The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“Yes, Michelle. Good. Now do that thing…fuck, what was it called? Twenty-one! Twenty-one, now!”

While I drove deep into her, she wrapped her legs around my back and clamped down on me with her surprisingly strong inner muscles. I gasped as she tightened up inside, but kept pounding into her, almost ready to…

“Yes! Oh, shit…” One last thrust and I was filling her warm cunt with yet another load. I looked down and saw her expressionless face, and whatever pleasure I’d gotten from her instantly turned to ash. I’d screwed up and forgotten the other trigger. “Damn. Sorry, Michelle. Sixteen, now.”

She almost threw me off as her back arched and her legs clamped tight around me. She wailed in ecstasy, clawing at the blankets of the new, wider bed Queen Wendy had provided. I held on for dear life, riding her bucking body until her artificial, and yet totally real orgasm had died down.

Rolling onto my back, I waved Jia over. “OK, what number are we up to?”

“Twenty-seven. That was the command to lick your balls while you were fucking Michelle.”

“Right. So this is command number twenty-eight. Are you ready?”

“I do whatever you tell me, until you’re finished.”

“Yeah, right. So I’m telling you that this is command twenty-eight. See how messy my cock is? All wet from Michelle’s pussy, and covered in cum? Well, a twenty-eight means that you use your tongue to gently lick all of that off me, until my cock is clean. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Leo.”

“Good. Twenty-eight, Jia.”

I folded my arms behind my head and stared up at the ceiling as the tiny girl went to work.

This was my eighth session with the two “test subjects” as Wendy called them. It had been tough at first, getting around their entire lack of response, so I’d been forced to train them like some of the other Workers I’d fucked in my travels.

Every act had been carefully laid out in words and demonstrations, and then given a number. I’d gone with numbers instead of names to remind myself that I was doing all of this under duress. I could have called number twenty-eight the “Clean My Cock,” but that would have given it more emotional legitimacy than I wanted. The name didn’t matter to the girls, and I’m sure Queen Wendy thought I was being quite logical by using a numbered list.

The trouble was, even though I was trying to stay detached, I was starting to like my two playmates. They were both beautiful, and even in their brainless states, they had a certain sweetness about them. The more I got them to draw on past memories, the more natural they got during sex. They still weren’t at the point of anything spontaneous, meaning I had to keep calling out numbers at the right times to get any kind of flow to the proceedings, but they were faking it well enough that I could get off without abusing them too badly.

Another reason that I felt a bond building between us, was that we were all pawns of Queen Wendy—them through chemistry, and me through blackmail. Wendy had learned a lot from watching those damned movies of hers, including how to keep me dangling on her leash. Every time she brought the girls to my room, she made a point of detailing exactly what she would do to my sister if I disobeyed her in any way, and so far, she’d resisted every one of my appeals to let me go. She wouldn’t even negotiate with me anymore; she’d found the right lever to use against me, and wasn’t going to give it up.

Jia sat back on her heels, licking her lips. Now that we were done, Wendy would be in soon to escort them off to the labs. She watched our “experiments” from somewhere nearby, and usually wanted to debrief me about everything we’d done. This time I’d have to explain in detail what commands twenty-one through twenty-eight involved, and my reasons for creating them.

In the meantime though, I moved back so that I was leaning against the headboard, and opened my arms. “Twelve, both of you,” I said. Michelle and Jia crawled up to me and settled into the crooks of my arms, their heads on my chest, and one smooth leg draped over each of mine.

I tried to lose myself in my old Bagger dream—leaving Queens and Moons behind and finding my own private paradise, complete with beautiful girls who would cuddle up with me after sex. But my dream had become hazy in my mind, and I couldn’t turn off the cold reality of what my life had become. Something had to change soon, or I was going to lose it completely.

I sighed as I heard the door open, and growled to myself as both girls jumped up, abandoning me without hesitation to go greet their Queen.

Something crashed against the bed, skidding it across the floor and jolting me out of my fitful sleep. I rolled onto my feet, my arms up to defend myself.

“Get up, you piece of shit.”

The gravelly male voice took me by surprise. So did the black and grey uniform that came into focus when I blinked the sleep from my eyes.

“Tha’ fuck?”

“How’s it going, Leo? Nice to see you again, especially like this. Fucking Bagger trash.”

