The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

PART ONE

Jamie had just started to work on dinner when she was grabbed from behind, spun around and kissed. Startled at first, she relaxed into it as Ember ran one hand down Jamie’s back and butt.

Jamie sighed softly and, looking the redheaded ‘bot in the eyes, and asked, “What was that for?”

“I saw you crying, there.”

“Well, I’m chopping twenty pounds of onions, dear.”

“Ooh!” Ember exclaimed, and with a mischievous grin, proceeded to lick at the tear streaks on Jamie’s face and kissing her eyes, making Jamie giggle. “Mmm... oniony!”

Jamie grinned wide and asked, “Is there a reason you’re here?”

Ember seemed scandalized. “I’m fulfilling my greatest purpose in life. I’m making you happy.”

“Aww...” The two leaned in for a lingering kiss, pulling each other close.

Jamie had found Ember ten months ago at a local MyBot dealership and had fallen for her almost at once. It wasn’t so much Ember’s physical beauty, though she had that in spades with a tall, willowy body, short red hair that always smelled of cinnamon, emerald eyes, B-cup breasts and a light dusting of freckles on her face and shoulders. No, it was more her easy, relaxed attitude and the almost zen-like way she moved. For thirteen years, MyBot Corporation had a reputation as the world’s foremost (and only) producer of pleasure ‘bots. They proudly advertised a production method that used nanobots to shape and control gelled proteins and a system of randomized physical and personality factors that meant each and every MyBot made was truly unique.

Jamie had been working as a testing technician for a consumer advocacy group when a lab accident had injured the ‘bot she’d been testing. That accident had revealed to her that MyBots weren’t really gelled proteins shaped and controlled by nanobots. They were real people, abducted by MyBot Corp. and injected with nanobots that controlled their minds.

The day that Jamie met Ember was also the day that Jamie herself became a MyBot. Rather than try to expose MyBot Corp. Jamie had walked into the local dealership and announced that she wanted to be converted. She wanted the peace, serenity and downright sexual prowess that MyBots enjoyed. Marla, the dealership’s manager, had happily converted Jamie, not just to keep Jamie quiet, but also because of Jamie’s good looks. Jamie was just a little shorter than Ember, with an athletic build, C-cup breasts, and jet-black hair that she kept braided into a long tail hanging to her ass. When Jamie had returned from the two week process of programming, Marla had imprinted Jamie and Ember on each other, making it their primary mission in life to make each other happy.

Right now, they were both doing a pretty good job. Jamie lingered long in the kiss, moaning softly and brushing one leg up Ember’s as Ember slid one hand up Jamie’s side to lightly stroke the side of her breast.

“You two have a private room for that, you know.” Groaning, the two turned to see Grace Holland standing in the doorway with a look of disgust. “And would it kill you to put some clothes on?”

“Yes, it would,” Ember told her with a half-smile. Jamie smirked. Ember never wore clothing, unless going out in public. No one living in the sorority house cared but Grace. Grace was the sorority’s president and had a reputation as a stuck-up prude. It was well known that she was a senior and still a virgin who never showed any skin. She was frequently huffy when her sorority sisters showed any physical affection for their lovers, and was downright intolerant of Jamie and Ember’s displays, both for each other and the other girls. Fortunately, Grace wasn’t their owner. Professor Lucen was. She had purchased them nine months ago to care for the girls in the sorority.

The two ‘bots did not step out of their embrace, but Jamie did ask, “Did you need something specific, Grace?”

“Yeah. You two might want to get out here. Liz and Beth are about to kill each other.”

“Grace, we are not your parents and you girls are not children. You’re all grown adults. Liz and Beth are perfectly capable of working out their problem by themselves...”

A loud crash resounded from the common room, followed by fevered shouting.

“Mind you, I’m speaking theoretically...” Jamie said to Grace’s smug look as Ember made for the common room.

Jamie followed, and they walked into the common room just in time to see Liz plant a solid right hook on Beth’s chin. Beth tried to counter with a swift roundhouse kick across Liz’s face, but before it could connect, Ember was across the room and catching Beth’s foot in mid-air. Liz took advantage of the distraction, aiming a left at Beth’s nose, but Jamie had moved equally fast and pulled Liz back by her shirt collar.

