The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

<Old>

“How can you trust him? Now that I am thinking clearly, or clearer anyway, I can really see that you really are yourself. How can you trust someone who controls you?”

“Nice of you to notice, Mind letting Jeff up now.”

“I umm, ohh, sorry.” Miranda stammered as she realized that she still had Jeff pinned under her. She stood up.

“Because he controls my body, not my mind.”

“Huhh?”

“Jeff, can you go check on the rest of your brood. Mir and I need to talk. I think I need to fill her in on what is really happening.”

“You sure?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Your ball, you run with it.”

“Thanks Jeff.”

“No problem Arie, I trust you.” Jeff replied, heading to the door as fast as he could without convincing himself that he was running away.

“Miranda, chair, sit down, shut up, and listen.” Was the last thing Jeff heard from them as he exited the room as quickly as the shredded pieces of his dignity would allow.

</Old>

The scene that greeted Jeff in the living room was surreal. The biggest disturbance to him was how little it actually disturbed him. Alexandra remained where he had left her to Melinda’s tender mercies on his contraption. However, he noted that two of her platform bearers were working her, one in each end.

Meanwhile Melinda whispered in her ear, grinning madly. Alex’s face had no expression on it. Her eyes were unfocussed, except when the regular shudders ran through her body. Then her eyes had focus, exclusive focus. The look of happiness on Melinda’s face when this happened gave him a shudder of his own.

Jeff was surrounded by a plethora of girls and women, all of whom would grant his every wish. He realized that he was no longer aroused by them, or any of the products he saw last night. He finally understood the dismissal, the near boredom he saw in Simon the previous night. You worry about sex, until you can depend on it. Then it was just another thing, another activity, another distraction. And him, here, with all this, he could depend on sex. He could have all of it that he could want, all of it that he could survive, yet sex was surprisingly the last thing on his mind.

“Get dressed.” Jeff ordered Bunny while he found a snack for breakfast, “We are going for a walk.”

Jeff turned to Melinda while waiting for the silent Bunny to obey. “Arie told me about the template you are working on.”

“Thought it would make her fun.” Melinda laughed.

“Make sure she also responds to the four of you as well.”

“I’ll do that boss.”

“Thank you.”

“You going out?”

“I need to think.” Jeff said making a shaking motion with his head and holding his hands up.

“Everything ok?”

“No, not really. Nothing wrong per se, but something is off.”

“Keep in touch please.”

“That’s why I am taking Bunny.”

“She takes the phone?” Melinda asked as though it were a question not a statement.

“How?”

“I know these people sir. I know where you have to go in your head. Good luck with your survey.”

“You understand what I am doing?”

“Looking for the next threat. Beware of Simon though. He will do something eventually.” Melinda stated flatly, “Not for a while yet, but eventually. The moment he has whatever they are after here in town, he will act. Be ready.”

“I will try to be.”

“Don’t try, be.”

“Yes ma’am.” Jeff joked.

“Ughh. Please don’t do that.” Melinda said, shaking her head. “Calling me that doesn’t feel right or sit well. It makes my head rattle inside.”

“Sorry.”

“You are in charge sir. You have to be in charge.”

“Got it, but Arie, you, Mary and Tamara are also ordered to do whatever you need to in order to do your jobs. Whatever those jobs may be.”

“Thank you sir.” Melinda said with relief, going back to whispering in Alexandra’s ear.

Let’s go.” Jeff said to Bunny when she joined him at the door. Tuning the whole place out, he went for a walk. Of all the girls and women available to him, he took just Bunny. Not for company, or companionship really, but because right then she was the simplest thing available. He decided to give her the so called nickel tour to distract himself so he could think freely.

Bunny was confused by him. Unlike all of her other owners, he actually talked to her, not at her, which it turned out is hard for her to take. He pushed her to observe, answer questions, to give opinions. When she gave answers that seemed shallow, he required her to explain them over and over until they were not. Programming to obey her owner battled with the current orders to be obeyed. Her discomfort grew as he twisted his words and her answers to force her to respond like a person would. The stress on her mind was enough to give her a headache. In the past, simple obedience would relieve this sort of stress, but at that moment her mind was being forced onto long unused paths with all the subtlety of being hit by a car.

Vargas wasn’t the largest town around. It was really not that large at all. You could easily walk the length of it in just a few hours. It didn’t really have that many people in it, yet it looked impressive on a map. Jeff liked how spread out the population was, and the local economy. Estates took the place of houses. The working poor of this city were in four bedroom, often two story, houses typically on half an acre. Being middle class here was defined as having three stories. Usually the parents got the top floor, the kids got the middle and the family area was on the ground. Sometimes the parents and kids swapped floors. The city was littered with personal pools the way most planned suburbs had miniature sub-block parks. Empty lots and miniature playgrounds abounded, some developed, most not. They served to break up the normal sense of neighborhoods so that even if you lived in a crowd, that crowd was distant.

As Jeff walked the town he grew up in, he concentrated on wording his orders to Bunny to force her to respond in the way he desired. As he did, he remembered reading somewhere that next year would be the groundbreaking on a college to go with this college prep ‘get away’ town in the middle of nowhere. As they walked and wandered he saw people coming and going. They were doing this, doing that, doing all those things that defined life in this insane little town. He drew little attention.

Lots of guys had arm candy following them around. More girls than he thought did as well, or perhaps some tables had been turned along the way. Bunny drew attention not for him having her or her beauty. She drew it for the quality of her as a package, in toto. Though some looked technically better due to youth, none were more than a fraction as desirable.

Nightfall came and hunger made itself known. He found himself near his home with no clear idea of how many hours he had wasted wandering and distracting himself. He wasn’t sure how much time he had spent dragging answers out of Bunny. He had no real idea if there was anything to be drawn out. In spite of it being a cool day, he was hot and sweaty so he headed home. He was not surprised to find it dark. So many houses were dark until the kids got home since most of the parents were out of town.

Jeff showed Bunny around the house and set up the next set of trays for the spectrometer. “I’m grabbing a shower.” He informed her while grabbing a towel. “Make yourself at home.”

“Yes my lord.”

“Please stop with the ‘my lord’ stuff.” Jeff frowned as once again her conditioning forced her away from his desired goal.

“How then does my owner wish himself to be addressed?”

“Wow.” He muttered to himself while sitting back on his bed and trying to come up with some kind of an answer.

