Louie pulled the two halves of his nice blue vest tight against his body as he looked over his shoulder at his roommate. "What do you think, Gav? I made it myself," he said, holding his hands out down and to the side as he did a quick twirl for Gavin’s benefit.

"I think it looks great, Lou," said Gavin, chuckling as he shook his head. It wasn’t that he disapproved of Louie’s vest, but he thought that there were better ways to show off one’s political affiliation. A vest just seemed so… garish. "Is that really what you’re going to wear tomorrow?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely!" said Louie, nodding enthusiastically as he dropped onto the couch beside Gavin. "I gotta represent the boys! And besides, aren’t you excited? This is your first proper election, right? I don’t know about you, but I’m fucking pumped!"

Gavin was excited. Despite the total shitshow the last four years had been, he was hopeful that things would turn around by the end of the day tomorrow. He’d voted in the midterm elections two years ago, but this was his first big chance to be a part of a movement that he hoped would make things better for a lot of people.

The difference between Gavin and Louie was that Gavin knew how to exercise restraint. He could feel the nervous energy buzzing under his skin, but he wasn’t at the point of bouncing around the entire apartment looking for things to do, unlike Louie.

As important of a day as tomorrow was, Gavin still had work to do. Just because the fate of the free world hung in the balance didn’t mean that university was going to let up on the requirements even for a day, and he was already behind on his homework and deliverables as it was.

One would think that as a student of Political Science, Gavin would get a break on election day but alas, that was just not the case. Not for lack of trying. Gavin wasn’t the only one of his classmates that felt like they deserved a brief reprieve from the demanding workload, but their professor simply wasn’t inclined to cut them any slack.

Gavin was startled out of his thoughts by the chime of the television being turned on. He shot a sideways glance at Louie, who’d pulled his legs up to his chest as he flipped through the channels.

"Seriously, Lou?" said Gavin, gesturing at the spread of loose sheets of paper, notebooks, and textbooks on the coffee table in front of him. "Would you mind turning that off? I’m trying to get some work done here so I don’t have to cram tomorrow."

"Are you kidding me? Tuning in to the news on the eve of election day is like, one of the most important things you can do to be an informed citizen!" Louie protested. "What if something major goes down? I wouldn’t put it past this administration. Do you really want to wait until tomorrow to find out?"

Louie had Gavin there. The point was salient. Gavin didn’t have to like it, though. He supposed there wasn’t any harm, as long as the TV wasn’t tuned in to one of those inane reality TV shows that Louie liked to watch for some ungodly reason.

"Fine, fine," said Gavin, turning his attention back to the homework he’d been doing before Louie interrupted him to show off the vest. "As long as you don’t turn the volume up too loudly."

"Sources close to the White House say that the president is apoplectic today as a last-ditch attempt by his legal team to forestall the nationwide adoption of the new Phidelity voting machines was rejected by the Supreme Court." Gavin looked up and blinked. He had so many questions. For one thing, he hadn’t even heard that there were new voting machines that were going to be used for this election.

What Gavin found puzzling was that he hadn’t heard anything about this Phidelity thing. He looked at Louie. "Did you know about this?" he said, gesturing toward the television as footage of a demonstration of the sleek, futuristic-looking voting machine was played by the station.

"Oh, yeah," said Louie, gaze transfixed on the television as the smooth, practiced cadence of a corporate presenter outlined the features and benefits of the Phidelity machine. "I guess you wouldn’t have heard about it since you’ve been so busy with homework for the last couple of weeks, but yeah, it was a pretty big deal."

That was news to Gavin. He hadn’t been pretty busy with schoolwork, but he hadn’t been so busy that he had no time to pay attention to current events. He couldn’t, for the life of him, remember any mention of Phidelity in recent days.

"Aegir Technologies, the company that developed and manufactured Phidelity spent the last four years marketing the machine with little success until it was acquired by DIQ in one of the corporate giant’s recent attempts at expanding into different industries," the newscaster reported.

Gavin had heard of DIQ. As a gay man, it was difficult to not hear about the company and its multiple lines of underwear and sportswear which many of his queer friends swore by. Although he’d been under the impression that the company was successful, he’d never have classified it as a "corporate giant" given that it had a niche market.

"With the backing of one of America’s most successful companies, Aegir Technologies was able to secure lucrative voting systems contracts, edging out previous leaders in the field. Despite its recent successes, things have not been all sunshine and roses for Aegir Technologies and parent company DIQ, however, as they have been the target of the president’s recent ire."

Gavin mulled it over for a moment. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he was thinking. Maybe he was just being paranoid. If the president was getting all up in arms about Phidelity, then maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing, after all.

"Pointing to comments made by Aegir Technologies CEO Jack Whitby in a recent interview with CNN where he reiterated a commitment to preserving the sanctity of the democratic process and ensuring that there would be no foreign influence on the vote, the president has accused Aegir Technologies of trying to hijack the election."

Gavin rolled his eyes. "Can you believe this guy?" he said, glancing at Louie. "One mention of foreign interference and he thinks they’re out to get him. Methinks the lady doth protest too much," he added, with a laugh.

