The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Jane slammed the front door shut and collapsed against it, crying. It had been another shitty day at the hospital. Why did Mary have to be such a complete and utter bitch? She wouldn’t have minded so much if there were other, more redeeming qualities. Master Joe and Mistress Layla could be as cruel as they liked, and it would just make her hotter. Mary just made her upset.

It didn’t help that every moment away from Master and Mistress, and the new life they shared together made her ache. It was physical: being away from them: not feeling Master inside her, or that spark on receiving an order… it just felt… wrong. Like something was missing, and not just Master’s cock or the slave vibrator between her legs.

That feeling had grown over the last few weeks, and was beginning to affect her at work. By now she was desperate to stay at home with Master and Mistress, and would gladly devote the rest of her life to them. Going to work at the hospital, once something Jane had loved to do, was rapidly becoming something she dreaded.

After a minute or so sobbing on the hallway floor, Jane pulled herself together. That was when she noticed one of the hooded slavegirls (Seven) locked in pose at the foot of the stairs. Resplendent in her stockings, gloves and hood, the only addition to the outfit were those shoes with the stripper heels that Master loved so much.

How long had she been there? Jane certainly hadn’t heard the clack of those insanely high heels on the wooden floor, so she must have been stood there the whole time! Jane laughed at herself a little; was she really that unobservant?

Jane watched Seven for a moment. The slavegirl didn’t move an inch; even her breathing was imperceptible. She looked so serene, standing there, knowing her place. Nothing to worry about; no concerns or problems. Nothing else even existed, not even the throbbing ache that Jane knew went with holding that position for so long. The only things that mattered to Seven were following orders unquestioningly and waiting for her master.

So serene.

Jane suddenly realised she was Jealous of Seven. Standing up, she moved closer to the completely still slavegirl until their breasts touched. “You are actually breathing, aren’t you?”

Silence from Seven, but at least Jane could feel her breath at such close quarters.

Jane could feel the arousal growing within her again. She was, after all, used to it by now. The only difference was the reason. As attractive as the woman in front of her actually was (and she was damned sexy in that outfit, or lack of it), it was the idea of being her that made Jane tingle. Before, when Mistress had used the uniform and the hood on her, it had made her feel nervous and afraid of losing her identity. Now, losing that identity was exactly what she wanted.

“Nice of you to turn up, Miss. I told you to…” Mistress started down the stairs, but her stern expression disappeared on sight of Jane’s tear-strewn face, “What’s up, my dear?”

“Work troubles, Mistress.”

“Mary again?”

“Yes, Mistress. I’m sure she’s got it in for me.”

“Come on; let’s have a cup of tea. You can tell me all about it.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Layla.”

“Excuse me?”

“Call me Layla. The Mistress thing is all well and good when Master’s here, or when we’re playing, but for now, call me Layla.”

“Yes… Layla.” Jane’s pulse quickened for a moment on the mere mention of Master, but of course the emptiness quickly returned without his presence. Plus it felt a little wrong to be calling Mistress “Layla”. The idea that this could all be play just… Well it just didn’t feel right.

Mistress/Layla instructed Seven to make some tea, and the trio made their way into the kitchen. The uniform-clad slave captivated Jane; a fact not lost on Layla, “She is rather attractive, isn’t she?”

“No… Well, yes,” Jane hadn’t found herself particularly attracted to Seven. Not any more than the crop of stunning model-esque women currently calling this place home. It wasn’t that she wanted to be with Seven: she wanted to be her, “It’s more the uniform. When I wear it everything just… melts away. All my problems, all my doubts. It just feels so… so peaceful. So… right.”

Layla remained silent.

“Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes I do. Even putting aside the sex, the clarity of purpose that comes with that uniform is very comforting, and very tempting when you’re not wearing it. Everybody carries a whole bunch of neuroses with them, and it’s nice to leave them behind for a while.”

“Not just nice, Miss… Layla. I spent most of the day just wanting to put that thing on and forget the world.” Jane saw the look of concern on Layla’s face, “I don’t know. Maybe I was just missing you and Master.”

