The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Laraby Fredriksson sighed heavily, answering his phone on the third ring. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t taking any new clients at the moment, preferring to finish convalescing in peace, and regaining his strength. He’d actually posted a notice and passed it on to all of his contacts, and yet someone was calling his private work phone. Grunting slightly, he answered, plugging in the ear piece with the translator Larissa had given him, preparing to rip the offending caller a new one. Before he could even speak, however, the caller began talking.

“Ah, my dear Mr. Fredriksson! I see the rumors of your demise were indeed, greatly exaggerated,” the caller said with a chuckle. “Sorry to bother you while you are healing up after your... ahem... ‘run in’ with the young Frasier girl, but I have a proposition for you.”

Sureshot blinked in surprise, then chuckled ruefully as well, starting the backtracer that Larissa had installed on his phone. “Well, whomever you are, you certainly are well informed and up to date on current events. And you have a lot of guts calling me up after all the trouble I went through to let my regular contacts know I was unavailable. Tell you what. I’ll actually listen to your proposal, and decide whether or not to accept it.” He expression soured. “And if I don’t like what I hear, perhaps I’ll add you to my list and pay you a little personal visit as well.”

“That’s... not a problem,” the caller replied, still sounding confident. “I’m sure you’ll like what I have to say. First, the contract. I need for you to eliminate someone for me... a high profile target, who, I believe, happens to be fairly close to your current location. He’s a billionaire industrialist, and a local crime boss.”

Laraby yawned and smirked as the tracer program beeped its results in his ear as it flashed on his phone screen. “A simple hit? So far you’re not impressing me, Ms. Montenegro.”

“Hmmm. Not bad. Less than ten minutes, my complements to your hacker. But there’s nothing simple about this target,” the woman replied. “Nigel Grimalde is a well-known security nut, with pretty much any high tech device imaginable at his disposal, as well as a crack security team. He’s paranoid, careful, and incredibly smart. And if that wasn’t enough, he has his own pair of Superpowered lovelies at his beck and call. Just getting within a mile of him without him knowing about it beforehand will be close to impossible.”

Sureshot smiled slightly. He did indeed love a challenge, and the picture this woman was painting was beginning to appeal to him. Still, it wasn’t enough to make him break his self-imposed hiatus. “You’ve done your homework, I see,” he admitted grudgingly.

“I always do,” the woman said, smugly. “Weapons, drugs and extortion might be my trade in stock, but dealing in information is my speciality.“

“Well, in THIS case I’m afraid your information was faulty. I’m tempted, yes... but the lure of a challenge is not enough to entice me into accepting. I’m hanging up now.”

“Oh? Well, that’s too bad, but there was one more little detail I failed to mention,” the woman said slyly, “a little something of no consequence that just might have changed your mind... but if you’re not interested—“

“Fine. Spit it out,” Laraby snapped, becoming irritated.

“Luminaire.”

THAT got his attention. “Did you say Luminaire?!?” Sureshot demanded, loudly. “What does SHE have to do with any of this?“

“Ah, so you ARE interested, then?” the woman chuckled. “Very well. Tell me... by chance do you recall two scantily clad young women with wings coming to the young Frasier girl’s rescue there at the end of your, ah, mission?”

“No,” he replied, a definite edge to his voice. “I can’t say that I did. I was a bit distracted though, having just been struck blind after all.“

“Um, yes. Sorry. My point was that those two young winged heroines seem to have formed some kind of special bond with Luminaire. My intelligence suggest that that the three of them are now rather close friends. And before you ask what any of this has to do with your new assignment, you might recall that I mentioned Grimalde having a pair of Super powered heroines on his payroll? Well Luminaire’s two new friends just happen to be those self same heroines!”

“Ah, I get it now,” Laraby replied, the light bulb going off. “If I target their boss, the two winged avengers will definitely show up to stop me. And if THEY show up—”

“Then there’s an excellent chance that the ‘Light of Justice’ will show up as well,” she concluded, “giving you an excellent chance for a bit of payback. And, of course, if you just happened to get a free shot at Nigel Grimalde while you were in the neighborhood, well, win-win, right?”

Laraby grinned evilly. “Indeed. All right, Ms. Montenegro. You’ve convinced me. I’ll take the job. And, as appreciation for the tip, I won’t come to, ah, Houston, and kill you.” With that, he flipped the phone closed.

