This story was originally posted at https://www.gayspiralstories.com/story/show/10001490 on 2021-03-21.
In 2092, a Finder, Zander Chen, takes on a difficult case. How do you Find someone who has no aura?
Zander sat up, his pulse racing, the sheets damp and clingy with sweat. Another nightmare. Shots fired in the dark, his fiancé Keill crumpling to the floor of their apartment, unmoving. Fighting for his life, for Keill’s, against the masked gunman from the Engawa cartel. Watching helplessly as Keill’s aura, vibrant and green and full of promise, like a forest floor after rain, faded to nothing, a part of himself dying with it…
“Good morning Zander. It is six thirty-two a.m., February 21st. It will be sunrise at six forty-one a.m. You are up early. Is there anything I can do for you?” A glowing white line in the centre of the vidpane in Zander’s apartment indicated that the apartment’s AI was waiting for his response.
“I’m… fine, ALICE. I’m going to get some more rest. Wake me up at the usual time.”
“Okay Zander. I will alert you at seven fifteen a.m.” The AI for Living in Communal Environments winked out, leaving the room in darkness.
Zander lay back in bed, trying to remember what had happened in the dream, but the details had quickly faded from his recollection, leaving only a terrible sense of guilt. Of course, there’d been an investigation at the time. A security breach at IASD, contractors bribed by the cartel’s agents. Revenge for the joint IASD/FBI operation that took down the the Engawa’s leaders back in 2085. The attack at the house he and Keill had shared, coinciding with the change in their security detail. But it was hard to let go of the awful feeling that Keill might still be alive today. He missed Keill’s handsome face, the scent of him on the sheets, the way his blue eyes twinkled when he told Zander a joke. If only Zander had answered the door first, if only he’d subdued the assassin more quickly, if only…
“Zander, it is seven fifteen.” The apartment’s windows became gradually translucent, letting Zander’s eyes adjust to the warm glow of the morning sun. He stretched his arms up and behind his head, then slid off the bed and stepped into the bathroom. He examined his reflection in the mirror while ALICE started the shower and brought the water up to a suitable temperature. Black hair cut short, brown eyes, an athletic frame that met the physical requirements of his job at IASD. At thirty-three, Zander Chen possessed that quality common to many guys of Asian heritage, in that it was difficult for anyone who didn’t know him to say whether he was in his twenties, thirties or even forties. His parents had emigrated from Taiwan after the war of ‘58, making a new life for themselves in the United States. He’d had a pretty normal childhood back on the West Coast, as far as he could tell, until he became a Finder.
In 2045, reports of young adults with unusual sensory abilities started to appear in the media. Henry and Eric Douglas, twins from the Republic of Scotland, astounded investigators when they demonstrated their ability to locate anyone in the world, provided they had previously come into contact with the person being located, or their close contacts and personal effects. With each year, more and more Finders were discovered, although the total number of such individuals is estimated at only around three hundred in a global population of nearly eleven billion.
Finding had obvious applications in solving crimes, recovering missing persons, and assisting law enforcement agencies. At the same time, concerns about the misuse of such powers by authoritarian regimes were widespread, stoking fears about illegal surveillance among the public and putting the safety of Finders at risk from both criminal gangs and state security agencies. Responding to these concerns, the United Nations tasked the International Anti-terrorism and Security Directorate, or IASD, with responsibility for the identification, regulation and protection of Finders. Now, in 2092, all Finders in UN member states are required to be registered on the IASD database of Persons with Special Abilities. Finders may only use their abilities in connection with the lawful activities of IASD or an approved national law enforcement agency; those who choose not to join IASD are kept under strict surveillance for their own protection, but also to ensure their abilities are not used for nefarious purposes. Infractions are punished severely.
IASD employees usually keep a low profile to avoid harassment from members of the public, so after completing his morning routine, Zander put on an inconspicuous outfit consisting of a dark grey shirt and jeans, and left his apartment to take the metro to Grand Central. There were closer stations, but he enjoyed the walk down to IASD headquarters, picking up the auras of people in the street as they passed by him. These days he could almost navigate the streets without using his sight, just by following the auras of shop assistants and others that he had come to recognise.
He remembered the first time he’d become aware of his own aura, a warm glow of cinnamon and honey that seemed to emanate from his own body. His parents had been unable to answer his questions about it, and referred him to their family doctor, concerned that he might be seeing things. He’d been on the fast track into IASD ever since, a liaison officer from IASD making regular visits to the family home to watch his progress. He recalled being trained to harness his ability, to cast his awareness out from his body, to zero in on a target’s location. Joining IASD, his parents proud of his achievement even if they didn’t fully understand what that would mean for his career.
Before long, Zander arrived on E 42nd Street, walking in the shadow cast by the former UN Headquarters building. The UN offices had moved to Cape Town in 2039, and now most of the floors in its former home housed the IASD’s global headquarters. As usual, there was a large crowd of protesters outside the main gate into IASD headquarters, shouting anti-government slogans. They were an unholy alliance of privacy rights activists, right-wing agitators, and conspiracy theorists, all advocating an end to the activities of IASD and the detention – or worse – of all Finders.
Zander gave the crowd a wide berth and made his way to a discreet side entrance. He waved his left hand, containing his subdermal biopass, over the scanner. It flashed green, and the security officer, a solidly built man with a dim brown earthy aura, nodded him through. Zander rode one of the elevators up to the 36th floor, enjoying the view of Long Island across the East River.
