The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“Yes Your Honor I do...” I swore, putting my hand down at my side and brushing away bits of imaginary dust from my immaculately cleaned, pressed, and ironed suit. The blouse fully covered up my bosom, something that I only did in times of absolute professionalism, despite the fact that my boobs were huge and could not ever be completely hidden, and the skirt was modest enough to be professional, despite how eye catching my legs were. Honestly after several hours in a tiny little fetish schoolgirl uniform anything seemed modest by comparison, but I was being questioned for something very serious and that meant serious modesty.

The judge, a wizened old woman who looked me in my eyes with the kind of disapproving librarian look I got all the time in college, usually just after exiting the private studying room with a guy, or girl, slightly more disheveled than we were when we entered, but this time the girl in question was sitting across the room and looking at me full of optimism and confidence. I wished I shared her view... Angie and I had been summoned by this, the Honorable Judge Nancy Kindler, to determine the facts of what had happened during our...visit to Watts Elementary School which resulted in Angie becoming my sex slave down to her Core and whether or not I’d face criminal charges and have to organize an entire court case to determine guilt... I was really hoping it didn’t come to that!

On Angie’s bench sat her family, mother and father sitting close to her left side, with the lawyer they hired on her right. Behind them were Angie’s siblings, a man and a woman who looked to have deep pockets, considering their expensive clothes. Personally tailored suit for the man, elegant turquoise gown stylized in Chinese tradition. Everyone, except Angie, were looking at me with the same look the judge had. Angie was just happy to see me after being kept separated from me for more than a week, a week that, by all accounts, did not go well for her... Angie had been sent to various Psionic health hospitals and clinics by her brother, a Mr. Henry Nguyen, founder of Nguyen Auto, a manufacturing company for car parts that were then shipped all over the United States and overseas in his parents’ home nation of Thailand where it had inroads into China and Korea. Long story short, he had money to spend on his sister... Speaking of sisters, not only was Angie’s sister here, giving me a disapproving frown that bordered on angry, but my own sister was here as well...also giving me a disapproving frown...

Wendy Tanner, or Willow as she preferred, used to be something like my twin, despite being born 10 years after me. She had long blonde hair, like me, bright blue eyes, like me, was somewhat tall, like me, and her developing body attracted many would be suitors...just like me. Now, at 18 years of age, her hair was dyed pitch black, her eyes were usually covered in contacts that made her eyes appear a variety of different colors depending on her mood, thankfully she wasn’t wearing them now, thankfully she also wasn’t wearing one of her black corsets that made her already impressive bust pop out even more. Her pale, ivory skin did that enough with her all black wardrobe. Right now she was wearing a black, of course, skirt that went past her kneecaps, but hugged tight to her curvaceous form, and a blouse that dipped slightly in the neckline, but her bust made it much more obvious as to what lay beneath the long sleeved top which was cinched with a thin belt across her belly and billowed out in almost pleated waves along her waistline. She looked like some kind of corporate goth girl, particularly with the large necklace affixed with a bloodred ruby at her throat. I suppose I ought to be thankful she didn’t come wearing vampire fangs but... ‘Willow’ never was subtle around people she didn’t like. Unfortunately that included me.

‘I don’t think that’s true Susan, she loves you, but it’s hard to be so much younger, and to be the one considered the problem child, and she doesn’t have Psionic powers like you do. Give her a bit more credit, please?’

Right, the actual difference between us. She wasn’t Psionically gifted...at least not yet. 18 was a pretty rare age to develop Psionic abilities, I didn’t develop mine till I was in college around 20, but it’s rare, very rare, for more than one member of a family to gain Psionic powers, and those that do usually have six or more kids. With just me and my sister...well it might feel to her like I stole her potential before she ever had a chance to hope for it.

“Miss Tanner—”

“My apologies Your Honor,” interrupted our PSI assigned lawyer, standing up and speaking loudly enough to hear, but maintaining civility with his tone. A trick I’m sure they learned in law school for dealing with judges. My mother, sitting next to him, her own blonde hair and blue eyes looking slightly faded with her age and her body was still impressive but she was not as young as she used to be, and with how worried she looked one might be forgiven if they mistook her for a woman in her 50s and not the 43 year old woman who still drew attention when she smiled. I think it’s obvious where my genes come from, but I also inherited my concern for others from my mother. She was the one who inspired me to want to help people, though my propensity for breaking the rules came from my dad...wherever the hell he was. “Susan Turner is an Officer of the Psionic Special Investigations unit here in Michigan, and it would behoove the court to address her by her official title as Officer, in order to give context behind many of the actions she took on the day in question.”

‘‘Behoove the court,’ fancy smancy. Bet he got laid a lot in college with a silver tongue like that.’

‘Hush! Keep in mind that this man’s words are what’s going to keep us out of prison!’ Yeah...none of us wanted that... I silently hoped this guy took his studies way more seriously than I did... I’m beginning to realize that I was a terrible student in college...that wasn’t even that long ago. Is my being a rebel just an excuse for a poor attitude and not taking things seriously enough? Is that why I’m in this mess?

‘Susan, relax. This is just a deposition, you’re not charged with anything right now.’

Right now...

