The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Training the newbies was easy. Most of them appreciated the opportunities that the job gave them to remain nineteen and beautiful forever. Lauren couldn’t tell if her old body had aged, but she could tell how mature her brain had become thanks to Darryl’s, as she fixed business problems with a simple thought. She knew people were impressed, and when Alana became a floor manager after all her hard work, Lauren knew she was Alana’s replacement even before the sparkling black and silver gown was slid onto her.

“It’s an honor,” Lauren said to Katharine, entranced by her reflection.

“We’re here to see how far you can go, after all. You’ll go places. Now you’re here with us in evening gowns, part of the senior staff. Not bad for being an eternal teenager,” Katharine replied maternally.

Lauren thought about that, but not for long as she was positioned in front of a group of other mannequins, as if they were in a boardroom, though her attire wasn’t quite appropriate. “We now know the reason for the inferior personalities being placed in our ranks. Competition is on the move,” Katharine said as she absorbed the report on the large screen in the back room.

“Kaiser is worthless! What are they using, anyway?” another voice asked. Lauren had long since given up sorting out who was who. They were Darryl’s mannequins, and that was enough. They were interchangeable, getting promoted and replaced as they showed their skills; there was no need to get attached.

“From the images, it’s simply hypnotic paralysis. They look so real because they are real. NO durability. They need to rotate to do earthly things and take care of their bodies, and they don’t hold up under the kind of scrutiny that we do. They even need to be paid!” Katharine scoffed.

“They need to be paid? Why would they want that? And they still move? What’s with that? If they’re mannequins, they’re not supposed to move,” Lauren said.

In a din of agreement, Lauren picked out Katharine’s voice. “Yes, she’s ready. Lauren, dear, it’s time to work the bargain basement. It’s the true test to see if you’re management material or just another saleswoman.”

Lauren was more than ready, anything to prove that she wasn’t going to walk the earth as some brain-dead servant. “Sure, boss. Whatever you need.” She had an order, and it would keep her forever beautiful for that much longer.

“The bargain basement is where we get the keepers. It’s been quite crowded down there, so let’s stop the backup,” Katharine explained.

The next day Lauren was in a cheap sweater and a knee-length plaid skirt. Her hand clasped a pointer. All of these told her that it was back to school season. Though she no longer cared about the passing of time, it was always good to know what to focus on when selling. The prod entered her ears, and just like that she went deaf. Her eyes still scanned the room, but she couldn’t hear outside noises.

“Our voices are the loudest down there. You’ll thank me for turning off your hearing,” Katharine warned as Lauren’s keeper pushed Lauren into the freight elevator. Lauren wasn’t sure what she was going to see, but this hadn’t been totally what she expected. The bargain basement had drab shirts, either solid colors of boring stripes, and jeans with no decoration. She was by far the best-looking of the lot, which made her feel better about where she was. Her keeper set her up at the head of an elaborate classroom display, where about two dozen mannequins were seated in front of her. The split was even between boys and girls, and all of them wore the same uniform of blue and white striped shirts, plain blue jeans, and plain blue sneakers. In the first row, on the left, she recognized the black tire rubber of Victoria’s hair. Her head was starting to hurt from the backtalk buzz; she could still catch some of the messages the students were throwing at the mainframe, and she couldn’t believe the profanity of their comments. As her eyes scanned, she saw that their uniforms were all in the cheapest bins, and that fit with the writing on the blackboard next to her. I will save 75% off all my favorite styles at Darryl’s. Cute marketing idea.

As the customers started to roll in, buying in armloads, she could hear the class droning out the blackboard lesson with mindless repetition. Experimentally, she backed her awareness away from the interface and realized at once what was happening. Not only was the message a hint to the customers, the constant cycle of the mantra served to both lure the customers into buying more and to erase the thoughts of the mannequins in the classroom until all they could do was repeat their orders over and over again.

“Good to see you again, Lauren,” a voice buzzed in her head, interrupting her thoughts. It sounded familiar, and though she couldn’t remember for a moment, the urge to melt gave her a hint of who it was.

“Jason? You’re down here too? Oh, don’t tell me-”

“That they wanted the best sales team in the company back together to deal with the troublemakers? Okay. Scan right.”

She did, and she saw him. His voice seemed more distant and generic than it had been back in the day, but she knew that he had come to the same understanding as she had; they were waiting for him to hatch as a sales drone and he wasn’t going to let that happen. He was against the wall in one of last year’s shirts and a plain pair of jeans, standing with his hands on the shoulders of two girls sitting with their legs wide open on the ledge. “See you’ve gotten on well without me,” she teased.