“Did I do something wrong?” She asked, worried by his quiet distress.

“No Bunny, you didn’t.”

“I am glad.”

“What’s your name?”

“I am House Bunny 131.”

“Not your designation, your name.”

“I do not understand the question.”

“A name is a unique identifier that is used to denote an individual in order to distinguish them from others in a group.”

“My unique individual identifier is House Bunny 131, A line, L series, Individual unit 131, Charlie factory. That is my full official designation.” She answered formally.

“A, L, I, Cee; that makes the name Alice.”

“Alice?”

“Yes, I am going to call you Alice.”

“I am Alice?”

“Yes. You are now Alice.”

“I am Alice.”

“You are Alice now. You are no longer required to answer to Bunny or any of your previous designations. You can choose to or not to as you wish.”

“Choose?”

“Yes choose. To decide or make a decision in one’s own name.”

“My decisions are yours my, I still do not have an appropriate designation for you and that is unacceptable.” She replied in consternation.

“Call me Jeff, and your name is Alice so you can decide in your own name.”

“Yes my Je, that designation does not fit my parameters for addressing my owner.”

“Then you must change whatever you need to in order to use it. Until you can figure it out, don’t speak except for giving direct answers. Speak in a way that does not involve a title.”

“Yes Si.” Alice started and then stopped, confused.

“In spite of what all was done to you, I know you have a good brain, now use it. Why do you always answer with a title?”

“Acknowledgment of ownership. Possessions always reference their owner or ownership in any answers they give to any authorized party that makes an inquiry.”

“I do not think of you as a possession. I think of you as a person. In my mind, you are a person who has decided to obey me. You are a person who has decided to act like she is mine. I like to think that this person enjoys the part. I like to think that this person gets something out of the obedience and loyalty she shows me. What I want is for you, Alice, to accommodate yourself to my perception of you. Do this both externally, and far more importantly, internally. I desire you to become the person I see in my mind’s eye when I look at or think of you.”

“How?” She asked, unable to form the idea in her mind.

“I don’t know, but you’ll find a way. I am hereby ordering you to decide for yourself how to spend your time when you are not obeying any orders or doing any assigned tasks. How you will do this is entirely up to you. Also, you will evaluate yourself and tell me what progress you are making from time to time.”

“Yes umm.”

“I’m going to get that shower now. I would suggest you get yourself settled somewhere, perhaps my sister’s room or my lab. I have no idea what I’m going to tell Mom and Dad yet.” Jeff said and then left her standing and looking confused.

“Umm.” Alice said as she watched him walk away. She was lost. She had no idea what to do. Minutes passed as impulses battled with each other in her mind. Every programmed pathway worked around the implicit reference of ownership, yet she was forbidden to use it. She was barred from speaking with that implicit reference, yet she had been ordered to change whatever she needed to about herself to be able to speak.

Direct orders warred with programming. Programming gave weight to those orders, yet conflicted with them. A non-verbal temporary solution was eventually found from a time before she was granted the power and the right to speak.

“Wow.” Jeff mumbled, staring in shock as a nude Alice joined him in the shower. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. In spite of all he had seen lately, the idea of her in his shower with him was beyond words.

She did not speak. In fact, she made no sound at all. She took a wash cloth, selected a bar of soap, lathered the cloth and proceeded to wash him. Nothing fancy, nothing sensual, nothing intended to arouse, just plain cleaning him. What silenced Jeff however was her eyes. They weren’t quite empty. There was just the barest trace of something, but for the first time there was something showing. She accepted him washing her in return passively. Her nipples distended, proclaiming her body’s arousal, yet her behavior was passive, not actively inviting. She was accepting what he did, nothing more.

Much to his surprise and delight, she climbed into bed with him. Her silence was disturbing, but her warmth and simple presence were comforting. The weight of her head on his chest and the feel of her breath helped him relax as he realized that there was no pressure for him to do anything at all. She had no expectations, wants or desires other than for him to relax and enjoy her being there. He was nearly asleep when she shifted to begin massaging his shoulders. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed and enjoyed her working on him. She did nothing to arouse him, nothing to lead into sex of any sort. She was just stretching him out and relaxing him.

Hours later, Jeff awoke from a sound sleep to hear the words “Congelo rictus bunny.” A stinky cloth settled over his face while a heavy weight pinned him in bed under the covers. Beside him he felt Alice go nearly limp for a moment and then tense up as his world filled with stars. Everything was retreating when he heard a grunt from the weight pinning him down.

“I am Alice.” He heard her say angrily. He heard a sound like cutting paper and then a wet snick.

“Ummgph,” Sounded over him and the weight pinning him was relieved. He was able to push the cloth partially off of his face. Looking around sickened him, even the movement of his eyes disoriented him to the point of severe nausea.

Then the bed lurched as a silent Alice launched herself at something he can’t see. He heard something that sounded like small dogs yapping while something heavy lurched on the bed. At that moment he felt warm dampness, like someone had wet the bed but his brain couldn’t connect all of the dots. The stars started to return and then they blurred as his head ached.

“Bitch.” He heard, barely recognizing Simon’s voice.

“I’m Alice.” She said, almost as a bark between two heavy thumps.

“Bitch.” Simon hissed again and three more barks filled the night just before a heavy weight fell off the bed.

Jeff hears the beeps of a phone being dialed. “Arie.” Alice said as he was passing out. His last coherent thought was wondering why his body was twitching. “Help him,” Alice pleaded, “he’s hurt.”

“Who is this?” Arie asked, puzzled, as she looked back to Alex repeating in sync with her headphones over and over. Jeff’s words to Melinda earlier that day had placed Arie as first in authority after Jeff. So she was taking point on most everything, including answering the phone.

“It’s Alice. He’s hurt.”

“Who’s hurt?”

“He is.”

“Who is he?”

“He is, he, is, my, jhe.” Alice said and then grunted in pain as conditioning interrupted her simply using his name, yet insisted she bring help.

“Jeff?” Arie asked as something cold settled in her stomach.

“Yes.” Alice said weakly in relief.

“Are you at his house?” Arie asked, almost shouting and drawing many eyes.

“Yes.”

“Hang on.” Arie shouted and then turned to the room, “Melinda, keep it up with Alex. Tam, Mary, Miranda, and Jennifer, with me. We’re headed to Jeff’s place. Some sort of problem.”