Despite his tone, hope flared in me as I finally recognized the man. “Gregor? What are you doing here?”

The Guard Captain looked even fatter than the last time I’d seen him. Like most Queens, the man was a creature of excess, indulging in whatever he wanted regardless of rules or responsibilities. I’d never figured out how he’d managed to rise through the ranks, eventually becoming the CO of the L.A. Guard outpost.

“Not helping a Bagger prick like you, that’s for sure.”

Hope died as I put the pieces together. Queen Wendy had mentioned before that she had an arrangement with the Guard—hot, young Workers in exchange for their help. Gregor was the reason that no one had come looking for me in the weeks or months that I’d been locked up here. He’d confiscated my car, and altered the reports to show that I’d left L.A. one day after I’d arrived. My mother probably assumed that I’d gone off somewhere to sulk, and Father probably thought that I’d flaked on him again, leaving town without checking out Queen Wendy’s secret lab.

“So if you’re not helping me, then why the fuck are you in my room?”

Gregor’s hands balled into fists, and I shifted my weight, ready to meet his attack. Instead, he looked up at the camera in the corner of the room and relaxed again. “Helping out a friend,” he said. “Wendy needed someone, and she didn’t trust her Workers to handle a slippery little shit like you.”

“So you’re friends with a Queen now, huh? Way to betray the Guard, asshole.” He tensed up again, but if I’d read the situation right, he wasn’t allowed to hurt me. If I swung first, he probably had permission to defend himself, but I wasn’t going to give him the opportunity. I understood the man in front of me, and I wouldn’t let him provoke me like the cruel and capricious Queen Wendy often did.

“I’m not betraying anything. I’m keeping the peace, like a good little soldier. Hell the Sector General sent me a note last month telling me how good a job I was doing.”

“Yeah, because your new boss lady has all the other L.A. Queens too scared to cause trouble.”

I thought this time he might actually disobey Wendy’s orders and come after me. Part of me was hoping he would, because I really wanted to hit someone. The door was closed, and none of Wendy’s giant minions were there to back him up. I was pretty confident that I could take him. But then what?

It took a lot longer this time, but eventually, Gregor’s face lost some of its flush and he unclenched his tight jaw. “She’s not my fucking boss. We just help each other once in a while.”

“Like kidnapping Moons and holding them for months? What’s the date, anyway? How long have you and the Bitch Queen held me here?”

“You know this is all your fault, right? Whatever’s happening to you is because you went and stole something from a fucking Queen. How stupid could you be?”

“Me? I was doing it for the money, which is what a Bagger does. What’s your excuse? Taking bribes is serious enough, but are you spying for her as well? Telling her all the Guard’s secrets just to get a little Worker pussy?”

“Fuck you, Leo. I don’t tell her shit. Crazy bitch comes up with some weird ideas, but she pays well, and she’s not doing anything that I can’t handle. If she goes too far, I’ll knock her down a peg or two.”

I grinned at him and turned to look up at the camera. Gregor realized what he’d done, and I thought I would finally get the action I’d been craving. I clenched my fists and waited, but Gregor let loose a string of curses and headed for the door.

“Get in here,” he ordered, and my six giant jailers filed in, tasers ready. “Queen Wendy gave me command over them. One word from me, and these monsters will fuck you up. Got it?”

I knew what the tasers could do, and what my chances were against the six minions. My hope for a quick escape died, but at least I was doing something besides sitting in a locked room. Opportunities would come if I was patient. “What’s all this for?” I asked.

“Queen Wendy said that you were getting a reward for being so ‘obedient.’” He smirked as he said it. “But she was concerned about letting you out of your cage. She knows from her movies how deceitful normal humans can be, so she wanted an expert on hand, in case you try anything.”

“Expert? You?”

“Yeah, me. I’ve dealt with enough of you Bagger assholes to know your tricks. And if you try anything, I won’t need a fucking order from on high before I beat the shit out of you. So, please, go ahead and try something.” He tried to look menacing, but on his jowly face it was more comical than anything.

I had a dozen more retorts ready for him, but I held my tongue. I was enjoying the normal human contact too much, even if it was with this dickhead. If he was right, I was finally getting out of this room, and I didn’t want to mess that up before we’d even gotten beyond the door.

Gregor held up a pair of the plastic manacles that the Guard issued. “Turn around,” he said.

