Algorithm
Part 40
Out of instinct, Tiffany tapped her left thumb and middle finger together three times. She needed to think and react fast. Instantly, her mind overflowed with information and ideas. She processed each minute detail, all while Erin and Hannah were both catching their bearings.
First, Tiffany determined that Hannah was excited but nervous. She was wearing the outfit they had found for her at Violet’s Delights, but it was clear she was uncomfortable in it, though not in a physical sense. Her flushed cheeks and the way her right hand clutched tightly onto her left wrist made her trepidation clear. However, she also held herself high, and was as determined as she was unsure.
As for Erin, the look on her face was one of surprise, disappointment, and embarrassment. She was most likely thinking Hannah was a deeply conditioned slave under Tiffany’s control at this point. She clearly hadn’t been expecting that, because Tiffany had been projecting an image of someone reformed, who wasn’t going around brainwashing everyone close to her. Tiffany knew that Hannah was barely under any programming at all, and Tiffany had her suspicions that she could have had Hannah help her out without any suggestions in her subconscious mind. But Erin didn’t know this, and as Tiffany suspected Erin would likely try to leave, she needed to explain herself as quickly as possible.
But of course she could easily just press her finger to Erin’s forehead and see if that put her into trance… The defensive way Erin had told her that she was programming free and the aggressive reaction to Tiffany joking about her old trigger moments earlier on the stairs made her strongly believe that Erin had either reinstated the trigger, or she wasn’t convinced it was removed. If Tiffany could put Erin into trance before she could bolt, she could make sure Erin understood what was happening. She could be certain that Erin would respond in the way she should in this situation. She could ensure Erin would never want to run away from her again...
Such a thought only persisted for a fraction of a moment though, as Tiffany knew that even if it worked, it would undermine everything she was trying to do with Erin. And if it didn’t work… Well, Erin would know exactly what Tiffany had tried to do and likely wouldn’t trust her ever again.
If Tiffany was going to salvage this, she knew she needed to do it with words. To her surprise, however, her instincts told her those words needed to come from her normal state of being, not the hyper-focused one she put herself in. Even if it meant she could read Erin’s emotions and reactions with much higher clarity and also come up with more convincing wording, bordering on neurolinguistic programming to persuade Erin to her view, Erin was sharp enough to tell if Tiff was in an altered state, and it would end up having the opposite of its intended effect. Being in her current state of heightened thinking was ultimately detrimental to her chances of success, and the sooner she stopped, the better.
Tiffany tapped her right pinky and thumb together and sighed sharply. She needed to do this part as her authentic self, it would seem.
‘Well, fuck,’ she cursed internally.
“Erin, before you do anything please let me explain!” she said as she watched Erin’s painful emotions play out on her face.
“I’m sorry, Tiff,” Erin said through a dry throat. “This was a mistake…”
As she turned to leave, Tiffany and Hannah both protested.
“Erin! Don’t go!” Hannah squeaked, her horrified expression letting Tiffany realise that she had an idea of what was happening.
Tiffany grabbed onto Erin’s arm. “Give me one minute, that’s all I ask!”
Erin looked down at where Tiffany had grabbed her and looked ready to shove her away, but instead she snapped her eyes tightly closed, trying to hold back tears.
When she opened her eyes, a large, empty smile covered her face, and she shook her head. “Tiff, it’s fine. You don’t even need a minute. There’s nothing to be explained. I only came to make sure you got home safe.” She glanced at Hannah, her smile widening but not hiding the pain in her eyes or her voice. “You have Hannah here. You’re okay.”
Erin turned to leave, brushing Tiffany’s arm away. As Tiffany watched, she felt all her careful planning slip away. The skateboard fall was never supposed to happen. Erin wasn’t supposed to be at Tiffany’s flat tonight, and should never have seen Hannah dressed as she was. She saw the relationship she hoped for between Erin and her crumble before her eyes and she didn’t know how to stop it. She considered tapping her fingers to put herself back into her hyper thinking mode, but it would undoubtedly give her the same answer. She needed to do this with her own mind. What would Mistress Tiffany do?
No, she couldn’t afford to think like that anymore. She wasn’t a Mistress, and she wasn’t a slave. She was Tiffany. Just her.
“Erin, stop expecting me to be perfect,” Tiffany called after Erin with a bluntness she didn’t expect to hear from herself.
Tiffany felt a nervousness start to envelop all around her, but she willed herself to push past it. She had the power of the Algorithm at the base of her mind. She didn’t need to use it, but even knowing it was there was like having a rock to stand on while a sea of uncertainty raged around her. Whatever came out of her now, it was what she needed to say.
Her words clearly had some impact, as Erin stopped in her tracks. Tiffany sighed, and in a much gentler tone, added, “It’s not fair, and it’s exhausting.”
Erin spun round, a look of incredulous bemusement on her face. Her voice took on a condescending tone. “Don’t worry Tiff, I never thought you were perfect.”
“No, but you want me to be!” Tiffany appealed, her arms outstretched and her fists clenched pleadingly. “Everything is a test to you, and anytime someone fails it’s all the excuse you need to run away!”
Erin scoffed. “Tiff, can you blame me for not wanting to stick around your brainwashed harem? Look what happened with Alice for fuck sake!”
“I don’t have a brainwashed harem,” Tiffany shot back. “And if I did, it was because you laid it in my lap! Why did you do that? To test me! Right? Or should I say to test me again!”
Erin blushed a deep red. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” She backed away down the corridor as Tiffany clutched the doorframe of her apartment entrance to keep weight off her injured ankle.
“I think I do…” Tiffany frowned, willing with all her might for Erin to come back. “You know, I came up with a whole plan earlier today with the express purpose of winning you over. It spanned days, and was going to culminate in us being together finally without any of the bullshit distractions getting in our way.”