Layla smiled, but the concern remained on your face. “Perhaps, but It’s a big step, putting that uniform on. I don’t want you to lose yourself to it completely.”

This time Jane stayed silent.

“Just promise me you’ll think about it. There’s no rush. Master and I aren’t going anywhere. And besides,” Layla’s smile grew wider, “I’m sure we can think of something else to occupy you.”

“Definitely!” Jane laughed, the familiar tingling making a welcome return.

“So… why did you do it? Why did you program me with that tell?”

Joe’s heart leapt into his mouth. His mouth hung open for a few seconds, silently protesting his innocence. Felix, apparently, wasn’t buying any of it though. His face remained emotionless, giving away nothing. Would he explode in a rage? Would he call in his friends? Joe had no idea.

“Well,” Joe quickly realised that the innocent act wouldn’t work, “One: to see if I could. Two: to try and gain a little control over my own destiny again. Three: I thought anything went around here. Also, half a dozen drop dead gorgeous women might have had something to do with it. I would’ve thought that last one was obvious on its own!”

Felix grinned at the last bit, “OK, I think I can understand that!”

Joe watched Felix intently, looking for any sign of a response and acutely aware of his own scrutiny in return. Years of back room poker had taught him the possibilities and pitfalls of body language. Looking away, towards the exit or the floor would send signals he’d rather not send. He would have to brazen it out.

“So…”

“So?

“So, where do we go from here?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know if I can trust you at the moment. I don’t know if you’re working against me. Hell, I don’t know if I’ve created a monster in you.”

“Well I can’t speak about the monster thing. As for working against you? You know I wouldn’t… I couldn’t do any of that. You saw to that yourself. You can even check the relevant subliminals if you like; I haven’t changed those. All I did was give myself an advantage in a game of poker. If you want to add to my… our… programming then that’s your prerogative.”

Joe let Felix consider that for a moment before continuing. “I would say one thing, though.”

“Go on.”

“You’re obviously pissed that you’ve been programmed without your knowledge. I know exactly how that feels. The rest of us go through that all the time. We agreed for security reasons, and to help the team work together, but we don’t know when we’re being programmed or with what. It is a bit paranoia-inducing.”

“Mmmm,” Felix replied, deep in thought, “So you want to know you’re being subjected to the subliminals?”

“And what they are. The trust has to work both ways.”

“Understood. Leave it with me.”

Joe’s relief on Felix’s departure was absolute. That had been a close one. Giving Felix that poker tell had always been a risky strategy: Felix knew a lot more about this whole setup than he did, and the consequences would have been severe if Felix had suspected Joe of anything more than cheating at cards. It was a good job Felix knew his card tricks so well.

“Thanks, all of you for coming here this evening. I know you lot generally only come into the office on a weekend. I was chatting with Joe last night, and he’s mentioned something which hadn’t occurred to me. He says that, as he’s not sure what subliminals he’s being programmed with, he’s not sure what my end-game is, and finds that a little worrying. I think he’s a little bit paranoid that I’m going to have you all killed or something when you’ve served my purpose!” Felix’s amused grin belied that thought and reassured his audience, “Is that what you lot think?”

Silence filled the room. Apart from Joe, not one member of the group made eye contact with their leader.

“Well?” The amused grin slowly faded; replaced by a look of concern.

“Well, sort of, yeah,” Big Dave eventually replied, “Don’t get me wrong, I trust you. But after Dan… Well, there’s just a bit of doubt. And as we get closer to … you know…”

“Well Dan was a bit of a special case, it has to be said. After what he did, something had to be done. But I know what you mean. Are you guys all the same?”

General murmurs of agreement all round.

“Well now Joe’s mentioned it, it seems obvious. I’ll be honest: it had never crossed my mind before. Yes, I can’t tolerate betrayal, but I’m not some kind of evil monster. We will all share in the benefits of this project, and none of you have anything to fear. Well, unless you play Joe at cards, obviously!”