I did what he said, disappointed that I wouldn’t have my hands free, but my mind was already focused on what might be outside. The cuffs zipped tight around my wrists. Hidden from the camera, Gregor twisted them so that they bit into my skin, but backed off before they drew blood. “Comfortable?”

“Feels great,” I said. “Let’s go.”

“Hold still.” Before I could duck, he looped a rope around my neck and pulled it taut. At first, I thought he was going to ignore Wendy’s orders and strangle me right there, but instead, he headed for the door, dragging me by the makeshift leash. “Security protocol three,” he said, and the minions formed up around us. I actually felt a little flattered that they were taking so many precautions.

I’d caught some brief glimpses of the room outside my prison, but once we got through the door, it was much bigger than I’d imagined. Everything for my care and feeding was lined up on rows of shelves. A makeshift kitchen sat in the corner, next to a stationary computer terminal and a bank of four monitors.

The door on the far side let us out into a wide hallway. A sign attached to the wall had a floor plan with “Whistler Hall Emergency Evacuation Plan — Basement Level 2” inscribed on it. So all this time I’d been in the same building that I’d planned to break into. Somewhere in here were the labs that had concerned my father.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Shut up,” Gregor said, jerking on the leash. But then, like the genius he was, he answered me anyway. “We’re taking a tour. Queen Wendy wanted you to see her operation. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was looking for your approval.” He glanced at a piece of paper that seemed to be our itinerary. “This way.”

The six giants formed around us in a loose hexagon, with Gregor in the center, pulling me behind him. The formation broke down when we hit the stairs, and he looked embarrassed as he tried to order everyone back into place.

On Basement Level 1 we headed down a long corridor until it ended in double doors. On the other side was an anteroom with a door to one side, and a window taking up most of the far wall. Gregor pushed me toward the window.

I heard his papers rustle. “Unclassified Oliver O Pos, 27 days old. 3.54 kilograms and 44.5 centimeters at birth,” he said in a halting monotone. Obviously not a big reader.

I was curious as I looked through the window, but after a second his words registered and I was pressing my face up against the glass.

Zuzanna sat in a padded chair, topless and cradling her newborn against her breast. After spending so much time with her, trying to find any humanity inside her programming, seeing the serene look on her face as she fed her baby almost had me crying. Only the fact that Gregor would exploit my weakness kept me from reacting.

Oliver was so tiny, swaddled in a white blanket. I’d seen newborns before, but none had ever affected me like this little guy. With my harsh life on the road, I hardly thought of other people at all. Maybe my parents and Elise occasionally, but they were all adults, and living their lives to the fullest. My little nephew couldn’t control anything in his life, and a strange feeling of protectiveness swelled up in me.

I’d risked a lot trying to keep Zuzanna safe, but deep down I’d known that her life wasn’t mine to save. When Queen Wendy had used her to keep me in line, most of my reckless reactions had been outrage that she would hurt Zuzanna’s baby. Now that the little boy was a person of his own, if Queen Wendy ever threatened him like she had my sister, she better have a lot more guards around her or I’d kill her.

“Zuzanna!” I pounded my forehead on the window, wanting her to know that I was there, even if it wouldn’t change anything. She looked up, squinting her eyes at me, but then turned back to her baby.

“She can’t see you, idiot,” Gregor said. He yanked hard on the leash. “C’mon. We’ve got more to get to.”

I spun around, my temper flaring again, but Gregor had anticipated it. He’d arranged all six of the guards in a wall between us.

“You’ve got some real anger issues, kid,” he said. “That shit might work out in the wild, but you’re in my world now.” He checked his page of notes again then looked at his watch. “We gotta get upstairs. I wanna see this next bit for myself. Protocol seven this time, boys”

I took one last look through the window, then did what I was told. He might be a traitorous asshole, but Gregor was right—my emotions got me in a lot more trouble than they saved me from. But that had always been me. Elise had understood. She’d often said that since we were the only ones who could have real emotions, we had to feel for the whole world.

I just needed to stop letting my emotions make me stupid. The stakes were so much higher now, and I couldn’t risk my life, or ruin my chance for escape, just to vent a little anger. Of course, it was easy to decide to be less volatile, but much harder to actually do it.

Still, I felt a little better as our troop marched back down the corridor. Curiosity was getting to me again, which got my brain working on things besides my hopeless situation.