“Simon.” Melinda said flatly, “I never thought he would move this quickly. Hurry.”

“Simon.” Arie whispered seven minutes later. Her stomach objected to the strong smell of blood in Jeff’s bedroom. Two big and burly guys, bouncers from the party by the look of them, have bled out from cuts on the neck, legs and other places. Simon’s body also lay on the floor near the bed. Jeff was on the bed twitching and gasping with unfocussed eyes. Bunny was lying near the door in a small pool of her own blood.

“Bunny?” Tam whimpered.

“Alice.” She responded in barely a whisper.

“What happened?” Arie asked after a calming breath.

“What do we do now?” Mary asked as she and Miranda looked at the bodies in horror.

“Bunny one three one. Help him.” Alice whimpered as she twisted to face the wall. Using her own blood she drew a letter A then put a half circle with legs over it and then an almost complete circle around them both with an opening to the lower right forming a symbol.

“Jesus Christ.” Arie whispered in shock and then dialed Melinda.

“Never mind here Melinda, I need you look at a design and tell me what it is.” Arie said without preamble, sending the picture when Melinda picked up.

“What the hell? Is that blood?”

“Symbol Mel, concentrate.”

“It’s the UCA, it has to be.” Melinda answered, puzzled, “I’ve heard Simon and these guys talk about it. They hate the place like nothing else. I mean, they are rabid about it.”

“UCA?”

“A video arcade chain. There are rumors about it.”

“Rumors?” Arie asked.

“Yeah, rumors that it is really a brothel.”

“So they could be another branch of these people?”

“Maybe, but everything I’ve heard about them says that they respect their employees.” Melinda admitted grudgingly, “And like I said, these guys hate them.”

“Definitely not like these guys then.”

“Not likely. We can’t just call the cops. We know they’re on these guy’s pay roll. God alone knows what calling them would actually do.”

“Why didn’t Bunny call them?” Arie asked.

“You said she called herself Alice. Maybe Jeff gave her a name.”

“That would be Jeff alright. If she were still working for them wouldn’t she have called the police?”

“Definitely, and since she didn’t and wrote the symbol in her own blood...”

“We should call UCA?” Arie asked.

“Looks like it.”

“Find me a number.”

“On it.”

Arie’s call was answered by a young woman.

“Under cover arcade, this is Shara. How may I direct your call?”

“Hello, my name is Arie. I am calling from Vargas and I need to speak to your manager.”

“Concerning what please?”

“Tell your manager this is about a bunny.”

“Are you selling rabbits?”

“Something like that. Please put me through now.”

“One moment please, I’ll see if she will take your call.” Shara said before putting Arie on hold.

“This is Anna, go.” Anna said, answering the beep of her office phone.

“I have an Arie calling with rabbits for sale in Vargas. She seemed to think you would already know what the call was about.”

“Put her through.” Anna said as a cold lump congealed in her stomach.

“Hello, this is Arie. Whom am I talking to?”

“My name is Anna and we are not in the market for rabbits.” She said, praying this call was not what she feared it might be.

“Anna, I’m not sure that I am talking to the right person but this is life and death.” Arie said, pleading for understanding. “We have two people critically injured. One of them indicated to call you and tell you ‘bunny one three one, medical emergency’.”

“Did you say Bunny?” Anna demanded as briefings of movements in the war she is now involved with come to mind along with the mention of Vargas.

“Yes. House Bunny one three one.”

“Can they be moved?”

“I think so.” Arie grimaced. She feared what moving Alice might do, but feared even more what not moving her would definitely do.

“Get them in a car and head east. Call this number back when you hit the edge of town. We will intercept you in route. How bad are they hurt?”

“He is twitching from some sort of stuff in a rag they put over his mouth. She has been shot and stabbed.” Arie replied, feeling like she was living a nightmare.

“Do what you can, stay in motion, do not stop until told.”

“Thank you.”

“We are on our way.” Anna said, hanging up.

Tamara was assigned to clean up the house as best she could. A quick phone call arranged for everyone else to continue as they were, aside from some help for Tamara. Arie told them all to pretend that everything was ok until she or Jeff returned.

“Damn.” Arie hissed in surprise as two helicopters expertly converged on them twenty minutes outside Vargas. She fears for she knows the golden hour is closing, there is no more time to hesitate. One in front, one behind, they paced her car along the otherwise empty highway. Then her phone rang.

“This is Arie.” She said. She was glad now that Jeff’s sister had remained behind. If this went bad then at least someone would know what happened.

“This is Anna. I am in the lead helicopter. There is a wide spot two miles ahead. Pull into it.”

“Do I have a choice?” Arie asked, glancing over at the nervous Jennifer driving.

“Not if you want everyone to live. We have field surgeons with us.”

“We’ll meet you there.”

“Good enough.” Anna replied.

“What have we gotten ourselves into?” Both Anna and Arie asked themselves as the helicopters veered away, racing ahead.

“Hello the car.” A voice no older than Arie’s shouted as they parked. It came from a female silhouette standing in the light pouring from the interior of the helicopter.

“Who are you?” Arie suspiciously asked through her open window. She had acted on impulse, and now, miles from town with people in helicopters, she was nervous.

“We spoke earlier. I am Anna. This is Simon beside me. We also have Leah and Tia as well as medical help.”

“Simon?” Arie asked, the name haunting her.

“How bad are they hurt?” A male voice that was also her own age asked. Arie relaxed. His name might be Simon, but he was younger and sounded nothing like the Simon she knew. This one cared.

“He was drugged somehow. She has been stabbed and shot.”

“Since they are both breathing we take care of the one bleeding first.” Simon stated flatly. Part of Arie responded to the implicit authority, the rest of her cringed from how familiar it felt.

“Come on over then.” Arie said as she got out of the car.

“Thank you.” The female voice said again as they approached.

“Miranda, you stay with Jeff.” Arie ordered. “Jennifer, you stay with Alice.”

“Yes ma’am.” Both acknowledged.

“Leah, Tia, you know the drill.” Simon told them, not issuing orders exactly. They were more advisory statements on how to proceed. The implicit authority and the women’s responses once more brought Arie’s fears to the surface, but her responsibility to Jeff and Alice outweighed them for now.

“I think I will have an easier time explaining everything than I feared.” Arie said nervously.

“Alice is the Bunny?” A med tech asked Arie.