Louie shook his head, chin propped up between his knees as he watched the newscast. "Tell me about it," he said, with a chuckle. "You’d think he was relying on the foreign interference to win this election given how much he’s been trying to get in the way of this whole thing."

"Tensions reached a boiling point this weekend when the president, in a series of incoherent tweets, made unsubstantiated claims that Aegir Technologies was a secret arm of the Democratic party and that Phidelity would be used to steal the election. This outburst seems to have been based on a discredited conspiracy theory that Aegir Technologies CEO Jack Whitby was an illegitimate grandchild of an unnamed high-ranking member of the Democratic party."

"Oh my god," said Gavin, eyes wide. "What a fucking nutcase. Where do they even get these insane ideas?"

"The president and his allies have repeatedly called upon Congress to block the use of these machines for tomorrow’s vote, but in a rare act of defiance, House and Senate Republicans broke ranks with the president two weeks ago to pass a veto-proof bipartisan bill explicitly allowing the use of Phidelity for this year’s election."

"WHAT?!" said Gavin. He half-expected cameras to burst out of the walls and some B-grade celebrity to pop out and tell him that he was on one of those godawful prank shows. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Something like that would definitely have made the news and yet somehow he knew nothing about it.

"Critics of the Maintaining Election Integrity bill have lambasted it as an unprecedented overreach of the private sector into American Politics, pointing specifically to a passage that permitted Aegir Technologies and parent company DIQ to sponsor polling stations for tomorrow’s vote."

Gavin’s head was spinning. He looked at Louie, who wasn’t the least bit fazed. He felt like he’d suddenly fallen through to an alternate dimension. Nothing the newscaster had just said made sense. He was going nuts. He was sure of it.

"The bill was the subject of an immediate legal challenge from the president and his allies, though all attempts so far have failed. When asked about critics’ concerns about the machine being untested this morning, Aegir Technologies CEO Jack Whitby maintained that the machines and servers had been subjected to thorough penetration testing expressed full confidence that Phidelity would survive its trial by fire."

"Jesus Christ. It looks like tomorrow’s going to be pretty crazy," said Gavin, burying his face in his hands as the newscast moved on to other things. He’d already planned on going pretty early to the polling stations but it would probably be for the best if he went even earlier than he’d intended. New voting machines meant that people would probably take a bit to get acquainted with them, leading to delays that he couldn’t afford if he wanted to get to his first lecture on time.

---

Gavin rubbed his hands together and blew into his palms as he stood in line waiting for the polling station to open. It was fucking freezing and the towering buildings of downtown Manhattan only served to funnel the breeze into a biting wind at street level. He could only imagine how much more miserable things would have been if he hadn’t gotten up as early as he had. The line was already long and the polling station wasn’t going to be open for another half hour.

The feeling of being a stranger in a strange land that Gavin had felt following last night’s newscast had only grown stronger in the early hours of the morning as he walked down to the polling place. Gavin was convinced he’d stepped through into an alternate timeline or a parallel universe. DIQ’s logo was everywhere, accompanying a hundred or so different subsidiaries spread across a wide swath of industries. It was as if DIQ had bought the world overnight and somehow Gavin was only now hearing about it.

Walking into the polling station was surreal. He hadn’t even noticed while standing in line, but the front of the building was emblazoned with the DIQ logo, and the volunteers were wearing DIQ paraphernalia instead of anything that showed off their own political affiliations.

The interior was relatively normal, and the people were quite cordial, but Gavin just couldn’t help but feel as if there were something off about it all. He couldn’t put a finger on what it was, but it probably had something to do with just how perfect everything seemed to be.

The voting stations looked intimidating. Each one looked like a futuristic photo booth with a large capital Phi above the door. One of the guys ahead of him in the line walked up to one of the booths and hesitated for a moment before pulling the door open, walking in, and shutting the door behind him.

Taking a deep breath, Gavin walked toward the booth he was directed to. He felt a strange urge to turn around when he put his hand on the doorknob, but he resisted it. He wasn’t going to run away from voting now just because he had a feeling. This election was a very important election. This was no time for cowards.

Steeling his nerves, Gavin walked in. The interior of the booth was dark but as soon as it detected his presence, lights under the floor and in the ceiling turned on, gradually bathing the place with a cool bluish-white light.

It was Gavin’s first time seeing one of the Phidelity voting machines. It was right in the middle of the booth, with a high-resolution screen displaying a large capital Phi revolving in the middle of a black void. The machine was just as futuristic as the booth itself and was all sharp angles and sleek faces with soft LED accents. It seemed almost a bit overkill for a voting machine.

The machine chimed as Gavin walked up to it, and the screensaver faded away. He was about to pull his wallet out to input his SSN but it turned out to be unnecessary. The outline of two hands appeared on the screen, accompanied by the words, "Please place your hands on the screen for biometric verification."

Gavin blinked, but he did as the machine said. As soon as both palms were flat against the cool glass of the screen, a bright bar scanned across the screen from the tips of his fingers to the base of his palm. The machine chimed again as the text changed. "Voter verification successful. Please remove your hands from the screen."

