This story began at the Genetics Lab's impromptu birthday party. There was just about everybody, that is, about two dozen young and promising scientists, drinking, dancing, playing video games, and engaging in drunken chitchat.
"C-consider sexual behavior dimorphism..." Charles did his best to make his point. "Our s-species males show persistent motivation but only episodic cap-pacity, while the capacity of fem-males is virtually unlimited, and the reluc... hic... tance is w-widely observed..."
Nick laughed. "Charles, you are a genius! To wrap the adage 'men always want but not always can, women always can but not always want' in such a charming scholarese..."
"Thanks!" Charles grinned. "W-working on my thesis is r-really paying off! S-So what I'm saying is... What if w-we manage to ad-just the behavior for m-maximum performance for both s-sexes?"
"Sounds promising!" Selah, who had been listening to them for a while, nodded sharply. "So, translating back to the ordinary humanese..."
"...what if we make everyone equally horny and able to fuck non-stop?" Nick finished. "That would be perfect!"
Selah giggled. "Can't agree more! What a nice fantasy!"
"T-this isn't just a fantasy!" Charles said solemnly. "I c-can do this!"
Nick blinked. "No, you can't! You're a smart guy, Charlie, but the task is too much even for you!"
"You s-say that?" Charles grinned and took out his laptop, which he never parted with. "Challenge acc...hic...cepted! Hold my beer..."
And he started tapping on the buttons.
"Oh, yeah! Are we making bets here? Then let's set the stakes!" Nick slapped a bill on the table. "My twenty bucks says you can't make it!"
Without turning away from the laptop, Charles slapped another one next to it. "My hundred bucks s-says I'll do it in two m-months! Hic."
"Only two months? I could raise it to ten thousand, you fool! But let it be equal. Hundred dollars for you won't be done in two months."
The rest of the group gathered around them, curious. When they heard the subject of the bet, they all burst out laughing.
"Wow! Cool! I'm with Charles! This is stupid! I'm against!"
Still laughing, they emptied two jars of the remaining cookies, labeled them H0 and H1, and voted with their hundred dollar bills. They were almost evenly split, with ten votes for Charles and thirteen against.
"All bets are off!" Nick exclaimed. "Let's get back to the game in two months!"
Charles returned to his keyboard. Of course, he couldn't finish the concept right away, and he was soon interrupted by Selah and Tessa, who said they could be quite horny without any alterations...
But the next day, over a soda, he reread his notes, grinned, and set up his personal side research project.
***
Less than two months later, at another birthday party, Charles waited for everyone to relax and get woozy, then called for attention, placed a small box on the table, and opened it. Inside were two dozen 2ml disposable syringes, already prefilled with a liquid.
"Tadammm!" he said triumphantly.
"Is that..." Peter looked closer, curious.
Charles nodded proudly. "Yes. My creation."
"It's not a victory yet!" Nick objected. "We need the tests!"
"Of course."
Charles lowered his pants, sterilized the spot on his gluteus maximus with a whiskey, took a syringe, and performed a quick, professional injection. Then he looked around at the crowd.
"Well? Who dares to join in?"
A silence fell. It had been a nice subject for some silly jokes, but now it had suddenly become all too serious.
"What exactly is it supposed to do?" Selah inquired cautiously.
"Almost unlimited sexual stamina, very short refractory periods, easily triggered arousal and an overall high sex drive. Basically, all the benefits of hypersexuality without the drawbacks." Charles shrugged. "What else? Retrovirus delivered, should take effect in three weeks and wear off in about three months."
Another long silence followed. Charles had a reputation as a near-genius... on the edge of a mad scientist. When he said it would work, it should work, but then...
Nick scratched his chin thoughtfully and reached for the syringe. "I started this wager, so I should be the second test subject." And he did the same professional self-injection.
That broke the ice, and people moved to the box.
"Wait!" Tessa yelled. "We should do the proper test, with the placebo syringes mixed in with the real ones!"
Everyone laughed.
"We don't have enough subjects for the reliable statistics anyway," Olivia pointed out. "So we'll do without the control group... Or, more accurately, everyone else out of the lab will be the control group."
And so everyone got their shots.
***
It kicked in right in about three weeks, give or take a day. Nick was among the first. He carefully put aside his test tube and looked around.
"I hate to admit it, but I'm really horny. I tried to wait it out, but it just keeps getting worse. Um, ladies... Does anyone else feel the same way?"
Olivia looked up from her microscope, blushing slightly.
"I thought it was just me, but the symptoms are the same..." She bit her lip. "Nick... are you suggesting what I think?"
He just nodded.
"Well..."
And they walked behind a partition in the corner of the room, from which immediately came the sound of kissing, sighs, and increasingly loud rhythmic moans. Everyone exchanged glances and grinned nervously.
"This is impossible!" Tessa began to unbutton her shirt. "I could bear it when everything was quiet, but these sounds... Guys, who wants to join me?"
And soon there were two couples behind the partition. Then three. Then four. Then only two again...
Nick found Charles in the next room and bowed to him.
"My apologies. I did not believe it, but you won our wager."
"I told you so!" Charles smiled broadly and took both the H0 and H1 jars off the shelf. "Hey, everybody! We're having a party tonight, my treat!"
Needless to say, it was one heck of a sex party.
***