The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“So, where did you meet them again?” my lovely distracted girlfriend asked as we made our way to the front door of Lorenzo’s. This was going to be our first ‘double-date’, and I couldn’t wait to show off my girlfriend to my new friends, and vice-versa. I was a little nervous. I wanted everything to go perfectly.

“I told you, before… on the job, Jess. Remember?”

Jessica DuMont frowned, but nodded. “Oh yeah. Right. Sorry…. So, you told them both to dress casually, right?” I blinked in surprise. I hadn’t actually thought of that. “Katie! Lorenzo’s is a one of the fanciest restaurants on the whole west coast! It takes most people weeks just to get a reservation! Everybody always comes here dressed to the nines! I mean… except us,” she replied, gesturing the simply blouse and jeans we both sported. “Look, Katie…. I know the guy used to babysit you and Jimmy and make your morning oatmeal and all… but to most people it’s a really big deal to eat here! We’re in t-shirts and jeans, and your friends are gonna be dressed for the freakin’ opera or something!”

“I know… I’m sorry!” I protested weakly. “I just… I didn’t think. But hang on… I know what to do.” Closing my eyes, I willed my clothes to change, activating the mentally linked circuitry from Dad’s Neuroweave fibers embedded in my body. In a brief flash of light, my casual wear had changed, replaced with the soft yellow satin evening dress I’d bought a few weeks ago the last time Jess and I had gone out on the town. “Oh, shit… they’re already there at the top of the stairs! Quick, Jess, change yours as well before they spot us! Try for the one you that wore on that dinner date last month… the red sparkily one.”

“Uhhnn… you mean… this one?” she said, concentrating, shifting her own clothes to the dress I’d suggested. I nodded, smiling grandly. I loved that dress. Jess never looked prettier than she did in that scarlet spangled gown. I sighed in contentment. There was just something about the color red that I found so intriguing… Of course, drawing into view of our dinner guests, I had to admit to loving THEIR choice of dinner attire just as much. My African Warrior Goddess and Redheaded Porcelain Doll had truly outdone themselves. Tawnya’s jade green strapless gown seemed to be defying gravity and physics both in coving her bountiful bosom. Ah, but that was nothing compared to Sioban’s crystal blue backless halter-top dress, with those simply gorgeous slits along the side that made my fingers tingle with the urge to explore. Just as appreciative of their beauty as I was, Jess and I took our time approaching, simply drinking in their presence.

“…admit it, when you’re right, you’re right,” Tawnya was saying, looking slightly peeved. “I did kinda expect them to shown up in something a bit more casual, with the way they talked about this place, but I guess you were right. They did dress the part after all.” Sioban merely nodded, smiling smugly, as we slipped inside…

…to our table. I blinked slightly, it seemed as though we’d simply flown across the room in an instant, but my attention was pulled back to the here and now as the Master Chef himself made an appearance.

“AH! Four such lovely young ladies!” he said with his usual boisterous flair. “I should be paying you for bringing such splendor into my humble place!” Still smiling, he turned to face me. “Katarina, I wonder if I might speak to you privately for just a moment?”

“Ah, um, sure,” I replied, frowning slightly, a strange feeling of foreboding in the pit of my stomach. Turning back to the group, I said, “I’ll be right back. I promise. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Of course, honey, take your time,” Jess replied dismissively, her eyes only on Tawnya and Sioban. “So, anyway, her Dad was like ‘We cannae keep going on this way, lass! I ken ye mean well, but ye willnae forgive yerself if ye accidentally poison one of the bairns one day’…”

As soon as we reached Lorenzo’s office, the calm friendly demeanor was dropped. “Katarina! Why are you doing this!?” he asked, suddenly angry.

“Huh? What? Doing what?”

“Your mama, your papa—dey’re saints a-walkin’ de earth!” he proclaimed, his accent growing heavy and exaggerated in his passion. “Why you wanna disgrace dem? Why you wanna make kissy face wit’ deir enemies!?”

