The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Somewhere off in the far distance, Kay’s feet were moving. Walking, slow and jerky. She could just feel the familiar push of the floor tiles against them.

Hospital tiles.

Someone was resting their hands lightly on her back and shoulder, guiding her.

She made a small whimpering noise in the back of her throat, and tried to pull free.

Of the hands?

Not of the hands. Oh, no, not the hands. The hands were a relief, an anchor point. She tried to pull free of the shapes... the twisting black and white shapes that now swirled in front of her eyes... the shapes that had come suddenly swelling up from somewhere, after those two strange women had come up to her at...

The nurse’s station and they had shown her the...

Shapes. Shapes that had started to move. At first they had been almost beautiful... fascinating... falling into them....

But now....

Oh god, now....

She pulled against the shapes, and they moved like a mass of worms, like the strands of a malignant tumor being extracted from a patient down in one of the...

Surgery units.

Surgery units?

She was in a hospital. She tried to cling to that fact.

She pulled against the shapes, and they stretched just a little, then snapped sharply back into place, pulling her gaze with them.

They pulled tighter.

The hands shifted, arresting her motion and her feet stopped. She almost toppled over, but the hands caught her and held her upright.

For an eternity, shapes shapes nothing but the shapes.

Where was she?

Her mouth made the noise again, but this time there was a reply. The hands moved again, fingertips coming to rest on her temples...

Stroking slowly...

Rhythmically...

In perfect time with the pulse of the shapes...

It felt so good.

Who was she?

And then the voice spoke, whispering softly in her ear.

It was familiar and not, all at once...

“Shh... that’s all right, Kay...”

Her name was Kay. She remembered, and she felt a wash of gratitude for the voice, which continued to speak.

“I know it’s scary. I know it hurts right now. But don’t worry... Everything will be fine. Just fine. All you have to do is relax. Completely relax.”

-Relax? How can I relax?!? The shapes-

She tried to say these things, but all that came out was another small noise.

“Yes. Yes, you can. With my help, you can. My name is Miss Hollenburg, and that is why I am here. To help you.”

Somehow, Miss Hollenburg, the calm, patient, helpful voice called Miss Hollenburg had understood her.

Understood her, and was here to help her.

And that changed absolutely everything.

“Just follow the shapes, Kay. Don’t fight them any more. You know it’s useless to fight them. Just follow them all... the... way... down.”

Kay followed the shapes all the way down.

It didn’t take very long, and when she was done, Nina stepped away from the nurse, who stood quietly now, her arms hanging limp, her chin resting against her chest. Nina fidgeted for a moment, examined the items stacked on the shelves of the... supply closet? ...into which the two of them had hastily dragged Kay.

She quit stalling. She carefully visualized a long thin probe, made of silvery metal with a thick rubber grip, and taking it in “hand” she gingerly poked at that new throb of the Machine inside her head.

stimulus, response.

Yes, the throb was still there, but after ‘doing’ Kay, it was better. Enough to keep under control for the short term. Enough until—

She met Suzanna’s blue eyes. The mouth attached to those eyes flashed a small worried smile of encouragement. Nina sighed and squared her shoulders.

-In the name of the Master, please let the rest of this have worked.—

She reached a hand around in front of Kay’s face and snapped her fingers. The sound was very loud in the stillness.

Kay gave a start and lifted her head. Her eyes flipped open. She blinked herself back into focus. Then she saw Nina and Suzanna, and her body snapped to attention.

Nina spoke, again forcing her voice to sound calm. Cool. Professional.

“Do you understand now, Kay?”

“Yes, Miss Hollenburg!” Kay sounded nervous but nevertheless determined. “I understand completely!”

Nina shot a covert glance and raised eyebrow at Suzanna, who smiled, far more enthusiastically this time, and let go the painting with one hand to give a small thumbs-up signal. Nina let out a breath of tension and returned to Kay.

“Good, Kay. Very good. So... do you have any immediate recommendations to improve this situation?”