We climbed the stairs out of the basement, and for the first time since that day on the pier, I saw sunlight through the windows at the end of the hall. This was closer than I’d even been to escaping, and adrenaline made everything suddenly brighter. I practically skipped behind Gregor as he led the way. Unfortunately, he didn’t head toward the light, but turned deeper into the building.

Whistler Hall was only four stories high, but had a large footprint. We wove through corridors until we hit another bank of double doors. At least a dozen pipes and conduits came through the wall and ran along the ceiling back the way came. The sign on one of the doors said “Retrieval Room,” but I had no clue what it meant.

After double-checking his written orders, Gregor pulled a key from the pouch on his Guard-issue belt and unlocked the door. “…see that fine body at last,” he muttered as he pulled the door open.

For the first time, I saw Workers other than my guards. The large, low-ceilinged room was filled with probably twenty of them, all in regular UCLA uniforms. Every name tag said “Technician” on it, which made sense with the amount of machinery in view. Some looked like generators, but most were just big metal boxes with ducting coming out of every side. Everyone was busy with their jobs, so there was no conversation, just the hum of motors and the whir of fans. No one even bothered to look up as the eight of us entered the room.

Gregor paused to take it in as well, leading me to believe this was new to him. He checked his watch, and then yanked on my leash. “C’mon, she’s almost done.”

She? Meaning Queen Wendy? We headed toward the center of the room, between two banks of machines. Gregor stopped suddenly, and I almost bumped into him before a guard’s meaty hand on my shoulder pulled me up short. I stood on my toes to look over the crowd.

The chair in the center of the room looked similar to the one I’d seen in the Obstetrics exam room when I’d kidnapped Dr. Rachel, but this one was higher and wider. Tubes and wires hung down from the ceiling. Something was happening on the chair, but there were too many bodies around it for me to get a clear view.

“The fuck kind of renewal ceremony is this?” Gregor said.

It took me a moment to soak in the scene, but then some of the attending Workers moved away, and I could see what was happening in the chair. I couldn’t help myself, and started laughing.

Gregor spun around. “What’s so funny?”

“Your Queen,” I said. “Oh, come on, can’t you see? Every time, there’s some new surprise with her.”

Gregor growled, but then turned back and started forcing his way through the surrounding Workers. I followed in his wake.

Queen Wendy was only identifiable by her bare hands and feet. The rest of her was completely wrapped in a plastic suit that was inflated from the inside, making her look as fat as most normal Queens. Her head was covered in a plastic helmet with a dark visor that didn’t even show her eyes. As Gregor kept pushing closer, one more part of the setup became clear. Between her spread legs, a machine drove a long metal rod back and forth like a piston. The rod ended in what could only be a thick dildo, driving in and out of her dark-lipped pussy. Standing to one side, a Worker held a buzzing vibrator against the Queen’s clit, while the machine fucked her.

“What is all that shit? Where’s the orgy?” Gregor seemed genuinely confused. He probably had no idea of the actual mechanisms Queens used to control their Workers, and was used to seeing the “traditional,” but highly inefficient, way that it had been done since the Separation.

“See those tubes, dumbass?” I nodded at the plastic tubes leading out from the helmet and the inflated suit. They went up to a metal rack hanging from the ceiling, and then moved off to a pair of machines behind the chair. “She’s catching her breath, and her sweat, and collecting them somewhere. Then she can just pipe it to her Workers whenever they need renewal.”

“But…?”

I almost felt sorry for Gregor. It was a brilliant system, but it was so different from what he was used to, that he couldn’t make the mental shift to understand it’s efficiency. It was new to me as well, even though I’d seen more renewals than probably anyone else on the planet. The biggest surprise for me was that Queen Wendy wasn’t acting like a typical selfish Queen. Wrapped in her helmet and suit, and being serviced by machines, she wasn’t indulging in any of the pleasures that other Queens demanded.

The only thing I’d seen that was even close to this was a Queen in Indianapolis. He’d built a box, a couple meters to each side, and took only one male Worker inside with him. While they had sex, the air was pumped out of the box and into sealed rooms for his other Workers to absorb. But even that Queen insisted on broadcasting live video of his activities for all of them to watch. Queen Wendy didn’t seem to care about anything but the end result.