“Huh? Enemies? Wait, how do you—“

“Yer Unca Parker, he tol’ me all about dat snake, dat mobster, Grimalde!” he yelled, spitting, actually spitting on the floor. “And he tolda me about his women! Dat redhead—she’s a one of dem! And dat black girl—I bet she is too, isn’t she—“

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” I snapped, matching and surpassing his volume, stunning the larger Italian man into silence. “Those two young women are my friends, Lorenzo! My BEST friends! A person could live their whole entire lives and go to their graves thankful to have just one friend as caring and faithful and considerate as either of them. I was lucky… no, not lucky, BLESSED enough to have BOTH such wonderful girls as my friends! They are true heroes, going out there fighting the good fight just like me every damn day. They deserve thanks. They deserve praise. But most of all they deserve some goddamn respect, and I’m not going to stand here and listen to you badmouth them until you run out of wind!”

The older man stared at me in shock. I’d never used profanity with him before in my entire life. Truth be told, I looked up to and respected him, and thought of him as much of an uncle as “Uncle” Parker. I knew he was upset because he cared about me. But I wasn’t going to stand there for ten plus minutes letting him huff and puff just for him to wind down and let me explain the way things really were. I was nipping this little tirade in the bud. We could talk about his hurt feelings later. Right now I cared more about the feelings of my two dinner guests.

“Katarina,” he said softly, shaking his head. “Why you… why you say this thing to me?”

“I’m sorry, Lorenzo,” I said just as gently, smiling a bit. “You know I love you. I just… if Uncle Parker has a beef with Nigel Grimalde, then that’s his business. Nigel’s not sitting outside at my table eating with me. Sioban and Tawnya have nothing to do with this stupid feud between our families.” I sighed deeply. “They’re my friends, Lorenzo. And if they’re not welcome here… then I guess I’m not welcome here as well. It will make me sad…. Heck, it will break my heart. But if I have to have our next dinner date at a McDonald’s—“

“Mcdonald’s?!?!” Lorenzo yelled, cursing briefly in Italian before spitting again. “Not while I’m alive!” He sighed shaking his head briskly. “Listen, Katarina… you win. I will trust your judgment in this. I just… I want you to be careful and take care of yourself, okay? I cannot say that I trust your new friends just yet—I don’t underestimate dat snake Grimalde’s influence one bit—but for your sake, Katarina, I will show dem respect. For YOUR sake... I treat dem like my own family.”

Which was all I wanted to hear. We hugged and patched things up, but all the while I felt a burning need to hurry back to the table. Please still be there! Please still be there! Oh Goddess, PLEASE still be there! Turning the corner, I drew to a halt, staring at the table reserved for my family and friends… and let out a sigh of relief finding three lovely young women sitting there, waiting for me.

“You stayed,” I said, gratefully, feeling a wellspring of tears begin to well up in my eyes. “Thank the Goddess! I just knew you had heard us arguing and had decided to leave—“

“Yeah, well, we started to,” Tawnya admitted, her own eyes wet with barely restrained tears, “but, we heard what you said. Katie… what you said back there…”

“That was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said about it, ever,” Sioban finished, her voice cracking slightly. Standing up, both Angels gave me a tight and passionate embrace, joined a moment later by Jess as well. “So,” she said lightly, a moment later, trying to lighten the mood, “what’s good here?”

I let out a soft gentle sigh as the sunlight shining through the window forced me out of the sweet and perfect dream back to reality once again. Yawning, brushing aside my hair, I padded naked across the room, and down the hallway to the bathroom. Waking up in the guest room here at the Prentiss mansion was a bittersweet experience; on one hand, I had quickly grown to love staying with the Tearbearers in their new home while Grimalde Tower was being rebuilt, but without T-baby and Bon-bon around, the place seemed empty and hollow, despite the serving staff that lived and worked here. Despite the welcome and invitation from both Mr. Grimalde and Angela herself to stay as long as I wanted, and that Darryl and Ms. Summers were still staying on the grounds, I tended to, more often than not, spend my nights back at my old apartment, or back at my parent’s house.

On the plus side, sleeping here, even alone, tended to give me MUCH better dreams.

Reaching the bathroom, I turned on the sink and splashed a bit of water on my face, looking at myself in the mirror. I grimaced slightly; my eyes still held a distinct grey tint to them. Shit. I must have overdid it a bit on the Dust last night before bed. Groaning softly, I reached in to turn on the shower, and while the water heats up, I pull out the contact lenses I’ve been wearing the past few days from the medicine cabinet and soak them in cleaning solution, letting the gray rinse out.

