Ch.18Science Non-fiction! (5)

#018

A Dusky Night.

Moonlight rested upon Dexter’s head.

Red Rock Canyon is the closest mountain to Las Vegas.

The highest point accessible by car in Red Rock Canyon.

Dexter sat in the bed of his pickup truck, drinking a beer and eating a sandwich he had bought from the Oasis Bar.

Unlike the flashy and noisy Strip, Red Rock Canyon was simply quiet.

Only two things accompanied Dexter: the rocky mountains and the stars in the night sky.

‘Sometimes it’s nice to spend time alone without anyone else.’

He had considered going camping, but didn’t feel like enduring the discomfort just to be in nature.

Dexter thought it wasn’t bad to occasionally enjoy natural scenery like taking a walk.

While he was immersed in such sentimental moments, he felt a vibration in his pocket.

Dexter’s eyebrows furrowed.

‘Ah, who on earth is texting on a holiday.’

Very few people knew Dexter’s number.

Judy had already contacted him, and there was no reason for OSA to reach out.

The remaining one.

Someone quite predictable.

Dexter took the phone from his pocket and muttered as he saw the name on the screen.

“Ah, this guy really has no tact. None at all.”

Dan’s brief message was displayed on the screen.

-Are you busy?

Thinking that telling Dan he was drinking on a mountain would probably not go over well, Dexter replied:

>Just hanging out at home. What’s up?

-Nothing much, but the officer who’s doing probation supervision in your place is asking if that’s really Jesse they’re watching???

Dexter scratched his head at Dan’s puzzling message.

“What is he talking about?”

>Did Jesse escape or something? What do you mean?

-No, when you look closely it’s definitely Jesse, but from a distance they say he looks like a completely different person.

‘Ah, the person looks completely different?’

Having understood Dan’s way of speaking, Dexter took a sip of beer and replied:

>Could be because Ms. Yelena doubled his food portions.

-They say his personality is docile too???

>He might be acting that way because other inmates see him as an easy target since he looks weak.

It seemed Jesse had undergone significant changes if even other correctional officers were noticing.

Dexter took another sip of beer as he read Dan’s reply.

-Really??? The changes seem too dramatic for that??? His prison uniform doesn’t even fit anymore, so they’re bringing him a new one.

‘That much?’

Well, the body Dexter had configured for Jesse would be nearly twice the size of Jesse’s original body.

From that perspective, it made sense.

>Looks like Ms. Yelena is taking good care of him. She was always checking on him when I was there too.

-I guess that’s the only explanation that makes sense. It’s not like they installed a fattening machine or something. Lol.

Reading Dan’s message, Dexter glared at his phone and thought:

‘He’s surprisingly sharp.’

Of course, Dan was just making a joke, assuming no such machine existed, but Dexter couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

>Lololol I understand. It’s probably nothing serious.

-Alright, you rest well!!! There’s talk about the warden having an office party with the correctional officers, but I’m not sure how it’ll turn out? I’ll let you know as soon as it’s decided!!

>Thanks, you rest well too. 🙂

The office party Judy had mentioned seemed to be real after all.

‘If my senior is telling me about it, I guess it’s pretty much confirmed. But I wonder, how has Jesse changed so much that others are surprised?’

Although he had seen the modeled Jesse, he hadn’t seen him in person, so he couldn’t imagine what he looked like now.

Whether the others simply weren’t interested in inmates or considered such changes normal, Dexter was relieved that there seemed to be less concern than expected.

‘It was supposed to take a little over a week.’

If such comments were being made after just a few days, he dreaded what might be said next week.

“Maybe I decided too hastily.”

But that thought didn’t last long.

Who else could wear the body correction device instead of Jesse?

Sure, many people would volunteer if paid, but Dexter was already deeply in debt.

“From my position, it was the best choice, I guess.”

Dexter took another sip of beer.

He alternated between looking at the stars above and the Strip emitting bright light beyond the mountains.

His complicated thoughts seemed to momentarily turn blank, as if his worries had become pointless.