He found Louis Richards waiting for him in his office suite. Louis was one of the younger Handlers in Special Intelligence; Zander had seen him around the office a few times but hadn’t worked with him directly. The man was taller than average, with messy blond hair and a slightly angular face that Zander found very easy on the eye. He was wearing a tight, pale yellow button-up shirt that accentuated his taut, lean physique. Louis’s aura brought to mind the appearance and smell of a polished copper coin, bright and metallic but with a sort of sharp edge of something that Zander found intriguing but hard to define.
“Morning, officer Chen. We haven’t worked together, have we?” Louis extended a hand, which Zander shook firmly. Zander caught Louis checking him out. I like what I see as well.
“We haven’t. Please, call me Zander.”
“Louis.” He said it with two syllables, loo-wiss. “You drink coffee? This one’s gonna be a difficult one, I reckon. You don’t have any other meetings after this, do you?”
“Nothing that can’t wait.”
“Great.” Louis flashed Zander a wide smile. “Let’s go to Frankie’s, they have pretty decent coffee down there. Not the mass-produced stuff that the machines up here dish out. You need to bring anything with you? All right, let’s go then.”
The two men took the escalator down to the food court level. “So,” Louis began, “I read your file. I bet you hear this from everyone you talk to, but I just had to tell you that you’re a bit of a personal hero of mine, you know? Finding the Antibomber and stopping the Capitol bombing – that’s serious hero-worthy shit right there. Like, Presidential Medal of Freedom-level shit. My grandparents in DC would have been killed in the blast if you hadn’t found that guy in time. You saved millions of lives that day.” Zander nodded. It had been one of his first cases, as a freshly trained Finder back in 2077, and he still remembered the perpetrator’s aura: crisp and lime-green, bringing to mind the smell of washed dishes. “So I guess I just wanted to say thank you. Don’t know why I waited until now, you know? It’s just…“
“I know,” Zander said. “This place can be a bit intimidating, if you’re not sure who you can talk to and all that.”
“Tell me about it. The way of some you espers… I mean Finders talk to us, like, just because they can see something no-one else can means we’re thicker than a block of decacrete… No offence, of course,” Louis added hastily. “I mean, I’ve been at IASD for three years now, but only started in Spec-Int a few months ago.” The Special Intelligence Division was the dedicated branch of IASD with responsibility for all Finder-related activities. “I’m still trying to get my head around how Finding works. All this stuff about quantum entanglement and particle detection and gene-environment interactions just blows my mind. I mean, what’s it really like? Finding somebody?”
“It’s… hard to describe.” Zander shivered as he recalled the memory of the dream he’d had last night. “I mean, for me it’s really simple. Everyone has an ‘aura’, sort of like a fingerprint, and I can sense that aura when I’m near them. Once I’m familiar with their aura, then if I focus on it, kind of… tuning out everything else, then I can get a sense of where they are in the world.”
“You just know instantly where they are?”
“Sometimes. I guess it’s like having a great sense of direction, like, when you just know that north is north, and it’s over that way. Of course, if someone’s halfway around the world, then I have to really focus, and it’s not so easy.”
The two men arrived at the end of the escalator and walked toward Frankie’s. “What’s my aura like?” Louis asked, as they entered the cafe. “And if two different Finders are looking for me, does it appear the same to both of them? Sorry, I bet everyone asks you about their own aura. You don’t have to tell me.”
“It’s fine, Louis. I’d be curious too, I guess. Yours is… well, to me your aura reminds me of copper. Like those old penny coins you see sometimes in thrift stores, but polished until they’re shiny. Another Finder might tell you something else if you ask them, but it’s kind of surprising actually… Most people have auras that different Finders perceive very similarly. I usually describe it as being like wine tasting. You know when a bottle of wine says that it has notes of spice or berries or whatever? Different Finders can usually detect the same ‘notes’ in a person’s aura, but one Finder might experience each of those notes to a greater or lesser degree than another.”
“Oh, right. I guess that makes sense. Okay, let’s grab a booth and get our coffees. They’re on me.” The two men sat at a booth in the corner. “Private mode.” A thin soundwall descended from the ceiling around the booth, hiding the occupants from view and cutting out background noise. The two men ordered their drinks, and Louis waved his left hand over the scanner to confirm payment. He then logged into the comp embedded in the surface of their table and selected a case file.
“Here we are. Target is Garrett Clevers. Thirty-five, chemical engineer for the Department of Defense. No known associates, no prior history of suspicious behaviour. Three days ago, he stopped turning up to work and his manager raised the alarm.” The vidpane showed a square-faced man with dark brown hair and green eyes, wearing a light green shirt with a tie under an ordinary-looking grey suit jacket. He was leaving an apartment building, carrying a black suitcase. “Last known location was his home in DC. The intel we have suggests that he may have already departed the United States. No leads on his current location. We have to find him before someone else does. Given the nature of his work, we’re treating it as a potential terror threat until we have evidence to the contrary.”
“He’s a chemical engineer. Are you saying he works with chemical weapons?”
Louis nodded grimly. “DoD won’t confirm the exact nature of his work, but we know from other sources that he’s an expert in nerve agents.”
