After seeing her lying on the bed, moving slowly, her hands sliding along her sides, Dragan felt his pulse thundering in his ears. He looked at her face , her half-lidded eyes, her soft, parted lips. Every instinct inside him screamed to act, to close the distance.
But his mind was stronger.
Dragan forced himself to look away, his gaze landing on the sleek neural interface band lying on the edge of his worktable — the same device he was working on for Aurelia ,which he would make her wear during experiments. Its soft blue lights pulsed gently, almost calling to him.
In a quick, silent move, he picked it up and approached her. She didn't even flinch. Lost in her haze, she barely noticed him as he slid the band carefully around her head, letting it settle above her ears and across her forehead.
A soft hum rose as the device powered on, the lights shifting into a calming glow. Within seconds, signals began streaming through the fine neuro-conductive filaments, targeting the emotional and sensory centers of her brain.
Her breath hitched, her hands paused mid-motion.
Dragan adjusted the settings, his fingers dancing expertly over a small handheld console linked to the band. A gentle wave of virtual, peaceful imagery - forests, starlit skies, the sound of rain on a quiet night ,flooded her mind.
Aurelia's tense shoulders eased, her restless fingers dropped to her sides. Her eyelids fluttered, then drifted shut.
Dragan watched her vitals stabilize on the nearby screen: her pulse slowed, her hormone levels started to balance, her body chemistry calming by the second. Relief washed over him like cold water.He stepped back, taking a shaky breath. He knew she might not remember the details of this moment, only that she felt safe and at peace.
He turned toward his research desk again, his hands trembling slightly as he picked up her data sheets.
"I'm sorry, Aurelia," he whispered, his voice almost breaking. "But I have to protect you… even from yourself."
Behind him, her soft breathing returned to normal. The neural band glowed faintly, guarding her like a silent, futuristic dreamcatcher.The neural band was working. Dragan could see it clearly on the screen. Aurelia's aphrodisiac levels, which had been spiking wildly, started to drop steadily.
He watched her closely, tracking every signal and pulse reading. The graphs on the monitor shifted from sharp, erratic peaks to softer, calmer waves. It was helping her. Slowly, she was coming back to herself.
Aurelia's body relaxed on the bed. Her breathing evened out, her flushed face began to lose its heated glow. The tension in her muscles faded, and her restless hands went still at her sides.
Dragan felt a rush of relief, but he also knew he couldn't take the band off just yet. What if it happened again? What if those dangerous levels returned the moment he removed it?
He pulled a chair over and sat down beside her, refusing to leave her side. Every few minutes, he checked the screen again, confirming that her vitals stayed steady and calm.As the hours passed, Aurelia lay there with her eyes closed, looking peaceful at last. Dragan turned his attention back to his research, even as he kept glancing at her between pages.
He pulled out new analysis sheets and began cross-referencing data from the neural band sessions. His mind worked furiously, scanning through patterns and signals.
Then he noticed something strange. Deep in the brainwave feedback, there was a hidden loop ; a pattern suggesting her brain was somehow working against her own true will. It was forcing her into moments of desire, manipulating her emotions and actions.
Dragan leaned in, his eyes wide.
"All those kisses… they weren't real," he whispered to himself, feeling a sharp ache in his chest. "Something… or someone… caused this. It wasn't truly her."
He kept scanning, linking every finding back to her pulse signals. The more he saw, the more complicated and tragic it all became. The strong emotional spikes, the rising aphrodisiac levels, the sudden bursts of affection , they were all triggered by this hidden conflict in her brain.
He stayed there for hours, watching over her, studying the data, and fighting his own heartache. He had to understand, to protect her, to find the source of this cruel interference.
Outside, the night stretched on quietly, and the room remained dim and warm.
Dragan barely noticed the time passing. He was too focused, too determined. And beside him, Aurelia lay still, the neural band glowing softly, like a small blue guardian keeping her safe until she could truly wake up again.