The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“Parker! Are you all right?” Veronica asked as she stepped inside their apartment. “Erin told me what happened at the Engineering building. Are you hurt?”

Parker shrugged, gesturing with his hands. They were covered in bandages. “Nothing serious, just a little bit scorched.” He glanced at her sidelong. “Of the two of us, you seem to have gotten the worst of it. Do those burns and bruises still hurt?”

“Not really,” she said, turning away. “Well, not that much. I stopped by the hospital to get them looked at on my way back here. They’re just first degree burns, luckily enough. Hopefully there shouldn’t be too much scarring.” She made her way over to the couch and sat down with a sigh. “How’s Tina doing? Have you heard anything yet?”

“Nothing yet,” Parker replied. “The CPR worked well enough that she was breathing by the time the EMT’s arrived, but she still wouldn’t wake up. They rushed her straight to the trauma center over ion Vandenberg—they specialize in neurological patients.” He shook his head. “I just hope that she’s okay. With all the juice being pumped into her brain, she’ll be lucky if she’s not a vegetable.” He growled softly, then gasped in pain at the attempt to clench his bandaged hands into fists. “And I can’t believe that little prick James Phelps got away!”

“Don’t worry, luv,” she murmured softly, leaning in close to him. “He’ll be caught. If not by the police, then by us.”

Parker pulled away slightly to look her in the face. “What exactly do you mean when you say ‘US’?”

“Parker, luv,” Roni said gently, placing a hand against his cheek, “I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you were worthless, that you weren’t my partner in every sense of the word. I was a fool. I thought... I thought you wouldn’t be able to handle going up against someone like Hotshot without powers of your own. I thought I was protecting you... but what I was really doing was belittling your contribution.” She sighed. “And I learned a good lesson in humility myself this afternoon. Hotshot and Bruiser were too much for me by myself. If Thunder and Lightning hadn’t shown when they did, I might have ended up a charbroiled briquette.” She smiled sadly. “But it was good, in a way. Susan reminded me that sometimes it’s not about how strong, or fast you are, or whether you can throw fire or electricity, or shoot lasers from your eyes. The only thing a true hero needs is heart, and Parker, luv, I’ve yet to meet another soul with as much heart as you.”

Parker stared at her for a long moment, saying nothing, until Roni feared he would never speak to her again. Then, he reached out and pulled her into a deep embrace, kissing her. “Roni, dearheart, there are some days when you make me just want to slap the shit out of you... days when you annoy the hell out of me, and make me wonder to God why I put with all the abuse. And then... you say something like that, and I’m reminded all over again why I fell in love with you in the first place, and I think, ‘Yeah, it’s totally worth it’.” He kissed her again, lovingly.

“So... you’re not mad at me anymore?” Roni asked a few minutes later.

“Nope. I stopped being mad at you about two minutes after I walked away. I was mostly feeling hurt, doubting myself, if you were right, and I didn’t have what it takes anymore to keep doing the hero thing.” He chuckled ruefully. “I was wondering the same thing in the computer lab when I heard James talking about getting his revenge. I didn’t think, I acted. I ran after him, charged into the room and tackled him to the ground. And when Tina started shooting off sparks, I tried to help her. Did help her,” he said, gesturing with his bandaged hands again, “despite my own personal danger. And sitting here, waiting for you to return, I thought about that. Helped kinda put things into perspective again.”

“Well, I, for one, am glad you didn’t listen to the foolish words I spoke earlier, and just give up,” Roni said, nuzzling against him. “Besides, there are plenty of heroes out there fighting the good fight without the gift of superhuman abilities... and I don’t just mean the police. The thing to remember is that your mind is truly the most powerful weapon in a hero’s arsenal.”

“The mind, eh?” Parker said, grinning mischievously. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing you and I haven’t squared off against one another. I’d have an unfair advantage over you.”

“Really? And what is THAT supposed to mean?” Roni said, frowning, crossing her arms. “Are you trying to call me stupid or something?”

Parker blinked, then chuckled. “No, no, dearling, I hadn’t even considered the connotation of what I was saying.” He took out a small pocket watch from his back pocket, holding it up. “I was referring to the fact that your mind is well trained to bend to my will, under the right circumstances.”