“Time to go home.”

Dexter said as he climbed down from the truck bed.

* * *

The next day passed uneventfully, with Dexter spending his day on small tasks like fixing the TV cable for the elderly neighbor.

As his work time approached, Dexter felt energy surging within him, realizing he had become someone who couldn’t live without working.

“I guess work will be my hobby and specialty until I die of old age.”

When Dexter was young, he couldn’t understand adults who spent all day at the company.

‘I wondered why they liked the company so much that they dedicated their entire day to work.’

Back then, it was almost a national rule for adults to watch sports on TV with a bottle of beer after work.

But watching TV seemed insufficient as a hobby.

‘Excluding that, adults back then didn’t seem to have hobbies.’

Dexter thought as he tied his olive-colored necktie.

Arriving at the prison in his pickup truck, Dexter headed straight to the infirmary without receiving any specific assignment.

As Dexter entered the infirmary whistling as usual, he noticed Rose pacing around instead of sitting at the reception desk.

“Rose, good morning. Is something wrong? You look serious.”

Rose, who always greeted Dexter with a smile, looked at him with an anxious expression and said:

“Ah, Mr. Hughes. Today might be a bit difficult.”

“Why, did something happen to Jesse?”

Rose hesitated before answering:

“He’s become… very rough.”

“Blueberg has?”

Suddenly becoming rough?

Wasn’t the frontal lobe treatment with the body correction device going well?

“Since when?”

“Since early this morning…? I was on night shift from yesterday evening until dawn.”

Dexter looked at Rose’s forearm, which she was covering with one hand.

‘Was she scratched?’

There were marks on Rose’s forearm that looked like they were made by something sharp.

“Has his cast been removed?”

Dexter asked, pointing at Rose’s forearm.

“Ah, just one hand. Ms. Yelena said his recovery rate seemed fast.”

Rose continued:

“As for my arm, um… he suddenly said his chest felt tight in the early morning, and when I tried to ask if he was okay, this happened… He did apologize after scratching me, but he seemed unable to control himself.”

As Rose explained, Dexter became concerned.

‘That’s strange? There shouldn’t be such side effects.’

He was certain the body correction device didn’t have such side effects.

‘Did something go wrong as he normalized suddenly?’

He couldn’t tell.

Without medical knowledge, Dexter couldn’t solve the problem even if he considered various possibilities.

“I understand. When will the day shift nurse arrive?”

Rose thought for a moment before answering:

“Probably in about two hours…? I was actually called in urgently. Ms. Yelena also has a conference to attend today, so she’ll be coming in a bit late.”

Dexter, who had been nodding with a serious expression, was startled by the last statement.

“What? Wait. So I’m the only one in the infirmary?”

“No, the night duty doctor is still here. He doesn’t come out much, but he should be in the examination room.”

Dexter, who had been worried about handling emergency patients, sighed in relief and said:

“That’s good. Then you should head home, Rose. You must be tired because of Blueberg.”

“Ah… is that okay?”

“Come on, go home. Hurry.”

“W-wait! Don’t push me. I haven’t packed my things yet…”

Dexter practically pushed the hesitant Rose out, urging her to go home.

-Cough.

As Dexter looked around, he heard a strange sound from the examination room and carefully opened the door.

“Cough! Hmm, mmm. Snore…”

An ordinary middle-aged bald man was sitting in a chair, snoring loudly.

‘He sure sleeps well.’

Since he probably wouldn’t wake up until someone shook him, Dexter decided to leave him be for now.

Looking around the empty infirmary, Dexter gazed toward Jesse’s ward.

Jesse, who would normally be sitting on the bed swinging his legs, was nowhere to be seen.

“…?”

Instead, Jesse was curled up under the blanket.

However, the blanket was moving up and down, suggesting he was doing something.

-Beep.

When Dexter opened the ward door with his key card, the blanket suddenly jerked once and then stopped moving.

“Who, who is it?”

Jesse’s voice was clearly flustered.

“It’s me. What are you doing under the blanket?”