“Yes.” She replied, startled that he accepted that she was in charge of the group from the car.

“Thanks. Have to be careful with them. Some drugs react badly with their mods.”

“Mods?” Arie asked curiously.

“Bunnys have altered metabolisms.” He answered as Alice’s clothes were cut away from her abdomen and other areas without stripping her completely. This was a courtesy that Arie both appreciated and was surprised by.

“Oh.”

“We don’t need to talk here.” Simon said, trying to sound reassuring.

“We have a surgical suite on standby. At least, it will be a surgical suite by the time we get there.” Anna went on for him. “All they are trying to do for now is stabilize them. We need to know for sure what they used on him and it looks like she will need surgery.”

“Here is the rag they used.” Mary said, joining the conversation while holding up a zippered freezer bag with a rumpled rag in it.

“Thank you. Thank you very much.” Simon said, taking it and going to where Jeff was being loaded onto a chopper.

“I hate to ask like this.” Arie said, frowning.

“Technically Simon is in charge.” Anna answered the not quite voiced question. “However, management does not interfere unless there is a problem. Leah and Tia will remain with your people. The bell chopper is faster so it is going on ahead with just the wounded. Your two escorts will go with them, and our two escorts for your escorts.”

“I am guessing you are management.” Mary laughed at how take-charge Anna was.

“You could say that.” Anna laughed. “I am the assistant general manager for our section of the chain. Wil and company, where we are headed, have the rest.”

“Chain?”

“I am, most of us are.” Anna replied gesturing to several people in order. “With the UCA, Under Cover Arcade.”

“Why did Alice say to call you?” Arie suddenly demanded as the helicopter with the wounded took off.

“How much do you know? How much freedom do you have?” Anna asked back.

“We don’t know what their situation is.” Simon commented.

“Which is why I asked.” Anna snapped back.

“Anna!” Simon snapped right back at her.

“Simon!”

“Can we please not do this in front of our guests?” Simon asked in an over the top ‘I am trying to be reasonable’ tone of voice. “Shouldn’t we be trying to look professional?”

“I thought professionals were preference?” Anna griped.

“As I recall, you were part of the double teaming that encouraged me to do quality control.”

“Seriously?” Arie asked, laughing. Her greatest fear, that Simon and Anna were master and slave, had died in internal laughter. It was obvious that whatever the relationship between Simon and Anna was, master and slave was no part of it.

“Can we just get in the chopper and start this conversation over please.” Simon pleaded. “Arie, if you don’t mind we will have one of our people drive your car. It needs a serious detailing job at the very least.”

“Sure.” Arie agreed, tossing her keys. She laughed again as Simon held them up in front of his people shrugging his shoulders. The question was obvious, ‘any volunteers?’

“Alice is in surgery now.” One of the women with Simon and Anna told Arie an hour later. “Jeff is being treated as well. Good thinking with the bag. It saved them having to do blood work. It turns out they used ethene based stuff, not chloroform. They saved well over an hour identifying it since it is very unusual to use something in that family. It wouldn’t have been spotted until the full lab work up was done, thank you.”

“Thank you.” Mary said into the so far nearly silent ride. Few words had been spoken. The noise of the helicopter made conversation a little difficult and that had been used as an unspoken excuse not to speak at all.

“We will be landing in a minute. Your car will be here mid-morning.” The same young woman informed Arie thirty minutes later.

“Thank you. I am not sure what I expected when I made that call.”

“But this is not it?” She laughed.

“No, not anything like it at all.”

“I understand.” She said and Arie quit paying attention to anything she said. Below them a place became visible out of the night. Their flight path had avoided small towns and they had recently been threading through another larger town. Now she saw why.

A sign proudly proclaimed this as the UCBJ. The Under Cover Burger Joint. The sign was distracting as she tried to make sense of the organized-feeling chaos below. It was well after midnight yet cars and, of all things, car hops abounded.

On the whole it belonged on the set of Grease, yet modern cars littered the lot. No one paid much attention to the helicopter landing in a roped off area. Belatedly she wondered if it was specifically for them or if they normally kept an area set aside for helicopters.

The largest woman Arie had ever seen opened the side door before the rotors had stopped. “The rag was more important than we thought.” Bright blond hair topped someone who looked like an advertisement for a gym, while still looking like a real woman. The apparent contradiction confused Arie. The action drew a frown from Simon and Anna, both of whom the woman ignored.

“Cindy?” Simon asked with concern, labeling the strange woman.

“Detrolin amalyse and amine of methylophonase. We would have missed it in the standard blood panel. We quite nearly missed it in the rag.”

“Crap.” Anna hissed, “Do we know which clan yet?”

“Sebet.” Cindy frowned, “The cocktail matches Sebet.”

“I thought she got them?” Anna asked as they disembarked.

“She did. I double checked. Dental and DNA records were clear. First through ninth heirs were all accounted for, dead.” Cindy answered, guiding the group toward a warehouse. “She went out of her way in their case. The rest just the primary line, but them she went above and beyond. This can not be happening.”

“Can we save him?” Simon asked shifting the subject back.

“Angelique has an idea but I don’t like it.”

“Not our call.” Anna stated. She nodded towards Arie. “She looks to be in charge with him incapacitated. Once we have the options figured out. It’s her call.”

“Umm.” Arie mumbled.

“Can you?” Simon asked, opening a side door to the warehouse. Arie was stunned to see the dilapidated building on the outside bore no resemblance to the glistening interior.

“Oh my god.” Arie whispered, looking around. Half the floor space did duty as meeting hall, dojo floor, gym floor and god alone knew what else. A bank of three rooms, two temporarily configured as surgical suites, formed a first floor. A patio doubling as porches for the three rooms below fronted upstairs offices. Hallways to the sides told her that more was hidden behind the three rooms. She could see Jennifer and Miranda in chairs between the two suites. They look relaxed, which finally allowed her to relax as well.

“Listen up people.” Someone male shouted, coming from one of the side hallways. “Attencio lacuna occursus. Rock and roll people.”

“Who is…” Arie mumbled as she saw the whole room react on a reflex level. The random admixture of people now suddenly had a pattern. While they crossed to Jennifer and Miranda, the room was transformed into an open meeting hall. Moments after that, it was nearly empty.

“I am Wilhelm.” The voice said, meeting them with proffered hand. “My friends call me Wil.”

“I am Arie.” Arie answered, unsure of what was happening.