“Okay.” Zander studied the vid. Of course, it wasn’t actually possible to pick up an aura from a second-hand impression like a vid. “What do we know about his aura?”
“He doesn’t have one.”
“What do you mean?” Zander frowned. “Everybody has one.”
“I know. Everybody has an aura.” Louis tapped the screen. “Except this guy.”
“How is that possible?” Zander looked at the screen again. There was nothing remarkable about the target’s appearance.
“I don’t know. Maybe he had one and lost it? Maybe he never had one all along? He was never aurally profiled, so we have no records, and we already— I mean, no-one in Spec-Int seems to know. It’s a tough one. But they say you’re the best, so if you can’t Find this guy…”
Zander nodded. “I’ll get on it. Send me the file. And I’ll need to visit his apartment in DC, plus anywhere else that he might have spent significant time. What about coworkers, friends, family, neighbours? I may need to talk to them as well.”
Louis tapped the comp, and forwarded several files to Zander’s account. “Already arranged. You’ve got clearance to check out his apartment, but DoD won’t give us access to his workplace for security reasons. Anyway, I’ve booked you a room at the Harris Grand Hotel in Georgetown. You can take the 12:00 Hyperloop to DC. I’ll check in with you once you have something.”
“Base, the esper’s here. One moment. All right, sir, go on in.” The young, bored-looking cop nodded warily at Zander and stepped aside, letting the Finder into Garrett Clevers’ apartment. Inside, it was not much larger than Zander’s own place. Single bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living area. The place was clean and tidy, with barely anything left out of place; apparently, Clevers wasn’t the kind of person who took his work home with him. Either that, or someone had taken a lot of care to leave everything in pristine condition. Unlike Zander’s apartment building in New York, this one didn’t have a built-in ALICE hub. Perhaps it was due to the confidential nature of Clevers’ work, but it meant there was no surveillance vid from inside the apartment to go through.
Zander took his time exploring the rooms, searching for any leads that might have been missed in the initial police assessment. He wasn’t really expecting to find anything, though; his main priority was to pick up any lingering traces of Clevers’ aura. After a perfunctory search of the other rooms, Zander finally entered the missing engineer’s bedroom. There was a workstation with a comp and auvid setup, a double bed, shelves lined with reference books and journals on biology, organic chemistry, nanoengineering. Zander sat on the bed, opposite the workstation, and lay back on the comforter. He remained still for several long minutes, simply breathing in and out, absorbing the atmosphere of Clevers’ bedroom. There! A faint impression of water, blue-green like the sea, and a smell that Zander couldn’t quite identify. Normally, even residual auras were readily detectable by a Finder, so for Zander it was an exciting and unfamiliar experience; he could easily imagine that a less experienced Finder might not detect such a subtle residual aura. It also proved that Louis hadn’t been quite right about Clevers not having an aura. He’d definitely had one, at some point. The billion-dollar question, though, was: would it be enough for Zander to Find the target’s location?
Remaining on Clevers’ bed, Zander closed his eyes, slowed his breathing and allowed his mind to become open to the sensations around him. He carefully tuned out his own aura. Outside the apartment, he could sense the young cop’s aura as well, a faint woody scent with a hint of cumin. Zander refocused his attention back to the faint impression of Clevers’ aura. It was like pulling on a thread, and letting the distant tapestry of other people’s auras carefully unravel and fall away until eventually the remaining threads pointed to the location of the target. If you pulled too hard, the thread snapped and the target’s signal would be crowded out by interference; too softly, and you ended up with too many possibilities to follow, hundreds of false leads resulting from contact between the target and other people in their social circle. But this was a whole new level of difficulty, thought Zander, as he pulled on what seemed to him to be the lightest, most delicate strand of silk, anxious that it would disintegrate at the slightest disturbance to his concentration. Projecting his awareness into the surrounding void, he could sense the thread of Clevers’ aura growing almost imperceptibly more intense, a sign that he was on the right track. Just a little more…
Then the thread snapped. Except it didn’t. Zander no longer felt the distant pull of the blue-green sea. Instead, a wall of white-hot arousal assaulted his body. His hands balled into fists as a fierce, all-consuming tsunami of lust and pleasure swept through him from his head to his toes. It felt as if his entire body was submerged in a hot spring, but one where the warmth of the surrounding waters was firing every nerve in his body that was capable of signalling pleasure. The only thing that mattered to him was the insistent need to cum. Zander’s back arched off the bed, his toes clenched, and he roared as his balls contracted and his painfully hard dick fired shot after shot of cum into his jeans. It wasn’t enough; he needed to keep cumming, to let the feeling of incredible pleasure take over his mind. There was nothing else except endless, perfect submission to the need to cum, as he approached the crest of a second powerful orgasm…
Then, suddenly, it was over, the connection severed. Zander collapsed on the bed, red-faced, breathing heavily, completely spent. A wet and sticky patch was starting to form in the tight fabric that bulged over his erect member. The cop from outside the apartment was shaking him hard, with a firm hand on his shoulder. “Oh God, you’re alive,” the cop said. “Fucking hell, I was about to call a fucking ambulance. What happened, man?”
“I, urghhh… a bad reaction…” Zander spluttered, sitting up carefully. The cop was staring with disgust at the obvious swelling in Zander’s crotch, and although the dark material hid any tell-tale stains, he was sure the cop could smell the load he’d deposited in his jeans. “I… Sometimes Finding a target can… have unusual effects. I’ll be all right.”