“I—” Kay bit her lip in thought for a moment then nodded. “Not really, Miss Hollenburg. There shouldn’t be much problem until morning. Except that you’d better...” She rubbed her temple... “...explain to June. Like you just did to me. It will make things much easier if she understands. It would be better to do it over here....” She started to leave the room, and Nina chased after her.

“June? Who’s June?”

June hipped the door the rest of the way open and went on out into the corridor. It was beginning to empty out as visiting hours wound down once again.

Visiting hours ending.

Fuck.

Back on the fucking night shift. She thought that maybe she’d be working some decent hours at last, but then last week that fuckwad Briggs had started shuffling the fucking schedule around again...

“June!”

She turned, casually balancing her tray-load of pills. It was Kay. The one good thing about doing this shift: Kay was decent enough.

But right at the moment the other nurse looked...

Strange. Almost hopped up, like she’d been getting it on with someone.

“Something wrong?”

“Well... sort of. You need to come and see...”

“What?”

“You’ll just have to see...”

Without further explanation, Kay led her back down the hallway, into the breakroom behind the nurse’s station. June followed, cautiously.

There were two civilians standing there. Two white women, one a brunette who, it was clear from the very first glance, had a stick the size of the Bloy Building jammed up her ass, and a blonde in a green dress.

In a green dress and holding—

At some point in the evening’s festivities, someone had pushed the door mostly closed. Now it swung open again, pushed in a very emphatic way, and the various gabfests floating around Tom’s Bed of Pain dropped back to earth. The pusher was revealed to be one of the nurses, a tall gal, kinda pretty, with fuzzy brown hair that was cut a little too short for Jim’s taste.

He watched her along with all the rest.

Seeing she had everyone’s attention, she flashed a quick smile and spoke, politely but firmly.

“I’m very sorry, but I’m afraid that I’m going to have to ask you all to leave for the night. Mr. Woodhue really should get some rest now.”

The group-organism digested this poisonous edict and slowly began to break apart. Bags were collected. Coats were put back on.

“I’ll give the folks and Harriet a call when we get home.” Tom’s brother approached the bed and gave the occupant’s shoulder a clench as he said this.

“Oh. Right. Mom. Well, thanks for taking that bullet for me.”

“Hey, what are brothers for? See you tomorrow morning?”

“No.” Tom shook his head. “I mean, there’s no point in your coming by in the morning. You both have to get back to work, and I imagine they’ll kick me out of here the first chance they get. But maybe after work... you could come by Erika’s, if you want.”

“You OK with that, Erika?” The bearded man turned to ‘Erika’.

Jim stood nearby, watching all of this. He would have loved to get Tom alone for five minutes and grill him about this sudden new arrival on the scene; if that woman had really been around the last few months, Jim would cheerfully eat his hat.

But it could wait until later.

“Sure. Here... I’ve got a card somewhere you can have.” The woman in question fished around in her small handbag and finally extracted a business card. Tom’s brother... what was his name again? Richard... right, produced one of his own in a quick efficient snap to complete the exchange.

“OK. Maybe around... six or so?” He exchanged confirming glances with his wife.

“It’s a date. I’ll try and keep him out of trouble.”

“We appreciate it.” Beverly chipped in. She was definitely giving Erika the eye as well, although like Jim she seemed more puzzled than hostile.

And speaking of strange vibes...

Jim turned to locate Kristen and Holli.

They were gone, disappeared like the earth had swallowed them up. (If the earth could do such a thing up here on the fourth floor.) They must have bolted from the room the moment that nurse came in to break up the party.

Everyone started out the door, where said nurse was still lurking. She peeled off Erika from the pack like a lion targeting a wounded wildebeest; Jim was impressed with her technique.

“Could I please have a word with you before you go, Miss Johanson?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Right over here, if you please—”

Their voices faded away as Jim waved his good-byes to Tom and went on out into the corridor, now looking for the two women he had come up with.

Yes, there they were, just piling into the nearest elevator along with a couple of other folks. Then they were gone, out of sight with the closing of the doors.