“These two? They’re stuck on the ad loop in front of them. You can’t see it, but it’s at their eye level. I... I always thought he hypnosis crap was Kaiser’s M.O., not us. But from what I’ve heard, the people who get sent down here need it. They’ll be in your little class soon enough. That’s the last phase. This is the first. Train them right over there, would you? We need attendants who aren’t klutzes. I’m in long sleeves under this thanks to the idiot who scraped me. It wasn’t serious, and it didn’t get through the shell, but I look like something out of the dump.”

“Remember when we were the ones who would have done anything to break out of these shells?”

“Yeah. Guess you figured the scam out too. I’m in silk suits now, selling to millionaires in a private area of the store,” Jason said proudly.

“You must look amazing. I’m in evening gowns.”

“Oooh, so I’ve heard. Though nothing tops prom night, right?”

“Yeah,” Lauren said dreamily, fantasizing about the hours, the days, she’d spent in Jason’s arms, lost in his perfection as he was lost in hers. “We make a great team.”

And before she realized it had been touched, the bin behind her was empty; the whole float was pushed to the back and a new display was set up. She was left alone with her eerily quiet class. All of the usual chatter of large display groups was absent. “Good work! All of them are in conformity, and there’s no activity from the front row. Better than we could have hoped. We’re going full setup in all stores, so we need every keeper we can get to keep things moving,” one of the managers said after tapping Lauren’s ears with the prod.

If Lauren could move she would have nodded to pretend her understanding. The manager continued, “It’s a tough job and it’s not fun, but you’re a great teacher. Just sell until they’re gone.”

Lauren giggled inside. “You gave me my secret weapon back,”

“Oh, him? Oh, you don’t even know what you’re doing out there, but you’re doing great. It’s all you,” the manager said with a smile.

Lauren understood a little better when the float went back out the next day. The secret was just being herself, showing her superiority and what these malcontents had lost out on by rebelling, and where their place was in the hierarchy now that they were here. Her idle chatter with other live mannequins created the subtext that the blue jumpsuits-to-be heard mixed with the mantra that they had no choice to repeat; she could feel them becoming loyal, subservient, single-minded, and quiet. The old Lauren would have gone mad from the realization, rebelled, and ended up at one of the desks herself, but she understood now that this was needed. They needed the workers and they needed troublemakers taken care of, and the best way to handle them was to combine the two. When she rotated back to the main floor, she found herself charmed by people falling into mindlessness and madness at her whim. She laughed at the idea, and when Jason was on shift with her, the fantasies became more detailed and intense. Jason joked about taking advantage of the entranced girls, and Lauren fired back about the shirtless boys. Jason was clingier and more smitten than she remembered, but she could chalk that up to the awful but necessary work that they were doing. He had been her strength before. She could be his support now.

“The terrible two”, they were called in the back channels, and no one lasted more than a week with them on the floor. Then there was a day when Jason wouldn’t stop focusing on her, and she knew that he needed to be in some briefs to burn off his lust. She teased him, and while he didn’t seem to hear, the attendants took him off to fantasyland. The idea of him being immersed in a pool of hedonism made her daydream about joining him, and she relived every dirty joke and detailed fantasy they had told each other about the enthralled mannequins. She knew she was losing focus, and sales went down and the rotation slowed, but the manager giggled and had her wheeled to the back. One look at the body stocking let Lauren know that she was going to get her reward for her and Jason’s hard work. One trip to the lingerie department later, her mind was clear and her shift was over.

She wasn’t sure what day it was, or where in the store she was, or what had happened to Jason, but she was too comfortable to care. She was safe, and at home, in the secret depths of Darryl’s. She heard a familiar voice in her head and listened to it. “We’re at full capacity. Twelve hundred of us and our numbers growing every day! We’re hiring people! Hiring, offering people money to enter the plastic. Of course, they don’t exactly know what they’re getting into, but they understand quickly enough. We’re shipping out twenty-five a day to other stores, and of course that means growing the employee base. And our profits! Darling, why do you think that gown was sewn to fit every curve of your plastic body? Fully tailored, custom, and worth a fortune!” Katharine proclaimed.

Lauren regarded herself in the purple minidress and was awed at the quality of the merchandise that she was allowed to model. “This will stick it to Kaiser,” she said, unable to look away even if she wanted to.

“Indeed. You know what to do.” Katharine’s voice had a contented purr to it.