Letting Beth’s foot down, Ember stepped between the two. “What’s going on?” she asked, not just to the two, but also to the twenty or so girls standing around the edges of the room, watching the spectacle. “Never mind. I don’t care. What I care about is you people all getting through the next week without killing each other.”

With final exams beginning the next day, tensions in the sorority house were high and moral was at an all-time low. Jamie tried to be uplifting. “Come on, guys! School year’s almost over, and you’re all doing great!”

A small sob made Jamie wince. Amy. A general groan issued across the room, frustration and exhaustion causing a lack of pity for the sobbing sophomore’s plight. Ember stepped away from Liz and Beth as pretty much everyone deflated and went back to their books. She took Amy in comforting embrace as the sobbing girl broke down for the fourth time that week.

Things had not gone well for Amy, lately. First and foremost, her grades were not up to par and unless she achieved near-perfect scores on every final, she wouldn’t be able to keep her scholarships. Her girlfriend of four years had dumped her, rather harshly, for joining a sorority and to add insult to injury, her father had seen a news photo of her at a protest for Gay and Lesbian rights and she’d been accidentally outed. She and her family had been fighting a lot and now it seemed her father didn’t want her home for Summer vacation.

Ember led the now weeping girl to a chair, taking her into her lap. Amy curled up and buried her face in the ‘bot’s freckled chest. As Ember whispered comforting words to her, Jamie glanced around the room.

“Okay, that’s enough. Everybody put your books away. We’re going to have some fun, tonight.”

“Excuse me? Who do you think you are?” Gracie sneered at Jamie. “Try to remember, slave, you’re our servants, not the other way around.”

“So long as you remember that Professor Lucen bought us here to keep you safe and healthy. Right now, none of you seem all that healthy, to me.”

“You’ve all overworked yourselves,” Ember chimed in, “You’re stress levels have reached dangerous proportions and you’ve entered into counter-productive habits. You’re going to seriously hurt yourselves and your grades.”

“Hello? " Gracie fired back, “We all have at least one final exam in the morning? We need to be prepared! D’uh”

“If you’re not prepared by now, then a few more hours of cramming isn’t going to help you, especially when you’re this stressed. I’ll tell you what. If everyone can have this room cleaned up by the time we get back, Ember and I will break into the moral fund and pay for all the beer and pizza.”

“DEAL!” Gracie and all the others jumped up and started to hurriedly pack all of their things away and whipped out their cell phones.

Amy looked up at Ember and mouthed a silent, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Ember mouthed back.

A few minutes later, as the girls were all cleaning up the common room, phoning boyfriends, and jockeying for showers, Amy knocked on Jamie and Ember’s door. Technically, the pleasure ‘bots didn’t need their own space. They only needed about four hours of “sleep” a week to recharge, and could easily do that on the couches in the common room, but Professor Lucen had insisted that they be given their own space. “A great deal of a society’s character,” she’d told the girls, “can be discerned by how they treat their slaves, their prisoner’s, and their enemies.” Most of the girls never objected, anyway.

“Can I talk to you guys for a second?” Amy asked at their door.

“Sure thing, Sweetheart,” Ember answered.

Amy stepped into the room and closed the door, leaning back up against it. “I just wanted to thank you guys for everything, you know? I’m going to miss the both of you.”

“Hey, what kind of way is that to talk?” Ember stood from putting on her sneakers and walked over to Amy. “You’re going to do just fine. you’ll see.”

“Yeah, but even if I somehow pull a miracle out of my ass, this week, I don’t think my dad is going to keep paying for me to go to college, especially not if I’m living in a dorm full of girls, thinking that I’m a dyke. I think he’s going to send me off to one of those ultra-Christian camps to ‘straighten me out.’” At this, Amy nearly broke down again.

“Hey, one problem at a time, all right? Right now, I want you to focus on passing your finals. Daddy the ‘phobe can wait until later.” Amy nodded silently and let Ember hug her close for a moment, then left quietly. Jamie and Ember exchanged worried looks, but both let it pass, for the moment.

An hour later, the common room was awash in the scent of beer and young lust. The ‘bots had limited the girls and their guests to two beers each, much to the girls’ dismay. Two beers, they explained, was enough to get them relaxed, but not enough to inhibit their scholastic performances, the next morning. Music pounded out of the stereo, bodies slammed and gyrated, voices shouted to be heard, and favors were sought and given in the darker corners of the room.