A murmured laugh. The mood eased slightly.

“Good. So from now on, I’m going to make the subliminals we use on you available for you to read. In the office only: obvious reasons. That way you know what we’re doing and why. I’ll obviously remove any passwords and so on. If you know them they’re useless. I’m also getting Mike to make it clear when the subliminals are turned on. Mike?”

“Yeah. Done. Some of you will remember the traffic light icon from the early testing stages. I’ve reactivated that. For those of you that don’t, or weren’t here at the time, I’ve added a traffic light icon on everyone’s computer’s task bar. When it’s red, the subliminals are on, when it’s green, they’re off. I’ve also uploaded it to the pods, so the same thing will appear on your TV screens. Bottom right corner.”

“Cheers, Mike. So guys, do you think that solves the problem? Is there anything else that you need from me to put your minds at rest? Good. Apart from the whole ‘taking over the world’ thing, I just want to be a normal business-like manager. I don’t want to be the new emperor of the world or anything. We’re stronger as a team, and I want us to stay that way.”

“Until our fiendish plan is complete?” Mike quipped with mock sinister overtones.

“Of course. Until our fiendish plan is complete.”

That whole exchange had put everybody’s mind at rest, Joe reflected as her drove home. He, however, wasn’t satisfied. In life, as in poker, he always wanted that extra ace up his sleeve. There’s no better feeling than knowing something that the other guy doesn’t, he decided, and he knew Felix would agree. Felix certainly wouldn’t leave things at that: he would have his own plans. He had claimed that everyone would know their programming, but Joe wanted his own confirmation. It was no good relying on Mike’s icon when Mike or Felix could override it on a whim.

A hardware solution would be easiest for Joe. It was his area of expertise after all. A signal detector for the ‘Mind-melty channel’ (18.5kHz) should do the trick. If he put it into the monitor instead of the PC, it was much less likely to be detected, and he could link it up to the little LED power display on the monitor. It would be an easy matter to make that flash discretely on detection of the signal, making it practically unnoticeable to anyone else.

It was a good plan; so why was Joe convinced he was missing something? He couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d seen something relevant, important even, but didn’t know what it was. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think what it was.

By the time he stepped through his (Layla’s) front door, tiredness and the sight of naked slavegirls had chased away all thoughts of conspiracy. It was Maria’s turn, apparently, to greet the Master of the house and remove his shoes: a sight which Joe couldn’t fail to be impressed by.

Anticipation.

Anxiety.

Impatience.

A mixture of all these and more invaded Maria’s mind. Waiting by the front door, clad in nothing more than a pair of high heels and a smile, Maria’s current sole purpose in life was to wait for, and then greet the Master of the house. It was an important role… in her head the most important one, and a role that would hopefully see Master allowing her to pleasure him.

So why was he taking so long?

Maria couldn’t be angry with Master. The thought of that didn’t even occur to her. She was, however, getting restless for him. He was supposed to be home over two hours ago, and her arms were beginning to ache from being held behind her back for so long. They weren’t cuffed or tied: just in practice, as Mistress had instructed.

Mixed in with the above: envy. Mistress was certainly enjoying herself in the next room, with one of the others. Maria could hear laughter from Mistress, and yelps of pain from one of the others, presumably from a whip or cane or some such. She listened as the girl cried out, not for clemency, but for more.

Maria wished it could be her.

She closed her eyes, and imagined it was her in the living room, enjoying the kiss of Mistress’ whip. The delicious heat and pain making her feel alive like nothing else could. The cathartic release of screaming into a cloth gag. Hell, just thinking about it was getting her excited. If only Mistress would give her permission, she could… Or even better, if only Master would arrive home right now, and take her right there. When would Master get home?

Maria’s arm twitched. Her longing for satisfaction fought with her need to obey Mistress and please Master. Surely she could touch herself just a little; scratch that itch just a little bit? Mistress was busy in the other room, and Master wasn’t here yet. She could stop easily, should Master or Mistress appear.

