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Katie felt the full weight of her body become clutched by gravity as she flopped into her desk chair with a satisfying plop and a less satisfying visible jiggle of excess fat around her waist. That was just another reminder of how hard the last two months had been. Exam revision left her no time to exercise, and now having finally ran the four-paper gauntlet, she was simply exhausted.

It didn't help that it was utterly boiling hot. Sweat was already sticking her slouching form to the chair. Her blonde bob-cut hair was already matted together highly unattractively, and she was once again reminded of how... rounded out her curves had become. But it wasn't as though she could go out and run with the dogs right now. There was simply nothing for it but to ride out the heat wave inside, with the fan on the highest setting.

Her PC's fan mixed with her desk fan in a choir of rumbling noise, struggling to keep the electronics working just as she was struggling to keep her melting brain functional.

Well, she certainly wasn't going to get any DnD planning done in this state. And gaming was out of the question. But, watching people gaming... yeah, that could occupy her failing brain for a few hours until it got dark and the heat became marginally more likely to allow her to sleep.

She immediately made the mistake of going to the Twitch homepage instead of to 'Browse' and was instantly bombarded with the 'humour' of whatever Fortnite streamer was trending at the moment. But something else caught her eye on the bar of featured creators. Hafu had loads of viewers - and she was on 'Just chatting' rather than Hearthstone or TFT or whatever.

Katie hoped it was the intro to some sort of big stream rather than the outtro. But either way there was no way she was going to miss out on this. She had just gone two whole months missing the main US streaming times, and some wholesome cheerful content from one of her favourite streamers was exactly the kind of mental comfort food she needed right now - she clicked into the stream without hesitation.

To her dismay, the first thing that Katie noticed was that Hafu was clearly using some sort of filter. Every time the streamer's face moved on camera, the whole image blurred for a moment as whatever effect there was on her face caught up with her an reasserted itself. If she had the energy to move, she would have been posting some 'smh's in chat. The second thing Katie noticed was that the gaming streamer seemed a bit off. Like, she was used to Hafu coming into a stream in some ill-fitting t-shirt with a half-messy room as a backdrop. But here she was in a nice shirt with a super businesslike background. What had she missed?

Hafu's voice gave few answers. Something about how she was sorry for not streaming for a while (then why the sky-high viewer count?) and that she had got some sort of really great business opportunity.

So what, she had early access on some kinda new game? Sure, good for Hafu. But what Katie really wanted right now was to turn her brain off and watch some passive gaming, not absorb info on some new project. She resolved to change the channel to Lilypichu or whatever.

But wrist refused to move over to the mouse.

Like, she actively tried to move it, and it just wouldn't. The ache in her tendons infused by the recent bout of hard work intensified with her mental strain. Screw it, then. She wasn't going to fight that right now, if her body didn't want to co-operate, she'd pay attention to the stream, she supposed. Her brain was tired, but at least it bloody worked.

"So, big reveal time, guys... I'm working with BDR, my new sponsors. And also my employers I guess. Can we get a poggers in chat!?" On screen, Hafu's mouth widened and her eyes squinted in a smile of genuine joy, her silky black hair bounced around cutely with her enthusiastic movements. "I'm in the BDR offices right now actually, which is why I look waaay better than usual. BDR really help me to look my best!"

The name sounded familiar. It definitely wasn't one of the big gaming companies, so regardless it didn't actually make any sense. Maybe it was just some kinda new media company? Yeah, that would be more reasonable, a new player in the field using an initial investment to bring a big community figure on side. That was smart, and really admirable. Katie liked Hafu after all, so this 'BDR' would have at least some of her loyalty from the get-go.

And yet as she thought of that, she started to sweat. Not the sweat which had caked her body all day as the sun took out its wrath on humanity, but a cold sweat. Her heart was beating as fast as it had in the final thirty seconds of her final exam. It was a fight or flight response.