“Uh-huh…” the cop said, tearing his eyes away from Zander’s bulge with some effort. “Whatever you say. I’ll be outside if you need me.” Zander thought he heard the man mutter ‘Fucking espers’ under his breath as he left, and his face reddened even more in embarrassment.
As he cleaned himself up in the bathroom, Zander considered his next move. He’d managed to find a trace of Garrett Clevers’ aura, although his first attempt at Finding Clevers had ended… messily. But what concerned Zander was the sudden and total loss of control that he’d experienced, the sudden overwhelming need to cum taking over his entire being. He was fairly certain nothing like that had ever been documented before. It was probably unwise to try again without backup from Spec-Int. Perhaps he ought to talk to Louis before trying again.
Zander shifted awkwardly in his seat inside the Hyperloop carriage carrying him back to New York. He’d been feeling unusually horny since the strange experience at Clevers’ apartment. Upon returning to his hotel room, he’d taken a cold shower and ordered dinner via room service. The shower helped to cool his arousal somewhat, but after struggling to fall asleep, he’d given in to the urge to jerk off. He’d had to rub out a fresh load in the morning before his call with Louis. Now his arousal had finally subsided to something more normal, although he’d found himself getting semi-erect whenever he noticed a good-looking guy in the street. He’d had to concentrate hard on getting to the Hyperloop terminal without being distracted by random strangers whom he found the slightest bit attractive.
Louis had been surprised to hear that Zander had picked up a residual aura from Garrett Clevers’ apartment. “But you didn’t manage to Find him?”
“Not yet. It was an extremely weak trace, and… I didn’t get far enough to identify his location. I thought I would come back to the office and try again from there.”
“Okay. I understand it can take a few attempts to pinpoint someone. We can review when you get back. Stay safe, Zander.”
Zander spent the thirty-minute journey between DC and New York testing his Finding ability on the other passengers, to reassure himself that his ability still worked as he expected it to. With his eyes closed, he could sense the woman with an aura of cherries and anise sitting at the back of the carriage, the young teen with the dark purple aura playing a game on his cell, the bearded businessman seated opposite him, exuding a distinctive dark green aura with notes of balsamic vinegar and motor oil.
Once again, when he reached his suite at IASD, Louis was waiting for him. “Still no leads on our target. You going to try Finding him again? Mind if I watch?”
The image of Louis watching Zander cumming helplessly appeared in his mind’s eye. Fuck, thought Zander, I’m getting hard again… He hadn’t particularly noticed yesterday, but Louis’s tight shirt, today a pastel pink one, hinted at the young Handler’s well-defined chest and abs underneath the thin fabric. Zander sat down at his workstation, mostly in an attempt to hide the tent forming in his jeans from view. “Uh, I thought I would review the case file one more time, I might have missed something the first time.”
“Okay, but I don’t think you’ll find anything else in the files.” Louis examined Zander’s face. “You’re looking a little flushed, man. Are you feeling all right? I can always ask one of the other Finders to take a look at things.” Louis placed a hand casually on Zander’s shoulder, and Zander had to stifle an urge to moan as his dick twitched in his pants.
“I’m fine,” Zander managed to reply. “But on second thoughts, it might be better if I do this from my apartment. Sometimes being in a familiar environment helps with the Finding.” He knew that, strictly speaking, it was frowned upon to Find targets outside of IASD premises, but many of the Handlers turned a blind eye, knowing that their Finders had better chances of success in a familiar environment. Fortunately, or perhaps because he was new to the job, Louis didn’t seem to have any objections. “Sure thing, Zander. Keep me posted if you learn anything new.” Zander breathed a sigh of relief as his Handler left the suite. He waited another ten minutes, then took the elevator to the ground floor and took a driverless cab back to his apartment.
Zander lay on his bed, completely naked. It seemed like a good idea, in case the same thing happened to him as he’d experienced at Clevers’ apartment. ALICE had automatically raised the apartment’s temperature to compensate, but Zander’s skin was dotted with goosebumps from a mixture of nervousness and anticipation. He was getting hard again, too. This time, at least, he was somewhat better prepared for what might happen.
He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, taking deep, calm breaths, and recalled the sensation of Clevers’ residual. He could feel the thread again, though it seemed even fainter than before. Being in Clevers’ surroundings earlier must have helped to amplify the signal. It seemed to wax and wane gradually as he followed it, trying to discern where the trail led. Then, just as before, the thread snapped, and Zander was hit by a wave of arousal. He gasped as his dick swelled into an immediate, throbbing erection. This time, he was a little better prepared.
Zander fought the powerful urge to take hold of his dick and rub out another load of cum. He gripped the sheets into bunches with his hands, determined to resist the onslaught of arousal, and to his surprise it seemed to plateau, no longer a tsunami but a steady stream. He tried to focus on projecting his awareness outwards, ignoring the steady throbbing pressure in his balls. No, he needed to concentrate. He cast his thoughts south, towards Manhattan, then east, towards Long Island. No, that wasn’t right. West, towards Jersey City. North, towards the Bronx. East again, but more east by south-east. Still nothing. West again. His dick twitched, and he moaned as the stream of arousal seemed to flow a little faster, the need to cum a little more urgent when he cast his attention in that direction. Was it possible that he could Find the target like this? It was completely uncharted territory – no Finder had ever reported this kind of… sexual feedback before. Even with Keill, he’d only ever sensed his fiancé’s location based on Keill’s aura; his body hadn’t responded like it was doing now, to this stranger that he’d never met, nor even heard of until the day before.