It sounded like the Mistress was coming in the next room. Maria’s urge to touch herself only intensified further. “Please, Master, come home now,” She whimpered.

The door stayed closed.

Maria barely noticed it happen. One minute she was stood, as ordered, hands clasped behind her back. The next minute, one hand was round the front, moving slowly but inexorably towards the source of her torment. She did notice that first touch, though. The sensation coursed through her body like a lightning bolt, and she physically shook.

She instantly regretted it, and pulled her hand behind her back. She mustn’t disobey. Absolutely mustn’t. But she needed to. Just a little bit. Just to take the edge off.

She rubbed herself tenderly, hoping that the need would subside enough to let her wait for Master. It didn’t work, though. The need only grew. With it, the speed of her fingers. The much needed and now familiar wave of pleasure overtook her, and she closed her eyes in a moment of self-indulgent bliss.

Her hand continued still further. First one finger, then another, penetrated her already moist area. A sigh escaped, and her rhythm increased still further. A slight change in position, and the climax was just round the corner. If she could only…

A cold hand grabbed her wrist. A strong hand.

Maria stopped, not daring to open her eyes.

“Good evening, my dear. Looking ravishing as ever! I see you’ve started without me.”

“I’m sorry, Master. I just heard Mistress in the other room and…”

“And you couldn’t control yourself?”

“Yes, Master.”

“And so you ended up masturbating, naked, stood behind the front door?”

“Y… Yes, Master.”

“I see. I also note that you haven’t opened your eyes yet. Are you embarrassed? Ashamed? Or just sorry you got caught?”

“A… A… A little bit of both, Master.”

“Good. Don’t open your eyes just yet. I want you to bask in that shame for a moment. I want you to wonder if anyone else saw you. Did I come in on my own, or did I bring guests?”

Maria’s heart sank.

“It’s one thing to be caught by your Master. We’ll deal with that shortly, by the way. It’s quite another to be caught by a stranger. Exposed. Laid bare for who knows who to see!”

The shame burned at her, but the arousal grew, and burned hotter. Who had seen her? Had she humiliated herself in front of a stranger? Could she please Master by flaunting herself, no matter who may be with him?

“Open your eyes, my dear.”

Maria complied, and found herself alone with Master. Relief overwhelmed her.

“May I take your coat, Master?” Maria tried to move the conversation on.

“In a moment. But first, you must be feeling pretty frustrated at being interrupted just then.”

“Yes, Master,” Like you wouldn’t believe, she thought.

“Good. I want this to mean something,” Joe moved right up to Maria, cupping her sex in his hand and whispering directly in her ear, “Maria… Vibrator.”

“Please, Master…” Maria’s eyes widened, but it was clear that no amount of pleading would change his mind. Her bottom lip quivered as an imaginary vibrator started its infernal buzz.

“I was wondering whether that still worked,” Joe continued whispering, “We’re going to have so much fun. You can feel it, can’t you? That vibrator deep inside your pussy? I can feel the vibration through your skin. You know what’s coming up, don’t you? I can see it on your face.”

“Yes, Master,” She whimpered meekly.

“Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to lead me into the room as usual. Then you’re going to remove my shoes, just Layla taught you. Then I’m going to fuck you. I haven’t decided where yet. Then, and only then, will I let you cum. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master,” Tears of frustration began to form in her eyes.

“One more thing. I don’t want you touching yourself. You can use my body to touch you, and that will give you some relief. But it’s not going to make you cum. That will only happen when I allow it. Got it? Now, let’s go in there!”

Trying to maintain her decorum (as much as possible for a naked slavegirl with a vibrator in her pussy), she led Joe through to the living room.

“Good evening, Master. Did you have a pleasant day?”

“I’ve had worse, darling. I see you’ve been entertaining yourself again. You know, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you watching TV!”

Layla was indeed entertaining herself. Laid on the sofa, she had one of the slaves (number six, judging by the black mask) buried between her legs. Number four, whoever she was, knelt close by, carefully holding a tray with nibbles and a cocktail for the mistress.