“Been a strange day.”

Jim barely gave a start; he’d worked too long with Monty to be truly surprised by the other man’s near-miraculous materializations anymore. They fell into place alongside each other as they headed for the elevators.

“Yeah.” Jim extracted some gum from his jacket pocket and slowly folded a stick into his mouth, wadding up the wrapper as he did so. “Something’s definitely up with Tom. Besides the accident I mean.” He offered the pack to Monty, who slid out a piece of his own. “Guess we’ll find out when we find out.”

“Suppose so. What say we grab a couple of beers over at the M&S before calling it a night?”

Jim shifted the gum to one corner of his mouth.

“It’s a date.”

“So, teach, once again. What do you think of Tom’s new friend?”

Beverly shrugged, then gave Richard a mock-suspicious stare.

“You talked to her more than I did, back there in the room. What did you think?”

He considered for a moment, scratching at his beard.

“Well... she laughed at my jokes. She liked the one about the moose and the- ”

Beverly placed a careful finger on his lips, silencing him. She nodded solemnly.

“So she’s criminally insane. That’s always good to know. I’ll be sure and bring my straightjacket along when we visit them tomorrow.”

“You have a straightjacket?”

“All us elementary school teachers have them. After all these years, didn’t you know?”

“Well... yes... but I thought that they were for using on the kids.”

“Modern technology is wonderful. One size fits all....”

The two women rode the elevator down and walked through the lobby out of the building, the silence surrounding them in a cloud. This time, Kristen paid careful attention to the various passers-by, looking particularly at their clothes. There were plans to be made and refined. Threading through the parking lot, they approached Holli’s truck. Kristen waited patiently while Holli fumbled around in her overall pocket for the keys.

Despite where they had just been, Kristen was smiling, both internally and externally.

Because now, suddenly, so many things were clear to her. The major one was him, of course, and knowing what they had to do, but... there were others. Herself and Holli and...

Who knew who else, eventually?

-Sometimes, you just need a kick in the pants, to get where you need to go...—

Holli finally unlocked the doors and they climbed in. Close doors. Key in the ignition. Fasten seat belts.

Next to her Holli cleared her throat and started to speak, her hands gripping at the steering wheel.

“Are we just going to sit here or—”

“Be quiet.”

Kristen kept her voice serene. There was no need for anything more.

Or maybe there was, because Holli tried again, her voice was small and weak.

“But we can’t—”

Kristen turned and looked at her, and the words died.

Kristen stretched her smile just a bit wider. Her voice didn’t change.

“I’m not telling you again, Holli. Be quiet.” She paused. “In fact, from this moment forward, you will speak only when spoken to. Do you understand?”

Holli’s mouth made a noise.

“Answer the question.”

“I understand.”

“What do you understand?”

“I speak only when spoken to.” Almost a whisper.

“Good.”

Kristen looked out over the parking lot. She saw the tall bearded man and the thin blonde woman; they had been among those pathetic wretches writhing down in the Cave. Now they were several rows over but clearly visible under the glow of the lot lights, coming from the hospital, walking side by side. They paused for a long moment, evidently to talk to each other, then they kissed, got into separate cars (actually, a car and a van) and drove away, heading for the north end of the parking lot. She saw the named painted on the side of the van.

-That’s right. They’re relatives. They’ve come by Harrison a couple of times. Relatives of...—

That was something to remember, in case tonight didn’t work out. More plans, plans after plans. It was the only way. Watching the movies had taught her that much.

She spoke again, and Holli jumped a little in her seat.

“But, nevertheless, to answer your question... we have to get ready. Like I said before, I think it will be... easy... in a couple of hours. But a little extra cover won’t hurt. We’ll go pick it up now. I know just the place; I’ve been there with Karen once or twice.”

Holli didn’t say anything.

Good. So she was capable of learning.

If all went well tonight, there would be plenty of lessons...

“And after we do that, we’ll have to get something to eat. We’ll need to kill a little time, anyway, and I’m suddenly famished.” Kristen pointed a finger. “Drive. Go out that way, and turn south onto Lethbridge.”

