The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Randi dumped her backpack on the floor just inside her apartment door and stretched. Her feet ached from the long shift at the Olive Garden, but she was too tired to pull out the basin and soak them. She kicked off her shoes and flopped down on the couch. The tiny voice mail light on her phone flashed rapidly, demanding her attention. With a sigh she picked up the receiver and punched in her code. The synthetic voice informed her she had three messages waiting. She waited for them to start playing, closing her eyes and slumping back against the threadbare throw pillows. Her calves throbbed in time with her pulse.

“Randi, it’s David. Look... just let’s call it over, all right? Don’t call me. I hate it that I have to be so blunt, but, well, you wouldn’t take the hint. Forget me, go on with your life. Good luck with everything.” He hung up without saying goodbye.

Randi bit her lip and almost hung up the phone. You knew this was coming, she told herself. Cry later.

The next message was a hangup call. The last one made her roll her eyes and sit up.

“Randi, baby, how are you? This is Dominic! I haven’t talked to you in a long time, glad you’re still at this number!”

“I’ll just bet you are,” she said aloud. “Not like you’ve tried to contact me!”

The recording went on, oblivious to her cynicism. “I got a prime role for you, sweetie. Give me a call, any time, you know the number, but just in case...” He rattled it off so quickly that Randi would have missed it if she didn’t already have his card on the fridge. “This is a good deal. You don’t want to miss it... and it’s made for a talent you have that most people don’t! Bye, baby!”

Randi erased the message and looked at the clock. It was almost midnight, but she knew from prior experience that Dominic would be cruising the bars looking for women to “represent.” She shook her head and bit her lip again. After a moment she raised the receiver and dialed. “This better be good...” she muttered as she slumped back against the pillows and unpinned her name tag.

For once, Dominic connected on the first ring. “Raaaaandi!” he said cheerfully. “Darling, how are you? When can I come over and see you?”

Randi shook her head. “What have you got, Dom?” she said. “I’m really tired, just got in, and I need this to be fast. I have another open to close tomorrow.”

“Baby, you gotta call in! We need a screen test on you, and you have so much to get done. I really think you’re in on this one. They loved your head shot, but the best thing is something that very few of my other clients had going for them. They’re so interested in you, sweetie!”

“Who is?” Randi unzipped her skirt, let it fall to the floor, and stepped out of it. She made a face as she noticed another run developing in her hose. “Who’s interested?”

“Your potential bosses! It’s so very hush-hush, but see, there’s...oh, I can’t talk about this here. Let me come over! I promise you want this.”

Randi looked around her apartment. She hadn’t had time to clean it in a week, but it was still somewhat presentable. “All right, but coffee only! And that’s it. Nothing more, Dominic. You understand?”

He cooed “That’s fine, honey, I understand. How’s David, anyway?”

She clenched her fist as she answered. “He’s fine. Give me ten minutes.”

“That’ll be fine, sweetie, see you in just a few! Buh-bye!” The line went dead.

Randi replaced the handset and made another face as she hurried into her bedroom. She tore the hose getting them off and wadded them into a ball. She slid her newest jeans over her hips and winced. “Five more pounds and no one’ll be interested,” she grumbled. Randi unbound her long, soft chestnut hair and ran a brush through it. It was her best feature except for her large, wide blue eyes. The doorbell rang just as she finished repairing her makeup.

Dominic waited on the other side. He was every cliche about a sneaky agent rolled into one package, and Randi wished she hadn’t been so star-struck when she first got to town. He breezed into the apartment with his hand out. “Randi, baby, so good to see you. You said something about coffee?” Without asking he plopped down on her couch and smiled up at her.

Automatically she said “Regular or decaf?” Then, realizing he’d taken the advantage already, she added “And talk while I make it!”

Dominic beamed at her. “Regular, black of course, sweetie. Ah, you look good. Here’s the deal. There’s a new reality TV show...”

Randi stopped with the carafe in hand. “No, Dom!”

“Hear me out, sweetie, hear me out!”

“Dom, you promised nothing but real parts! We had a deal.” Randi felt her eyes tearing up from frustration and exhaustion.

Dominic got up and crossed the tiny living room to stand directly in front of her. “We have a deal! Listen. This is a small market thing, but the big guys have their eyes on it. They want to see how it does with the little guys before deciding to pick it up themselves. They’ve decided the best incentive, since they can’t offer huge amounts of prize money for this, is to offer the winner a job. The winner gets to host the season if the show gets picked up... and if not, the production company has a couple of other successful products out there, and will give the winner a job doing something for them. It’s your chance, baby! From reality TV host to who knows what!”

“I don’t want to eat bugs or go without showering for a month, Dom.”

“You won’t have to! I wouldn’t do that to you, sweetie.” He hesitated. “Look, I know you think I’m scummy, and maybe I am, but the reason I haven’t called you was there just wasn’t anything of your caliber coming in. Now there is. You’re pretty, you’re talented, I just think this’ll work because of your special talent.”

“Oh, yeah, and what’s that?” Randi wiped at her eyes angrily, ashamed of losing control in front of Dominic.

“You remember that show you did, the variety thing where you and a couple of other people got hypnotized to show pain relief? And you expected to act, and you didn’t have to?”

Randi looked at the coffee maker so that she didn’t have to meet her agent’s eyes. “I remember,” she said softly. “It was a weird show.”

“Yeah, well, I showed these people that tape. They want to audition you tomorrow. Apparently hypnosis is going to be a big part of this show’s gimmick, but they’re looking for people who are just the best at going under. They need people who are all right with the cameras to start with. It’s not the biggest talent pool to start with, but they think people’ll come out of the woodwork once the show gets going. They won’t take anyone who can’t go into a deep enough trance. You can, we already know that. What do you think?” He stared at her expectantly.

“Let me get this straight. I have to go on some reality show, get hypnotized, and act like a dog or something for... how long?”

“I don’t think it’s like that. But the answer is you have to commit for four months. Two for prep, and then two on camera. And they’re paying about three times what you make in both your jobs put together. I asked.”

Randi growled internally at the thought of him knowing what she made, but let it pass. “Four months? And the winner gets a job?”

He nodded and leaned forward, both hands on the counter. “This is it, baby. This is your break. This is what you’ve been waiting for. I’m not just saying it, I really believe it. You gotta believe in me and in yourself now, Randi. You know you need the money, you know you need the exposure. What do you say?”

She set the still-empty carafe on the counter and hugged herself. “You don’t know what they’ll make us do? Hypnosis is a part of it, but you don’t know what?”

He shrugged. “You know you can’t do anything you wouldn’t do anyway. You were in that other show. You heard the routine they gave on it. I just need to know, are you in or out? I really hope you’re in.”

Randi took a deep breath. “Let me sleep on it? Four months is a long time to commit...”

“No more than you’d have to on a movie, you know that. So does every restaurant manager in California and Arizona too, for that matter. In, or out?”

Her gaze strayed to the phone, its message light dark and still. She remembered David’s brushoff from earlier in the night. Something tied itself in knots inside her, but she heard herself answer. “I’m in.”

Sonia giggled as she peeked through the backstage curtain. Marie swung around the pole repeatedly, almost done with her act, but the pins had come loose from her hair. “She looks lopsided! I have to follow that?”

Marie’s roommate, Beth, shook her head and offered Sonia a tablet and a glass of water. “Here. For your headache.”

Sonia shook her head and adjusted her costume. “I quit that stuff. Meditation’s all I need now.”

Beth snorted. “You say that now, but when you start feeling the cravings, you’ll change your mind.” She turned her back on the stage entrance and disappeared through the stage right door, leaving Sonia to watch Marie finish her act.

“You say stuff like that, but it’s not going to happen. I know I can do better than this. I won’t be doing this job forever!” the tall blonde muttered to herself. She glanced into the mirror and checked her makeup. Her skin looked bad in the pitted surface, but she had enough experience to read past that and get a feel for how she really looked. The foundation successfully hid the dark shadows, but she knew once the cravings kicked in they would be much harder to conceal.

Please, let the worst of the cravings be Monday, she prayed. I know I haven’t always been the smartest, the bravest, or the best person in the world. All I’m asking is that there be a way out of this hellhole.

Sonia shook her head and dismissed the thoughts. Marie’s act was drawing to a close. Sonia was slated to perform next. She closed her eyes and imagined herself as a cat.

Sleek, smooth and sexy...my fur soft and luxurious. Yes. Walking on my tiptoes, strutting, the purring queen of all I survey...

She ran one hand down her body, exulting as the fur and claws grew. Even though when she looked in the mirror she couldn’t see them, she knew the truth. She could feel it. the time had arrived for her to prowl, and prowl she would. It was the best part of her, the part that the naked humans in front of her never fully understood. They might be able to sense it, but to her they would always be prey. She enjoyed teasing them.

The lights went out, and she padded onstage. She felt the human girl Marie rush past her. Once again, Sonia ran her hand over her sleek fur. Where others saw leather, a Catwoman outfit, she knew she was more cat and more woman than that cartoon character could ever imagine.

The music started... some old song about a male cat surveying his domain. She scorned the silly humans and gathered the tip of her tail into one hand. As she made her slow, taunting way across the stage, she pulled her tail across her almost-exposed breasts.

The cheering and yells from the males erupted. She could just see them. They sat on the other side of the lights, mere black and white shapes squirming in their seats. She gave them a long, slow smile and licked her lips. They could never catch her, not that any of them knew it. They were none of them worthy. Unlike the frenetic dances of the human females, hers was slow and teasing. She knew what she had to offer. So did they.

When she climbed up to the top level of the stage and straddled the pole, it felt as much a part of her as her fur. Its cold brought a snarl to her lips. She stretched and unzipped the leather outfit a little more before sliding off the platform and spiraling around the pole to the bottom. The watching males went wild, but she felt little heat for them. She slid down into a slow, crouching split as the song ended.

Suddenly, she was Sonia again. She hurried off the stage with the same speed Marie had shown earlier. The other girls were there waiting.

“Well!” Marie said. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “You seem to dance less and tease more every night.”

Sonia shrugged and hurried to touch up her makeup at the waiting table. “Yeah, well. I really like this particular costume, what can I say?”

“Mmmhmm. Sounds like not much. It’s a good thing they go for it. You sure don’t have much talent otherwise.”

Sonia winced internally but kept her composure. “I can’t tell how you’d know. You sure couldn’t see through your hair.” She saw Marie’s hand automatically reach up for her head in the reflected image and smiled to herself. A score.

“Too good to dance, too good to party, we’ll see how much longer you last here.” Marie threw open the door to the seating area and went out to make her rounds. Sonia sighed at the sudden quiet.

“She’s right, though, you know,” said a soft voice. Sonia jumped and turned to face the speaker. Her shoulders sagged when she realized it was only Annlyn.

“Don’t scare me like that!“Sonia scolded weakly. “I could have poked myself in the eye with a brush. I didn’t even see you there!”

