Chapter 1 - A Ray Of Hope

A busty woman in her late 20s sits alone on her bed, the only light in the otherwise dark room coming from a laptop screen lying next to her. The pink sweatpants and white half shirt she wore barely covered her sinfully curvy body. Her dark blue hair was in a messy bun and her yellow, catlike eyes were wide in shock. 

"He...He's retiring...?" She stammers out in disbelief, "He's retiring!?! Why? How could this happen!?!" She demands as she sits up from her bed. 

She stares at the news article before her in horror as comments flood in.

"No!" The woman shouts, tears in her eyes. "This...this can't be happening...How could he? Does he not realize what he means to us...to me?" 

After a long pause and a deep breath, the woman picks up her phone to call her manager. She would not accept this. She would find him and make him reconsider...or...

Or maybe just take him for herself...?

"Yes. That is a much better plan." She whispers with a growing smile as the gears in her head spin. Her modeling career was important, but this took priority over everything else. She would claim White Mask for her own and finally know the pleasure of his touch, something she had dreamed of for years now. 

There was so much to do...

* | * | *

Jack Richards held his head in his hands as he let out a scream of indignation. 

10 months. 

He had been a College graduate and jobless for 10. Fucking. Months!

"We are sorry to inform you that, due to your lack of work experience, we have decided to go with another applicant. We wish you well in your future endeavors." He reads aloud in a mocking tone. 

It was always the same. Every company he applied for turned him down for lack of experience. 

"What was the fucking point of the degree and certification!?!" He yells as he throws his phone onto his large bed. 

Banging from next door informs him that his neighbors did not appreciate his tirade. He was in a rather nice loft-style apartment, but, at the end of the day, the walls were still shared. 

"Well, fuck you too then!" He yells at the wall and the banging continues louder than before. 

Sighing to himself, he walks into his bathroom and dunks his head under the cold running water. The chilly liquid trickles down his head and through his hair, bringing clarity and calm to his raging emotions. 

As he raises his head and drys his hair with a towel, he looks into the mirror at the sad sap of a man before him. 

The image that greets him is one of a man with dark, sopping wet, brown hair and equally dark brown eyes. His chin is sharp and his facial proportions are even and pleasant to look at. He was rather handsome, if he allowed himself a moment of vanity, but that charm was masked by the perpetual scowl he wore as if he invented it. Jack rips off the soggy t-shirt that clings to his well-muscled chest and arms as he drys off his upper body as well. 

Taking several deep breaths, he practices a method he learned long ago to calm down. 

'Take a breath in for four seconds, hold it for four seconds, and breath out for four seconds.' He thinks, as if a mantra, as he feels his coiled muscles relax and the tension in his temples fade away. 

When he looks up again, he relaxes his face further, losing his signature scowl, and even gives a warm smile - If nothing else than to practice what he will need to do for his next interview. 

The smile falls from his face and he scowls again, his body and the scar on his upper left pectoral muscle bringing back bad memories. 

Jack did not have the best life growing up. 

He was born to Mason and Heather Richards in Portland Oregon nearly 28 years ago, in 2083. He knew almost nothing of his mother, as she ran away with another man when he was only 5. His father was a drunken playboy and was never faithful to anyone a day in his life. What he was, however, was incredibly handsome and suave. Enough to win almost any woman he wanted.

Along with being verbally abused by his father pretty much daily since he was born, Jack had to relocate every couple of years as his Dad would get a case of wanderlust and decide to pack up and leave suddenly, usually ending one of his 5 additional marriages with the move. 

The only saving grace of his father, for Jack at least, was the fact that he never left him behind. That and the verbal abuse was only verbal, never physical. His father was a thin and willowy man that lost his spine in any serious confrontation. He couldn't punch someone to save his life. The only thing he was good at was gambling and picking up women. 

Jack was almost always poor growing up. His father would live off his big wins and money from god knows where. He would then spend it all on women and booze within a year. They could have been millionaires if he was only a bit more frugal with their money. Instead, Jack had grown up in run-down apartments, motel rooms, and bed and breakfasts ever since he could remember. 

School was hell for Jack. Moving from state to state meant that he never got a consistent education. In fact, it got so bad that Jack had to start learning on his own in order to not get held back. Public libraries were a godsend for the young boy. 

Friends were also something Jack never knew in his younger years. He learned early on that making friends only meant leaving them behind and feeling loss. So, with that in mind, Jack would only spend a bare minimum amount of time with people. Enough to be an associate, but not enough to be a friend. Enough to not get bullied, but never one who had people over or went to hang out with others after school.

