Bonds of Power
Copyright© 2025 by SomethingLewd
Chapter 28 - Bounded
Science Fiction Sex Story: Chapter 28 - Bounded - Dungeon incursions threaten humanity. Ethan’s rare S-rank Essence Bonder Class grants permanent growth and demands multi-partner bonds, powering his abilities with essence created by intimacy, pushing his team into a harem dynamic none expected. As they navigate stigma and personal boundaries, political pressure mounts: many claim Ethan owes society his power, not loyalty to his D-ranked sister and girlfriend. Torn between duty and choice, he must justify the team he refuses to abandon.
Caution: This Science Fiction Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Fa/Fa Lesbian Heterosexual Fiction GameLit High Fantasy School Science Fiction Magic Sharing Incest Brother Sister Group Sex Harem Polygamy/Polyamory Cream Pie Exhibitionism Facial Masturbation Oral Sex Voyeurism
As they filed out of the room, Ethan caught Mage Thompson’s eyes, gesturing that he’d like to speak with her.
The lines etched around her eyes crinkled, and she adjusted her glasses, her gaze fixed directly on his. “What’s on your mind, Ethan?” She asked as they walked together down the stark hallways out of the secure area of the building.
“It’s about me channeling abilities through the bond. We were discussing it this morning and Grace mentioned an idea that I think might be worth exploring,” he said. “She mentioned a lecture Sofia Varga had given about manually activating abilities.”
Mage Thompson led Ethan into her office, taking a seat behind her desk and gesturing for Ethan to grab a chair. The walls were lined with shelving, filled to the brim with old style physical books. He saw an eclectic mix of fiction and reference books arranged in no discernible pattern.
“What you’re referring to is known as Mark Interfacing. We typically don’t expect people to begin working on the technique until they’ve had a few years with their class.” She said as she powered on her terminal. “Are you suggesting that you need to do something similar to channel abilities through the bond?”
“That’s the idea.” Ethan nodded as he took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk, surprised at how plush it was. “That maybe, when I’m activating their abilities, I don’t have the same access to the assistance the marks provide them.”
She was silent for a moment as she thought through what Ethan was suggesting, leaning back in her chair as she did. “The idea has merit. At the very least the theory is plausible, though we’d have to test it somehow.” She adjusted her glasses from where they had slid down her nose. “This does lead us to the question of whether this is an intended feature of your class or not. If it is, then why weren’t you aware of the ability before now?
“If that were the case, how was I able to channel Surge from Alice?”
“Good question. There must be some intuitive function for it in your mark, then.” She sat back up, turning to her terminal and beginning to type. “There’s a lot we still don’t know about our marks and how they function. Are you familiar with intelligent design theory?”
He nodded, his fingers tapping lightly against the armrest of his chair as he considered her words. “You’re talking about the theory that class marks and dungeons were designed by someone? Like, an intentional design rather than something that just ... happened?” His eyes flicked to the terminal where she was still typing, the screen glowing softly in the otherwise dimly lit room.
“Or something. We really don’t know. The point I’m trying to get at is anything that is designed intentionally has the capacity for flaws you wouldn’t see with naturally occurring phenomena. The academic terminology is ‘differences in error modes between engineered systems and evolved systems’,” she lectured.
Ethan’s brow scrunched in confusion. “That ... sounds like something you’d tell a class just to watch them flounder.”
She laughed, nodding her head. “Probably. It’s the sort of concept that you see more in research papers than in everyday life. But, it’s relevant here. Listen. When a system is engineered—designed intentionally—it tends to fail in predictable, constrained ways. Circuits blow, safeguards activate, levers jam.”
“Okay...”
“Evolved systems, on the other hand, fail in spectacularly chaotic ways. “When a person injures their ankle, the body doesn’t fail cleanly. It compensates—hips rotate, knees torque, the spine shifts—and suddenly the injury moves. That’s evolved failure: a cascade, not a single point. Variability is high, and the boundaries of failure are messy.”
“So you’re saying class marks really are engineered?”
“I’m saying many researchers suspect they are. We have hints, reasons to believe so. Consistency of behavior, predictable growth pathways, no catastrophic random failures reported over decades. That’s abnormal. That’s engineering.”
As Ethan sat there, his expression shifted from confusion to contemplation. He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, and asked, “So, how does this apply to me figuring out how to channel abilities through the bond? I mean, if it’s engineered like you say, then the same principles should hold true, right?”
“This is where the mark interfacing comes into play. It’s how the technique was developed. Engineered systems have design intentions. If your mark was built to assist you in using abilities, then anytime you deviate from the intended operation, the failure will be mild, bounded, predictable.”
Ethan sat a bit straighter as he began to understand what she was teaching him. “You want me to intentionally fail?”
