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.

Next, the screen depicted a small picture of him in the upper right corner of the screen and he was presented with the following prompt: "You now have the option of having a still picture or a short introductory video created for other guests to examine during the Guest Hosting -- Guest Selection process. Only guests participating in Guest Hosting may see the picture, and only then if your description meets their basic criteria. Double-click on the thumbnail picture to present a larger picture, and select the 'Still' or 'Video' option, then click 'Enter' to take a still picture or the 'Start' button to begin recording a short video. The microphone for video recording is embedded in the monitor before you and adjusted to pick up clear speech plainly when you are seated at the desk. You may re-do either option by hitting 'ESC' or the 'Cancel' button. Save your picture or video by selecting 'Continue.' You MUST provide a visual depiction of yourself to continue with Guest Hosting." Mike took a look at the picture that was currently up, pressed 'Enter' and moved on.

The next screen was titled "The Hosting Process," and discussed how the next screen would be split into Hosts, Visitors, and Groups, and how it would provide statistics on what was available and how it matched his choices, and how he would be seeing pictures of other Hosts or Visitors who might be interested. Yak, yak, yak... Mike moved on.

There was a 'Continue' button below this information; Mike clicked on it and the three-part screen opened. Mike clicked on 'Visitors,' and was unsurprised to discover that none of the female visitors depicted had requested an invitation. Well, it was early; besides, maybe this wasn't the way to do it.... He backed out of the Visitors screen and clicked the 'Hosts' button. There were four female Hosts displayed, one rather heavy, unappetizing black female, thirty-something chick with a toothpaste smile in a bikini, an older butch-looking chick, and a tired-looking Hispanic woman. Things weren't exactly wild...

Mike backed out and clicked the Groups button. Hmmmm, Group 436 was in the Adult Jacuzzi... The description said one woman and two men. Mike clicked on the group number and the window expanded to display a heavyset brunette and two black guys. There was a 'View' button; Mike clicked it, grinning. A new window opened, obviously a webcam view; the woman, a beatific smile on her face, was raising and lowering herself on one black guy's lap, while the other suckled at her huge left breast, holding it steady in both hands. Mike chuckled, wondering how much fun one woman could have; apparently, the group was still capable of proffering invitations... He watched a moment, but figured that he'd wait a bit before succumbing to temptation and becoming just another member of her male harem, no matter how sweet-faced she was -- besides, there was the question of whether a couple of black guys would want to share... He was hoping for better, anyway, but things looked thin...

Backing out to the main Groups screen, he noted that most groups were dining, and currently limited to more social pursuits -- so much for wild and crazy fun, although, to be fair, it was early, and a Thursday night. Mike went back to the Hosts screen, where the butch chick was now unavailable. The bikini chick had a video; Mike played it, discovering that she was a prostitute with a steep price list. That didn't leave much...

Mike backed out and punched back into the Visitors screen, not expecting much. It was blank. 'Fine, just perfect,' Mike thought, 'Three days food money and I get squat.' Sighing, he went to get his books out of his backpack.

For the next hour, he studied while checking the display at intervals. The hooker was in and out, and the black woman disappeared. The tired-looking Hispanic chick garnered some attention -- no doubt out of desperation on somebody's part. Mike really didn't want to do old chicks -- or fat chicks or hookers, either -- but being picky was turning this into a wasted trip... Maybe things were hotter on the weekend -- but even if they were, booking a room during the peak period would cost him a week's worth of food and gas money. Group 436 apparently disbanded at some point, taking THAT option off the list...

It was nine-thirty when Mike switched over to check the Visitors display -- and found a pic of a sweet-looking chestnut-haired chick! Blowing it up didn't reveal any issues; Mike wondered if everybody else had given up or something. Mike scanned the vitals -- Lois 812, twenty-one, five feet eight, one forty... Gender Group Three, whatever that was... Mike didn't bother to investigate; he just hit the 'Invite' button.

Lois Wilson sat back in her chair, surprised. She'd been here before -- twice -- and the bites she'd gotten had been guys who just wanted to look -- or wanted to give her shit -- one or the other. This Mike 307 was about her age and looked pretty decent -- but he might just be messing with her head, like the others...

How did you tell without putting yourself out there? Sighing, Lois hit the 'Accept' button and got Mike 307's room number -- 212. Well, it was just up the hall... She checked herself in the mirror, bit her lip, and gathered herself for the meeting. "Here goes nothing -- again..."

The knock on the door came surprisingly fast -- she must have been right up the hall! Mike checked himself in the mirror and closed his book, then headed off to open the door.

The chick was there all right -- he could see her through the peephole. He opened the door and got a better look -- and liked what he saw!

She was dressed pretty conservatively -- heels, narrow grey skirt that ended just above the knee, a white blouse with puffed cap sleeves -- very business-womanish. Her hair was pulled back on the sides with combs but fluffed out thick and curly beyond that and came almost to her shoulders. The face was sweet -- but the soft brown eyes were troubled. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied, "I'm just... waiting..."

"Okay..." Mike cocked his head. "Like, for what?"

Lois eyed him nervously. "Usually, I get some kind of outburst at this point..."

"Really?" Mike frowned. "What kind of outburst?"

"Some comment on how I look or what I am..." Lois couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"Well, I didn't figure that I ought to get all stupid about how hot you are..." Mike said, feeling his way, "I'm sure you hear all about that..."

"Ummm..." Now Lois cocked her head. "Mike -- I can call you Mike, right? Is this your first time here?"

"Well, yeah..."

"How much attention did you pay to your selections?"

Mike shrugged. "I slammed through them. Everything looks right -- you're my age more or less and you're a girl..."

Lois grimaced. This was going to be EXTREMELY embarrassing. "Are you sure you set everything right? I REALLY don't want to surprise you. I... might not quite measure up to expectation..."