And yet, for all the clinical coldness of her methods, the pheromones and microbes required to enslave a Worker ultimately had to come from sexual arousal. Under all of the wraps and tubes, Wendy had to be feeling something, or the whole process was useless. As I looked closer at the setup, I noticed that her left hand wasn’t just resting on the chair arm; there was a control lever of some kind under her fingers. I saw her hand move slightly, and almost immediately the fucking machine sped up. The Worker with the vibrator seemed to understand the implications, and changed the angle of her buzzing wand.

Wendy’s toes flexed in the metal stirrups, and her free hand clutched at the armrest as the thick dildo flashed faster and faster into her pussy. I could hear it squishing into her wet hole even over the sounds of the fans, and each time it pulled out it was shiny with her juices. Although this looked completely sexless, the Queen was obviously getting some pleasure.

Still, if I was a Queen, and I absolutely had to cum every day to keep my colony alive, guaranteed I would surround myself with warm, enthusiastic flesh, rather than jerk off while wearing a plastic bag. Wendy had a practicality and single-mindedness that was as refreshing in a Queen as it was terrifying. Just like the stupefied Gregor, I’d been caught off guard too many times by not understanding her motivation and her methods. If I was ever going to get out of here, I had to stop treating her like a typical Queen, and think of her more like a very powerful, completely psychotic movie villain.

Tension built in the room as the collection of Workers focused on their Queen. She ramped up the speed on the machine again and again, until it pounded into her faster than a human cock could ever manage. Her free hand gripped the arm of the chair like she was ready to break it off. Her toes curled tight. All of her minions seemed to be holding their breath.

When Queen Wendy arched her back and convulsed in her orgasm, the whole room erupted with activity. Workers at their stations flipped levers and turned dials. The fucking machine slowed to a crawl, then stopped completely. As Wendy’s spasming body sank back into the chair, two women wheeled it back from between her legs, disengaging the thick dildo from their Queen’s cunt. Gregor and I both got a great look at her gaping pussy, but with all of the machinery and the frenzied activity surrounding her, it didn’t do a thing for my own arousal.

Workers detached the air tubes from the helmet and gently lifted it off. Wendy’s eyes immediately found me, but her expression was unreadable. She was breathing hard enough that she was probably still expelling her Queenly microbes, but she didn’t seem to care about catching them. Maybe she’d generated enough already.

Workers moved all around us, and as one passed between Gregor and me, he pulled the rope leash free from Gregor’s unresisting hand. I had a flash of hope, thinking I might try to escape in all of the confusion, but when I looked over my shoulder, my six silent guardians had formed a wall between me and the door. I was almost relieved that I couldn’t make a run for it, because my curiosity was fully in charge.

Wendy had pulled her legs loose from the chair, and as she stood up, Workers started peeling away her plastic suit. With a last shrug of her shoulders, she stood naked among the crowd of minions, and this time my dick noticed. Perfection was all I could think. From her high, firm tits, to her narrow waist, swelling hips, and long legs. Muscles flexed subtly under her smooth skin whenever she moved. Balanced and poised, like one of the old-world dancers of ballet.

While my eyes roamed her body, hers never left my face. Even when Gregor approached her, she watched me over his shoulder. It was amusing to see how much taller Wendy was than the chubby Guard officer, even in her bare feet.

When she finally glanced down to speak with the Guard Captain, I took the chance to look around the rest of the room. The tubes from the chair had gone into two separate machines, probably one for her pheromones, and one for her breath. I didn’t see any tanks nearby, but that was probably where everything ended up. Then, when her Workers needed a refresher, all they had to do was sit them down and open a valve. I wondered how many days of renewals they’d harvested from her single orgasm?

“Let’s go, fucker.” Gregor had left Wendy and stepped up next to me. He captured the rope dangling from my neck and tugged it tight. “We’re moving on with the tour. Wendy’s going to shower and meet us at the end.”

When I checked the area near the chair, the Queen was gone. I gave Gregor a mocking bow. “Lead on, asshole.”

The whole experience must have overwhelmed him, because he didn’t even yank on my leash. He just formed up the guards around us and headed for the door.

“She’s quite a woman, isn’t she?” I said, as we moved out into the quiet corridor.

“Huh?”

“Queen Wendy. Hot fucking body on her. How is she in bed?”

Gregor looked annoyed as he glanced back.

“Wait, you haven’t hit that yet? I thought partners like the two of you would be fucking all the time. What’s the matter, she doesn’t like men, or she just doesn’t like you?”

