The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“So why does she call you ‘Cici’?” Scarlett asked.

The red team—Scarlett, Chere, Laine and Annie—were standing in their little airlock room, waiting for the match to start.

“It’s my initials. ‘Chere Collins,’” Chere replied with a sigh. “When I was a kid, I hated being called ‘Chere,’ so Sunny came up with that.” And just won’t fucking stop with it.

“Why not just do like Laine and use your middle name?”

“Don’t have one. Wait, Laine...?”

“’Virginia Elaine,’” Laine cut in. “Got tired of being ‘Ginny’ all the time.”

“Yeah, I could see that. I get a little worn out with ‘Cici.’ Only my family ever uses it, but it sure stuck good.”

“Don’t have a middle name?” Annie asked. “I thought everyone had a middle name.”

Chere shook her head. “Not me, not Sunny. Not sure about Fatin.”

“I’m Scarlett Lana Peary Davis, so I’ve got an extra in there to make up for someone missing one.”

“Heh, nice,” Laine said. “What about you, Annie?”

“Anita Danell Grace,” she replied. “Apparently I was supposed to be a boy—I would’ve been Daniel Andrew, after my grandpa.“

Laine nodded. “I got both of my mom’s grandmothers’ names.”

“Not always fun is it?” Annie grinned. “Still, ain’t never been ‘Anita’ ’cept on official forms. Been Annie since they cut me outta mom.”

“How did I wind up with a musical act from last century?” Chere rolled her eyes. “Mom’s got a lot to answer for.”

“At least you got a good musical act,” Scarlett joked. Chere rolled her eyes.

“I’ve heard a lot about ‘Mother Collins,’” Laine said, making air quotes, “nothing about your dad.“

“Dad stuck around long enough to see us get named, I guess.” Chere shrugged. “At least that’s what Mom says. Don’t know the story more than that. She’s never been bitter or angry about it or anything, so that attitude sorta rubbed off on us. We’ve got each other, andMom, and it wasn’t like we were ever starving. Never needed anything.”

Annie knocked on the door out into the maze. “Hey! We gonna start this thing, or do the four of us have to go through our whole family trees?”

Tanya’s voice came over the tinny PA speakers in the cramped little room. “Sorry, ladies, just need a couple minutes here. There’s been a couple programming slips and I’ve got to patch it up before we can go on. If you want, I can let you back into the waiting room.”

Scarlett sat on the floor. “I’m good to stay in here if it’s not long.”

“Anything I can help with?” Laine asked, loud enough to be heard.

The PA crackled again. “No, thanks, I got this. Should just be a minute.”

“Programming slips...” Annie said quietly. “With the computers, or with us?”

“Maybe with Sunny,” Laine said. When the other three turned to look at her, she flushed some. “Uh, she seemed like she was maybe dealing with something last game.”

“Like what?” Chere asked, concern evident in her voice.

“She had this, ah, weird conspiracy thing going on. In her head, not like, for real. Like she kept going on about how this was all like an episode of Alter / Control / Delete. Even compared Liss to Doctor D.“

“Who?” Annie asked. “Heard about the show of course, never seen it.”

“The mysterious mind-controlling villain,” Chere replied. “Keeps messing with this bunch of college kids through a computer virus in their Alteration programming.”

“If Liss did something to Sunny, maybe by accident it made a little conflict with something else in her programming, and Liss didn’t catch it, or it didn’t show for a bit.” Laine must have seen the worry on Chere’s face, mirroring that of their other two teammates, because she quickly continued talking. “Harmless. It’d be harmless. The absolute worst cases I’ve heard of last a few hours at most. It could get strange for a bit if it doesn’t get fixed. If it is even that in the first place.“

“What do you mean, ‘if’ Liss did something to Sunny?” Chere asked, concerned for her sister. ”Did Liss do something to Sunny? What did Liss do to Sunny?“

Laine flushed and stammered under interrogation. “You... you know they hit us with little suggestions and stuff all the time, right? They have to keep things... you know... running. So I dunno, maybe Liss didn’t do anything. Or maybe it was something perfectly normal that just caused a problem, because people are weird and brains are messy. It didn’t have to be Liss, it could have just been part of the system, or...”

“Makes sense,” Scarlett replied. “I’ve been having some conflicts between my basketball programming and the stuff they’ve got us doing today.”

“Really?” Laine asked, sounding a bit relieved for the change in subject. Chere looked at up at Scarlett, feeling uneasy.

Scarlett shrugged. “I’m here for Sam, for fun, that’s all. It’s not a big deal. The laser tag Alters still get me, but sometimes my training has a problem with it.”

“O-okay, but if it gives you any more trouble you should talk to Tanya,” Laine said, an odd note in her voice and a strange look on her face.

Scarlett turned to her friend. “Is this ‘later’ yet?” she asked.

Chere raised an eyebrow, curious. Odd thing to say. It didn’t even make sense. She looked to Laine, hoping for an explanation.

Laine shook her head and swallowed. “No... no, I don’t think it is. Is it your ‘later’?“

Scarlett shrugged. “It... It could be, especially after that last game was so, I dunno, chill, I guess. I mean, if you all don’t mind confessional hour.”

Annie sat down, followed by Chere and Laine. “Don’t really care,” Annie replied, “nothin’ else to do until the doors open.”

Scarlett let out a puff of air. “Okay. Well. I’m pretty used to being Altered, right?” She waited. Everyone nodded. “And I’m a little sick of it. Everything being geared to the team, everything pushing me to my studies and practice and training. Even affects what I eat, how long I sleep. And then here where I get zapped and the lights tell me to stay put and play fair and I have to try to hold my pose and all that. Anyway, I pretty much decided that once we’re outta here, and once I graduate in May, I’m done with Alteration, at least a while, maybe forever. I’m just tired of it.

“But then we were doing the blind queen thing, and...” Scarlett’s tone lightened. “And something, I dunno, something clicked. Something started to make a lot of sense. And I don’t wanna be Altered anymore, maybe ever, but...“

“You want to Alter me—er, us,” Chere said, embarrassed at her utter failure to sound casual. Since when do I get breathless?

Scarlett nodded, apparently not noticing the slip. “I think I’ve got this figured out. I want to—I mean, not as a job or anything, but...”

Laine leaned over and pulled her friend into a hug. “So happy for you. Let me know if I can help.”

Chere grinned, feeling her heart leap. “Is it too early to volunteer as a test subject?”

Scarlett swallowed. “Actually, I was kind of—”

The PA interrupted. “Everything sorted out, we’ll be starting in fifteen seconds.”

“Time for that later,” Annie said, climbing to her feet. “Lock and load!”

Chere’s HUD lit up.

Sam’s Bachelorette Party! Match 6!

The Virus

10 minute time limit

Friendly fire is ON

Powerups are ON — V. STRONG / VIRUS set

Sudden Death is ON

The game will begin in 15 seconds

Tanya clapped her hands for attention. “Alright, ladies. The Virus. I’m glad we got to do this one last, no offense, Sam.”

“None taken,” Sam said with a wave of her hand. “Just happy to play it.”

Tanya grinned. “So, it’s scored like the tapout match we played first, but The Virus isn’t a tapout.”

Athena raised her hand. “So, what, we have to tag every other player?”