A lance stabbed through her thoughts as the reptile part of her brain forced a thought to the forefront. She did remember reading something about BDR, when she was on her conspiracy kick around February. They were some kind of cult that had appeared in New Mexico then spread to Korea somehow. There had been something about mass corporate takeovers, she thought?

Could she trust her own memory on this, though?

Like, it made sense that a company that was trying to sweep bad news under the rug would make some big PR moves like this...

But on the other hand, she was sure Hafu would do her due diligence with such a dedicated sponsorship deal. And if she couldn't trust her favourite streamer and a thoroughly positive influence on her life to back the right company, who could she trust, really? Certainly not her own overheated, exhausted brain.

Those comforting thoughts coalesced around the sudden memory and smoothed it out, leaving only passive compliance as she relaxed and watched. Her breathing slowed again. The fan kept her body from overheating as much as her useless brain, but the noise was annoying as she tried to pay attention. Just like she'd wanted to from the start, she really needed to just zone out and absorb some nice Hafu content.

"Sorry guys, but we're not playing any games this stream. This is just pure life updates! But trust me, I have loads to talk about!" The streamer's teeth shone like the sun, but a cool, relaxing sun rather than the evil orb of fire Katie was dealing with right now. That smile was enough that she didn't even care that there weren't games coming. And a glance at chat confirmed that was the minority view before the felt the muscles in her eyes practically yank her gaze back on to the elated brown eyes of Hafu. "Like, there's soo many exciting things I'm going to be doing with BDR. And they've been so supportive of me, and I'm sure they'll be supportive of my viewers, too!"

If Katie was being honest, she had no idea what Hafu actually meant, which was no surprise seeing how melted her mind was right now. But it was still comforting to hear a familiar voice after to long. To let her body just relax, and let all tension in her muscles fade. It was like a massage slowly working away every niggling ache and knot of tension in her body, but the focus on Hafu's voice - both fast with giddiness and constant in its metronomic pace - let her wash away those annoyances herself, without any physical touch.

She could still register the graphical glitches, it would be very difficult not to as Hafu became even more animated on screen. But she just didn't care any more. As long as the streamer's voice and eyes and smile were clear, she would watch anything and listen to anything.

"And the first thing on my list is that I have an exclusive announcement!" Hafu pulled back her head and covered her own mouth in a mock gasp. "Our company has two other new employees starting today - Alliestasza and Dodger are both here with me, too. And, we'll be streaming together at 3PM EST!"

Now that was a cause for excitement! Three beautiful, happy women to watch at once? Katie couldn't possibly miss that! All the tiredness in her head dissipated instantly as she began training herself to stay awake for the stream. She simply had to see it.

In fact, she needed to catch every word Hafu was saying now so she didn't miss any other important BDR news. She reached around with her bare foot until her big toe found purchase on the fan's switch. She flicked it, putting a stop to the infernal noise. She immediately seemed to melt even more into her chair as the voice on the screen was now beamed at her uninterrupted.

Hafu continued on with a miniature tour of some of the BDR headquarters, giving a detailed rundown as she went of the corporate structure and recruitment processes of the company. Again, it went in one ear and out the other for Katie, but it was still enchanting. It was a classic infodump from someone who had just discovered a new topic of interest that they had to share everything about, and to hear that from the bubbly Hafu was exactly the massage Katie's brain needed right now. So even with her brain unable to process the information, she still stared as the screen with complete attention, making sure to pick up every detail - everything Hafu said and every single pixel of her wonderful bright eyes.

Her body was getting too hot. Outside the world inhabited only by her and Hafu, the sun still relentlessly scorched through the drawn curtains. But she couldn't possibly turn the fan back on. She needed to hear every word - and even maybe the little bits of internet-lag-fuzz in between the words, which Katie was sure were important too.

So she did the only thing for it. Her tired arms finally decided to give way and clasp her hands around the bottom of her shirt. In one slow, stopping, sticky motion she removed it, letting her chest bounce back down and send little ripples through her curves. Her sweat-glistened body was completely exposed. But her world was only her, Hafu and BDR. And she was happy to be exposed to them.