I saw the elbow coming and managed to dodge. Gregor stumbled back into one of the guards, but he didn’t drop the leash, so there was no way I could break for freedom. It had been a long shot anyway. I faced off against him as he regained his feet, and I kicked myself for once again losing control. It was too easy to fall into the trap of goading the dumbass. Gregor’s eyes searched the corridor around us, and lucky for me he spotted a camera.

“One fucking day, Bagger,” he hissed. “She’s going to get tired of you eventually, and then you’re mine.”

I clamped my mouth shut like I should have done earlier. Gregor took a minute to calm down and then took off down the hallway, so fast that I had to jog to catch up.

When he slowed down again, we’d entered a corridor where all of the rooms were fronted by large observation windows. The first two we passed were labs, with minions hovering over bubbling beakers and monitoring gauges. Gregor stopped suddenly when we reached the next pair.

“Finally, something worth my time,” he said.

I moved up next to him and looked inside. A low bed took up the center of the room, very similar to the one in my cell. On it, a dark-haired man was stretched out on his back, as a thin brunette straddled his hips, riding his thick cock. While that was perfectly normal in this colony, what wasn’t normal were the breathing masks over their faces, and the collection of sensors stuck to their bodies. Wires and tubes undulated with their motions, extending from their naked bodies into machines on both sides of the bed.

The whole scene was so bizarre that it had almost no sexual vibe to it at all. They hardly looked human with all of the equipment attached to them. That didn’t stop Gregor from rubbing himself through his guard uniform while he watched.

“What are they testing?” I asked.

“How the fuck should I know. Wendy does shit like this all the time. Maybe she’s building a better fuckdoll.” He laughed at his own cleverness, then went back to staring.

I watched the couple on the bed a little closer. The woman moved in a steady rhythm, never breaking her pace as she rose and fell on the guy’s dick. Her fellow test subject stayed perfectly still, letting her do all the work. Her eyes stared off into space as she panted into the breathing mask, not even pretending to be enjoying herself.

The mechanical fucking only held my interest for a second, and I found myself watching the technicians who monitored the couples’ progress, wondering exactly what they were recording. Gregor took a little longer, but eventually, even he got bored. He sidled down the hall to see what was in the next lab, tugging my leash to drag me with him.

By the time we reached the end of the corridor, we’d seen three more couples like the first; one fucking in doggy, one in missionary, and the last with two women using vibrators on each other. All of them looked like they were robots executing a program rather than humans enjoying sex.

The rest of the rooms had been either labs, or data collection areas that reminded me of the Archive back home. All of the Workers went about their jobs quietly and efficiently, with none of them having any clue why they were performing these tasks. I wondered if even Queen Wendy knew what she was doing, or if she’d just become obsessed with conducting “experiments.”

We’d just passed the last set of rooms when something caught my eye. I stopped, bracing myself as the rope pulled taut around my neck. Gregor turned, looking annoyed, but I was too busy confirming what I thought I’d seen.

Laying side by side on bare metal tables were my playmates, Michelle and Jia. Both were naked and motionless, stretched out like they were corpses in a morgue. Only the steady rise and fall of Michelle’s spectacular tits told me she was still alive. Both girls had IVs stuck in their arms, getting infusions of a cloudy, slightly pink substance.

I didn’t have my hands free to pound on the glass, so just like when I’d seen my sister, I used my head. Neither girl even opened her eyes. The two Technicians in the room gave me a brief look, then went back to whatever notes they were recording. When I butted against the window again, Gregor grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back.

“What the fuck, Leo? Wendy said not to disturb any of her experiments. Try something like that again, and I’ll beat you bloody. And then I’ll turn you over to these monsters.” He waved at the minions standing behind him. “And it will be totally justified. No rules broken.”

His sneer and the menace in his voice finally broke through to wherever I’d gone. There was no reason I should feel this pissed, just because a couple of Workers were being treated less than humanely. I knew deep down, that Michelle and Jia were nothing but Wendy’s property, and that Queens often deal with their Workers like objects rather than people.

But somehow the two women had become the only bright spots in my life, and something about their situation offended me. While they still behaved like automatons when it came to sex, and never spoke to me other than to answer my questions, I must have bonded with them more than I’d thought. In my desperation for any human contact besides the psychotic Queen Wendy, I’d let myself believe that a few moments of “number twelve” after sex had some kind of deeper emotional meaning.