“Mr. Cross...” the judge said, sounding like someone who had gone through exactly one too many of these things this week, “Your client is not on trial, they are being asked to give testimony merely so this court can gather the facts and decide if a trial is even necessary.”

“Of course Your Honor, but they are being asked to do so in an official capacity are they not? Should the record not reflect that capacity?” The judge sighed and nodded her head, letting the PSI lawyer sit down with a content look on his face. If Mr. Cross hadn’t gotten laid enough in college I would fix that right after this deposition!

‘Suzie, calm down, your emotions are bouncing all over the place...’ said Monica, completely indifferent to the idea that I might be JAILED for this!

“Officer Tanner,” the judge started again, “Please recall, for the court, in as much detail as you can, exactly what happened on the day in question. Especially relating to your interaction and subsequent enslavement of the civilian Miss Angela Nguyen.” Stupid smart judge, using my lawyer’s own rationale against me to paint Angie as a civilian for the context of the record... Too bad Cross, you almost had a hot date tonight!

I recounted as best I could, using Gloria’s advice, what had happened that day. I started with the stakeout, explaining how I, as well as my partner Veronica Rogers, came to be involved in the sex ring that had captured Angie as well as many other women.

‘Good, make sure that everyone knows the stakes you were dealing with, your decisions weren’t just made in a vacuum.’

My experience with the process the sex slavers used to illegally Psionically manipulate women’s minds into sexslavedom.

‘Look up, keep eye contact. You have nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of.’

My decision to help Angie when I saw her...

‘It’s okay to look at Angie, she’s here because of you, she’s safe with her family because of you. Everything else isn’t your fault and the court will know that. Just be honest.’

How I saved Veronica and told Angie to hide and wait for help while taking down their leader... Evidently Angie did exactly as I told her, even managed to put one of the non-Psionic gang members to sleep before running into a PSI officer who took her to Constance. The briefcase was kept closed until I explained what was in it and what it could do to me, Veronica, or any other girl here until we were deprogrammed, something that Julia took several days to complete...and that was just for me and Veronica, everyone else had to go to the public hospitals’ Psionic wards for treatment. Some were still being treated...like Angie...

‘No guilt! Don’t get distracted and begin to sound guilty for something you know you aren’t guilty for. The facts are on your side!’ That...was up for debate. The fact was that I had, intentionally or otherwise, made a civilian into my personal sex slave. You could argue all day that it wasn’t your intention to kill somebody, but you’d still get charged for manslaughter...

‘We couldn’t have reasonably known that we’d trigger a command that affected her Core! We didn’t even know we’d been there long enough for Cores to be affected!’ Monica was right of course, and that’s what this deposition was all about. That one word. “Reasonably.” If the Nguyen’s thought that I reasonably should have been able to prevent this, they’d be allowed to press charges and this would go to court. If not, then the judge would determine what would happen next, and I may still be punished with a fine or ordered to pay a sort of alimony or something.

“Thank you for your testimony Officer, I’m sure this entire scenario has been stressful and we thank you for your service,” the judge said, sounding like she was reading off of a script. “I’ll now allow Miss Nguyen’s legal representative to question you. Counsellor, when you’re ready...”

The Nguyen lawyer stood with several files in his hands. “Thank you Your Honor, may I approach? There are a few points I’d like to make clear before I begin, both matter of factly as well as legally.” The judge nodded and the man approached her, just off to my right in the witness box, handing her some pieces of paper from his folders. I always got a bad feeling from paper and lawyers... “As you can see Your Honor I am not representing Miss Angela Nguyen in this case, as Miss Nguyen has been declared Psionically Incompetent regarding all legal issues involving Miss- I’m sorry Officer Tanner here. As such Miss Nguyen cannot make any legal decisions regarding Officer Tanner without the express consent of a designated familial member. Her brother, Mr. Henry Nguyen, has volunteered to take on this responsibility in this case.”

I glanced over at the Nguyen family, Henry was looking at me with a firm skepticism, he definitely didn’t believe my story, at least not fully and Angie’s sister, just off to his side was glaring at me with almost outright hostility. She looked a bit older than Angie, but all three of them were pretty close in age. The parents were old and just looked concerned for their daughter, who smiled brightly whenever I looked at her.

‘Oh goodie, the only one over there who is definitely on our side is the only one who has no say whatsoever in anything that happens to us.’

‘Hush! This is perfectly reasonable from their side. Angie is a victim here, she’s certainly in no condition to make decisions about her future in regards to us. Her programming is just going to make her want to do whatever we want, or whatever her programming tells her we want...’

“Hmm, everything seems to be in order, and I understand the need, but does this mean that you’ve decided to not let Miss Nguyen have any say in this at all?” Judge Kindler asked, looking to the lawyer and glancing over at Angie, who was still looking only at me.

“We’ve gotten the opinion from many professional doctors and psychiatrists who specialize in this are, as you can see here,” the lawyer said, pointing something out on one of the papers. “Miss Nguyen simply does not have the capacity to give an informed opinion on her own well being where it concerns Officer Tanner.”

