What is in front of us is a huge corporate building. It didn't look anything special, except for some couples going in there together. Susan holds onto my hands and brings me along. Despite all the date training we went through, I still feel a bit nervous with all these couples moving around us. I am finally Susan's one and only partner, but then why does it feel so… unnerving.
Susan drags me along inside. It is a normal office, like what one would expect. A small queue is formed in front of the receptionist. Various monster girls laughing and chatting around, but then I notice a few boys with weird accessories on them. They have something like a voice muzzle on their mouths along with a collar, similar to that of pets. Their hands are cuffed like some sort of prisoners. All of them have a defiant look on their face, glaring at their owners who held them in their leash.
"Susan, what's that…?" I ask with a weary voice. Just why were they binding boys and treating them like pets?
Susan gives an uncomfortable smile, as if she is hesitant to explain it to me.
"Those boys have probably got new partners and are acting rebellious. It's pretty normal for males to act like that before they become intimate with them. Everyone who's here right now didn't come through the market since their siphon energy isn't checked yet, and people who cross the borders with their monster girl lovers are unlikely to act so hostile. These guys are probably stragglers."
"Stragglers?" I ask Susan.
"People who tried to evade their military duty, or in other words, tried to avoid crossing the border. Anyone who avoids the authority becomes free game for either monster girls or the shelter's government to catch them back and claim ownership. Usually, it's the monster girls who get them first. They are often forced into adoption by other monster girls.
Catch them back? That means that it still has to be in the shelter… does that mean…
"Is there some force of monster girls roaming in the shelters?"
"Yeah, we call them MANS. Monster Alliance Neutralizing Service. It's an official body of Eucidia in shelter zones. Their name is pretty self-explanatory."
It is amazing how monster girls have been roaming around in human society, or should I say shelter, for so long. Only the government and top officials would probably know about this.
"Oh, our turn is here! Let's register quickly!" Susan changes the subject in excitement. Soon, a bear-eared receptionist is waiting for us. She gives a kind smile before explaining the details.
"Good morning sir and madam, thank you for choosing our service. Please kindly fill the documents for your man's siphon energy to be tested." She explains in a calm and collected voice.
We fill in the necessary procedures, after which she gives a ticket with a number to Susan.
"Your room number is 12. You will be called soon. Thank you for your time!"
We thank her in exchange and start waiting in one of the chairs there. I notice the magazine rack and pick up one of the tabloids lying around. Listed in it are many products, mainly centred around taking care of a monster girl's man or how to appear more seductive to them. Their society seems to put a lot of attention to men.
Looking through the articles, it is mostly scandalous ones about celebrity monster girls but a fair share of them include men too, but as for the advertisements, it mainly consists of men showing off their bodies. I look to my side only to see Susan eyeing me.
"Is something wrong?" I ask Susan. She just smiles and kisses my cheek. I blush furiously from her surprise attack.
"What was that?" I exclaim as I am caught off guard. Susan just snickers in response.
"Can't I express my love to my boyfriend?" She hugs me before kissing again.
"Stop making a scene, others are watching!" I could feel their stares stabbing into me. Some of their conversations enter my ear.
"I wish my boyfriend was also this close to me."
"Aww, how cute they both look."
"Maybe I can do the same with my husband too."
"He looks so cute being embarrassed."
I feel my face reddening as Susan uses the opportunity to cuddle closer. Thankfully, I am saved by the bell as a mechanical voice calls out our number.
"Number 12."
I quickly separate from Susan and get up from the seat. She should realize we are in public. Not to mention that stare… it feels her actions are a lot more risque than before.
We start going through the hallway, checking which room has the number 12.
"Ah, there's the room," Susan says while pointing at the room's number. It is indeed the number 12. I knock on the door, but there's no reply.
"Silly Mike. The room is empty. I will be the one checking your siphon energy."
"Why is that?" I ask in confusion.