I feel more than a little guilty to still be using, after everything Bonnie did to cover for me with the Chief. The brief little confrontation we’d had last night after the meeting had only brought the point home. If I hadn’t thought ahead and worn those contact lenses, things might have gotten ugly. And, really, I knew I needed to stop using it. But… well, I needed it. To keep my emotions in check, to quiet the other voices in my head, and keep me on point while I worked to bring my Master plan into fruition. And I wasn’t inhaling it a bag at a time or anything! I only used it at home before bed, to help me sleep, or first thing in the day, to help even me out while trying to organize the rest of my day. It was a crutch, plain and simple… but I wasn’t addicted. Really! It was just a way to keep me going until Bon-bon and T-baby returned.

Sioban…

She would be so disappointed if she knew I was still using Dust after all this time, I moaned inwardly, slipping into the shower, letting the hot steamy deluge wash away the grime and the shame. And I know she’d say that I’m just justifying it’s use, that I don’t need it at all. But dammit, she’s not here! And I know, I encouraged her and T to go and find out more about Brunhilda’s legacy and all… but I still miss her…. uh, them. Both of them. I’m a twin, half of a whole. I don’t do well by myself. So… this is just temporary until she, er, THEY get back. I nodded to myself… justification or not, I was going with it.

And if nothing else, I thought with equal parts anxiety and anticipation, coming clean to her when she gets back will make for an interesting night. She swore that she would punish me dearly if she ever caught me using again. And while I’d never want to hurt her feelings or disappoint her… I AM kind of looking forward to seeing Mistress Dragonfyre’s ‘fiery’ dominant side again. I purred softly to myself at the thought. Only the knowledge that I had a full day ahead of me kept me from focusing on that particular thought and turning shower time into a full-blown ‘fantasize and jill off’ session. Forcing those steamier thoughts aside, I quickly finished my shower, then headed out to begin my day.

What a way to start your day...

Tabitha Coleman yawned tiredly as she made her way towards the elevator, her high heels clicking loudly with every step she took. Taking a moment to glance at her reflection in the polished mirror sheen of the elevator door, smoothing out her long stylish form fitting red dress, she brushed back a lock of short curly black hair, smoothing it to the side. Pursing her lips, she added another coat of ruby red lipstick, then smiled, blowing herself a kiss. Ah... perfect. I look totally scrumptious! The boys upstairs won’t be able to keep their eyes off me... but in a good way. Pressing the button, she opened the elevator and slid inside.

“Ah! Good morning, Miss,” a young man in a business suit greeted her inside the cab, a briefcase clutched tightly on one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. “Nice day, isn’t it?”

“I suppose,” Tabitha replied non-commitally, stifling another yawn. “Truth be told, I’m not much of a morning person. But you seem bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Where are you heading?”

“Oh, I’m off to the fifth floor, big marketing meeting,” the man replied with a smile, trying and failing to disguise oogling the beautiful raven haired woman . “What about you?”

“I’m heading to the penthouse,” Tabby replied with a secret smirk. “I have a meeting with ‘the Man’ himself.” She sighed, then yawned again. “A bit early for my tastes, but with his busy schedule, I had to take what I could get.” The elevator dinged, stopping at the fifth floor, and the man stepped out. “See you later, handsome,” she said with a grin. “Hope your meeting goes well.”

“Ah, and you too,” he replied just as the doors closed.

Tabby nodded with a grin. Well, I’d call this getup a success. If his eyes were any bigger, they’d have popped out of his head. With any luck, the old lecher will be too busy paying attention to my ‘assets’ to even listen to my words. Whistling softly to herself, she waited idly for several more seconds before the elevator stopped at the twentieth floor, the penthouse.

“Ah, yes, Ms. Coleman,” Braxton Van Hoffe said, rising to his feet to greet her as she was buzzed into his private office. “Perfect timing. Please, come in and have a seat. Uh, that will be all, gentlemen,” he said gruffly to two large burly men in black suits, who nodded silently, stepping outside. “So glad you agreed to this meeting,” he continued once they were alone. “You come very highly recommended, and if your reputation is half as true as the rumors, you may be just the person I need to help me with my little problem.”

“Oh?” Tabby asked, eyebrow arched inquisitively, leaning forward slightly to expose her cleavage. “And... what kind of problem would that be, exactly?”