“Yes, boss,” Lauren said absently, focused completely on selling her dress. All that mattered were dollars and cents. Every private client who walked by her dress had to be dazzled by it. Even if they settled for less, Lauren understood that her job was to sell and be the merchandise, and she never stopped working. Nothing else mattered but being the best mannequin she could be so she wouldn’t be sent out into the world again.

“You’re here to learn business, little girls. You have the opportunity here to walk out of your shell with thousands in the bank and more on the way. This is work, but hard work does wonders for you when all you have to worry about is your soul,” Lauren declared while den mothering in the rhinestone-studded midnight evening gown that flowed into the carpet of the display. If she could have sneered at the newbies in front of her, she would have. How dare they mock her? She should be the one mocking them, for their dreams of freedom that they would never receive. “The only true freedom comes from learning, and believe me, learning is quite exciting. These will be the best years of your lives if you let them be- or the worst if you keep on the way you are.”

Any drawl she had had from her old Kentucky home was long gone, but anyone who heard her speak would have recognized the vehemence of a country preacher and the determination of a champion horse trainer in her voice. The defiance in one mannequin’s voice was feeble at best as she said, “Oh, God, they think they can brainwash us just like that. Forget it, honey, not even if you wore all sparkles.”

“Not brainwashing. That’s above us. Just common sense. You’ll see, the longer you’re here.”

“I’ll bet she went bankrupt on store credit because she actually bought those dresses. Betcha she’s forty inside. Ignore her. She wants to be a boss somewhere, and I’ll bet her old boss is paying for her gowns just to keep her inside that shell.” the brunette in yellow tights and denim explained to her cohort.

Something about the conversation echoed in Lauren’s head, but she couldn’t put her plastic finger on it. Perhaps the blonde reminded her of herself, and perhaps the brunette was like Maggie had been before she grew up into Margaret, but that was so long ago, back when they were stupid. They were both businesswomen now, Margaret condemned to show off the merchandise she could no longer claim, Lauren a sales machine in plastic, lacquer, and diamonds. She was proud of her accomplishments, proud enough and confident enough that she could indulge herself a rest, dreaming of her place here at Darryl’s.

The hottest styles, the coolest prices, all inside at Darryl’s, Lauren thought in an endless loop as she stared out the front window. It was her job, after all, part of the united message to make sure no one could walk by without walking inside. She only remembered what she was wearing from when her keeper had pushed her in front of the mirror to let her know what she should focus on, and the black patterned pantyhose and short white dress were well suited to her. A handbag dangled from her outstretched hand, and her body was leaned back in orgasmic bliss- which was about the position she would be in if she could move by herself, so flattered and honored she was to be in the front window. Only the best sellers got to be there. She knew there were others, but she didn’t know their names, nor did she care. She could hear them repeating the marketing message with her. The hottest styles, the coolest prices, all inside at Darryl’s. It was dark, and the store was closed, but selling never stopped, and neither did the mannequins at Darryl’s.

Jana had run away to be a star, but the only offers she got were to be a whore, be they from porn producers, casting couch perverts, or real pimps. She was broke, separated from her parents, and locked in this city of devils. She walked by the glass cube and saw the mannequins inside. It was warped, but she was tired, and hungry, and the nightclub was the only networking she knew; this was something familiar, something she could appreciate. She stared at the blonde that she wanted to be, in the tight white dress with the perfect body and the sparkling eyes. That was all Jana wanted, to be famous and beautiful forever. Why did it have to be so hard? Why was it so easy for the woman in the window?

At least someone had that inside the store. She stared at the mannequin and thought there was someone looking back at her, someone who would understand her dreams. The idea warmed her inside, and she stayed and stared at the front of the window. She barely noticed when her hand slid into her far-too-baggy jeans. All she wanted was for the hours to pass and the store to open so she could go inside.

Her eyes were vacant when one of the salespeople stepped out of the store, and she didn’t react to a tap on the shoulder. “I see Lauren has a friend,” the saleswoman said. Once upon a time, she had been a rebellious girl, running away from home and living on the streets half the time like Jana, but Maggie was a long-lost memory, and Margaret just a name on a tag pinned to her coal black jacket. What mattered now was that she had found a wanna-be starlet blinded by the bright lights of Darryl’s. Good material for a denizen,” the saleswoman thought, taking out her anti-theft gun and putting a dart in the girl’s neck to send her into the deep coma that preceded mannequinization.

Jana’s lips were still forming hottest styles, coolest prices under Lauren’s empty gaze when she blacked out.