Using his body’s reaction as a guide, Zander pushed his focus westward across the expanse of the United States. Pennsylvania. Ohio. Indiana. The familiar heat of arousal continued to increase. The Midwest. No, it was plateauing again. Not quite right. He tacked north. Michigan, the Great Lakes. Into Canada. Stronger. Up north into Ontario, across the Hudson Bay… no, it was fading again. He turned his focus towards the west again, but still heading gradually north. Across the vast expanse of northwest Canada, past Alaska. Fuck… he could feel his balls aching to release their load. He let go of the sheets and cupped his balls with his left hand, massaging them. His right hand closed around his shaft and he began to stroke his cock in earnest. Almost there. Crossing the sea into Russia, Kamchatka, across another sea. The northern coast of Japan. There! He was so close. He couldn’t lose focus now, but he was so hard, hard and leaking and pulsing, his balls aching to release their load. It was like some primal instinct was taking over, shutting down his ability to think rationally. His breaths came in short gasps as his hand flew up and down his throbbing shaft, the smell of his own musk and precum driving him further into mindlessly milking the cum out of his cock. No! He willed himself to stop. He needed to hold back, find Garrett. Find the source. He was almost there…
As he pushed onwards through the space of possibilities, guided by the impending deluge of lust building around and within him, he began to imagine looking up at Garrett, the man’s impressive, solid chest looming tall over him as he continued to stroke his dick. Then suddenly he was lying beneath Garrett, pinned down by the weight of the other man as they ground their hard, muscled bodies together. He could feel Garrett’s mouth on his neck, and then Garrett’s hand tightly gripping his cock and pulling the cum out of his dick. He couldn’t hold back any longer. Zander screamed as he arched his body off the bed and abandoned himself to sheer pleasure. Cum blasted out of his cock, spraying milky droplets over his face and chest. Zander continued to pump away at his dick until the final spasms had died away, the cum pooling at his groin now beginning to drip off his waist and soak into the sheets. He lay on his bed for a long while, completely spent. At least it hadn’t been for nothing: he now knew where to find Garrett.
Tokyo.
Within hours of reporting Garrett’s location to Louis, the Handler and Finder were both on an express flight to Japan. If anything, the after-effects of Finding Garrett were even more intense than after the apartment visit. Zander had feigned an upset stomach in order to visit the toilet repeatedly, where he would whip out his achingly hard cock and jerk himself off while fantasising about having sex with Garrett or Louis (and on several occasions, both at the same time). He told himself it was the only way to keep Louis from asking awkward questions. Part of him knew that something wasn’t right, that it was starting to affect his inhibitions, and talking to Louis about it was absolutely the responsible thing to do, but it was as if the Findings had flipped some kind of switch in his brain that kept him hard and horny most of the time, and made it easy to rationalise his choices.
Zander’s new-found fixation with Garrett reminded him of the intense crushes he used to have on hot male celebrities. While it was technically forbidden for a Finder to use their ability for selfish reasons, it was very difficult for IASD to enforce. At night, a teenage Zander would Find the nearest celebrity’s location and imagine himself bravely fighting off some intruders or saving them from some kind of danger. He would jerk off imagining the grateful, handsome celebrity rewarding his bravery with a night of mind-blowing sex. Even after he’d met Keill, who would be in the mood for sex sometimes two or three times a day, their mutual attraction had rarely been this intense and insistent.
As soon as they touched down on the runway at Haneda, Louis was on his cell, confirming their arrival. He turned to Zander. “IASD Tokyo is ready and waiting to move in on the target as soon as you can pinpoint his location. We’re to check in to our hotel, and then we’ll need to report to the office first thing in the morning. Oh, and your old friends, the Engawa? It seems they’ve been very quiet recently, keeping out of trouble. Not that it necessarily has anything to do with you or this case, but I thought I’d better warn you, given your history with them.”
The taxi ride to the hotel in the Akihabara district was uneventful. Louis spent the time reviewing various files on his comp, and Zander watched the decacrete tower blocks and neon lights whizz by outside, trying to avoid thinking about Garrett or his aura. After a quick late-night dinner in the hotel, the two men went to their separate rooms to sleep.
Zander was in bed when he heard the door to his room open. He sat up to see two men in dark suits enter the room. One of the men pointed a stun-gun at him and pulled the trigger. Before he could get to his feet, a dart struck Zander in the chest. Some kind of fast-acting sedative, Zander realised, as he slumped to the floor.
When Zander regained consciousness, he found himself seated on a chair in the middle of a metal compartment. Judging by the vibrations and noise, he was in a moving vehicle, probably a van. He tried to get up, but his hands were tied behind him and his feet were zip-tied to the front legs of the chair, which was itself securely bolted to the floor of the van.
