Infinite Cashback System

Jordan stepped back from the wall and surveyed their work. The streaming corner looked professional as hell, nothing like the improvised setups he’d seen on Kyle’s Twitch deep dives.

Purple light bled across acoustic foam panels in neat rows, making the white wall behind Chloe’s desk look intentional instead of boring. The monitor sat elevated on its riser, surrounded by LED strips that threw soft color across the keyboard and mouse.

The ring light perched beside the webcam like a halo waiting to happen, and the microphone arm extended from the desk clamp at exactly the right angle to capture Chloe’s voice without blocking the camera.

"Wow," Jordan said. The word came out genuine, not forced. "This looks cool as hell."

Chloe stood beside her setup, one hand resting on the desk surface, her eyes tracking across every piece of equipment they’d spent three hours installing. The purple glow caught the blue streak in her black hair and made it glow electric. Her smile was real, the kind that started small and spread across her whole face.

"We did good?"

"You did amazing," Kumiko corrected from her position on the floor, where she was zip-tying cables to the desk legs so they wouldn’t dangle in frame. Her twin tails swung forward as she worked, pink ribbons catching the light. "This is better than my first setup. Way better. I used a desk lamp and a phone for six months before I bought real equipment."

Jordan crouched beside Kumiko and held the cable bundle steady while she secured it. "Your setup looks expensive now though. I’ve seen your streams."

Kumiko’s hands paused on the zip tie for half a second before resuming. "You watch my streams?"

"Sometimes. When I’m up late and can’t sleep." He let go of the cable bundle once Kumiko finished tying it off. "You’re really good at explaining the whole cosplay process. Breaking down each step, showing how pieces connect. It helps that you actually show your work instead of just presenting the finished product."

Kumiko sat back on her heels, looking up at him from her position on the floor. Her brown eyes went wide, magnified by the angle and the purple-tinted backlighting. Her mouth opened like she was about to respond, then closed again. She tried twice more before managing actual words. "You watch the construction tutorials? Those are my lowest-performing content. Most people skip straight to the final reveal posts because they don’t care about the process."

"I care about the process." Jordan shrugged, trying to make it casual. "Watching something get built from nothing is satisfying. Understanding how pieces fit together, what materials work best for specific effects, why certain techniques matter more than others. It’s interesting."

Kumiko’s expression shifted, something vulnerable and open replacing her usual bubbly enthusiasm. Her hands stopped fiddling with the zip ties. She looked at him like he’d just revealed something important instead of admitting he occasionally put her stream VODs on at three in the morning because his brain wouldn’t shut off and her voice explaining heat-forming techniques for thermoplastics was weirdly calming.

Her cheeks flushed pink under the purple LED glow.

Chloe cleared her throat from across the room. "Should we test it? Make sure everything actually works before we celebrate?"

"Good idea." Kumiko scrambled to her feet with more energy than grace, her platform sneakers making small sounds against the concrete. She hurried to the desk and began clicking through OBS settings on Chloe’s monitor, her fingers flying across the keyboard. "Okay, sit in the chair so we can check the camera angle and lighting."

Chloe sat. The ring light illuminated her face from the front, eliminating shadows and making her skin look smooth and even. The purple LEDs added ambient color without washing her out. The webcam captured her from slightly above, the angle flattering instead of distorted.

Kumiko made a satisfied noise. "Perfect. You look gorgeous. The light balance is exactly right, and the foam panels are killing the echo from the hard surfaces." She clicked a few more buttons, adjusting the bitrate and resolution. "Say something so I can test the audio."

"What should I say?"

"Anything. Just talk like you’re streaming."

Chloe looked directly into the webcam. Her posture shifted, shoulders back and chin up, confident without being aggressive. When she spoke, her voice dropped into a lower, warmer register that Jordan recognized immediately as her Calypso voice. "Hey everyone, thanks for coming to the stream. I’m StellarNote, and this is my first time going live, so bear with me while I figure this out."

Jordan felt something twist in his stomach. That voice. He’d heard it through his phone speakers for six months, always accompanied by masks and sunglasses and distance. Now it was three feet away from him, attached to the girl who’d slept in his arms last night, and the disconnect made his brain skip like a scratched CD.

Kumiko was nodding enthusiastically. "Audio’s clean. No clipping, no background hum. You sound professional."

Chloe leaned back in the chair and her voice returned to its normal pitch. "This is surreal. Like, seeing myself on screen without hiding my face."

"You’ll get used to it," Kumiko assured her. "First stream is always weird. But you’re going to kill it. I know you will."

Jordan watched the monitor preview, watching Chloe’s pixelated face mimic her real expressions with minimal delay. The setup was legitimately good. She looked like someone worth subscribing to, someone who took this seriously. Someone building something real instead of hiding behind a screen.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

He knew what it was before he pulled it out. The countdown had been eating away at him all afternoon, a background anxiety that turned his stomach acid while they shopped and drove and assembled equipment.

Forty-four hours, thirty-two minutes remaining.

The System wanted its second girlfriend. The System wanted Jordan to make a choice and lock it in before the timer hit zero. And Chloe had given him permission. Chloe had nominated Kumiko. Chloe had looked him in the eye and said she wouldn’t mind.

Jordan’s thumb hovered over his phone screen. One button. One confirmation.

That’s all it would take.