“Well, I’d like to at least hear from her, even if her opinion carries no legal weight. Miss Nguyen?” Angie turned toward the judge, who looked at her and smiled, like a kindly grandmother, her voice going soft and understanding. Where was all that when you were talking to me you old bat!? “What do you hope happens here today?”

“Well...” Angie looked down, suddenly blushing a bit. “I hope the court finds in it’s heart the decision to allow me to serve my Mistress with all my heart...” I had to try really...REALLY hard to not face palm. No really! I had to tense all my muscles and monitor every reflexive nerve in my body. For a split second, I was in complete awareness of every nerve firing in my brain, the ones that were being sent to regulate my breathing, the ones that were sent to make me blink, the ones that brought my hand up off the witness desk and- No! No! Down... down....

“Really? And do you think that that is something you would do, were you in my position, and someone you didn’t know was asking to be another person’s sex slave?” the judge responded calmly, her voice patient and kind and completely unlike the way she spoke to me.

“Well...” Angie appeared at a loss for words for a moment, furrowing her brow. Her brother made as if to stand, but then Angie looked over at him and he froze, her face was full of emotion, so much emotion I doubt even she knew everything she was feeling in that moment. “I know how it sounds Your Honor, I really do. I understand that my Core Personality has been twisted and my thoughts are all scrambled especially when it comes to Mistress, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I’ve seen all the doctors and done all the treatments and if I understand correctly there’s nothing any of them can do about that either. There’s nothing anyone can do about that. All I know is that I love Mistress, and more than that, I know that I could’ve been given a far worse Mistress or Master to serve. Mistress here is kind, and she cares about me, and she wants what’s best for me. She doesn’t even like it when I call her Mistress, but I’m calling her Mistress anyway because...well it’s sort of...my little way to show you and my family, and even her that I’m not just doing this to go along with some programming no one can do anything about. Calling her Mistress is a little rebellion, just a little one, I know I couldn’t go against Mistress if she really didn’t want me to, but she wants me to rebel, to be my own person, so I know I can do those little rebellions and maybe...possibly find happiness. I don’t know if I’ll ever have real, true happiness that isn’t just programmed into me, but I do know what it was like for the entire time I wasn’t with Mistress. I was miserable, I ached...it’s like when Juliet was forbidden to see Romeo. Even if my love for her isn’t real, the way it affects me is, and the way I feel when I’m around her is, and maybe...maybe... Maybe the court will see that I’m only happy when I’m serving Mistress, and I think... I think that’s the goal of this right? To find a way to make sure I’m happy and not taken advantage of?”

‘She’s got a way with words your slave...’ said Monica with the impression of a smirk. I wanted to allow myself to be touched by Angie’s words, but I was far too anxious about what would happen next. I looked at Angie’s family, trying to gauge their reactions. The parents had their arms around Angie almost immediately, her mom looked to be crying. The sister just looked at me even more viciously than before, obviously she needed to relocate that stick up her butt to somewhere more...comfortable. The brother...was hard to read. He looked at Angie and put his hand on hers, and seemed to smile a bit when she held his back, but when he looked at me there was no smile, no warmth. I was like a fungus that had appeared under his bathroom sink and he was wondering how best to get rid of me. He seemed to have placed himself in the role of Angie’s guardian, and he was guarding her against me...

I looked toward the other side of the aisle, my mother was near to tears herself, smiling at me, somehow proud of me after all this? I guess a mother’s love is blind after all? Wendy was holding back a laugh! I was going to kill her after all this! My lawyer seemed to be doing what I was, gauging everyone’s reactions, when our eyes met he gave me a slight nod of reassurance, subtly trying to let me know that it would all be okay. Mr. Cross you really want that reward don’t you?

‘Or he’s just doing his job... Look at the judge, what’s she thinking?’ A good point, I looked over at Judge Kindler, and she was looking very thoughtfully at Angie and her family, of course there was a tightness to her lips as well. She would never give Angie what she wanted, the United States, and every other country for that matter, at least in an official capacity, did not condone the owning of humans as property, but hopefully Angie’s words left something of an impression on her.

“Thank you Miss Nguyen, I promise that I will take your words into consideration as we deliberate this. Councilor, would you please continue?”

“Yes Your Honor, as Miss Nguyen says, and as these records signed and dated by various experts across relevant fields suggest, Miss Nguyen’s Core Personality, what Psionic experts describe as the most foundational part of a human being, has been infected with this idea of sexual slavery toward Officer Tanner. This council recognizes the fact that Officer Tanner did not intend to infect Miss Nguyen with this idea, nor does it seek to blame Officer Tanner for the events that transpired which led to this unfortunate result.”

Wait they don’t blame me? That’s good news!

“However, the fact remains that damage has been done, and restitution must be met.” Shouldn’t have thought anything... Shouldn’t have ever had hope... “The criminals responsible for turning young women into sex slaves have been brought to justice, in no small part due to Officer Tanner’s efforts. However, though this council does not wish for the court to forget these acts, we also cannot use them as a way to excuse dangerous consequences to the most sacred of all human anatomy. The mind.” I hope Angie will be okay... Maybe they’ll jail me without telling her, so that she doesn’t become too distraught. Well, more likely than not they wouldn’t jail me, not after giving me credit from bringing down the slaver ring. A fine might not be so bad, but the restraining order that’d go with it...Angie was pretty upset just being without me for a week, what would a permanent ban do? Suddenly I realized that I didn’t really care what happened to me...I just wanted her to be okay.