The older dancer nodded. She was shorter than the rest, but she had the most experience and often took new dancers under her wing. Annlyn knew more about the business than anyone else in the club, including the manager. She studied Sonia for a moment before continuing. “That’s part of the problem. You’re focused on you, not on the customer. You’re not thinking of what you need to do. You’re thinking of what you want to do. It might ramp up the sex, but in the end it’s going to come back and bite you, honey. You need some craft to back you up, so that when you get a little older you’re not relying on your looks alone. We can fake looks. We can’t fake talent.”

Sonia’s cheeks burned at the reprimand. She turned back to the mirror. “I just... when I go out there, I want to be the catwoman. They eat it up with spoons.”

“For now,” Annlyn reminded her gently. “Don’t get so caught up in one routine you can’t do any more, honey. That’s bad.”

Sonia shivered at the thought of ever being able to do the cat dance again. “Who else agrees with you?” she asked.

Annlyn shrugged. “Tom, before long. Marie’s going to get her hooks into him and vice versa. He has a taste for her type.” There was no mistaking the warning in the older woman’s voice. “Best remember who and what you are, honey.”

“I remember,” Sonia muttered. Louder, she went on. “Thanks, Annlyn. I can always count on you to bring me back to reality when everything falls apart.”

Annlyn coughed and then got up from the footstool. She made shooing motions with her hands. “Go on, they’re waiting for you. Mingle time.”

Sonia finished her touch-up and went out into the restaurant with a final nod to Annlyn. the warmth of the dance had faded from her body, leaving her cold and unhappy. It was tempting to slip at least partly back into the cat mindset, but she made herself stay human as she went to the different tables.

At the second from the back, a man slipped a small, rectangular piece of paper into her hand. “Come see me tomorrow,” he said. “You have talent, but your manager tells me there’s a lot more to you than the average stripper. I really want to know more about you.” He saw her hesitation and added “It’s not a sex thing. I’m a therapist, but I’ve done some work in other fields. There’s a few people who might be interested in your talents. I promise you, I won’t touch you.”

She glanced down at the card. It looked professional enough in the half-light. She nodded at last. “Two tomorrow, then,” she agreed.

He gave her a sizable tip and grinned at her expression. “Go on, now. Do your job so you don’t get in trouble. But I think you can have better soon.”

She finished out her shift, performing her other routine with more enthusiasm than normal. Her thoughts were elsewhere, even as her body went through its motions. Worth more, have better soon, but it’s not a sex thing? How could it be anything else? I’m a stripper! When she went for her next trip around the crowd, someone else was sitting at the man’s table.

The next day came too soon for Sonia. She counted her tips and sighed with relief. She had just enough to make her share of the rent. At around noon, she called Tom.

“So, who is this guy?” she asked without preamble.

Tom sounded a little embarrassed on the other end of the line. “He’s a... he’s a therapist. He helped one of my old girls lose weight when it was that or lose her job. I didn’t believe in that kind of thing before her, but now I do. Anyway. He says he might have something for ya, I agree he can talk to ya. That’s all I know.”

Sonia pressed, but Tom couldn’t or wouldn’t say more. When she hung up the phone, she looked at the address thoughtfully.

When she opened the office door later, she clutched one of her old headshots. Her jeans were soft and worn but clean, her green blouse tasteful, and she wore much less makeup than normal. The office was warm and cozy, with different posters of mountain and forest scenes. Three doors at the back of the office sat closed. Sonia looked around and didn’t see a receptionist. Unsure what she should do, she decided to sit down in one of the big easy chairs in the lobby. She could hear voices from behind one of the doors.

After a moment, one of the doors to the back rooms opened. A young man came out, followed by an older gentleman with hair greying at the temples. They were laughing. Something about the young man’s brown eyes looked odd to Sonia. He looked faintly dazed.

“I can tell you’re still feeling the hypnosis a little bit,” the older man was saying. “Don’t worry. The moment you get behind the wheel of your car you’ll wake right up.”

The brown-eyed man nodded. “I know. I want to thank you for your help. I really think I can get past that wall tonight.” He spotted Sonia and gave her a warm smile. “Have a good day!” he called as he passed her and went out the door.

The older man held out his hand to Sonia. “You must be Catarina,” he said. “I hoped you’d come by.” He looked older, almost paternal in the light streaming through the windows. “My name is Dennis Markham. I saw you last night, and I must confess I’d seen you before. Won’t you come in?”

Sonia hesitated, then nodded. She followed him into his office. There was no evidence of a couch, which set her more at ease. Instead, a huge cloth-covered recliner dominated the room. the desk on the other side was much smaller. The colors appeared muted in the dimmer light. She noticed several lovely pieces of artwork. An old wooden clock ticked comfortingly on one shelf.

Markham left the door ajar behind them and indicated the chair. “Please, have a seat. I wanted to talk to you about your catwoman act. It is Catarina, isn’t it?”

Sonia nodded. “That’s my stage name, yeah,” she said. The chair was every bit as comfortable as it appeared. She sank down into it, even with the footrest retracted.

Markham nodded. “I see. And how long have you been dancing in that persona?”

She shrugged. “Since I was in college. About three years, I guess. It’s a part of me now.” She paused and considered what to say next. “I had a roommate who helped me get over my inhibitions. I can image things very well, I guess. It helps.”

Markham sat back and steepled his fingers. “Last night, you exhibited some very interesting behaviors. They went beyond the usual by some extent. You seemed extremely into character, almost to the point of losing yourself.. Have you ever done any acting?”

“Not since I was in grade school. I just like being the Cat Woman.” Sonia felt slightly uneasy, even as she enjoyed the attention. She absently smoothed down the hair on the back of her neck.

“How did you come up with the character?” Markham asked. Just then, the lobby door opened. Two men and a woman entered the lobby. Markham smiled. “Ah, your potential employers. Just a moment, please.” He walked out of the office and closed the door behind him. Sonia sat up, but she could only hear muffled voices through the thick wood. She nibbled a fingernail as she waited.

After a few moments, all four came into the office. Markham brought in chairs. “Catarina, these three people represent Audience Decision Entertainment. They are casting for a new show. I’ve known Sandra Greene here for several years. The other two are her associates.”

Sandra sat down and leaned forward. “Catarina, it’s a pleasure to meet you. At one point, Mr. Markham was one of the most respected talent scouts I know. Audience Decision is casting for a new reality television series, and Mr. Markham thinks you might have the essential elements we need for the show. We do need to test you, of course, but just looking at you I can tell you definitely have screen appeal.”

Sonia found her voice. “How do you know I have what you need? What do you mean, test me? I’m sorry, this is all so sudden.”

Sandra glanced at Markham. He smiled and nodded. “I understand. Let me show you. give me your hand and look up at me.”

Sonia put her hand into his outstretched palm. She looked at his calm, square-jawed face as he went on talking. “Now, you may not realize all the talents you have. In fact, you have several that many people dream of having. Of course you’re a gifted dancer, I imagine even without such props as a pole. But you have talents you’re only beginning to imagine. In fact, if you’re careful and use a light touch, you may find it easier to discover them than you previously knew. Can you imagine what you’re capable of doing, Catarina? I think there’s a lot you’d like to do, to see, to experience. Don’t you agree?”

Sonia nodded, unsure where Markham was leading. He smiled down at her. “Catarina, look at your hand.”

She glanced down and stared. He had let go of her. Her hand and wrist hovered there in midair. She snatched it back to her side. Sandra laughed.

“Excellent. She’s definitely passed the first test. I think she’s going to do well. Catarina, do you consent to us doing a talent test on you here today, on film?”

Sonia stared at her hand in wonder. It didn’t feel any different than it ever had. “Sure... sure,” she agreed without looking up. “That sounds fine.”

One of the assistants brought out paperwork. Sonia signed it without looking at it too closely. Her thoughts whirled around in her head. How did he do that? I never felt him let go... and my hand didn’t drop down!

When all the papers were put away, the other assistant had the camera set up and ready. Sonia looked around uncertainly. Sandra sat back and crossed her legs, perfectly at ease. “All right, Dennis. I think we’re ready to go.”

Markham smiled at her and held out his hand. “I want you to put your hand in mind again, Catarina.”

She gave him her hand more willingly, determined to figure out how he had fooled her. This time, though, he said “I want you to press down on my hand as hard as you can, Catarina. I’m going to put one hand on the back of your neck, so don’t be surprised.” He lifted her hair and slipped his hand underneath. It struck Sonia how warm his hands felt. “Now, begin to press down. Look up into my eyes, Catarina. Press harder. Harder!”

Sonia felt the urgency in his voice. She responded without thinking and pushed down on his hand harder and harder.

“That’s it! As hard as you can! Keep looking up at me. Focus on my eyes. Push harder... harder! Eyes getting heavier, pushing down harder, harder to keep your eyes open, keep pushing harder, getting so tired, eyes so tired, arm so tired, now, SLEEP!”

Her hand sank as his dropped down below it. She fell forward, her eyes closing despite herself. He kept talking to her even as she tried to get a grip on what was happening. “Good. Sleepy. Deeper and deeper. Eyes so heavy they refuse to open, body so heavy and sleepy and limp...”

She realized she was resting against him, but before she could react Markham settled her back against the recliner. “That’s it. Good. So sleepy, and the chair is so comfortable. And I want you to imagine a blackboard in front of you, Catarina, and you have a piece of chalk in your hand. Can you feel that now?”

Sonia could feel the dusty chalk against her fingers.. She didn’t have a chance to answer. “Now I want you to begin writing the words ‘deeper and deeper’ on that chalkboard in your imagination, Catarina. You need to write it one hundred times. Deeper and deeper.”

She felt her hand go up in her imagination. She wrote the words on the chalkboard.

“And as you write those words, deeper and deeper, you find yourself getting even sleepier. If I ask you a question, you can talk in your sleep. But for now, keep writing those words. Deeper and deeper.”

His voice faded out as she realized she’d forgotten how many times she’d written the phrase. The words kept disappearing from the board as soon as she wrote them down. She felt drowsy and comfortable. The chalkboard flickered in and out of her imagination. Sonia slept.

Some time later, her eyes opened and she stretched. Sandra and Dennis both smiled at her. The camera operator turned off the machine and began to put it away. Markham spoke up. “Sing ‘America the Beautiful,’ Catarina.”

She blinked at him in surprise, but did as he asked. By the time she was done, she couldn’t remember how long she’d been in the office. Sonia looked around in confusion.

Sandra stood up and shook Sonia’s hand. “Congratulations. You passed the test. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at nine to get the paperwork finished. Again, congratulations. You’ve been cast.”

By the time Sonia felt fully awake, she was alone in the office with Markham. He showed her to the door. “I’m very glad I found you. Go home, get some rest. You went very deep indeed, and one thing you told me was that you feel very tired. I’m sure as soon as you get home you’ll rest very deeply.”