As if they knew what I was thinking, and just wanted to pile on more outrage, one of the Technicians got up and went to where Jia lay. He pulled her knees apart and then jabbed a cotton swab between her legs. He stuffed the swab into a plastic tube and then went back to his desk, leaving Jia’s legs wide open. I caught Gregor staring at her exposed pussy and “accidentally” stepped on his foot as I turned away from the window. That earned me a glare, but nothing more. Instead, he dug out his piece of paper and ran his finger down the list. “Back down…left and left…” he muttered.

This tour had been fascinating for me, but it was obvious that Gregor was disappointed. If a normal Queen had given us a tour of their colony, they would have shown off their wealth, and the beauty and sexual talents of their minions—the things that they were most proud of. I’d gotten exactly that from Queen Alexander when I’d met him years ago.

Gregor was so much like a Queen himself, that he couldn’t understand how Wendy’s mind worked. The things that interested her had nothing to do with her own pleasure. Sex was a thing for her to study, not enjoy.

“C’mon, let’s get this shit over with,” Gregor said, dragging me through the doors and down another flight of stairs. He seemed lost in thought, talking to himself and shaking his head. When we reached the beginning of another long corridor, he pulled me up short. “You’re fucking those two back there, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said. “Why?”

“Are they any good? I’ve already got two of these UCLA bitches, and I’m getting another one as payment for taking care of your Bagger ass today, but honestly, as far as Worker whores go, they’re shit. They don’t do anything more than lay there and say “Whatever you want, Master.” Even slapping them around doesn’t get a reaction. Sometimes I think I would’ve been better off going with Hollywood Workers, or maybe Venice. Or really any colony with a normal Queen.”

“What, you expect me to feel sorry for you? The bribe you got to betray your people isn’t looking so attractive anymore? Fuck you, Gregor. Too fucking bad.”

His face went purple, and I kicked myself for starting up again. Why couldn’t I keep my stupid mouth shut? I had to give Wendy credit though, because even as frustrated as he was getting with his arrangement, he was obviously still scared of her. He didn’t make any move to hurt me, and I tried to get it through my thick skull not to antagonize him anymore.

“I’m supposed to show you one more thing, and then it’s back down to the basement,” he said. He got the guards into position, and we headed out.

The door we passed through at the end of the corridor said Faculty Parking, but it took me a second to realize that we’d stepped outside. For the first time in forever, I was looking at clear blue sky, and feeling the wind ruffling my hair. I tipped my face up to bask in the sun’s warmth, until a jerk on my leash nearly pulled me off my feet.

The fenced-in parking lot had a half-dozen cars scattered among pallets of supplies and piles of discarded machinery. The six Worker guards formed up around us again, tasers out and ready as we wove through the debris. There was only one reason Wendy would have us tour a parking lot, and I practically skipped alongside Gregor in anticipation.

I stood back, admiring all the neat piles I’d made along the walls of my cell. Clothes to the left, toiletries in the middle, and gadgets to the right. The Land Cruiser had been thoroughly cannibalized for parts, but most of my possessions had been left inside. All my gold was gone; the secret compartment had been pried open, and Gregor’s smirk told me what had happened to it. The trunk with my Bagger inventory was also gone. The porn clips had gone to Queen Alexander as payment for his betrayal, and with her taste for old movies, I assumed that Queen Wendy had kept the rest.

Still, I’d recovered my tablet, and some printed books, and, surprisingly, the canister of concentrated apiscene that I used for my Worker conversions. Queen Wendy must have missed it in her triage of what to take and what to leave. I’d tucked the cylinder under a heavy parka and brought it along with my other clothes, not really sure what I could do with it, but not willing to leave it behind.

If Wendy or Gregor ever learned about it I was toast, and in my bare cell there weren’t a lot of places to hide things. I’d finally tucked it between the mattress and the headboard, and covered it as well as I could with the thin pillow. I was still worried though, and when the door to my cell opened, I jumped like I’d been caught jerking off. I took a deep breath and settled my nerves before turning around to face my visitors.

Queen Wendy took a moment to survey my collection of belongings while Gregor and four of the guards filed in behind her. “You’re organized. That’s good,” she said.

I smiled to myself, because normally I was a complete slob. I’d only made things neat because I knew it would play into the fussy Queen’s prejudices.