This didn't make him antisocial, however, as he would always talk with the older people at the libraries or around town when he would go out for long walks. He allowed himself more freedom in these interactions and learned many social skills from these random people. His favorites to talk to were always housewives. They were nicer to the young Jack than random kids his age would be, and they always told him fun stories or bought him food.

He wasn't unpopular because of his distance at school, however. Specifically, he was very popular with the girls. Like his father before him, Jack was a handsome kid and then a handsome young man as he grew. The difference was that he wasn't interested in dating. His father ruined that for him as a kid, and Jack had a reputation as a heartbreaker wherever he went.

He didn't mind, however. He had found his life goal when he turned 15 and strove only towards that goal:

He didn't care how he accomplished it, but he wanted to find a permanent home and live outside of poverty with a high-paying job. He set his sights on Computer Science since it was such a booming industry. 

Jack would never forget the look on his father's face when the 16-year-old said "No" to moving again. Finally being old enough to live on his own, Jack put his foot down and refused to leave his home for the last 2 years, Buffalo New York. He was going into his junior year and was tired of it all. His father didn't seem to mind, and, instead, in a move that absolutely baffled Jack, gave him $50,000 of his most recent "Earnings" before disappearing from his life forever. 

Their last conversation was short and to the point.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Live a better life than me. Good luck, Jack."

Then he was gone. No letters, no calls, nothing. Just, gone. Like dust in the wind. 

Jack had learned much from his father's ways. He decided to live frugally with his sudden wealth. He rented a cheap studio apartment, ate cost-effective but healthy meals, and didn't slouch on getting things he needed to further his goals. He bought a cheap membership to a local gym and worked out to blow off steam. The day he bought his first laptop and phone was one that he would never forget. The sense of finally owning something and it not disappearing in a few years was enough to bring him to tears. 

Jack also started getting closer to people after deciding to stay. He made friends, had girlfriends, and tried his best to make up for years of going without. Despite his Dad, or maybe because of him, Jack became something of a playboy himself. Never going as far as his father had, but he found that he couldn't commit to the teenaged women around him. They just...seemed to lack something to him. 

In his senior year, he found out why: He had a thing for older women. The long talks with the housewives when he was younger seemed to leave a larger impression on him than he originally thought. So, with this realization, Jack started dating college girls and even a few single mothers. He was 18, so he didn't feel like he was doing anything wrong. 

Jack, unfortunately, found that his father's influence followed him even further: Into the bedroom. His Dad was a rather domineering man in bed, for being such a wuss otherwise, and small apartments, motels, and other single room living spaces never offered much privacy when he got intimate with women. Jack had picked up more than he ever wished to from his father, and the older women he dated really seemed to like it when he talked dirty or took the lead.

By the end of high school, however, Jack had problems again. The money he was given was running dry. Even with stretching it as far as it could go, he was getting close to being completely broke. He refused to borrow money from others, and so he decided he would need to get a job. 

As he was on his way to his first interview at a fast-food restaurant, he passed a fancy male host bar with a "Help Wanted" poster. There were many such places in the darker streets of Buffalo. With the legalization of prostitution back in 2077, red-light districts were nothing new, and Jack had spent most of his life near them. Seeing how much they were offering for males to "Accompany" female guests blew his mind. If he was willing to go all the way, he could make even more!

Jack loved sex and he was very good at it. Getting paid for something he was good at and enjoyed doing sounded a hell of a lot better than cooking fries and burgers for 8 hours a day.

Thinking that he could make a killing here, Jack chose to forgo a normal job and applied for a position at Madam Gerken's Ladies Club immediately. Most of the women who worked there were waitresses, bartenders, and managers, with the men taking on the role of escorts. After stripping and showing off the goods, so to say, he was asked to give a demonstration of his "Talents" with one of the female employees who agreed to it. He passed this test with flying colors, and, after hearing about the mind-boggling sex, the female employees would often visit him during their days off.

This was the first mistake Jack made in his life. 

For two years Jack worked at the host bar. He saved as much as he could so that he would be able to go to college. He knew he wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise. No scholarship would help him pay the massive difference in tuition costs. Jack's goal was always at the back of his mind, however, and this was only a stepping stone along his ultimate path. He was more than willing to give up his morals and pride for a chance at good money. 