Holli started up the truck and pulled out.

“What is it?” Erika asked the nurse who had corralled her.

The other woman smiled, and spoke in an oddly conspiratorial tone of voice.

“It’s all right, Miss Johanson. I’m Kay Price, the nurse assigned to Mr. Woodhue’s room. Miss Hollenburg has explained everything to me. This way, please.”

“Explained everything? What? What did she explain?”

Price ignored her questions, but shepherded her professionally along.

They circled the unoccupied square which was the nurse’s station, and came to a closed door labeled “STAFF ROOM. HOSPITAL PERSONNEL ONLY.” The door had not only been closed, but locked; Price wore her keys around her neck on a sort of strap, and one of them breached the barrier.

A rather drab space with all the things you always find in such places. A couple of tables, a coffee maker, a small fridge, a wall covered with pushpins and official-looking notices, a poster featuring a cloyingly cute photo of a kitten.

The only things out of the ordinary were Suzanna, Nina, and another nurse, a shorter black woman. Like Price before her, Nina smiled. Unlike the tall nurse, the smile looked a little forced. Nina was clearly tired and strung out.

“Erika. Hello. We’re just finishing talking to June. After that...”

Erika now noticed that the black woman was standing unmoving, in front of the painting, which Suzanna was holding about chest-high.

“What? What’s happening?”

Price closed and locked the door. Nina went on like Erika hadn’t spoke.

“...After that, we have to confess our sins to Mr. Woodhue. All of them.”

Erika’s hands once again clutched at her stomach.

Tom lay back and grimly tried to relax, but Nurse Price’s sudden appearance and dismissal of his friends had jacked his nerves back into full-alert mode. He considered turning the TV back on, but he decided against it. He didn’t need to hear any more about earthquakes.

Time passed in a slow oozing crawl, every clicking second measured by the circular clock mounted over the door. He listened to the sounds of the equipment, of Sam’s light steady snoring from the other side of the curtain...

Then the door opened again, and Tom rolled his eyes to see who it was, his hands again clenched against the sheets, around the box one of them held... After the bizarre events of the day, he almost expected it to be Price or even that Doctor Phibeson, grinning horribly and carrying a syringe full of poison, or a freshly sharpened scalpel.

(Or maybe Francine. It suddenly occurred to Tom that she hadn’t been there with his other co-workers. Francine with her bolts locked all the way down...)

But no. It was Nurse Price, but she was reassuringly empty-handed, and she was closely followed by a procession:

Nina. Looking tired and strained, her hands clenched just like Tom’s.

Suzanna. Looking just about the same as he had last seen her that morning, except that she was carrying something in her hands. A white rectangle, large and flat.

Erika, whose primary emotion now appeared to be one of bewilderment.

And last of all, an second unfamiliar nurse. A black woman, not ugly but a little too wide across the face (and body) to be truly beautiful. She wore gold-rimmed glasses and had her hair strung back in a collection of beads. Despite the obvious differences, he was reminded a little of Kristen.

Once everyone was inside, the new nurse closed the door and locked it. This task finished, she moved to stand next to Price. Except for their uniforms, the two of them made a very ill-matched pair.

Silence fell, and Tom felt compelled to break it, cautiously testing the conversational waters.

“Hello.”

“Hello, sir.”

Nina.

Tom’s gaze went to Erika for a long moment, then drifted back to the two nurses. They stood side-by-side, their hands neatly aligned at their sides, looking straight ahead. Tom moved his attention to Suzanna’s burden, then back to Nina.

“So. We’re together again.”

“Yes, sir.”

Back to the two nurses.

“What’s going on, Nina?”

“Sir.” She shifted, just a trifle nervously. “It will take a while to explain. It’s been a long day for everyone, I think.”

“Did you... do something to Nurse Price and... ?”

It wasn’t Nina but Price who replied, not looking at him as she spoke.

“June Washington, sir. We are the two duty nurses for this section tonight. Miss Hollenburg and Miss Taylor explained everything to us, sir.”