“Captain Gregor reported that you had a productive tour. Is that your assessment as well?”

I looked at Gregor, wondering if I could screw him over by complaining about my treatment. As much fun as it might be to try, I didn’t think it would accomplish much. Queen Wendy had finally figured out that rewards were good reinforcements for behavior, but that didn’t mean I’d suddenly become her favorite pet. She wasn’t likely to risk her relationship with the Guard just to resolve my petty vendetta. The better choice was to score some points with Gregor, in case I needed to cash them in later.

“Yes, very productive,” I said. “Captain Gregor was an excellent guide. He was also very skilled at security, and gave me no chance to escape.” I didn’t know how good she was at expressions yet, but I gave Gregor my friendliest smile, just in case. The Guardsman glared back at me, right up until Wendy looked at him, at which point he tried his best to copy my grin.

“Good. Choose your payment from the gallery on this tablet, and then give your choices to Administrator Rosa AB Neg in the lobby. You can come pick her up tomorrow.” She handed a tablet to Gregor, who licked his lips and started pawing through the pictures of female Workers. Queen Wendy frowned. “You’re dismissed, Captain.”

“Huh?” It took Gregor a moment to figure out what she’d said, but then his round face flushed, and he glared at me over the Queen’s shoulder. I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t my fault, but the embarrassed Guardsman spun on his heel and stormed off.

Wendy looked like she’d already forgotten him by the time she turned back to me. I’d always thought that my father was single-minded, but the Queen of UCLA was frightening in her intensity. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what she said next.

“Sit down, Leopold. I’d like to have a conversation with you.” I perched on the edge of the bed, while Wendy stood in front of me. She didn’t have any natural skills as a speaker, but somewhere in her movie viewing she must have seen something like this—someone wanting to “have a conversation”—and was setting the scene.

“I know that I have leverage over you—over your behavior—because you have followed my orders ever since that first week. Your sister’s well-being was a useful threat. But I’ve been doing more research, looking at the behavior of Moons in more varied situations, and I think the time has come for a change.”

Which just meant she’d watched more Pre-Separation vids. “Why? You seem to be getting everything you want from me.”

“Because it’s not sustainable. Every movie I’ve watched shows that eventually, coercion will fail. I’m getting very close to the realization of my plan, and I can’t risk having you rebelling against me. So I’ve decided on another tactic. By explaining the legitimate and justifiable reasons for my behavior, it appears that I can turn you from an enemy into an ally. Once you understand my plans, logic says that you will not be able to resist helping me.”

I wanted to laugh out loud. I wanted to scream my gratitude to all of those ancient movie makers for putting such idiotic plots into their creations. This was exactly the break I was looking for. Wendy had been untouchable up until now because her threats had been working. Despite what she was saying, I hadn’t made any real plans to rebel against her because she hadn’t left me any wiggle room. But this new tactic of hers sounded like it was going to open up all sorts of possibilities.

“I assume that you’ve watched Heaven’s Hammer, since I found it among your collection.”

Holy shit! She wasn’t going to…? “You’re not thinking of launching nuclear weapons, are you?”

“No, although the thought was intriguing. I’m speaking of the relationship between covert SIS Agent Sir Wesley Slate and the brilliant yet reclusive scientist Dr. Wolfgang Hess.”

I sifted through my memories. The nuclear physicist had refused to give the hero the secret launch codes even under torture. Then he’d learned of the global conspiracy by the shadowy group K.O.B.O.L.D. and had joined forces with Agent Slate to save the day. My mind raced, trying to find moments in the plot that I could use to my advantage…

“I’ve now watched it seven times,” Wendy said. “Once Agent Slate explained the reasons behind his top-secret mission, Dr. Hess had no choice but to become his ally. Just as you will have no choice but to help me complete my plans.” She crossed her arms over her ample chest, imitating Agent Slate’s signature pose.

More parts of the movie were coming back to me. “Yes, but remember when Agent Slate tried to hold back part of his plan, and Dr. Hess found out? Only when he’d revealed everything did the two of them team up.”

“I know the part you’re talking about, and I’ve already factored it into my decision. I’m only concerned with the result, not the subtleties of the process. I need more from you Leopold Takayama, and I believe this is the way to get it. Once I’m finished with my formula, I’ll be the Queen of the World, and it’s your sperm that will make it possible.”