Erin combined a scoff and a chuckle together. “Don’t exert so much effort on me Tiff!” She sighed in exasperation. “I already told you I’m not worth it.” She motioned to herself. “This is what I do, right? I keep making up tests and running away… So clearly I’m not worth the effort, right?”
Tiffany growled in frustration. “You are worth the effort! That’s the whole fucking point! But you need to be able to accept me as I am, and not freak out every time I don’t act the way you want me to!”
Erin dropped her head, a tired smile showing on her shaking head. “I’m not looking to dictate how you act and don’t act, Tiff. You’re the one that likes to be in control, remember? I’m sorry you can’t control this moment.”
“But you wish I did…” Tiffany said forlornly. When Erin met her gaze without a word, Tiffany continued. “You want me to use the Algorithm on you, take all your choices away, and have you be completely under my control again.” Tiffany steeled her own gaze to meet Erin’s look of angry defiance. “You can pretend all you want that it’s not what you had in mind by leaving me in charge of everyone, Erin, but I know what you wanted me to do.”
“Tiff, I need to go home…” Erin looked away and started shuffling once more down the corridor.
Tiffany felt her heart sink. Erin wouldn’t listen. She wouldn’t hear her out. It wasn’t supposed to end like this, but if Erin walked away now, Tiffany had doubts if she would ever see her again.
Tiffany knew she was right, but Erin’s defenses were up so tightly she couldn’t see a way through. She glanced behind her and saw that Hannah was no longer lingering outside her room door.
“Erin,” she called after the errant tomboy
Erin turned around and gave Tiffany an impatient glare.
Tiffany felt pathetic as she motioned to her ankle. “Can you help me inside?” She blinked several times as she tried to hold back tears. “Please?”
Erin rolled her eyes and dragged her feet, but nevertheless returned to let Tiffany lean on her shoulder. They shuffled awkwardly inside, and after closing the door behind them, they both heard the sound of faint sobbing coming from one of the bedrooms.
Tiffany and Erin immediately exchanged a glance. Tiffany motioned with her eyes for Erin to help her towards the source of the sobbing. Erin shook her head as Tiffany nodded slowly.
“No…” Erin protested in a hissed whisper.
“Yes,” Tiffany whispered back. “Now.”
“No, Tiff, enough. I’m—“
Tiffany grabbed Erin’s chin to let her look deeply into her eyes. Her glare was fierce and determined as she whispered in the most commanding way she could manage. “Take me to Hannah now, slave!”
Erin looked like she had been slapped in the face. Taking advantage of her shock, Tiffany dragged her towards Hannah’s room, and Erin helped her without another word, blushing with a confused expression.
Hannah was hunched over on the edge of her bed, sobbing profusely into a giant Mike Wazowski plush. Erin looked around Hannah’s room and adopted a face of horrified disgust. Tiffany didn’t exactly blame her… The excessive furnishings of pink, the prevalence of teen idols and adolescent movie posters, and the small army of dolls and soft toys were rather overwhelming. Tiffany silently scolded Erin and motioned her to help her onto the bed next to her distressed roommate, who had yet to acknowledge them.
Tiffany placed a hand on Hannah’s back and rubbed it gently, the red leather feeling nice on her fingers. Hannah stifled a sob and heaved a giant sigh.
“I’m so sorry, Tiff!” The redhead emerged from her plush and faced Tiffany with puffy eyes. “I ruined everything!”
“You didn’t ruin anything…” Tiffany said. “It’s okay.”
“But Erin left!” Hannah wailed. “I messed everything up between you both!”
Tiffany chuckled softly. “You didn’t. Erin’s still here.”
Hannah did a double take when she realised that Erin was standing awkwardly before them.
Erin gave a strained sigh and a sympathetic look at Hannah. “Well, Erin was just about to leave… So…”
Hannah inhaled sharply in anguish. “No, Erin! Please let me explain, don’t go!”
“My ride is waiting…” Erin trailed awkwardly.
Tiffany glared up at Erin and waited for her to look back. “Stay,” she commanded.
Erin’s expression flickered between fear and anger as she stared back into Tiffany’s eyes.
“Stay,” Tiffany repeated, leaning forward and widening her eyes.
‘I’m not hypnotising you with my eyes,’ Tiffany said to Erin silently in her own mind. ’But you want me to, don’t you? That’s why you’re still here, and that’s why you’ll do what I tell you.’
“Please, Erin…” Hannah sniffed.
Erin sighed in frustration. “My ride is waiting for me, guys....”
Unblinkingly, Tiffany tilted her head in amusement. “Then call him, and send him away.”
“Tiff…” Erin strained to keep her composure. She looked like she was pushing down so hard on her emotions. “I… I…”
“Yes you can. You can stay,” Tiffany stated matter of factly. “And more to the point, I’m telling you to.”
Erin seemed to shake where she stood. She whispered so faintly that it seemed like she was talking more to herself than to Tiffany. “You can’t make me…”
Tiffany smiled confidently. “You are correct. I can’t make you. Hell, I’m not even in a position to try and stop you right now. I can barely stand. So if you do stay it’s because you choose to, and that terrifies you.”
Hannah’s bleary gaze darted anxiously between Tiffany’s confidence and Erin’s wavering resolve.
“Fine!” Tiffany said. Hannah and Erin both flinched at this sudden change in energy. “I’ll make it easy for you.” She turned to her roommate. “Hannah, are you still able and willing to follow our agreement?”
“Oh? Um… Yeah! Yes.” Hannah shook off her confusion, a hopeful look appearing in her puffy eyes. “What do you want me to do? I’m ready, I can totally do this. Like, anything!” She frowned at herself and then chuckled nervously. “Okay, maybe not anything.” she grinned while blushing sheepishly. Before she could resume her excited tirade, Tiffany put a finger up to her mouth and shushed her.