“That’s right,” Tanya said. “And when all of one team is infected with a virus, the other team scores a point and that virus is eliminated, cleared away from both teams and removed from play. Think of it like a match game, like ‘ShininGems’ or ‘Drop DragoSphere.’ Match four viruses on one team and they vanish.”

Chere cleared her throat, uncertain, uncomfortable. “What... are these viruses, exactly?“

“Alter programs. Some affect your tagger, some affect your zapper, some affect you.”

Chere nodded. She’d been afraid of that. Every Alter’s seed had seemed to find very fertile gound in her mind, and feeling those sorts of highs and lows could get tiring. She often wound up feeling like an actor in one of those old movies her sister liked, one who wasn’t very good and compensated for that by trying oh so very, very hard.

“You spread a virus by shooting or tagging someone. When you hit them, every virus you’re carrying is copied over to their system.”

“Hold up,” Scarlett interrupted. “’Copied,’ not, ‘sent’?”

“You can’t get rid of a cold by spreading it,” Tanya pointed out. “Unless, in this case, you spread it to four very specific people.”

“So whatever a virus does to us, we have to live with it...”

“Until you give it to all of one team or the other, yes. They do have an expiry on them; if they last a minute without being spread, they fade out.“

“How do we get the viruses in the first place?” Sunny asked.

Tanya grinned. “Self-inflicting them. You can pick them up like powerups, on the walls.”

Chere took a drink of her water before speaking. “So. We pick up one of these viruses, deliberately, and hope that we can give it to all four people on the other team before they pass it back to our teammates?”

Tanya nodded. “That’s pretty much it, yeah. If you don’t have a virus, you can zap or tag someone for a two-second deactivation. They’ll get that deactivation even if you do have a virus, actually. But the game is all about risk and reward, figuring out how much you can deal with, taking chances.“

“And also about shooting people,” Fatin said.

Tanya laughed. “Yes, of course.”

Chere hid her expression behind another drink of water. She wasn’t really sure what her face would betray—the fun of the game, the challenge of the competition, or her mixed feelings for all the Altering—she just knew that she wanted to keep it to herself for the time being.

“Fuck this cooldown,” Chere cursed, her voice shaky. “Five seconds between shots.”

Scarlett nodded. “It’s alright. You’re a good shot, Chere, you can do this.”

Chere nodded. And then, seeing Sam level her weapon, she dodged aside, grabbing Scarlett’s hand and pulling her along.

They sprinted around corners, down corridors, getting some distance between them and the blue team.

Chere paused to catch her breath. “You okay, Scar?” she asked.

Scarlett shook her head. She put a hand to her mouth.

Mute.

“Hey, wait a sec,” Annie said as she was putting her visor on. “Chere and Sunny are split up, but they’re both going in naked. One of them’s gonna lose. What happens then?”

Tanya looked up from the tablet. “Well, anyone who has to strip when already naked will start the last game ‘out.’”

“What does that mean, exactly?” Chere asked, waffling between curiosity and mild apprehension.

Sam cut in. “You’ll learn soon enough. Because one of you will be. And, no offense Chere, but as a proud blue-teamer, I’m hoping it’s you.”

“Not a chance,” Annie snapped back before Chere could reply, staring Sam down confidently. “We got this. We got you.”

Chere agreed with the sentiment, but kept quiet.

“My bachelorette party, and you’re not going to let me win?” Sam pouted.

“I’ve taken off as much as I want,” Chere replied, sticking out her tongue. “It’s your turn to let us see what’s under the skirt.”

Sam snickered. “What do you expect you’ll find there?”

Sunny laughed. “You gotta be covering up something good. Let’s see it!”

“You’re on our team, silly!” Athena retorted.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t look.” Sunny did a little pirouette, stretching tall to show off her naked body. “You’re all looking, after all.”

Athena sputtered a bit, and Sunny laughed again. “Come on, ’Theen, we’ve all been Altered, we’re all looking. More’n we would normally, anyway.”

Was that it, Chere wondered. Was that why Laine couldn’t keep her eyes from wandering, why Annie’s gaze lingered on Laine’s bare breast, why every now and again she could feel Fatin’s stare? Was that why her own eyes kept sliding up and down Scarlett’s tall (and still mostly-clothed) body at every opportunity?

She hoped that wasn’t the only reason, that this wasn’t all just some artificial piece of programming in their heads, that she wasn’t going to walk out of here, and go home to her little apartment, and wake up tomorrow, and it would all be the way it had been that morning.

“If this isn’t normal,” Fatin said with a coy smile, giving voice to some of Chere’s thoughts, “I don’t know if I’m ready to go back to normal.”

Tanya glanced over and smirked. “Arrangements can be made...”

Scarlett looked her in the eyes. “It’s gotta be you, Chere.”

Chere was shaking. She nodded. The viruses were messing with her, messing with them both. Messing with all of them.

“I’ll be right here. I’m your backup,” Scarlett continued, voice wavering. She stepped around Chere and putting her hands on her friend’s shoulders. “Go.”

They hadn’t even been ten seconds out the gate when the HUD told Chere that Sam had picked up a virus. Heavy Feet. She could only imagine what that one would do.

But what it meant was staying away from Sam.

The HUD was interesting, this time. A map of the local area, complete with locations of teammates, but not enemies. Virus sites also showed on the map, so they’d all just be able to go and nab them without fumbling around so much. The round timer in its expected location, bottom-right, and the score top-center. Down the left side was a list of her teammates, and down the right was listed the blue team members, and by Sam’s name were the words, ‘Heavy Feet.’

They had decided to go in pairs, at least to start. Laine and Annie were still visible on Chere’s map as they wound their way through the corridors off to her right, and Scarlett was shown behind her.

“Maybe I should go in front,” Scarlett said, then. “You’re a bit distr—”

Chere’s HUD flashed, and a line traced across the map from “Sam” to “Scarlett” and the words “Heavy Feet” appearing next to the basketball player’s name.

“Ah, Crap. Run, Chere!”

Chere ran deeper into the maze, wanting to avoid Scarlett’s fate, or at least to delay it as long as possible. She kept within radar range, but stayed hidden, out of the way. A two-second deactivation wasn’t a big deal, but catching Heavy Feet from Sam wouldn’t just slow her down, but it’d put the blue team one step closer to scoring the first point, and she didn’t want to concede that so early. There were ten minutes to play, and she wanted to at least be in the game, especially given the way the last two matches had gone.

That being said, Chere had to admit that she wouldn’t mind seeing Scarlett have to take something off, given that she was already nude herself. But then, she didn’t really want to start the final match ‘out,’ whatever that meant.

She had been running long enough; she had to be safely away from Sam. Might as well see if I can get a virus going on the red side, she thought. She picked a virus indicator on her map, moved towards it, only to see it vanish. Something called On the Rail was now in Fatin’s inventory. Chere decided to head in the other direction, towards Laine and Annie; a few moments later, Fatin grabbed another virus, this one called Tackle.

So maybe that would be the blue-team strategy. That meant red-team would have to play for revenge. Chere smiled. Revenge. She could do that. There were a few blue-teamers that needed some.