June remained quiet. Tom tested the waters again.

“They did.”

“Yes, sir. They explained to us how important and special you are. We are sorry we didn’t realize before.”

“Important and special.” Tom’s voice was distant in his mouth.

“Yes, sir. It is an honor and a privilege to be allowed to assist you while you are here, and we will do whatever we can to help you. Miss Hollenburg, Miss Taylor and Miss Johanson are your executive assistants, and are also to be treated with the appropriate amount of respect. Unless you issue orders to the contrary, we are to follow their instructions.” She blinked and spoke a bit more firmly. “In regards to all non-medical matters.”

After that last comment, Tom eyed her carefully.

“So... Fay... and June... you’re not slaves.”

Fay blinked again before replying, her brow crinkling a little. June had a similar expression on her face.

“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t understand the question.”

“Never mind. Forget I asked.”

“Yes, sir.”

Tom sat silent for a moment, then...

“OK. Everything seems... fine. Just one or two additional points for now. It would definitely be for the best if the two of you didn’t waste too much of your time thinking about all of this after we’re gone.”

“I understand, sir.”

“And if anyone happens to come asking about us, after I’ve checked out... I was just another patient as far you were concerned.”

“Of course, sir.”

Tom spoke to the second nurse, partly just to see if she talked.

“Do you understand all of this, June?”

“Of course, sir.” Pause. “Unless you require anything further, sir, we should get back to our other patients now.”

“No. That’s all for now. Thank you.”

The two nurses turned to file out, but then Kay evidently had a thought, and turned back.

“I just realized, sir. You may wish to have Miss Hollenburg and Miss Taylor explain your situation to the graveyard shift, when they come on duty in a few hours.”

“Yes. Thank you. That will be all for now.”

Kay hesitated, then made a self-conscious sort of curtsy, and the two women left.

And so, finally, at long last, they were all together again.

Nina allowed the fantasy to come for a moment.

Strip off all her clothes. Kneel naked before her Master. Interlace her fingers behind her neck. Thrust her breasts forward.

Drain away her thoughts. Let her mind go totally, deliciously blank.

Await orders.

But as with Suzanna in the elevator, to do these things now, here, even with the nurses under control... they weren’t alone in the room, and doing anything stupid would threaten the Master’s safety. She couldn’t even turn off her mind; she had to remain constantly vigilant.

And so she pared the list down to one single item.

Await orders.

(Except for a last glance at Suzanna, to make sure the blonde slavegirl wasn’t stripping or something, but she remained in place as well, still holding the painting.)

“So.” The Master looked at each of them in turn. When he came to Erika, she came to life as if a switch had been thrown, walked over to the bed and took hold of the Master’s hand. He spoke in a low tone and made a we’re-not-alone nod towards the curtain. “As Nina said, it’s been a very long day. Where do we begin?”

Suzanna immediately spoke up.

“Sir. I need to tell you about a—”

He held up his free hand in a forestalling gesture, and she instantly fell silent.

“Actually, I’d better go first. I told Nina earlier that we should wait until tomorrow, when we’re alone, but now... Now we have to do this now. You all met or at least saw those two detectives from the police department, right?” He registered their various nods. “Their names are Sanchez and Dunmayer. They came to talk to me about my... crash. They said they aren’t 100% certain yet, but...” He dropped his voice lower... “...they are fairly certain it wasn’t an accident. Someone deliberately cut the brake line in my car.”

-Wasn’t an accident-

A scream started somewhere in the back of Nina’s mind. Long and loud and piercing, going up and up and up. Her body trembled, threatening to fall completely to pieces.

-I failed I failed I failed pathetic worthless useless total absolute failure die kill myself run up to the roof and throw myself off-

-No.—

A hammer in the machinery came down hard, and the noise cut off in mid-howl.

