Commander, Are You Working?
I'm still not used to this body.
Not that that's anything new. How long has it even been since I became a woman? I haven't worn this form for a full day yet — if I'd adapted instantly, that would have been strange in its own right.
If I'd had any dating experience before the possession… well, maybe that would have helped. Unfortunately…
If I had, I wouldn't have poured my entire life into this game.
I did strip without hesitation when I went to wash up, of course. Strangely enough, even standing face-to-face with the Commander's naked body didn't stir any lust in me. Even accounting for how frantic I'd been running around the company, all I felt was a faint embarrassment. Nothing more.
Maybe because it's my body now. Just a so this is what I look like kind of observation.
A rather… devastatingly curvy figure to dismiss with such a mild impression, admittedly.
There was one thing I'd overlooked, though.
Even setting aside my own body… I wasn't used to anyone else's — to a woman's body — either.
"Nnh…"
The hand gripping the documents trembled faintly. I tried to even out my breathing, to calm myself down, but the heat had already climbed into my head and concentration was a lost cause. Just a moment ago I'd been able to see the purpose of every document, every solution, all of it laid out crystal clear. Now even the letters on the page had gone blurry. I couldn't make out a single word.
And it wasn't fair.
The fact that I'd been demoted from a professional Commander who tore through paperwork to an incompetent boss staring at a single document for minutes on end was not my fault.
Some certain someone had waltzed in calling herself my adjutant and scattered every nerve that should have been locked on the work… across my entire body.
This was all Rielly's doing…!
"There's no need to be so embarrassed. This is how you used to work, Commander."
"That doesn't even make— nhh?!"
"It's a small thing, but it should help you recover your memories."
"Would you just listen to me—!"
I'd put up what resistance I could, but she hadn't so much as pretended to hear me. She'd simply shoved her way in on raw strength. And after that little act of insubordination, she'd gone and cited my amnesia as the reason, which left me with nothing I could even say back.
Of course, the Commander and I weren't the same person, so none of this was going to restore memories that had never existed… but I couldn't exactly say that out loud.
I was pretty sure I'd been using the amnesia as a shield to gather information. How did that turn around and hit me like a boomerang…?
Ugh…
At a glance, all that had happened was Rielly slipping into the space between me and the chair. Even that much would have been a crisis for someone who'd never had any luck with women in the real world…
But if that were all, my face wouldn't be burning this hot.
Because… simply sitting on a woman's thighs, and having that woman wrap her arms around you and pull you in tight… those were, quite literally, worlds apart.
…And wrapping someone in your arms meant a whole lot more physical contact.
It's touching… it's touching… it's touching meee…!
A soft mass of flesh pressed against my back, radiating body heat. A few layers of fabric stood between us, sure… but the way it squished against me, combined with how much of it I could feel, made the size of it impossible not to estimate…
Honestly, wasn't that already a shock too much to bear for a mind that was still male?
If it had stopped there, I could have gritted my teeth and endured it…
Except… it didn't.
Squeeze— squeeze—
You don't have to touch my stomach…!
I bit down hard on my lip, trying to hold my mind together. At first, one arm had been locked firmly around me while the other stroked in slow, suggestive passes. That much I'd been able to take — but apparently it hadn't been enough, because she started ramping up the pressure, bit by bit, until she was pressing down in earnest.
The sensation of a very particular spot on my lower belly being kneaded with stubborn precision struck me as dangerous. Then, all at once, the strength drained out of my entire body, and I had no choice but to surrender myself to her hands.
So the Commander… used to do this the whole time she was working…?
You'd have to be out of your— nh, mind…
Was this even possible…? A few minutes of this and I felt like I was going to lose it…
Was this kind of skinship just a non-issue between women? I had no idea…
Honestly, memories or not, I was starting to wonder if this was all a conspiracy by Rielly to lock in my overtime as a done deal — and that was when it happened.
Bang—
"Commander! You're in here, right?!"
All of a sudden, a lifeline dropped from the heavens.
"You crazy bitch… what the hell are you doing to my Commander?!"
"…"
…Whether the rope was rotten or not, I'd have to check.
Whether she'd done it on purpose or by accident, Rielly had tormented me so thoroughly that everything in front of me had gone hazy. Still, I forced my eyes to focus, and little by little the world started to brighten.
It only sharpened by a fraction… but it was enough to make out the lifeline that had just flung the door open out of nowhere.
…It's Lucy.
A face I remembered. I had every operative who appeared in Phirma filed away in my head, of course, but hers was one that stuck especially well.
Which, well. That was only natural.
She showed up constantly in the main story, and from launch she'd held the number-one throne in PvP for so long that you'd run into her performance whether she was on your side or the enemy's. On top of that, her warm attitude toward everyone, that peculiar habit of standing just a little too close, and the nonstop affection she poured on the Commander had earned her the nickname Golden Retriever — and the popularity to match.