“What we are asking for isn’t outside the bounds of reasonability.” Always a good sign when the opposing council starts off by insisting what they’re asking for isn’t unreasonable. “Officer Tanner ought to be financially responsible for Miss Nguyen’s hospital and psychological treatment bills, and there should be a fine for damages done and time lost. Miss Nguyen had to take time off of her work as a secretarial assistant for Axis Pharmaceuticals. We ask for lost wages to be taken into consideration toward the final total, as well as an additional amount for pain and suffering. Miss Nguyen will never be the person she once was, we think that ought to incentivize a larger than usual financial compensation.” Larger than usual? How much larger? PSI would take care of the bill up to $500K. We had insurance that covered these things after all, but I didn’t even know how much was ‘usual.’

“It’s impossible to put a number on a human life, but the Nguyen family’s calculations have attempted to place a reasonable value for everything described, and the number we came up with was seven million dollars.” I choked a bit.

“Damn...” Wendy muttered sounding impressed of all things! Angie looked very embarrassed and squirmed a bit in her seat, clearly uncomfortable with how everything was going, her sister finally showed an emotion other than anger, triumphant scorn, and Henry seemed to be studying how I was reacting. Neither of Angie’s parents seemed to care about anything other than their daughter, they both just kept hugging Angie and comforting her and whispering soothingly to her. I smiled a bit...Angie was lucky to have two parents who loved her so much.

‘Absolutely no way! That’s unreasonable no matter how you wanna spin it? Can’t put a number on a life huh? Oh but I think 7 freaking million is a good sum! Asshole!’

‘The number is...undoubtedly steep, but this is just what they want, it’s extremely unlikely that our judge will even consider anything that high. More likely than not they just want us to hurt, and they don’t want a number low enough that PSI can just write a check and be done with it, but they don’t know what number is high enough that a government agency can’t just take care of it... PSI isn’t well enough funded because Psionic criminals are rare, but they might not understand that... Still, that’s a very big initial proposal, even if they plan on letting themselves be argued down... You don’t have any past...dalliances with the Nguyens do you Susan?’

Gloria literally knows as much as I do about that, she’s just trying to trigger some memories...which were just not forthcoming. I looked over at Angie’s sister again, who was looking at me with that same triumphant scorn from before. Did I maybe steal her boyfriend in college? She really seems to hate me for some reason. Henry...huh, he was looking very curiously at me now, his entire expression seemed to have changed, what was that about? Now instead of looking at a piece of bathroom mold he was looking at...well even he didn’t seem to know.

“I trust, counselor, that you’re aware the highest fine ever levied against someone for accidently changing another person’s Core Personality has been $200,000, and you want to jump to 7 million?”

“I am aware of that Your Honor, I am also aware that there have only been 4 cases of accidental Core displacement brought before the court and in each case it was against fellow civilians who hadn’t had any training in Psionics, unlike Officer Tanner, and I also know that of those four individuals who had their Cores altered, the 2 that won filed again the next year claiming insufficient support was received. I understand such cases are well outside the scope of this deposition, but I do hope it is clear that there currently isn’t any good system for supporting victims like Miss Nguyen here and it is my job, my obligation, to take past failings into account when trying to come up with a fair amount of compensation for literally losing who she was as a person. Like it or not she has become entirely dependent on Officer Tanner for her own sense of self worth and still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. $200,000 is but a drop in the bucket when considering all the facts of the case!“

‘This guy obviously never got laid in college either...’ Monica analyzed, and he wasn’t getting anything from me in that department for sure...

Judge Kindler started to flip through the papers on her desk, the reports by various health institutes and doctors specializing in Psionic Psychology filed by the Nguyen lawyer. Could this be happening? Was a $7 million fine really on the table? I couldn’t afford that! I’d be paying that till the day I died! The $500K insurance from PSI would be a drop in the bucket, and even that drop is way more than I make in a year! Can you sue someone for that much more than they’re even worth?

‘Well Susan...the problem is that you were acting as a government official. If you can’t pay everything PSI is on the hook for it. That amount of money could really hurt us since we’re so underfunded, so they might try to cut a deal where they get the debt forgiven...in return for your early retirement.’ I couldn’t believe it, how did things get this bad? I was just trying to help! That isn’t fair at all!

‘They can’t do this to us! We SAVED all those women! We’re freaking heroes! Just cause they got some big shot lawyer who makes seven mill in an afternoon probably... This is so stupid!’ I looked over at our lawyer, the man from PSI seemed to be a bit nervous, but I could tell he was trying to hide exactly how nervous he was for my sake. This was bad, obviously we’d go to court to fight this, but then we’d be dragging this out for weeks, maybe months, and who knows if I’d be allowed to serve on my team while all this legal stuff was underway? It might be just as bad as “early retirement.“

“I see, thank you counselor, you may be seated,” Judge Kindler said, after reviewing her papers. “Does anyone wish to add anything else to the record?”

