Pheromone

Prologue

Dr. Anderson

I held the glass vial up to the light and rotated it, the glossy pink liquid within sending glittering flashes of champagne across my palm. In the other I held a black slab of metal and glass.

// Does it work? //

// It works. //

// And how do you know that without it going through Phase 1 trials?"

// Because I took it home last week and tried it myself. //

// You did what? //

// Look, the results were extremely promising on paper, the basic model of transmission is something we've seen a thousand times before and yes, I know it's crazy but I just had to try it. I just couldn't wait for the months, if not years, before it comes to human trials. I just had to see how it felt for myself. I needed to know that it was going to be worth the graft. //

// You know you could have jeopardised the whole program right? If anyone were to find out, not only will you use your license, all of our work will be for nothing. FFS Anderson. //

// No-one's going to find out. You're the only person that knows and you care just as much about taking this golden goose to market as much as I do. Listen to me. It works. It works. I can verify that it works. And I'm doing just fine thank you for asking. //

// So what was it like? //

// Good. Very good. I have a feeling we're in for a surprise or two when trials begin. //

// I hope you know what you're doing. //

// Me too. //

I swiped up to close the messaging app, the two-year old conversation between Magda and I replaced by a photo of a lilac flower, nestled in the bottle-green undergrowth of a subtropical rainforest. Our baby. Or at the very least the derivative for our baby. We'd discovered it ten years ago in Louisiana of all places, on the hunt for new forms of antibiotics. We quickly found that unfortunately it was only semi-effective in slowing bacterial growth, but instead it came with some dramatic, and unexpected, side effects. And so we pursued a new goal. One that was potentially more lucrative than our original mandate. I carefully placed the vial back into the refrigeration unit and turned to Magda, who was standing beside me with a clipboard in hand and jotting down some last minute notes.

"Time to get this show on the road. Magda, if you'd please invite in our the first subjects."

She pressed her finger to the soft red intercom button on the panel before us and leaned in towards the microphone, her wavy auburn hair tumbling over the white shoulder of her lab coat.

"Mr and Mrs Garcia please enter room one and take a seat on the table."

We watched through the glass panel in front of us as the lights blinked on automatically and illuminated the test room. In the middle of the chamber, surrounded by walls of padded fabric and lit by the off-white ceiling light that encompassed the entire room, was a vanilla-coloured table and two chairs facing each other. The door swung open and Mr and Mrs Garcia, our first subjects, walked in. On the table were two tablets and two plastic cups of water, with two small biometric scanners embedded in its metal surface. The couple, in their late twenties, both took a seat. Mr Garcia was tall and broad shouldered, with a heavy brow, caramel complexion and light stubble to complement both of these features. His wife, in comparison, was petite, pale, blonde and wearing tight cycling shorts and a baggy college sweater. Her eyes, light green, glanced sideways at the mirror that took up most of one wall and she shrugged at her husband before sliding into the chair.

"Thank you for joining us today. Please make yourselves comfortable," Magda intoned. "On the tablets you will find a consent form. Whilst I know you have already signed waivers regarding this trial, this form is slightly different as you will see. If you do not sign this form the trial will end now, but you will still receive your compensation for attending. You are under no obligation or pressure from BACCHUS to sign this waiver."

She took her finger off the intercom button. The Garcias both looked slightly perplexed at this announcement, Mrs Garcia's raised her eyebrows at her husband sitting facing her. I pressed my finger to the touchscreen in front of us to send through the waiver, with the connection open so we could read their responses in real time. They'd already signed the usual non-disclosure forms and we had their consent to being part of the drug trial on file but now we needed something slightly different from them. Mr Garcia had a wry smile on his face as he held the tip of his finger to his scanner, signing the document. Mrs Garcia issued a short laugh and presented her biometrics too. Both consent forms appeared on my screen.

I content to sexual activity with the individual, or individuals in this room. My consent is given willingly and voluntarily. I may withdraw my consent at any time. I understand that if I withdraw my consent the trial will be halted with immediate effect.

"Issue the first questionnaire please Magda."

"My pleasure."