And then…
On that first day, when everyone had grabbed hold of me and wept, she'd cried more wretchedly than anyone else in that entire crowd, by a margin so wide it was almost unfair.
Commaaandeer… hic, Commaaaandeer…!
…Back then I'd been too busy patting her down and soothing her as she sobbed her way into my arms to get a proper look. Meeting her like this, I could finally see her clearly.
A black hoodie with animal ears, ivory hair spilling out from under the hood. At first the slightly round face had struck me as cute more than pretty — but once my gaze drifted downward…
Whoa…
Even a hoodie, that notorious champion of shapelessness, couldn't hide how much a certain part of her had grown… and below that, a pair of well-shaped bare legs on full display. The so-called no-pants look.
Any man would have had his eyes glued there as a matter of course. I absolutely could not react sexually.
Not that I even had a second me left to react with anymore, but still. No…!
Because…
She's a minor. She's a minor. She's a minor…!
Legally and morally, this was dangerous…!
I shook my head hard, trying to reel back the sanity slipping through my fingers. They'd gone and matched her height to a perfectly average eighteen-year-old, and then dumped the game company's tastes all over her figure with zero regard for accuracy…!
It was a game world, so it wasn't real, but still — I could not do anything that would look like I was getting the wrong idea…!
This insane game company had probably argued something like "in our setting she's an adult" when they went through ratings, so maybe I wouldn't get arrested, but I was not some garbage adult who felt that way about a minor in the first place…!
And while I was busy chasing down my runaway sanity, our Golden Retriever was…
"Get away from the Commander right now, you damn old hag!"
"…"
…launching a personal attack based on age.
…Cheap shot.
I'd had my doubts, but at least the lifeline hadn't been rotten.
"Nngh."
I'd managed to wriggle free of Rielly's grip, but I was in no condition to pick the work back up, so I lay down on the sofa tucked in the corner of the office.
"You just got back and you want to work?! No way, no way!"
"Hyaah?!"
…More precisely, Lucy had scooped me up mid-attempt and tossed me onto the sofa… but I did end up lying down, so. Yeah.
Anyway, this sofa — I didn't know what it was made of, but it had to be expensive. What kind of sofa was softer than my real-world bed?
"Nice, right, Commander?"
"…Mm."
…This was soft, too.
Never in my life did I think I'd be getting a lap pillow from a high-school girl. Was this even a good thing?
No, seriously. If I ever told anyone I'd lain down with my head on a kid's thighs, I'd be buried on the spot. Physically or socially — take your pick.
Normally it'd be the latter, but after running through the people in my orbit, the former didn't seem entirely off the table either.
What, just refuse politely?
Squeeze—
"Commander… I told you to stay still."
"Uh, yeah…"
If that had worked, I'd have done it already.
The second I so much as looked like I might get up, she shut it down. How was I supposed to escape?
No, this was weird. Lucy was only holding my shoulder with one hand. Why couldn't I get up? That didn't make any sense.
Even allowing for the gap between a combat operative and a desk worker, this was too much. It was unfair…
Losing a contest of strength to a kid years younger than me… I hadn't wanted to know what that felt like.
On top of that, even her voice was different from before. You never used a scary voice like that in the game.
Hearing the Golden Retriever's uncharacteristically low register in person… did that count as a voice-actor-fan moment?
…And I couldn't see anything because of her chest, which made it even scarier.
Or would it have been scarier if I could see her face? I was already terrified. Worse than this…?
"…Miss Lucy."
"Hm? What?"
"So, what brings you here?"
While I was trembling at the terror of the unknown, Rielly — who had been sitting primly on the opposite sofa — suddenly addressed Lucy. Her voice was ice-cold, the tone of someone who'd thrown all consideration for the other party out the window and was here to interrogate.
Her mood was clearly more than a little soured. Was me not working really that big a deal…?
"What? The old hag can be here and I can't?"
"…Not today, no. The Reconnaissance Battalion has assignments scheduled, does it not?"
"I left it with the older girls for a bit. And it's not like it's urgent, right?"
"Hah. You really are something…"
What was this? A sudden staring contest?
I hadn't done anything wrong, and nobody was even talking about me, but I was catching stray tension anyway. Like a shrimp caught between two whales.
"Besides, I think I showed up at the perfect time. Who said you could just sit there hugging the Commander?"
"I beg your pardon… and what business is that of yours, Miss Lucy?"
"Of course it's my business!"
…So it wasn't about the work?
Rielly had told me the Commander always used to work while being held by her. Had that been a lie?
Nah. No way. She'd cried her eyes out the second she saw me. She wouldn't lie to my face, right?
…Right?
"The Commander and I are getting married!"
"?"
??
What was she talking about now?
"So you've got to drive off thieving cats before they settle in, right?"
???
Excuse me?
Come again?