“Yes Your Honor...I have a few questions for Officer Tanner, if I may...” said Henry Nguyen, standing and adjusting his suit to perfect function. Everyone seemed to be surprised by this, myself included obviously. Their lawyer just got a slam dunk, I thought it’d be my lawyer who attempted to add something else, try to put out the fire somewhat, but Henry strode confidently forward, looking directly at me as he put himself, literally, between Angie and myself. I was caught like a deer in headlights. He really just moved from one end of the table to the other, there was still quite some distance between us, but it felt as though he was now bearing down on me like some horrible storm.

“Very well, Mr. Nguyen, you may speak.”

“Thank you Your Honor. Tanner, what is my sister to you?”

“Ah...excuse me?”

“I apologize, that was vague. Let me rephrase. Tanner, what do you hope will be the result of this deposition with my sister? We heard what she had to say about it, I think it’s only fair you answer as well.” The occupants of the court all turned to me, every person swiveling to look me in the eyes. I am seriously not used to people looking me in the eyes like this...

“Ah well...I want Angie to be happy. I think that goes without saying...”

“I apologize for interrupting but it does not. What does a happy Angie look like to you Officer Tanner?” This guy...

“Alright, I get it. You want me to dig my own grave here huh? Fine, I want Angie to be able to live the life she wants! I want her to have friends she enjoys hanging out with, I want her to talk to her coworkers about stupid things like the weather and not how she had to work overtime because she can’t miss her next hospital bill, I want her to make her own choices, I want her to not start hating her family for taking me away from her. I want her to keep the relationship she has with her mom and dad...” I looked over at Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen, who were looking at me in surprise. “I just don’t want her to hurt anymore.”

“Anymore?” Henry questioned, prodding me further. This guy...

“Obviously she was in dire straits this past week. I understand it isn’t healthy to let me stay around me her all the time but...I knew from the second she walked in here and gave me that big doopey grin of hers that she’d been in a lot of pain for the past week, and I...don’t...like that. Angie saved my butt back at the school, she was incredibly brave and dependable in a situation she had no business being either. I want to repay that...though I’m really hoping the price tag is more...affordable.”

‘Susan did you just say you are willing to pay a fine!? That is not the right thing to say!’

“Do you love my sister?” What?

“What?”

“What?” Even the other Nguyen sister seemed taken aback by this.

“Objection!” My lawyer finally decides to make his existence known. “This is not an appropriate line of questioning and my client is under absolutely no obligation to answer that Your Honor, even at a deposition!”

“Sustained. Mr. Nguyen, what is the purpose of these questions? If you want to know Officer Tanner more personally you can certainly do so once proceedings are complete, though I cannot recommend it.”

“My apologies Your Honor but I feel this has to be done now.” Henry Nguyen just kept apologizing didn’t he? He acted all polite but he had a killer instinct to him. It probably made him successful in the business world. What was he up to though? Asking if I loved Angie? I definitely liked her as a person, and her body was...well better not go too far down that line of thinking, but I wasn’t in love with her. I hardly knew her! “Your Honor I’m considering allowing my sister and Officer Tanner to see each other regularly.”

THAT caused a stir! Immediately Henry’s lawyer, as well as his sister, were on their feet furiously whispering into Henry’s ear. Angie seemed to be bright with hope for the first time since this deposition began, and Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen were looking at each other as though he were speaking a different language... Wait did they speak English? I don’t think I heard them say anything at all did I? My mother and lawyer were looking at each other in confusion and Wendy looked like she wanted a bowl of popcorn to chow down on while watching the show.

“Alright, alright!” Judge Kindler shouted, not banging her gavel like they did in TV shows...killjoy. “Settle down. Mr. Nguyen, am I to understand that against the advice of medical and psychological professionals you would be alright with an arrangement where Miss Nguyen would be allowed to see Officer Tanner...what, on weekends? During holidays? Once a month?”

“Your Honor the only thing, the ONLY thing that matters to me is my sister’s happiness. Your Honor I love my sister, I know my sister, and throughout this deposition she has been getting more and more miserable. I’ve read the reports, and the medical opinion isn’t that being around Officer Tanner is bad for her health, it’s that it will reinforce her dependency on Officer Tanner as an authority figure. The opinions of the experts also includes a provision that the best person to help my sister adjust to her altered Core is Officer Tanner herself.” This...guy? Wait what is he trying to do?

“Henry what are you doing! You can’t let our sister’s attacker into her life! That’ll scar her even more than she already is!” Wow the other sister is a...well, best not to finish that thought...

‘She’s a bitch,’ Monica said, completely helpfully.

“I was convinced of that before the deposition, but during I’ve noticed that Officer Tanner seems to be more concerned with Angie, than herself. Even when faced with a steep fine she smiled because she noticed Mom and Dad were comforting Angie, who took the idea of a fine far worse than Tanner did.”

“So what? She ATTACKED our sister!”

“I’m willing to accept that it was an accident.”

“An accidental attack is still an attack!”

“Regardless, I think Angie will be happier with her than without her.”

There was a long silence, everyone was processing everything that had happened, it was a unique situation for everyone, and now I honestly didn’t know what to expect.