“Thank you, Mr. Markham... for everything.” Sonia said.

He winked at her. “I need to close up the office now. Shoo. And good luck to you.”

The drive home passed in a blur. Sonia was awake, but she could not remember a thing between the time her eyes had closed and the song. Something had happened, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was.

When she got home, she thought about calling Tom and thanking him. As she turned the key in the lock, she decided not to bother. It was her night off, and she needed her rest. She locked the door, yawned her way through her efficiency, and fell onto the bed. Sonia stayed awake just long enough to set her alarm before falling into a deep slumber.

“Caleb! Caaaaaleb! Hey! Phone call!”

The slender, geeky guy carefully lowered the dumbbell to the floor and looked up at the door to the gym. Melanie, the gym attendant, held up the phone and gestured to it. “Come get the call!”

Caleb grabbed a towel and dried his face. He jogged toward the attendant stand. Melanie handed him the phone and added “I’m not your secretary, you know!”

He stuck out his tongue at her and took the phone. “Hello?”

“Caleb, good afternoon. Your roommate said you would be here. I’m sorry to interrupt you. Do you remember who this is?”

Caleb leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah, I remember you. You were here a couple of weeks back, did that stage show. Right? I think. I can’t remember your name, though.” His fist clenched in the towel. “Haven’t been able to since the show. But I know who you are. I don’t think I could ever forget.” He flushed, embarrassed at his own admission.

“Really? You don’t remember my name? After all the fun we had after the show? That’s too bad.” The woman didn’t sound at all disappointed. In fact, she sounded downright amused. “I’m back in town. Would you like to meet for coffee? I’m buying.” The ripple of laughter in her voice developed into a full-fledged chuckle. “And maybe once you see my eyes, you’ll remember me better.”

Caleb nodded. Then he blinked. “Wait a minute. What fun after the show?”

She laughed again, the smoky sound sending a thrill down his spine. “You’re fun to tease. I’ll see you at the MoonBeans coffee shop in an hour and a half. Just be yourself, I’m not looking for fancy dress or anything. See you there!”

Caleb gulped and managed “Bye.”

“Bye!” The line went dead.

He stared at the phone for a moment before handing it back to Melanie. She took it with a grin. “You look like you just got 180 proof when you were expecting juice, buddy. Everything OK?”

He shook his head quickly to clear it and grinned back. “That’s a good way to put it. And I gotta go. Can I get my ID back now?”

She fished it out of the box and handed it over. “Have a good night.”

Caleb waved and jogged out of the gym. Once outside in the cool night, he broke into a full run across the parking lot and back toward the dorms. A couple of people stopped and stared as he tore up the steps to the front doors and flung them open. The dorm monitor glanced up and waved him on through, not even bothering to check for ID. Caleb gave him a thumb’s up and took the steps up to his hall two at a time.

Ibrahim looked up as Caleb burst in. “There you are! You had a call. I gave her the number, I hope you don’t mind.”

Caleb dug through his clean clothes basket for a towel. “Gave who my number?” he said and pulled one out. “What was her name?”

Ibrahim said something as Caleb paused to look at him. The next thing Caleb knew, he was in the shower with soap and shampoo running down his body under the hot water. He blinked down at the drain for a minute before resuming rinsing. “All right,” he said. “I can’t get it that way, clearly.”

He tried to remember everything he could of the stage show. It felt like peering through a fog to see if his ride was coming to get him from class. The show had been packed, but when the hypnotist had called for volunteers she had selected him from the crowd. He couldn’t remember any of her face but her eyes. She had him hold his arm out in front of him, he could remember that much. He was holding his arm out and she was talking to him, and moving his hand up and down...

Caleb shook his head again and splashed water on his face. “Wake up. You have to catch the right bus,” he told himself. “Wake up.” He turned the shower on cold and stood there for a full minute in the icy water before he shut it off. “Whew! OK, that helped.”

He shivered as he dried himself off and ran a comb through his chronically unruly black hair. A quick glance in the mirror told him he looked as good as he could. “Showtime!” he said aloud.

Ibrahim grinned at his roommate as Caleb entered the room. “Ah, I see. You have a date. She sounded wonderful. I hope you have fun! Some of us have to study tonight, though, so be quiet when you come in.”

Caleb sat down at his desk and unlocked his PC. “You got it, bud,” he said.

Ibrahim paused a moment, then commented “You know, most people going out on a date don’t log in.”

“Juuuuust setting my away messages. All right. Done.” Caleb relocked his PC and bounced to his feet. “Wish me luck, huh?”

“Done!” Ibrahim grinned. Caleb waved and closed the door behind him.

The bus came right on schedule ten minutes later. Caleb settled into his seat and looked out the window. Twilight shadows hid details on the buildings, but he knew the street by heart. His stomach churned, but after a moment he realized it was anticipation instead of concern.

I should be worried about all this, he thought. I’m not. It feels perfectly natural to go and meet a woman I can’t remember well in a place I’ve only visited a few times. And I don’t know why...

The more he attempted to focus on the anomaly, the more sleepy Caleb felt. He found himself yawning and staring into space. The lights came on and flashed by outside the window. After a few minutes, he realized he had no idea what he’d been thinking about at all.

When the bus stopped, he got off on autopilot. He looked up and down the street. The area teemed with evening crowds. Caleb felt detached from the bustle of the bar scene. He made his way to the door of the coffee shop and hesitated with his hand on the push bar. Then he shoved it open and walked in.

A wave of dizziness passed over him. He almost tripped over the ramp up to the barista’s stand. She smiled at him and handed him a hot chocolate when he got up there. “It’s paid for. Someone was expecting you. I think she’s over there.”

Caleb took a sip of the hot chocolate and grinned. “Thanks. Wish me luck, huh?”

The barista regarded him quizzically. “Um. Yeah, sure, good luck!” She turned back to her machine and began cleaning the pods.

Caleb looked around and headed toward the back of the store. He could see a woman sitting at the back table. He took two slow steps toward her. She turned to face him, smiled, and before he could get a really good look at her features snapped her fingers. Dizziness overwhelmed him again.

“Have a seat,” she said. “You should be remembering everything right now, but give yourself a moment to integrate all of the memories. Drink some hot chocolate and just settle for a minute. Then we’ll talk.”

He slumped down into the chair across from her and stared at her for a moment before his face brightened. “Camille Candler. You were the stage hypnotist. My friends got me up on stage, and you had me do, well, a lot of things.”

Camille smiled. “Good, it’s all coming back to you. I think you’ll find it easy to recall everything now. I’m sorry I ran this experiment on you, but I did want to find out your level of suggestibility. I must say I’m impressed.”

“Umm... impressed?” Caleb said weakly. He dutifully took a sip of his hot chocolate. He frantically tried to remember if he had done anything that would compromise his health or his credit cards, but couldn’t recall anything along those lines.

Camille leaned forward. “You have one of the best minds for longterm suggestion I’ve seen in a while. I think maybe one person in a thousand is as good for that as you are, Caleb. Maybe fewer.”

“That’s good, I guess.” He took another swallow, heedless of the temperature of his drink. “So was that what you were looking for?”

“Actually, it was. Not just me, mind you, but some other people. I wanted to ask you if you’d like to be on television, Caleb.”

He choked on his next mouthful. She handed him a napkin while he gathered himself. “On television? Like on a stage show filmed, or something?”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. I have some contacts in the production team, and they’re looking for readily hypnotizable people. You have that quality. You also have a sweet face and my videotaping shows you look decent on film. I think you have some appeal to certain types of viewers.” She took a deep breath. “The catch is that you’d have to take a semester off. You would get paid for it, however. I can’t say much more than that without them interviewing you and you signing a nondisclosure agreement.”

Caleb tried to think. His mind still felt vaguely fuzzy, but much less than when he rode the bus. “And you’re choosing me because you know I’m easy?” As soon as he finished speaking, he realized what he’d said. His cheeks burned as he went on. “I’m supposed to put my college career on hold for this?”

“If you do well, you’ll have money and time to set your own college goals,” Camille pointed out. “You’d also have a job in the meantime. I really shouldn’t say much about that. Are you interested in coming with me tomorrow for a screen test? I can get us an appointment tomorrow afternoon, if you can clear your schedule. I know you don’t have class after ten.”

Caleb opened his mouth, then thought better of asking how she knew. “OK. Money, maybe a job, and all I have to do is go on TV and be hypnotized? I think I can deal with that. Would I be able to finish this semester?”

Camille nodded. “I believe so, yes. It’s only three weeks, correct?”

“Yeah, right. I’d have to nondisclose?”

Camille nodded. “How’s the family commitment thing? Can you get away without them asking too many questions?”

A small muscle worked in Caleb’s jaw. “I’m... not on good terms with them. Let’s just say I’m not much worried about what they think.”

Camille’s smile lost some of its wattage. “I’m sorry to hear that, Caleb.”

He shrugged. “It’s done. So, yeah. Where should I go?”

“I’ll pick you up at one. Dress... go for polo shirt and jeans. That will work fine.” She rose and offered him her hand. “You’ll keep your memories, Caleb. I think you’ll find you sleep very well tonight, waking rested and happy and calm. Have a good night.”

Caleb shook her hand and watched her depart. The barista came by and started wiping tables. He finished his hot chocolate and waited for something weird to happen. When nothing did, he shook his head. “TV. Me. Imagine that. Yeah. I’m in.”

“Did you want something, sir?” the barista asked.

He shook his head. “If all this works out, I think I’ll be set for a long time. Thanks, though!” He grinned, drained his cup, and left to catch the bus back to campus.

Galerina slid into her chair and unlocked her PC. Long black nails tapped the keys her fingertips would never touch. The background of black lace over deep purple made her smile. It only took me twenty minutes to find that, she thought. It’s so much prettier than Lycanthine’s. She’s going to be just livid when she sees.

The message boards were packed with new posts. Galerina made her usual pass through the “Reborn” section. She responded acidly to a poster who questioned the clue of anyone who would play such a game, especially if it meant getting involved with the gaming crowd.

“Let’s see. ‘While gamers certainly have their drawbacks, nonetheless some can be made to see the dark truth about their lives. Certainly they seek to escape. We must educate them. If they don’t respond, then feel free to scorn them, of course.’ Yes, that will do.” She sat back and sighed. “Not that any of them will understand, of course.”

She scrolled through the personals section and looked for new blood. The city boasted a large community, most of whom had been around a lot longer than Galerina. She made a face, thinking about the way she’d been snubbed the night before. Online, though, Galerina could always count on finding someone newer than herself.

Sure enough, she saw a post from someone identifying itself as SomnoThirst. No gender was given, but that was hardly unusual on the boards where so many people viewed themselves as above gender and its societal fakeness. Galerina clicked on the message.

“Wanted: drowsy damsels for casting on new reality television show. Do you think waking life is all a dream? Do you enjoy walking around in a trance, heedless of the false brightness of the rest of the world? This is real, or as real as anything will ever be.”