“Firstly, breathe...” Tiffany ordered. “And then focus on limiting your replies to yes or no. Can you do that?”
“Absolutely!” Hannah nodded enthusiastically, before catching herself and grimacing in embarrassment. “Yes.”
“Great,” Tiffany smiled, “Go get the bag with the rest of the things we bought today.”
Erin watched as Hannah leapt up from the bed and sauntered out of her room, before turning to Tiffany with a skeptical expression.
“You totally programmed her, Tiff,” she scoffed, though letting a slight smile appear on her mouth. “Don’t tell me you didn’t.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes and tried to suppress a smile. “Barely!” she admitted. “I gave her a trance trigger and made her want to help me out, but that might have been the most superfluous suggestion I ever programmed into someone.”
Erin looked skeptical.
“Fine.” Tiffany smirked. “I’ll prove it.”
Hannah appeared moments later carrying a shopping bag, and looked nervously from Tiffany to Erin.
“Come sit next to me again,” Tiffany ordered. “You can put the bag down next to you.”
Hannah complied, trying to hide her excitement as she took a deep breath.
Tiffany placed her hand on Hannah’s cheek. Hannah shivered under the touch, her blinking eyes gazing expectantly into Tiffany’s. “Hypno Hannah.” Tiffany watched as her roommate’s expression melted away, her pupils dilating as her gaze unfocused into a blank stare.
Tiffany turned to face Erin. “I want you to trust me. That means no secrets on my part, and you get to keep yours, at least the ones I haven’t figured out yet.”
“Why, Tiff?” Erin shook her head. Why do you want anything to do with me? You have Hannah, you have Alice, and you can have anyone else you want.”
Tiffany just smiled, before turning to Hannah. “Hannah, until you wake up tomorrow morning, none of the previous programming I have put in your mind will have any effect whatsoever. None of my trigger phrases will work, and none of the suggestions I gave you will have any effect for this duration. You will behave as you did before I first put you in trance, but you will remember everything that happened between then and now. Is all of that clear?”
“Yes,” Hannah tonelessly replied.
“Oh, lastly…” Tiffany stole a quick glance at Erin before returning to address her roommate. “When awake, and until you wake up tomorrow morning, if Erin says the words “Hypno Hannah” to you, you will instantly drop into a trance like this one for her and only her. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“There.” Tiffany turned back to Erin. “You have all the power now.”
“Why?” Erin squinted in confusion. “Aren’t you worried I’ll completely fuck up your mind?”
Tiffany closed her eyes and sighed happily. “If you ever wanted to do that, Erin, you would have. You’ve had several opportunities, and every time we end up here.”
Erin chewed her tongue, before snarking in response, “I’m tempted to mindfuck you just to prove you wrong.”
Tiffany shrugged. “You can do that, if you like.” She paused for effect, staring unwaveringly into Erin’s eyes. “Won’t make you happy though…”
Erin snorted. “You think you know what will make me happy?”
“I didn’t say that. Although I do have a few ideas.”
Erin sighed. “Tiff, I need to go.”
“You keep saying that. Yet you haven’t. All you need to do right now is watch.” Tiffany smiled before turning to Hannah. “Hannah. Wake up now.”
Hannah blinked rapidly and shook herself back into awareness. “Wow, that’s so trippy…” she wistfully commented before noticing the tension between Tiffany and Erin. “Umm, you guys okay?”
“Yes,” Tiffany replied before Erin could. “We’re good. Say, Hannah, can you get out the restraints from the bag there.”
Hannah looked once more at Erin, then Tiff, before slowly and deliberately retrieving the shopping bag from the floor and pulling out a set of wrist and ankle restraints.
“You’re still happy to follow our agreement, right?” Tiffany asked as she idly plucked one of the restraints from Hannah’s hands and pretended to examine it.
“Umm, yeah.” Hannah nodded, vague hints of uncertainty in her tone. “I mean, yes.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Tiffany replied. “Just for tonight, every time you speak to me, you will address me as Mistress. Understand?”
Hannah’s eyes widened slightly and her cheeks turned a rosy pink. “Um, okay.” She nodded briskly, before she saw Tiffany’s expecting expression. “Uh, sorry, I mean, okay Mi- Miss… Mistress.” As she uttered the word, she seemed to tense and then relax.
Tiffany gazed gratefully into Hannah’s eyes and stroked her cheek. “Good girl. Now... Put the restraints on Erin, please.”
Hannah once more tensed as she nervously looked at the bondage gear in her hands then to Erin. “Umm, uhh….” she hesitated, then seemed to have some internal dialogue. “Erin is okay with that, Mistress?”
Tiffany looked at Erin as she responded, a playful smile spreading across her lips. “Erin doesn’t believe you’ll actually do it. She’s waiting to see just what you do.” She then placed a comforting hand on Hannah’s shoulder. “Do you remember what you said in the shop?”
“Ummm…” Hannah looked lost.
“About changing your mind if you had to?” Tiffany offered her.
“Yeah… I remember,” Hannah said with a disappointing sigh.
“Well this is your out. You were in a different mindset then, so I’m not going to hold you to what you said.”
“But I… I...” Hannah stammered. She looked embarrassed, glancing at Erin then bowing her head. “I don’t want to let you down, Tiff.”
Tiffany shook her head and pulled Hannah in for a hug. “You won’t! You can’t!” she insisted. “You’ve been incredibly cool about all of this so far. You only need to do this if you want to.”
“But I do!” Hannah in pleaded. “I loved who you made me in that sex shop. Can’t you do that to me again?”
“I can’t. I mean, I can, but I won’t,” Tiffany said.
“Why not?”
“It’s hard to explain.” Tiffany withdrew from Hannah to look her in the eyes. “A week ago, I would have jumped at the chance to do just that. But I’ve been on the other side of it now, I’ve felt how wrong it can go. It needs to be your choice, but if you’re happy to give me control, I will completely take it and show you something you’ve never experienced before.”