Around ten, the inviteable gatecrashers showed up. Dirk Bently and his pack of varsity jocks pushed their way past Joanna at the door and sauntered into the room with a loud whoop and an, “All right, bitches! Let’s get it on!” The silence that followed was deafening.

“Get lost, Bently!” Grace stood firmly in front of her ex-boyfriend, hands on hips and a look of death in her eyes.

“Hey, just because you’re too much of an uptight twat doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t have a little fun, bitch.” Dirk stepped up to Grace and stood toe to toe with her. Gracie didn’t so much as flinch with the seven foot-tall quarterback staring down at her.

“No one wants you or your pack of monkeys here, Tiny.”

Dirk’s eyes flashed pure hatred, and for a moment it seemed he was going to hit her, but at that moment Ember appeared close behind her, and Dirk backed down. More than one of Dirk’s ex-girlfriends had spread rumors that he was impotent and it was a notoriously sore subject for him. Dirk glanced around the room, apparently looking for support, or perhaps looking for Jamie, who had quietly wormed her way behind the jocks.

Finally, he seemed to make a decision. With the other jocks looking to him for guidance, he stepped back, shrugged off the tension in the room, and said, “Fine. You bunch of cunts can’t handle a little excitement in your life, we’ll take the fun somewhere else. Turning, he looked Jamie square in the eye. “You got no place looking at me like that, whore.”

All the women in the room shouted at this, Grace the loudest. As the crowd surged forward, though, Jamie held up a calm restraining hand, motioning for everyone to relax. “You know, Bentley, I may be nothing more than gelled proteins and nanobots, but I’ve got three serious advantages over someone like you.”

Dirk smirked at this. “What’s that, cum-rag?”

Jamie ignored the stab, smiling. “First, I can at least be programmed to feel love. Second, I can have sex like a normal person...”

That cracked Dirk’s patience. In a surprisingly fast move, the seven foot-tall athlete pulled back his fist and swung it directly at the five-and-a-half-foot tall ‘bot’s nose. Before anyone else had even registered the swing, though, Jamie’s hand had reached out and firmly caught the fist easily. “And three, I’m about a hundred times faster and stronger than you.”

With that, she easily spun the drunken jock around, pinning his arm behind his back, grabbed him by the waist of his jeans, pulled him to the door, and quite literally threw him out. The screaming drunk landed twenty-five feet away, in the neighbor’s pool. She then turned on the remaining jocks, a look of pure seething rage in her eyes, and shouted, “Now, get out!”

The boys couldn’t clamor out the door fast enough, it seemed. Before the last one was halfway out the door, Jamie slammed it shut with a resounding bang.

Cheers and applause erupted in the common room. Blushing slightly, Jamie turned and half-smiled at the party-goers shouting cheers of, “Go, Jamie!” With a half-curtsy, she said simply, “As you were.”

As the party died down, late that night, and most of the partiers went to bed to get some sleep before exams, Ember took Amy to her bed. Amy had sat in a corner, looking dejected, for most of the night. Ember had come to her, snuggling up, and had held her close for most of the party. Amy had curled up in her arms in response and by the end of the night had clumsily begun to kiss and pet at Ember, even as she softly cried.

Ember was more than happy to give Amy the affection she knew the teen so desperately craved. the two made love for quite a while, and snuggled warmly until Amy fell into a restless sleep. Long after the girl dozed, Ember held her in her arms, singing her a soft lullaby in a worried tone.

Jamie found herself in Grace’s bed, that night. After the heated events earlier, Grace had come to her and apologized for her calling her “slave” and treating her so badly, all the time. Jamie had shrugged it off, saying that stress does odd things to people, but Grace had seemed determined to make it up to her. Leaning in close, she’d whispered in Jamie’s ear, “Teach me.”

Though this move had shocked Jamie greatly, Grace did seem genuine in her sudden desire for Jamie’s company. She had quietly followed Grace to her room, where Grace transformed from a self-centered bitch to a bashful, timid virgin. She didn’t want Jamie touching chest or belly, but nervously kissed and necked, and had eventually allowed Jamie to undress her below her waist, giving her access to her inner folds. Jamie followed Grace’s cues, teaching the young woman to receive and give another woman pleasure.