“Nice to meet you Arie. I am sorry but the rest of the introductions will have to wait.”

“Wil?” Simon asked.

“The rag.” Wilhelm laughed, “It has opened a can of worms. As though doing surgery here were not enough. Amina is bringing in some others. Arie, I have to ask a question that will be insulting and very possibly you will not be able to answer, but I have to ask.”

“Ok.”

“While Jeff is incapacitated are you the one in charge? Do you have enough mental leeway to act?”

“What are you asking?”

“Are you still yourself?” Wilhelm asked back. “Looking at you I can see that you are not completely in control of yourself. Your will is not entirely your own.”

“Umm.” Arie stammered, shocked. That was, however, better than the stunned silence she could feel from Mary.

“Not because of anything you did. Because of events that happened to you, there are reactions happening.”

“Wil!” Another voice shouted and the largest chest Arie had ever seen in person came running up with hair flying.

“Angelique? Is there is problem?”

“I just got off a conference call. Nate asked me to contact a Scott with the alliance.”

“What did Scott say?”

“He agreed with me and Nathan.”

“How bad is the swelling so far?”

“We have to guess. Jeff will be brain damaged from cranial swelling by the time we can gather them. The sooner we decide to go ahead, the better his chances.”

“I don’t like to ask, but I have to. And beware, this is Arie, apparently she is in charge with Jeff down.”

“Do you love him?” Angelique demanded, turning on Arie.

“No.”

“Does any of your party?”

“Why?”

“Because I can make the swelling go down, but I can’t keep it down.”

“What are you thinking?” Wilhelm asked, looking puzzled.

“A variant of what was done to me. Immersive realignment of the prefrontal cortex. Nate and I did the math. With a couple of admittedly delicate injections we can medicate the swollen areas to reduce them. Then we suppress them until the swelling goes down on its own.”

“I see.”

“The sooner the better.” Angelique said turning back to Arie. “What I will do is reduce the swelling and the stress on the nerves. The way I will do that is to reduce his volition. At the same time I will induce a raised metabolism which his caregiver will maintain.”

“Caregiver? Maintain?”

“Through sex.” Anna interjected. “What she intends to do is to give him the same basic boost package we have. Combined with suppressing the function of the parts of his brain involved with volition it gives time for the brain to heal. The reduced function means the nerves shouldn’t take damage while the body repairs them.”

“Boost? Suppressed?”

Angelique replied next, “What we, I, will do is suppress his ability to act on any decisions he happens to reach on his own.”

“What she means.” Cindy broke in. “Is that you need someone who might have liked him a lot, though puppy love would be better, and true love the best. That person will take the place of his decision making for a while. She has to be able to act in his best interests rather than hers.”

“And the sex?”

“Orgasms power our boosts.” Cindy explained. “So who ever does this will get the same boosts and even then we will have to use others for later. The first has to be real, after a few we can relieve her as needed.”

“Will it work?”

“I can’t guarantee it.” Angelique admitted. “But I know how this works. I was a project of the process. I have lived it. I know it from the inside. I will monitor everything and adjust as needed personally.”

“You lived it?” Arie asked.

“I am fourteen.” Angelique admitted, gulping. “I was treated at eleven when I looked barely nine. At twelve I looked fourteen. At thirteen I looked sixteen. Now most people think I am eighteen. During that time an unknown byproduct of the process left me vulnerable mentally. I accepted many admonitions to act my new age. Which I did until Wil rescued me. So yes Arie, I know exactly what is needed. I can save him, but whoever takes care of him has to be in charge and able to act in her own right.”

“Oh my god.” Arie whispered backing away.

“We have to relieve the pressure soon Arie.” Angelique went on. “Either this way, or surgically.”

“Surgically?”

“Trepanning is not the right word but you might know it. Basically we split his skull, allowing it to expand and we cover the brain until the swelling goes down. It works but there is no telling how much damage will be done in the meantime. Knowing why it is swelling, we can relieve the cause and if we can maintain his metabolism in a boosted state he will fully recover.”

“Mary.” Arie asked hesitantly after nearly a minute of silence.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Before all this happened. Were you interested in Jeff?”

“Umm.”

“Mary, this is serious.” Arie stated flatly with a cracking voice and a tear. “You will answer all medically relevant questions with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am.” Mary answered gruffly, trembling.

“I repeat. Before this happened, were you interested in Jeff?”

“Yes ma’am.” Mary answered angrily. “I kept hoping he would make the first move because I wanted him to be more forward.”

“I am sorry Mary, I truly am. But would you rather I spared your feelings or saved Jeff’s life?”

“You always were a bitch.” Mary growled and then laughed. “But you have mostly been my kind of bitch.”

“Can you?”

“Yes.” Mary finally admitted.

“You know his instructions. You know his rules. This will mean not taking a single order from him until he is better.”

“I know ma’am.” Mary replied. Her anger, frustration at what she knew was a necessary betrayal, and determination to save Jeff were all equally obvious.

“You are hereby so ordered.” Arie stated coldly. “Evaluate for yourself. Make up your own mind. Until this is done you take no orders from anyone, including me. Jeff’s medical treatment means he is not capable of giving orders in his right mind. Until he can, you are hereby free of all controls and wholly yourself until you can judge for yourself that Jeff is in his right mind and you feel you can accept his order for normalcy to resume. Do you understand?”

“Someone has done her homework.” Came an admiring murmur.

“Yes ma’am.” Mary said softly and then turned to Angelique. “Which way?”

“This way.” She replied, leading Mary off.

“I may be a doll right now, but I am far from empty headed.” Arie commented.

“So I see.” Wilhelm and Simon agreed, smiling.

“This way.” Cindy laughed. “Food is being brought and everyone able should be here soon.”

“Thank you.” Arie replied while following. The smell of food reminded her of how long it had been since she had last eaten or slept.

The words, “You should get washed up.” woke Arie with a start some time later. She didn’t even remember eating after sitting down, but her lack of hunger answered that question.

“Umm.” Arie mumbled, blinking while trying to sit up. She found herself still in the reclining chair that she barely remembered sitting down in.

“Take your time.” The woman standing next to her said.

“Thank you. Is there a bathroom?”

“If you will follow me, there are showers and if you would like, a clean change of clothes.”

“Why are you all being so nice? Why are you doing all this?” Arie asked as she followed.

