It had been three months since my last encounter with Stella…Three months since the night I decided I couldn't keep breaking myself for her.
In that time, I burned every ounce of fat from my body, clawing my way back to the lean frame I once owned.
Hours in the gym. Nights without sleep.
And behind it all endless sessions at my laptop, lines of code stacking on top of each other until my brain blurred.
I wasn't just rebuilding muscle. I was rebuilding me.
The project was called Fix It.My savior.
My restart button.
A ping snapped me upright at my desk. My heart slammed as I stared at the screen.
The final compilation was done.
The app was alive.
"Yesss!" I yelled. "Bitch, now watch me grow!"
But excitement betrayed me.
My elbow clipped the half-filled coffee mug.
Liquid rushed across the keys. Sparks jumped like angry fireflies.
"Shit!"
I lunged forward, trying to stop the spill, but my hand brushed against an exposed wire beneath the desk.
The world went white.
A surge crawled through me like lightning finding every nerve. My ears popped, sound fractured into static.
My chest clenched like a fist closing around my heart.
Then silence.
When I came back to myself, I was slumped over the desk. Coffee hissed against burnt plastic.
The smell of scorched wood clawed at my nose. My hands trembled violently.
Then I heard it.
A whisper.
Not through my ears. Not from the laptop. From inside my skull.
Problem #0423: Router "No Signal."Severity: High.Suggested Solution: Inspect aerial first. Check firmware. Power alignment. Prioritize safety checks.
I staggered back.
"Who… who the hell said that? Come out, you bastard!"
I spun around the room, but nothing waited in the shadows. Just me.
When I turned back, my stomach dropped.
The Fix It dashboard had changed. A translucent overlay rippled across the screen, letters glowing faintly.
SYSTEM PROTOCOL ACTIVEQuest: First Surge – Solve Problem #0423 with full safety verification.Reward: 200 XP + Aerial Specialist Badge
My mouth went dry.
I hadn't typed that.I hadn't programmed that.
The words didn't just appear on the screen — they echoed in my mind first. Like the system was speaking directly into me.
My head pulsed. My chest thrummed. Something felt… awake.
Electric.
Information poured into me:
client location, router model, failure logs, tools needed, even suggested fixes. It wasn't just my code running diagnostics it was like the system itself was inside my brain, offering solutions before I asked for them.
I wiped the coffee from the keys.
The burnt smell lingered. My hands steadied.
"Well," I muttered, standing.
"I've got nothing to lose. Might as well go check it out."
I slung the bag over my shoulder. The screen still glowed, waiting.
* * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * *
The suburbs were too quiet.
Streetlamps hummed over manicured lawns, and every driveway had the same polished SUV parked like trophies.
My sneakers crunched on gravel as I double-checked the address glowing in my head.
Client: Problem #0423 – Router "No Signal."Location: 24 Sycamore Drive.
The system hadn't lied.
A neat little two-story house sat at the corner, windows glowing warm yellow in the dusk.
I caught my reflection in the glass of a car parked out front.Damn.
For the first time in months, I looked… good.
The gym sessions had paid off. Shoulders filled out the t shirt I had, jawline sharper than I remembered.
The kid Stella broke wasn't staring back at me.
I took a breath and rang the bell.
The door opened, and my brain short-circuited harder than my fried keyboard.
She wasn't just a client.
She was a woman who seemed carved straight out of every fantasy a nineteen-year-old boy dared not say aloud.
She stood there in a silk blouse that clung where it shouldn't have, and hugged curves that could have set fire to any man's resolve.
A faint smile tugged at her glossed lips
Her hair, chestnut with strands of lighter brown, fell in soft waves just past her shoulders. Her eyes green, mischievous, assessing caught his and held them captive.
He tried to look away, but it was like staring into a current that threatened to pull him under.
And then, of course, there was her figure.Busty didn't even begin to cover it.
The blouse strained faintly against her chest, every small movement exaggerating what Brandon, red-eared and wide-eyed, couldn't ignore. She leaned slightly against the doorway, the motion casual but enough to make his teenage brain scream a thousand things at once.
He swallowed hard.
"Yes?" she asked, voice soft but edged with curiosity.
For a second, I forgot why I was there.
"I… uh—router," I managed, holding up the laptop bag like a shield
. "You filed a problem ticket. No signal."
Her smile deepened, like she already knew the effect she had. She stepped aside, motioning me in.
"Of course. My husband usually handles these things but…" she paused, eyes flicking somewhere distant. "He's overseas. Work."
Figures.
The system whispered in my skull again:
Quest Updated: Confirm source of issue.Tools required: Multi-meter, replacement aerial, grounding check.Caution: Risk of client distraction High.
I almost laughed. No kidding.
The living room looked like something out of a magazine — polished floors, pristine white couches, a faint perfume scent hanging in the air. I set my bag down, kneeling beside the router tucked under a sleek console table.
"Is it fixable?" she asked, crouching slightly to watch me work. Too close. Her perfume drowned out rational thought.
I cleared my throat. "Signal issues. Might be the aerial. Shouldn't take long."
Inside, the system flooded me with steps, diagrams, warnings. Every movement of my fingers felt guided, precise. Wires realigned, circuits tested, diagnostics running smoother than my own thoughts.
"Impressive," she said, her voice low, almost teasing. "Most guys take forever fumbling around with wires."
I risked a glance up. Mistake. The robe had shifted, just enough to make me choke on my own breath.
"Just… doing my job," I muttered, focusing harder on the blinking lights.
A soft chime echoed in my head as the system locked the success in place. My chest buzzed with adrenaline; it felt good.
I packed my tools, standing.
She leaned against the console, arms folded, lips curved in that same half-smile.
"Well," she said, "whatever you did, it worked. Maybe I should keep your number. Just in case things… break again."
Her gaze lingered a beat too long.
I felt the system whisper once more, smug, almost taunting:
New Quest Unlocked: Repeat Client. Optional. Rewards Unknown.
I coughed, grabbing my bag. "Glad to help, ma'am. Enjoy the Wi-Fi."
"Leaving already? Am just done preparing supper...you wouldn't want to live this old woman dinning alone now would you?"