To be honest, the starved gap between her legs was screaming at her right now with heat and hunger. But she couldn't let it dull her focus. Not until the stream. She would see everything. She would keep looking at Hafu's eyes like whirlpools. She would keep listening, letting her subconscious gain that crucial information.

And she did, right until the end. Almost motionless in her seat. Her body was exhausted, her conscious mind was basically empty. But Katie was happy, and that's what she had wanted already.

Hafu ended the stream, putting up a placeholder until the real fun started with her two fellow workers.

The screen was blank except for a faint technicolour pattern, and the steady sound of Hafu's voice was replaced by a pounding techno beat. It was uncharacteristic of the streamer, to be sure. But after only a few bars, Katie knew it fit in perfectly. The beat was solid and vibrated through her body (which did not help the thirst from below her waist), but it was just as constant and mesmeric as Hafu's words.

It pounded on her brain like a pendulum, and her body sent her signals of pure exhaustion. And her mind was forced to agree.

Katie tried to fight back, but with every new note she was pushed down into sleep. She couldn't push up, she was drowning in the need to sleep, coming from every inch of her muscle and every connection in her brain.

She wanted to watch the stream with the other girls.

But as another strike pushed her below the waterline of slumber and her eyes closed, Katie was absolutely certain that she didn't need to watch it. She was ready now. She had been a perfect candidate and a perfect subject. She would be rewarded when she awoke. She had done well.

In her dreams, Katie traced Hafu's footsteps through BDR HQ. She wore a buttoned-down blouse and her hair was grown out into long straight locks that differed from the streamer's only in their colour. And as she made her way through the corridors in her dream, Katie knew only one thing. She was an obedient servant of Brain Drain Records.

----

So the Maurithon was glaringly missing a Brain Drain story, so to get back into the swing of writing post-Maurithon, I started with a Brain Drain story - everybody wins!

Credit to HypnoAlicia for the BDR concept and to the oppressive heat of post-global warming summer for the broad idea of this story

Description

Katie felt the full weight of her body become clutched by gravity as she flopped into her desk chair with a satisfying plop and a less satisfying visible jiggle of excess fat around her waist. That was just another reminder of how hard the last two months had been. Exam revision left her no time to exercise, and now having finally ran the four-paper gauntlet, she was simply exhausted.

It didn't help that it was utterly boiling hot. Sweat was already sticking her slouching form to the chair. Her blonde bob-cut hair was already matted together highly unattractively, and she was once again reminded of how... rounded out her curves had become. But it wasn't as though she could go out and run with the dogs right now. There was simply nothing for it but to ride out the heat wave inside, with the fan on the highest setting.

Her PC's fan mixed with her desk fan in a choir of rumbling noise, struggling to keep the electronics working just as she was struggling to keep her melting brain functional.

Well, she certainly wasn't going to get any DnD planning done in this state. And gaming was out of the question. But, watching people gaming... yeah, that could occupy her failing brain for a few hours until it got dark and the heat became marginally more likely to allow her to sleep.

She immediately made the mistake of going to the Twitch homepage instead of to 'Browse' and was instantly bombarded with the 'humour' of whatever Fortnite streamer was trending at the moment. But something else caught her eye on the bar of featured creators. Hafu had loads of viewers - and she was on 'Just chatting' rather than Hearthstone or TFT or whatever.

Katie hoped it was the intro to some sort of big stream rather than the outtro. But either way there was no way she was going to miss out on this. She had just gone two whole months missing the main US streaming times, and some wholesome cheerful content from one of her favourite streamers was exactly the kind of mental comfort food she needed right now - she clicked into the stream without hesitation.

To her dismay, the first thing that Katie noticed was that Hafu was clearly using some sort of filter. Every time the streamer's face moved on camera, the whole image blurred for a moment as whatever effect there was on her face caught up with her an reasserted itself. If she had the energy to move, she would have been posting some 'smh's in chat. The second thing Katie noticed was that the gaming streamer seemed a bit off. Like, she was used to Hafu coming into a stream in some ill-fitting t-shirt with a half-messy room as a backdrop. But here she was in a nice shirt with a super businesslike background. What had she missed?