As Dexter sat on the bed and grabbed the blanket, Jesse’s urgent voice was heard.

“W-wait!”

“Why?”

“D-Dexter, is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Can’t you tell from my voice?”

Jesse’s voice was trembling severely.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Dexter said, placing his hand on what seemed to be Jesse’s shoulder.

As Dexter gently patted Jesse’s shoulder, Jesse flinched momentarily.

This was behavior he had never shown before.

‘Is he upset?’

He wouldn’t be upset at someone who just came back from a holiday, and Dexter couldn’t figure out what was going on.

“…Dexter.”

Jesse slowly emerged from under the blanket, peeking out just his face.

He had gained weight much more attractively than when Dexter had seen him two days ago.

His once thin lips had become plump, and his previously dry skin had transformed to be as smooth as if it had received intensive care. His overall impression had completely changed.

However, there was a problem with Jesse’s appearance.

His flushed face, unfocused green eyes, and rough breathing.

Dexter instinctively realized that Jesse was in some kind of abnormal state.

“Hey, hey. Is there a problem?”

“Don’t, don’t interrupt. Listen to me.”

Jesse’s voice was quite serious.

“You did something to my body, didn’t you…?”

Faced with this direct question, Dexter dodged rather than confronting it.

“What would I do to your body?”

“My prison uniform size increased by two sizes… even though it was already loose.”

“You probably gained weight.”

“M-my bra size is bigger now too. And, and… that’s not all.”

Jesse was naturally saying things he would normally be too embarrassed to mention.

“I, I get weird whenever I see you.”

“What?”

“When I sleep, I only think of you. When I wake up, I only think of you. You even appear in my dreams. I don’t know how I survived without you.”

“Hey, wait.”

As the atmosphere grew increasingly strange, Dexter swallowed hard, but Jesse moved closer to him and said:

“Shut up. I’m not finished. You definitely did something to me. I’m right, aren’t I? Otherwise, my body wouldn’t have changed like this.”

“…”

As Jesse spoke, he moved even closer.

Jesse’s face and Dexter’s face gradually came closer together.

“I’ve lived my whole life without a boyfriend. No, I could have dated, but I was too scared. But how is it that whenever I see you, whenever I see you, I become like this? Huh?”

Jesse’s eyes flashed.

Just as things were starting to get a bit frightening, Jesse grabbed Dexter’s head and pressed his lips against Dexter’s.

“Mmph.”

The passion transmitted from Jesse’s plump lips.

Unable to move due to Jesse’s grip on his head, Dexter was momentarily distracted by the surprisingly pleasant sensation.

Amid the sudden situation, Dexter’s mind flashed back to the description written below the preset he had downloaded:

[This preset was made for my Earth girlfriend. Please use it well ^^]

‘Girlfriend.’

Could the problem be the Earth girlfriend preset?

Perhaps the preset included hormone levels responsible for love and desire toward others.

If Jesse, with only Dexter as the nearby male, felt love and desire for the man who had been in charge of him recently?

If he had been suppressing it forcefully and unknowingly hurt Rose?

Jesse had generally been docile with Rose, so if he showed aggression even toward her, it meant he had been holding back considerably.

‘I’m screwed.’

Now all that suppressed love and desire was directed solely at Dexter.

Jesse tried to explore not just Dexter’s lips but his tongue inside his mouth.

Dexter pushed Jesse’s shoulders forcefully and said:

“Wait, I don’t think we should do this. You and I are inmate and correctional officer…”

“Do you think that matters to me right now?”

“No, even if you like me, to kiss like this from the first day…”

At Dexter’s words, Jesse looked at him with even more flashing eyes and said:

“The kiss is just the beginning.”

“Huh?”

“Take responsibility for me starting today, you bastard.”

With that curse, Jesse began unbuttoning his prison uniform one by one.

“Hey, hey, wait!”

“Touch me and I’ll kill you.”

Dexter tried to grab Jesse’s hands to stop him from undressing, but at Jesse’s words, he made a pitiful face.

‘I’m really screwed.’

It was checkmate.