Hannah nodded along as though mesmerised by Tiffany’s words.
“So the choice is yours.” Tiffany stroked her roommate’s hair with a delicate touch. “We can either end things here, or you can choose to do as I say for the rest of the evening. What will it be?”
Hannah closed her eyes tight and seemed to inhale all the courage she could muster. “Okay.” She exhaled, an excited if nervous smile spreading across her face. “Let’s do it.”
Tiffany beamed at her before her expression morphed into a devious, deliberate stare. “On your knees,” she ordered.
Hannah gulped as she slowly sank from the bed onto the floor before Tiffany. She looked over at Erin before returning her attention to Tiffany.
“Good girl,” Tiffany said. “You will speak to me with short, concise replies, and address me as Mistress every time. Understand?”
Hannah nodded. “Yes, Mistress,” she whispered with reverence.
“You will obey my every command without question unless you absolutely need clarification. Understand?”
“Yes, Mistress.” Hannah answered more firmly now.
“Good girl.” Tiffany looked her up and down, seemingly satisfied. “Now, bind Erin’s arms and legs.”
Hannah looked apprehensively at Erin for a moment, but then nodded once more at Tiffany. “Yes, Mistress,” she said, taking a set of leather ankle and wrist cuffs out of the shopping bag. As she approached Erin, the tomboy stiffened.
“Uhh… No…” Erin said with a disturbed glare.
Hannah looked back to Tiffany briefly. Tiffany was staring determinedly into Erin’s eyes, but spoke softly to Hannah still. “Don’t listen to Erin for now. Don’t speak to her either.”
Hannah hesitated a moment before tightening her grip on the cuffs and saying, “Yes, Mistress.”
“C’mon! This is ridiculous!” Erin protested as Hannah took her wrist and started fastening the cuff around it.
“Then make me stop.” Tiffany shrugged.
“I’ll make you a mindless fuckdoll, Tiff!” Erin fumed. “I mean it.”
“No,” Tiffany replied with a slow shake of her head. “You don’t”
Without speaking, Hannah took Erin’s other wrist and guided it behind her back.
“And you too, Hannah,” Erin threatened. “Two empty cumsluts, unable to think about anything but sucking as much cock as you can get your mouths on.”
Hannah tensed at this, but Tiffany just smiled. “Keep going, Hannah. You’re doing great. I promise nothing bad will happen to you.”
“Yes, Mistress,” Hannah murmured with a shaky voice. Her hands trembled as she fastened.
With both wrist cuffs secured behind Erin’s back, she stammered in disbelief. “I don’t get it, Tiff. What hidden programming did you put in her? Why is she… hey!” She looked down to see Hannah already attaching the first ankle cuff. “Seriously, both of you, quit it.”
“Erin…” Tiffany sighed, hints of exasperation in her voice. “You have the power to stop this and take control of this entire situation. You clearly don’t want to. Stop pre—”
“Her Mind was Tiffany Twisted!” Erin blurted out as Hannah started buckling the last ankle cuff. They both watched as Tiffany’s eyes glossed over, her shoulders slumping as she sat and her expression melted away into nothing. Then Hannah quickly looked up to meet Erin’s angry gaze.
“Stop or I’ll trance you too!”
Hannah took her hands away from the half fastened ankle cuff and held them up as though she was being held at gunpoint. “I’m sorry!” she squeaked. “I was just doing what Tiff asked.”
“Why, though?” Erin sneered. “She’s taken all the programming out of you, right?”
“I don’t know…” Hannah replied nervously. “I think so.”
“Tiff,” Erin said firmly to the mindless shell of Tiffany. “Did you actually remove all of Hannah’s programming that you put in her?”
“Yes.” The reply was dull and instant.
“And did you leave any loopholes or hidden suggestions to make her obey you still?”
“No.”
Erin turned back to Hannah. “Then why are you obeying her like her puppet?”
Hannah looked like a deer in headlights. “Um, I, uh, be- I...” Shaking her head, she seemed to stumble over several replies before settling on, “Because I said I would.”
Erin looked incredulous. “I’m missing something,” she muttered. “What am I missing?”
“Trust.”
Erin and Hannah both looked towards Tiffany in surprise.
“What did you just say?” Erin asked in bewilderment.
“Trust,” Tiffany repeated in the same dull, monotonous tone. Erin and Hannah shared a glance before Erin shuffled awkwardly towards Tiffany with very little chain free between her ankles.
“What do you mean by that, Tiff?” Erin asked with cautious curiosity.
“You’re missing trust. You don’t trust anybody.” Tiffany spoke like she was a robot reciting a dull dictionary description.
“The fuck…” Erin murmured. She looked at Hannah who seemed equally confused. “I didn’t think you got that level of response when they’re tranced out like this…”
“Like what?” Hannah asked, still gazing at Tiffany nervously. “I barely understand everything that’s happened today…”
Erin looked at the redhead in amazement. “You really don’t know what’s going on? You realise Tiffany fucking brainwashed you, right?”
“I know she did something to me.” Hannah met Erin’s gaze with a sheepish expression. “I know it’s to do with that pretty screen at your friend’s apartment, and it’s why I found it so easy to act the way I did at that sex shop.”
“And you’re okay with all of that? I mean, look at you!” Erin motioned with her head to Hannah’s outfit. “Have you ever worn anything like that in your life?”
“No.” Hannah gazed down in shy admiration of her red leather dress. She ran one hand up the tight sleeve covering her arm. “Never.”
“But doesn’t it bother you that Tiff is manipulating you so blatantly?!” Erin snapped in exasperation. “And she’s not even programmed you right now?!”
Hannah looked at the peaceful blank expression on Tiffany’s face, then to the twisted, angry fear on Erin’s. She got to her feet and placed a hand on Erin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t really know what’s making you so upset right now, but I want to help if I can.”