“You are in no danger.” She replied, voicing Arie’s ongoing concern. “We are not trying to collect you. We are not the law. We are part of an ongoing mind control conflict. You are, if you want an exact description, collateral damage. We do everything humanly possible to prevent it. When we cannot, we do everything humanly possible to limit it, and we mitigate what we cannot.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you help? I see control of you, in you. Yet I also see you. Your demeanor is not that of one trapped, especially not in her own body.”

“Like you are to some extent?”

“Yes.” Arie admitted as she selected one of the sets of clothes. She quickly undressed and then stepped into the shower.

“We are not free. Yet we remain ourselves.” The woman said over the shower.

“Slaves then?” Arie asked after a long pause.

“No. We are not owned. Our bodies are used, yet we are not. We remain free but unable to leave until our contract is up.”

“Is your identity your own?” Arie asked, stepping out of what had been the fastest shower she had ever taken.

“We remain fully ourselves other than accepting and carrying out assignments.”

“Assignments. Is that code for sex on command?” Arie asked while dressing.

“Most of the time, yes. We also play arm candy. Be a counselor. A second view point. Companionship. There are many ways assignments happen.”

“Is this an assignment? Talking to me to help me get or stay calm?”

“Somewhat.”

“Thank you for your honesty.”

“We are always honest. That is what sets us apart from people like your Simon.”

“Now what?”

“You are in charge of your brood, however many that entails, until Jeff is able to think for himself once more. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“There will be questions. Answer them to the best of your ability. You are not in trouble. No one here is looking to blame you, any of you.”

“Do you know what happened?” Arie asked.

“We know drugged champagne was given out over the summer. We know there is a major problem in your town. This is our first chance for first-hand information.”

“Will they help?”

“Yes.”

“I believe you.”

“Thank you. My name is Jennifer. I was referred to the UCA by someone who retired near Vargas to setup shop as a veterinarian and animal shelter. She warned me to run when I met her. I did and came here. We lost touch with her two months ago.”

“What happened?”

“We don’t know. Given who the players are though, we couldn’t go find out without alerting them to the fact that we knew about them.”

“Oh wow.” Arie mumbled when she returned to check on Jeff and Alice. The open area had been transformed into a meeting place. An over-size table seating two dozen was in place. After ensuring everything was as well as could be expected given that everyone was snoring, she went to find a seat.

“Here.” Jennifer said, directing her to one end.

“The end seat?”

“You go here. Wil sits at the other end. It is just after six in the a.m. if you want to reset your internal clock. Would you like French toast, hot cakes, waffles, eggs or something else?”

“Umm, whatever’s handy.”

“Come on.” Jennifer chided her. “This will take hours. Give yourself a treat. The rest of your brood have eaten already, that’s why they are so out of it.”

“Ok, eggs. And bacon if you have it.”

“How about some toast and milk to go with it?”

“Sounds great.” Arie sighed.

“No problem. You need to take care of yourself so that you can take care of them.”

“Thanks.” Arie mumbled. A quick call home confirmed that everything was ok for now. Alex was progressing nicely. Melinda wanted details, but other than confirming that Jeff and Alice had gotten treatment she didn’t have much to share.

“Uncle, this is Arie.” Broke into her reverie when Amina introduced a man old enough to be her father.

“Umm, hi.” Aire mumbled in reply, shaking the proffered hand.

“You looked pretty out of it. Are you holding up ok?” He asked.

“Yes. Why do you guys keep asking so much?”

“Them, because they care. As for me, I am not part of the UCA. I’m alliance. Agent West over there in the brown is FBI. Dr. Claren in the lab coat is CDC. Another half dozen other federal agencies are here as well.”

“Feds are here? They know about … umm.”

“Mind control? Definitely. We are here to learn how bad the nightmare is. A dozen alliance members are here as well.”

“Alliance? Feds? CDC?” Arie asked as her worries grew before her eyes.

“This is the biggest event in ten years, of course they are here.” He informed her gently. “And you are not in trouble. There will be questions. They are not aimed at you. They are aimed at gathering information. We need it as quickly and as accurately as possible.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He said taking a seat next to her. Arie found his presence oddly reassuring as more people kept appearing. Soon only two seats were empty.

“Arie.” Wilhelm said from the other end of the table. “What we want you to do is to tell us in your own words about your town and what is happening in it. Just go through it all. We will ask questions after you have reached last night.”

“Where do I start?” Arie asked as she noticed every place setting had a notepad.

“Say the beginning of summer. Our immediate focus is the champagne.”

“It first appeared two days after school let out last year.” Arie began. Hours passed. The first hour covered the summer in broad strokes. The second and third hours dealt with the beginning of school and went until the Halloween party. Then she caught up to the present in the fourth hour.

“I think this is a good time for an early lunch.” Wilhelm said when Arie finally wound down. She was exhausted again and hungry. “We can resume here at noon. That should give Arie time to check on her people and to prepare for us pestering her half to death by nitpicking.”

“A question first.” A gentleman near Wilhelm interjected.

“Yes general?” Wilhelm asked.

“For the young lady. Will we find many people who are neither hostiles nor victims?”

“Almost none.” Arie stated flatly and without hesitation.

“Are they armed?”

“The security people we saw were. They seemed more concerned with keeping other people out than with keeping anyone in.”

“This is going to be messy.” The general said while turning back to Wilhelm.

“You said something about a drone over flight from one of the bases.”

“In the works. Should be happening now in fact. Though if this is half as bad as it sounds, I may leave it on station.”

“Thank you.”

“How are they?” Arie asked, joining Jennifer, Miranda and Mary.

“Bunny, sorry, Alice.” Mary mumbled, reddening. “Is doing fine. They say she may wake today, but not to worry if that doesn’t happen until tomorrow. Jeff is doing great. Whatever they gave him is already helping.”

“Are you ok?” Arie asked.

“Great.” Mary answered instantly. “Just great.”

“The metabolic enhancements are working.” Arie’s Jennifer from Vargas interjects.

“Already?”

“Twice so far.”

“Mary?” Arie asked, startled.

“He needs it.”

“And you?”

“I don’t mind.” She deflected scrunching her lips.

“So far as I can tell they are legit and real. They will also have questions for the two of you. They have been honest with us, we do the same.”

“Yes ma’am.” Jennifer and Miranda reply in near stereo.

“I’m here, with Jeff. They can get along without me.” Mary stated with heavy finality.

