It wasn't enough. It was never going to be enough. The System demanded constant feeding, a parasite with a spreadsheet and a countdown clock that would never stop counting no matter how many women I convinced to let me drink from them in pocket dimensions shaped like farmhouses and classrooms and luxury penthouses. Every day I extracted bought me another day. Every cup of essence consumed converted to points that converted to lifespan that converted to additional hours of existing in a world where the people I cared about kept getting hurt because of what I was.