-You will punish yourself later, slave. But right now, you are totally unimportant. Right now, Protect The Master.—

Brooms swept the pain into a heavy metal box. Mechanical arms slammed the lid down, torches sprang to life, welding it shut. Pushers slid it smoothly away into a far darkened corner. Outside of her head, her hand confirmed the gun was still in her purse.

“Do they know who did it, sir?” Her voice didn’t even tremor.

“No. And I don’t know either. But I can only assume that it has something to do with the book and the spiral.” He flickered a pained smile. “Um... Erika? Could you ease up on the hand? You keep that up, one of us is going to break something...” Nina couldn’t see Erika’s face from her vantage point, but the redhead complied with the Master’s request. “Thanks. I can’t answer ‘why’ yet. As for when it happened... That’s why I was I was over here on the Eastside. I went back to Rodney’s bookshop, to see if I could learn... well, anything. Maybe find another copy of the book. Whoever it was, they must have done it while... I was in the store. While I was—” He looked up at Erika, who was standing very still. “Doing research.” He stopped for a moment, leaned back with his eyes closed. No one moved or spoke. Finally, he began again.

“No. No more secrets.” He glanced pointedly at the painting in Suzanna’s hands. “No more lies. I was kind of half-conscious while they were hauling me here, and I had a sort of dream... and after that.... The one good thing about all this, I finally had some time to think, and I made a few decisions. Changed my mind about a few things. First of all... we all have to be honest with one another from here on out. Complete and total honesty, whatever the cost. Do you all understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, Tom.”

The Master gave a small start and spoke to Erika.

“’Tom’?”

“Yes. I’ve been... thinking as well today. I can manage that.”

He closed his eyes again, and a different and deeper look of pain crossed his face.

Nina and Suzanna both swayed towards him and moaned softly.

He opened his eyes and spoke abruptly.

“I had sex with the clerk in the bookstore. I took her to lunch. We went back to her apartment, and we had sex.”

Nina blinked, and the machinery popped up a sort of self-reflecting question mark. She felt... strangely glad... that she couldn’t see Erika’s face. It wasn’t that she personally felt any jealousy. Of course the Master by definition could and should have sex with any woman that he desired, but still somehow...

“I see.” Erika’s voice was... calm.

“I didn’t do it because I loved her. Or even was particularly attracted to her. She wasn’t very smart. But I had to know.”

“Know what?”

“That’s the other thing that happened to me today. Earlier, at the office. One of our co-workers, a woman named Fran... Francine Kurthimer, she works with Nina in the accounting department... she attacked me.”

“Attacked you?” In an instant, Erika’s voice became very unflat. “You mean... you think she’s the one who cut your brake line?”

“No, I mean—” The Master paused again, his expression this time startled and thoughtful. “I... No. Not that kind of attack.” He scratched at a bruise on his chin, his gaze lost somewhere. “I mean... sexually. She wanted to have sex with me. She really wanted to have sex with me. And not like you two.” A wave at Nina and Suzanna. Another even longer pause of consideration. “Actually, now that I think about it, it was more like you, Erika. The feelings you described. When you first came over to Nina’s house last night. Only even worse. She wasn’t... open to reason. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer.”

“And so you had sex with her, too?” Erika’s voice wasn’t quite in the flatlands again, but it was headed that way.

“No! She’s married! She has two kids! No, I managed to get away. I don’t know what she did after that. I haven’t seen her since. I was just counting my blessings that she hasn’t turned up here.”

“So you went and had sex with this bookstore clerk instead.”

“I...” The Master made a claw gesture, the wires from the IV trailing off his arm. “Even though she was acting like it, she never saw the spiral, I’m sure of that. Francine, I mean. So I had to know. If it was me. If now I’m putting out brainwaves, or—or pheromones or something, that caused her to do it. I needed to know how much that damn book really changed me!”

“And the same thing happened as with this Francine person? When you met the clerk?”