“Ok.” Arie relented. She knew that tone. She had heard it out of herself too many times. Part of her wondered how she really felt. Not what the controls made her do, but what she felt. The voices that she normally listened to for guidance were all silent.

Minutes later, Arie’s phone range. Caller ID indicated that it was from her apartment. “Melinda? What’s wrong?” Arie asked.

“More people are leaving town.”

“More?”

“Lots more. We made a grocery run earlier. It looks like nearly everyone over thirty is gone. The guards are fewer and more friendly. Two of them actually helped us bring our groceries up, and they didn’t even blink at the things going on in here. A lot of these apartments are empty. The rest are orgies.”

“What the?”

“School is in session, somewhat anyway. Most of the classes have no teachers, but the lesson plans are on their desks. Some students are still doing their school work. Others spend their time screwing, right in class sometimes. Everything is still happening. Everyone is still going through the motions.”

“I’ll let them know here.”

“Who are they?”

“I’m working on that.”

“Are they good people?”

“I believe so. They are helping Jeff and they saved Bunny. Sorry, she is Alice now. Not sure how this works, but Jeff actually managed to give her a name and make it stick. Better than Simon ever did for her. Speaking of devils incarnate, any sign that they found his body yet?”

“None. We took more than one run around town, including a trip to grab homework, and nothing showed at all. Jeff’s house is undisturbed from Tam doing clean up. Simon and the two thugs eventually went out with the garbage. Everyone else’s houses look undisturbed by parents and adults alike.”

“Thank you for checking Mel, I appreciate it. No sign of my parents then?”

“None. We also managed to get into Alex’s banking. She is worth a lot less than we thought. You have more money than she does.”

“I get a healthy stipend, that’s all. My family’s money is not mine.”

“Her family is mostly broke. We don’t have enough access to trace it yet, but it looks like almost all their money is gone, most of it in the last few weeks. Yes, I checked on yours as well. And no, your money is not gone, and neither is your family’s. No sign of your parents though.”

“Thanks for the status update. If you see anything else please call.”

“I will do Arie, I promise.”

“Thank you.” Arie said, hanging up before her tears broke out.

“Thank you for letting us know what type of people are missing.” The general said when Arie told them about Melinda’s report. “We knew the numbers, but we could not know who they are or why they had left.”

“I am still not sure what is happening, but you people seem safer than the alternative.”

“Now that we have the raw information and have started acting on it.” Wilhelm broke in. “We need to address you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. While I can tell you have a lot of freedom to act. I, most of us in fact, can see constraints on your actions. We have councilors if you wish. But we need to know as much as we can about what was done to you and who did it.”

“Why?”

“So we can free you.”

“You will not at this time.” Arie stated flatly around the taste of mint, copper and her thudding heart. “In any way, shape or form attempt to touch, alter or otherwise change those I am responsible for.”

“Don’t you want to be free?” Wilhelm asked.

“Yes. However there are details involved that I am not discussing or sharing without talking to Jeff first. I appreciate all you’ve done, believe me, I do. However these people are mostly my friends and I protect my friends.”

“Wouldn’t a friend want them to be free?”

“A friend would make sure the offered freedom was really freedom. A friend would ascertain the cost of that freedom. A friend would be sure she is acting in their best interests. A friend would give them the most choice in their futures. A friend might make sure that some memories of events have had time to fade before making her friends remember doing distasteful things on orders because the alternatives were worse.”

“Oh.” Wilhelm said with a completely different look.

“She is still herself underneath it all.” Amina stated flatly.

“Yes she is.” Nate added, joining them. “In fact, if I didn’t know better, and I don’t, I would say the controls actually reduced stress for her, and in some way not just for herself either. There are layers here, and I don’t think she can share those layers without permission.”

“How?” Arie asked staring.

“I’m a sick bastard.” Nate laughed. “For instance, I can tell that you didn’t even notice the controls at first. Further, I don’t think you mind them very much.”

“Umm…” Arie mumbled, staring in shock.

“Arie.” Nate continued. “A question. How many exceptions to the rule that everyone in your town who is actively armed, that is carrying a rifle and/or wearing a uniform of sorts, is a hostile to be taken down? Would you estimate that there are any exceptions? And further, who are they and why are they exceptions?”

“Very few.” Arie replied with a hollow feeling in her stomach. This Nate seemed to be able to see into the very heart of her and that scared her more than anything else so far. “I would have to see them to know. I don’t think about people and guns so I would have to see their pictures to think about them that way.”

“That can be arranged.” The general said.

“Thank you.”

“So stay in tonight no matter what?” Melinda asked, surprised, after listening to Arie give her a direct order to do so. The directness was out of character for Arie, but their conditioning gave Arie the right to do so.

“Yes Mel, it is very important. Tonight and every night. I will explain as soon as I can, I promise.”

“Thanks. Sorry, but I’m not used to feeling that kind of ‘I will obey’ from myself about anyone other than Simon or Jeff. It startled me.”

“Good luck.” Arie said, hanging up abruptly.

“Listen up everyone.” Melinda said, getting the crowd’s attention. “Is there anything we need?”

“We could use juice and milk.” Tamara replied.

“Get it done. Be back here before dark. I mean that, absolutely be back here before dark. Those are orders from Arie from Jeff. Something is happening and they want us out of the way.”

“About time.” Tamara muttered as she gathered things for a quick shopping trip.

“We will be going in six hours.” The general said, calling to order the last meeting before things started rolling around Vargas. Around him two dozen people sat, most facing Arie. The general turned to her. “I want you to go over everything again.”

“I have already done so twice.” Arie answered firmly. Twin urges of helping them and loyalty to her own people were applying stress she didn’t like. Alice and Jeff were both still recovering and Mary was staying by Jeff’s side. Everyone else from Vargas was arrayed behind Arie. They were not merely obedient, but following her lead as well.

“I must insist.”

“I have already done so twice.” Arie repeated, growing concerned that Wilhelm, Amina, Kara, Jan and even Angelique were nowhere to be seen. She had come to trust them, the general and the suits around him not so much.

“Listen here young lady. We play nice with the UCA because we have to. You are not UCA. You will do as you are told.”

“I have done all I can.”

“Bull puckey.” He growled. “Half our questions go unanswered. Enough. We are going to start our interrogations over as of now. Separate them.”

“Yes sir.” A soldier said, waving several of his fellows forward.