“Oh! Ohhhhhh...” Roni said with a shudder of pleasure. It had been quite a few days since they’d played. “So, does this mean you’re in the mood to make me submit tonight?” she said seductively, lightly biting a fingernail.

Parker’s grin widened. “Well, you were kind of an ass when you decided to go off on your own and leave me here at home. Definitely not the way a good girl acts, now is it?”

Roni’s breath caught as her thighs clenched, and her pussy became damp. “N... n-no... I was bad, wasn’t I?” she purred, squirming in her seat. “Does that mean you’re going to punish me?”

Parker laughed. “Well, since you asked so nicely... sure.” Getting up from the couch, they both went back into the bedroom. Roni gasped at the sight; the four poster bed had already been prepared, with the rubber sheets and the ropes already in place. Several candles had been lit, placed all around the bed, and Roni’s favorite assortment of toys had been set aside, ready for use.

“You planned this all along?” she accused him, sliding quickly out of her clothes.

“I anticipated your feelings on the subject,” he corrected her, moving over to the bed. Finished disrobing, Roni began undressing her lover as well, feeling a sharp jolt of pleasure from the act of doing something so submissive in nature. She longed for him to tell her what to do, to give her a command to follow, knowing that obeying would feel so good right now! She reached for his underwear, but he stopped her, grabbing her by her wrists. “No, no, sweetheart,” he chided her gently, loving the way she squirmed. “With your teeth. No hands.”

Roni leaned forward, taking the waistband of his shorts with her teeth, then shuddered as a spasm of pleasure swept through her. She felt the urge to fall down before him, to kneel before her lover and beg to submit to him, and he hadn’t even tranced her yet. She was definitely slick between her thighs now, growing wetter by the second. She’d never been the slightest bit submissive in any way before moving to River City, but ever since the incident with three dangerous hypnotic divas working for Janet Michaud, she’d found herself more open to new experiences, particularly the erotic thrill of forced submission. By the time she’d managed to slide Parker’s underwear down around his ankles, she was near the point of no return. She stayed where she was, kneeling at his feet, barely containing the urge to slide a hand between her thighs and tease her gushing wetness.

“Very good, Roni, love,” Parker praised her, sliding a hand gently along her cheek. He felt her shudder, and noted the heaving breaths she was gasping out. “Hmmm... you’re really close, aren’t you? You’ve gotten to the point now where obeying me and submitting to me turns you on in or out of trance, doesn’t it?”

“Y-y-yes,” Roni hissed, biting her lip to keep from begging. They’d played this game before, and she knew the rules. If she begged and pleaded, Parker would simply prolong her agony by drawing out her submission even longer. But oh, how she needed it now...

“I bet you’d like for me to just snap my fingers and command you to cum for me like a good girl, wouldn’t you?” Her only response was a groan. “But,” he continued, “this is a punishment, after all. Only good girls get to cum. Bad girls like you, well, you get to suffer a bit longer, ‘til you prove to me that you can be a good girl.”

Good girl. Oh how she longed to be a good girl, Roni thought dimly, her thoughts beginning to turn to mush under the onslaught of her unfulfilled need.

“Spread your legs, love,” Parker whispered softly in her ear, licking it gently. Obediently, she parted her thighs, which quivered as another wave of pleasure bombarded her very being. Tilting her chin back, forcing her head up, Parker looked her directly in the eye. “Shadow dreams,” he said simply, watching in satisfaction as the awareness died in her eyes but the unbridled pleasure and need remained. He placed a small slick tube in her hands, then switched it on. “When I tell you, you are going to slip this vibe in your hot, wet little pussy, and do your very best to make yourself cum. But, you will not cum... not until I give you permission. Until I speak the words, no amount of pleasure, no amount of rubbing or stroking—NOTHING will make you cum. Do you understand, sweet one?”

“Yes, Master,” Roni replied panting, thrilling inside at her complete loss of control. “I... I understand. I w-w-will obey.”

“Good... then, begin!” Parker said, sitting down on the bed, watching avidly.

Roni bit her lip, barely muffling her cry of pleasure as the thick plastic toy slid seamlessly into her heated slick tunnel. A poor substitute for her lover’s cock, it nevertheless brought her great pleasure, the buzzing sensation tickling her clit devilishly with each deep thrust. A tiny part of her wondered at the change in herself, how much of a submissive little cum slut she had become. She could have easily overpowered Parker physically, even killing him dead where he sat as a reflex, and yet here she sat, frantically fucking her pussy, desperate to cum but unable to climax without his permission. And strangest of all, the knowledge that she was so completely at the mercy of someone she could otherwise break in half made her plight even more enjoyable.