Magda's scarlet lipstick-lined lips parted and once again she spoke through the intercom. "Thank you. We have received your consent forms and will now proceed with the trial. On the tablet in front of you a short questionnaire will appear. Please answer all the questions. Once this has been completed we will be administering a dose of Pheromone in a gaseous state. Please do not be alarmed when this gas appears from the vent above you. You will then be given another questionnaire to fill out. Once this is completed and we have your second set of answers we will administer an antidote to counteract the effects of Pheromone. The trial will then be over. Please place your index fingers on the table scanner to confirm you have understood and we will begin."

As soon as both Garcias scanned their fingers I touched the tablet in front of me and sent them the questionnaires. It was a simple set of twenty questions designed to measure libido, sexual orientation and sexual inhibitions, with questions like:

3.

On a scale of one to ten, ten being extremely strong, how strong is the urge to engage i in sexual intercourse with the person sitting opposite you?'

7. If another individual entered the room who you and/or your partner found physically attractive, would you allow them to engage in sexual activity with your partner if they consented? Yes/No

11. Do you consider yourself a sexually adventurous individual? Strongly disagree/disagree/ agree/strongly agree

After five minutes or so the checkboxes on my screen flipped from an outline to solid white as we received the Garcia's responses. Both of them had fairly middle-of-the-road answers to the questionnaires. As to be expected when sitting in the stark environs of a drug trial room neither of them rated particularly high in terms of libido, and like most couples it was clear they were moderately intrepid but not exactly thrill-seeking. This time I addressed them myself.

"Thank you. We will now move on to the next step of the trial. It will take approximately 10 seconds for us to administer Pheromone. Please keep your right thumb pressed on the scanner until you are told to remove it." A candy floss cloud slowly billowed out from the ceiling grate and surrounded the Garcias.

"Mr and Mrs Garcia please remember to breath normally. The gas will dissipate shortly."

After a moment or two the exhaust fan clicked on and the view cleared. We could see that both Garcias chests were heaving. Both Mrs Garcia's hands were pressed flat on the table and her eyes were locked with Mr Garcia's, whose skin had taken on a light sheen. Their pupils were fully dilated. Their heart rates were elevated and it was clear that Pheromone was beginning to have the desired effect. Both the Garcias were squirming in their chairs and breaving heavily as I resent the previous questionnaire.

"Please fill in the questionnaire once more for us Mr and Mrs Garcia."

Mr Garcia could clearly hardly keep still, blinking several times as he struggled to control himself and answer the questions. From the visible bulge in his charcoal cargo pants it seemed his mind was on other matters. Mrs Garcia was hardly faring better, her legs pressed together and trembling slightly. We could see the sweat from her fingertips imprinting on the screen as she answered each question again. The second set of checkboxes blinked white as we received their answers.

"Thank you Mr and Mrs Garcia. Please hold as we review the questionnaire." The responses were dramatically different this time around. Mr Garcia's, for example:

13. Which of the following do you consider taboo?

- Oral sex [NO]

- Anal sex, giving [NO]

- Anal sex, receiving [NO]

- Roleplay [NO]

- Group sex [NO]

- BDSM [NO]

As Magda made notes on their questionnaires I looked up to watch the couple through the glass. Mrs Garcia's chair was pushed back from the table. Her left hand was now on her thigh, the fingertips creating small indentations on her pale skin as she gripped it. Her grip loosened as she slid it slowly up the inside of her leg as if it avoid detection, the drawing it up along the taupe spandex of her shorts. Her right hand was still on the scanner and her gaze was glued to Mr Garcia's full lips, with her own slightly parted now. Mr Garcia looked like he was using every inch of his willpower to keep both of his hands on the table as he watched his wife move her hand inwards. As she reached her groin, she drew a finger slowly up the pillowy mound of where her outer labia was hidden. The spandex material began to darken on the outside. A thin, glistening strand of saliva fell from the corner of her mouth as her finger touched the outside of her clitoris through the shorts and her eyes rolled back, eyelids fluttering. The trial was going even better than expected, but it was time to cut this short before these two pounced on each other. I quickly issued the restorative and this time a white gas soundlessly flooded the room.

