Chapter 1

Mike Webber wheeled his Toyota into the lot of the Friendly Traveler's Inn and glanced around nervously, waiting for someone who knew him to show up and jerk his chain. It would be just like Eddie to set him up... Eddie Farnsworth had sworn by the place -- "If I can get laid there, you can for sure!" -- but Eddie was a known practical joker. On the other hand, he'd appeared perfectly serious, his enthusiasm for the adult Mecca that he'd stumbled upon north of the city. "There are chicks of all shapes, sizes, and ages there, Man, just waiting..." Certainly Mike was more likely to attract female attention with his two inches of additional height and his moderate good looks; Eddie had bright red hair, freckles, eyeglasses, and a generally doughy look. The other thing was that it was Thursday -- not a big party night. There was no reason for Eddie to think he might be coming here -- ESPECIALLY on a Thursday -- but there was a very good economic reason: Unlike a lot of hotels, the Friendly Traveler's Inn was apparently usually booked solid on the weekend, and raised their room rates rather than lowering them during that timeframe -- which meant that a Thursday night stay was cheaper...

Mike's first assumption -- that the place was going to be a dump -- was disproved immediately upon entry into the lobby. This place was a helluva lot nicer than a Day's Inn... It looked like Mike figured Hiltons looked -- not that he'd ever stayed in one. Mike passed his credit card to the clerk who took care of him with quiet efficiency. Mike glanced around for signs of the activity that Eddie had described, but didn't see any -- maybe THAT was Eddies gag... Then a sign caught his eye: 'New in town? Not looking forward to another night alone in a strange place? Try our unique Guest Hosting Service! Channel 22 on the in-room television.' THAT looked different... "Um, could I have a look at a guide listing the facilities?" Mike asked diffidently.

"Certainly, Sir!" The clerk -- a woman -- smiled brightly and proffered a foldout. "We're a somewhat unique facility, as you can see..." Mike absorbed the card, which had areas marked in red and green. A look at the legend at the bottom of the foldout indicated that areas in green were family/public areas and those marked in red were adults only... There were two swimming pools, one public and one private, two Jacuzzis -- even two restaurant/bars! "I can see that," he muttered, "Isn't duplicating everything costly?"

"We discovered when we tried this the first time out west that any time we limited something for one of our target groups, it was a strike against us," the clerk replied. "Many times, we'll get a group that has elements of both -- swingers with children, for instance -- and they just don't want to feel that they're giving up anything when they go from one part of the hotel to the other..."

"I see..." Implicit in the clerk's explanation was the fact that Eddie had apparently NOT been pulling Mike's leg... "What are your target groups?"

"Families and consenting adults," the clerk replied. "Both groups have to be a little tolerant of the other, but blending them works surprisingly well..."

"I see..." Mike nodded.

"You WERE aware of the various disclaimers, correct?" the clerk asked sharply. "We try not to surprise anyone, and you made a reservation..."

"I just wasn't sure," Mike replied hastily. "It seemed, well, too good to be true."

The clerk beamed. "No doubt you will find that it's not," she said, flirting gently. "Let me know if you need anything else..."

Mike took it right between the eyes -- the woman could have been forty, but, yeah, he'd have fucked her... "Th--thanks!" Clutching his key, he turned away.

"Elevators are at the back..." the woman called.

"Thanks!" Embarrassed, Mike moved off, trying to pretend that he got that kind of attention all the time. The reality was a LOT different...

Mike was painfully shy and, well, average. The combination basically took him out of the running for most girls, who needed a bit of an aggressive approach -- so Mike ended up on the sidelines. Sports helped, but not that much -- booze seemed to be better, since it loosened him up and let him get a little wild periodically -- but that carried its own dangers. Mike was only just twenty-one; booze hadn't been an option, legally, until VERY recently -- and boozing it up while underage meant that you had to be circumspect, which reduced your visibility... High school hadn't been a major success from a dating point of view -- and college, well, he was hanging out with Eddie, wasn't he? That pretty much covered THAT... He could count his sexual experiences on one hand -- and they tended to be exercises in desperation with chicks he REALLY didn't want a relationship with...