The problem Chere had been having wasn’t that she didn’t like the Alterations. It wasn’t that they were annoying or conflicting, like Scarlett’s. And it wasn’t that they were making her act in ways she wouldn’t normally—maybe they were, but that wasn’t what had her troubled.

The problem Chere was having was feeling them so deeply, so strongly.

It was almost two minutes since she’d touched the wall, picked up the frustrating curse that hung on her, and on Scarlett, that made her heart plunge whenever she was alone, that made her too shaky to even think of raising her weapon.

Timid, the status screen called it. Timid. Chere couldn’t muster the courage to attack the other team when she wasn’t supported by a friend. And only a moment after that, her sister had tagged her, hitting her with a whole pack of viruses. Her mind had fixated instantly on Fatin, on hunting her down; the thought of doing anything to Sunny in return fled—Obsession. Her laser pistol dropped from her hand, useless, not to be picked up unless she was fired on first—Personal Touch. Her vision narrowed, cut down to a few feet in front of her—Fog of War. And from that moment, any time she was shot or tagged would result in a five-second tapout instead of a two-second deactivation—Nap Time.

Over the next couple minutes those would, slowly but surely, go away, but Timid would remain.

She didn’t want to go around the corner, she didn’t want to take the shot. She wanted to sink back into those two strong arms, melt into the athlete behind her, let herself be carried away into the night and never look back.

She took a step.

Chere shuffled awkwardly around a corner, away from Sam, who was following her as slowly as she was trying to escape. Heavy Feet indeed. It was as though Chere’s shoes were magnetized, stuck to the floor. She couldn’t lift both legs at once. She was reduced to speed-walking, at best, and that wasn’t a skill she could rely on without concentrating on it. Every time her attention slipped, she found herself slowed to an odd, lumbering gait until she got back into a rhythm.

It was a little like marching through peanut-butter, except less delicious.

Chere assessed the names on either side of her visor. Scarlett also had Heavy Feet, along with On the Rail and Tackle, both of which she must have got from Fatin. And just before Sam had given Chere her particular virus, Scarlett had given all three of those to Athena.

Right. Athena. Who was coming around the corner in front of her, thumping with one heavy foot at a time, her tagger pressed firmly against the wall. As soon as she saw Chere, her eyes narrowed and she let out a primal shout, leaning forward and lowering her shoulder, looking like she was going to charge—to tackle. Oh, duh, now she got it.

And it might’ve been interesting, or cool to see from afar, except that Athena’s feet wouldn’t allow her to actually run, so the effect was more odd than intimidating. She looked like she was trying to make headway against an imagined hurricane, one agonizing step at a time, her hand pressed to the wall as though braced for balance.

Chere leveled her pistol and fired. She couldn’t pass on Heavy Feet since Athena already had it, but she didn’t want to get whatever the other two were, and so decided to keep Athena’s weapons deactivated as she lumbered her way along. As they passed, after Chere fired for the third time in a row, Athena stopped her slow-motion rush and leaned on the wall, letting out a tired breath.

“Hate this... heavy foot... thing,” Athena puffed.

“You get... used to it,” Chere replied, shooting her again.

“Hey wait!” Athena gasped, trying to turn. “You forgot... the other two... viruses!”

“Don’t want ’em!” Chere shot her again, then speedwalked around the corner.

Suddenly, Chere’s HUD lit up with a line connecting Sam and Annie. The words “Heavy Feet” turned blue next to everyone’s name (except Sunny, who hadn’t been given it) and then faded to nothing, and the score changed to one-nothing for the blue team. All ready to take her next heavy step, Chere found her feet suddenly moving freely and stumbled, crashing headlong to the soft floor.

Judging by the sounds behind her, Athena had hit the wall, and not lightly.

Chere scrambled to her feet and took off at a run. She’d always been fast, maybe as fast as Fatin on a good day, although none of them held a candle to Scarlett. She wanted to know what “On the Rail” meant, but that didn’t mean she wanted firsthand experience. She could ask Laine or Scarlett later. Or Sam, apparently, since her HUD suddenly showed her that familiar trace; Laine had hit their host, giving Sam both the On the Rail and Tackle viruses. Maybe that would give Chere the time she needed to...

A shout from her left made her turn. Sam was charging down the hall, tagger pressed against the wall, quickly bringing her zapper into alignment. The HUD lit up as Chere scampered past the junction, too slow, too late.

A line of light lit up on both walls, projected there by her visor. She automatically pressed her tagger into it. That was her ‘rail.’ Without her hand in that groove, she wouldn’t be able to walk, let alone continue her running pace. Chere sighed. Alright, she could do this. Not that big a deal. One hand on the wall, the zapper in the other. Might be a fun challenge.

She also knew that at the first sign of that red enemy-glow on her HUD, she would lose control of herself and rush in. Like a bull seeing red. Alright, yes, Chere knew that was a myth, but it still made sense. Probably an Alter thing. She wasn’t looking forward to that moment, either way; maybe she could avoid the mental effects, somehow.

But even if she couldn’t, in a game like this, that had to be the worst she’d run in to. How bad could the mental viruses possibly get?

Chere grit her teeth, steeled her body and mind, pressing her hand to the wall. She didn’t want to take the infection, but there wasn’t much choice. They were down five points after that absolutely insane pileup, and there was currently only one virus going around. Malaprop, whatever that meant. Of her teammates, Scarlett had it, and Sam and Fatin were currently suffering with it on blue’s side—closer to a point than not, but still that wasn’t enough.

Chere could only hope that this one wasn’t another one that would make a mess of her mind. Physical effects she could handle; they had been interesting, even fun, but...

Fair is Foul. Okay, another Shakespeare reference, what did MacBeth have to do with...

The names on her HUD danced around some. She paused. She needed to score points, to pass that virus to the other team, but...

But who was on what team?

Who was on red, and who on blue?

Wait, was she on red, or blue? Her HUD was no help; the score indicator had gone from showing red and blue teams to ‘us’ and ‘them.’

She tried to think, to concentrate. There were three other women in the small room with her, they had been talking, waiting for the game to start. Names. They were discussing names. Middle names. Sunny and Chere didn’t have middle names.

Was Sunny on her team? Or, wait, no. Fatin. No middle name. Fatin didn’t have a middle name either.

Which one of them was Virginia? Chere started walking, thinking, trying to puzzle things out. Peary. That was another one. Strange name that. Was it Sam? Samantha Peary Miller? No, that didn’t sound right. Maybe Athena. Athena Peary Vasilakis. No, that was dumb. She’d have a Greek middle name, whatever it was. Unless Greeks didn’t have middle names.

Annie Peary Grace. Laine Peary Halloran. Sunny Peary Collins. She couldn’t put the name together with any of the girls. If she wasn’t so sure that she was who she was, she might have even tried to give the name to herself.

Chere Peary Collins. Nope. Sounds dumb.

Worse still, the dots on her HUD map had multiplied. She could see at least five other players at the moment, but there was no indication of which team they were on. She knew that those dots used to signal friends, but right now she didn’t know if that was the case. She did know, for sure, that no more than three of them could be allies, or the teams wouldn’t have been fair—her ability to do basic arithmetic was undamaged, at least. Eight players, two teams, four on each.

But she couldn’t even recall which team was hers, if the light on her headset was red or blue, let alone who else had that color.