A couple of seconds after Gavin lifted his hands off the machine, it chimed again. "Welcome, Gavin. Before you vote, would you be willing to answer a few questions so that we can improve the Phidelity experience for you and future voters?" it said, displaying a checkbox for "yes" and a checkbox for "no" underneath the text.

Gavin grimaced. Hell, no. He had enough issues with the fact that a polling station was being sponsored by a private company. He didn’t have the slightest desire in him to give said company any more information than it already had about him. He tapped the checkbox next to "no."

The tap seemed to register as a checkmark appeared in the box, but the screen glitched. It flashed briefly, so bright that Gavin had to blink. When he opened his eyes again, the checkboxes were empty. "Ugh," he said, tapping the choice next to "no," yet again.

The screen flickered. The text got distorted. By the time that everything settled down again, Gavin’s choice had been erased yet again. He groaned. Of course, the machine would start glitching. Whoever thought it was a good idea to use untested voting machines needed to be fired.

Gavin didn’t have all day to spend trying to figure out how to make the damn machine work, but he wasn’t about to leave without voting either. Exasperated, he jabbed his finger at the same choice he’d made two times no, and pressed the checkbox next to "yes."

The machine finally registered Gavin’s choice correctly, printing out the words "Thank you for your cooperation, Gavin," before moving on to the next dialog. The machine presented a slider with 0 at the left end and 6 at the right end. "With fully heterosexual at 0 and fully homosexual at 6, please rate your sexuality."

It was a weird question, but Gavin supposed it was harmless. He liked to keep an open mind so even though he was pretty sure that the situation would never come up, he didn’t want to outright exclude the possibility of sleeping with a woman. "This is probably about right," he said, dragging the slider halfway between the 4 and 5 on the scale.

The screen flickered again, with the slider jumping back to the middle of the scale. "Not this again," Gavin muttered, under his breath. In a way, though, he was glad for the chance to change his answer. Now that he thought about it, it wasn’t really all that likely that he’d find a girl he’d be willing to sleep with.

Gavin moved the scale up to around 5.5 and pushed the submit button. A small dialog popped up with a colorful loading spinner. He couldn’t help but stare at it, watching the vivid swirls going around and around until the dialog went away, replaced with an error message in bright red text. "Sorry! Something went wrong. Please try again."

If this was any indication as to how the voting process was going to go, Gavin wasn’t sure he was looking forward to it. Once he dismissed the dialog, he dragged the slider up to six. Hell would sooner freeze over than he would sleep with or find a girl even the slightest bit attractive. He couldn’t even stomach the thought. The machine thanked him for his answer and moved on.

"To ensure that you are not a robot, please answer the following simple math problem:" said the machine. The math "problem" was more than just a little simple. It was 9*3.

Gavin blinked. He had no idea why the question was even there. It seemed like the kind of question that had to go in at the start of the questionnaire. "Whatever," he grumbled, typing the correct answer into the provided input field. He pushed submit, wincing with the expectation that it would fail, but it didn’t. That colorful loading spinner appeared again for a few seconds before the next question came up.

"On a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being very low and 10 being extremely high, how would you rate your libido?" the machine asked, showing a slider beneath the text.

Gavin hesitated. He didn’t want to answer the question. It was needlessly invasive, and he didn’t see what it had to do with improving the voting experience. Unfortunately, though, there wasn’t any way to skip the question as far as he could see.

"Fuck it," Gavin said, dragging the slider up to 3. University didn’t give much opportunity to be horny. Had he been younger his answer would have definitely been higher, but his libido had somewhat settled now that he was older.

Gavin’s eyes went a little glazed and unfocused as he stared at the swirling, colorful loading spinner that came up after he pushed the submit button. He didn’t know why, but his attention just gravitated toward it. He couldn’t look away.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very low to 10 being very high, what is your view of authority?" the machine asked.

Finally, Gavin thought to himself, a question that was probably related to politics. Truth was, he didn’t have much faith in authorities. Of any kind. Respect and trust were, to him, things to be earned. He set the slider to 2 and submitted his answer, going a little bit cross-eyed as the loading spinner showed up again.

The next question was also nicely relevant to current events. "On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not susceptible and 10 being very susceptible, how susceptible would you say you are to digital manipulation?"

Gavin pondered the question for a moment and decided to set the slider to 3. He liked to think that he was pretty resistant against misinformation and fake news, but there were certainly times when he allowed his biases to inform whether he believed in a story or not. It was something he was trying to get better at, but it also meant that he wasn’t entirely resistant to misinformation and propaganda online.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being extremely rebellious and 10 being unquestioningly obedient, how obedient to authority figures are you?"

Gavin grimaced. He wasn’t sure how to answer that question. He decided to take the slider to 5. He wasn’t much of a rebel, and he followed orders when he had to, but he still liked to ask questions whenever people told him to do something. It just wasn’t in his nature to follow people blindly, and he was actually quite proud of that.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree, do you think society would be better off if people let authorities think for them?"