Hafu's voice gave few answers. Something about how she was sorry for not streaming for a while (then why the sky-high viewer count?) and that she had got some sort of really great business opportunity.

So what, she had early access on some kinda new game? Sure, good for Hafu. But what Katie really wanted right now was to turn her brain off and watch some passive gaming, not absorb info on some new project. She resolved to change the channel to Lilypichu or whatever.

But wrist refused to move over to the mouse.

Like, she actively tried to move it, and it just wouldn't. The ache in her tendons infused by the recent bout of hard work intensified with her mental strain. Screw it, then. She wasn't going to fight that right now, if her body didn't want to co-operate, she'd pay attention to the stream, she supposed. Her brain was tired, but at least it bloody worked.

"So, big reveal time, guys... I'm working with BDR, my new sponsors. And also my employers I guess. Can we get a poggers in chat!?" On screen, Hafu's mouth widened and her eyes squinted in a smile of genuine joy, her silky black hair bounced around cutely with her enthusiastic movements. "I'm in the BDR offices right now actually, which is why I look waaay better than usual. BDR really help me to look my best!"

The name sounded familiar. It definitely wasn't one of the big gaming companies, so regardless it didn't actually make any sense. Maybe it was just some kinda new media company? Yeah, that would be more reasonable, a new player in the field using an initial investment to bring a big community figure on side. That was smart, and really admirable. Katie liked Hafu after all, so this 'BDR' would have at least some of her loyalty from the get-go.

And yet as she thought of that, she started to sweat. Not the sweat which had caked her body all day as the sun took out its wrath on humanity, but a cold sweat. Her heart was beating as fast as it had in the final thirty seconds of her final exam. It was a fight or flight response.

A lance stabbed through her thoughts as the reptile part of her brain forced a thought to the forefront. She did remember reading something about BDR, when she was on her conspiracy kick around February. They were some kind of cult that had appeared in New Mexico then spread to Korea somehow. There had been something about mass corporate takeovers, she thought?

Could she trust her own memory on this, though?

Like, it made sense that a company that was trying to sweep bad news under the rug would make some big PR moves like this...

But on the other hand, she was sure Hafu would do her due diligence with such a dedicated sponsorship deal. And if she couldn't trust her favourite streamer and a thoroughly positive influence on her life to back the right company, who could she trust, really? Certainly not her own overheated, exhausted brain.

Those comforting thoughts coalesced around the sudden memory and smoothed it out, leaving only passive compliance as she relaxed and watched. Her breathing slowed again. The fan kept her body from overheating as much as her useless brain, but the noise was annoying as she tried to pay attention. Just like she'd wanted to from the start, she really needed to just zone out and absorb some nice Hafu content.

"Sorry guys, but we're not playing any games this stream. This is just pure life updates! But trust me, I have loads to talk about!" The streamer's teeth shone like the sun, but a cool, relaxing sun rather than the evil orb of fire Katie was dealing with right now. That smile was enough that she didn't even care that there weren't games coming. And a glance at chat confirmed that was the minority view before the felt the muscles in her eyes practically yank her gaze back on to the elated brown eyes of Hafu. "Like, there's soo many exciting things I'm going to be doing with BDR. And they've been so supportive of me, and I'm sure they'll be supportive of my viewers, too!"

If Katie was being honest, she had no idea what Hafu actually meant, which was no surprise seeing how melted her mind was right now. But it was still comforting to hear a familiar voice after to long. To let her body just relax, and let all tension in her muscles fade. It was like a massage slowly working away every niggling ache and knot of tension in her body, but the focus on Hafu's voice - both fast with giddiness and constant in its metronomic pace - let her wash away those annoyances herself, without any physical touch.

She could still register the graphical glitches, it would be very difficult not to as Hafu became even more animated on screen. But she just didn't care any more. As long as the streamer's voice and eyes and smile were clear, she would watch anything and listen to anything.

