8-Bit by Lucian Bane

Log 87: System Update Required.

The leader of the Bayou Bishops, my brotherhood of backwater avengers, has introduced a new protocol: End Celibacy in The Brotherhood and Find A Wife.

With zero downtime for love, I deployed a custom algorithm to locate a compatible match based on data sets designed to minimize emotional output and sexual demands. Problem solved? Hardly.
The woman I selected is getting under my skin, changing variables I didn’t even know were mutable. And it’s not just me. I can see it in her eyes, the unspoken desires she thinks she’s hiding so well. I’m a data guy, but even I can sense that she’s fighting the same battle I am. Every stolen glance, every accidental touch sends my computations into a tailspin.

Let’s not forget about the constant hum of our impending conflict with the enemies of the Bayou Bishops. We’re on a precipice, and any wrong move could send us tumbling down.
It gets worse. Amidst this chaos, another storm brews inside me. The darker elements of my personality, things I’ve conditioned and coded myself to suppress, are clawing their way to the surface. They’re pushing against my meticulously crafted firewalls, demanding to be integrated into my new, disordered normal. They want things with her that can never see the light of day.

And I don’t know how much longer I can hold the line.