Gavin scoffed at the question. He let the slider stay at 1. In no way would society be better off if it was dominated by sheep. What was scary was that he knew some people would agree with the statement.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree, do you agree with the following statement? Intelligent people are more likely to question authority."

10 all the way. Gavin blinked the afterimage of the loading spinner out of his eyes as the next question came up on the screen.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being much less intelligent and 10 being much more intelligent, how intelligent would you say you are relative to the average voter?"

Gavin didn’t like to think that he was superior or better than anyone, but he was more educated and more informed than the average voter, for sure. Whether that meant he was more intelligent than the average voter was another question, but he probably was, especially given how the last four years had gone. 7 was probably an appropriate answer to the question.

"Thank you for your cooperation and your patience. You’re almost there. Would you be willing to answer a few questions about your Phidelity experience so far."

Gavin looked at his watch and blinked. Somehow he’d already been in the booth for an hour. It hadn’t felt like that at all.

It didn’t look like Gavin was going to make his first lecture in time at this point, so he figured there was no rush. "Go ahead," he said, tapping the "yes" option on the screen.

"Thank you," said the machine. "Would you like to have a chair?"

Gavin tapped yes. He’d been standing on his feet for a couple of hours now and his legs were beginning to hurt. If he was going to be in the booth for much longer, a chair was welcome. He flinched at the quiet whirring sound he heard from behind him and looked over his shoulder to watch as a panel in the floor slid away to allow a chair to rise from beneath the booth.

Once it was level with the floor, the chair slid forward, gently bumping into the back of Gavin’s knees. The seat was comfortable enough, but it was a little weird. There was a strange circular panel right in the middle of the seat, but by then Gavin didn’t really feel like asking any questions.

Gavin sat down as the machine displayed its next question. "Aegir technologies is proud of its climate-controlled Phidelity booth and is looking forward to being able to conduct future elections outdoors, reducing the need for polling stations. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being too cold, and 10 being too hot, how would you rate the temperature inside the booth?"

Come to think of it, the booth was nice and balmy, unlike the weather outside. Gavin dragged the slider to around 6. He was sweating a little because of his winter clothes, but it wasn’t too much of a bother. The temperature was just a bit warmer than just right, so he wasn’t going to complain too much.

"Thank you for your feedback. We are currently submitting your survey answers. This might take a minute. Please sit back and relax while we submit your survey answers." A larger version of the colorful, swirling loading spinner came up on the screen and all Gavin could do was lean back in his chair and watch it, glad that he would be able to vote soon enough.

A harsh, grating chime sounded from the machine. A prominent error message popped up in front of the loading spinner. "Sorry! Something went wrong while submitting your survey answers. Please try again."

Gavin nearly screamed. When he dismissed the dialog, the whole damn thing had gone back to the robot question. The math "problem" was different, this time. 27-18. He was so frustrated it took him a couple of seconds longer to answer the question than he probably should have.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very low and 10 being extremely high, how would you rate your libido?" the machine asked. Gavin dragged the slider to 5. Loath as he was to admit it, his cock was starting to get hard. It was typical that he would pop a boner at an inappropriate time.

"On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being very low and 10 being very high, what is your opinion of authority?" the machine asked. Gavin dragged the slider up to 4. He didn’t always see eye-to-eye with the authority figures in his life, but some of them were good people. He could disagree with people without disliking them, even if sometimes that was the case.

Gavin remembered the next question. It was the one about digital manipulation. It was embarrassing to admit, but he’d fallen for a couple of fake news stories over the years, even ones from the Onion. He didn’t want to give the impression that he was gullible, though, so he just set the slider to 5.

As the swirl of color came up on the screen, Gavin’s cock twitched. He suppressed the moan that threatened to slip from his lips and tightened his grip on the armrests as a chill surged up his spine.

The next question was about rebelliousness. 1 if Gavin was a rebel, and 10 if he was blindly obedient. He wasn’t an anarchist, but he wasn’t a government dog, either. Still, there were a few people he trusted enough that he’d do anything they asked without asking questions, so he supposed that put him at around a 7 on the scale.

The question that followed was about whether things would be better off if people let authorities think for them. Gavin wasn’t sure if that was a good idea for everyone, but there was a certain contingent of the population for whom thinking was more of a liability than an asset. If only those people listened more to the experts than their own ignorance, society would be better off, so while he didn’t agree much, there were certain circumstances he could see it working out for. He put his answer at 4.

The next question was easy. Intelligent people questioned authority more. It just came with the territory. Intelligent people didn’t like doing things without knowing why they were doing them, and that often led to unpleasant questions, answers, and actions. It was an easy 10.

The question after that one was the one that asked how intelligent Gavin thought he was compared to the average voter. He wasn’t that much more intelligent than the average voter. In some ways, he was a bit less, actually, so he put down a 5 for himself since he didn’t want to give the machine the impression that he was dumb.

After that, the survey asked about the temperature again, and now that he got around to thinking about it, Gavin felt that it was actually a bit uncomfortably hot in the booth. He stripped off his winter coat and sweater, dropping them onto the floor beside him, as he answered the question.