Two men were watching him intently. The one he didn’t recognise, a Japanese man in a suit like the men who’d ambushed him at the hotel, was pointing a stun-gun at him. His aura was dark green, and brought to mind the smell of mouldy bread. Without even looking at the other man, Zander could tell it was Garrett Clevers. Even this close, Zander was surprised to find that the man had no discernible aura, not even a hint of the residual aura that Zander had detected at Clevers’ apartment in DC. More worryingly, the other tell-tale sign of the man’s identity was the effect that his presence was having on Zander. The Finder could feel the blood rushing to his cock as he immediately began to develop an urgent erection, tenting the front of his boxers shorts, which were the only item of clothing he was currently wearing.
“Let me go!” Zander demanded, pulling at his wrist restraints to no avail. “You can’t keep me here. Someone will be tracking my location right now.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that, Mr. Chen. Who Finds the Finders? Of course, someone will know where you are before very long. So we don’t have much time. I suggest you answer my questions, and then you have a decision to make.”
“Why should I listen to you?”
“Well, maybe because Satoshi here has a gun pointed at you? It’s your choice, obviously. We must move on quickly. Tell me, how did you Find me?”
Zander said nothing, and Garrett’s intense gaze moved to the bulge in Zander’s boxers. “I wonder… are you somehow using your autonomic nervous system to…” Garrett leaned forward in his seat and gently placed his hand on Zander’s knee. To Zander, Garrett’s touch was sheer fiery arousal, streaming from Garrett’s body into his through their physical connection. He almost screamed in pleasure as his balls pulled up and his cock fired a stream of cum into his boxers with such force that white beads of cum oozed through the fabric before soaking into it. Garrett quickly pulled his hand away. “Fucking hell! Is that how… do I make you horny when you try to detect my aura? Interesting… If only we had more time to investigate this further. But next question: what do you know about D Unit?”
Zander was still trying to catch his breath. Although he’d just cum, the proximity to Garrett was keeping him horny and his cock remained ready to release another load. He had to concentrate on answering Garrett’s question. “That’s just a stupid conspiracy theory.”
Garrett laughed. “You’re wrong. The proof is on this chip.” Garrett pulled a thin datachip from his pocket. “IASD is a front for a kill squad called D Unit, which is using Finders to locate targets. President Tsai of Taiwan, Abdul Qadiya in Syria, UN Secretary-General Hassan Ortiz… Think about it. You can Find a target’s location and the location of everyone they come into contact with. In the field, a man like you can detect the target’s bodyguards in real time, avoid enemy contact. Ideal abilities for an assassin, don’t you think?”
“I’m supposed to believe all that?”
Garrett laughed. “Who do you think asked me to find some means of blocking a subject from being Found? But we’re running out of time. They probably told you I’m some sort of terrorist or mass murderer, didn’t they? I have a plan to stop them, but I can’t afford to have you or anyone else from IASD getting in my way. I did say I was going to offer you a choice, but I don’t think you’ll like it.” Garrett reached into a jacket pocket and withdrew a syringe. “EV103. My experimental neurotransmission modulator. It permanently blocks the user’s aura from detection. Although it seems you are the only known exception to this, somehow. Right now this drug is only injectable, but in a few months, I’ll be starting production of a powdered formulation for oral administration. The Engawa cartel will distribute it using their drug supply network. I would have offered you the chance to take it and join me, but it’s fair to assume you’ll refuse since you’d be too horned-up afterwards to be much use to anyone. Of course, I can’t have you trying to track me down for D Unit, so I have no choice but to kill you. I’ll ask Satoshi to make it quick, though.” Satoshi grinned at Zander.
The van slowed to a stop, and the doors opened from outside. “I’m afraid our time is—”
Garrett was interrupted by the muffled sound of an explosion outside. The van lurched to the left before correcting its course. “What’s happening?” Garrett asked the thug. Satoshi pressed his fingers to an earpiece, exchanging some words in Japanese. “A drone!” he announced to Garrett.
Zander braced himself as a second explosion rocked the van. It swerved to the right, and continued to careen forwards for a while before coming to a stop. Satoshi opened the doors, but before he and Garrett could exit the van, shots rang out from the darkness. Satoshi crumpled to the floor, his aura rapidly dissipating into nothing. Louis advanced from the darkness into the cone of light surrounding the van, aiming his gun at Garrett, who raised his hands in surrender.
“Louis! Help me!” Zander shouted, struggling again at his restraints.
Louis glanced at Zander, and in his eyes Zander saw the cautious but steady gaze of a someone who’d had firearms training. Then Louis turned back to Garrett and pulled the trigger. Zander watched in horror as Garrett collapsed on the floor of the van, the fog of arousal lifting from Zander as the man’s aura faded.
Louis climbed into the van and retrieved the datachip and syringe that Garrett had dropped. Zander strained in his chair. “Louis! Please, get these ties off me!” The Handler produced a blade from his pocket and sliced through Zander’s bonds.
“Backup is on the way. Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine,” Zander replied. “Did you have to shoot him? You had him covered.”
“I know, but when I saw you tied up in here, I couldn’t take any chances. Louis glanced down at Zander’s visibly stained boxers. “What exactly happened anyway, Zander? No, you know what, there’ll be plenty of time for debriefing later. There’s a fresh uniform in the back of my car. Once the tac team gets here, we’ll get you checked over in hospital, and then we’ll go through everything tomorrow morning.”
