Now:

     Skip showered with some buddies, then went to his room to flop on his back on his bed.

     He felt about ready to throw up, he'd eaten so many donuts and drank so much juice that morning.

     This was something he experienced just about every day.

     The only reason he didn't make himself throw up, get it over with, was because it seemed like too much work to go all the way to the toilet once he was in bed.

     So, instead, he thought about how he'd just fucked Lamna.

     He could go back and stick his pig right back into her if he wanted to, he knew that. It'd be fine with Lamna.

     Also, if he wanted to wander around the farm a little, he could find someone else to fuck, no problem. Everyone knew everyone else on the farm, and all the girls liked him, so...

     But that, too, seemed like an awful lot of effort. 

     It'd be easier just to eat another donut.

     He always kept a few on his nightstand next to his bed, his favorite ones, the sweetest ones with the even sweeter icing.

     He went to reach for one when,

     "Skip!"

     This came from the table where he kept his personal crap piled.

     Claudia.

     He hadn't thought about his computer/coin for days, for weeks maybe even, because he spent every vertical moment either working, eating, or fucking.

     She's got some news about Whisper, he thought. O.M.G.

     But, shit, he had so much junk on his table, he couldn't find her anywhere.

     "Claudia! Yell again! I can't find you!"

     "Asshole!"

     "There you are." Skip picked Claudia up to hold in the palm of his hand. "Tell me you've got a bead on Whisper."

     "What if I said I did? You think you're ready to see her?"

     "What's that supposed to mean?"

     "When's the last time you looked in a mirror, Skip?"

     "I never look in a mirror. Whisper doesn't care what I look like."

     "That was two years ago."

     "Do you know where she is or not?"

     "Just now, at one of the Club District's major arterials, some shit went down that sounds an awful lot like Tika and Whisper, especially Tika."

     "So, what are we waiting for?"

     "I'm not a Valtair. I can't just teleport you there."

     "When can we leave?"

     "Get some sleep, first. You've got some good-byes to make too, right?"

     "No no, we could just..."

     "Skip."

     "Yeah, okay, I should say good-bye to Lamna, at least, although it's not like we actually mean anything to each other. We both fuck plenty of other people. Just the other day..."

     "Skip!"

     "Sorry, pal. Going out. Can't hear another word. It's like sleep is...sleep is..."

     "You really are such an asshole." 

CONTINUE