“Very well,” the judge said, steepling her fingers and peering down at us all. “Then be seated and we will see if we can’t conclude this with mediation.” Everyone sat back down, some more angrily than others. I had no idea who Angie’s sister was, but she seemed to hate me, and she was seething in her chair! Henry sat down, calm and unruffled by anything going on around him, and Angie reached out to hold his hand, which he took and held in both of his. He really was her guardian...

“I have a proposal, but this isn’t an official case, and so I cannot force it upon you as an official decision. Should you decide to settle, either with this or something else, this will not go to court and the terms of the settlement will be enforced by the law. If you do not agree to settle, this case will continue and could even end up in court, where a decision will be reached and a judgement rendered. Do both sides understand?” My lawyer looked at me questioningly, and I nodded.

“We understand.”

“We understand as well Your Honor,” said the Nguyen lawyer, who bare even looked at Henry before speaking.

“Then what I’m putting on the table is to make Officer Susan Tanner the legal guardian of Angela Nguyen.” There were some gasps, though not by me, I was too stunned...

‘Speak for yourself!’ Monica said, giving the impression of a gasp.

“Let me be perfectly clear Officer. You are not this young woman’s Mistress, you do not own her, you cannot do whatever you wish with her. However, under the law you will be recognized as provider, caregiver, and the one responsible for her health and well-being. This means that her hospital and psychology bills will be your responsibility as well. This decision is without precedent, but as the Nguyen counsel argued this is a mostly unprecedented situation and past decisions have not always worked out for the victim. You will be subject to announced and unannounced audits to ensure your continued fair treatment of Miss Nguyen, and should they find you have been negligent, or worse yet abusive, in your duties then guardianship will be awarded to Mr. Nguyen, and you will be facing much more serious charges. Do you understand?”

“I understand Your Honor...” I said, swallowing at the intensity of her glare.

“Does anyone have any objections?”

“Hell yes I do!” shouted Angie’s sister, standing up in a huff.

“We have no legal objections Your Honor,” said Henry, remaining in his seat. The sister looked over at him in disbelief, then to the judge, then to their lawyer, and finally to me, hate burning in her eyes. Finally she stormed out of the room and closed the door loudly. Not even that could dampen Angie’s spirits, she looked as though she would jump out of her chair and starting dancing around the room!

“Very well, then if you’re in agreement I’ll let your counselors iron out the details. Miss Nguyen...” the judge turned back to her gentle, almost motherly expression, her voice soft and comforting. Damnable woman... “I hope you can find happiness in this new life of yours.”

“Thank you Your Honor...I promise I will!” Henry squeezed Angie’s hand and smiled at her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Okay, maybe Angie’s guardian wasn’t so bad after all...

‘Uh uh, if this gets finalized, YOU are Angie’s guardian now Susan. Better take the responsibility seriously!” Gloria reminded me chidingly.

‘Are we...parents now? To an adult woman who wants nothing more than to bang us day in and day out?’ Monica asking the important questions...

‘Well not RIGHT now, but I don’t think anyone is objecting to this. Henry and Angie want Angie to be happy, and they know the best way to do that is let her be with you. The lawyer wants to represent their financial interests and having you legally obligated to pay for, not just Angie’s current treatment but all future treatments as well does that and then some. Our lawyer wants PSI to be off the hook and you to return to duty... Honestly this judge seemed to have found a way to make everyone...well, everyone in this room happy. I don’t know if it’ll stick, but they’ll write books and papers about this decision for centuries!’ Gloria was such a geek sometimes.

“Wow, you got yourself a federally mandated sex slave,” Wendy said, scooting closer to me. Honestly she could’ve covered up more, her body was so curvy that even the conservative trending apparel she had on now looked like it was just showing her off. Though conservative ‘trending’ certainly wasn’t conservative... “I guess I can’t be surprised. Everyone’s golden girl finally messes up, and not only is she not punished, she’s rewarded for it! God it must be good to be you...” Well, Wendy never was my emotional rock...

“I’m being punished pretty hard I think, legal guardianship isn’t exactly a reward...”

“Legal guardianship of a hot Thai who wants to bang you 24/7. Let’s not play the victim card here Sue.”

“Why are you harrassing me about this Wendy?”

“It’s Willow, Sue. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want you to go to jail or anything, but gee I figured there’d be at least SOME consequences for your actions. Still miss perfect though aren’t you? A regular Mary Sue...“

“Getting real sick of your envy Willow, I thought black was your color now.”

“Ha! Oh that’s a good one! Yeah it is, but you can make it green if you want can’t you? I wouldn’t even know would I? Why don’t you do it? Make me like green. Make me nice to you. Make me say ‘Wow big sis! I’m so happy you didn’t have to pay a fine or anything, wanna go get mani-pedis to celebrate?” Willow said, making her voice uncomfortably high and girly.

“I’m not gonna make you do anything you don’t want to.”

“Then I’m not gonna stop calling you out for messing up and getting everything you want anyway.”

“You think I want this?” but it was too late, Willow was already gone, turning toward our mother, who looked as though she didn’t know what to be feeling, but she was relieved that I wasn’t going to jail. Willow smiled and hugged our mother, but it looked forced even from this distance, she was upset, and would likely be fuming about this for weeks.