Gracie, for her part, learned quickly and returned Jamie’s favors with building enthusiasm. Though she, herself, kept her torso wrapped in a bra, shirt, and sweater, locking Jamie out, she happily nuzzled in and played with Jamie’s round warm breasts. She learned quickly, and gave Jamie as much pleasure as she received. Once she lost her nervousness, she happily tried everything Jamie suggested, from taking Jamie’s fingers deep into her pussy to taking Jamie’s clit between her lips. Before she collapsed into Jamie’s arms and slept deeply, she had bought Jamie to many orgasms and had many more than that, herself. Years of sexual frustration had erupted from her and now she lay content and happy, even if for only one night.

It was shortly after Midnight, as the two ‘bots held sleeping girls in their arms, that they registered incoming messages from MyBot Technical Center in their brains.

FROM: MYBOT TECH

TO: EMBER-32298, JAMIE-74998

SUBJECT: UNSCHEDULED SOFTWARE UPGRADE

CONFIRMATION CODE: 32/AT-49713Z

MYBOT TECHNICIANS WILL BE COMING TO YOUR LISTED RESIDENCE AT 0900 HOURS, TODAY TO PROVIDE AN EXPERIMENTAL SOFTWARE PATCH AND NEW EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT NEW PROTOCOLS. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO BE PRESENT AT LISTED RESIDENCE TO RECIEVE SOFTWARE PATCH AND EQUIPMENT. FULL INSTRUCTIONS ARE CLASSIFIED AND WILL BE GIVEN BY MYBOT TECHNICIANS AT TIME OF PROGRAMMING.

ACKNOWLEDGE RECIEPT.

Both Ember and Jamie returned the confirmation message without another thought. They had more important things to worry about, right now.

PART TWO:

The next morning, tensions were high, but everyone was a lot more relaxed. No one spoke much as final exams loomed. Most merely came downstairs, got their breakfasts from Jamie and Ember and sat in the common room, silently staring at their food.

The ‘bots gave plenty of whispered encouragement as each girl left for their first tests. As Amy walked out, Ember gave her a tight hug and assured her that all would be well. Amy screwed her face up into a brave smile and thanked Ember for last night, then marched off to face the exams.

By nine, all the residents of the house had left for exams, so it was only Jamie and Ember that saw the MyBot van pull into the driveway. Both ‘bots stopped cleaning to greet the tech and the suit in the kitchen. They offered their guests drinks and they all sat down.

The suit was the first to talk about business. “MyBots such as yourselves are becoming more and more popular with each year, and lately the standard production methods have had difficulty producing sufficient supply. Our best analysts have gone over the problem and concluded that the method’s main fault is the need for new ‘bots to be processed and programmed in a central facility after initial injection. Our engineers, therefore, have developed a new conversion process that is more de-centralized and faster.”

With that, the tech placed a metal briefcase on the table and opened it. Inside was an injector and several hypo-cartridges labeled, “1” “2” and “3.” Jamie and Ember exchanged nervous looks.

“The software patch that you’ll be receiving this morning contains instructions for selecting targets and for carrying out the full procedure.”

It was with a shaking voice that Ember broke the following silence. “Sir? We’re programmed to care for and protect these girls. How can we...”

The suit raised a hand to stop her. “No one is saying that you have to recruit these specific girls or any of their boyfriends. We don’t want to create instabilities in your programming. As I said, however, production is rapidly falling behind demand growth and we need to step things up. Any ‘bot in a position to potentially recruit several new ‘bots on a regular basis is being given this upgrade, and you are on a college campus.”

“Also keep in mind,” the tech chimed in, “that this is an experimental program. We’re not sure if you or any other ‘bot will be able to integrate these new protocols into their main functions, especially those who, like you, are programmed as caregivers. Included in the patch is a prioritizing system that ranks conversion as secondary to any other functions you already carry out. In other words, if your instincts to protect prevent you from converting someone, the conversion protocols shut down automatically. Nothing will force you to harm anyone you care about. You will have a conscious choice if there is a conflict.”

It was with heavy hearts, therefore, that Jamie and Ember signed the forms acknowledging receipt of the equipment and the programming. They were, after all, required to do so. The suit assured them that their vital functions would be monitored and analyzed and if the new protocols caused serious problems or if they couldn’t perform the conversion protocols after a few weeks, then the protocols would be removed.

With all the paperwork completed, the ‘bots took the headphones given them by the tech, closed their eyes and queued the programming to begin. Images and information flowed into their heads.