“Television? It has its uses, especially when it comes to viewing slaves’ antics. But otherwise I find it too… what’s the word… pedestrian,” She gestured to her two cohorts, “Besides, I’m a people person, as you can see!”

“Can’t argue with that!” Joe laughed.

Layla’s attention turned to the room’s other new arrival, who was looking increasingly distracted, “Maria! Be still! What the hell is up with you?”

“She’s currently feeling the effects of a rather large and insistent vibrator, aren’t you, my dear?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Yes, indeed. And she is not to touch herself or cum until instructed, isn’t that right?”

“Yes… Master”

Layla smiled. Master was obviously in a good mood tonight.

“And that instruction won’t be given until you’ve removed my shoes. I know Layla’s instructed you on how to keep your Master happy during this process, and I don’t want to be disappointed!” He returned his attention to Layla,

Joe could see Maria willing him to sit down so she could get on with it, and deliberately walked across the room to kiss Layla’s hand before taking his own seat. The urge to tease just couldn’t be resisted. “And maybe after we’ve had something to eat, we could try out some of the toys downstairs?”

“Oh yes, Master!” Layla gasped. It was difficult to tell whether that was from Six’s attention or Joe’s suggestion, Either way, the results were clear to see.

Maria started on Joe’s command. In her eagerness, she had to be told several times not to rush her Master. Once the first shoe had been removed, she guided his sock-covered foot between her legs, squealing with delight and repressed urges as his toe stroked her most intimate area. Maria took every bit of pleasure she could from the contact. It wasn’t quite enough, however. No matter how hard she tried, frustration had the upper hand.

As Joe’s second shoe came off, his other foot found its way to her breasts. Maria squeezed her breasts around the appendage, but she had other concerns. The pressure to cum grew in intensity with every moment, and the only way to release it was to give Master what he wanted.

The second she thought his feet had been taken care of, she migrated up his legs. Something of an expert in men’s flies by now, she wasted no time in freeing Master’s cock and wrapping her lips tightly around it. The usual ceremony and tenderness would have to wait. Master, however, had other ideas.

“You,” Joe said, pointing to Slave 4,” Put a towel down there, and grab that bottle.” Returning his gaze to Maria, he continued. “You. On the towel. On your hands and knees. Present your ass to me.”

Maria couldn’t get down fast enough. Dropping to the floor almost like a stone, she prostrated herself on the towel as directed. Feeling a cold liquid between her ass cheeks, what was left of Maria’s rational mind soon figured out what it was. Slave 4 was liberally applying lube to her anus, rubbing it in with rubber-coated fingers.

Master followed quickly, taking the slave’s place behind Maria. She moaned as Master grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her head back, He was going to take her from behind, and there was nothing in the world she needed more. Her entire being was now focussed her rear end, and it’s impending violation. Tears streaming down her face, she pleaded with Master to fuck her. To her relief, Master relented.

The moan of ecstasy echoed through the house, it was that loud. Master had given her permission to cum, and not a second too soon. Maria tightened herself around her Master’s cock as though her life depended on it. With his other hand, Master pulled Maria’s torso against his, grabbing her right tit as he did so. Her whole body convulsed and writhed as unequalled pleasure tore through every cell of her body.

A twitch from Master’s cock signalled the inevitable, and Maria felt the warm liquid squirting inside her. The orgasm was subsiding now, replaced by that deliciously dirty feeling she always had when taken from behind.

Master let go of her hair, and held her tightly in a bear hug embrace. They both kneeled on the floor, regaining their breath from the physical exertion, with a mixture of lube and semen dripping down Maria’s leg.

“Bravo, you two.” Maria had forgotten about her audience for a moment, but the Mistress’ praise brought reality crashing back. “Looks like you both enjoyed that!”

“It was… yeah” Master was obviously too distracted for a pithy comeback.

“You know, Master. It would be such a shame to have Maria all lubed up with nowhere to go. I’ve got just the thing for that, with your permission of course. Four, grab the ass hook out of the chest over there, third drawer down, and a short length of rope. That will do nicely.”