She turned a corner and saw Sam some distance away. The team indicator light on her visor looked blue, but Chere couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t red. Or maybe it was red, and she only thought it was blue.

Perhaps it was white.

Whatever color the team indicator was, Sam didn’t have the telltale ally-green or enemy-red aura around her to show Chere whether she ought to shoot or not. Because why would she? That would make things too easy.

About then, Sam, noticed her as well.

“Hey Sam,” Chere asked. “What’s your middle name?” And what does Malaprop do?

“My muddle name?” Sam raised her pistol, looking confused. “Jeanelle.”

Not one of the names she recognized from before the game. Which might explain why Sam shot her, temporarily disabling her and passing her the Malaprop virus.

Dammit.

Sam didn’t stick around to find out what Fair is Foul did. She probably already knew, anyway, since she was a veteran player. Chere gave chase, but Sam’s wasn’t the only dot on the map.

As she was chasing Sam, Chere saw Annie nearby. Annie could have shot at Sam. Or Sam could have shot at Annie. But they didn’t shoot at each other. And that meant that Annie and Sam had to be on the same team, right? And Sam had just deliberately shot Chere.

So Chere raised her pistol.

“What’re you doing?” Annie asked, looking shocked.

She looked even more surprised to be shot. Chere could see a wave of confusion passing over her dark features.

“Uh, which term am I on, anyway?” Annie asked.

“I don’t gnaw, but since I shat you we’re probably energies,” Chere replied, shooting her again.

“That mawks sins,” Annie said, raising her weapon.

Chere fired again, keeping Annie deactivated. She could get the gist of what Annie was saying, if she paid attention. “We can stint around until tomb runs out, or we can go some whore else and try and gut red of these viruses.”

“Alright, alright. Trace?”

Chere fired, deactivating Annie’s weapons a third time. “Okay. Trice.”

Annie pointed behind herself with her thumb. “I’ll go thus way, you go thought.”

“Duel.” Chere turned and headed back the way she came, heading towards a pair of dots that turned out to be Sam and Athena, chatting casually, apparently not expecting an attack.

“Wait!” Sam said, scrambling for her zapper. “It’s up! Don’t shout!”

“Leave your pustule alone!” Chere demanded. “I’ll boot you if either win grubs her gone. And I’m gnat shouting!”

Athena raised her hands. “Hey, look, Chere, it’s okay, we’re on your side.”

Jeanelle. Was that one of the names she’d heard before the game? “On my sod?” Was it Sam’s name, or Athena’s? “But wasn’t it Sim that glove me thus?”

“Bowl bon, Sure!” Sam exclaimed.

Athena stared at Sam. “What?”

“Oh, chuck it.” Chere fired at Athena, passing her both the Malaprop and Fair is Foul viruses, then did the same to Sam, giving her Fair is Foul.

There was a momentary silence. Chere swore she could watch their Alterations taking hold, deepening the confusion.

“Flat the fork is going gone?” Athena asked, shaking her head.

Sam pointed her zapper at Athena. “Did brew gust loot me?”

“What are you tickling a trout?”

“My mud of hammer shut bee!”

Chere took a step back, ducked around the corner.

“It was Shore that bought clue,” Athena was saying as Chere walked away, “but thin you bought three.”

“I banned underhanded maneuvers,” Sam replied. “I won’t go but you’re staying!”

Chere moved far enough away after that that she couldn’t hear them. Just as well, she couldn’t understand what they were saying even when she could hear them.

The Malaprop virus reminded her of when Scarlett had had her language all broken up, except that that word salad hadn’t been even close to sensible. She had just been babbling nonsense. Despite that, though, a lot of the babble had been rather... complimentary.

Chere had turned to Scarlett, who was pressing her hand to the powerup sigil on the wall. “What did you get?” she asked.

Scarlett had shrugged. “Your shape is clever and pleasing,” she had answered, clearly coming up with random words. Still, Chere couldn’t help but imagine they were sincere, and spun about like a dancer before carrying on down the hall, instead of just quickly turning.

“Clever and pleasing,” she muttered to herself. “Not the noisiest thugs ever slid about my body, but stale...” she flushed.

A line jumped across her visor, linking Scarlett with Sunny, and all the text that said Malaprop vanished. On her HUD, the point count for “Us” jumped up to four. She was only four points behind.

If only she knew who she was four points behind.

A problem for another time. She picked one of the dots at random and headed off towards it, sure at least that this time she’d be able to communicate.

“Hey, Liss,” Chere tapped the manager on the shoulder. The game had ended, everyone had dispersed to enjoy their break.

“Ah, you are...” Liss turned and looked down. Chere flushed, and her hands twitched, but she didn’t cover herself. It’s just a body, we’ve all got one. “You are Chere, yes. I’m sorry, I haven’t got to know you all as well as would have liked.“

Well, that’s one way to tell twins apart. Chere swallowed. “I’m Chere, yes. Uh. I have a question.“

Liss nodded and crossed her arms casually. “How can I help you?”

“I was, ah, was just wondering,” Chere stammered. “Tanya, uh, a-and that tablet, how much control she has over the game. Over us.”

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“Well, I was wondering... If I, uh, I mean, if someone has a habit, something they always do, but then they don’t do it when they’re in a game, would it be wrong to assume that Tanya had something to do with it?“

Liss smiled gently and put a friendly hand on Chere’s shoulder, looking her straight in the eye. “There are many reasons why someone’s habits might be different under the pressure of the game. I am not an expert in psychology, but we cannot simply ascribe all strangenesses within ourselves to external programming.“

Chere nodded. “That makes sense.”

“We cannot rule it out, of course.” Liss’ smile grew a bit wicked. “It seems that every week Tanya proves herself twice the Alterist I am, and of a mind much more imaginative and far more subtle than mine.”

“That’s less helpful, you know,” Chere sighed.

Liss nodded, all austerity and wisdom and comfort again. How could she get so tall so fast? “It is part of the job of those who run the games not simply to assure the safety, mental and physical, of all our guests, but also to try to make sure that the games are reasonably equitable, fun, and exciting. I’m afraid that I did not accomplish this very well during the game of Blind Queen’s Castle.“

“Lost And Found went fine, though. I think Sunny and I spoiled that more than anything.”

“There are some things that even Tanya would have been unable to correct for,” Liss said with a chuckle. “I have three siblings, myself, and though I am almost thirty, and they are not much older or younger, still we are only one errant comment or two from being at each others’ throats.”

“Glad to know it’s not just us, I guess.” Chere sighed as Liss gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze and let her go. “What does it mean, by the way, to be ‘out’? For the last game, I mean.”

“I would not concern yourself with it at the moment,” Liss said, meeting Chere’s gaze and smiling enigmatically. “You will find out soon enough.”

Something in her tone gave Chere the willies. Still, she asked, “Could you maybe just give me a hint?”

Liss winked at her. “I can say this: it will trouble you no more.”

“Huh? What do you—”

Chere blinked. Had Liss said something? She swore Liss had been talking. Or that she was. Or maybe she’d heard some other noise.

“Does that answer your question?” Liss asked.

“Huh?”

“About Tanya.”

Chere paused. “Sorry, uh, lost my train of thought. Yeah, I guess it does.”