Braxton coughed slightly, loosening his tie. His people had warned him about her reputation, that she might try and use her feminine wiles as a negotiation tactic, but they’d failed to mention just how sexy the hot little feline femme fatale actually was. “Ah, um, yes,” he sputtered for a moment before regaining his composure. “I need you to acquire a certain item for me, one that only someone of your... ability, might be able to obtain for me—”

“Steal, you mean.”

Braxton did a double-take at her bluntness, “Wh... what? Stealing? Miss Coleman, I assure you—”

“No, Mr. Van Hoffe, let ME assure you,” she said smoothly, reclining back in her chair, crossing her legs. “We’re both professionals here. We both know what it is you’re asking. Let me assure you, I’m not here to try and entrap you. I don’t work for the police or the Feds or anyone in law enforcement. I’m an independent contractor, and my sterling reputation wouldn’t be what it is if I went around stabbing my clients in the back. So, please, let’s just cut to the chase. What is it you want me to ‘obtain’ for you?”

The old man sighed, taken aback. “Well, you’re certainly blunt, I’ll give you that. I thought a catgirl would be more prone to playing games...” Seeing the dour look the woman flashed him, he pushed on. “GrimTech’s bioengineering division is working on some new super secret project, something that is supposed to revolutionize the field of medicine for the next century. Grimalde is in possession of a certain hard driver containing cutting edge genetic and biological data. I want you to obtain that hard drive for me.”

“GrimTech, eh?” Tabitha mused, sitting up with interest. She chuckled drily. “Well, you’re not asking for much, are you? Nigel Grimalde is one paranoid old goat. GrimTech security is rock solid and air tight. Getting in would be tricky.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Braxton grumbled. “I’ve been trying to get an edge on that paranoid mook for over thirty years! The bastard records and scans everything... a fly couldn’t get past his electronic security sweeps without him noticing. I know... I bio-engineered a fly capable of recording and transmitting data collected in flight and sent it into his compound. It cost me millions... and the stinking rat bastard found it and squished it within three minutes!”

Tabby bit her lip to keep from laughing. In River City, hell, in the entire state, Nigel Grimalde was pretty much legendary in three things: being a technological genius, being a ruthless business man, and being extremely paranoid and protective of his technology. Early in her career, she herself had attempted to steal from the technological giant on two separate occasions, only to be thwarted both times by his crack security, and his personal pet Supers, the lovely Angels. Since then, she’d gone on to obtain success in procuring from easier targets... such as the man attempting to hire her now. She grinned inwardly. I wonder what the old bastard would do if he knew exactly how much of HIS technology I’d personally stolen over the years and sold to his competitors on the black market? He’d probably have a cow... maybe even have a heart attack and keel over on the spot!

Aloud, focusing back on the job at hand, she asked, “How good is your Intel on this hard drive? If Grimalde is such a worry wart, how do YOU even know about it?”

“Though a stroke of luck and years of planning, of course,” he replied smugly. “As it just so happens, I have a number of spies placed within my competitor’s company. Nigel is too good to allow someone he’s not completely vested with to hold a position in any sensitive areas, so the best I would manage was to get my people hired on in minor positions... as temps or custodial workers.” He shrugged. “I went with quantity over quality—if I couldn’t get someone close enough to get anything juicy from the old buzzard, I figured flooding the playing field with enough low level unimportant workers was the next best thing. And, in this particular case, it paid off...”

...“don’t really know for sure,” Jeff Daniels, a young recently hired intern gushed to his partner, Roger Dempsey, as he took another drag from his cigarette, “but it’s freaking awesome! I mean... wow! I never pictured working on something like this just out of college, you know? If our department manages to piece it together, we could all be listed in the American Journal of Medicine. Hell, if it works the way we’re anticipating, we might all end up with the Nobel Prize!”

“Yeah. Same with my group,” Roger said, nodding. “This is some trippy ass shit! And to think, that old guy Frasier just handed it to the boss like a Christmas present! I mean, genetic recombination on such a level? And the way these things move... microscopic machines, nannites, but completely organic! It’s like Star Trek stuff, man, and I got to hold it in my freaking hand—”

“Hey! Um, shhhh!” Jeff hissed glancing sharply to the side as a slight noise caught their attention. Glancing over the concrete barrier, they spotter Jose, the evening shift janitor, dumping a load of garbage into the dumpster. Finding himself watched, he waved to the researchers.