Parker sighed contentedly, feeling his manhood throb with need. Veronica was never more beautiful than when she was completely consumed by her need, frantic, wild, nearly feral. A memory flashed through his mind of another hot seductive woman, a Latino hottie that was the embodiment of feral sexuality. Mmmm. Lovely. There’s just something about seeing a hot sexy woman so caught up in pleasure to the exclusion of everything else. It’s like it’s contagious... like the more her pleasure and need build, the more my own builds to match it. Damn... I might just cum myself watching her, without even touching myself.

“Ahhhhh... ohhhh gaawddeesss!! I can’t stand it...” Roni hissed, gripping the toy tightly in one hand while the other fluttered madly at her clit. “Fuck! I... I need to cum! I need to cum! Please!”

Parker smirked evilly, shaking his head. “Uh, uh, baby... you know the rules.” He took the vibrator from her hands, turning it off. Roni gasped, then cried out at the loss, watching helplessly. “Still, you lasted more than a minute longer than the last time,” Parker relented after a moment, sliding a hand carefully down between her legs, letting his fingers take over the work of Roni’s toy. She shuddered deeply, eyes fluttering, toes spasming and curling.

“Yeeessss!” she hissed, clenching her legs together, trying to trap his fingers in place. “More... please, more! Goddess, please! Push me over the edge! Please... I... I beg you...”

Parker winced slightly then frowned, seeming to consider, as he continued to pump his fingers in and out of his lover’s pussy. “Weeelll... you seem to have learned your lesson. You have learned your lesson about being inconsiderate of me, haven’t you, love?”

“Yes! Yes, I have!” Roni babbled, her hips thrusting upwards uncontrollably, despite her every effort to stay still. “Please!”

“And... you’re going to be a good girl from now on?” Parker pressed, purposely drawing out her torment a few more seconds.

“YES! YES! YES! PLEASE!!” she all but shouted. Her need, with release almost within her grasp, surged even higher.

“And, if I let you cum, you’d do anything I ask you to?” Parker persisted, letting his thumb circle her clit with each thrust now, putting her on the razor’s edge of cumming.

“Ohhhhh ohhhh ohhhh gaaawwddddeess yess... please... anything... everything... need to cum... please... losing... my mind... please...”

Aye, love, he thought wickedly, you WILL lose your mind... at least for a little while. Out loud, he said, “Cum for me, my good girl.”

Finally freed, Roni’s climax erupted, completely obliterating her. Her body convulsed wildly, and the whites of her eyes showed. Her mouth lay open in a silent scream of pleasure, and her pussy muscles attempted to milk his fingers as they contracted, pulling them even deeper into her core. All the while Parker continued rubbing her clit, telling her what a good girl she was, and how pleased he was with her, over and over again, until finally, she relaxed, and her eyes fluttered closed.

Parker gently removed his hand from between her thighs, licking her sex honey from his fingers. Not too bad. And I didn’t even have to put her that far under. Nice. Maybe I should take my mom and Aunt Eva’s advice and try for a second major in Psychology... open up my own private practice or maybe go to work for Aunt Eva. Then he shook his head. Naawww... I enjoy this kind of thing too much as a hobby. Besides, it’s mostly just private fun between me and Roni... if I get a degree in this, then it becomes WORK instead of FUN.

After giving Roni a few minutes to recover, Parker climbed gently astride her. He smiled down at her as her eyes fluttered open. “Well, love,” he said, sliding his manhood deftly into her passageway, “you’ve had your fun. Now it’s my turn. Ready for round two?”

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .... 0 0 0 0 1... where... where... am...

Where am I?

Awareness returned to Tina with agonizing slowness. It was dark, but for some reason she couldn’t open her eyes. She could hear... sort of... but everything sounded tinny, distorted, and artificial... aside from the omnipresent humming that seemed to encompass her. She seemed to be floating, but it was hard to tell, because she realized with alarm that she couldn’t feel her body. Am I paralyzed? she thought frantically, reaching out for something, anything... then sighing as she felt her fingers grasp something solid. Sensation returned to her, though again, something seemed to be a bit... off. She felt... wrong, as if her body was different from what she was used to. She felt... small. Long, and small... and really compact.