As it cleared the Garcia's slowly came to their senses. Mrs Garcia realised what her hands were doing and she quickly adjusted her heavy sweater and pulled a slightly embarrassed face at her husband. Mr Garcia also performed a quick readjustment with a smile playing in the corners of his lips and both turned to face the glass waiting for our next announcement.

"Mr and Mrs Garcia the trial is now over. Please exit the room and you will be escorted to reception. Thank you for your time," I said, and flicked off the intercom for the final time today.

"So Magda, how do you think we did?" I said.

"Well their heart rate was up, but within range. Their body temperature was up but also in range. They didn't die and by all accounts they looked like they were ready to tear each others clothes off." She brushed back a lock of that deep red hair and continued, "So I'd say we did pretty well. Although we're going to need more evidence when it comes to providing the antidote. The total offset time is uncertain, for example, and we don't know if it's 100% effective yet." She placed her clipboard back on the desk and motioned me over to the monitor so we could watch the scene from a different angle. His vitals were displayed in the lower left of the screen. Though lower than before, they were still not at his baseline. From the second camera you could also see the shadow created by Mr Garcia's crotch, which remained unchanged after the antidotal gas was pumped into the room

"I'd say this guy is still a little under the influence officer, wouldn't you agree?" Magda said coyly. And yes, I certainly did. To say that a fly on the wall of the Garcia bedroom would likely be treated to a graphic display of human mating rituals this evening was a safe bet. I nodded my assent slowly, thinking. If everything kept going the way it did, Pheromone was going to be a goldmine.

"Let's move forward to the next set of trials. Please can you give Mr and Mrs Olsen a call once you've finished typing up your notes. I'll file a report to David later tonight. Otherwise I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"See you, Dr. Anderson," Magda said, without looking up from her work. I turned to leave. The last thing I saw was the screen was the frozen image of Mrs Garcia, sweater hiked up to reveal her petite midriff and thighs, the pressure of her fingertip causing a dimple in her damp shorts, only the whites of her eyes showing, a bead of saliva on her cheek. A

goldmine

, I thought once more, and left the room.

Chapter 1

Ryan and Ana Olson

"So are you still up for this?" Ana asked, glancing at her husband in the car seat beside her.

"Yeah, sure, I mean it sounds like fun from everything I've read about it. Maybe I'm little worried about what it might make me

say

you know. Like, I don't want to embarrass myself, but apart from that I'm definitely still up for it," Ryan replied.

He was driving them both towards the clinic and with less than ten minutes left on the GPS he was still feeling confident about going ahead. Ana was treated to the small pleasure of Ryan rotating the steering wheel as he pulled the car onto the final approach, watching the tendons in his forearm ripple, his tricep a well-defined horseshoe under his tanned skin. The right sleeve of his grey t-shirt was pulled back, exposing his musculature, and Ana looked on appreciatively at the profile of his strong, lightly stubbled jawline and deep blue eyes with those long lashes that contributed to his calm, sensitive presence. Her heart was beating faster than normal and she raised a hand to the swell of her breast to feel it throb.

From what she'd read online about the drug it offered much and the consequences for taking it were virtually zero apart from a small headache the next day. And the money was seriously inviting too. But she knew that whilst he might be in from a highly enjoyable time with her husband when they returned home, there was equally a chance that they would both be dosed with a placebo and nothing much would happen beyond their natural affection for each other. Either way there was still that juicy pay check at the end, so she figured it was a win-win situation. They'd heard about Pheromone like most, from flashy headlines on tech websites declaring it the latest and greatest thing to come out of Silicon Valley. All the classic features; venture capital investment, huge estimated stock market valuation for the parent company, eccentric founder. Sex was still selling as well as it always has, and what Pheromone promised was long-lasting, mutually beneficial, crazy hot sex whenever you felt like it, essentially. So the two of them had signed up to be lab rats once they'd read up on it and here they were today, car wheels crunching on hot tarmac under the June sun, both feeling a little nervous, a little excited about what was to come.

"And you? He said, "If you don't want to go ahead, that's okay just say the word."