When the van had pulled away, Jamie and Ember sat in the kitchen for a long time, staring at the briefcase and trying to absorb it all. “We’ll need to find space,” Ember whispered, dejectedly.

“That storeroom in the basement. The one they sealed off a few years ago because of water damage. We can repair it easily and use it without anyone knowing.”

“Do you think you can do it?”

“I don’t know. Not our girls. I’d rather die. But there are...other ideas, I suppose, and something tells me that if I can, I will. It’s like a drive in my head, almost sexual.”

Ember nodded, understanding. The case sat there on the table, looming. “The girls will be home soon. We’d better hide this, for now.”

Minutes later, students started returning. Most seemed temporarily relieved, smiling as they pulled out books to prepare for the next exam. Some few seemed worried as they did the same. Most retreated to their rooms to study in quiet.

Amy came back later than expected with a sick look on her features, hugging her books to her chest and went straight to her room, ignoring Ember. In response to Ember’s confused look, Joanna approached her and whispered, “She completely froze up when the tests were passed out. She didn’t answer a single question and had some sort of nervous breakdown. They had to get someone to take her to the student clinic.”

Jamie and Ember’s hearts sank. Ember went to Amy’s door and knocked quietly, but there was no response. When she whispered Amy’s name through the door, Amy’s weak voice could barely be heard saying, “Please go away.” Regretfully, Ember let it go for the moment.

For the next couple of hours, the ‘bots busied themselves with making lunch and helping the other girls by quizzing or helping them with difficult concepts and dates and names and such. Things almost seemed back to normal, the matter of the briefcase momentarily pushed aside in favor of more mundane duties, when two high-pitched screams pierced the quiet from upstairs.

They were already passing the second-floor landing before the initial screams were through and the girls started screaming their names instead. Jamie rounded the third-floor landing behind Ember and saw several of the girls with terrified looks and tears streaming down their faces. Ember seemed to sense it before Jamie and screamed for the girls to clear the way. With a sick feeling in her gut, Jamie dashed in behind her.

She saw it in the mirror, first. Amy lying in the bathtub, the tub full of water that was sickly red with blood. Her face was slack and she breathed shallow and slow.

Ember screamed, reaching into the tub and pulling Amy out onto the floor. With the sight of Amy’s arm, she screamed even louder, hugging the dying girl to her and sobbing. Amy had known what she was doing. There were more than a dozen long lacerations, all deep and all of them lengthwise down her arm.

Behind them in the hall, Gracie dialed 911 on her cell. Jamie whipped out the first aid kit and shouted at Ember to elevate Amy’s arm. When Ember simply sat sobbing, Jamie turned and slapped her, hard. “Snap out of it!”

Ember looked back at Jamie, a look of shock plastered across her face from the slap. For a moment, the only sound was Amy’s weak breath before they heard her whisper, “Please... Let me die.”

Suddenly, Ember stood and ran from the room. Frustrated, Jamie lifted Amy’s blood-soaked arm and started wrapping it in bandages. She tried to think of something encouraging to say to Amy, but the cold, calculating machines in her brain had already told her the girl’s chances of survival: nil.

The room was dead silent for several moments as the other girls stood and stared. Joanna finally knelt by Jamie and held up Amy’s wrist so that Jamie could wrap the bandages better, but they all knew there was little point.

But then Ember ran back into the room, shouting for everyone to get out of her way. Jamie looked up and saw that Ember was clutching the metal briefcase to her trembling chest, staring fixedly at the floor.

“Oh, God. Ember...”

In a whisper, Ember only said, “Everyone get out.”

When they all stood, staring in confusion, Ember turned and screamed, “GET OUT!” As the girls retreated from her fury, Ember gripped the door and slammed it shut so hard that splinters flew and the door latch broke and jammed.

Jamie watched in shock as Ember knelt and opened the case. “Ember...”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!” Letting her programming take over, she quickly assembled the injector and slid a cartridge home. “She’s going to live, damnit.” She twisted the injector, and it cocked with a snap of finality.

Jamie watched as Ember bought the needle to bear on Amy’s arm. The point trembled violently as Ember shook with sobs, and Jamie reached out to steady it for her. Ember hesitated another moment longer, the struggle in her brain making her pause. She winced, squeezing her eyes shut, and then squeezed the trigger.