Her vision returned, and with it her sense of alarm, as she saw... herself?

What the hell? That’s... me. I’m looking down at myself... lying there asleep in bed. No... not asleep. This is... I’m in a hospital!

Her confusion lasted only a few nanoseconds, until her memories of the past returned to her. The confrontation with James Phelps out in the hallway of the Engineering building, then her presentation to the Dean and the representatives of the local businesses. James’ return. Him sabotaging the presentation. Pain. Intense pain. Someone trying to pull her free even as a power spike fried the computer her mind was linked to. Then darkness.

Then, awakening here, in the hospital.

Except... I’m not physically awake. My body, at least, is still asleep... and I’m... what? From the angle and the view, I’d say I’m looking through the wall mounted security camera... no. I AM the camera! Realization struck her like a physical blow as she began to understand her situation. The overload... it tore me... my mind, my essence, out of my body... and sent me into cyberspace! I’m a spirit without a body, a phantom floating in this machine... a ghost in the shell. Still... all things considered, I suppose I’m lucky. It’s only by a quirk of fate that my consciousness was downloaded into cyberspace instead of remaining with my body. I can only read the front page of my chart from here, but it looks like all that current running through my skull caused my brain to swell up. If I hadn’t ejected when I did, I’d probably be lying there with my body in a coma.

Or worse. Dead.

A slow burning anger began to fill her. That fucking bitch! James... he knew I was still hooked up to the machine when he caused that overload. He knew what the result would be. He... he tried to fucking KILL me! Well... two can play at that game. You tried to take me out? Fine. I’ll concede that round to you. But the next one is all mine. I’m going to make sure that you never take advantage of anyone else you way you did me.

Had Tina been fully herself, she might have given pause to the nature of her thoughts. She had always been a gentle person at heart, and even at her most angry, the thought of causing physical harm to another person would have turned her stomach. In her present state, however, her thoughts were being considered in more coldly calculating manner, with her normal humanity filtered out. Not quite a cold unfeeling machine, her emotional responses were definitely becoming muted by the environment she now occupied. The thought occurred to her that the most effective way of making sure James Phelps was no longer a threat was to kill him, and she accepted the idea without any compunction whatsoever.

I still have a problem, she realized a few nanoseconds later. Even if I were able to find him, there’s not much I can do to him in this state. I can tap into any computer or machine with electronics that’s hooked into the city’s power grid, but without a body I can’t physically cause and damage. I do still have my prototype headsets back in my locker in the University’s Engineering Building, and I could conceivably use that to download my mind into someone’s else’s body... but I still have to find a way to get that someone to put on the headset.

At that moment, a young girl barely older than Tina herself, wearing a nurse’s uniform, stepped into the room. “And how are we doing today, Miss Patrick? Much better, I hope.” Taking the chart from the bed, she began inspecting the monitors beside the bed, nodding softly as she checked Tina’s vitals.

Hmmm. She would be perfect. She even looks a little like me. Now... how to get her to do what I want her to do? She considered a hundred different plans of attack, her thoughts flowing as fast a computer in her unfettered electronic form. Ah. That’s the one. The cathode ray tube is an older model, just like the diode I used for my invention. It should work perfectly. I just need to transfer myself from this camera over to the cardiac monitor... she said, suiting action to thought, traveling through the electrical wires like a surfer catching a wave, entering the main power grid of the hospital, switching tracks, following the line back into the room, then up the plug into the cardiac monitor itself.

The nurse, Janine, frowned, glancing up at the monitor as the picture flickered, distorting slightly from what seemed to be a slight power surge. “Hmm. That’s weird.” She tapped the side of the machine, and checked the wires, making sure nothing was loose. The display rolled once, then twice, then went back to normal again. “That’s more like it,” she said, smiling.

Then the display changed completely, becoming a bright white light, which began to flash at her like a strobe light. Her eyes widened in surprise, then glazed over as the rapid fire blasts of light traveled through her eyes, up her optic nerve, and into her brain, short circuiting her higher brain functions. Her mouth hung open slightly, and the clipboard slipped through fingers gone slack, clattering unnoticed to the floor.