Serpentina let out a soft sigh, hanging up her cell phone as well. Hmph. A bit of a hard sell, but he went for it. Looks like routing the call through all those dummy sites paid off—he still missed my actual location by more than a hundred and fifty miles. Still, I may need to set up another burner phone line just in case—at least until Grimalde is dealt with. Can’t be too careful after all. She shook her head, tossing the cell phone into the trash. Looks like the last piece of the puzzle is finally in place. With Grimalde and those other old farts out of the way, there will be no one left to stop my rise to the supreme head of the Syndicate. And once I control ALL the branches of the organization, I’ll bring us out of the shadows, and expand our control to every part of the country! She sighed again in contentment. Ahh... but first I should finish with my CURRENT little project. Umbra should be recovered enough by now to play with again...

“Hey. Hey! Ms. Robotica?” Tawnya asked, gently slapping the girl’s metallic cheeks... then wincing, rubbing lightly at her hands from the contact. Oww! Damn, she really IS made of metal. I kind of thought she was just ‘metal colored’, like Silver Girl.... but apparently she’s metal all the way through! As she sat back, however, the metallic girl groaned and opened her eyes, standing up. “Hey, take it easy. You took a pretty hard hit. Are you okay?“

“Um... yeah. I think I’m okay.” She closed her eyes for a minute, a soft electronic humming issuing forth. “Yes, I’m fine,” she replied a few seconds later, opening her eyes and grinning. “All systems functioning within normal parameters. How about you, though? Are you feeling okay? No lingering after effects from her Psycho-gun?”

“Yeah, actually,” she said, blushing slightly at the memory, “but I’m not quite sure how or why. I was pretty much out of it until your blast missed Ms. Machina and hit me. Then suddenly, I was myself again.”

“Good. I’d hoped that would be the case,” Robbie replied with a smirk. “I wasn’t actually aiming for her. I was trying to shoot you on purpose. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve tangled with her twice before this week, and I’ve been on the receiving end of a few of her gadgets. That Psycho-gun of hers is particularly nasty. It scrambles the synapses in your brain, and overloads your will with pleasure. But I figured out that a simple electric jolt of 10,750 volts is enough to reset your wetware and cancel out the effect.“

Tawyna blinked. “Ten thousand volts?!? Are you saying you basically reset my brain by trying to electrocute me?!?” To Tawnya’s surprise, Robbie laughed.

“Oh, it sounds worse than it really is. Ten thousand volts is about the average amount of voltage you get by rubbing your shoes along the carpet and touching a door knob. Anyway, it’s the electrical current that’s really dangerous. And I modified the blast I hit you with to deliver that voltage with just a few microamps, just to be safe.“

The current, amperage... oh. Right. Duh. We went over that in physics class just a few weeks ago, Tawnya chided herself. Damn... times like this I really wish I still had the same narrow minded focus and memory I had back when I was a brainwashed slave! And maybe a little less senioritis to boot.

“Earlier, when she had me pinned down,” Robotica explained, as she peeled apart Machina’s suit, “I analyzed her suit. Her offensive capabilities outmatched my own, and I knew I would need help taking her down. So, first, I tagged her ‘helper bot’ with a signal dart, programmed to transmit my biosignal, then I shut my own systems down to the bare minimum. Good thing too—she was apparently packing thermite bombs in her arsenal. It melted her robot guard into slag; I shudder to think what that would have done to yours truly.” She shrugged.

“So anyway, what was that you hit her with at the end?” Robotica asked, kneeling down to wrap the unconscious villainess up in metal bindings fashioned from the wreck of her own battlesuit. “Whatever it was really knocked her for a loop.”

“Oh these?” Ebony Angel, gesturing to her glove gauntlets with a sly grin of her own. “Just a little present from my boss. It’s a prototype weapon, still in development, but it gets the job done.” She shrugged, nonchalantly. “Speaking of which... thanks for the assist, Robotica, but I should really get back to the job of patrolling the city. I don’t know what she was after,” she added, heading towards the skylight, summoning her wings, “but she pulled me away from the real criminals walking the streets.”

“Ebony Angel, wait,” Robbie called after her, causing Tawnya to pause. “I know exactly why she was doing this. You were... a bit distracted during her monologue earlier, but she blurted out her reason behind the attack. She basically said you were her ‘second degree of separation’, a way of getting to her real target—Luminaire.”