“It is no trouble. I am here to make sure you have the best possible experience, for yourselves and for Sam.” Liss nodded deferentially to Chere. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Chere smiled. “No, thank you, I guess if Tanya did do something, it was for the good of the game.”

“I believe that Tanya can be trusted, absolutely.” Liss chuckled. “If there is nothing else...?”

“Oh! Sorry, yes, I’m keeping you from your work.” Chere smiled. “Thank you, Liss, I feel much better.”

“It was my pleasure.” Liss returned to preparing the table for dessert.

Chere waited a moment, then turned away, heading out into the lobby to talk to Scarlett, thinking about what she’d been told.

They had been clawing back from a six point deficit. Little by little, inch by inch, shot by shot, point by point.

It had become a six point deficit when Sunny had given Chere three viruses in a single shot—Obsession, Fog of War, Nap Time—and had in the process got rid of a fourth, Grid Lines, scoring the point for it.

From there, with about ninety seconds left, Laine had put her hands on Sam, and Nap Time had gone away. That was crucial; time was limited, and if every tag cost them five seconds instead of two, it was so much worse.

Then Scarlett had been there. Warm. Tall. Comforting. Showing nothing but support when her teammate needed her. It had been that strength and support that allowed Chere to get close to the blue team and to return fire when Fatin had shot at her. Fatin had hit Scarlett, sure, but she didn’t have a virus load to pass on; Chere did, though, and suddenly Fatin also wouldn’t be able to use her laser pistol unless she was shot at first.

Fatin would also know that nagging obsession that said that she couldn’t shoot or tag anyone who wasn’t her designated target, and given the way the Obsession virus worked—that she could only have an obsession for someone without the virus—that meant that Fatin’s target could only be Scarlett.

“I’ll block her, you run,” Chere said, sounding far, far more confident than she felt. Besides, she knew that she couldn’t do anything to stop Fatin; her mind had already turned to a new target in Athena. And Fatin wouldn’t—couldn’t—be distracted by her efforts anyway, single-minded as she would be.

Fortunately, the timidity virus meant that Fatin wouldn’t be doing anything to Scarlett without another blue team member around.

Once Fatin had almost apologetically slipped around her and wandered off into the fog down the hallway, Chere continued on her way. She wanted to give chase, but knew that for her mission—shooting Athena—she would need to be elsewhere.

And then, the obsession lifted. A trace jumped across her visor from Laine’s name to Athena’s, and that was the end of the Obsession virus. And it couldn’t have been more than a second or two before another line shot across the HUD, linking Annie to Sam, eliminating the Fog of War. Two points, back-to-back, and it was a three-point game.

And still, Chere searched for Athena. She needed to catch her Greek friend to get rid of Personal Touch, to score the point and to be able to use her zapper freely. She also needed an ally, in order to get up the will to attack.

Laine. Laine had to be close to Athena; Laine had just scored a point by shooting her, after all. Chere could see where Scarlett was which wasn’t that far away, so Laine would be one of the other two dots, in the opposite direction, just at the periphery of the map’s range.

Chere made a choice and moved. She chose correctly; a few seconds of slinking went by and she was rewarded with a fresh virus sigil appearing on the display, smack between her and the dot she was chasing. That virus sigil vanished, and her HUD informed her that Laine had acquired Slow Fire.

Heart racing, nervous about running into anyone on blue team, Chere picked up the pace, jogging towards the mark on her map that she now knew was Laine. Fortunately, she caught up with her with no trouble, explained the situation, and Laine guided her to where she’d shot Athena.

Laine ducked around a corner and jumped back, narrowly avoiding being shot. But while a miss, it was close enough to Chere that she could put her zapper in her hand. She stepped out into the line of fire and put a shot straight into her friend’s visor.

And that was the next point, and the end of Personal Touch. And Athena was going to be as timid as Chere had felt, with no teammate around. Knowing that, Laine had no problem stepping out again and spreading her Slow Fire virus.

A minute to go. Athena had run off. Chere and Laine had split up, not entirely intentionally, when Athena came back at them with Sam, pushing them in different directions. Chere wound up with Slow Fire herself, courtesy of Athena, and ran back to where she’d been before that interruption, meeting up with Scarlett.

Which was when Sam passed Tongue-tied on to the basketball player.

With forty seconds left.

Slow Fire meant she could only pull the trigger once every five seconds. No restrictions on tags, of course, but it was hard to get close enough without getting shot first.

Chere stuck close to Scarlett as they travelled the maze. Even silenced, the basketball player seemed to radiate strength. She felt like a child hiding behind her big sister, despite the fact that she was almost a year older.

Scarlett held up her hand for Chere to stop, and quickly ducked around a corner, pistol blazing. Chere’s HUD lit up with strikes on Sunny, Athena and Fatin, clearing off Tongue-tied. Another point. Good. One to tie, two to win.

“We have to move,” Scarlett said. “Go.”

In the Capture the Flag match, Fatin hadn’t been fast enough to catch Scarlett, which had cost her the match. Fatin and Sam together, though, were faster than Scarlett and Chere, and Chere watched again while her friend’s name lit up with a new virus.

Timid.

They didn’t stop, even running past Laine and Annie. “Fatin... and Sam,” Chere gasped as they sped along. Their two teammates nodded and a moment later, Laine passed Slow Fire to Fatin.

Chere heard their pursuers break off to chase after Laine and Annie, saw Annie’s name light up with Timid and Slow Fire thanks to Fatin. Timid, Chere thought bitterly as she and Scarlett came to a stop in a safe-seeming corner, didn’t seem to be as deeply rooted in the others as much as it was in her.

Chere realized that she was pressed against the taller woman. “Sorry,” She breathed, stepping back. Still, it was nice to be so close, even under the circumstances. Maybe there are some advantages to this Timid crap.

“It’s okay. Really.” Scarlett smiled, barely out of breath. “Fifteen seconds left, have we got a chance?”

Somewhere in the maze, Annie tagged Sam, which meant...

“Yes. There’s a chance. If Sunny’s nearby.”

Timid and Slow Fire were on every one of the blue team except Sunny. Chere had both, too. Scarlett, though, was only Timid.

Sunny would be travelling with Athena. If Scarlett got hit, that would pass her Slow Fire and score a point for blue. Or if either Sam or Fatin tagged Laine and gave her the timidity virus, that would end that curse and score a point.

Is Sunny nearby? Can I shoot her, given that I probably only have one chance? Timing was everything.

“Ready?” Scarlett asked.

“No.” Chere swallowed hard. “No choice. Let’s go get her.”

The pileup had all started with Sunny. Her Dancing Feet wouldn’t let her stop long enough to get a good shot in, but she still managed to pick up Vision Lag.

Chere wished that she hadn’t found out what that one was.

Dancing Feet managed to make its way to Laine, but then faded away as neither she nor Sunny could pass it along. Meanwhile, Fatin had given Chere Unseen, which meant that no one from her own team could see or interact with her. Annie had already been suffering with it, and was doing a fantastic job at spreading it.

Perception filters were interesting, Chere decided. She might have been walking right beside Annie the entire time, and neither of them would have been aware. She briefly regretted not being able to take her turn in the Blind Queen’s throne; unlike changes to her thoughts and emotions, seeing the world differently had its charm. It was an aspect of Alteration that the aspiring actress wanted to explore more, if she ever had the chance.