Galerina tapped a fingernail against her purple lips. She pulled up the poster’s profile. It had a picture of a person who could have been either male or female. “Has to be male,” she decided. “That scarf could only be to hide an Adam’s apple. I do like the fabric, though.”

The profile hinted that the person was someone with entertainment industry connections. To Galerina’s relief, it made no mention of Marilyn Manson or anything else that would have identified the poster as a troll. It did show him as currently logged in to the board.

Galerina nibbled on the side of her finger and considered. On the one hand, the post certainly looked like poseur and kiddie bait. On the other, it had its own appeal. She tried to imagine herself in a sheer, white nightgown. Black designs would have to be painted all over her body, of course, as intricate as possible so that they confused the eye and intrigued the viewer. Galerina stood up and moved over to the fainting couch. She practiced laying herself over on it for a moment, trying for the perfect arm sweep that might be expected from anyone calling herself a “drowsy damsel.” A smile smile blossomed on her lips. “Yes... yes, that will do.”

She swept back over to the computer and checked to make sure SomnoThirst was still online. It or he was. The profile had also been update to include IM information. Galerina stared at it for a moment, then called up her program.

Her screen failed to fill with offline messages. Normally, the silence made her heart ache in a soft, quiet way she would never acknowledge. She quickly added SomnoThirst and waited to see what would happen. After all, just because he showed as online didn’t mean that he was anywhere close to the computer. After surprisingly few minutes, the “request granted—add user?” screen appeared. She granted permission and slid the headphones on.

A message window popped up. “Evening,” the test read. “How can I help you?”

Galerina took a deep breath. I can’t believe I’m doing this, she thought. But if it all works out, won’t Lycanthine just have kittens! She leaned forward and typed “I’m feeling drowsy tonight. Are you thirsty for my sleep?”

SomnoThirst responded with a chuckle. “Surely you know the answer to that. The question is, night-child, are you sweet enough to quench my thirsts? Or are you a simple taste which will fade like the dew, leaving me unsated?”

Galerina suppressed a shudder. How did he get under my skin enough to push a button? she wondered. It took some effort to remain casual enough to think of a good reply. “Perhaps you will drain away the dreams. Then what will I have?”

The response came quickly. “Turn on your webcam, night-child. Let me see if that image on the boards is correct.”

Galerina bit her lip. “What if I don’t have one?” she sent back, already eyeing the little one taped to the side of her monitor.

“If you did not, you would not have answered my call. You are seeking audience, are you not?”

“Yes, but I assumed we’d talk more first,” she typed.

“You will show me now,” SomnoThirst typed. “You wish to do so, and if you wish more than that you will start from there. Otherwise, I have no use for you.” She waited for a further response, but five minutes passed and nothing crossed her screen. Finally she clicked the button and activated her webcam.

He accepted the invitation immediately. There was another minute of silence before she got the next message. “Stand and turn around. Keep turning around until you hear my chime to let you know I’m done observing you.”

Galerina’s cheeks burned. She stood up and spun in place slowly enough that the camera could pick it up. After a moment, the computer chimed. She sat back down and typed “Do I meet your needs?”

“Perhaps,” he replied. “If you have never been deeply hypnotized, you may stop wasting both of our time. If you have been and can be again, we will have business together. You will want to meet me and test my truthfulness, of course. You will be welcome to bring a friend, but I should tell you that should you be selected, they will be required to sign papers stating they will keep your participation a secret.”

She stared at the ceiling for a moment in thought. If I can get onto a television show, all of them will mock me for selling out, she thought. They made fun of every other person ever to take that route, after all. She thought of the gamers in the LARP and the others on the board and at the club, all laughing at her. Then she thought of herself draped over a couch with cameras rolling and the world watching her entranced by... something or other.

“I will come, and come alone,” she told him. “I have been hypnotized before a long time ago, but I still remember what it felt like. Take me into your world of dreams.”

A moment later, her email chimed. The message contained directions to a local goth club, but were at an unfashionably early time of day. Her IM window popped back up. “Alas, we must meet at a daylight hour in order to test you. It will not be the last sacrifice required of you, but hopefully you will not find it or the others too objectionable.”

Galerina typed back “I will be there.” She watched him sign off and smiled to herself. “Wait until Lycanthine finds out...” she murmured. Then she turned off the monitor and went back to practicing on her fainting couch.

“So did you hear about Shawn?”

Marlene grimaced down at the file drawer. The other translators in the office spent more time on their gossip than they did on working on documents. She felt the pressure of the deadlines the company gave them, but Maura and Darian never broke a sweat. She could hear them from two cubes over.

“No, I sure didn’t. I knew he’s not here today, though. I didn’t see his name on the assignment pool. Did he get sent back home?”

Maura lowered her voice enough that she sounded like she was next door, rather than in the same cube as Marlene. “The company reassigned him, all right. He knows Arabic. They’re sending him to Iraq. They’re talking about doing that with some other folks, too.”

Marlene tensed. For the first time, she began to consciously listen in to the gossip.

Darian gasped. “Oh, you’re kidding. When will they be leaving?”

“The first wave leaves tomorrow. The second wave will be announced in about a week, or so they say.” Maura would never identify her sources, so Marlene knew there was no chance of her checking on the reliability of the information. Still, the petite brunette knew very well that six times out of ten, Maura was right. Previously, it had made the difference between unbearable and barely tolerable in handling the noisy neighbor. Now, Marlene found herself being grateful for the first time.

“Well, I’m glad I don’t speak Arabic. Cantonese and Mandarin are good enough for me. At least things are still pretty calm in the Pacific. Who else here speaks that?”

Maura’s voice lowered. “Marlene Rogers does...”

Marlene got very busy filing her documents. After a moment, Darian spoke up. “Doesn’t she also speak Farsi? She’s a shoo-in for that area. If we have a contract...”

“And we do,” Maura cut him off. “I don’t know when or how, but she’s a natural. Especially because she uses that sleep-vocabulary thing. She’s showed them she can learn a lot very quickly. I give it three weeks.”

Marlene had heard enough. She closed her filing cabinet, stood up, and said a little loudly, “I think I’m coming down with a cold. Does anyone mind if I go home early today?”

“Ugh, no, please go home. I just got over one cold. I don’t want another!” Darian made shooing motions. “Scoot, vamoose. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Marlene grinned. “Thanks, guys. I promise I’ll take up the slack from home, but I really want to get some hot tea into me and rest.”

“Take zinc, hold it in your mouth as long as you can stand the taste,” Maura advised. “It’ll shorten the length. Don’t worry about your stuff. I’m sure we can get it covered.”

Marlene grabbed her purse and left her spartan cube. As she closed the door behind her, she heard Darian say “Do you think she heard us?”

Once safely inside the elevator, Marlene rested her head against the wall. She toyed with the hem of her scarf and tried to think. Six weeks left on this contract, and if I leave it I forfeit my benefits. Plus I get a bad reference. Still, they’re right. I am the ideal person to go to the middle east, and I really don’t want to be anywhere near there.

She ran a mental inventory of her languages, wishing she had focused on Japanese or Hindi or something from that part of the world. It had pleased her family that she learned their languages, though. Even though they were no longer speaking, she still felt the pull of their approval.

Marlene smiled wryly. She didn’t feel it enough to put herself in danger.

The light rail ride home took much longer than usual, at least to her perception. When she finally got home and got on the computer, the first thing she did was pull up the folder of potential jobs she had been perusing before taking this contract.

It was good money, but it’s not worth it. I wonder if I can get something else even after breaking this contract. She scanned down the list and one item caught her eye. It was for translators to assist with an international travel show. She quickly tapped in a query to the contact and hit send, noting that the company was on the west coast and might still be at lunch.

She was halfway through her next email when she got a response. “Upon looking at your CV and website, we think we have another position which might interest you more. We would like for you to come out for an interview on the West Coast. Please contact our office tomorrow. We think you will be intrigued with what we have to say.”

Marlene stared at the screen. “They have to be kidding me,” she said aloud. “This fast? Just like that? I’m supposed to fly across country...”

She sighed and began looking up flights. It was going to be a long week, she could already tell.

Larry sat at the side of the big table closest to the window. The older woman sitting next to him shifted in place and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She offered a tremulous smile.

“Relax,” Larry told her. “It’s going to be all right. I promise.” He took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and asked the first of his usual questions. “Are there any beings here who want to communicate with us?”

Once upon a time, mediums used tricks to prove their talents. Larry hated the thought. The people with him sat around a basic card table, all of their hands within view. The table had no cloth, but did boast several cameras underneath. The TV show crew stood around the room, watching and filming. He knew that at least one or two of them would salivate to catch him cheating.

Luckily for Larry, he knew there was no cheating going on.

A wave of cold crossed the room. Some of the people gasped, but Larry remained calm. He glanced at the cameras monitoring the heating and cooling of the room. Their lights still glowed, giving him the proof he’d later need that the air conditioning was turned off. Their operators had already inspected the room for drafts. Larry knew the cold was for real.

“If you want to communicate, please give us another sign. We are recording this room right now. You can speak to the recorders only, if it’s too hard for you to make yourselves heard.”

The room remained quiet except for the breathing of the six people inside. Larry waited another moment, then went on. “If you would like to speak through me, I am willing to be your voice for a brief time.” He gave himself permission to sink into trance and visualized a door opening in his head. Silently, he continued Come on.... come in. But be kind and be gentle, please.

He felt the chill crawl over his body. He began to quiver. He whispered “They are here...” before the trance took him and he lost control of his voice. The woman next to him gasped and he felt his eyes rolling up in his head. It was a strange, detached sensation. Larry could imagine what it might look like, but he was already too deeply in trance to care.

He could hear a high-pitched voice talking to the woman. He winced from his comfortable cocoon. That’s going to hurt later, he thought dreamily. I’ve had that happen before. Little boys and girls, always the worst. # Then Larry felt himself snap back into his body. He drew in a harsh, gasping breath. This part is the worst![/i] he thought as his body adapted to waking consciousness once again. It’s like going from sixty into the brick wall without the courtesy of a helmet. The spirits are never kind enough to ease me in and out... just take over, and then drop me. Ugh.

He made himself smile as he opened his eyes. His throat felt like raw meat. “They came through... did they say anything meaningful to you?” he asked the woman. One glance at her tear-streaked face told him the answer, but he had to ask anyway for the documentation.

“They did, yes. I’ll talk about it... later. Can we turn off the cameras now?” She looked around nervously.

Larry glanced at the tech guys, who shrugged and shook their heads. He patted the woman’s hand. “We need to keep filming so that everyone can see that what happened to you was not a fake. I’m sorry. You can decline to talk about it, if you want.” He raised his voice. “Spirits, you who came to us, thank you so much for your time and troubles. We hope you chose many different ways to make yourself manifest.”