“WHAT?!? Luminaire?” Tawnya shouted. Oh shit! This was all about Katie... and she was using ME to get to her? But... why? And how would she even know that I knew her? I mean, yeah, we’re both Supers, and we have kind of hung around each other a lot the past few weeks... but it was mostly as civilians, not in costume! Hell, I can count the times we’ve been together in consume on one hand! And Ms. Machina doesn’t strike me as a local. Kneeling down, she grabbed the woman’s phaser gun from her belt as she began to groan and shift, eyelids fluttering.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Robotica protested as Ebony Angel pointed Larissa’s own Psychotropic Reconditioner at her, as she began to wake up.

“We need answers,” Tawnya replied succinctly, pulling the trigger. “And she’s going to give them to us.”

I took a deep steadying breath and closed my eyes. Aunt Eva was definitely right. This would be the hardest part of Master Nigel’s little assignment, after all. At least I wouldn’t actually be there in person. After gaining her consent in my plan to become part of Mr. Grimalde’s harem, Aunt Eva had asked if I wished to travel back to Midas City with her on the private jet. I declined, saying that I wanted to stay in River City for now, and that I’d rather talk to my parents on the phone. She didn’t call me a coward or anything, but her disappointment was clear enough on her face.

In the end, we came up with a compromise of sorts. Eva agreed to serve as a sort of ‘psychic go-between’ for my parents and me. She was psychically connected to them both back in Midas, and offered to project my ‘aura’ to them through that connection, so I could speak to them ‘face-to-face’, so to speak. I wasn’t sure of exactly what that meant, but she assured me it wouldn’t hurt, so I consented. Holding onto my shoulder, she told me to close my eyes and think about my parents.

I actually let out a cry of surprise when I opened my eyes and found myself suddenly standing back in my dad’s private room at the Midas Touch. “K-katie?” Mom exclaimed in surprise. “Wh... when did you get here?”

“Um, hi mom, dad,” I said with a shy grin. “I’m, ah, not exactly here. Aunt Eva is, um, projecting my, um... aura thingy... somehow?” I shrugged. “Anyway, I, uh, need to talk to you both about something important.”

“Ach, lass, it’s good to see you looking sae well,” Dad said warmly. “Your ma told me about what happened the other day...”

Oh... oh! Shit. I’d forgotten all about that. “Oh, goddess... mom! I’m... I’m sorry about that! I didn’t mean what I said, or what I did! Are you okay? And um... Yancy? Is she—”

“She’s fine, Katie, baby,” Lacie replied gently, walking over to stand next to me. “And I’m fine too. Don’t worry. We know that you were hurting, that you were lashing out. We knew that wasn’t how you really felt.”

“And, Dad?” I said, turning to face him as well. “I didn’t meant it when I said I hated you! Honest! I was just... just...”

“Aye, lass,” he nodded. “I ken. Ye were angry... and sad, and in deep, deep pain. We both know that. We don’t blame ye. I’m just glad you’re feeling better... that you’re able to finally get past your grief and move on with your life.”

I glanced to the side at that. I hadn’t really moved on just yet. I was coping, yes... hanging on by the skin of my teeth, thanks to Sioban and Tawnya’s influence, but it was still a close thing. I was trying hard not to think about the alternative if I failed Mr. Grimalde’s test, or even if he simply said ‘no’. The last thing I needed right now was to trigger another panic attack.

“Um, well, Dad, about that,” I began, fumbling over my words. Dammit, Katie, no fear! Just do it! “I can’t tell you how lost I’d be right now without my friends—my two BEST friends—Tawnya Parkinson and Sioban MacMillan.“

“Aye, lass,” said Dad, “We’ve both heard reports—good reports!—about them both from Nigel and Patty.”

“And I actually know Sioban professionally,” interjected Mom, “She teaches at River City U. You know, dear, that she’s, ah, a bit, older than she looks. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, mom, I know how old she is, but she’s a wonderful friend.” At that point I figured, why hold back, right? Dad always says ‘in for a penny, in for a pound,’ so here goes nothin’... “And she’s an amazing lover. They both are.”

That got a little tremor from both of them, Mom more than Dad. She grabbed his hand. Well, there was the penny. Now for the pound.

“So I’ve decided to join Nigel Grimalde’s harem so I can be with Tawnya and Sioban full time.”

Mom and Dad stared at me for a couple of seconds, then Dad slipped deftly into the wheelchair beside his bed. “Excuse me, lass,” he said gruffly, wheeling across the room, “I need to use the bathroom.” And suddenly, he disappeared from my sight, vanishing from the room.

“D-dad? Wh... where did he go? What happened?”