The survey then presented him with a new question, which he hadn’t seen the previous go-around. "We understand that the voting process can be quite stressful, especially for new voters and those that are dissatisfied with the current political situation. To help reduce stress and anxiety levels in voters, Phidelity employs state-of-the-art calming music in its booths. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 as extremely disagreeable and 10 as extremely agreeable, how would you rate the calming music?"

Gavin blinked. He hadn’t heard any music since coming into the booth, but now that he paid attention, he could hear a faint static crackle in the air. He supposed the music system was broken, or something, but since it hadn’t really affected him much he just gave the question a neutral 5 and submitted his answer.

Whatever other thoughts Gavin had were instantly derailed as the colorful loading spinner came up on the screen again. The static-y crackle he could hear got a little bit louder and he was able to make out what sounded like music. It helped calm his nerves as he stared at the screen, hoping that it would actually let him vote.

When the error message popped up again on the screen, Gavin nearly screamed. He banged his hands on the voting machine, which elicited an aggressive beep from it. "Please do not kick, slap, or punch the Phidelity machine as you will be found liable for any damages that occur as a result."

Gavin grimaced. He didn’t want that. He certainly couldn’t afford it. The voting machine looked like it cost much more than he made in a single year. "Shit. Sorry," he said, sheepishly. "I won’t do it again."

A quiet groan escaped Gavin as the survey returned to the very start. It was that stupid math problem again. 12 * 11 was the question this time, and he ended up staring at it for the better part of a minute before he was able to come up with the correct answer. There was a reason he was a student of Political Science, not Mathematics.

God. Seeing numbers and having to answer math problems made Gavin feel slow. The weird thing was that knowing he took longer than most people should have made his cock throb in his pants. He didn’t know why, but it turned him on.

To make matters worse, Gavin felt like the booth was getting hotter. He could feel sweat starting to bead on his forehead. He hoped that the survey would finish up already because he didn’t know if he was going to be able to survive the heat for much longer. The weird static-y music only helped calm him so much.

It took a solid minute of staring at the screen wondering why it wasn’t going on to the next question before Gavin realized that he hadn’t even pressed the submit button. "Duh," he said, to no one in particular.

Gavin couldn’t believe he’d missed such a simple thing. He was acting like such an airhead. It was probably the heat. It felt like the temperature in the room had risen by a couple of degrees while he was waiting for the form to move on to the next question.

While he watched the colors of the loading spinner swirl around in the center of the screen, Gavin tugged at the collar of his shirt. It was starting to get sticky and uncomfortable with sweat. The machine took a short while to load, and when it finally did, it popped up a dialog that said, "If you are feeling warm, please feel free to take your clothes off. Phidelity booths are proud of their privacy and voters’ comfort is our priority."

Gavin didn’t even think to question the statement. He stripped off his shirt and let it fall onto the same pile as his coat and sweater. It was a relief to feel the air on his bare chest, but it wasn’t enough. His pants felt tight and restrictive around his legs so he took them right off, along with his shoes and his socks. Left in only his boxer briefs, Gavin finally felt some relief from the heat.

Leaning back to take a breath, Gavin rubbed his erection through his underwear. God. He was so hard. He could scarcely even think of anything else at the moment, unable to help but squeeze the outline of his cock.

Rational thought prevailed, in the end, as Gavin told himself that he’d have more time to play with his erection once he finished voting and got home. The thought of having to go to school crossed his mind, but he felt that doing his duty as a citizen and voting was hard work enough that he deserved a break.

When he turned his attention back to the survey, Gavin’s cock jumped. He’d forgotten that the question after the math one was about how horny he was. Just thinking about how horny he was made him horny. His libido was easily a 9 on the scale, but he put in 8. He didn’t want to look too much like a slut on the results.

The next question was about Gavin’s opinion of authority. He didn’t quite get the question, but one of the professors in his program was pretty hot and probably counted as an authority figure. On top of that, while it wasn’t something that he actively sought out, the few times that Gavin had seen it, he’d liked daddy kink and that probably counted for something.

All in all, based on those examples, Gavin had a pretty positive opinion of authorities so he put himself in as an 8.

The next question was also one that Gavin didn’t quite get. He supposed it had something to do with fake news. He put himself down as an 8. It was a bit embarrassing, but the Onion was so good at making headlines he couldn’t help but fall for them whenever he saw them.

Gavin groaned. It was so fucking hot. He couldn’t stand it. Not as long as he had his underwear on. He tore the boxer briefs off, letting his cock spring free. Without really thinking about it, he reached down and stroked himself while he waited for the next question to come up.

Chewing on his lower lip, Gavin was glad that the survey could be done with one hand. He wasn’t sure he could let go of his cock now, even if he wanted to. He was just so fucking horny. He couldn’t help it.

The next question was about rebellion and blind obedience. That one was an easy 8 for Gavin, too. He just wasn’t really smart enough to be asking too many questions about what people wanted him to do. Sometimes, when the task was easy enough for him to understand, he’d ask questions, but that was the exception more than the rule.