“Hola, Senors,” he said with a nod. “Estoy molestando?”

The two interns let out the breath they were holding. “Ah... um...no, Jose. We’re fine. Just, um... carry on.” The Mexican janitor nodded,, dumping the rest of his load. “Shit, man, that was close,” Roger breathed. “We should NOT be talking about this shit out here. If anyone on the outside knew about that hard drive...”

“Let’s go back inside,” Jeff agreed, stamping out his cigarette, “and hope we got lucky. I know we’re outside the building and all, but they DO say he records everything...”

Braxton nodded briefly. “Needless to say, the information Jose passed on to me wasn’t much, but it was easy enough to confirm. Suffice it to say, I am of the belief that it’s sometimes better to be lucky that good.”

Tabby chuckled. “Then you have something in common with a little playmate of mine. Thanks to her, I spent a few weeks up in lockup up north, but I’d rather our paths NOT cross again, if I can help it.” She sighed deeply, considering. “You know, Mr. Van Hoffe, I have been a bit bored lately. I’ll take the job—”

“You will? Excellent! Perfect! I’ll have my man outside set up everything—”

“—For triple my usual fee.” she finished smirking wickedly.

“T-t-t-triple?!?” Braxton sputtered, nearly choking. “Three hundred million dollars?!? Are you insane?”

“That’s what my shrink tells me,” she quipped, dangling her high heel off the toes of her left foot as it kicked idly,. “But sanity has nothing to do with stupidity. You want me to slip into the most secure, heavily guarded building in the country? I’d have an easier time slipping into the Oval Office with the President and the entire White House staff on full alert.” She crossed her arms. “Even then, getting caught, the worst I’d have to worry about would be getting charged with Treason and maybe the death penalty. Grimalde is in bed with Blackfinger, everybody knows that. If I got caught, a quick death would probably be the best I could hope for.”

“Okay, fine... so there is risk involved... but three hundred MILLION?!?”

“Look at it this way,” she said calmly, sliding her foot back into her pump, and making a show of deliberately switching legs, flashing him briefly before crossing her legs again, kicking the new one idly. “If the information on that drive is as revolutionary as you think, three hundred million is a bargain. You’ll effectively own the technological world for the next century. Braxton Industries... more like Braxton Global.“

“Hmmm... Braxton Global,” the old man mused, smiling again. “Heh. I like the sound of that. Very well. You’ve got yourself a deal. Three hundred million upon delivery of the hard drive. And by that, I mean ALL the relevant data from within! I know Grimalde and his paranoia...and the hard drive is no good to me if it turns out he booby trapped it, or wiped its memory somehow. Understand this... I am paying for the data contained on the drive.“

“Yes, yes, I’m not a simpleton,” Tabitha replied in a bored tone. She rose to her feet, brushing aside a lock of hair from the wig covering her ears. “I’ll bring you the drive within three days. Just make sure you have the money ready.” She walked to the door, only to pause. “Rest assured, old man, I don’t intend to betray you. I keep my word. Just make sure you follow through with YOUR end of the deal. If you try and shortchange me, you’ll regret it.” With that, she departed, leaving the office.

“Debbie, Debbie, Debbie,” I murmured softly, causing the young woman before me to start, nearly jumping three feet in the air in surprise. Of course, the fact that a glowing, floating woman in brightly colored spandex wasn’t noticed from three feet away until i spoke up said more than a little about the girl’s frame of mind. I sighed heavily shaking my head. She made things just too easy. A quick glance around assured that we were alone, her last client had long since departed. Dropping down to the pavement next to her, I crossed my arms in disapproval. “Debbie, sweetie, you know you’re not supposed to be here, don’t you?”

“L-l-luminaire!” she replied, taking a step back, her glazed, grey flaked eyes widening in fear. “Ah, come on! I’m not doing anything wrong! It... it’s a public street corner...”

I shook my head, holding out my hand. “Uh huh. Right. And I’m sure if I called over a policeman to pat you down, he wouldn’t find anything illegal on you, would he, Deb?” Wilting in surrender, she slid a hand into her pocket, pulling out the rather large baggie of dark grey powder. I grasped it gently, tugging, but she held on, reluctant to let it go.