«Nothing, sweetie,» Aunt Eva spoke in my mind. «Your father severed our psychic connection. I’m guess your announcement didn’t go over too well. But, on the good side, he didn’t yell and scream—»

Mom and I winced as a loud shout sounded from inside the bathroom, followed by what sounded like a very angry conversation. “Well, that can’t be good,” Lacie replied with a shake of her head. “Your father took his cell phone with him to the bathroom. I can only guess who he must be talking to.” I groaned again. Hell’s bells... if Mr. Grimalde still accepted me after all that, I was definitely gonna pay for this.

“Anyway, honey,” my mother continued, crossing her arms, “while Eugene is busy, why don’t explain this sudden decision to me, and tell me what this is all about?”

Nigel listened with barely held irritation as his men in Utah made their report. Sighing deeply, forcing himself not to shout, he replied back. “Okay. I understand. She’s no longer at her residence, and her office complex is cleaned out. You’re not surprised by that, are you? I mean, if she has anything resembling intelligence she would have gone into hiding after taking out the other Syndicate Bosses, right? What I’m telling you Lucas, is to find where she is NOW! You’re the best investigative team in the country! I’ve even arranged temporary access to an NSA satellite for surveillance of the area for the past two weeks. The answer is there somewhere gentlemen,” he finished, letting his anger show at the end, “I expect you to find it!“

He’d no sooner hung up when his phone rang again, a video call this time. Glancing at the number, he smirked. Ah, Eugene. I was wondering if he was awake yet. Perfect timing, I need to touch base with him about tracking down Serpentina and his missing son. “Eugene, good morning! I was just about to call—“

“MY BLOODY DAUGHTER, NIGEL?!?!” the furious Scotsman yelled, causing Nigel to wince, drawing back from the phone. “Are ye DAFT man? Did ye have a stroke of some kind since the last time we talked? Some kind of mental impairment? Tell me, Nigel, I’m dying to know!“

Damn. I’m guessing his daughter finally got around to talking to him about my, ah, her proposal, he mused wearily. I suppose I should have seen this coming, though I never expected her to work up the nerve to actually confront him. Waiting for a pause during the nonstop stream of Pictish cursing, he tried to explain. “Eugene, please, I think you’re overrreacting here. I was just trying to—“

“OVERREACTING?!?” he roared back, nearly bursting Nigel’s eardrums. “Overreacting? This is mae wee LITTLE GIRL we’re talking about, ye crusty, senile old blatherscyte!! The only reason we’re talking this way is that I’m in a goddamn WHEELCHAIR, otherwise I’d’ve donned me armor, flown back to River City, BLOWN A FUCKING HOLE into yer ceiling, and would hae landed in your bloody bedroom to ‘discuss this matter’ face to face! What in the name of all that’s HOLY were ye thinking?!?”

Okay, that’s about enough of this! Nigel growled, hackled raised. Granted he was a bit to blame for this, but by God, there were limits to the abuse he would take for TRYING to do the right thing.

“Have you got a good video connection there, Eugene?”

“Passing fair, won’t win any awards, but I see your ugly mug well enough, ye scoundrel!”

“Good.” Eugene could see the background move as Nigel took off walking. “Let me show you something. This is my workout lounge. And this...” Suddenly the phone shifted perspective, “... used to be my fireplace.”

“Err, Nigel, ye’ve a hole in yer wall.”

“Tell me about it, Gene. Oh and this!” Nigel pointed the phone down at a pretzel of black metal, “This used to be my fireplace poker!”

“Nigel,” said Eugene, “What happened?”

“What happened? WHAT HAPPENED!? Hurricane Katie happened, Eugene, that’s what happened! You want to know what I was THINKING,” Nigel shot back hotly, “I was THINKING that since the girl’s own PARENTS were unable to deal with the poor girl’s problem themselves, and she had come to ME for help, that I should at least take the time to hear her out!”

“Are you insinuating that we didn’t?” Eugene fired back.

“Yes I am,” Nigel countered. “I’m willing to bet she hadn’t even finished explaining herself before you stormed off and called me, not even bothering to hear her entire story before going off half-cocked and threatening to rip ME a new asshole. And, for the record, I did not come to her or pursue her in any way. SHE came to ME. SHE offered herself to ME. She was at the end of her rope, Eugene, and she threw herself at my feet of her own free will!”

Eugene was taken aback. “But... but.. that doesnae make any sense!” he protested weakly. “She’s a full blown lesbian! I cannae see her showing any interest in a man, particularly one old enough to be her grandfather!”

“Gee, thanks, Frasier,” Nigel quipped woodenly, “you’re really spot-on with the insults tonight.”