He made himself talk about inconsequential things until one of the techs approached him. “All right, we need everyone to clear out now so we can do the night walkthrough and filming.”

As the room cleared, Jason the sound man pulled Larry aside. “That was really something. I got some stuff when I was listening to one of my tapes on the last run...whew. It ended up on the air, you know? There was some awesome EVP on there. I think we’re going to get something similar tonight. I also caught a couple of shadows where none should be, kind of like in that old church. Made me into a believer, I can tell you.”

Larry grinned. “I heard. I’m hoping to get this off of local access and onto a network one of these days.”

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about your trance shtick. Is that... how does that work?”

Larry shrugged a bit. “I just... I let my mind go and kind of move over. I surrender for a little bit. If things are going on too long, I can usually tell and shove back... but ever since someone hypnotized me one time in college as a psych experiment, things have been coming through. It’s not a surprise to me. Lots of people in my family had the Sight. I don’t have the Sight, I’m just a good temporary house.”

Jason nodded slowly. “The reason I’m asking is that I have a contract to do this show starting early next year. It’s a reality thing, but the trick to being cast is you have to be good at being hypnotized. If you just keep getting things that move in to you, though, it might not be what you want to do.”

Larry tilted his head and crossed his arms. “Is this one of those things where you go to a cattle call and stand in line for six hours?”

“Nah, it’s more like... people are found, more or less. I mean, anyone can say they’re good at being hypnotized, but you show it. I just, well. You know. It might give you some name recognition you could use to trade on later. I thought I could put you in touch with someone. Doesn’t sound like it’d be your thing.”

“Jason, I didn’t think you believed in ghosts,” Larry teased. “You didn’t when this show started. But I might be interested. I mean, I don’t have to move aside. And not everywhere has spirits that are interested in taking over. After ten years, I’ve gotten some control over it. Give me your number, let me think about it?”

“Tell ya what, let me talk to my friend, show him some of the tape, see how you do? I got your contact info. If he’s interested, he can call you. If not, hey, no one loses.”

Larry stroked his chin for a moment and then shook Jason’s hand. “You have a deal. Exposure can’t hurt.”

Jason clapped Larry on the back and grinned. “Maybe you’re the next, whatsisname, on that one channel?” He had the grace to look embarrassed.

Larry laughed. “I know who you mean. I think he’s a fake. He does cold reads. Before I ever get on the air, I want people to see that I’m not a charlatan.” He heard the tension in his own voice and tried to relax. Jason’s on my side, he told himself firmly. No need to get testy with someone who’s not only an ally, but trying to increase exposure. “Maybe one of these days people will believe me.”

“Oh, I believe you, man, I believe you. And we gotta scoot. They’ll be wanting to turn out the lights in here soon so the IR cameras can do their work.”

Larry nodded. “I’m going to take a nap. Call me when it’s walkthrough time.”

Jason grinned. “You got it.” He waved and Larry walked outside into the clean night air. He looked up at the crescent moon. A bat flew across, eating a late summer dinner of bugs. He grinned.

“Bat is messenger. Have you come to give me a message, flittermouse? Is this what I’m supposed to do? Will this give me what I need to bring my talents out into the world? Or are you just out for the mosquitos? Because I have to tell you, the more bugs you eat, the less will show up on the cameras. Eat up!”

The bat paid no attention to him, but Larry couldn’t suppress his smile as he headed to the van to crash for an hour.

This is how it begins.

The hotel hallway is quiet. There are guards posted at either end. The production company’s president owns the hotel. There are very few quests, even at the peak of business. These are not normal times. This is pre-production, and the company execs have found somewhere else to wine and dine their prospects.

It’s a small hallway, somewhat dimly lit. The four guards are wearing hotel staff uniforms, but for some reason they look more out of place in this serene setting than a herd of elephants. Perhaps it is their utter stillness. They are silent. Not one of them speaks to another. Each knows his job. There’s nothing to discuss.

The hallway is noise-free, except for the quiet hum of the air conditioning. Normally, a watcher might expect to see doors opening and closing or newspapers sitting outside a late sleeper’s room. A listener might walk up and down the hall and listen for the sound of running showers. There is none of that here.

Forty rooms, each with its own number in goldtone raised numbers next to the door. The doors are closed. The maids are not present. Perhaps they have already cleaned the rooms.

One of the guards starts and raises a hand to his ear. He listens for a moment, nods, and makes a gesture to his partner. A moment later, the silence is broken by the clunk and whirr of the elevator machinery coming to life. The guards step to either side of the doors and wait.

The doors open and a man backs out. He holds a flashing red LED in his left hand. The guards do not look at the LED. They stand still, watching the elevator’s occupant.

She is beautiful, her dark hair cascading to her waist in waves. Her brown eyes stare blankly at the LED. Her loveliness is marred by the flat lack of emotion in her face... or is it enhanced? A watcher might be hard-pressed to determine which. She wears a simple white t-shirt and shorts. They accent the gentle curve of her hips and her breasts. They also betray her lack of bra. Her nipples show ever so faintly through the thin material.

The man in front of her speaks a single word: “Room.” The woman steps forward and into the hall. Another man comes out behind her, standing attentive and ready. She walks with a fluid, slow grace down the hallway and stops in front of one of the doorways. One guard follows her progress. When she stops, he steps forward and opens the door with a keycard. She stares into the room beyond but does not move.

The man slowly lowers the LED. At the far end of the hall, the elevator entry closes. The machinery sounds again as it lowers the elevator back down to the first floor. No one appears to notice. The tableau holds for another moment before the attendant speaks again. “Go in. Lie down on the bed. Sleep. We will call to wake you. Remember only what you were told.”

A slight tremor passes through the woman’s eyelids. She walks through the room and settles onto the bed. The attendant follows. She stares up at the ceiling, her eyes still expressionless and blank. He holds his hand above her forehead and slowly passes it down over her eyes. They flutter closed. “Sleep,” he tells her softly, and turns. The room door clicks closed behind him.

He goes back up the hallway with the guards. The elevator doors are opening. Another trio steps out. This time, it’s a young man staring at the red LED in another attendant’s hand. They go down the hall. The first pair of attendants ride the elevator down. One of the guards lets the young man into his room. He doesn’t even seem to feel the lock of hair covering his eyes and tickling his nose.

This goes on for more than an hour. It repeats itself until all forty rooms are filled. The attendants go downstairs. The guards resume their posts. The hall falls silent again. There is no movement, no sound but the hum of the air conditioning. The entire world could cease to exist outside, but this hallway would remain the same. The room doors hide their secret, the sleeping men and women. The guards do not speak.

Perhaps this is how it begins. It is as good a beginning as any. Or perhaps it begins another way. Perhaps it even began a few days before the guards were in place.

Perhaps it began like this:

Fifteen men and twenty-five women entered the hotel one at a time. They carried their baggage with them. The terms of the contract had been very explicit: no music, no books, no computers of any kind, no cell phones or other communication devices. No pictures of loved ones. No comfort items. Everything would be supplied once they arrived in the pre-show sequestration area.

Each was greeted on entrance by a staff member carrying a large folder. The arriving guests were ushered to separate cubicles for final signatures. Their luggage was removed and searched for contraband items. Once all of the I’s were dotted and T’s were crossed, the contestants were shown to their rooms.

“You are not allowed to talk to one another until the show films,” they were told. “There will be times when you are in one place, but please avoid communication. There are no phones in your rooms. We will provide you with some ways to entertain yourselves, but for the three weeks before filming, you will not leave the hotel.”

One of the women almost rebelled when she was told that she will be unable to leave the room except under escort. She hesitated in signing the paper, but when she was assured she will have a way to communicate with the staff if she needs anything, she inked the appropriate line.

Another man left when told he could not contact his girlfriend. “She’s the best, and I can’t be without her. She’s my dream girl. The money isn’t as important.” His replacement arrived in the hotel within two hours.

In the end, except for that one man, all of the forty rooms were occupied. The hall was not quiet that night. The muted sound of televisions could be heard outside several rooms. Water rushed through the pipes as some showered or bathed.

The guards were still silent. They stood at their posts and prevented anyone not staff from coming down the hall. Housekeeping brought meals to each room, but the contestants dutifully stayed within.

On the morning of the second day, the producers called the first meeting.

Perhaps this is how it begins. Or perhaps it begins in the meeting itself. Perhaps one of the contestants knows the best way to tell the story. Or knew, once, at any rate.

“Good morning!” The tall, slender man at the front of the room looked to Marlene to be in his early fifties. Her practiced ear caught a trace of residual Minnesota accent, but she doubted many others would notice. She glanced around the already mostly-quiet room. No one wanted to be the first to be kicked out for breaking the rules, so all of the contestants had filed in and settled in without saying much except “excuse me” and “I’m sorry.” Marlene realized she missed the constant clamor of the office gossip. The realization humbled her even as it surprised her.

“Is everyone enjoying your rooms? Yeah? Good.” The man didn’t wait for an answer. “I’m David Varron, and I’m one of the show producers. You’ll meet the others at different points in the next three weeks, but I just wanted to welcome you to week one of pre-production training for ‘The Audience.’ I’m glad you all made the cat to this point. I look forward to the next three weeks.

“Now, I’m sure you have lots of questions,” Varron continued. He held up a hand to forestall any of them. Marlene sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. I don’t like him, she thought. Not one bit.

“Don’t worry. Over the next three weeks they will be answered. This is the testing phase of the production. As you may have gathered, there are more of you here than we can take in the Audience House. This is because, to be frank, not all of you will make it through testing. We’re an innovative show, and we want the best for the audience. As a result, we have to go through this last selection process. You’ll discover the answers to all your questions as we go through this phase. Bear with us.”

Varron gestured to a group of people standing in the back of the room. “These are our techs. Some of them have been with us for a long time. They’ll be seeing to your needs. If you feel more comfortable having a tech assigned to you who’s your same gender, let us know and we’ll try to accommodate you. We did endeavor to do that wherever possible, but the truth is that we have a ratio where some of the women will have to go with a man. Please, again, bear with us.

“In a few minutes, we’re going to be going to the ballroom. Each of you will have your own cubicle and chaise lounge. We’re going to be running depth tests and suggestibility tests. All of you were chosen because of your ability to take suggestion, so I expect most of you to pass with flying colors for the first couple of days. At that point, we’ll begin narrowing down the contestant pool. How many of you have been in stage shows before?”

He looked around the room. Marlene noticed that more than three-quarters of the participants, including she herself, had their hands in the air.

“Great! That’s wonderful. Did any of you get sent offstage before the selection process was done there?” Marlene watched for someone to lower a hand, but no one did. “Great! But you do understand that we have to run this initial phase, in a sense, like a giant stage show. Some of you may not be suited for this kind of environment. That’s fine. I’m sure every single one of you could go into a profound trance, given the right circumstances. The contestants will be those whose circumstances mesh with ours. You can put your hands down now.”