“You know, you’re always coming down here, busting my chops,” she complained, her voice rising into a whine. “You can’t keep doing this! It’s harassment!”

“If you don’t want me coming here and busting you all the time, you should stop selling dust on the street corner,” I insisted, finally pulling the bag free. “You’re lucky I’m not taking you to jail instead of just taking your stash.”

“Huh. Jail I can deal with,” she replied sullenly. “I’d rather be behind bars that have to explain to my boss what happened to my supply. Again.” I sighed softly in sympathy. I honestly didn’t want to get the girl in trouble, but stopping her and the others from pushing in my city served two very important roles. First of all, it sent a very clear message to the other drug dealers, that I was pushing for a zero-tolerance policy on drugs. Granted, Dust Bunnies were much less of a threat than the average gun toting dealer that sold coke, or heroine, or marijuana, Still, it was part of the Master plan, to make River City a peaceful, crime-free place to live and prosper.

And... secondly... my own personal stash was getting a little low.

“Look...Deb. You’re a smart girl. You’re sweet, you’re cute. There a lot of different things you could be doing with your life, okay? Anything but this. You’re wasting your potential.” Pocketing the baggie, I took to the skies again. “And if I see you on the streets again, Debbie,” I warned, “you might just get your wish to spend a night or two in jail.”

Sighing softly, I took off into the darkening skies, heading towards City Hall. Mayor Eastman had called just before my little altercation to tell me that the council had reached a decision. And while I already knew my secret initiative had passed, I needed to be there officially to received the news and put the next stage into effect.

A very long day... and it’s not over yet, I mused as I landed next to the building and made my way inside.

Wow. Now THIS is what I call a setup, Larissa Fredrickson thought to herself, glancing around the abandoned building. I bet this place was really something in its hayday. I’m the leading mind in cutting edge robotics and cybernetics, and even I’m impressed by this guy. Shaking her head in awe, she wandered around the empty production floor of what was once Frasier Industries main product testing lab. The room was basically empty, with all the vital working machines removed, but the huge heavy conveyor belt system and the pulley and hoist systems bound to the very foundation of the building were still in place. If and when the building was purchased and reassigned another use, the remains would have to be cut away with a blowtorch and removed. For now, though, they were fully intact and in perfect working order. And Ms. Machina intended to make good use of it.

Since escaping from prison, she’d laid low, staying out of sight of the police and Supers patrolling the city. Now, the time for hiding was over. In order to properly gain her revenge against the ones responsible for her incarceration, however, she first needed to upgrade. She’d managed to secure the building materials she needed for her latest creation, but she needed a place to work unobserved to bring her newest creation to life. And she was able to appreciate the irony of being able to work on her invention in the deserted hall that had once served and the home of some of the greatest creations of their time. Ironic? No... it is merely fitting. After all, I am the greatest scientific mind of this generation!

She paused at that, her grin fading slightly. In her last altercation with robo-bitch and bird-girl, she’d been struck and rendered helpless from a blast from the Nubian beauty’s energy even through her armor’s mech’s defensive shields. Hell, it had not only passed through them, it has shorted out her entire control unit and stunned her into unconsciousness! She wasn’t aware of any energy weapon powerful enough to bypass her defenses that way. She scowled at the thought of that... a weapon more powerful than anything SHE had created!

Hmph, she thought with derision. At least it’s not THAT advanced. After all, the little bird girl had such a hard time with my drones... which were specifically shielded for electromagnetic scanning to fool the bank’s security into thinking they were just harmless trash cans. Her expression turned thoughtful. Hmmm... maybe that was it? The shielding was a general wide-spectrum blocker, not that powerful, but enough to mask my robot’s power signature. That energy beam she used must operate on a very specific range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Huh...I should probably adapt that knowledge into my new mech.

Unloading her materials into the corner, she took out the blueprints she’d sketched out during her free time in prison. The weapon systems and exoskeleton would be the merest child’s play to construct, even with the rudimentary tools she’d managed to ‘acquire’ while on the run. The frame and outer materials, however, were a bit more tricky. Hmph... I don’t want to risk going up against the annoying little brats again in something second-rate. I’m going to need the materials from my lab back in LA. I’ve got no choice but to contact my assistant and arrange for a shipment to be sent back here.