“That’s... that nae what I meant,” Eugene said with a sigh. “My point was... never mind. Just explain this to me, Nigel... why does my one and only daughter think she needs to become your sex slave.“

Nigel sighed deeply. At least he was willing to finally listen now. “Her girlfriend’s death. It hit her pretty hard. She blames herself. You probably know more about it than I do. Suffice it to say, some time yesterday afternoon, Sioban and Tawnya carried her here, unconscious, possibly from a drug overdose...” Eugene gasped audibly. So, he hadn’t heard about that, then. “She’s fine, old man. A family friend to a look at her, Dr. Melissa Coleman—you’re familiar with her work, I assume?” Eugene nodded “Anyway she looked her over, and other than a bit of a headache, and a grey tint in her eyes, there were no lingering after effects.“

“I see,” Eugene breathed after a moment, softly. “So she tried to kill herself again, then. This time with dust.”

Again? “Eugene? She’s tried this before?” Nigel asked, deeply concerned.

“Aye. A few days ago. I only recently heard about it myself from Lacie. The lass... blames herself for wee Jessica’s death. Her good luck saved her own life but didn’t protect Jess. She was there, just a few feet away, and couldn’t stop it from happening, though can’t saying it’s her fault.” Silence for several moments, then, “So, if I had to guess, she came to you with this plea after having talked to your wee Angel girls, Tawyna and Sioban? She’s probably seen how much ye care for yer women, how much each of them love you as well... and believes that if you enslave her, use the same machines and drugs ye used on Patty and Angie years ago, that ye can take away the pain and heartache she feels now, cover it up with the bliss of submission and security in her sense of purpose.”

Nigel frowned slightly. “I wouldn’t have put it exactly THAT way... but yes. That is her plan.”

“And ye didnae think to simply tell the girl, ‘NO’?” he asked candidly.

“Eugene, when your daughter came to me last night with her proposal, she was a nervous wreck. She was shaking, fidgeting, and damn near hyperventilating. She was, in a word, desperate. At that moment, she no doubt thought that this was her one and only solution, and was prepared to do anything to make it happen.” He shook his head at the memory. “When I acted as if I was about to turn her down, she panicked, starting listing off all her positive attributes, all the ways she could be a benefit to me. And to prove herself, she destroyed an antique fireplace set and blew a damn hole in the wall! Tell her ‘No’? Hell, I am not a man that scares easily, Frasier, but the idea of rejecting her flat out, and having her melt down in front of me? It scared me shitless! That’s why I came up with my counter-proposal. That she would have to her discuss her plans with you, and her mother, and Parker, Veronica and Evangeline! The idea was that at least ONE of you would be able to talk her out of it, and convince her that this was a mistake!”

Eugene chuckled softly. “Ahh. I see now. Ye took the choice of yer hands and placed it back in her own.” He chuckled again. “That, laddie, was yer mistake. Katie... she’s a lovely girl, sweet as they come, and gentle as a lamb. Aye... but she’s as stubborn as a billy goat and just as hard headed, too!” He sighed forlornly. “Ach, she’s but her father’s daughter in that way. The lass... once she’d made up her mind, no one can persuade her to change it. Ach, not without resorting to the verra kind of ‘mind changing’ she wants from you, mind! And that, lad, is the rub.”

Eugene shifted in his chair a bit, and settled in for the rest of the explanation. “I suppose it’s my own fault in a way. Ever since she was a wee babe, she’d been comparing herself to me, her mother, her brother, her Aunts and Uncles, her cousins here in Midas. Just because she’s nae a genius, nae a super powerhouse, nae a magic metal goddess, she thinks she’s inferior somehow. She thinks that Lacie and I are disappointed in her. Aye, we’ve tried many a time to tell her different, that we love her and her brother the same, and that she could NEVER be a disappointment to us. But she got it stuck in her mind somehow that we have these high expectations, and that she HAS to try and live up to them somehow.”

Nigel nodded softly, understanding only too well. “Yes. Second generation syndrome. Robbie and Justine have it too, but it sound like Katherine has it much worse. Hey, maybe there’s still some hope here. She probably hasn’t talked to Parker or Evangeline yet. They hate my guts. Surely they’ll talk her out of this mad plan right?”

Eugene chuckled. “Ye dinnae know my daughter verra well, do ye, Nigel? She may not be the most brilliant or confident child I know, but when she gets her back up about something, she dives in head first.”

“You don’t mean...”