Zander entered the IASD office in New York via the usual side entrance. It was only yesterday that he’d returned from Tokyo with Louis, but his Handler had already assigned him a new case. He waved his hand over the scanner at the security checkpoint. Instead of the usual friendly green light from the scanner, the vidpane flashed an angry red, and an alarm began to sound in the room. Two security officers approached Zander, hands on their stun-guns. Zander noted their auras, the more senior officer’s of cold black peppermint, the other officer a dim red, floral.
“I’m sorry, sir, your pass is invalid,” the senior officer said. “We’ve been instructed to detain you until further notice.”
“What? There must be some mistake.”
“Please come with me, sir.”
“Okay, okay.” Zander allowed the officers to handcuff him and pat him down for weapons. “At least call my Handler, Louis Richards. He’ll vouch for me.”
“He’s been notified. Let’s go.”
The officers escorted Zander to a holding cell on a lower level. It was a small room with bare concrete walls. In the corner, a cam monitored the room. The officers secured Zander’s handcuffs to the back of his chair, then left him alone in the cell.
After about fifteen minutes, the door opened, and Louis entered. “Private mode.” The cam silently retracted into a compartment in the ceiling.
“What’s going on, Louis? Why has my security clearance been revoked?”
Louis stepped over to Zander. He gently took Zander’s face in his hand, before running his hand down Zander’s chest, through the Finder’s shirt. “Hey!” Zander protested. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Zander, I’m afraid your behaviour has been quite erratic since taking on this case.”
“What are you talking about? Take your fucking hands off me!” Zander tried to sit up, but with the cuffs on, he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Did you think I didn’t know what effect Finding Garrett was having on you? Of course I did. I’ve been watching you since I assigned you this case. Your first attempt to Find him at his apartment. And again here in New York. I really enjoyed that one. I must admit I was surprised you were able to locate him. He’s been hiding from us for almost a year.”
“A year? You said…”
“Yes, I may have lied about that. The truth is, you’re the eighth Finder that I’ve assigned to this case. We didn’t want to put you on it, actually. As the Finder who saved the Capitol, you do wonders for IASD’s image. Like I said, I was honestly surprised that you were able to Find him. Unfortunately for you, that now makes you a threat to our operations. Can’t have you Finding our own agents after we’ve given them the drug, can we?”
Zander tried to process what Louis was telling him. “You… Garrett was right. IASD runs a kill squad. You’re part of it. Fuck!”
“So now you know.”
“But you can’t keep me here. All the Finders are tracked and it’ll look suspicious if I suddenly disappear…”
Louis smiled. “That would usually be the case, but after Garrett injected you with that drug, no-one can detect your aura anymore, can they?”
“What the fuck are you talking about? That never happened. Wait! No!” Zander pulled at the cuffs again as Louis withdrew a syringe from inside a small case. “You can’t do this! HELP! SOMEBODY!”
“Make as much noise as you want. The room’s soundwalled. No-one can hear you.” Louis expelled an air bubble from the syringe, tapping it with his finger. He then rolled back the edge of Zander’s left shirt sleeve and pinched a fold of skin on Zander’s arm. The needle pierced his skin, and Zander began to hyperventilate as Louis delivered the drug that would change his life forever.
The helpless Finder looked down at his body, watching the drug take effect. His cinnamon and honey aura, a warm, comforting blanket of familiarity ever since his ability developed, was already dissolving. It was like like watching the colour drain out of a malfunctioning vidpane. But instead of shades of grey, Zander’s aura was being replaced by a deep insistent hunger for sexual contact. His dick swelled to a full erection in his jeans, a thick bulge pushing its way down his leg. He could feel the material of his shirt chafing against his sensitive nipples. “Urghhhh… Louis…don’t do this to me, please…”
“Private mode off. Louis pressed a panic button on the wall, and shortly after, two security officers appeared in the doorway. “We need to get Officer Chen into containment. He’s having a reaction to some kind of neurotoxin and is currently a danger to himself and others.” The officers seized Zander’s arms and unlocked his cuffs from the chair, then marched him to a service elevator, Louis following behind. Zander tried to protest, but it was impossible to concentrate on forming the words he wanted to say. “No… Louis, he… he did… fuccckkk!” Louis merely shook his head sadly. “The sooner we get him to containment, the better.” Louis waved his hand over the elevator control panel, and they began to descend into the lower levels of the building.
The elevator glided to a stop. “Containment Level D.” The officers marched Zander into a processing room. As soon as the cuffs were removed, Zander tried to reach for his dick. The senior officer grabbed his arms and held him in a full nelson as the other one removed Zander’s shirt. Zander’s shoes and socks came off next, then his jeans, and finally his boxers. The Finder’s cock sprang free as his underwear was removed, and Zander shamelessly humped the air to the amusement of the officers.
The officers proceeded to bend the naked prisoner over a counter. One of the officers put on a glove and quickly inserted it into Zander’s hole, checking for any hidden items. Zander moaned, pushing back against the officer’s finger, but the search was over before he could get any relief.
“We’ll need him secured according to protocol six, please,” Louis said.
“On whose authority?” asked the officer holding Zander down against the counter.
“Mine, for now,” said Louis. “The Director will confirm as soon as I can get him on vidcom.”
The officer nodded. “Good enough for me.”
