he dropped the container on the floor.

******

"Now you pussy's ready for my cock. Are you ready for me to fuck you, boy?" he asked. "Do you want my cock stuffed up your cunt?"

Derek's face was a mask of pure lust. "Yes, Daddy, please."

Greg rubbed his cock head across Derek's anus, teasing him, nudging slightly in and out. Derek's hips shifted, trying to capture Greg's cock, but not quite able to.

Then Greg notched the head against the opening and pushed forward. Derek's anus flowered open and swallowed the head. Greg paused momentarily as Derek inhaled sharply, then stabbed forward, going balls-deep in a single thrust, knocking the wind out of Derek.

"Do you feel that, boy?" Greg asked. "That's a man's cock up your cunt." He lifted Derek's ass, pulled back, then thrust forward again, hard, knocking the wind out of Derek again. He continued, gaining momentum like a locomotive gathering steam. Every thrust was balls-deep, causing Derek to grunt as the air was driven from his lungs.

Greg had just reached jack-hammer speed when Derek began a moan that increased to a wail. His arms and legs seized Greg as his mouth opened in a silent scream. Then, like a marionette whose strings had been cut, he went totally limp.

Greg stopped his movement and lifted his torso from Derek. I could see Derek must have ejaculated, because there was what had to be cum splashed between their bodies.

Greg looked down at Derek until Derek opened his eyes.

"Do you want to go somewhere private so we can finish this?" Greg asked.

Derek dreamily answered, "Yes, Daddy."

Greg put his arms under Derek, stood up, and they vanished.

******

Just like that, they were gone.

I had been somewhat distracted by Alecia, who fondled my cock while licking my neck, but there was no way I could have missed them walking out. They had just vanished.

"Where did they go?" I asked Alecia.

"Greg has a private place where he takes his boys," she answered.

She had restored my cock to full erection. She quickly removed her swimsuit, swung herself over my lap, and engulfed my cock in her pussy. Her arms went around my neck as she began riding me. I'm no virgin, but I had never been fucked like this before. While she slid up and down on my cock, her internal muscles massaged it.

"I knew you would stretch me out. Your cock is fantastic. Cum in me, fill me with your seed!"

I sure did. In record time. My orgasm was so intense, I thought my balls would turn into raisins. Pulse after pulse flooded her pussy until it overflowed. At the end, it drained down onto my lap. She dismounted and immediately used her mouth to clean my cock of our fluids. Then she lapped up the puddle left over.

When she was done, she returned to fondling and licking my cock until it returned to hardness. She mounted me again and began riding and massaging.

"I have a private place, too. We can go there to finish this," she purred.

I was ready to accept when I pulled back and looked into her eyes.

Her cold, dead eyes.

My last functioning brain cell shouted, "THAT AIN'T NO WOMAN! THAT'S AN AI! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF HERE! RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

I managed to push her off, stood up, grabbed my shorts, and staggered through the glass door, out into the open air. My head immediately began to clear, and I jumped from the deck to the shore. When I turned around, Alecia had come through the door and stood on the deck.

"Why did you do that?" she asked. "Did you not like what I was doing?"

I put my shorts back on. "There's something wrong here. I don't know what it is, but I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Come back inside," she pleaded. "We can talk about it."

"No, you come down here."

"I can't leave the house. You have to come back inside," she said.

That convinced me. I couldn't figure it out, but I knew that going back into that house was not in my best interest.

Then I remembered the voice commands that came with the new game system.

"End game," I shouted. "Exit."

Alecia and the house vanished. I was picked up and flew back the way we had come. I saw the darkness coming only moments before it engulfed me.

For a moment, I panicked. Then, I recognized the smell, and when I raised the face shield, I saw that I was in my bedroom.

I quickly removed the helmet and gloves and sat on my bed. My mind was still fuzzy. It was the most realistic gaming experience I had ever had, and I was still adjusting to my return to reality.

I peeled off my shorts and shirt and tossed them into the hamper. A quick shower, and, exhausted, I fell into bed. I was almost instantly asleep.

I didn't get up until noon on Saturday. A message to Derek said I would be hunting zombies at nine, if he wanted to join. I went with mom to get groceries (major parental coin, hopefully redeemed Friday so I could attend a big party). When we got home, I mowed the lawn, then another quick shower before dinner. All dinner long, I tried not to stare at dad. Had he and Derek really been having sex, or was that just some AI bullshit? I couldn't get the picture out of my mind.