“Aye, lad, she no doubt tackled the toughest nuts first. I have nae doubt that she’s already talked to Parker, and I know for sure that she’s talked to Eva, since Eva is providing her with a long distance psychic connection even at the verra moment.”

“Oh shit!” said Nigel.

“Aye, lad. I’m fair certain that by now she’s talked to everyone on her list you set out for her.” He paused, for a moment. “Oh, and for the record, Eva says she doesnae hates your guts. She thinks yer a bit rough around the edges, but a fairly good bloke.” He sighed. “So, aye, that’s everyone on your list.”

“Well, except Sioban,” said Nigel, “She’s probably certain that Sioban will welcome her to House Grimalde with open arms.”

“And won’t she?” asked Eugene.

“I don’t know. Sioban, her feelings about Katherine... they’re complicated. Look, the bottom line is that brainwashing your daughter into an obedient and loyal sex slave is NOT the way to go here.”

Eugene was quiet for several more minutes before replying. “And... what if I suggested to her that it was?”

“Excuse me?” Nigel blinked in surprise. “Did I just hear you correctly?”

“Aye. I dinnae like it, mind,” he said with a definite edge, “in fact I feel like kicking my own arse for even suggesting such a thing. But the fact of the matter is that she needs something... something to keep her grounded and stable and secure. My baby girl feels so low about herself, so unworthy of love and compassion that she tried to KILL herself, man! And if I cannae help her, if I cannae reach her... then God help me, perhaps you and your girls can!”

“You... you’re serious? You’re REALLY okay with this?” Nigel asked in disbelief.

“Am I okay with this?” Eugene shot back. “Listen to me carefully, lad, and listen well. Imagine yer sweet young daughter... Justine, is it? Imagine her in Katie’s place, coming to ye in the wee hours of the morning, waking you up out of the blue to tell you that she’d decided that she’d fallen in love with your old friend and business partner, Eugene Frasier, a man fifty years her senior, and that she planned to become his full time love slave. How would ye respond to that?“

“I’d have you murdered in your sleep,” Nigel replied deadpan.

“Aye, as well ye should,” Gene replied savagely. “So, as ye can imagine, I’m about as far from okay with this situation a person could possibly be. But, consider the alternative. If it were a choice of giving your beloved daughter to a crusty old fossil like me, or losing her forever, then the choice really isn’t much of a choice anymore, is it?” Nigel sighed. The man had a point. “I’ll simply say this, Nigel, and then let the matter drop. Do what ye have to do to make my girl whole and happy again. Despite how this conversation started, and despite all appearances to the contrary, I trust you, Nigel.” He chuckled softly. “If I have to give my wee Katie Ann to some old fart, it might as well be you.”

Nigel groaned inwardly. This was an unforeseen complication, one that he didn’t need. And yet, he’d pretty much trapped himself. ‘Hoist with my own petard’, eh? And... anyway, is it really so BAD having another pretty young girl around? he rationalized. She is very much my type of girl, after all. And... it would be useful having another Super on my team, one with her strength, skill, and luck. Once she’s no longer bat-shit crazy... she might actually come in handy.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Frasier,” Nigel quipped, smiling slightly. “It sounds like you need to wrap up things with your daughter, but once you’re done, I need to talk to you about developments with your son. I think we need to take a more pro-active approach to Serpentina. She’s been... active lately. We need to kick this search into high gear. I’m afraid of what she might do to James.“

“Ah, yes,” Eugene nodded. “I’ll call back within the hour. I’m nearly finished rebuilding the console for my DNA scanning satellite system. With any luck, I’ll have a way to narrow down the search a bit more by the time I call you back.”

“Good deal. Talk to you soon,” Nigel said, hanging up. He let out a soft sigh of relief. All things considered, that conversation could have gone a lot worse. At least we’re still talking, still civil, still... ‘friends’. He sighed again, thinking of Warren, thinking of Richard, thinking even of Katherine and what she is willing to do to hold onto her friend. At this point, friends are something of a precious commodity. I should try and hold onto the few I still have too.

His phone ringing again pulled him out of his introspective thoughts, and he answered. “It’s Nigel. Good morning—”

“GRIMALDE! YOU DEVIL!” Parker Albinn yelled over the speaker. “YOU SNAKE! YOU SCUM! YOU WORTHLESS DEGENERATE! HOW DARE YOU SEDUCE MY NIECE—”

With a grunt Nigel hung up the phone in disgust. The hell? Again? It’s too early in the morning for this shit. And anyway... friends like Parker Albinn I do NOT need...