Perfect, Tina congratulated herself. I was a bit concerned that the display for a cathode ray tube monitor wouldn’t have the same exact same effect as my Neural Inhibitor, but if anything it seems the pulses generated from this monitor are just as effective, if not better that my other device. Still, I suppose it’s rather ironic... I originally designed the Neural Inhibitor as a medical aid, as a way to temporarily deaden the nerve centers in the brain responsible for pain. It was just a lucky accident to discover that it also deadens the brain’s higher reasoning and cognitive functions as well. Now, I’m here in a hospital, using that technology to subvert the will of this nurse as a first step in a plan to cause severe pain to one of my former colleagues.

Activating the speakers attached to the monitor, she began modulating her voice: “Janine. Listen closely. This is the voice of your Mistress. You will follow my instructions exactly and without exception. When I release you, you will make an excuse to leave the hospital and go to the University. You will enter the campus and go to the Engineering Building. On the third floor, enter the Electronics Lab and continue on to the locker room. You will open the fifth locker from the left, and remove the case on the top shelf. The lock combination is 22-17-34. You will then take the case back to your apartment and place it into your apartment and forget about it, and everything you did once leaving the hospital, until I again instruct you to remember. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Now... on the count of three, you will awaken from this trance, and carry out my instructions. One. Two... Three.” The monitor screen flashed one last time, then went back to normal. Janine blinked, shaking her head slightly. For a moment, she felt... strange. As if she’d just forgot something important. Then, shrugging, she picked up the chart and put it back in its place. “Alright. See you tomorrow, Miss Patrick. Hopefully you’ll be in a more talkative mood.” Smiling, she closed the door behind her.

Excellent, Tina thought to herself. One problem taken care of. Now I just need to track down James...

James Phelps was not a happy camper. Sitting in a rickety, wobbly wooden chair, peering down at the small silver tube on the table before him, he found himself hard pressed to think of how things could possibly get any worse. After the incident back on campus, he’d fled, leaving River City altogether, driving over to nearby Redburton before the police could find him. He had no doubt they were looking for him now. Truth be told, despite the humiliation Tina Patrick had dealt him, he hadn’t meant to hurt her. Destroy her project? Yes. Destroy her chances of getting that sweet fellowship with Frasier Technologies? Definitely. Deal a healthy dose of humiliation to her and put a little fear of James in the girl? Abso-fucking-lutely! But hurt her? No.

He hadn’t meant for her to end up in the hospital. In his anger and frustration, he hadn’t considered what would happen if she was still connected to the machines his power surge fried. Now he knew. The poor girl was in River City Memorial in a coma, and it looked like she would wake up a vegetable, IF she woke up at all. Which meant that the charges against him if he were caught would be bumped up to attempted murder.

And so, here I am, holed up in a rundown little motel on the wrong side of the tracks in this little one horse town, he thought angrily to himself. Fuck! This is all HER fault. She screwed me AGAIN! If she buys the farm, I’m totally fucked. I was lucky to get out of town when I did. It’s only a matter of time before they widen the search to the entire State instead of just the city. He sighed. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ‘cape and cowl’ brigade got in on the search as well. That would be all I need... especially since my last ace in the hole just died on me.

Which, of course, was also his own fault. In his rush to leave town, he’d neglected to consider the many problems associated with trying to evade the law. A highway patrolman he’d passed in the other lane had stopped, crossing the meridian, and headed back after him. Luckily, the traffic had worked with him, and he’d managed to turn off at an exit before the patrolman could catch up to him. He’d managed to “convince” a young woman in a silver BMW to trade cars with him, thanks to the Neural Inhibitor he still carried, only thinking that he could have also shaken her down for all of her money once he’d already driven off. Other attempts at “convincing” random people to part with their cash had resulted in an unimpressive total of eighty-nine dollars, barely enough to make it worthwhile. Finally, he found someone driving a fancy expensive car, someone who he knew would be carrying around more than simple pocket change, and had just “convinced” her to hand over her purse... when her husband arrived, taking James by surprise from behind.

I was lucky that the Inhibitor was the only thing that got broken, he thought dismally, rubbing his sore jaw. This sucks. The only way I can stay off the grid and keep the police from tracking me down is to pay for everything in cash. More than three grand in my bank account, but as soon as I try and access it, the bank will put a freeze on the account, and the cops will zero in on where I tried to access it from. But... I can’t live off eighty-nine bucks for very long, and without this little gizmo, there’s no way of getting any more. Fuck it... my only chance is to try and fix the damn thing.