Marlene’s cheeks flamed as she realized that she still had her hand up. A good portion of the rest of the contestants also looked embarrassed. Varron, however, looked pleased. “Excellent. Very good. You’re all going to be a pleasure to work with, very easy, very suggestible. This is going to be a good show, and you’re going to have a great time. Now, I’d like you to each visit the restroom one at a time, and then your tech will find you. Please remember not to speak to one another. That’s very important for the setup.” He hopped down from the stage and beckoned one of the techs over.

Marlene stood and stretched, trying not to meet anyone else’s eyes. This is the weirdest job I’ve ever even tried to get, she told herself. I wonder if I’m good enough.

She got in line for the restroom behind a gorgeous African-American and a tall, almost feline blonde. She offered each a quick smile, but kept her mouth shut. How odd, for a translator to be here where we’re forbidden to talk! she thought cynically. Nevertheless, Marlene could see the body language of the different contestants clearly. Some were calm, most were nervous, and the techs...

She frowned slightly. The techs were... off somehow. She couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong with them, but they seemed different than anyone else in the room. She watched a few for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on, but her turn to go into the room broke that off.

Once she emerged from the bathroom, a young woman approached her. “My name’s Beth, and I’ll be working with you today. Please follow me,” the woman said without waiting for an introduction. Her smile was warm, but Marlene again felt something odd in the situation. She followed Beth to the ballroom, smoothing down the hair on her arms and trying to get past her nerves.

The ballroom looked more like a hastily-constructed office space than a dance or banquet hall. Seven-foot-tall cubicles sat in clusters. Marlene could see a low-set piece of furniture in each. Some kind of machinery stood back in the corner. Beth guided Marlene through the clusters until she reached a cubicle labeled with Marlene’s room number. She smiled and gestured Marlene to go in. “Have a seat, get comfortable. If you want a blanket, let me know.”

Marlene nodded. “I always get cold in ballrooms,” she said. She sat down on the low chaise and laid her arms on the armrests. “Thank you,” she added a trifle lamely.

Beth opened a drawer and pulled out a pillow and a blanket. She helped Marlene get adjusted and advised “You’ll want to take off your shoes, adjust any tight clothing... but I’m sure you knew that.”

Marlene slid her pumps off and got ore comfortable. “What’s that?” she said as Beth pulled the machine closer.

The tech smiled. “It’s something like a biofeedback machine, except we’re going to be doing something a little different with the feedback. I need to go get my other contestant now. Relax, close your eyes, take a nap if you like. I’ll be back to finish setting you up in a moment.”

She left and Marlene sighed. She looked around the cubicle, then up to the ceiling. A security camera panned around and came to rest looking at her. She shivered.

For the next... however long... I’m going to be on those. People will be watching me all the time. It’s different when you know it’s not Wal-Mart security guards or whatever. 24-7, I’m going to have eyes on me.

She resolutely closed her own. I won’t let it get to me, she vowed. It’s only a camera. That’s all.

A few minutes later, Beth came back in. Marlene could hear the sound of other people in the cubicles around her, but Marlene handed her a headset. “Here...put this on. Now these.” She offered a pair of goggles.

“What are these for?”

“They’re to help you get into a hypnosis state here, where you might have felt a little uneasy. You’ll go into hypnosis more easily the first few times with them on. After that, if you make it through the testing, you won’t have to use them any more. The headphones are to help shut out the noise of the people around you. That’s all. Just put them on and keep your eyes closed. I’ll be hooking up the biofeedback machine.”

Marlene put on the headset and glasses. The world disappeared. She felt Beth’s warm fingers attaching the electrodes to her forehead. Then the fingers went away, and Marlene sat there for a while. It was impossible to tell how long. She heard a slight hum beginning, and then lights began to flash across the corners of her vision.

A soft, female voice came through the headset. “Thank you for coming. It’s time for you all to relax for a while. Listen to the hum and watch the lights. Let the rest of the world go by. We’re so glad you’re here. We look forward to working with you. For now, you can just relax and watch and listen.”

The voice went away, and Marlene sat and watched and listened. At first, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be experiencing. The low throbbing hum sounded pleasant enough, and the lights were just bright enough she could see them without wanting to flinch from them.

She realized after a moment her mind was wandering and her body felt pleasantly heavy. She recognized the sensation of light hypnosis and wondered at it. How did that happen? No one told me to go...

“Deeper and deeper...deeper and deeper...” the female voice whispered at the edge of hearing.

Marlene felt her body slump a little more into the chaise. Her mind spun. How did they...how did she...

“And now it’s time to relax and go much deeper. Just listen to the hum and let my voice go on. It’s so nice to listen to the hum, and my voice just fades away. It fades into the flashing of the lights and the pleasant, dreamy hum. You may feel like you’re falling asleep. That’s just fine. Just go deeper asleep and let my voice fade...”

Marlene heard a word every now and then, but she couldn’t manage to put them into sequence or determine what language she was hearing. Every time she began to understand, the hum distracted her.

Then she was opening her eyes. The glasses and headset sat in her lap. Beth was nowhere to be seen, but Marlene felt too deliciously relaxed to move. She watched incuriously as the camera panned around the room. Men and women walked past her cubicle, but Marlene was content to lie back.

After a while, Beth appeared. “I hope you had a great nap,” she said. “We’ll be taking you back up to your room for lunch. After that, you might want to take a nap.”

She helped Marlene to her feet and led her to the elevator. A couple of the other contestants and their techs rode up with them, but no one spoke or looked at one another. Marlene watched the numbers as they rode upward. It gave her something easy to look at.

Then the doors were open and she was led to her room. The guard opened the door for her. “Thanks, Beth,” she said as she entered. They closed the door behind her.

She ate the hot meal waiting on the table without really noticing what it was. The bedclothes had been pulled back. It looked far more inviting than the food. After she finished her meal, she went straight to the bed and settled in. The covers were soft and warm. She fell sound asleep before she took more than three breaths.

They came and got them all a few hours later, and Marlene put on the goggles sleepily. All she really wanted was to get back into the wonderful dream she had been experiencing. The lights began to flash, the hum pulsed in her ears, and she slept again.

The next morning, Beth got her and took her out to the pool. Marlene and nine of the others did water aerobics for an hour before it was time to go into training. She had three sessions with the chaise every day. Beth tended to her lovingly and carefully. She grew to like her tech, especially when Beth told her that Marlene was now the tech’s only responsibility. The others were all out of the show.

Marlene slept deeply every night.

Perhaps that’s how it began. Or perhaps another contestant can give a clearer view.

Galerina woke up and stared at the ceiling. She knew she had been dreaming, but the fragments disappeared into the mists of her unconscious even as she grabbed at them. The mirror above the bed reflected a very small woman alone, wrapped up in a generic hotel duvet. Without her makeup, the woman looked vulnerable and alone, Galerina thought. It was hard to believe it was herself. She would never have voluntarily have worn a white t-shirt and shorts and no makeup.

It took her longer and longer each day to feel at home in her body. She remembered leaving her room with the pre-production crew the night before, of course. If she closed her eyes, she could see the hallway with its thin pinstripe of paint running the whole length. She could feel the presence of the two men. They never really spoke to her, although they smiled warmly enough. They were just escorts, just there to make sure she heeded the terms of the contract she had signed...

Here Galerina had to pause. How long ago had it been? She remembered reading the contract. She could feel the pen in her hand. Here in the hotel, with the pre-show training, the days slipped away, water through her fingers. She could hold a drop here and there, but none ever stayed for long.

She stared at the little flute on the bedside table. She could not recall when it had shown up. She knew she loved to play it. A fragment of memory from childhood darted through her mind, a memory of playing it and laughing. Then the memory faded.

Galerina got up and into the shower. Her pale skin looked sallow to her in the light from the overhead fixture. She remembered that this had bothered her when she arrived at the hotel. Now it was just something to be tolerated. Soon, if all went well, they would take them to the House and she would be able to talk to someone other than Matthew, her tech.

Galerina admitted to herself that for a mundane, Matthew was not so bad. He was always kind to her and never lashed back when she complained. Sometimes he came and sat with her while she ate. She knew he was one of the senior techs, because he was allowed to do that. She also knew that when he joined her, he always left the door open. He trusted her not to try to go out in the hall and explore.

Galerina discovered she rather liked being trusted. It was a new feeling.

She tried to remember the details of the meeting from that morning. The number of chairs had dwindled. She recalled seeing twenty people, down from forty, but the details of their faces eluded her.

And that’s good, she reminded herself. All of this is good. They want to play with our heads a little, they want to see what we can do. They want to see what they can do to us. The thought sent a delighted shiver down her spine. She knew that Varron was not SomnoThirst now, and that Somnothirst worked for Varron, but she found herself imagining that Varron would send his underling to her and take her away from all of this.

I am a drowsy damsel, she told herself. And maybe, maybe he will take me.

There was a knock at the door. She called “Decent!” Matthew had told her to do that... when? She wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter. After a moment, the door opened and the psychologist came in.

“Just checking on you, seeing how you’re doing,” the woman said. “How are you feeling today?”

Galerina sat down at the table and smiled. “Just fine! But I’m sure you know that. We had an interview...yesterday? Right?”

The woman nodded. “I’m supposed to let you know if you have any concerns, talk to me.” She studied Galerina carefully.

“I’m just fine! I think things are going well, anyway. It’s hard to tell.”

“When you get in the house, you’ll get your full capabilities back. Going into hypnosis so much, so frequently, it may be difficult to keep that detachment at bay. But you seem to like it, or so you said yesterday.”

Had she? Galerina couldn’t remember. “It really is fine,” she said. “You can go on to the next person. Isn’t it almost time for my training session?”

The woman laughed. “You’re eager. Well, if you’re all right...” she trailed off.

“Im fine. Take care of someone else.” She smiled until the psychologist left, then looked at the curtained window with a sigh.

“Come soon, Matthew...” she whispered. “I want to be that much closer to the end of this.”

Perhaps that is where it begins.

Or perhaps it begins with the first day the final ten meet and come before the Audience.

Randi sat by the side of the pool and sighed happily. As far as she could tell, three weeks had passed since she first came to the hotel. It was hard to tell. The days blurred peacefully into one another.

She smoothed a hand over her flat belly. The five pounds which had so concerned her melted away sometime during the second week. She dimly remembered exercising and getting a body fat assessment, but that felt as distant as kindergarten to her. All of her clothes fit her perfectly. When she remembered they existed, of course... most of the time the soft white T-shirts and shorts were all she wanted to wear.

A young man came out of the hotel hallway escorted by two of the techs. His eyes were glazed and blank, but this failed to surprise Randi. She watched incuriously as they brought him closer. Her tech didn’t even look up.