A flash of rage swarmed across Erin’s face. “Fuck off!” she snarled. Her arms still bound, she resorted to twisting her body to remove Hannah’s hand from her shoulder. “Why do you want to help me?! You don’t even know me!!”
Startled by Erin’s sudden outburst, Hannah unconsciously backed away and started tripping over her words. “I- I- Em... Eh—”
“Hypno Hannah,” Erin snarled. She watched angrily as Hannah’s confused fear melted away. Her eyes, one moment so focused on Erin’s anger, lost track and stared into oblivion. Hannah stood there motionless, breathing deeply and evenly like Tiffany was on the bed.
Erin fumed. “Fuck you both…” she muttered angrily under her breath. “Manipulate me… I’ll show you manipulation…”
She struggled against her wrist restraints before swearing again and snapping at Hannah. “Hannah! Remove these fucking wrist cuffs from me!”
Hannah wordlessly obeyed, her eyes coming into focus just enough to pay attention to the task at hand. Once she was finished, Erin tore off the ankle cuffs and threw them angrily across the room.
“Both of you on your knees, now!” she barked at them. They obeyed in silence, Tiffany sliding off the bed and Hannah dropping from where she stood. Both still looking into the distance.
“While in this trance and while out of it, you will refer to me as ‘Mistress,’ understand?”
“Yes, Mistress,” Tiffany and Hannah replied in perfect flat unison.
“You will both be completely and totally fucking obedient to me. You will serve me, obey me, and prioritise my happiness, needs, and desires above everything else in your lives. Being obedient to me will make you wonderfully happy, and the thought of disappointing me will horrify the shit out of you. Do you both understand?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Strip naked now.” Erin glowered as she clenched her fists by her side. She didn’t notice how heavy her own breathing was as she watched her two mindless thralls derobe for her.
“You will think what I tell you to think, feel what I tell you to feel, and remember what I tell you to remember. If I tell you to become my sex robot, or a braindead bimbo, or even a masochistic slut, it will become your new reality, and you won’t remember being anything else. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“You will never betray me, never keep secrets from me, and never leave me, okay?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“And you’ll be like this for fucking ever. You won’t be able to enter any kind of trance again once you wake up, and will avoid anything like the Algorithm for the rest of your lives, y’hear?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
Erin sighed, feeling a growing lump in her throat. “So that’s it then… you’re my slaves, I’m your Mistress…” she said it under her breath, and neither of her slaves replied. They both stared at nothing, motionless puppets waiting for their strings to be pulled. “It’s done…”
Erin walked over to Hannah and ran her hand through her fiery ginger locks. “You won’t understand what has happened to you or why, but you’ll be a blissfully happy slave, so it doesn’t fucking matter.” She withdrew her hand and looked at Tiffany. “None of it matters. Not really.”
Erin got down to her knees in front of Tiffany and stared into her vacant auburn eyes.
“You have triggers for Alice, don’t you Tiff?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Well we’ll make her into a happy smiling slave too. And Josh, and Trev…” Erin looked off into the distance. “And I have some fucked up ideas with what to do to Lucy. I’m sure you’ll love it Tiff, it’ll tickle the sadist in you…”
Just then Erin’s phone buzzed.
“Sorry Gob…” she said glancing at her screen. “Looks like I’m not coming back down after all… Although…” She looked at the naked entranced Tiffany and Hannah, biting her lip as she mulled over an idea. “He’s been giving me free rides all day, maybe you two can help me clear my debt and establish a little credit…? I mean, what are mindless obedient sex slaves for after all?”
Just as she was about to invite Gob up to the apartment, she caught sight of the message she had gotten from Josh earlier. At the time, she had skimmed it and ignored it, under the assumption that he was being a mindless mouthpiece for Tiffany.
“Tiff, were you telling me the truth when you said you didn’t make Josh, Alice, or Trev send me messages?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
Erin knew her answers could be trusted while Tiffany was in hypnotic oblivion. With a sigh, she brought up Josh’s message.
’Hey Erin, crazy day… I don’t really understand how it all happened, but I understand you went out of your way to fix it all so we’re not all drooling slaves for a megalomaniac version of Alice. Gotta say, you did us a solid. I don’t care how much you think you’re responsible, you came through big time. Don’t be a stranger, k?’
It certainly read like Tiffany had put Josh up to that. Erin frowned with uncertainty. It was really just him?
She scrolled down to the next message, from Trev.
‘Yo, u alright? Wanted u to kno from me first that I split w Lucy. Honestly feels lkke shoulda done it ages ago. So fckin weird, doesn’t feel like I’d have done it without all this algo shit. I also wanted u to kno I’m sorry for how I acted the other day. Like, the sex was fuckin awesome but I hope to hell its not screwed our friendship. If it has can we plz just wipe our minds lol so we can still be friends?
Erin smiled and shook her head, her heart beating quickly. Only Trev could be simultaneously super sweet and a complete dunce. His message hit her in a new light however now that she knew Tiffany hadn’t prompted it. Almost automatically she found herself reading Alice’s message sent around the same time.
‘Hey, Erin. I’m gonna say the same thing to you that I said to Tiff. I forgive you. The Algorithm has made us all do some crazy shit, and I don’t just mean when we were controlled by it. Power corrupts, and we’re all only human. I know you’ve been through some shit in your life, as someone who knows abuse and addiction intimately it’s easy to see signs of it in others. I’ve not brought it up before as I was waiting for you to open up but I can’t wait anymore. Just like you came to drag me away from Dillon when I was at my lowest, I will come drag you away from whatever demons have you in their clutches. I love you. We all love you. Especially Tiff, btw. She started looking at you the way she used to look at me. I think you two would be great for each other. Something to consider... Call me. Seriously.’