Yawning, she stretched a bit, then sighed, glancing around. Huh. It’s late, and it’s been a long day. Guess I should bed down for the night. This place is secure, and they even still have the power on. She yawned again, walking over to the nearby wall, and, removing her heavy backpack, she pressed herself up against the socket, lining up with the cybernetic connections in her spine, and linked, allowing them to tap into the building’s power grid. Letting out a sigh of relief, she closed her eyes, and slept, letting her body drift off even as her cybernetic systems recharged...

“Hey, Mina, do you have something for me?”

“Rose! Perfect timing,” the young woman with the dark brown pixie cut replied, turning around in her chair to greet her. She handed the agent a folder with all the pertinent data for the job she would be taking. “Looks like a good one. They’ll need you for at least a week, maybe more.”

Rose merely nodded. A week would be more than enough time, a day or two to get the lay of the land, scout out the security, and plan how best to make her assault. If anything, it would be the easiest part of the entire mission. Nodding again, she turned to leave.

“Did you hear about what happened to Carlos?” Mina asked, causing her to pause. “It’s all over the news. The official word is that there was a gas leak at his house, and the whole thing just went up like a Roman candle, but the police are still investigating.”

Rose frowned slightly. “Still investigating? You said it was a gas leak, plain and simple.” Police involvement could be trouble. The last thing she wanted was a spotlight shining down on her activities for the past several days. Even if the police failed to make a connection between Carlos and her—and she’d made absolutely sure not to leave physical evidence linking herself to the case at the scene, even ditching the car she’d drove to the site a few blocks away for her own car—it might still raise a flag on His radar. And Eugene Frasier was definitely smart enough to connect the dots.

“Well, yeah,” Mina replied with a sigh. “Carlos had a rap sheet as long as his arm, after all. And the police found a gun at the scene that had apparently been recently fired. There was another person dead at the scene as well, but they haven’t said who it was. My guess is that its some kind of gang related violence.”

Rose nodded at that. It was the best case scenario, and what she had hoped the police would go with under the circumstances. Seeing that Carlos’ girlfriend was a member of a high profile gang, that would be the most logical assumption once they identified her. Still, it was leaving a lot to chance. Goddamn you Carlos.... even in death you’re still fucking things up for me...

“I really hope the police find whoever is responsible for this,” Mina stated with such a firm certainty that it caused Rose to glance back at the girl again. “It’s really so terrible. Two lives wasted, gone forever, when they could have been such productive members of society.”

“Um. Mina, are you feeling okay?” Rose asked, glancing at her askance. “This is Carlos we’re talking about, here. The man never lead a productive day in his entire life!”

“I know, I know,” Mina replied with a sigh. “But, of course, hope springs eternal. Any one can change, Rose. It’s every citizen’s duty to be a helpful and useful member of society after all. Breaking the law... hurting others... being a general nuisance... those things are what’s wrong with the world. But once you’ve seen the Light... once you come to understand what a person’s role is in society, then you can go on become a benefit to society instead of a deterrent.”

Several other members of the temp agency nodded, standing up and cheering with her, while Rose merely gaped in astonishment. She and Mina had never been all that close before, but she knew the girl well enough to discern that her new stance on citizenship and society in general was a complete one-eighty from her usual stance. The last time they’d talked, briefly, she’d spent half of the time grumbling about the River City P.D. and being ticketed yet again for parking to close to the loading zone next to her apartment, about how the city was trying to ‘bleed her dry’ to help fund their ineffective police force just on the fees from her parking tickets alone.

Rather than confront her, however, Rose merely said a terse goodbye, accepted the folder and the temp job, and left. Things are starting to get a bit weird in this city lately, she mused, making her way back to her car. It’s nothing I can put my finger on... just a strange feeling of... weirdness... like with Mina just now. Ah well... if everything goes as planned, in three, maybe four days, I’ll be leaving this town for Crescent City, to finally bring Chloe out of that godforsaken hell hole. And then... well, I haven’t really gotten that far yet, but considering the aftermath of all this, it sure won’t be returning here. She closed her eyes briefly. a tightness in her chest at the thought of everything she was giving up, and her Master’s disappointing words for her actions... but after a long moment it passed.

For Chloe, she repeated silently, starting the engine, driving off into the night. For Chloe.