Maria stayed kneeling on the floor as Master returned to his chair. She watched as Four relayed the metal hook and rope to Mistress, and gulped at the thought of the cold steel inside her. There were few things that felt dirtier than being taken up the ass, but having a hook up there was certainly one of them.

“Pass those here,” Layla rose from her chair with a theatrical flourish, and stepped towards Maria. “Open your mouth, Slave. I think this needs a bit of warming up first.”

One positive aspect about his duties at Sat Tech, Joe thought to himself, was that getting in on time was no longer an absolute requirement. One phone call to the office, and Joe had been able to take most of the morning off. Joe had prepared his excuse: a broken washing machine and flooded kitchen, but they hadn’t even asked him.

The morning had been spent with Layla, Jane, and the rest of the girls. Layla had the whole group exercising in the back garden, wearing nothing but sports bras and panties. Apparently a good run and stretch every morning was part of the household routine for the troupe, or harem as Joe was beginning to think of it. Joe pulled himself up a sunlounger and decided to enjoy the show.

The sports bras were needed when the girls ran, especially given the size of some of their breasts. Big Dave and Pete certainly weren’t afraid of a little augmentation, or even a lot. For the stretching, though, the bras were less of a requirement, and Joe had suggested as much. It was a good job that Layla didn’t have any neighbours close by!

Another positive aspect of having almost fuck all to do at work was the time to get on with his other projects. A quiet afternoon at Sat Tech had allowed Joe not only to get ahead with his paid work, but also to get on with his ‘real’ job too. Wondering when Felix’s plans had taken centre stage in his itinerary, Joe continued soldering on the circuit board. A couple of final tests, and the device was complete.

It was a simple enough device, less than half the size of the pods the groups used, and would easily be installed inside a monitor. From there it would inform Joe of the presence (or otherwise) of the “mind melty” signal: a hardware back up for the software currently being developed by Mike. It wasn’t that Joe didn’t trust Mike or Felix. It was just, these days Joe didn’t know who to trust, except himself. Joe chuckled quietly. These days, he didn’t even know if he could trust himself

The final tests were positive, although Joe noticed the same variation in signal intensity as before. He was going to have to figure out what that was, in case it reduced the effectiveness of the pods. There was a chance that it had been added deliberately, and that the signal needed to fluctuate to work. Joe would have to check with Sam Bryant about that. If signal fluctuation was needed, Sam would know more about it than Felix.

Joe picked up both devices and put them in his bag. The other device was exactly the size of a pod, on account of that being precisely what it was. There was a slight difference, though. This pod had been modified to take commands from Joe, rather than Felix and Mike. Joe didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before. He couldn’t get round the security from the group’s encryption, but he could use his own encryption and his own frequency to add commands to the pods. Building a new pod from scratch was the only way to achieve this, but that was easy enough given his knowledge of the pod’s technology.

Leaving the office and waiting for the lift, Joe thought about how he would get the signal detector inside the group’s office. Again, the paranoia had resurfaced, and Joe strongly suspected Felix would have thought of this. Felix wouldn’t want anyone smuggling bugs or other tech into the office, and would have put in place measures to prevent it. If he hadn’t, he’d missed a trick, and Felix wouldn’t miss a trick.

That was what the new pod was for: a little self-reprogramming. Joe figured that a few minor additions to the suggestions he’d already received would help him get past the blocks. He just had to make sure his additions wouldn’t clash with the existing stuff. That would be difficult without knowing the existing stuff, but not impossible. Joe just had to be careful.

Joe strolled through reception towards the underground car park, feeling in his pockets for his keys. He was looking forward for getting home, and with 7 gorgeous women all desperate to be fucked, who wouldn’t? He waved goodbye to Len, who waved back to stop him.

“What can I do for you, Len?”

“I just needed to give you this,” Len answered, looking a little puzzled.