Randi recognized the shaggy-haired young man from the morning meetings. She remembered thinking that his eyes were kind. He showed signs of working out, but he was far from musclebound. In fact, Randi could see signs of disappearing baby fat. His entranced face looked vulnerable and appealing as he stared into the tech’s hand. Randi knew there was a flashing LED cupped in the tech’s palm. She shivered for a moment with delight at the thought, then wondered at herself.

The young man’s tech closed his hand around the LED and said “Pool, strip to shorts, then wake and exercise.” He stepped out of the way as the contestant walked forward, stripped off his shirt, and sat down on the side of the pool. After only a second, he shook his head and looked around. Randi watched the personality return to his face.

The young man was slightly taller than she, Randi decided. His skin showed no sign of past adolescent issues. He glanced over at her and offered a shy smile before sliding into the pool.

Randi watched him swim for a while. She certainly had nothing else to do, unless they summoned her to training. The water sloshed out of the pool on the near side as he made the turn.

For the tiniest split second, she considered asking her tech if she could speak to him. Just as quickly, she dismissed the idea. It felt much more pleasant to just watch and enjoy the sunlight than to break the spell of the warm afternoon with idle chatter.

After a while, the man pulled himself out of the pool. Droplets sparkled on his hair as he toweled moisture from his body. Randi felt herself getting very passively aroused and realized it had been weeks since she had even thought about sex. This is a heck of a dry spell, too, she thought. Oh well. It’s far better than to have bad sex with...

She frowned, unable to remember the name of... that guy. The one who had bothered her. She remembered tears over him, and she felt like she remembered something in the last couple of weeks about breaking down during training. It all felt unreal.

The young man by the pool noticed her frown and looked at himself anxiously. She shook her head, waving a finger. I hope he understands it’s not about him, she thought. It didn’t occur to her this time to break her silence.

He appeared relieved and began to slather on sunscreen. Randi nodded to herself. That explains that pristine skin, she thought. He actually cares how he looks. He looked up at Randi and raised the bottle of sunscreen with an inquiring look. She ran a finger over her own skin, then nodded. He padded around the pool and silently offered her the bottle.

Randi got an idea. She glanced at the watching techs, then took the sunscreen. He was about to turn away when she caught hold of his hand. He jumped with surprise. Randi quickly stroked his wrist to let him know it was all right, then turned his hand palm up. She squeezed some sunscreen into his palm and sat up. She turned her back toward him and looked over her shoulder. Come on, she prayed. Get the idea.

Randi needn’t have worried. The young man’s cheeks flushed and he looked over at the techs. “Can... can I do this? If we don’t talk at all?” he said. Randi noticed his voice was a little raspy, as if he hadn’t talked in a while, but it would be pleasant enough under normal circumstances.

His tech shrugged. “No oral or written communication, Caleb, but if Randi wants you to put on sunscreen for her and you can do it without talking, more power to you both.” He leaned back and exchanged glances with Marta, Randi’s tech. They looked more amused than anything.

Caleb and Randi both relaxed. He sat down on the chaise lounge next to her and began to rub the cool cream over the backs of her shoulders. She sighed and let her head droop forward. This is my first physical contact in days, she thought. I’m going to enjoy it.

She closed her eyes and tried not to purr as Caleb stroked the lotion down between her shoulder blades. His fingers were gentle and free of callus. A student or office worker of some kind, she decided. He’s never done any kind of hard work with those hands.

Caleb coated her back and arms with the sunscreen, then paused and looked uncertain. She smiled at him, squeezed his hand, and began to apply the lotion to her own chest and belly. He gulped and quickly looked at the water. Randi grinned as she glanced over at the bulge in his shorts.

Good to know I’m still attractive. Maybe I’m even more attractive than I was before... She felt that pleasant shiver again. If we both make it to the show, I’ll have to get to know him a little better.

Randi touched Caleb’s arm with the bottle to let him know she was finished. He took it back with a wink and got up to go back to his own chair. As Randi basked in the sun, she was aware of Caleb’s gaze. Her nipples hardened, but she had no urge to touch herself.

She smiled to herself. Yes, he’s cute enough. I hope his personality matches! She soaked in the sunlight and lost herself in pleasant fantasies.

Thue and her tech entered the hotel gym together. He settled down by the wall to watch her. She stripped off her shirt and got on the treadmill in sports bra and shorts. It took her a minute to figure out how to get the machine started, but before long she was enjoying her warmup walk.

The fitness room walls were covered with mirrors. Instead of watching herself, she watched her tech. the first week he had told her his name was Adam. He was a tall, statuesque black man. At the moment, he rested settled back in a chair with his eyes closed. He looked peaceful and calm.

Thue shuddered slightly and averted her gaze. She vaguely recalled him telling her to get in bed more than once. Adam had treated her with respect, she felt sure of that. It made him all the more interesting. He could have taken advantage of her, but she didn’t remember him even trying. He could have, she admitted to herself. She wouldn’t necessarily have remembered. Still, her gut told her that he had been ethical.

Part of her felt a little disappointed with that.

She increased the speed on the treadmill and began to run. Adam sat up and opened his eyes. She fought down a strong urge to keep quiet and spoke.

“When do we go into the house?”

Adam shrugged. “Won’t be long now... if you finish training. We need the best.”

Thue frowned. Sweat began to form between her shoulder blades and under her breasts. The desire to be silent grew stronger, but she suppressed it. “What happens to those who don’t make it?” she asked.

Adam closed his eyes. “We give them some suggestions for a better life and they go on to other things. Don’t stress it. It’s not worth it.” He grinned. “This is the best job the bosses have ever granted me. If you lose, I have to take another assignment. I think you’ll do fine, though, if you just let the training work and stop thinking about it too much.”

Thue wanted to retort back something along the lines of “Easy for you to say.” Before she could open her mouth, a curious lightheadedness washed over her. She found herself looking down at the green display on the treadmill. the lights flashed and her thoughts fogged even further. From behind her, she heard Adam growl “That’s right, Thue. Those thoughts aren’t as important as staying in shape. You want to look good for the cameras, so you just keep on jogging. The machine will slow down when it’s time. Feel how your body moves, like a machine. You could run for hours if you needed to. Just keep going.”

Thue became aware of the smooth and rhythmic thud of her feet hitting the moving belt. After a moment, she completely forgot there was even a chance she might not be chosen. She wanted to look good for the cameras.

She kept running into peaceful nothingness.

“Rene, Marissa. Please come in.”

The two contestants entered Varron’s office together. They sat in chairs just a little apart. Rene blinked a little, still shaking off the effects of the hypnosis he had experienced in the waiting room. Marissa looked a lot more composed, but her green eyes betrayed the red rims of recent trance.

Varron sat down and steepled his fingers. “I have some questions to ask, but I want to make sure you both answer truthfully. I could have interviewed you separately, but since my time is short I:m going to do this together and just trust you both to tell me what’s really going on. Let me lay out the situation for you here.

“You are each in the final fifteen contestants. Both of you have tested out extremely well, and on the whole I couldn’t be more pleased. I don’t think either of you were totally honest on your applications, though, and that bothers me. I need everything to work just like that...” He snapped his fingers.

Rene’s brown eyes glazed over. Marissa swayed slightly in her seat before her face became blank and masklike. Varron smiled. “Very good. Marissa, you will listen to what Rene has to say. You will not be able to think while you listen, and each word spoken will take you deeper and deeper, but you will be able to tell me if he is speaking the truth.” He turned his gaze to Rene. “Rene, you will answer my questions truthfully and to the best of your ability. Each word spoken in this room will take you deeper and deeper. Is that clear?”

Rene’s lips parted. He whispered “Yes...”

“Good. Now, explain to me how you know Marissa.”

Rene unconsciously licked his lips before continuing. “I knew Marissa in high school. We were sort of distant friends. When I applied to this show, I did not know she would be here. I was unaware until I saw her in the meeting room the first day. We didn’t speak then and have not since. But I knew her three years ago. We haven’t talked in two.” He fell silent.

Varron nodded. “Eyes closed, deeper and deeper.” He noted with amusement that both contestants closed their eyes. “Now, Marissa. You will speak the truth as well.”

The heavyset redhead’s voice was flat and mechanical. “I knew Rene in high school. We saw each other the first day. I did not have time to speak to him then. Afterwards, I did not want to. Keeping the silence between the contestants feels better than talking.”

Varron pulled out the files and glanced over them. “A toy collector and a computer programmer. I see.” He tapped his lips thoughtfully with the pen. “You understand I can’t have contestants on the show who know one another. Neither of you want to lose your chance at this show. You both want to be on the show more than anything. You:re both so very suggestible, I know I can use you well. still, the fact that you know one another is a problem. Marissa, do you have anything to say, still staying very deep and relaxed?”

The redhead murmured “No... you will choose the best.”

Varron turned his gaze to Rene. “And what do you have to say, still staying very deep and relaxed?”

Rene had slumped over sideways in the office chair, but still spoke clearly if quietly. “You will choose the best.”

Varron smiled. “I have a way to resolve this, then. You will now stay deep in hypnosis and report to the training center. You will need extra training, and how well it takes will determine your placement on the show. And I know you want that to happen, both of you.” He pressed the buttons to summon the techs.

The two deeply hypnotized contestants left the room with their techs guiding them. Varron studied the two files and smiled to himself.

Zander blinked a few times and shook himself. He realized he was sitting at a round table with nine other people. All of them were stretching and looking around. Zander glanced down and confirmed he still wore the white shirt and shorts he remembered putting on that morning. Everyone else wore the same thing.

“Good afternoon!” Varron entered the room and sat down at the head of the table. He plopped a set of file folders down in front of him. Zander found himself giving the producer his total attention.

“Before we go any farther, I want to thank each of you for your patience these last few weeks. I know you’ve all given your best. I’ve been in some of your training sessions. Each and every one of you is really remarkable, and I want you to know I respect the commitment you’ve shown... both on a conscious and an unconscious level. I’ve learned a lot from you these past few weeks. I’m honored to know you.”

He paused and looked around before going on. “Because there are ten of you, you may have already figured out what I’m about to say. Nevertheless, I’m delighted to tell you that the ten of you are our finalists. You will be moving into the house as soon as we finish this meeting.”

Zander gasped and grinned. One of the girls let out a squeal, and one of the other men pumped a fist. No one else said anything, even though all were smiling. It’s not time to talk yet, Zander thought. He’ll let us know when we have permission.

“Now, we obviously want to have most of the getting-to-know you on camera. Therefore, we will begin filming in the next two hours. Your interactions at that point will be sent to a live internet feed, and will also be broadcast on live television.” Varron smiled as he looked around at the stunned faces. “Yes, this is real. We’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes. You’ve done a lot of work, though I daresay most of you don’t remember all of it. We feel we’ll be able to deliver a quality product to our audience, and we’re thrilled you all are a part of it.”

Varron stood up and gestured the techs into the room. “On behalf of myself, the techs, and everyone involved with this show... thank you. Let’s get this party started!” The techs began to applaud.