Even as the injector hissed and the nanites flowed into Amy’s bloodstream, Ember howled in pain, tears flowing afresh. When the cartridge was emptied, she pulled it free and collapsed by Jamie, curling up into a fetal position and sobbing violently. Jamie watched as Amy’s wounds miraculously closed and her breathing grew stronger, then wished with all her heart that she could faint.

PART THREE

The EMT’s and police had arrived on the scene minutes later and the girls in the hall had hurriedly told them the situation but couldn’t explain why their ‘bot had shut them out or what the case she’d been holding was for. When they had broken through the remains of the door, they’d found Jamie clutching Amy in her lap, sobbing, an unsconcious but alive Amy with no visible wounds but bathed in her own blood, and Ember, curled up and rocking back in forth in what in could easily be thought of as a near-catatonic state.

The initial tests showed that Amy was in serious condition but that she had stabilized. Her condition was ordinary for someone with serious blood loss, but she would pull through. As for the matter of the case, and Amy’s healed arm, MyBot Corp. had already provided Jamie with a ready answer. She told them that the case held an experimental nanite system developed from the nanites that maintained ‘bots. They were far more complex and capable of healing a human being, even at the doorstep of death. From the case, Jamie was able to provide certificates of governmental approval for field testing of the nanites, as well as Jamie and Ember’s license to use them.

After some debate, the EMT’s concluded that since Amy now only needed bed rest and Jamie was programmed as a caregiver, that she could stay here in her home rather than go to the hospital. They had no idea what to do about the still sobbing Ember.

Jamie put Amy in her bed. She meant to put Ember in hers, but Ember had wordlessly moved to Amy’s side and had resisted any attempts to move or rouse her. She sent the girls downstairs to finish their lunch and set about the task of cleaning the bathroom.

Several school officials came and went. They interviewed the girls and Jamie. The avoided a glaring Ember who didn’t seem to want anyone but Jamie near her or Amy. They looked over the police reports and debated with Professor Lucen for hours. Finally, the University’s president ordered all the residents of the house onto academic hold, postponing their final exams while they took time to deal with the day’s events.

The MyBot tech and suit returned, that night. The monitors on Ember’s vital signs had set off several alarms at the same time that one of the nanite batches had communicated acquiring a target, and Tech was worried that she was having some sort of breakdown. They found that they weren’t far off. In their first attempt to enter Amy’s room, Ember had nearly killed them in a towering rage, thinking that they’d come to take Amy away from her. After Jamie had more thoroughly explained the situation, the tech had used Ember’s override codes to calm her and induce passive obedience. While he gave her an examination, Jamie explained all that had happened to the suit.

The suit was surprisingly sympathetic. He listened, he asked understanding questions, he made lots of notes. The tech returned as Jamie was finishing the story. He said that Ember was having serious trouble reconciling her actions and her protective programming. When Jamie asked if the new protocols could simply removed, the tech told her that it would do more harm than good. “Her mind is trying to balance a very large and very complex equation. If we take out any of the variables right now, it could throw the equation and her mind into chaos.”

He also explained, before Jamie could ask, that no, the nanites could never be removed from Amy. The struggle to stop her dying had weakened them, but they were forever imbedded in her physiology, now. It had slowed the first stage down, but not stopped or prevented it. Once injected, a person must finish the programming and become a ‘bot. Nothing could stop that.

The tech took the time to explain things to Professor Lucen. He told her that Jamie, as well as Ember, should be taking things easy for a few days. He said nothing of the nanites swarming in Amy’s system, sapping away her will to think for herself.

PART FOUR

Amy woke slowly mid-way through the next day, feeling very relaxed, but also very weak. The first thing she saw was Ember’s tear-streaked face, her eyes puffy and swollen. “I didn’t know ‘bots could cry,” she said in a tired voice.

Ember let out a choking sob and lay down to embrace Amy. “I feel strange,” Amy said.

“I know.” Ember told her. “Hold me, please.”

Amy returned Ember’s embrace without a thought, still lost in her thoughts. “What’s happened to me?”

Ember’s body was wracked with hard sobs for minutes before she answered. “I don’t want you to worry about that, right now. I’ll explain it all later. Just rest, for now.”

Oddly, Amy stopped worrying. She simply lay with Ember in her arms and rested. She tried to think about her future, but oddly, that didn’t seem to matter very much, either, so she lay in Ember’s arms and waited for instructions.