"I'm a bit nervous, mainly because of the unknown, but otherwise I think it's going to be good. A new experience. And a new bathroom to look forward to next month so there's that," she said, laughing lightly, "Let's do this thing."

--------------------------

The clinic itself is nondescript; a white concrete frontage, the BACCHUS logo picked out in thin brushed aluminium letters above a single glass door in the centre of the fascia. The Olsens press the buzzer and a female, softly Californian voice admits them. Stepping from the blank grey tarmac and inside, past blank white concrete walls, feels like stepping from one reality to another dimension altogether. The reception is flooded with the dim glow of neon pink light from a single slab of glass that comprises the floor. The ceiling a wave of undulating ribs that curve up and around from the doorway to the desk a few metres in front of them. This is wide and solitary and organic-looking, a silicon mound that manages to seem both imposing and malleable at the same time. A low hum of air-conditioning strums in the background, a heady scent teases the nose. The deep throb of techno pulses in the background. A lone receptionist stands behind the desk and she's just as striking as the room, clad in a skintight, high-necked and sleeveless latex dress

.

Violet hair cut in a bob, tattooed arms, catwalk figure. Her sharp cheekbones are illuminated by a deep orange glow emanating from a screen that is hidden from view. Her perfect teeth gleam in the technicolour light and the corners of her almond-shaped eyes crinkle as she smiles and welcomes the new arrivals.

"Welcome to BACCHUS, Mr and Mrs Olsen, you're right on time."

-------------------------------

A dense cloud of millennial pink gas issues from vents with a slow hiss.

A married couple breath it in, with the faint taste of almond on their tongues.

The sense of lust is palpable.

Time becomes hazy.

Pupils dilate.

Showtime.

-------------------------------

Both of their chests were heaving, their wide eyes locked on each other.

"Fuck Ryan this is intense," Ana breathed, "I've never wanted your cock so badly." She pushed the chair aside and dived at Ryan's feet, frantically tearing at his belt and zipper.

"Tell me what you need," he said, with Ana kneeling between his legs, her big eyes staring up at him from under his bulging crotch, pupils wide and glassy like pools. She was on fire, like her whole body was tingling with the desire to take her husband inside her. Her thick lips were parted and shining with saliva, framed by two long black bangs flowing down from her forehead.

"Right now I need you to use me however you want to. I'll do anything for you, just as long as you do the same for me when you're finished," she replied.

"I want you to fuck my cock using your lips, your tongue, your mouth and then your throat," Ryan said without hesitating, "And then you can use me right back however you want." She was still looking up at him and by this point his cock was rock hard, throbbing under his jeans in anticipation.

"Deal," she said.

Ana maintained eye contact as she reached down and tugged away his belt, then began unlooping his jeans' buttons one by one until his cock nearly sprung out, constrained by his black boxers. The front of which was now soaked with pre-cum.

"You look excited baby. Do you want to feel your long, hard dick in my mouth?" Ana said softly, as she begun to kiss lightly on the outside of his boxers. The black material darkened further as his cock leaked more pre-cum into them. "Mhmmm, looks like I should put you out your misery," she said, and pulled his boxers all the way down. Ryan's thick, seven-inch cock jerked out as it stood to full attention in front of her pixie-like face.

"Fuck Ana I feel like I'm going to explode already I'm so turned on," Ryan said.

"Not just yet. It's like you said; first I'm going to tease you, then I'm going to suck you, and then I'm going to let you use my throat like my pussy and only

then

do you get to cum. Understand honey?" Ana replied. Before he could answer she ducked her head under his dick and used her wet tongue to lick his balls, sloshing it back and forth until they were coated in spit.

"I'm salivating so much, it's like my whole mouth can't wait to take you in," she said, muffled slightly by Ryan's balls. She popped one in her mouth and ran her tongue gently over it as Ryan moaned in pleasure. Wet, and slick, she let them fall out of her mouth and wiped the spit off of them with both hands so her palms were as lubricated as possible. Ryan was beside himself, the slightest touch with Ana's tongue was like a live rod of electricity coursing through his cock and up through his body. He'd never felt like this, and could see that Ana felt exactly the same. The thought of being able to please him and take him and swallow him was all she could think of.