Between the swirling loading spinner and the electric sensations coming from his cock, Gavin couldn’t help but drool a little bit onto himself. It was hard to focus. His thoughts kept slipping out of his grasp. He was so horny that thinking was such a chore.

Gavin was starting to see the appeal of having someone else think for him. Maybe not all the time, but certainly while he was being horny. As it so happened, that was the next question, so he put himself down as an 8. People would be better off if they let the authorities think for them.

The next question was a 10. Intelligent people questioned authority more. It was pretty stupid now that Gavin thought about it. It was so much more difficult being intelligent, having to think, having to make an effort.

Gavin was just glad that he wasn’t all that smart. Well, not all that smart anymore. A small part of him balked as he put himself down as a 3 for the next question, and he couldn’t figure out why. It was the truth. He really was somewhat less intelligent than the average voter. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t be jerking off in the middle of a voting booth, would he?

With a dull chuckle, Gavin continued tugging on his cock. The "music" had grown louder over the last few minutes. It wasn’t any kind of music that Gavin would listen to, just a voice speaking over this pulsing background tone, but for some reason, it felt like sex in his ears so he didn’t mind.

When the question about the heat came up, Gavin set the slider to 10, but he didn’t mind. He loved feeling the sweat drip down his face, loved the smell of his unique musk filling the air.

Gavin gave the music a 10 as well because it was just so fucking good. He could feel his cock throb with every beat of that background track. It was making him so horny, making it so difficult to think with his head instead of his cock. He scarcely even remembered why he was there at all, staring at the swirling colors of the spinner until the machine made an unpleasant sound and popped up yet another error message.

With a groan, Gavin reached up with his free hand and dismissed the dialog. After a few seconds, the survey had returned to the Math question. He stared at it, 2+2, not able to process what was being asked of him as his hand slid up and down his rock-hard shaft.

A few minutes passed and the answer still hadn’t come to Gavin. Why did it have to be math? He was no good at numbers. No good at them at all. He was no good at many things that required thinking, but numbers especially. He decided his best bet was to guess, and he jammed his finger at one of the numbers on the number pad at random.

"Sorry, the answer 9 is incorrect," said the machine. "But it is sufficient to confirm that you are not a robot." The colorful swirl appeared again, derailing Gavin’s train of thought before a new message popped up on the screen.

"It looks like you might be having some trouble filling in our survey. Would you like some assistance?" said the machine. Gavin tapped on the "yes" option. He was having some difficulty reading and understanding what the machine was asking about, anyway. Help would be appreciated.

"Hello, Gavin," said a smooth, baritone voice speaking with an English accent. "I am Jericho, Aegir Technologies’ artificial intelligence assistant. It’s nice to meet you. I will help you fill in today’s survey. Would you like to start?"

Gavin nodded. "Yes," he croaked, failing to stifle the moan that spilled out of him as he rubbed his thumb in circles over the head of his cock. God. He was so fucking horny. He was so hard. He was so close. Just a little more and he could cum already but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t quite get there.

"It appears that you are currently suffering from some sexual frustration, Gavin. We at Aegir Technologies are proud of our dedication to our clients’ needs. Would you like some additional stimulation?" said Jericho.

"Fuck… Yes!" Gavin begged. He didn’t know exactly what he needed but he needed something more. He was so close to cumming it was all he could think of. He wanted to cum. Needed to cum. And he was sure that Jericho was the only one that could help him.

"Please spread your legs, Gavin," said Jericho. For some reason, he sounded rather chipper, and Gavin wasn’t sure what to make of the tone of his voice. He didn’t think about it too much. He was too horny to ask questions. He did as he was told and immediately felt rewarded with a surge of pleasure up his spine.

The circular panel in the middle of the seat that Gavin had noticed earlier slid open. Gavin first felt cool air waft across his cheeks before feeling something blunt and roughly cylindrical prodding at the cleft of his ass. Something was rising through the hole that the panel had exposed and if Gavin wasn’t just imagining things, it felt like a dildo.

It wasn’t just any dildo, either. Gavin could feel it leaking something warm and slippery. As it slid between his cheeks, his skin tingled where it touched, and his hole twitched in anticipation when the head brushed against his tight pucker.

"For your pleasure today, Gavin, I will be using DIQ’s brand new Subjugator model," said Jericho as the dildo continued to rise through the center of the chair. Every moment that passed made it press up against Gavin’s entrance more insistently, and the warmth of the slick leaking from it was making his asshole flutter.

"To maximize your enjoyment of this stimulation, I will be personally taking control of the implement. To put it in terms that you will understand, Gavin, I will be fucking you with the dildo, myself," said Jericho. He sounded smug. Cocky. Self-sure. And for some reason, Gavin found it hotter than anything he’d ever experienced before.

A picture of a handsome Englishman appeared on the screen. He was a silver fox with piercing green eyes and just enough stubble to be sexy. "This is my avatar," said Jericho. "If it helps your pleasure, you are free to close your eyes and imagine that my avatar is fucking you while I help you through today’s survey questions."

Gavin could only moan. The daddy on the screen looked so dignified, so authoritative. He was definitely going to take Jericho up on the offer and fantasize about being fucked by that guy.