“No. That’s what I don’t understand. It was different than before, yes. I’ve never, ever talked a woman into bed that easily. But... no. It just wasn’t the same as with Fran. Not nearly. Or you. Or Nina and Suzanna. I just had a major confidence boost, I think. And the other women I’ve seen today. The nurses, and that Detective Dunmayer—none of them have been attacking me. I have been getting some strange looks, but whatever is happening with Fran, it’s not the same thing.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either.” The Master shifted, sat up straighter in bed. “But... I told you all of this, because... I want to, need to make it clear to you. To all of you. This is something else I decided. That will never happen again. Ever. With anyone.“ His gaze went to Nina and Suzanna. “I’ve been weak, and stupid, and selfish. No more. I know this is going to hurt both of you deeply. But it has to be done. I’m not going to have sex with either of you again. Ever.”

In an flickering instant the sky turned a flat dead gray, and the birds went silent and tumbled end over end into the abyss, their colors fading as well as they plummeted.

No more sex with the Master.

Ever.

The sky stretched emptily for a moment, an eternity, then a thought came, an actual thought and not a bird...

-He’s doing this because he cares about you. He’s doing this because he loves you.—

He’s doing this because he is the Master, and he is the most wonderful and perfect man who has ever lived.

The birds rose back into the sky. Color came back. Not all of it, but a lot of it. No more sex, but life went on. Obedience to the Master went on.

A bird offered an additional idea...

-The Master almost certainly won’t let us watch while he has sex with Erika, but maybe he wouldn’t object if Nina and I did it with each other.—

Suzanna had never felt the slightest urge towards lesbianism, but now, it might be better than nothing...

But of course that was a question for later.

Suzanna looked her Master.

“I understand, sir.”

“Yes, sir.” Nina’s voice came as well.

Suzanna hesitated, then, another bird and another realization...

“Sir?”

“Yes, Suzanna?”

“The Old Suzanna... she would have appreciated this.”

“Thank you, Suzanna. That’s partly why I did it.”

“And what about me?” Suzanna studied Erika’s texture as the red-haired slavegirl said these words. It was flashing about ninety different emotions all at once. Rage. Lust. Fear. Pride. Compassion. Jealousy. Love.

“That’s up to you. Entirely up to you. But...” The Master pulled something out from under the covers of his bed. It was a small square box. “I did want to ask you something. Even before the accident, it was something that I had decided. And before we do anything else, even talk about my would-be murderer, whoever he is. Before this goes any further.” He handed his burden to her.

Erika stared down at it for a very long time, then turned completely around to look at the other two women.

It was the first texture since her enslavement that Suzanna couldn’t even begin to read.

Back to the Master.

Erika slowly cracked open the box’s hinged lid. She stared down at what was revealed.

Time stood still, then there was a loud snap as she closed the container, curled her long artist’s fingers around it, bowed over it. Suzanna stared at her, unblinking, not daring to peek and see what the Master’s texture was showing. Erika finally spoke, every word carefully selected.

“It... right now, it would be so easy to rip this thing out of its box and jam it on my finger. It would be maybe the easiest thing in the whole wide world, for a million reasons.”

“But.” The Master.

“But. It wouldn’t be the right thing to do. Not now. Not here. Not with... Someone’s trying to kill you! You’ve got... them!” Her words ran out of control, and she gave a distracted wave at Nina and Suzanna, still clutching the box. “You’ve got women trying to rape you! You—” Erika cut herself off.

She ever-so-carefully placed the box, not back in the Master’s hand, but on the bed next to him. Her hand lingered over it for a long moment before she lifted it away.

“Ask me again. Ask me again, when all of this insanity is over, for better or for worse. Please ask me again.”

“OK.”

Erika made a snorking sound and wiped her face with her sleeve.

“Damn. There go the waterworks again. And I just got done—”

“Shh.”

The Master took her hand, pulled her close.

The kiss went on for a long time.

These textures Suzanna could read at five hundred yards, and while watching them intertwine wasn’t as good as being allowed to join in, it was still pretty darn good. It required an effort not to rub her thighs together.

Finally they broke apart and the Master turned his attention to his other two slavegirls.

“Well. That’s pretty much how my day went. How about the rest of you?”