And then Chere had come across Athena and Sam. Together, but they—well, Sam—didn’t know it. Athena was sticking close to her friend, even if Sam had no idea she was there.

But she would know in a moment. Chere tied the game at three points apiece when she snuck up behind Sam and put her hand on the bride-to-be’s thigh. Athena heard the noise, but Sam was between them, blocking any good shot that she might make. Perhaps foolishly, Chere tried to slip away, but Athena managed to make the shot all the same at the last second.

Chere’s map vanished. She was Lost. Okay, no big deal. But then there was that other one.

Vision Lag.

Everything looked normal as Chere moved through the maze. So what was this Vision Lag?

She would find out when she spotted Annie, standing frozen in the middle of the hallway. And then felt Annie’s hand on her shoulder, despite seeing her very clearly, standing still a few feet away.

“How’s the Vision Lag treating you?” the voice in her ear said.

Chere shook her head. “What? How? But...”

“Close your eyes.”

“Okay.” Chere did.

“Open ’em.”

Annie was standing beside her, a hand on her shoulder. “Whoa!” Chere jumped back. Annie remained in place, but her hand, her voice, her presence, followed Chere.

“Get it yet?” Annie’s voice was smiling. “Turn your head away, and back.”

Chere did as directed. “Whoa. Shit. That’s...” Annie was standing beside her again.

“Been there before. It’s weird, right?”

“What is even happening?”

“When you see one of us, your eyes or your brain or something just stop updating,” Annie explained. “Just keep looking away and back, you’ll be fine. Or take long slow blinks if you’re not worried about running into a wall. You need about two seconds to clear the image.”

“Right. Okay.” Chere closed her eyes, then opened them again. Perception filter. it was fascinating. “Okay. I can do this.”

Annie was smiling. “You can. It’s actually not as bad as it sounds.”

“Doesn’t help being Lost, though. Can’t see you guys on the map.“

“Could be worse,” Annie grinned. “You could have Laine’s Suggestible.”

Chere swallowed. That sounded suspicious. “What does that do?”

“Makes you do whatever anyone tells you. Whatever team they’re on.”

Chere groaned inwardly. More mind viruses. And it would probably make its way to her. Again. Because they always did. Always. Murphy’s law, or whatever.

“You need any help?” Annie asked.

Chere shook her head. “I think I got this on my own, at least since you told me about it.”

“Great. Hey, keep an eye on your HUD. Maybe someone’ll get Fatin with it and we’ll be free.”

“Yeah, or Scartlett.”

“Bite your tongue!” Annie exclaimed, a smile in her voice. “We’re gonna get Fatin, and then Vision Lag goes away and we’re up a point!“

Chere grinned. “Alright, Annie, let’s go do that.”

“Someone’s gotta keep your naked ass in the game.”

“You’re one to talk.”

The two of them headed off in opposite directions, laughing.

And then.

Scarlett was shot. Vision Lag went away, which was a relief, in its way, but it meant that the red team was behind again.

The visor told Chere that Laine grabbed another virus, Euphoria, to go with her apparently suggestible state. Chere wondered if someone had casually mentioned the idea, thinking back to the Blind Queen’s Castle match where Athena had accidentally silenced her team with a careless statement.

Alright, Chere had thought then, with a mental eyeroll. You told me to be quiet, so I’m not going to say a word as you march us right into the enemy’s arms. But ultimately, there had been a sense of fun that had gone along with losing that round, and not just schadenfreude for seeing bad orders come to a bad end. It was enjoyable in its own right to just do what she had been directed, without worry. Don’t think, just follow the script. Athena had told her to be quiet, and it felt... not just good, but right to just not talk a while.

As much as she’d given Athena the business after that, in the midst of it there was a fantastic sense of fun.

Laine and Sunny traded fire. That cleared off Lost—Chere’s map reappeared—but it put the red team further behind.

Chere made her way towards one of the dots on her newly-revived map. Only Sunny and Laine had anything, and they shared Suggestible and Euphoria.

Sunny being euphoric... ugh, Sunny being more euphoric. What shit’s going to come out of her mouth?

It turned out that what came out of her mouth was, “Laine, you should shoot my sister. It’d be hilarious.” Well, that and a bunch of slurred laughter.

Oh God, Chere said to herself as an indicator line jumped from Laine’s name to her own. Sunny’s stoned. She let out a titter. And I think that Laine just shot me. That was funny. Really funny. Chere snickered. Laine just shot me! Her laugh echoed her younger sister’s.

“Chere, c’mere, c’mere,” Sunny waved her over to where she was standing with her arm around Laine. Chere couldn’t help herself, she walked down the hall, giggling.

“What’s so funny, Chere?” Laine asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Chere burst into guffaws. “Two naked sisters. You in just your skirt.”

“Hey!” Sunny protested with a snort. “We’re not naked! We have our shoes and socks on!”

Laine started to laugh, clearly trying to get control of herself and just as clearly failing, and it was infectious. Chere was having trouble speaking. “Imagine... Imagine what Jeremy Edwards would say!” She put her hands on Sunny’s shoulders as a wave of guffaws threatened to knock her off her feet.

“W-wh-who?” Laine squeaked out.

“Kid I dated... h-high school...” Sunny managed. “T-twin fetish.”

“Nah,” Chere argued around her laughter. “He wanted her so bad. She just thinks he had one.“

Laine put her arms around the sisters. “I can s-see why he would!”

Chere blushed, stammering. “It’s not... not like we would ever...”

“Not even for me?” Laine asked, grinning. “You two should kiss!”

The suggestion made Chere blink, and straighten up. Sunny, too. The two of them looked at each other. Follow the script? Chere shook her head and made a face, before succumbing to a fit of giggles.

Sunny snorted. “No way. Not us. Not my sister ’n’ me, were not that kinda family. But you two are at least teammates.” Sunny grinned as an idea came to her. “Ohhhh, Laine shot you! That’s like, bad! You need to kiss and make up!”

There was no conflict this time, and Laine didn’t hesitate; her right arm slipped off Sunny’s shoulder and found Chere’s back. Laine manoeuvred carefully while Chere waited, making sure their visors were clear of each other—something Chere wouldn’t have even thought of worrying about—before gently pressing her lips to her teammate’s.

Chere pressed into the kiss, moaned a little. Laine tasted like cherry. Chere had kissed a lot of people, and none had tasted like that. She smiled as they separated.

“I am so sorry for shooting you,” Laine said, her voice sincere and full of honest emotion.

“It’s alright, really,” Chere replied, her forgiveness evident in her tone. “I know it was just Sunny telling you to. Like this is.” She leaned in for a second kiss. Wonderful. Her heart fluttered.

“Now shoot Annie,” Sunny ordered gleefully, pointing past them.

“What?” Annie managed to say, before both girls took aim with their pistols and fired. Technically, Chere made the hit, even though both beams fired true.

Annie grinned. “Oh... oh that’s nice...” she muttered.

“Join your teammates, Annie!” Sunny said with a gleeful giggle.