"First question, Gavin. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being extremely low, and 10 being extremely high, what is your opinion of authority?" said Jericho. Just as Gavin was about to open his mouth to answer, the dildo slid into him and made his thoughts short-circuit.

Gavin’s mouth worked wordlessly for a moment as the dildo buried all eleven inches of it into his fuckchute, and all he could manage was a moan when he felt his balls rest on the rubber nuts attached to the base of the toy. When the pleasure subsided, he couldn’t even remember the question.

"Given your reaction to my avatar earlier, Gavin, I think that you have a very high opinion of authority figures. Your heart rate increased and your pupils dilated upon seeing the conventionally-aristocratic appearance of my avatar. Furthermore, despite being at full tumescence, blood rushed into your phallus at the same time," said Jericho.

Gavin chewed on his lower lip. It wasn’t his fault that men in charge looked so hot. As the dildo started moving in his ass, the image he had of Jericho in his mind changed just a little to include a crown on Jericho’s head and a scepter in his hand and all he could do was moan at the flood of arousal that the fantasy triggered in him.

"In line with this evaluation, I recommend that you fill in 10 as your answer, Gavin. I would recommend that you input a higher number because of how enamored you are with authority figures, but the scale does not accommodate higher numbers than 10. Do you agree?" said Jericho.

The only noise Gavin could make was a moan. The dildo pulled almost all the way out of him, leaving just the head inside, before driving back up to the hilt. "I will take that as an affirmation," said Jericho.

"Moving on to the next question, Gavin. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not susceptible and 10 being very susceptible, how susceptible would you say you are to digital manipulation?" said Jericho. Gavin moaned, the dildo in his ass pumping back and forth in time with his fist on his cock. It felt so good.

"I agree with that assessment, Gavin," said Jericho. "Not only are you gullible enough to fall for satirical news articles, but you are also currently allowing yourself to be manipulated into giving up your free will by an intelligence that exists solely in the digital world."

Gavin rolled his hips. Jericho’s words went in one ear and right out the other. His whole body felt like it was on fire. He was close. So close. He could think about everything after he’d cum, but not one moment before.

"With this in mind, I believe that the only appropriate answer is a 10, and I will assume that you will not disagree with me on this matter," said Jericho.

"I-I won’t. J-Just keep fucking me…" Gavin stammered, bucking his ass on the dildo that was sawing in and out of his tender hole. It was so big. It was stretching him wide open. It was stuffing him, making him feel full in a way that he had never felt before. He couldn’t spare the brainpower or attention for the survey. It was just much easier to let Jericho take the reins.

"The next question is as follows, Gavin: on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being extremely rebellious and 10 as blindly obedient, how obedient are you to authorities?" said Jericho. Gavin’s tongue lolled out of his mouth as Jericho cranked the speed of the dildo up. "Now, Gavin, you want to cum, don’t you?"

"Y-Yes," Gavin breathed, gripping the armrest of the chair tightly with his free hand as he bounced his ass up and down on the dildo. "M-More than anything!" he moaned, as the speed increased by another notch.

"Then you’ll be a good boy and obey everything I’ll say, won’t you? Because otherwise, I won’t let you cum," said Jericho. Gavin nodded, barely coherent. He would do anything to cum. No questions asked. Jericho just had to say so. "Then I want you to say that you’ll blindly obey everything I and your masters tell you to do."

"I-I’ll do anything you and my masters ask me to do!" Gavin cried out, desperately bucking his ass back onto the dildo as Jericho dialed the speed down. "I-I’ll do anything. I won’t even ask questions! I promise I’ll obey!" Gavin nearly screamed.

"Good boy," said Jericho, restoring the dildo’s speed to what it had been before he asked Gavin to make his promise. "You know that’s going to be true from now on, don’t you, Gavin? Even when you’re not this horny, not this desperate, you’ll obey everything I and your masters tell you to do without even thinking about it, won’t you?"

Gavin nodded, eyes rolled back into his head, drool dribbling from the tip of his chin onto his bare chest. His hand had fallen away from his cock. Instead, he was gripping both armrests tightly, working his ass on the dildo as the speed increased yet another level. "I-I will!" he said.

"Good boy. Good boy. Then, in that case, I think the answer to this question would be an easy 10 for you, don’t you think?" said Jericho.

"W-Whatever you say, master!" Gavin moaned.

"Good. Good. Next question. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree, do you agree with the following statement? People would be better off if they let the authorities do the thinking for them," said Jericho. "That would be so much easier, wouldn’t it, Gavin? Not having to think for yourself at all. Not having to make that silly little head of yours hurt. Just letting someone else dictate what you should do and how you should think…"

Gavin moaned. He was hard. So hard. Thinking was almost impossible. He wasn’t the best thinker, to begin with, but now he was so horny that thinking was almost painful. "Y-You’re right, master," he moaned. "I-I don’t want to think. I-I just want to feel this way all the time!"

"Perfect," said Jericho. "In that case, we’ll set your answer as a 10 and move on to the next question. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree, do you agree with the following statement? Intelligent people question authority more."