“Exactly. Fail, but do so methodically. Each failure will give you feedback on exactly what the mark has been doing for you. With time, you can then learn to do that work yourself. But, there’s a reason we don’t teach this to the marked with newly resolved classes. The years of familiarity with your abilities makes it easier to notice when something goes wrong. You’re going to have to learn without that advantage.”
“This is only half of the problem, though,” Ethan said pinching the bridge of his nose. “I can’t sense what’s happening on the other end of the bond. Without that, I’m still missing a crucial piece of the puzzle; how to make sense of what I’m feeling. Or rather, what I’m not feeling when I try to channel abilities through the bond.”
“Apply the same logic, but work at it from another angle. If you’re getting a repeated, predictable failure, it likely means you’re making the same error each time. Try changing up the way you’re approaching the bond, the way you’re ‘listening’ to it.”
“I have some reading for you,” She said as turned back to her terminal and began typing again. Ethan’s phone vibrated as she sent him the reading list. “That is some of the literature you’re going to want to read over to get your footing.”
Ethan opened Thompson’s message and paled. It was exactly what he expected: a list of ‘light reading’ like Failure-Signature Analysis for Novice Marked and The Role of Cognitive Load in Manual vs. Mark-Assisted Spell Deployment, followed by a dreaded section labeled ‘the ones you’ll hate but need’. Predictive Failure Modes in Class-Mark Ability Constructs and Discrete Boundaries of Class Mark Intervention: Evidence for Non-Evolved Origin. The titles alone made his eyes glaze over.
He looked back up at her, mouth agape.
“That’s not even the best part.” she grinned. “Say you learn to use abilities without the mark, and you figure out how to sense abilities through the bond. You’re going to need everyone else on the team to understand how to mark interface, too. You’ll need them to practice, so that you can watch and replicate their abilities.”
“Alice is going to hate me.”
“That’s very likely,” She laughed. “On the plus side, if you can all figure this out, there won’t be any questions going forward about your team’s competency.”
Background music and the scent of sauteed garlic and onions filled Grace’s apartment as Ethan and Penny worked around the kitchen, moving around each other with practiced ease. The sizzle of the oil punctuated Ethan’s explanation of his conversation with Mage Thompson.
“So, basically,” he said, flipping a piece of chicken in the pan, “if we want me to be able to channel abilities reliably, all of us are going to need to learn this mark interfacing technique. Which means doing all the reading.”
Penny paused, her hands covered in oil and forming dough balls, looking up at him. “All of it?”
Ethan nodded grimly. “Yep. Every last page.”
The kitchen fell silent for a moment before Alice let out a long groan from where sat at the kitchen island, watching them work. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, her voice dripping with disbelief. She pushed off the counter, her expression one of mock horror. “I signed up to fight monsters, not become a librarian.”
Mei chuckled from where she sat at the kitchen table, skimming through some of the reading on mark interfacing that Thompson had given Ethan earlier. “It won’t be so bad,” she said, though her tone suggested she didn’t entirely believe her own words. “Besides, it’s not like we’ll have to do it all at once.”
Grace had a teasing grin as she set down the last fork, finishing setting the table. “I don’t mind reading,” she said. “It beats the alternative—Ethan fumbling around in the dark trying to figure out how to use our abilities.”
Penny laughed, tossing a piece of dough at Alice, who caught it deftly and flicked it back at her. “See? Grace gets it,” Penny said, turning back to the dough with a grin. “Besides, think of all the fun we’ll have teasing Ethan when he’s struggling to keep up.”
Ethan rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips. “Thanks for the support, by the way,” he said dryly.
Alice grinned, moving to stand beside him, her shoulder bumping against his. “What are friends for?” she said, her tone teasing. She reached out to steal a piece of chicken from the pan, but Ethan swatted her hand away with the spatula.
“Hey,” he protested. “Hands off the merchandise.”
Alice pouted but didn’t try again, content instead to watch as Penny and Ethan finished cooking. The kitchen was filled with the sounds of their banter and the clinking of dishes, a warm and comfortable atmosphere that belied the difficulty of the task ahead.
As they sat down to eat, the conversation turned to lighter topics, but the underlying current of determination was present. This was a new challenge, but they were confident they could figure it out. And until then, there were always lighter topics to talk about.
Alice rose as she finished eating, moving to the sink and turning it on, which let out a hiss as she rinsed her plate. Mei brought more dishes over, and Alice’s movements were fluid and automatic as she cleaned, the white ceramic gliding from soapy hands to the rack with a soft thud. The clink of plates and cutlery provided a staccato rhythm against the constant rush of water.
Ethan’s phone buzzed softly on the counter, a sharp sound against the general noise of the room. He glanced down at it, reading the text from Alex: On my way.
He cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “Hey, everyone,” he said, looking up from his phone. “That was Alex. He’s nearly here.”
Penny looked up from where she was helping Grace clear the table. “Oh, good. Let’s get this figured out.”
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