“Mmm, of course,” Annie said, walking over and sweeping Laine into her arms. Chere’s hands found Laine’s bare back and Annie’s bare bottom as the two of them kissed excitedly.

“What are you doing, Sunny?” Chere asked before Annie pulled her into a kiss while Laine caressed her shoulders.

Chere’s twin laughed. “Having fun! And you’re all enjoying it, I can tell.”

She couldn’t deny it, as two pairs of hands roamed over her bare body, as Laine and Annie took turns kissing her and each other. She only wished that Scarlett could join them. That would be so nice. But Scarlett couldn’t; if she got hit, the viruses causing this, these wonderful viruses, would just... go away. And Laine was so soft, so gentle. Annie was stronger, muscled, solid. Both were wonderful in their way.

Of course, there wasn’t any fabric between Laine’s torso and her own, and that was a definite advantage when they embraced. But her hands could wander Annie’s legs without pushing that skirt out of the way, and that was nice, too.

“Oh, hey,” Sunny said, sitting on the floor, watching, giggling to herself. “There’s a virus on the wall. Annie, get that.”

“Oh be quiet, Sunny,” Chere snapped back, but Annie let her go and walked to the wall. Laine’s hands took over, searching Chere’s sides, helping her down to the floor to sit as well. If I hadn’t told her to shut up, Chere realized, with a moan on her lips, she’d have seen this and probably would have made Laine tickle me or something.

“It’s called Looks Can Kill,” Annie said breathlessly. “I can pass viruses with my eyes.” She turned back to Sunny, and Chere saw the Looks Can Kill virus pass to her sister before closing her eyes with pleasure—euphoric pleasure, she noted—when Laine started to nibble on her collarbone.

When she opened her eyes a moment later, Annie and Laine were kneeling, kissing, one on either side of her, their thighs pressing in to her hips, and everyone there had the Looks Can Kill virus. Chere’s hands found her team’s legs as she lay back to watch.

“Whoa!” came a familiar voice. Chere looked up to see Athena looking surprised, shocked. Her HUD flashed a familiar line, and Athena’s shocked melted into a grin as she, too, was afflicted with the same viruses as all four women staring right at her. And that was sooo much fun.

“Heh,” Athena said. “Looks like I interrupted a party.” She snickered.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Annie said, grinning. “You could join in.”

Athena giggled and shook her head. “Nah, I’m happy to just head along...”

“Stay put, ’Theen,” Chere said, wriggling out from under Laine and Annie. Seeing Athena waiting, watching, gave Chere a little thrill as she got to her feet. “Feeling good?”

Athena chuckled, shyly turning her head away. “You’ve been Altered. You’re being silly.”

“Hey! So have you!” Chere said, sticking out her tongue, moving closer. “And so are you!”

“Wellll yeah, I guess I am,” Athena said, putting her arms around Chere in a clumsy hug.

“You and Sunny did a great job,” Chere mumbled into Athena’s chest. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

“I won’t, I promise. Uh, I can’t. At least not until the Suggestibility thing wears off.“

“Oh yeah! That’s why we were, uh... doing all that stuff when you got here! The virus! And...” Chere looked back, past Laine sitting in Annie’s lap, to glare at her sister. “And that meddler there.”

Sunny grinned and shrugged, still not speaking.

Athena patted Chere’s head in a way that at any other time she would have found terribly patronizing. “Aw, come on, she’s just having fun! You should forgive her.”

Chere nodded, understanding, actually feeling the wheels turn in her head to justify forgiving her sister. It was a party. It was an Alteration party. It was Sam’s last crazy weekend. They were supposed to be having fun. All of them. “You’re right, ’Theen.” She took an unsteady step towards the other three. “Sunny, I’m sorry. And I forgive you. You can talk again.“

Sunny’s grin widened. Chere wondered briefly if she’d made a mistake. “You and ’Theen look cute together, both of you pose for a picture.”

Athena laughed and swept up Chere into her arms. “H-hey! ’Theen, what...?” Chere complained as she was lifted from the ground. Athena was a lot stronger than she looked.

“Great!” Sunny exclaimed, standing. “Like Jason Penderat and Mira Allison in the wedding photo! Both of you just freeze there like that!”

Chere knew the picture her sister was talking about, an on-set promotional photo from Alter / Control / Delete of the real-life lovers looking in each others’ eyes, sharing a smile. Unlike the dashing leading man, Athena wasn’t a foot taller than the woman she held in her arms, but they still managed somehow to make it work.

Trying to stay in place, Chere managed not to dissolve into laughter imagining how it must have looked. She also managed not to blush at the thought of Scarlett holding her instead of Athena. Not that Athena hadn’t managed to put a hand right on her butt.

It wasn’t like Chere objected, of course.

They managed about three seconds before Athena’s legs gave out and they collapsed into a giggling heap. After a moment of writhing in laugher, another pair of hands helped Athena to her feet, then Chere. “Hi,” Fatin said, her voice thick and heavy. “Sunny said I should help.”

Chere checked her visor. Sure enough, Fatin shared all the same viruses as the rest of them.

“She also said that I should tell you two, ‘make a five-person human pyramid.’”

Chere looked over to Laine and Annie. They were no longer cuddling; instead, they were getting on all fours, forming the base of a structure. “’Theen, you and I should be the upper layer.”

Athena and Fatin nodded seriously. “Fatin, go position yourself by Annie. I’ll get on Annie and Laine, ’Theen, you bridge Annie and Fatin, ’kay?”

Fatin moved back towards the others, and Athena and Chere followed behind. Sunny, meanwhile, watching the whole process, was laughing so hard that tears were streaming from her face.

“You watch too much TV,” Chere said to her sister with a giggle. She put her knee carefully in the small of Annie’s back. “Ready, Laine?”

“Ready,” Laine grunted. Chere shifted her weight and climbed up to form the top layer of the pyramid. Athena followed.

“W-wish I h-had a c-camera!” Sunny managed. “All of you. You look...”

“Ridiculous,” Scarlett said, from just down the hall.

Six heads turned towards the newcomer. One of them, it didn’t really matter who, transmitted Euphoria, Suggestible, and Looks Can Kill to her, through their gaze, and all three viruses were eliminated, which resulted in three more points for the blue team, and the immediate collapse of the no-longer-suggestible-or-rigid human pyramid into a tangle of flopping bodies.

Scarlett immediately pressed her zapper into the palm of her other hand. “Guide! Time out! Hey!”

Chere, on top of the pile, saw the big red Time Out indicator flash across her visor. The clock stopped. She heard, and felt, the other girls stopping their fussing, relaxing as she was. She felt herself going limp, sinking into the warmth of her friends surrounding and supporting her, slowly being lowered to the floor as the bottom layer of what had been the human pyramid carefully and calmly extracted themselves.

Soon all seven women present were on their feet, standing fairly close to one another. No one was speaking. Wait, that wasn’t true, there was someone else there, she was talking, asking questions, making sure everyone was alright, checking everyone for serious injury. At least, Chere thought there was. Or had been. Or maybe there wasn’t.

It didn’t really matter.

After what felt like seven or so seconds but had to have been a lot longer, the Time Out message disappeared to be replaced by another. Game will resume shortly.

