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Chapter 2: The Others They Threw Away
A cart creaked and swayed as it rolled down a muddy road, pulled by beasts Ethan had never seen before—giant, furred creatures with six legs and glowing eyes. The smell of wet wood and sweat filled the air. Inside, silence hung heavy.
Ethan sat chained among a dozen other men, all of them like him—rejected summons. "Flukes," the guards called them.
He tried not to look anyone in the eyes. His wrists ached from the manacles. His stomach turned from hunger and fear. His thoughts still swirled with the humiliation in the great hall, the laughter, the word useless echoing in his mind like a curse.
Then, like a whisper inside his skull:
> [SYSTEM ONLINE.]
[Femboy Ascension Protocol Active.]
[Nearby Candidate Detected: "Ren Arlow" — Compatibility: 84%. Tier I. Emotional Vulnerability: High.]
[Initiate Conversion Sequence? Y/N]
Ethan froze.
What the hell? He looked around, but no one else seemed to hear it. The voice—was it a hallucination? A curse?
> [Awaiting Command.]
"No," he whispered under his breath. "No, I'm not… what is this? What the fuck is this?"
But even as he panicked, his eyes were drawn across the cart to a boy sitting alone in the corner. Thin. Beaten. Maybe 18. He had a black eye and split lip, and was curled up like a kicked dog trying to shrink out of existence.
> [Target Identified: Subject "Ren Arlow". Link Potential: Strong.]
[Passive Influence Enabled. Conversion Progress: 1%]
Ethan's pulse jumped.
No, stop. I didn't do anything! he screamed in his mind.
"Ren…" he said aloud, almost by accident. The name had appeared in his mind.
The boy glanced up, startled. "What?"
Ethan hesitated. He didn't know what he was doing. "Were… were you summoned too?"
Ren gave a bitter smile. "Yeah. Guess the gods just wanted to laugh."
He looked away, but Ethan didn't. There was a strange sensation tugging at him—warmth, but wrong. Like a cord connecting them that hadn't been there before.
> [Conversion Progress: 3%]
[Passive Submission Impulse Triggered.]
"What are you doing to him?" Ethan whispered to the air. "What are you making me do?"
> [You are doing nothing, Master. You are simply being yourself.]
> [Would you like to accelerate the link? Y/N]
Ethan's breath caught. His stomach twisted. Part of him wanted to scream no, to pull away—but another part, buried deep under pain and humiliation, was curious. Hungry. Wanted someone to look at him like he mattered.
"You're not like the others," Ren mumbled.
Ethan blinked. "What?"
"You're not… cruel."
> [Conversion Progress: 6%]
[Emotional Dependence Initiated.]
The boy's eyes softened, just slightly. There was something tender in the way he looked at Ethan now. Familiar. Even… devoted.
Ethan's chest tightened.
"Stop," he whispered to the voice. "If I do this… what happens to him?"
> [He will love you. Serve you. Grow stronger for you. You will never be alone again.]
> [There are no negative consequences. Only loyalty, power, and affection.]
That's what it says, Ethan thought. But who built this? Why me?
He looked at Ren again. The bruises. The fear. The need.
He looked like Ethan had felt all his life.
> [Conversion Progress: 7%]
Ethan clenched his fists. This isn't right. This isn't normal.
But in this world, nothing was normal. And for the first time, someone was looking at him like he was more than trash.
And some part of him—small, trembling, but undeniable—liked it.
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