"Letting your partner be the first one to feel your siphon energy is considered romantic, and the method to activate is simple enough. You just need to let me handle it all."
As she says that, we enter a vast room. There's a huge contraption which looks reminiscent of a CT scanner. It looks anything but simple.
"Are you sure that you don't need help? That thing looks pretty complex."
"No worries. You just need to lie down in it and it will be over within the press of a button." Susan quells my worries as she helps me lie down within the machine. I feel a bit scared sitting inside it, it's just too quiet.
"Okay Mike, here goes nothing." I hear an audible beep after she informs me. The whole machine shakes as it produces a drumming sound. It is followed by another set of buzzing and high-pitched noises. I gulp in anticipation as to what is about to happen.
As the clamorous sounds continue for about a minute, I feel a bit of a vibrating sensation within me. It starts to feel slightly warm as the feeling spreads throughout my body.
"Susan, I feel something. It's… it's flowing through my body."
"No worries, just focus on that feeling. It'll be over soon."
Gradually, the powering sensation overflows. I can lightly sense it outside my body. The range keeps expanding quickly. One meter, two meters, it continues to grow. I look at Susan who is calmly watching me with a smile, but as soon as my energy touches her, her knees buckle as she pants heavily.
"Amazing," Susan speaks in her dazed state.
"What's wrong, Susan? What's going on!?" I scream at her, but she is still acting absent-minded. I struggle out of the machine, but it doesn't stop. Not long after, most of the room is covered by my energy. It doesn't have any taste or smell to it, but I can 'sense' it.
As it is about to go beyond the premises of the room, Susan immediately comes to her senses. She grabs something and roughly pulls my wrist, before attaching something to it. It interrupts the energy flow; I feel it fading away slowly, but the sensation of expanding still remains. Almost as if it's still continuing to grow. Susan is panting like nothing. Her face is flushed, while liquid seeps out from between her thighs. Did she just get wet?
"Mike… listen carefully… never, I mean never, take off this bracelet… for your entire life." Her words sound very serious. She looks as if she's ready to kill someone.
"What was that? What's wrong with my energy?"
"Just listen to me, unless, you want all of Eucidia to chase you."
The thought of every monster girl chasing me makes me tremble. God knows what powers they might have or how they will treat me.
"But why is that? You haven't answered my question."
"Mike, your energy is too perfect. No, it's beyond what we imagined being the perfect siphon energy. The rate it was growing, it would probably cover miles. Although this condition is extremely rare, it isn't the bad part. The bad part is the quality of your siphon energy. It's just too… irresistible, like a highly addictive drug one immediately gets dependent on. Even I had a hard time, despite my species having very strong self-control and efficacy. Any longer and I might've gone to… ahem eat you… Just imagine if it was someone else. Your body would be being ravaged right now."
I am speechless upon hearing this. It just sounds too ridiculous to be true.
"How does the bracelet help me then?"
"The bracelet stops the emitters of siphon energy in your body. Others won't be able to see it. In reality, it doesn't have much practical use other than monster girls wanting to be the only people to have felt their partner's energy. Thankfully, the staff was kind enough to have some situated in here."
I feel my nerves tingle. Being popular sounded great, but from what I can gather from Susan's explanation, I will probably be raped to no end if this were to leak out, maybe to the point of death. If not for Susan, my fate would've already been sealed.
"Mike, you understood it, right? Never, ever, take the bracelet off. Not even when you're bathing. It's for your own good mind, you need to take good care of that bracelet."
I nod nervously as Susan. This was all crucial information. I need to embed every bit of it on my mind.
"Stay calm, Mike, everything is alright. I'll look if the cessation bracelets can be custom made into something less distinguishable, like a ring or something. Just don't take it off, okay?" Susan sounds extremely worried. I am not sure the consequences of removing this bracelet could be, but from what she said, it could move the entire nation. If I naturally developed my siphon energy as I aged, things would've been a lot worse for me.