Erin only realised she was crying when a tear dripped onto her phone screen. She looked at Tiffany through bleary eyes and felt an ocean of shame and grief swallow her whole. Wailing with tears, she slumped onto the floor, ugly snorting sobs echoing around the silent room as Tiffany and Hannah stared ahead in unfocused apathy.
Erin clenched her fists and curled up into a ball. “I’m sorry…” she croaked into the floor. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry…”
This continued for a while until Erin seemed to run out of sobs. After wallowing in silent despair for what felt like an hour, she raised her head from the floor slightly and looked up at Tiffany’s blank expression. “Tiff…” she whispered hoarsely. “Hold me.”
Moving robotically, Tiffany placed her arms around Erin as the weeping tomboy laid her head on Tiffany’s bare lap. Erin looked up hopefully at Tiffany’s expressionless face, but found no warmth, no comfort, nothing.
“Tiffany…” she said hoarsely. “Tiff… You will forget everything I said to you in this trance. Okay?”
“Yes, Mistress,” Tiffany replied in the same flat tone as before.
“No!” Erin rebutted. “Not Mistress! Like, none of the programming I put in you just now will have any effect, it’ll be like I never said any of it, y’hear?”
“Yes.”
Erin sniffed loudly, relief washing over her for the word not spoken. Pushing herself onto all fours, she eyed up the entranced redhead. “Same… same goes for you, Hannah… Disregard all of my shitty programming, okay?”
“Okay.” Hannah responded in her own flat tone.
“You’re not my slaves, you can still go into trance, you will wake up from this trance with the same programming in your mind as when you dropped into this trance, both of you clear on that?”
“Yes.” Another dual response.
“Good…” Erin murmured. “I can fix this… I can...” she got to her feet and wiped the tears away. “Both of you, get dressed how you were. Now, Hannah, you were over there before, weren’t you?”
It took a few minutes, but Erin carefully instructed her two tranced puppets to return to the state of dress and positions they had been in before. She did her best to dry her eyes and assume her own place, hands cuffed behind her back and ankles about to be restrained by Hannah. “You both won’t remember going into trance, yes?”
“Yes,” came two monotonous replies.
“Hannah, you won’t remember anything from the moment I put Tiffany into trance, ’kay?”
“Okay.”
“Good.” Erin sighed. “And you both won’t notice the lost time or shit like that either, okay?”
Both entranced girls answered in the affirmative. Erin looked guiltily at one then the other, before releasing a massive sigh.
“Okay…” she said, “both of you wake up now.”
Hannah’s eyes snapped open at the same moment Tiffany’s did.
“—pretending that you do.” Tiffany’s smug expression was back on her face. Hannah continued fastening the leather cuffs around Erin’s ankles as if the last fifteen minutes hadn’t happened. Erin breathed a slow sigh of relief, and then noticed that Tiffany was looking at her expectantly.
“Sorry, pretending what now?” Erin tried to recall what Tiffany had been blabbing about before being dropped into trance, but it was lost on her. She was just glad that none of her impulsive programming had apparently stuck.
Tiffany shook her head in amusement. “What are you so distracted with? I was saying how you don’t want to take control so drop the pretence that you do…”
Erin looked back at Tiffany’s piercing gaze, and found it hard to suppress a smile. “I guess I was just wondering what animal to turn you into, Tiff… I mean, you clearly have me clocked that I’m not wanting to go all Mistress on your ass… but it would be fun to have you become a harmless little kitten for the rest of the night. Maybe Hannah can be a happy bouncy poodle?”
At this, Hannah looked uncertainly back at Tiffany.
Tiffany smiled and shook her head to reassure her. “Don’t worry, Hannah. Erin isn’t going to trance us…” she said, full of confidence. “Keep going.” She then looked Erin dead in the eye. “Erin would rather be in trance… Erin would rather be like you’re being right now, except without the ability to say no to me.”
Erin smirked. “Maybe, Tiff, maybe… But it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy putting you both in trance and fucking around with you…”
“If you were going to do that, you would have already.” Tiffany shrugged. “But your attempts to get a rise out of me are amusing enough.”
“Tiff…” Erin said, a serious tone in her voice now. “You shouldn’t have left me with triggers for you both… I’m not in a good place right now… I… I might do something stupid with them.”
“You won’t,” Tiffany said.
“You don’t know that.” Erin sighed. “Tiff, listen…” She knew that coming clean was the right thing to do. She had almost crossed a point of no return, and Tiffany needed to be aware of just how vulnerable she was leaving herself. Except Tiffany snapped her fingers sharply before Erin could continue.
“No, Erin. You’ve protested enough, now it’s your turn to listen. Hannah, please put the ball gag on Erin.”
Hannah blushed furiously as she picked out the bright red ball gag from the shopping bag and approached Erin with it, murmuring, “Yes Mistress” while unable to look either Tiffany or Erin in the eye.
“It’s my turn to talk, and your turn to listen…” Tiffany stated.
Erin considered blurting out Tiffany’s trigger phase in the few moments she had left. Instead, their eyes remained locked until Hannah slid behind Erin and placed the gag over her mouth. Erin didn’t resist, knowing that with bound hands and feet there was little she could now do. It sent an excited shiver down her spine as she continued to stare into Tiffany’s determined gaze.
“That’s better.” Tiffany clasped her hands together in her lap. “Now feels like a good time for us to review exactly what’s going on here. Oh, but one last thing… Hannah, please help Erin down to her knees in front of me.”
“Yes, Mistress,” Hannah murmured. She went to place her hands on Erin to guide her but hovered in uncertainty. Erin gave her an impatient glare and shuffled herself forward, before exhaling defiantly and dropping heavily to her knees right before Tiffany.