“Err, thanks,” Joe suddenly remembered. It was the security tape from last week, when Joe had been at his extra-curricular activities in Sat Tech’s systems. Felix had told him that he would receive it, and quickly put it in his pocket, “Is there anything else?”

“I know I stopped you for some reason. I was going to ask you something, but I can’t remember. Is your pass still OK?”

Joe fished it out and showed the man, “Yes, I think so.”

Len studied the pass. “No problem here. Must’ve slipped my mind. Getting’ old I guess. Sorry ‘bout that. I’ll leave you a note in the morning if I remember.”

“No problem, mate. Done the same myself! Have a good evening.”

“And you, Sir.”

Walking through the car park with the incriminating DVD, Joe’s paranoia was beginning to kick in again. Was he being followed? He kept seeing the same shadow out of the corner of his eye, on the other side of the bays of parked cars but walking at the same speed. The car park was usually deserted by this time, with the management being mostly nine-to-fivers. Joe could hear the footsteps almost, but not quite, echoing his own.

Crouching down to tie his shoelaces, Joe decided to let the mysterious shadow continue ahead of him. He gave himself an extra few seconds and listened for the footsteps heading away. A car door and engine soon followed. Joe watched the car head towards the exit ramp, before turning back towards his car.

The man was in front of him.

“Hey, Joe. How’s it going?”

In a flash, Joe realised it was Mike from the group. The initial shock passed, and Joe’s fight or flight reflex slowly subsided. Suspicion, however, replaced it. What was Mike doing here? He didn’t work here, or anywhere near, as far as Joe knew.

“Not too bad, apart from the heart attack you just gave me. Do you normally jump out on people in car parks like that?”

“Sorry, mate. I didn’t mean to scare you. I wanted to see off whoever was following you. I thought it might be one of Felix’s goons.”

“Felix has goons?”

“More than you know. He has people watching all of us. Some of them don’t even know it. Sleepers. That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Go on, then.”

“Not here. If you have slipped one of his men, another one will soon be on to reacquire you. That’s what he calls it” Mike handed Joe a slip of paper. “Meet me at this place, Monday next week. Eight PM. Come alone.” Mike turned and started walking away.

“What’s all this about?” Joe shouted after him.

“Not here!” Mike hissed. He leaned towards Joe. “What do you think Felix has in mind for when we’re finished on his little project? I’ve seen what he does with people who are surplus to requirements and believe me, I’m not going to end up one of them. As I said, follow the instructions on there. Monday. Eight.”

“Why not tonight, or tomorrow?”

“You’ve still got everyone’s girl at your place. If we wait until they all go back, the rest of the group will be distracted by their return. Plus, the girls won’t report your absence if they don’t see it. Control of information, you see.”

“OK. I’ll meet you.”

“Good. I’ve got to go, before Felix knows I’m gone. See you then.”

“Yeah,” Joe stood stunned, watching as Mike slipped back into the shadows.

Another set of footsteps signalled Len’s arrival from the security office. “Is everything OK, Sir? I thought I heard talking over here.”

“Everything’s fine, thanks. Just looking for my damned keys. There may have been a bit of swearing.” Joe showed Len his keys.

Len laughed, “OK, Sir. Good night.”

“Good night, mate.” Joe turned and headed back to his car.

Settling into his car, Joe looked at the note passed by Mike. As promised, it contained a location for a meet: an industrial park a few miles from Three Hills. All very secretive and shadowy, Joe thought to himself, an opinion reinforced by the final paragraph:

“Tell no-one about this, not even the women you control. Make excuses to them. Assume you’re being bugged. You probably are. Destroy this note after reading. Leave no trace.”

Joe’s eyes widened at that. Mike was either in possession of some serious knowledge or he was seriously paranoid. The problem was telling which one. Both were equally likely. It may be worth looking for bugs in the house, though. It would be a good way of putting his suspicions to rest.

“Are you alright, Master?” Jane asked as the two lay together in bed, “You seemed a little distracted when you got home tonight.”