It all ended one day when an angry husband beat the living shit out of Jack for fucking his wife. Jack was then fired for "Causing a disturbance," and he wasted much of what he had saved on hospital fees resulting from the beating as well as a large cut on his chest that required many stitches. The angry husband had slashed his chest open with a broken bottle. 

Jack learned about the cruelty of life that day. It didn't end with his Dad, no, it had only hidden away to surprise him when he least expected it. He was just doing his job, but he was thrown away without a second of hesitation as soon as it caused bad publicity for the business. He had no idea how they could treat him that way after all he did for them, but he made a promise to wisen up and face this cold reality with the seriousness and tenacity it deserved moving forward.

He also made a promise to himself that he would never have sex with married women again. He didn't need the trouble that brought. 

Recovering and jobless, Jack was in a rut. One that ended just as fast as it had started; With a job offer from a pornstar.

One of his longtime clients visited him in the hospital and gave him her card. She had been hired as a scout and model for the adult film studio, Chains, and wanted Jack, above anyone else, to join them. They were looking for a new male actor to take on a Dominance, or Dom, role, and this woman knew he would be a huge success.

This invitation wasn't all that surprising to Jack. Most of the women he was with over the last 2 years requested this kind of service, and he spent a lot of time learning how to do it right. He never did half-measures. This meant that Jack had the look, the temperament, the experience, and the cock that matched exactly with what this porn studio wanted.

Jack refused initially, but when the offers became more and more ridiculous, he finally caved; Agreeing to do it as long as he could wear a mask to hide his identity.

From then onwards, Jack took on the persona of White Mask, and he was an instant sensation.

This was the second mistake Jack made in his life.

His success wasn't only due to himself, however. Chains was a large company with an excellent marketing team and a large pool of talent. It took two to tango, as the saying goes, and the women Jack worked with were some of the best and sexiest in the business. One thing that they all had in common: They were exclusively over the age of 28.

While most adult entertainment companies focused on pleasure from the male's perspective. Chains created content for females exclusively. This meant that not only did older actresses have better contracts with Chains than they would with other companies, but that they actually got to enjoy themselves more often.

These videos hit one of the most lucrative markets in the world, and White Mask could have only been so popular because of it. He was a young, attractive man who effortlessly dominated and pleasured women over the age of 28, usually housewives, Mothers-In-Law, or office workers. This let him conquer a truly enormous fantasy demographic.

For the next 5 years, Jack worked for the BDSM-focused adult entertainment company. He made more in 1 video than he had in over a year as a host, and he thought his troubles were finally over. For a while, they were!

It took Jack only 2 years to save enough for college, but the contract he signed made him work as White Mask for a total of 5 years. So, he did his time and thoroughly enjoyed it. Well...most of it.

For the positives, he was able to afford his nice apartment and sports car as well as new tech and electronics that he could have only dreamed about previously. He was also very well-liked at the company and by almost all of the actresses he worked with, though they only knew him as White Mask. The fact that he was polite off camera was a big bonus, as most male pornstars making as much as he did were douchebags who couldn't separate work from reality - Or so he was told.

As for the negatives, Jack grew to stop enjoying sex as much. Doing it for several hours a week, nearly non-stop, made him miss the times when it was new and exciting. He was a master in his craft and found himself growing bored of it all far sooner than he would have thought. He never let it affect his performance, but it was a nagging feeling in the back of his head all the times.

Next, he really hated being on set. Makeup would take hours to apply and had to be constantly reapplied because they would sweat it all off. it took less time for Jack, as it was only his chest and neck that needed it most of the time, but it still was annoying to sit through and wait for his co-star to finish. The lighting was also unbearably hot and he found himself constantly dehydrated, often drinking more than a gallon of water a day in his private dressing room. 

Another negative was the publicity and fans. At first, Jack didn't mind it and was thrilled that White Mask was making so many people happy. However, interviewers and fans at events grabbing his body all over, rubbing themselves on him, and making inappropriate comments quickly became tiresome. Not to mention his fan mail. Jesus Christ, the amount of gross and downright degrading pictures, letters, videos, and objects he was sent on the regular made enjoying his work increasingly tough. 

Sorry, HornyMomma143 in Kentucky, Jack was not at all interested in your crusty panties, and, no, MILF69696 in Canada, Jack did not want to lick your used dildo. 

Thankfully, it was a work email and his personal information was never leaked. He made sure to hire a good lawyer and make the company sign several ironclad NDAs to ensure it. He was their top paid and viewed actor, so they would have jumped through nearly any hoop he asked for. The fact that he didn't ask for much only endeared Jack to them more.