“My my…” Tiffany smirked, looking down into Erin’s gagged face. “That is the spirit.” She then turned to Hannah. “Hannah, you don’t have to stay for this conversation if you don’t want to, if this is getting a bit much for you, you can…” Tiffany trailed off, looked at Erin, then Hannah again, and broke out into a small chuckle.
Hannah squinted in amused confusion. “Umm, you okay, Tiff? Mistress! Sorry, Mistress.
“I’m fine, I’m fine…” Tiffany smiled, shaking her head. “It’s just, here I am about to ask if you want to leave at this point, but we’re sitting in your room! I mean, even though we’re doing this thing where you do everything I say, I still don’t want to kick you out of your own room... But I can’t just walk out right now either.” She motioned to her sore leg. “And it’s funny because I have Erin here, literally right where I want her with all this stuff planned out to say to her, and I’m in the wrong room!” She gave another laugh at her own expense.
“Ti- Mistress, it’s fine,” Hannah replied with a smiling shrug. “I don’t mind giving you space if you want it.”
Tiffany cocked her head to one side. “What I want is you to get on your knees next to Erin here and pay attention to everything I’m about to tell her.” She then raised her eyebrows. “I was just giving you one last chance to bow out before things get intense.”
Hannah’s eyes widened slightly and Tiffany could see the excitement and nervousness battle it out within her. A moment later, the slightly trembling redhead sank her knees next to Erin and looked up at Tiffany while her cheeks burned crimson. “Pl- please continue, Mistress.”
Tiffany beamed at Hannah before turning her attention back to Erin. “You, Erin…” Tiffany leaned in towards her. “Now you have a sense of style when it comes to this brainwashing and mind control stuff.” She turned her attention back to Hannah. “You know, in a very successful effort to intimidate me, Erin here brainwashed Alice, you know Alice, she brainwashed her into her mindless obedient slave and let me discover this by waiting in Alice’s flat with her naked and kneeling by her feet.”
Hannah’s mouth dropped open in surprise briefly, but she soon closed it. Tiffany, smiling to herself, turned back to Erin. “It was in an effort to get into my head, and fuck me it was successful. You had me thinking at one point that you had already brainwashed me, and had simply suppressed the memory of it. I was tempted to submit to you while I was still conscious and aware of myself to avoid being forced into servitude once you dropped me into trance.” Tiffany sighed and started to gently stroke Erin’s hair. “That feels like a long time ago now…”
Erin tried to pull away but quickly gave in and relaxed into Tiffany’s caring strokes, closing her eyes and shuddering.
“And now look at us…” Tiffany remarked as she ran tender fingers down Erin’s face to under her chin. “I want to do a thought exercise with you, Erin. Are you paying attention?”
Erin opened her eyes and nodded, her eyes locking onto Tiffany’s. Hannah’s fascinated gaze shifted between the two of them, hanging on Tiffany’s every word.
“Good girl,” Tiffany purred. “Now then…” she ran her hand under the top of Erin’s hoody, making slow deliberate circles on her collarbone. “I want you to consider that the Algorithm isn’t all powerful, and it isn’t able to completely rewrite a person.”
Erin immediately scrunched up her face in disagreement, then shook her head. That couldn’t be true, she had been under the Algorithm’s influence enough to know that it could rewrite entire thought patterns. She wasn’t able to stop being a chicken every time she was hit with that trigger, and when obedience had been programmed into her, she had never been able to resist it.
“Ah ah ah…” Tiffany placed a finger against Erin’s ball gag, bringing her to a stop. “Hear me out.”
Erin shrugged and rolled her eyes, but then gave a brisk nod.
“Good girl,” Tiffany whispered, leaning down more and pulling Erin’s head closer to her. “You see, Erin, from the moment you were first under the spell of the Algorithm, you’ve been gravitating to where you are now.” Tiffany ran both hands down the side of Erin’s face and neck, before gently pressing down on her shoulders, guiding her to kneel ever so slightly lower.
“You immediately realised how powerful the Algorithm was, and I know we’ve been over this before, but your efforts to be in control of it were about being safe, not actually revelling in the power. The moment you saw my ambition, saw how much I could scheme for control and manipulate everyone around me, you instinctively knew your place. You were always wanting to kneel for me, even if you didn’t consciously know it. Every time you’ve had power over me, you’ve given it away. You’ve given it to me and I can only conclude it’s because deep down you know you’re supposed to be under the power of someone else.
“From the moment I met you, I had always thought of you as a tough, independent, no-crap-taking badass. And you are. But I only recently realised that you were the way you were because you had to be, not because you wanted to be.” Tiffany spoke softly, and held Erin’s face in one hand. “You’ve had to make a lot of tough decisions in your life just to survive, and you want some relief from that. When you submitted to me last time, I was supposed to take care of you, and I failed. I was too weak to my own submissive desires, and I let myself create my own downfall.”
At this point Tiffany took her hands away and ran them through her hair. “In the same way that your subconscious tendency is to give up control, Alice’s was to take it. She’s gone though her entire life being out of control, and so her subconscious covets it. The Algorithm resonates with our subconscious instincts, and obliterates the facade of the fake personas we try to put on ourselves…”
Tiffany saw Erin’s doubtful expression, and placed her hands on her shoulders. “Think about it really… you were the first one to be taken under by the Algorithm. Since then you haven’t been able to actually take control despite multiple chances to do so. Since the moment I was first put into trance with it, I’ve barely been able to control myself, making one mistake after another because I was too wrapped up in my fantasies to think straight. Alice, when given power that was supposed to be temporary, found a way to make it permanent.” Tiffany shuddered, before glancing apologetically. “Again, I’m sorry about that.”
Erin rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help thinking about what Tiffany was suggesting.
“Then look at Trev,” Tiffany continued. “After being under the influence of the Algorithm, he dumps his girlfriend of many years and starts thinking about what he wants for a change. Josh has by now hopefully come out to and asked out a teammate of his, and Hannah here is showing me that she’s a lot more adventurous than I had thought.” Tiffany glanced at Hannah to see that she was now blushing and trying to suppress a proud smile.