‘Let it be Susan... Our sister may not be...’

‘Tolerable?’ I choked back a chuckle.

‘...the most understanding, but she cares for us. In her own way.’

Sounded like Gloria’s just making excuses for Will- Wendy. She really came all the way out here just to see me get punished. She was disappointed that I didn’t! Intolerable was kind! Stuck up bitch was more accurate...

‘Susan!’

Okay, maybe that was too far. It wasn’t like we never got along, we were close as twins, some people even thought we were twins before Wendy dyed everything black. It all changed when I got my powers, something in Wendy shifted, not all at once, but soon all she was talking about was my powers, and wanting me to use them, and then...then it all just turned into resentment, and I don’t know what to do to try to fix our broken relationship.

‘There’s nothing you can do Susan, she has to be willing to fix our relationship too. Just keep an open mind and listen when she does.’

“Ahem...”

I spun to the face of Henry Nguyen, swallowing and putting up my hand to shake...no wait do they bow? Should I bow? I put my hand down and started to bow...wait! Were we supposed to bow? Maybe they did just shake hands? Was I being racist for assuming a bow? The one guy I wanted looking at my tits instead of my face and his gaze was boring into my brain!

“Y-yes? Mr. Nguyen?” He frowned...oh no he frowned, I was supposed to bow wasn’t I!”

‘You’re supposed to not act like a spazz Susie... Game face on!’

“Susan Tanner...” He sounded incredibly official and important, even when not speaking directly to a judge. “I hope you are able to recognize the gravity of the situation at hand.”

“Um, yes sir, of course I do!” I responded, having no idea what he meant...

“Do you? I’m putting my sister’s life, her happiness, her future into your hands. Officer Tanner, let me be very clear. I love my sister. She is incredibly dear to me, and her happiness is something I will not sacrifice, even in this circumstance. If you truly understand just how difficult this has been on me and my family, on Angie herself, I need you to show me.” This flipping guy...

‘Susan... Look at him. He’s not trying to intimidate you...he’s pleading. I don’t know the circumstances that made up this man’s life, but he may as well be in tears right now. Just...be understanding, alright?’ I breathed out a long sigh... Honestly what would I do without Gloria?

‘Ahem?’ What would I do without ONLY GLORIA? ‘Cheeky bitch...’ Monica sent an amused smirk and I found myself smiling a bit.

“Henry. When I first came to this deposition I honestly thought I could face jail time. Imagine it, saving over a dozen women from a life of sexual servitude and being jailed for it! I was... I am...feeling incredibly relieved with the amount of restraint and grace you and this court have shown me. So if I appear relieved, or happy, or content at the moment, don’t be fooled into thinking that I’m not taking this seriously. I put my life, and my mind on the line for your sister and for 17 other complete strangers at that school. I don’t say it to brag, but to state a fact. If you don’t think I’ll put myself on the line for her every single day for the rest of my life... Then nothing I say or do here will change that, so instead just watch me, and watch her, and I promise you I’ll make her happy.”

‘Well said Susan...’ Gloria said sending a wealth of pride, as if she hadn’t taught me half of that stuff...

“I see, thank you. That does help,” Henry said, looking back toward Angie, who was staring at us with nervous excitement. “She’s already so much more animated than I’ve seen her in...not just this past week but years. She wants us to put in a provision mandating you have sex with her daily.” I choked, eyes going wide and started to sputter, attempting to say that I would NEVER have sex with his sister in such a vulnerable state! “Obviously she and you will have to have sex, denying it to her in her current state would simply be cruel...” I cleared my throat and continued to sputter, attempting to say what I’d always meant to say, that of course I would have sex with his sister every single day, I would be delighted and privileged to take on such a noble task! “But forcing two people to have sex...no, and clearly you care enough about her to push her to find others she may connect with as well. If all she has to connect with is you I don’t think we can truly call that happiness.” I decided to just keep my mouth shut and let Henry talk.

‘Whoa, there may actually be a brain under all that blonde after all!’ If I could kick my breast... It might hurt me too but it’d be worth it.

“Well, I suppose I just have to trust your best judgement and see where it leads won’t I?”

“I can’t promise perfection...but I will always try to do what’s best for her, Henry.” He frowned at me, did he not like me using his name? Why did I feel like Angie and I had become engaged and I was talking to her very disapproving father? Did he WANT ME to promise perfection?

“I’m sure. For now, come with me, if we are to establish the details of your guardianship of my sister, you ought to be there for it. Invite your family if you wish, family is very important after all.” I glanced over at Wendy who looked away quickly from us, burying herself in her phone and pretending she was somewhere else.

“Yeah... Very important.”

Almost two hours later I was out in the court hallway drinking from the water fountain like I’d spent all that time in the desert. Yeah I was bent over and yeah people had certainly noticed my figure but hell if I cared. I was thirsty, and if the boys were thirsty too they could stare all they wanted, all it took was one to try to come over and I’d be able to teach everyone in eyeshot, and earshot, a valuable lesson regarding time and place...

“So, you come here often?” In almost any other context I would’ve took a swing, but the voice of James Patton made me glance up in bewilderment.