A loud knock sounded at the door. James jerked to his feet in fear, knocking the chair over in the process. “W... who is it?” he asked, then cursed, covering his mouth with his hands. Dammit! Why did I answer? Now they know I’m here!

“Pizza Palace, Sir,” the voice responded through the door. “I have your order here. One large Canadian bacon and anchovy pizza.”

“Oh,” James said sheepishly, grabbing some money from the table. “I forgot all about the damned pizza.” Walking to the door, he peered out the peephole before opening it. The teenager, a dark haired guy with a goatee, held up the box. “What’s the damage, kid?”

“That’ll be sixteen ninety-five,” the kid answered back. James handed him a twenty, and took the change offered. “Thanks for calling Pizza Palace, Sir. Enjoy your pizza!”

“Yeah, yeah,” James muttered, closing the door behind him. Then, at the last moment, he turned back. “Hey, kid! Does this town have an electronics store?”

“Um... we have a Radio Shack, over on Fifth and Myrtle,” he said after a while. “That’s about it.”

“Perfect. Just what I was looking for.” He closed the door, then went back to his desk. Placing the pizza aside for the moment, he opened his laptop. “Alright. I have a plan. I just need to access the schematics for this thing I saved in the Engineering computer database, see what components I’m going to need, and by tomorrow evening I should have my little gizmo back up and running again. Now, I just need to break through the firewall and slip in through the back door...”

Floating through cyberspace, Tina let out a sigh of frustration. Even being able to search at the speed of a moving electron particles, it was taking an impossibly long time to search every single computer network and database in the city trying to track down her quarry. Damn. Another dead end. Okay. I need to think about this logically, and see if I can narrow my focus a bit more. I already checked with the police database as well as the DMV mainframe. The cops haven’t picked him up yet, but they did find his car at a gas station over near the highway, heading out of town. The girl in the car had no clue what had happened to her... a definite victim of my stolen Inhibitor. He apparently switched cars again, however, as her vehicle was found soon thereafter, apparently abandoned. He hasn’t tried to access his bank account—apparently he’s too smart to leave an obvious trail for anyone to follow. So... what’s left would be something... not so obvious.

She’d already searched through the network, scanning for any hotels or motels with a James Phelps staying there, with the same results. Wherever he was he wasn’t using his real name. And wherever he is, he’s using cash to pay for everything. So... what does that leave me? Okay. He’s human... so he has to be eating. As much time as I’ve spent hanging around him, I know his tastes. Can I use that somehow? Hmmm... he wouldn’t be stupid enough to be eating out somewhere where he could be seen and recognized by the police. Most likely, he’s ordering in... PIZZA! A quick scan pulled up a hit. Hmmm. The Pizza Palace in Redburton delivered out a Canadian bacon and anchovy pizza to the Seaside Inn, room number seven ten minutes ago, and James is the only one I know capable of stomaching that combination of toppings, let alone deliberately ordering it. I think I’ve just found him... but I need to make sure.

She started heading towards the Seaside Inn when she felt a surge. A data flow was traveling from the motel back towards her... or rather, towards the University mainframe that she considered her ‘home’ for lack of a better description. Curious, she followed the data stream back to the mainframe, and watched with interest as the unknown user swiftly hacked his way through the firewall and into a hidden file. She immediately recognized the data retrieved as the schematics for her Neural Inhibitor! It’s him! she realized. There’s no doubt about it. No one else would be know about this file, let alone be able to sneak through a back door to access it! He must be online right now at the hotel! Tracing the source, she followed the connection back to James’ computer...

“Got it!” he said with glee. “This is what I need to repair the Inhibitor. Hmmm... pretty long list.” He shook his head, writing down the list of components needed. “Well, Tina babe, I have to give you credit. You truly were a genius... at least when it came to science. I only hope you get a little smarter in other things in your next life.” Chuckling softly, he switched off the computer, then made his way to the bed. Taking a slice of pizza from the box, he gave her a mock salute. “You got me into this mess, but it looks like you’re also going to save my neck.” Grabbing the remote, he switched on the TV, to watch as he finished eating.

Staring at the TV, he failed to notice that despite the fact that his computer’s screen had gone black, the light was still on, and the built-in webcam was active.