She turned back to Erin and started running a hand slowly through the kneeling girl’s short hair. “I’m not sure if it’s because our minds are simply now open to the possibilities the Algorithm allows once we’ve experienced it or if it’s something more subtle, that programmed or not the effects of the Algorithm changes the way we think and perceive.”
Tiffany slid off the bed so she could kneel herself right in front of Erin. Their noses inches from one another, they gazed into each other’s eyes. “Don’t you see what that would mean?” Tiffany ran her hands under the bottom of Erin’s hoody, sliding them up her waist as Erin tried to show no reaction. “It would mean that on a deep subconscious level, you’re compelled to kneel, Erin… It’s what you desire, and eventually that desire will control you at a critical moment… I don’t know when it will happen, or who it will be with, but I don’t think you can escape it.”
Tiffany then leaned in and whispered softly into Erin’s ear. “And I don’t want you to escape it…” Erin’s eyes fluttered closed as Tiffany’s words seeped into her. “I want you to kneel. I want you to serve. I want you to submit your mind and body and be consumed by the pleasure of obedience. More than anything, I want it to be to me…”
But then Tiffany drew back, removing her hands completely and adopting a serious expression. Erin reluctantly opened her eyes and tilted her head in confusion at the sudden tone shift.
Tiffany sighed deeply, before giving Erin a dead set stare. “But if you’re going to submit to me, it has to be of your own free will, at least at the start. I’m not going to do what I did last time where I took your choice away the first moment I could. You need to be able to walk away if things change for you. I can’t trap you like I did before.”
Erin frowned, her inability to speak truly frustrating her for the first time. She grunted quietly through the ball gag, and tensed against her restraints.
“Don’t get me wrong…” Tiffany smiled wistfully. “I know the fantasy… To be helplessly controlled, unable to break free, brainwashed to accept and even enjoy your repeated humiliation as your boundaries are broken in a demonstration of how utterly fucked you’ve become…”
For a few moments they shared a silent stare, as if an unspoken understanding was being negotiated.
“I get it because I want it,” Tiffany continued, once more leaning closer. “Once I have tied up all of the loose ends, I’ll be exploring the depths of my most twisted fantasies via the Algorithm. I’ll have made sure the conditions are controlled so as not to repeat recent mistakes, and then the scenarios I can play out will be intense, and while in them I’ll have no knowledge of setting them up, giving me that truly out of control feeling I crave while I’ll return to how I was as I started once it’s all over. Honestly…” Tiffany shivered. “It’s going to be amazing.”
She then smiled and leaned in until nearly touching Erin’s nose with her own. “But the main point is I don’t want to do it alone. I want you by my side the whole time, so I have a proposal for you…
“You submit to me, right here, right now, of your own free will, and I become your Mistress again on a trial basis. We see how well you obey while all the time you have the ability to drop me as your safety. Give me this chance to take care of you and let’s do all the kinky shit we should have been doing this entire time…”
Erin closed her eyes and sighed through her nose since her mouth was sealed. Tiffany was finding it hard to read Erin’s mood, and she was worried she was pushing too hard.
“I meant what I said back at the skate park by the way…” Tiffany closed her own eyes and leaned her forehead against Erin’s. “I want to be your friend, and if that’s all we’ll be I’d have it over not being your friend any day. But I’m selfish, Erin. I want this more…” She reached behind Erin and gave the restraint a sharp tug, emphasizing its symbol of her control. “I want you more. I know I’m being selfish, but with everything you’ve done, I can’t help but think that’s exactly what you want me to be…
“And I have about nineteen dozen selfish ideas I want to employ. The Algorithm is a gateway to money and power and I’m going to abuse the crap out of it as I twist unsuspecting minds around my fingers.” Tiffany ran two fingers playfully through Erin’s hair. When Erin lightly snorted in amusement, Tiffany let herself chuckle in turn. She pulled back and they both locked eyes with each other again. “So you play your cards right and you’ll get a front row seat for all of that…” she said in jest.
“Seriously though, it’s not just a trial for you,” Tiffany explained softly. “It’s for me too. If I fuck up again, if I betray your trust or let you down one more time I fully consent to you using my trigger on me and mindfucking me into whatever you want me to be. Robotic fuckdoll, brainless bitch in heat, or even a horny slut that gets off on being abused, whatever… The point is, I’m all in on this, and if I don’t hold up my side of the deal, I expect there to be consequences.”
Tiffany drew back fully once more, and turned to Hannah. “Hannah, please remove the ball gag.”
“Yes, Mistress,” Hannah replied dutifully.
Erin’s heart was pounding in her chest. As Hannah unfastened the gag from the back of her head, she felt a torrent of emotions flood through her and found no words to express them.
“So…” Tiffany said gently. “At this point, the choice is yours…”
Erin heaved out a deep sigh through her now unobstructed mouth and hung her head as ten thousands thoughts swam through it. Hannah watched anxiously, her gaze oscillating between Tiffany and Erin as she tried not to break the tense silence with her shaky breath.
Tiffany broke it first. “I don’t need the program for you to be my slave... Obey me... Let me show you that I have the strength and will to control you, and be mine.”
Erin’s eyes slowly drew upwards as she recognised her own words, delivered in a recent time where everything had been different.
“So…” Tiffany smiled a winning smile. “We have a deal?”
Erin couldn’t help but find the sheer confidence and determination pouring out of Tiffany’s eyes intoxicating. And all that effort and energy was for her. Nobody else. Her. As much as she wanted to take a moment to think through it all rationally, she physically couldn’t. Instead, the words that escaped her lips were as primal as her need to sleep or eat.
“Yes.” She bowed her head but kept her eyes locked. “Mistress.”