The elevator ride to his second-floor room was uneventful; things were pretty quiet. Definitely, there wasn't any grab-ass going on in the halls; the dorm was a LOT noisier. If he didn't find anyone willing to have sex with him, he could at least work on his term papers in peace -- not that that was adequate justification for the cost of the room... Opening the door, he saw a pretty vanilla layout -- there was a desk, but it had a TV on it, which might interfere with study, later. He entered the room and put his stuff in the closet -- a backpack of books and overnight things had seemed adequate -- and settled himself at the desk. Turning on the TV with the remote, he set it to Channel 22 and got what was apparently a webpage:

"Welcome to Guest Hosting, the Friendly Traveler's Inn's unique Guest Matching service! There is no need to sit in your room alone; through Guest Hosting, you can meet another guest for dinner, conversation, group and family activities, or more adult pursuits. Match yourself with another guest with similar pursuits in mind, having selected this person anonymously in the comfort of your room. Guest Hosting removes the uncertainty and confusion from the situation - you know in advance what your guest or host is interested in doing - no need to beat around the bush; you can go right to enjoying one another's company! Our menu system allows you to select the activities and hotel facilities that pique your interest, then view a selection of guests interested in the same things. When you have selected one or more candidates, the system anonymously notifies these individuals of your willingness to meet with them, saving you the embarrassment of 'hit or miss' contact."

Below this were instructions on using the system, including which buttons on the remote unlocked the lap drawer, revealing a keyboard to be used to navigate the menu system. Mike tapped the proper sequence on the remote. The lap drawer popped open, revealing a mouse and keyboard, and the prompt, "Enter a first name to be known by:" appeared on the screen. Mike keyed in his name and hit the Enter key. The screen responded with "You are Mike 307! Press F1 to continue." Mike did so, and was presented with: "Do you want to (1) Host, (2) Visit or (3) Either one. Select a number, or hit Esc to leave Guest Hosting." Mike shrugged, and hit the '3' key.

The next menu said, "Please describe yourself. You are a:" followed by a series of radio buttons marked Male, Female, Transgender, Couple, and Other. The 'Other' option had a text box next to it, presumably to allow people in whatever odd status might require it to explain their unique situation. There were also fields for age, height, and weight, and radio buttons for race, smoking and drinking preferences. Mike went through them, clicking on 'Male, ' filling in his age, height and weight, (at twenty-one, he was six feet tall, and just under two hundred pounds - not big at all for his height), selected 'Caucasian, ' Non-Smoker, ' and 'Light-Drinker, ' and the system continued, presenting a new menu, this time with check boxes: "You are looking to meet a:" The options this time were Male, Female, Transgender, Couple, Group, Family, and Other. There was also a second box of checkboxes for age, organized in five year ranges, from twenty-one to eighty-plus. Mike checked off some boxes rapidly, not really paying attention, and selected the three age ranges that set his target ages from twenty to thirty-five, clicking the 'Continue' button displayed on the screen.

The next screen displayed a bunch of activities, grouped in three columns, 'Private, ' 'Group-Adult, ' and 'Group-Family'. Sex wasn't mentioned specifically - the closest the system came was 'Intimacy, ' but 'Nude Sauna, ' 'Nude Bathing' and 'Nude Jacuzzi' appeared under both Private' and Group- Adult'. Innocuous items like 'Dining' and 'Conversation' appeared under all three headings, and 'Party or Function' appeared for both types of groups. Mike selected the nude activities under both the 'Private' and 'Group-Adult' columns, just to see what would happen. A notice popped up to indicate that private use of the facilities must be scheduled and that preference was given to group activities. Mike blew by some notice on children and childcare and selected 'Continue, ' there was a click, and the drawer in the pedestal unlatched. On the screen appeared the following message: "Selection of 'Intimacy' enables the availability of a selection of birth control devices and adult toys from the pedestal drawer. Prophylactics are complimentary, and their use is encouraged - other items will be charged to your room. These items are stocked in bulk and are thus reasonably priced according to the following list:" Mike eyed the list; mildly titillated at the number of items and their descriptions. At the bottom of the list was the entry "Other items, including adult party games, are available upon request, but may have special requirements; restraints, for instance, require a signed release." Mike pawed through the stuff in the drawer - rubbers, contraceptive foam, two different vibrators, a couple of dildos, anal plugs, a selection of flavored and unflavored lubricants, and apparently edible panties - chuckling. This was MORE than enough! He clicked the 'Next' button.