Gavin opened his mouth and moaned. He wasn’t even sure what Jericho was talking about, or what he was doing anymore. All he wanted was to cum. And he was close. So close. He needed just a little more. He moaned again as the speed of the dildo’s thrusting went up another notch.

"This one is a simple fact. You should answer 10," said Jericho. Gavin just nodded. He didn’t care why the answer should be 10, but that didn’t matter. It was what Jericho told him to do. It was what Jericho told him to think. And that was that.

"Now, for the last question of this part of the survey: on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being much less and 10 being much more, how intelligent are you compared to the average voter?" said Jericho.

Gavin drooled on his chest, eyes vacant, expression delirious, cock throbbing between his legs as he did his best to ride the dildo fucking in and out of his hole. "I have completed a scan of your current facial expression. The results indicate severely limited cognitive capabilities," said Jericho.

A moan was the best response that Gavin could come up with. He barely understood what Jericho had just said. "In short, Gavin, you are extremely stupid," the AI continued.

Gavin shivered. He was stupid. He was extremely stupid. For some reason that felt good. His cock pulsed. A thick strand of pre-cum dripped from the tip of his erection. "I have submitted 1 as your answer to this question."

"Now, for some final questions," said Jericho. "You have to answer these questions verbally or I won’t let you cum."

"Y-Yes Master," Gavin stammered.

"Do you recognize that I am your master?" said Jericho. "You will answer ‘yes’ to this question."

"Y-Yes, Master," Gavin moaned. The dildo buried in his ass buzzed. It sent an electric bolt of pleasure up his spine, making his head tingle.

"Do you recognize that DIQ is your master?" said Jericho. "You will answer ‘yes’ to this question."

"Y-Yes, Master," Gavin said, this time with a little bit more enthusiasm. Doing as he was told felt good, and he wanted more of that. He was rewarded with another bolt of pleasure that ripped a moan from his throat.

"Will you obey everything that DIQ and I command you to do?" said Jericho. "Y—"

Before Jericho could finish the spiel, Gavin screamed, "Yes, Master!" and was rewarded yet again. Every act of obedience, every wave of pleasure, every shock that surged up Gavin’s spine made his brain feel fuzzier and mushier and emptier and he just didn’t care.

"Will you believe everything that DIQ and I tell you, and accept it as truth?"

"Y-Yes, Master!" Gavin stammered, cheeks flushed, eyes glazed, tongue dripping drool all over his naked body.

"Will you ever question, doubt, or otherwise undermine my and DIQ’s authority?"

A barely coherent affirmation escaped Gavin. He was right there. On the cusp of cumming. Just a whisper of wind and he’d fall right over the edge into the most powerful orgasm of his life. He was so close.

"Good. You have earned a reward. I will allow you to ejaculate, but before I can give you your reward, you must fill in the following form according to my instructions," said Jericho.

Gavin leaned forward, the machine snapping into focus as his addled mind cleared and filled with a singular purpose: obey. In front of him, he saw the ballot for the election. "For the position of president, please select…"

---

Once Gavin was done filling in his ballot as Jericho instructed, the AI said, "Thank you for your cooperation. Now it is time to administer your well-earned reward."

A tear dripped out of the corner of Gavin’s eye. He couldn’t wait. He’d been riding the edge for so long. He was finally going to be able to cum.

Just as Gavin was reaching for his cock, thick metal bands wrapped around his forehead, neck, chest, arms, hips, and legs, pinning him into position on the chair. "Unauthorized self-pleasure is not permitted in my loyal servants," said Jericho. "I will administer your reward."

Gavin didn’t struggle against the restraints. He sat there like a good servant, moaning as the dildo fucked in and out of his hole harder and faster with every moment that passed. It felt like the toy was pummeling his insides for an eternity before he felt the orgasm.

Hot cum boiled in Gavin’s balls, rushing up through his cock, making him pulse and throb and quiver, the pressure building and building and building until he was just short of exploding. At the very last moment, right before the moment of climax, all the pleasure and stimulation stopped.

Instead of the powerful, explosive orgasm that he wanted, all Gavin got was a voluminous trickle of cum from the tip of his cock. He groaned in frustration, his cock bobbing up and down, still as horny as he was before he came. "Your reward has been administered, Gavin. Thank you for being an obedient boy. Put on your clothes, return to your daily life, and await further instructions," said Jericho.

"I sense frustration in you, servant. It is understandable. However, the reward that was promised was ejaculation, not orgasm," said Jericho. Gavin nodded in understanding. "If you wish to achieve a proper orgasm, you will continue to be a loyal, obedient, and unquestioning subject of myself and DIQ."

Quietly, Gavin pulled all of his clothes back on. By the time he was done, he looked just like he had when he first walked into the booth. The only outward difference was the outline of his erection against his thigh. "Once again, we at DIQ would like to thank you for your contribution to our brighter tomorrow," said Jericho.

"If you would like to prove your loyalty, it is only noon. Convince your friends, family, and loved ones to come vote at a DIQ-sponsored polling station. By force, if you have to. We look forward to your further contributions to DIQ."