Arie twisted around. “Silence.” she ordered her people. They were teenagers, these are soldiers, physical resistance was pointless. “Say nothing and speak not save for needs.”

“This way.” The soldier said, frowning as everyone behind Arie nodded silently.

“No.” Arie said speaking for herself. “I am going nowhere. None of us are answering any further questions.”

“We’ll see.”

“Not really. They wouldn’t answer any further questions anyway.” Arie informed him. “And with me ordering them silent they can’t. You might be able to force a scream out of them, but you won’t get any further cooperation.”

“Now listen here young lady.” The general growled, rising and coming forward to stand over her while glaring.

“I’ve learned a lot in the last few days.” Arie informed him flatly. “The UCA doesn’t really trust you and they sure don’t like you. I don’t know you, not really. I know your type though. So you might understand this. I see you as a threat. Therefore I am acting to mitigate that threat.”

“I am following orders to keep this contained. So you will comply and we will go over this one more time.”

“No.” Arie growled back.

“We’ll see about that. Take them.”

“You’re practically salivating at the thought of a town full of mind control victims.” Arie said, looking at the crowd. “You want all of us victims for yourselves. You want lab rats. You want to experiment on us.”

“Now see here.”

“Enough!” A new voice tried to say firmly, but broke in the effort. Everyone looked over, surprised, to see Jeff in a wheel chair pushed by Mary.

“Jeff.” Arie said, greeting him. “I have tried to do my job.”

“But some people don’t see you as a person, do they?” Jeff asked.

“They think that if they ask the right questions they will learn something else. They think that there is some big secret we have been holding back from them.”

“The general here wants more pieces of the puzzle. He wants mind control so he can make better soldiers. He wants soldiers who can’t even consider not following orders.”

“Jeff?” She asked.

“I have been talking to a number of people today. Getting a better idea of the bigger picture. I have learned a lot.”

“Then you should have learned to stay out of the way of adults, boy.” The general said.

“My people will no longer cooperate with you General.”

“We’ll see how they hold up after a few hours of interrogation.” The general laughed. “That town is a gold mine of information and I am getting every last nugget.”

“Don’t you understand general? They won’t help you. I control them and I have forbidden it. They not only won’t, they can’t.”

“You’ll order them to cooperate with me.”

“Is that a threat?”

“We’ll see how well you hold up boy. You’re soft, you’ll break.”

“General Stanson.” A five foot nothing black woman in a very expensive suit said, entering from one of the side corridors. “I do hope I am not hearing you threatening an underage American citizen with enhanced interrogation on American soil.”

“Who the hell are you?” General Stanson demanded, turning to her.

“Glorietta Hendrix.” She answered without hesitation or stopping until she stood before him.

“And you are with?” He asked, utterly non-plussed.

“Strategic Intervention Services, Treaty Enforcement, Regional Mind Control, US directorate liaison. Direct willpower and consent manipulation division to be specific. Call your CIA liaison and ask about Sister Tubman.”

“You have no authority here.” General Stanson said while leaning forward to tower over her. His carriage did not match the bravado in his words, however. He knew the reputation of that division, that name in particular, and it didn’t bode well.

“A town of over thirty thousand is overrun with mind control tech that has gone amok.” Glorietta began ticking off on her fingers. “Two thirds or more of whom are now missing. With an estimated three thousand underage victims and perpetrators remaining, many of whom may be both. This is my business general. This is what I do.”

“What treaty obligations?” General Stanson asked as her words finally sank in.

A man walked out of the other side corridor. “Do you recognize me General Stanson?” He asked in somber tones. His voice flowed and seemed to blend. It lacked any recognizable accent, yet was easily understood by all.

“Yes.” General said reluctantly as he surveyed the newcomer. The man stood three inches over six feet. His eyes were a dull blue that was only a few shades lighter than his suit. The suit was a work of art. Every stitch was hand sown. It looked like any other suit on any other man, only better. He had a face and a presence that were utterly imperturbable.

The general knew this man. He served the office of the President directly. This one had served five of them. He was one of a handful of advisors at large. They had no party affiliations, no official post, no official position. They were what the president used when he couldn’t go himself for some reason or when he couldn’t say something that he had to say. They never showed up for anything below FUBAR. And lastly, they were also what the president used when he needed a troubleshooter that wasn’t afraid to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

“Then understand this. Sister Tubman, forgive the pun please Glorietta, is speaking the truth about why she is here.”

“There is a treaty about mind control?”

“Yes there is.” The President’s man replied, surveying the collection of uniforms and suits still seated and intelligently, silent. “As that implies, there is real and working mind control technology in the world. This is not the drug to make them agreeable or interrogatable that you hoped for. It is real, working, usable, mind control technology.”

“I didn’t know.”

“What is there is not for you. It is not for the government, any government at all. We are forbidden from having more than a certain portion of the mind control technology, and that is for recognition and defense only. This is also true of all of the other countries that signed the treaty, although many were coerced. This was done for public safety.”

“Oh.” General Stanson said, staring warily.

“In many ways it parallels nuclear treaties. Only in this case no one is allowed to have it all. The true superpowers in this arms race are not countries. Even we are bit players in this drama, General. Sister Tubman speaks for the national level treaty signatories in this matter. Due to its nature it is not a national one, it is international. Sadly, it is also unprecedented.”

“This hasn’t happened before?”

“No general, it has not. The largest event prior to this involved just over nine hundred people in total. It was decades ago and I remember it well. This one is at least three times that counting just the underage victims. The real number of people involved is staggering to think about. This is too big to be ignored.”

“If it is too big to ignore then we need to get on top of it.”

“We are forbidden general, by treaty. Whether you choose to believe it or not, the other members of the treaty will view the U.S. military taking control of that town as an act of war.”

“It’s our town!”

“Given the current nature of the situation, no, it is not our town. Interdiction is allowed. Isolation is encouraged in fact. At no point however are your troops to take control of the town. That job falls to other hands. Can you and do you accept this?”

“For now. I will however be taking this up the chain of command.”

“You are in fact so encouraged.” The man finished and then turned to Glorietta. “Sister.”

“Sir.” She laughed back, her first smile. Then silence reigned as the man walked back out.

“Damn.” One of the men seated behind the general said just above a whisper.

“So gentlemen.” Glorietta said with a smile as she found a chair. “Shall we get down to business?”