Before Suzanna could try again to tell the Master about the monster in the waiting room, Erika replied.

“Um... when you said no more lies, no more secrets, did you mean... you know...” She gave her head a little jerk towards Suzanna and Nina.

“Oh. Yes. Yes, I did. Everything.” He glanced pointedly at the painting again. “I’m guessing there’s not much point anyway. So did you get a chance to do the research?”

“Yes. Suzanna and I went to a cybercafe, and I looked up—” Erika changed tack in mid-sentence. “Actually, there’s something I need to say first.”

“Yes?”

“I have a secret. Suzanna knows about it too.”

For a moment, Suzanna had the now-odd experience of trying to remember something. A secret? What?

-Oh, right. The Master’s baby. But was there something else? Something...—

Obviously not. She would have remembered if there was. She brushed the pestering bird away with an annoyed flick of her mental hand and returned her attention to Erika.

“It’s nothing to do with the book, or the spiral or the rest. And I do want to tell you about it, but it’s something else that needs to wait. The next time you give me that...” She pointed at the box... “that’s when I can tell you. One secret. That’s all I ask.”

The Master nodded.

“OK, then. One secret. But in exchange... I understand that Suzanna has been talking about me behind my back?”

“Well... She told me what she knows about your past, when I asked this morning. Your family. Sparky and Elise and KWOO.”

“I see.” He turned his attention to Suzanna with raised eyebrows. “When did we talk about Sparky?”

“We discussed childhood pets one day at lunch in the office, sir. Ten months and five days ago. You had a peanut butter and honey sandwich and bag of Zippo Chips, and I had a Chinese chicken salad from Callahan’s.”

“Ten months and five—Wait. I remember now, sort of. You told me about your brother’s cat. Ghastly? The one with the broken tail and only one eye?”

“His name was Gruesome, sir.”

“Right. Anyway.” Back to Erika. “You know about me. So... I’d like to know about you.”

“Right now? Shouldn’t we talk about—”

“No.” The Master flashed a blatantly fake texture of petulance. “Right now. I want to hear a story.”

“A story.”

“Yes.”

Erika slowly smiled, a thing of humor and sarcasm and... fear? Then she gave a theatrical wiggle her finger at her fellow slavegirls, drawing them closer.

“All right. Fine. You want to hear a story? I’ll tell you a story.”

Kristen directed Holli to take the truck on south. They left behind the pile of medical-related businesses that was stacked up around the hospital, and drove into more general stuff, row after row of shitty little strip-malls, with a few supermarkets and gas stations tossed in here and there.

A few minutes later, a few turns later, they came to the mall that Kristen was looking for and they turned in.

During all of this...

Holli’s anger was gone. In the Room it had foamed up and entirely filled her mind, turning her into little more than a rabid dog, but now, away from the killing moment, it pissed away through her fingers, and she couldn’t get it back. She’d lost...

What had Kristen done to her?

Had Kristen done anything to her?

The thought of Kristen doing things, doing more things....

She pushed it from her mind.

She parked the truck in one of the angled slots and they both got out. Holli looked up at the sign that was now above them, a white square with green letters over the glass doors, lit up in the dusk: GALAXY UNIFORMS AND SUPPLIES.

Kristen copied her movement, and spoke.

“They’ve got a contract with both of the hospitals to supply uniforms. We want you to look the part, as much as we can.”

-Me?—

Even though she didn’t speak the thought aloud, Kristen still seemed to hear it, and smiled more widely.

“Of course you. After all, you already look the part so much better then me, even without the official uniform. And even though I stand by what I said before, about it being easier later, it’s still a definite risk. You still might get caught before you can do what we need to do. Or even killed, although I suppose that’s unlikely. Either way, better you than me. If it doesn’t work, tomorrow, I’ll just have to try something else. Like you said earlier, maybe I’ll figure out a way to get my hands on a bazooka by then and do the job properly.”

Holli made a small gagging noise, but even now, the anger wouldn’t come.

Kristen yanked open the door to the store.

“Come along, Holli.”

Holli came along.