Finally, at 25 and after 5 long years, Jack was able to terminate his contract. The company was ready to offer him millions to re-sign, but Jack was done with it all. He still had a goal to accomplish, and he was several years behind schedule at this point. It was pretty amazing to see how the, once, lifelong fans now cursed him and hated him for leaving. Again, he was incredibly happy he could do it all and remain anonymous. 

The next 3 years were a blur of constant schoolwork. Jack tested and was accepted into a decent university in Buffalo. He loaded up his schedule and took as many credit hours as he could. He worked tirelessly, not needing to worry about money as he had enough to live off of for the next 10 years if he was smart with his finances, and finished the 4-year program in just under 3 years. Even graduating with honors and a 4.0 GPA, astounding for the one-time 2.9 GPA High School student. He also got a certificate as a Full-Stack Web Developer shortly after graduating, having been studying for the tests during his last year at college. 

He didn't date or have sex in the 3 years since he quit the industry, and he loved every minute of it. It gave him time to rest and learn to enjoy it again. He decided that getting a good and stable girlfriend would be his reward once he got his dream job...

That brought him back to now. 

The dream was nearly complete, but he was having trouble on the final hurdle. He couldn't get a good job with zero work experience. 

This wasn't to say that he couldn't get A job, he just didn't want an entry-level position or to start at minimum wage, 42-48K. He worked hard for his grades and his certificate, and he felt he deserved at least 70-80K in a Full-Stack Development position...

Sighing to himself again, Jack finished wiping off the water and slipped on a new, freshly washed t-shirt. 

'Time to get looking again. Maybe I should move to New York City or Seattle? I bet I could get something there...Maybe I should just suck it up and join a tech company. Work my way up? ...God, this sucks.' He thought as he flopped down in front of his work laptop. 

When he did, he noticed he had a new email. 

'Natasha Sutherland...? Where have I heard that name before?' He ponders as he leans back in his office chair.

Then an image flashes in his mind, cloudy because of the years.

An 11-year-old girl. Dark blue hair and golden, yellow eyes. Someone who he didn't get to know for very long. The first big sister he ever had.

"Holy shit! No way...It can't be her, right?" Jack wonders aloud.

His father had married her mother, assuming this girl was her, when he was only 6. They had lived together for 2 years and got pretty close in that time. It was because of them that Jack realized he needed to distance himself from his new "Family" from now on. The pain he felt at their separation was just too much for his young mind. His father had left with him in the dead of night after a huge fight and getting the mother to sign divorce paperwork. 

Jack remembers clearly, reaching out with tears in his eyes as his father carried him to their car with a suitcase. The little girl, Nat, was doing the same as her mother held her and looked on with sadness clear in her expression. 

"What are the chances...? They lived in Ohio, after all...This Natasha is a model opening a new fashion company here in Buffalo. It has to just be a coincidence, right?"

Jack quickly read through the email. The text reading that Natasha had heard he was looking for a Web Development position in the area from a friend of hers in one of the companies he applied for. She was just starting out and needed a full-time "Tech Guy," as she put it, to get everything set up for her business, including a new website. 

While Jack was not an expert in other tech fields, he felt he could learn the basics enough to get everything started. Once the foundation is in place, he can work on the network and website. If he needed to outsource some of it, he would explain that and also the limitations he faced with his degree. Hopefully, he wouldn't get fired if he said he needed help...

Jack felt like this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Even if it lead to nothing, he had to meet her. He had to see if it really was his step-sister...or, no...

'I guess she isn't related to me at all anymore...' He thinks with a sad smile. 'We are just two strangers, and if this works out, she will be my boss. Let's not make it awkward for her and bring this up, even if it is true.'

With that decision, Jack responds that he is very interested in the position and leans back in his chair again, smiling brightly. 

'Things might finally be looking up!'

* | * | *

This was the third mistake Jack made in his life, even if he hadn't realized it yet. All of them leading up to this crucial moment.

The host club left employment records.

The scar he got at the host club left medical records when it was stitched up.

The porn videos showed off the scar for the world to see and became a signature part of the White Mask look.

Now, sitting in her new apartment, a floor down from Jack's in fact, was a 31-year-old model and new company owner. Her smile as she read the email reply he sent was so wide that it almost looked painful. Her dark blue hair was up in a messy bun and her catlike yellow eyes shone from the light of her laptop screen as she let out a wicked laugh.

"I've got you now White Mask, and to think you were my Jacky all along!~"