“Guess we have that time to get to neutral corners,” Laine said. “And since the whole red team is here—”

“And since that mess was mostly the blue team’s fault,” Chere said, scowling at Sunny, who offered a feeble wave and smile in reply. There wasn’t a lot of heat in Chere’s scowl, though; sure, she was annoyed, but she wasn’t really all that angry.

“I suggest that the blue team clear out,” Laine finished, “and let the four of us have this spot.“

“Fine by me,” Sunny said, turning to go.

“Sounds good,” Fatin agreed. “See you all soon...”

Athena just nodded and followed the other two.

The moment the blue team was out of sight, the HUD message changed to, Game will resume in 15 seconds.

Chere sighed and sat down. “I need a break.”

“Just had one,” Annie said with a grin. She was standing next to Laine, both of them leaning against the wall, holding hands.

Scarlett sat next to her. “You okay?”

Was she okay?

She had just been hypnotized into making out with her friends, posing like stars of Alter / Control / Delete, climbing into a human pyramid with a bunch of other mostly-naked women. All for the benefit of her sister’s twisted mind.

She was doing great.

She wasn’t about to admit it, but that was the most fun she’d had in a long time. The Euphoria virus may have contributed some to that feeling, but the reality was, even looking back objectively, that all of that was fun. A lot of fun.

She took Scarlett’s hand in her own and squeezed it. “I’m okay,” she said simply. “The clock’s running down, any plan?”

“We’re down eight to three,” Laine said. “My plan is to score points.”

Chere got to her feet and helped Scarlett up. “Let’s do that, then.”

“Which way?” Scarlett asked, a supportive hand on Chere’s shoulder.

They were at a T-junction, searching as fast as they could for Sunny. Only a few seconds. Had to be the right decision if they were going to have any chance at all.

Chere was about to say to go left. She always turned left. It would put her zapper at a better angle to hit the anything in the hall. She was about to lead Scarlett to the left. It was the best possible choice. It made the most sense.

Chere turned right.

She had no idea why she wound up leading her teammate down the right hand path. None. Her gun hand was near the wall, she didn’t have a clear line of attack on anyone, if there was anyone in the hallway. There wasn’t, but if there had been...

The path turned again shortly after. Peeking around that next corner with only a few seconds left was where she saw Sunny and Athena, facing away. Chere ducked back and looked up at Scarlett. She nodded.

“I can take the shot, but it would only be good for a single point, then they’d know we were here.” Scarlett looked her in the eyes. “It’s gotta be you, Chere.”

“What a great game!” Tanya said after the players were assembled in the waiting room. She stood in the doorway to the staff area. “I was watching it all on the edge of my seat. Intrigue, action, mystery, excitement, and such a close finish!“

Chere sighed, something like relief passing through her. “It’s done. It’s all done with, at least.”

Scarlett, sitting next to her, nodded. “It almost felt like we weren’t supposed to win, you know? Like the fates were against us?”

“Yeah, I get what you mean,” Annie agreed. “Every time we made progress, we just fell behind again.”

“It was so close at the end,” Sunny said, “considering we were up by, what, six points? You guys did a great job to close that gap.”

“We did get all the luck,” Fatin said. “No argument here.”

Tanya grinned. “It’s not often that I get to manage... well, that. It was quite the varied game.” She laughed. “That’s why I love The Virus. So much can happen. There are days when I wish I could take souvenir photos off the security system,” she continued. “Fatin’s amazing dive in Capture the Flag to get the point would be one. Your human pyramid would be another.”

Sunny snorted. Sam looked around. “What did I miss?”

“A study in Altered-girl-stacking,” Sunny giggled. “Had five of them piled up.”

“They sure did make a pileup,” Scarlett deadpanned. “Soon as I got there, they fell over.”

“Yeah, because we scored points off everything that was keeping them up.”

“That’s what put the red team so far behind,” Tanya added.

“Okay. Enough putting it off.” Sunny stood up and made a dramatic wave to the front of the room. “Losers! Time to pay the price!”

Everyone had a laugh. This would be it. The last main game. The last stripping off. Then a break, then the final match.

Chere, in all honesty, couldn’t wait. Not that she would ever admit it.

Three seconds on the timer.

Chere closed her eyes.

She actually closed her eyes as she brought her zapper into alignment.

Scarlett was right behind her. Chere felt the comforting warmth of her teammate’s body. She wanted, needed, craved that comfort. She let it surround her, embrace her, guide her.

She fired.

Sunny, Fatin, Sam and Athena stood at the front.

Sunny stepped forward. She had taken off her shoes and socks, and was completely nude. “Thanks to a kick-ass last minute shot by my own sister,” she began, “the blue team lost the Virus game.”

Chere stood and took a bow to general applause, before gracefully indicating the losing blue team with a wave of her hand and retaking her seat.

At that cue, Sam stepped forward. “Our host, Sam,” Sunny announced, “has agreed to have her skirt removed.” Sunny stepped behind Sam, and slid her green skirt to the ground, leaving her in match red bra and panties. Sam took a couple quick steps forward and turned, showing off, before returning to her place in line.

Chere nodded approval as the girls all applauded. Sam definitely looked good. Chere looked at Scarlett beside her, who was looking back. Chere raised an eyebrow. Scarlett raised hers back.

Athena took Sam’s place at the front. “My fellow event planner, Athena. Also having lost, is going to lose her bra.” Sunny undid the clasp of the lacy undergarment, and Athena let it drop to the ground before making a dramatic flourish of bending over to pick it up.

Chere couldn’t help but notice her soft pink areola and her stiffened nipples. She didn’t think that she was imagining the slightly greater volume and enthusiasm of the applause.

Athena carried her bra back to the line as Fatin stepped up. “Last,” Sunny said, “but not least.” She slipped her fingers under the waistband of Fatin’s panties. “Fatin. About to be our third nudist. Should I ask for a drumroll?“

Fatin snorted. “Just do it, Sunny.”

Sunny did it, slipping the underwear down Fatin’s legs, revealing a tuft of brown fuzz. Fatin stepped forward, hand on her hip, and turned to show her bare backside, then stretched her hands to the air and spun back to face the crowd.

Chere’s mouth ran dry. There was no question that the applause level was at its greatest for the naked Fatin.

“And, well,” Sunny concluded a bit lamely, “that’s it. I have nothing to take off. Sorry for the anticlimax.”

The blue team got another round of applause before returning to their seats.

“And now, dessert break,” Tanya said. “Liss has been working hard getting things ready, although I understand she’ll need a few more minutes. The arcade in the lobby is open to you, and all the machines are set to free. I’ll be in the arena, setting up for the final game, but both Liss and I are around if you need anything.”

Chere looked to Scarlett again, smiling. “I really wanna talk to you.”

“I’d like that,” Scarlett replied, blushing.

“But... before I do... that.” she sighed. Caught her breath, caught her racing thoughts. “Before that, Scar, I need to have a talk with Liss. Meet you back here?”

“I’ll meet you here.” Scarlett nodded.

Impulsively, as she stood, Chere gave Scarlett a kiss on the cheek. They had a lot to discuss, it was true, and that was a nice prelude to the discussion, but mostly she just wanted to see Scarlett go even redder.

The basketball player obliged her wonderfully.

Chere jogged away with a giggle to find Liss.