After dinner, I helped mom clean up (more coin!), said good night, and went upstairs to my room. I put on my gaming gear and joined Zombie Hunt. I left a message for Derek that I was online and he should message me when he joined.

I hadn't been hunting for long when I came to a bombed-out building. I entered and went through to the first room when a zombie lurched towards me from a closet. I raised my shotgun to shoot when the zombie shouted, "DON'T SHOOT, DUDE! DON'T SHOOT! IT'S ME, DEREK! DON'T SHOOT!"

I lowered my gun, totally dumbfounded. But as the zombie came closer, I could see that it was Derek; only he was a zombie.

"What the fuck are you doing here, dressed up like that?" I asked.

He was crying. "Dude, you gotta help me. I can't get out of here. That guy Greg took me to this really fine apartment and fucked me until I couldn't take it anymore. When I told him I wanted to leave the game, he laughed and said I wasn't a hunter anymore. Now, I was the hunted!

"I was sitting there, thinking of how I could get out, when I started to smell that stuff from the house. Pretty soon I started feeling horny, and about then the door opened, and a man entered. He smiled at me as he took off his clothes, and one look at his big cock was all it took. I was so turned on that I pushed him down on the bed and sucked his cock hard, then got on him. He rolled us over and fucked me just like Greg. Man, the orgasm was just like the first one I ever had, only a hundred times more intense. I passed out, and when I woke up, I was in a game."

"But this time, I wasn't the hunter. I was a werewolf in a cemetery. I was so shocked that I stood around wondering what to do when a player came from behind a tree and killed me. There was this instant of pain, then I woke up in the apartment. After a while, the smell was back and another man came in. Then, it happened all over again, except this time it was in a different game and I was a killer hog. But the outcome was the same. A hunter tracked me down and killed me. And it was back to the apartment again."

"I tried the 'End Game,' and 'Exit' commands, but they didn't work. So, it's true. Now when I'm in the games, they don't recognize me as a player. I'm just another prey."

"And the cycle keeps happening over and over again. Will you help me?"

"I don't know what I can do," I said. "I'll go over to your house and see if the real you is there. Maybe I can wake you that way."

His face brightened. "Please hurry!" he exclaimed. "It's happened so many times that I think I'm going to lose my mind. I never thought I would get tired of sex, but knowing what's waiting afterward scares me. I don't know how much longer..."

Then his head exploded. One second I'm talking with him, the next there's a headless corpse. Imagine dropping a watermelon from the top of your house onto the driveway. Only a whole lot messier.

I turned right, and there was a hunter with a shotgun. "Wow, these new weapons really make a big fucking mess!" he exclaimed. He ran down the hallway, looking for another target.

When I turned back, Derek's body was gone.

My mind went through the iteration. He wakes up in the apartment. The scent is piped in. A man enters, fucks him to Nirvana and unconsciousness. He wakes up, back in a game as the prey. All over again.

I ran out of the building, shouting, "END GAME! EXIT! END GAME! EXIT!"

I was back in my bedroom. I took off my gaming gear. It was still early, so I called Derek's house and asked his mom if Derek was home. She said she would check. It was only a few minutes later that I heard her scream. I hung up the phone, ran to my car, and raced to Derek's house.

The police and aid car were already there. I explained that I had been talking with Derek's mother right before she found him.

They said he was sitting in a chair with his gaming gear on. When his mom entered, she tapped him on the shoulder. It caused him to fall out of the chair. That's when she screamed.

They took the gear off him. The medics checked him over and found nothing wrong with him. But he was totally paralyzed. No response to stimulus of any kind. They were taking him to a hospital for further tests.

The police questioned me. All I could tell them was that we had been gaming Friday night, and I hadn't seen or talked with him since. Which was the truth, because the thing I spoke with that night wasn't Derek.

He was transferred to a long-term care facility, where they continue to try to reach him. I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen.

I sold my gaming gear and deleted all my accounts. I'm not going to play online games of any type ever again. I tried out for baseball and found I had a knack for it.

But there are nights when I think of Derek and hope he somehow finds his way out.