Zander felt his cheeks flush. A quick glance around the table told him that most of the others there shared his feelings. He saw the other contestants as if for the first time. Maybe it is, he thought a trifle cynically. The only thing they seemed to have in common was a bemused look. Before he could really get a good look at any of them, one of the techs cleared his throat and Zander instinctively looked back at the producer.

Varron beamed at all of them possessively before he cleared his throat. All eyes instantly moved to him. He clapped his hands loudly three times and said “Remove gag order.”

Zander’s head swam and he grabbed the table for support. His vision blurred and then refocused. As his bearings began to return, he heard the tall, skinny guy murmur “Hell of a ride, better have been organic.”

Zander grinned and shook his head again. It’s like everything has sharp edges again, instead of being slightly fuzzy, he thought. After a moment, he turned toward the redheaded, heavyset woman beside him and offered a smile. “You OK?” he said uncertainly.

She nodded and smiled back. “Yeah, I’m just fine. Weirded out slightly, but just fine.”

The older man stretched. “This promises to be interesting,” he said. “I hope we all manage to sleep well in close quarters.”

Varron chuckled. “Oh, you will,” he said. “Don’t worry. You will.”

Zander knew that statement should sound odd, but instead he found himself laughing too. Reuben, his tech, came and stood beside him. “Come on,” he said. “You have to go pack up your stuff. We ain’t got all day. We’re live in one hour, forty-five.”

Zander bounced up out of his seat, jostling the redhead in the process. “Sorry!” he apologized.

She grinned at him and waved him on. “We all have to get ready!” She turned to her own tech and they headed out the door. Reuben and Zander followed.

At the door to the elevator Zander hesitated. Something felt odd, missing. “Um... shouldn’t we...?” He found it hard to verbalize what he felt.

Luckily, Reuben had come to know him well. “The flashing? Nah. Not this time. The gag order’s off. You can talk and stay awake up there if you want.”

Zander shivered as part of him rebelled. What if I don’t want to? What if...

The doors opened and he made himself go inside. A cute, obviously Asian girl and her tech got on with them. Zander’s eyes moved up toward the numbers. He felt himself sway as the elevator went up.

Then the doors opened again and Reuben tapped his arm. “Wake up, sleepy. Come on. Packing.”

Zander flushed in embarrassment, but the girl just nodded. “I felt the same way,” she told him. Her tech unlocked the door closest to the elevator and they went inside.

He ran a hand through over his military-cut brown hair and followed Reuben down the hall. He wondered when he’d gotten a haircut, since he knew his hair grew too fast for him to have missed one. He couldn’t remember. The need to know vanished as Reuben unlocked the door. “I can’t believe I’m finally leaving,” he muttered. “It feels like I’ve always lived here.”

Reuben sat on the chair and watched as Zander got out his bag. “You have. Part of you, anyway. See, things are gonna be different now. You signed the papers, you went through training... the old Zander is pretty much gone. You just changed your life, buddy. But I think you’ll find you like your new one.”

Zander paused in pulling underwear out of the drawer and grinned. “I sure hope so. Thanks for keeping me safe, buddy. I owe you one.”

Reuben shrugged, unable to hide a pleased smile. “It was a good assignment,” was all he would say.

Half an hour later, Zander boarded the bus with four of the others. He recognized the cute Asian girl, and he dimly remembered seeing the tall blonde before. The other woman on the bus was a serene-looking brunette. A curly-haired man boarded last. The techs settled the gear and then went to the front of the bus, leaving the contestants alone in the back.

The bus pulled out and headed onto the highway. Zander took a deep breath and looked around at the others. “So... here we are. We made it.” He was surprised at how easy it suddenly felt to speak to them, after so long in silence.

The Asian girl grinned back. “I’m really glad we all made it. It was a weird three weeks, wasn’t it?” She extended a hand. “Thue’s my name.”

Zander took it and was surprised by how warm it was. “Zander. I’m a guitarist.”

The brunette glanced towards the front of the bus, then back to Zander and Thue. “Are we supposed to introduce ourselves yet?” Zander’s heart raced at the soft smoothness of her voice.

The curly-headed man shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt or help, I imagine. There’s another busload we’ll have to meet on-camera, after all.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “I’m Larry. You all have good energy, I gotta say.”

Zander decided that Larry had to be from California. He shifted his gaze to the tall blonde. She smiled back. “I’m Cat,” she said. “I’ll just wait to introduce myself more until we’re all together, so I don’t have to repeat myself.”

The brunette shrugged. “Since everyone else is introducing themselves... I’m Marlene.”

That fits, Zander thought. You look like a Marlene should. He glanced between the three women and decided that even though Cat was the most stereotypically beautiful, both Thue and Marlene were more attractive to him. Thue had a toned look he liked, and Marlene radiated experience and class.

The bus pulled through a set of guarded gates and into a studio back lot. Zander peered out the windows but didn’t know how to really interpret what he saw. People scurried everywhere on their errands. When he turned back to the others, Larry was massaging his temples. “Any of you feeling strange?” he asked.

Zander shook his head. “I think I feel more awake than I have in weeks,” he admitted, “but not strange. Except that it feels strange to be all the way awake.”

Thue giggled. “I know what you mean. It doesn’t feel like it was three weeks. It feels like more... and less.”

Before Zander could answer, the bus pulled into a dark garage. The techs got up and began to get bags. Zander realized that none of them had spoken since the bus ride began. The hair rose on his arms for a moment, but then he shook himself and the apprehension went away. It felt much more pleasant to watch Thue getting off the bus.

The techs led them through the garage and through the gate in a fence. The fence boasted cameras at each corner. Zander took a deep breath and ran his hand over his hair again. The center of the courtyard had five benches set in a rough circle. He headed for one and sat down. The others followed. He settled his bag by his feet and looked around again.

After a moment, he realized the house was behind him. When he tried to look at it, it seemed so decidedly unremarkable he found himself looking away. OK, that has to be conditioning, he decided. Just like the gag order. They don’t want us to care about the outside of the house. And that’s... OK. I can live with that. Should I be able to live with it? Who knows?

The fence opened again and the rest of the contestants trooped in. They stood for a moment just inside the gate, looking around, before they joined Zander’s busload on the benches. The techs stepped forward. Thue’s tech spoke up.

“It’s time for us to go on. You’re going to be on film now. In a minute, your host will come out and start the ball rolling. It’s been a pleasure working with you.” He nodded to the other techs. As one, they moved forward to say goodbye to their contestants.

Reuben offered his hand. “Good luck, man. I hope you do well. Be seeing you, maybe.”

Zander shook his tech’s hand and clapped him on the shoulder. “If I win, I want you for my assistant. You were great. Thanks for everything.”

Marlene pulled her tech into an embrace. Thue smiled up at hers. The babble went on for a few minutes before the techs headed out. Zander realized he was having a lot of trouble keeping track of time. It’s supposed to have been two hours till filming... how long did it take me to pack? How long were we on the bus? Are we already filming now?

The tall, skinny guy from the conference room let out a low whistle. Zander turned around to follow his gaze. A tall, willowy woman in a business suit stood in the now-open house doorway. Her hair was so blonde it blazed in the sunlight. He couldn’t make his eyes focus on hers. For once, he was glad the white shorts were loose.

Everyone fell silent as she stepped forward, her eyes on the gate-top camera. “Today our ten contestants are entering the house for the first time. They have been sequestered and have never met one another. Let’s watch as they meet for the first time!”

The cameras all moved to cover them from every angle. The contestants looked around at one another, then back at the woman as she went on. “We’ll start with Caleb.”

The young man ran a hand through his unruly hair and grinned nervously. “Hi. I’m Caleb, I’m a sociology major from the University of North Modesto. Um. I’m twenty years old, glad to be here. That’s it, really.”

He glanced at his benchmate, who took over. “You may call me Galerina. I’m twenty-one years old.” She looked around and shook her head. “And I don’t know what to say to any of you, really.”

Zander kept a straight face, but it was difficult. Someone’s been reading too many stupid novels and wants to be just like them, he decided. She’ll be interesting to live with. He realized it was his turn. “I’m Zander, I’m a music teacher. I play guitar. I’m twenty-five.” He glanced at Thue.

She smiled at him before taking her turn. “I’m Thue, I’m a fitness trainer. I’m twenty-seven.”

Zander blinked. She doesn’t look it! he thought. His jaw dropped lower when Marlene took her turn.

“I’m Marlene, a linguist and translation specialist. I’m twenty-nine.” She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and gave Zander an amused look. He closed his mouth and tried to regain his cool.

The curly-haired man spoke up. “My name is Larry. I’m a psychic medium and, well, ghostbuster.” He waited for the laughs he clearly expected. “I’m thirty-two.”

The stocky redhead took her turn. “My name is Marissa, I’m a computer programmer. I’m as old as I want to be, which sometimes includes acting like a five-year-old when I get frustrated. Sorry in advance.”

The blonde from Zander’s bus waited for the chuckles to subside before going on. “My name is Sonia, but my stage name is Catarina. I’m an exotic dancer.” She sat back, arms folded and looking slightly defensive.

The tall, skinny guy shook his head. “I can’t get this lucky!” he muttered before raising his voice. “I’m Rene, I own a comics store and I collect, well, toys. It’s a living.”

The chestnut-haired beauty next to him blinked and then laughed. “I guess I’m last. I’m Randi, and I’m an actress. Which, in southern California, means I wait tables.”

Before they could react further, the woman in the business suit stepped into the center of the circle. “All of these contestants have been through intense hypnotic conditioning. Up until this moment, they have been unaware that four of them have in fact agreed to have their entire pasts erased. They have forgotten who they really are, and believe they are someone else. If any contestant figures out who they are, they will win bonus prizes.”

The contestants looked around at one another. I don’t remember anything like that! Zander thought, almost panicked. Did I agree to something like that? It can’t be me! Candidly, he had to admit to himself that the last few weeks were so fuzzy, and his memory of life outside the hotel so vague, that it could have been. He wondered if the others felt the same.

The blonde went on. “The winner, of course, will gain a job and salary. But there are other prizes, determined by the audience. There will be tasks, again determined by the audience. In fact, major events for the next eight weeks will be determined by you... the audience.” She smiled into the camera.

Zander shifted uncomfortably in his seat. I know I agreed to a lot of things, he thought. I just hope this is worth it. His train of thought derailed when the blonde touched his shoulder.

“In a moment, these ten people will enter the house. At that point, their fate is in your hands. Contestants, get your bags. It’s time to go in!”

His heart pounded as Zander lifted his bag and stood up. His stomach twisted. No going back now, he thought. No going back at all. He gestured for the others to precede him, hoping the cameras would focus on them instead.

The blonde led them into the house. They filed in one by one. Zander caught a glimpse of light gleaming off the camera lenses outside as he took a last look back. Then the door closed behind them, cutting them off from the world.