“Uh? Yeh, don’t worry, Hun.” Joe replied. It was true, Joe thought. He had been distracted. Mike turning up at the office had really thrown him. Even the obligatory boot removal routine and following blowjob from Mercedes and Petra failed to elicit much more than a few grunts of satisfaction. “It’s just been a shitty day, that’s all.”

“Is there anything I can do to make it a little better?” She smiled sweetly, but her actions under the covers were anything but sweet.

Joe knew he didn’t stand a chance of resisting that smile, and his physical response to Jane’s intimate massage was obvious to the both of them. “Go on, then. If you must,” Joe mock relented.

“Yay!” Jane squealed as she straddled her lover and master.

This time, more than ever, was tender loving rather than animalistic sex. The passion was no less because of it. If anything, it was increased. For a brief moment, master and slave were gone, and only two lovers remained. Joe stayed underneath Jane, looking up at her face and enjoying the drape of her hair onto his face. “You know, I think I love you.”

“I love you too. My heart beats for you,”

“What?”

“My heart. It beats for you, Master.” She pulled his hand up to her chest. “Can you feel it?”

Shit.

“That’s it!” Joe’s eyes widened as the realisation hit him with the momentum of a freight train.

“What’s it, Master?”

“Beating. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. Look, we’re going to have to do this later. Get off me, please. There’s something I need to do.”

Disappointed, Jane couldn’t disobey him, and climbed off in silence.

“I’m sorry, hun, but I have to do this. I’ll make it up to you. Later on, yeah?”

Jane pouted, but agreed.

Joe covered the drive to the office in record time. The lack of traffic certainly helped, but Joe’s lack of respect for the speed limit had more to do with it. He didn’t even bother searching for a clear space in the office’s subterranean car park, preferring to abandon his car in front of the reception lobby by the lifts.

He didn’t have a plan. He didn’t even know where to look. He just knew he had to find it. The only thing he had was a story to get past the guard (not Len, where was he tonight?) There was a component in one of the new units that could overload and start a fire, and he had to make things safe. The story seemed to satisfy the new guy, along with Joe’s insistence that he could solve the problem on his own, and the guard could get back to watching the game.

The reality?

Jane had said it earlier. Beating.

Joe had spotted it earlier, during a quick test of the machine before installation. The 18.5 kHz channel was working, but only intermittently. It pulsed, varying in intensity. The reason had eluded him earlier. A possible loose connection or something. Whatever it was, Joe hadn’t had the time to investigate fully. Now, the answer was staring him in the face.

Joe disconnected the module, and brought it over to his desk. Removing the lid, he located the signal generator and connected his diagnostics.

The signal was most definitely there, as expected. 18.5 kHz as usual. As before, the intensity was varying with a period of its own. This wasn’t a loose connection. It was too regular. It wasn’t caused by any of the other usual suspects either: the power supply and so on. Those were the first things that Joe had thought of earlier, after the loose connection.

Joe remembered his analogue electronics lectures, and Dr Foster’s lectures on wave superposition in particular. “When two waveforms of similar frequency are added together,” The good doctor had started, “They shift in and out of phase. When in phase, the amplitudes of the waves add together. When out of phase they cancel each other out. The result is a sine wave halfway between the two frequencies, but that sine wave itself varies in its own wave.” Joe remembered seeing the slides the Doc had projected. “This is known as beating.”

Joe did a few more tests, and made a few calculations on a notepad. Fine tuning the diagnostics, his calculations bore fruit and he found a constant frequency: 18.66kHz. That was the first real frequency.

As Joe reset the diagnostics, he remembered what Felix had told him about the frequency at 18,5kHz. Joe had found it in the output of the module in front of him. Joe’s defences against it were all based on the 18.5kHz detector. If Joe was right, the detector would be useless. In fact it would be worse than useless, as it would have given him a false sense of security. Felix could have switched on part of the generator and Joe would have been none the wiser.

Reconnecting the diagnostics, the results were instantly plain to see. Joe sat back in his chair, his hands covering his face.

There was a second frequency coming from the box.