“Jonny, please give your soul to me,” Elizabeth moaned into my ear as we cuddled on the couch.

I stared at Elizabeth in confusion. I knew that she could be an odd girl, but this was a little above par. She didn’t even buy pizza tonight. She loved buying a pizza.

“Eli, I love you and all that, but what are you talking about?” I asked as she tried her best to snuggle into my organs. Her hands were gently rubbing circles on my back and chest.

“You have always liked me…” she whispered as she began to kiss my neck.

I rolled my eyes. Oddball or not, Eli was hard to dislike.

She loved homemaking, cooking, baking, and was super excited to let me tell her Reddit jokes and horrible puns. Her life goal seemed to be making me happy, and I honestly took advantage of it.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, I kissed the top of her head to mollify her lovey-dovey feelings.

I wouldn’t mind doing some sexy time with her right now… but the Optimus Prime was rushing towards Autobot City to reinforce it. I didn’t want to miss the awesome montage and the epic showdown.

We watched the scene, and I tensed as I watched Megatron get his tin can butt kicked around.

Eli smiled as she watched it with me. It was scary how much she remembered about me. My likes and dislikes. She could recall any and all cute moments she ever had with me.

I was lucky to remember her proper name half the time.

“Jonny, do you ever wish you could live forever? Do more and be more?” she asked again.

With a sigh, I gave her a hard hug. She had been asking this more and more during the last few weeks. My answers were often vague, but I nodded along. Of course, I would like that.

Especially if Eli was with me forever.

In the dark corners of my mind, however, I hesitated.

Forever was a long time, and my greatest fears were that Eli would realize that I was a lot less perfect then she was.

“Jonny?” she whispered. She sounded a little tired, a little desperate tonight.

“Yes, Elizabeth. I would love to be all that. With you,” I emphasized as I kissed her head again.

“Great! I have already accumulated enough seed from you to do a proper interface!” she cheered as she shuffled up so that she was now straddling me.

I stared at her.

Enough seed?

Enough!

Oh. My. God.

I stared at her belly, and fear shot through me. The world slowed as the realization stopped time and both froze and burned. My thoughts raced.

I wasn’t ready to be a father. I needed to get a job. A house. My parents needed to know. Her parents! I need to take classes, and buy books. Shit, my lack of savings was not going to last beyond the first month, was it? Did we schedule a doctor sooner, or later?

The giggles filled my ears and Eli hugged me into her soft chest.

“I am not pregnant silly. I am just ready to weave you into the collective!” she cheered as she kissed my forehead.

Like the borg? I was confused and slightly let down. A life with Eli was currently the only future I could imagine. That or soul-crushing depression.

“Yes! Just like the borg! Except you get to use your probing stick on me…” Eli whispered and laughed as she moved my hands to her bare chest. The girl didn’t like underwear when we were alone together.

A fact that I have never seen a downside too.

Wait…

Was she reading my thoughts?

Eli smiled and nodded.

What is two plus two minus 4 when the answer is a swallow?

“Do you mean an African or European one?” Eli asked as she tilted her head and stared into my eyes. She always looked cute like that.

I stared at her. Holy shit.

“Don’t worry darling! We will be together forever!” she whispered as she kept eye contact.

I couldn’t break away!

I couldn’t blink!

We couldn’t stop!

—

I blinked as the world surged around me.

Eli was there, hugging me as usual, but she was so much more.

A thousand lifetimes of memories flooded me, and I Jonny became but a mote of light among the sea of stars.

—

The world snapped back.

“Darling…” Eli purred.

“…I love you,” I finished her thought.

The world was both stranger as it was now filled with wonders.

Yet it was somehow plainer now. The memories of those untold women were now with me. In me. I was them, and they were me.

I stared at my wife. The women who would anchor me to the world. A king to her queen.

My purpose was equal to hers.

As a woman, she could only connect her sisters.

As a man, I would be able to connect with my brothers.

Eli changed the show. It was a documentary of a failed group that wanted to go to mars.

We needed to go to mars, to ensure the future of us and humanity as a whole.

My mind whirled, the thoughts and inputs of a thousand current living women backed me up.

I was a supercomputer as I pondered on what needed to happen.

Eli kissed me. A serious kiss of lust, need and so much more. All of my desires and hidden fears were now open to her.

I laughed at how childish they were. Those ghosts that held me down were made of a single sheet of paper compared to the vast world today.

Eli spoiled me and I was found myself engulfed in her world.

I was brought to her real home. Not the flat of one of her sisters, but a warehouse where the majority lived in spiritually.

I was spoiled by them. Spoiled by her.

It took a week before Eli was satiated and allowed me to rest.

Allowed me to blankly fall asleep.

—

I dreamed of stars.

I glowed with a light, but it was dim compared to Eli’s brilliance.

Then another spark lit.

Tom, husband of Terry.

Another.

Richard, the brother of Amanda.

Another.

Another.

One after another flooded my space.

I embraced each one. Our minds meshing in ways that I could not with the girls.

We could talk with the sisters. Talk intimately and share memories or emotions.

Yet with my brothers, we had something deeper.

Something spiritual.

My darkness dimmed as the various lights bloomed.

It was a third of hers, but this was not a competition.

This was communion.

—

I snapped awake.

I took uneven breaths as the new reality settled on me.

I made my way off the bed and onto the balcony.

Here a vista of blue ocean and white sand greeted me as the sun began to rise.

Maunday Bay greeted me as the memories of those who brought me here were as clear to me as any other memory.

The sunlight began to strengthen and I found my mind responding.

For us, we simple thousand men had a purpose. A future to work towards.

We would go to mars first. Then we would preserve the world with subtleness.

My thoughts became entangled as Eli stepped up beside me.

Her mind was not only open to me, but I knew that was were intertwined. So long as one lived, so would the other.

“Together forever,” I whispered to her.

Her smile made even the beautiful vista and rising sun pale in comparison.