"And the first thing on my list is that I have an exclusive announcement!" Hafu pulled back her head and covered her own mouth in a mock gasp. "Our company has two other new employees starting today - Alliestasza and Dodger are both here with me, too. And, we'll be streaming together at 3PM EST!"

Now that was a cause for excitement! Three beautiful, happy women to watch at once? Katie couldn't possibly miss that! All the tiredness in her head dissipated instantly as she began training herself to stay awake for the stream. She simply had to see it.

In fact, she needed to catch every word Hafu was saying now so she didn't miss any other important BDR news. She reached around with her bare foot until her big toe found purchase on the fan's switch. She flicked it, putting a stop to the infernal noise. She immediately seemed to melt even more into her chair as the voice on the screen was now beamed at her uninterrupted.

Hafu continued on with a miniature tour of some of the BDR headquarters, giving a detailed rundown as she went of the corporate structure and recruitment processes of the company. Again, it went in one ear and out the other for Katie, but it was still enchanting. It was a classic infodump from someone who had just discovered a new topic of interest that they had to share everything about, and to hear that from the bubbly Hafu was exactly the massage Katie's brain needed right now. So even with her brain unable to process the information, she still stared as the screen with complete attention, making sure to pick up every detail - everything Hafu said and every single pixel of her wonderful bright eyes.

Her body was getting too hot. Outside the world inhabited only by her and Hafu, the sun still relentlessly scorched through the drawn curtains. But she couldn't possibly turn the fan back on. She needed to hear every word - and even maybe the little bits of internet-lag-fuzz in between the words, which Katie was sure were important too.

So she did the only thing for it. Her tired arms finally decided to give way and clasp her hands around the bottom of her shirt. In one slow, stopping, sticky motion she removed it, letting her chest bounce back down and send little ripples through her curves. Her sweat-glistened body was completely exposed. But her world was only her, Hafu and BDR. And she was happy to be exposed to them.

To be honest, the starved gap between her legs was screaming at her right now with heat and hunger. But she couldn't let it dull her focus. Not until the stream. She would see everything. She would keep looking at Hafu's eyes like whirlpools. She would keep listening, letting her subconscious gain that crucial information.

And she did, right until the end. Almost motionless in her seat. Her body was exhausted, her conscious mind was basically empty. But Katie was happy, and that's what she had wanted already.

Hafu ended the stream, putting up a placeholder until the real fun started with her two fellow workers.

The screen was blank except for a faint technicolour pattern, and the steady sound of Hafu's voice was replaced by a pounding techno beat. It was uncharacteristic of the streamer, to be sure. But after only a few bars, Katie knew it fit in perfectly. The beat was solid and vibrated through her body (which did not help the thirst from below her waist), but it was just as constant and mesmeric as Hafu's words.

It pounded on her brain like a pendulum, and her body sent her signals of pure exhaustion. And her mind was forced to agree.

Katie tried to fight back, but with every new note she was pushed down into sleep. She couldn't push up, she was drowning in the need to sleep, coming from every inch of her muscle and every connection in her brain.

She wanted to watch the stream with the other girls.

But as another strike pushed her below the waterline of slumber and her eyes closed, Katie was absolutely certain that she didn't need to watch it. She was ready now. She had been a perfect candidate and a perfect subject. She would be rewarded when she awoke. She had done well.

In her dreams, Katie traced Hafu's footsteps through BDR HQ. She wore a buttoned-down blouse and her hair was grown out into long straight locks that differed from the streamer's only in their colour. And as she made her way through the corridors in her dream, Katie knew only one thing. She was an obedient servant of Brain Drain Records.

----

So the Maurithon was glaringly missing a Brain Drain story, so to get back into the swing of writing post-Maurithon, I started with a Brain Drain story - everybody wins!

Credit to HypnoAlicia for the BDR concept and to the oppressive heat of post-global warming summer for the broad idea of this story