Zander shook his head violently as the other officer approached him with a white leather straitjacket and proceeded to force the sleeves up Zander’s arms. The officers pulled the sleeves tight behind Zander’s back and tied off the ends. Once both officers were content that Zander was suitably restrained, one of the officers attached a metal belt to Zander’s waist. The belt supported a rigid ring of metal in front of Zander’s waist. The ring was about an inch thick and three inches in diameter, and protruded from the front of the belt. The other officer produced a roll of metallic tape and wrapped two loops of tape over Zander’s cock, just behind his glans. As soon as the officer let go of Zander’s cock, it was sucked into the hollow core of the metal collar by the magnetic field pulling on the tape. However Zander shook his hips and bucked, the device held his cock steady within the metal ring, ensuring that nothing could possibly touch the head of his dick while the magnetic fields were active. Satisfied, the officers took Zander to an empty cell and left him alone with Louis.
“Now that your life as a Finder is effectively over,” said Louis, “I think it’s time for you to get your mouth on my cock.” Zander nodded obediently and sank to his knees. Louis unbuttoned and removed his shirt, then kicked off his shoes and removed his remaining clothes. Zander could feel his mouth watering as Louis’s dick filled his vision. It was seven inches long, with a shaft that was narrower at the base, and curved slightly upwards with a thick, tasty-looking head. He opened his mouth and wrapped his lips around the head, savouring Louis’s scent. Louis’s cock tasted clean, but he could still sense Louis’s aura, a pervasive metallic tang of copper that seemed to penetrate his being each time Louis thrust his shaft into Zander’s mouth. He wanted to stroke his own dick, but with his arms restrained in the straitjacket, and his cock suspended in an unyielding metal ring to prevent any accidental stimulation, all he could do was hope Louis would take pity on him and let him cum. “If only the other Handlers could see us now. Oh fuck, yes, that feels so good,” Louis moaned. He allowed Zander to suck his dick for a while, before grabbing Zander’s hair and pulling the former Finder away.
“That’s enough. Time to get fucked. Get on your back.” Zander lay down on the bed. Louis followed him onto the bed and positioned his cock at the entrance to Zander’s hole. With a firm thrust, Louis slid his entire length into Zander’s ass. “Urrrrghhh!” Zander screamed as his untouched cock blasted long ropes of cum across his chest and neck. But his need to cum barely decreased. He felt as if his entire body was an extension of his cock. Louis began to fuck him with a firm, steady cadence, each thrust causing Zander’s dick to dribble out a tiny trickle of cum into the sticky pool over his waist. His legs clamped around Louis’s back, trying to pull Louis deeper into his ass. “Oh, yeah, take it all,” Louis sneered. “Fucking hotshot Finder like you, just a horny, mindfucked slut for my cock.” Louis swept his hand into the pool of cum on Zander’s stomach and offered his fingers to Zander, who immediately sucked them into his mouth. “I’m gonna come and fuck you like this every time I need to dump a load of cum in one of your holes. Oh, shit, here it comes…”
Louis slammed his dick balls deep against Zander’s ass. Zander felt Louis’s cock swell as his former Handler came inside him. Zander moaned again as pleasure overwhelmed him and cum sprayed from his swollen dick. The relief was only momentary. Somehow, the injection had turned Zander’s own aura into a prison of never-ending arousal, and all he wanted now was for Louis to continue fucking him senseless. He whimpered as Louis pulled out of his ass. As Louis put his clothes back on, Zander rolled over onto all fours and tried to thrust his cock into the damp sheets, moaning in frustration as the metal belt ensured that his dick touched nothing but air. He was just a toy for Louis to use now, and he hoped it wouldn’t be long before Louis returned to fuck him again.
May 5th, 2092 – Three months later…
Louis left the IASD office and flagged down a cab. Most of them were driverless and fully automated, but this one was being driven by an Asian-American man who looked to be in his late twenties. He bore a passing resemblance to Zander, Louis thought as he got in the cab. “Liberty Plaza, please. Excuse me, but have we met before?”
The driver turned around. Definitely a resemblance. “Wait, I recognise you. You’re-”
“Danny Chen. Yes. You broke the news of my brother’s disappearance to me and my parents.”
“Yes, I’m so very sorry about what happened to him. He was never the same after his last mission, and I’m sure his death must have been hard for you…”
“Shut up.” A stun-gun appeared in Danny’s hand. “I know he’s alive.”
“That’s impossible-”
“His aura,” Danny continued. “I can sense it all over you. Where is he? What have you done to him?”
Louis swallowed nervously. “You must be mistaken. And being an unregistered Finder is a serious offence.” He tried to open the door, but it was locked. “Now I suggest you let me go right now!”
“Not until you tell me where Zander is.”
“Fuck you.”
A dividing wall rose from the seats in front of Louis, sealing his compartment off from the front of the cab. The vidpane in the centre of the wall turned on, with a feed of Louis in the back of the cab. Danny’s voice came through some hidden speakers as the cab started to move off and join the New York City traffic.
“This cab is programmed to drive around the city randomly. It won’t let you out until you tell me what I want to know. If anyone tries to tamper with it or override the program, the fuel tank is rigged to explode. When you’re ready to talk, we’ll talk.”
Danny watched as the cab merged into the New York City traffic heading downtown. Over the feed, he could hear Louis frantically beating at the doors of the cab. He wondered how long the man would take to break.
I won’t give up, Zander. I’m going to Find you, no matter what.