“Patton?” I said through a mouthful of water, some of the life giving liquid spilling out of my lips and onto my chin.

‘R—’ Shut up Monica!

James chuckled and took a napkin out of his pocket and wiped my chin for me. Great, now I felt like I was twelve. He has napkins in his pocket? Total dad move... “What are you doing here?” I asked, deciding not to rib him for the napkins.

“Just wanted to make sure you’re doing alright kiddo. I’m worried about you.” I ignored the ‘kiddo’ part...

“I’m fine, just awarded legal guardianship of a civilian who is Psionically programmed to be my sex slave. You know, typical day at the office...”

“You’re worried you won’t do a good job?” Fucking Patton...

“Of course I’m not gonna do a good job!” I said, slumping against the wall as suddenly all the anxiety I’d been building up for the past two hours exploded out of me, anxieties only two other people in the world knew about, and they were more a part of me than not. “I’m barely responsible for myself, now I have to be responsible for someone else too! Not to mention her brother is this insanely intense high class businessman with deep pockets who loves her more than literally anything! I’m not ready for this...NO ONE is ready for this! I don’t know whether to treat her like a kid, like an invalid, or like a wife! I...I’m gonna mess it up.” I just want the record to state that I did NOT cry here, maybe there was some shaking of the shoulders, and possibly a shuddery exhale as I sat down on the cool polished hallway floor, but I did not cry like some bloody ingenue in a romance! Patton slide down the wall next to me, nodding his head thoughtfully, the way the Dad character would in a romance... He didn’t seem to want to stay clear of the clichés.

“Let me tell you a story about Theresa.” My stomach dropped and all that remained was a deep, dark pit, suddenly all the pity I’d been feeling for myself vanished and I was reminded of how bad things could really get. “When she turned 10, I told her, double digit age means she’s no longer a child, she’s growing up, becoming a pre teen, god help us all. She took that to mean that she needed to practice being a mommy, so for her birthday she wanted this huge, outrageously expensive doll house set complete with an entire family of dolls.”

“So you bought it for her like a sucker?”

“I told her very firmly, ‘Absolutely not, we don’t have that kind of money.’” I raised my eyebrow skeptically. “And, then I bought it for her birthday anyway...”

“Sucker...” I said with a grin.

“Well, she got what she wanted, like always, and we spent the next hour putting the dollhouse together...”

“You mean YOU spent the next hour putting the dollhouse together.”

“No, she helped a lot. I’d never seen a 10 year old so excited about putting shingling on a roof, honestly I was considering asking her to help me with ours...but somehow I don’t think she would’ve. When it was all done I started to pick up the dolls, you know, to play with her, but she snatched them all out of my hands, said ‘No!’ She needed to do this on her own, she was a pre teen now.”

“Smart move Dad.” Patton smiled.

“Well you reap what you sow, and as that was an argument I was never going to win I decided to leave her to it. The next day I awoke to the most terrible screaming you’ve ever heard. The kind of screams you’d expect if shadowy hands were dragging you down into a deep, dark pit. Theresa, had lost one of her dolls. All she could say was ‘I’m a bad mommy, I’m a bad mommy.’ Over and over. Tears streaming down her face. I remember very clearly her that it was fine, it’s just a doll, we can get a new one. That wasn’t what was upsetting her though. She thought that she was going to be a bad parent, because she couldn’t keep track of some dolls.”

“And so I shouldn’t be intimidated by a flesh and blood human being that I’m now responsible for because... I’m sorry your point is escaping me.”

“Point is this kiddo. The way I got her to stop crying was to tell her firmly ‘Theresa, you are not a child. You’ve made a mistake. Now it’s up to you to fix it!’ And she stopped crying, just stared up at me with those big blue eyes and nodded her head once. Then she started to retrace her steps, we organized a little search party, and she found the doll next to the dog’s bed. She thought all she could do when put in, what was to her, an impossible situation was sit down and cry, but all she needed was a little reminder of what she could do, of how smart, and strong, and capable she was and she flourished in that moment of testing. Susan, you’re not a child. You’ve made a mistake. Now get up off your ass and go fix it.”

Fucking Patton...

I stood myself up and took a breath, Patton stood up next to me, giving me that proud “Dad” look he always wore when I was around. “Is it tough? Talking about her?” I asked, as respectfully as I could.

“Not with you,” Patton said, looking sincere as he spoke. “Not with Rogers. Not even with Belluci. I see her in you all every day, even Belluci but don’t ever tell her I said so! It’s nice, being able to brag about her even today, and think about how lucky I was to be so blessed even for those 12 short years. There’s pain, of course, a lot of pain, but talking to you about her makes the pain go away, like I’m putting a bit more of her in you, and she’s living on through that. I don’t even blame myself for the accident anymore, which I’m told is a step in the right direction. It’s probably nice for you too, having a ‘sucker’ like me here for you.”

“You’re not a sucker Patton,” I said, giving my elder a brief hug. “You’re a good man.” He smiled broadly at me.

“Let’s not say anything you’ll regret later kiddo.” Well I decided to take that advice, and went back to the court room. Angie would need a ride back to her place...so that she could pack, and begin her new life.