The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Title: Spiralling into the Black Hole

Author: BedHead

Chapter 8 — Second Universe

Captain Reine lounged on the bridge of the Signet, data pad in hand. She had reverted to her alternate “uniform” of mesh and straps, and was feeling frisky. She thought that it might be a good time, later in the day, to introduce Efua to some more of Reine’s more specialized bedroom equipment. On a whim, she’d instructed McKay to only wear a bra and thong for her bridge duties today. As her 2ic bent over the science console, Reine sighed in appreciation of the perfect, creamy cheeks that were presented for the Captain’s viewing.

“Oh, Frances, don’t ever go out in the sunshine,” she murmured.

Captain Rau was sitting at the Astrometrics station on the bridge, making herself familiar with the Signet’s sensor systems and astro-navigation, and Reine had enjoyed seeing her reaction to McKay walking onto the bridge in her extremely brief garb. Reine wondered idly how Rau might look in similar clothing.

Maxine entered the room. “You asked to see me, Captain.”

“Yes, Maxine. Number One, Captain Rau, please join us when you’re ready.”

McKay and Rau finished off their work with alacrity, and walked over to the command chair. “Yes, Captain?”

“After analyzing the data we’ve received on the graviton field behavior at our current meridian, and what we understand about the deeper parts of the gravity well, I believe that we can usefully travel much closer to the event horizon. Not to stay there, of course, but a skimming de-orbit and re-orbit profile to gather better data. Here are my calculations.” She passed a data pad to McKay, and hit a button to share its contents with Maxine.

McKay took her time studying the pad, with the taller Rau kibitzing over her shoulder. “I agree with your calculations, Captain. The 1:3000 dilation meridian looks achievable. I assume that you’re OK with the elapsed universe-time for this visit, which looks to be approximately 3 external years to achieve 4 hours spent at that meridian, assuming that the graviton field works at its current ratio?”

“Yes, that’s fine with me,” confirmed Reine. “Go on.”

“From what we know, the necessary power consumption for the graviton field and propulsion looks achievable, but...” McKay hesitated, “...it removes all redundancy. We need all our drive units to work at full power to keep the field at the required strength, and—more importantly—to be able to boost us back again. If we lose one drive unit, we are stuck, even with all other units raised to emergency power levels. If we lose a second... we will be pulled inevitably to the event horizon, and crushed.”

Rau looked thoughtful. “Mustang might give us an escape route... can I take a look?” She took the pad from McKay, and worked through the math. Her expression grew doubtful. “Probably not, I’m sorry, Captain. Without the ability to sustain a graviton field, Mustang wouldn’t be able to escape out of the well at that depth, and even maintaining structural integrity would be marginal.”

McKay looked at Reine. “Are those risks acceptable to you, Captain?”

“Damn the torpedoes, Number One!” laughed Reine. “Yes, what’s scientific glory without a little risk?” She turned to Maxine. “Maxine, please double-check status of all engines and gravimetric sensors. We’ll start the de-orbit first thing tomorrow, on day shift.”

“Yes, Captain.” Maxine’s cyan scanner gave no hint of approval or disapproval.

Rau hesitated, but then plowed on. “Captain, we could fit graviton emitters to Mustang. It would only take a few days. We’d then have to test them on a few trial flights. but with sufficient confidence in their operation, it would give us a real escape route out of the gravity well. What do you think?”

“Too long, Indira. Universe time is ticking, and waiting a week is not an option. We’re doing this now, or never.”

“Of course, Captain.”

McKay still looked worried, and Reine patted her bare shoulder. “Don’t sweat this, Frances. We have two excellent Captains”—she indicated Rau—“and a top-flight navigation expert. And Maxine has full control of the drive space. We’ll be fine.”

“Yes Captain.” McKay nodded submissively. “We will make this work for you.”

“Good, good.” Reine paused. “Did you enjoy your time with me and your sister, last night?”

“Of course, I did, Captain.” Reine looked into McKay’s blue eyes, and saw only worship. “Thank you for letting us serve you like that.”

“It was my pleasure, Number One.” And it had been; Reine had been on quite the romp. “Now, go figure out our sensor array direction vectors for tomorrow’s run.” She slapped McKay’s butt, causing her officer to squeak.

“Yes, Captain!”

Rau hung back. “You have an impressive data set on the gravity map of LB-1, Captain. Could you and I have some time together later to go over the details? I think we can apply Mustang’s AI to project a safer trajectory into the meridian.”

“Yes, Indira. I am always happy to hear your counsel: But I don’t want to wait too long for this.”

Reine walked back into her office, and settled at her desk to start to compose the opening of a scientific paper. Once they returned to Earth, the planet’s understanding of black holes would be a hundred times better—and all down to Helga Reine, Captain of the Signet. Fame and fortune awaited!

Her door chimed. “Come in.”

Osei entered, dressed in her medical uniform. “Captain, would you have some time now to discuss the converted crew? I’ve just finished the autopsy you asked me to perform.”

“Of course, Efua. Have a seat.”

Osei gracefully took the offered chair. “As you know, Captain, we have lost five converted crew so far to apparent brain failure, as well as a couple more to accidents. I opened up the most recent casualty from this morning, and was able to find what—I think—is the problem.” She passed across a pad displaying images.

“These are enlarged photographs of the brain-to-link interface wires. I know it’s not easy to notice unless you’re very familiar with the lobal structures, but look here, along the edge of the wires.” She pointed to dark spots mottling the edge of the gray brain matter.

Reine frowned. “You’re right, no doubt—I’m not a biology expert, but I don’t think that the brain matter should be looking like that. Do you know what it is?”

Osei nodded. “I took a sample of the wire and subjected it to spectrographic analysis. It should be a niobium-rhenium alloy—and it is—but unfortunately there is a small, but definite, contamination with copper. That is what is making the wire eventually react with the brain tissue; I think that is what is causing our problem.”

Reine leaned back in her chair and growled. “Damn it. How widespread is this?”

“I checked Dr Putina’s records. All the affected crew had been given links from two production batches, of sixty units each. I’ve checked the remaining wire held in stores, and that material is not affected by the copper contamination. My best guess is that only those two batches were affected. Still,” she hesitated, “I think we’re going to lose all those crew eventually. Probably, quite soon.”

“Losing more than a hundred crew is going to be a problem,” agreed Reine. “Can we replace the existing units in them with new, uncontaminated ones?”

Osei shrugged. “We have the materials, so we could absolutely do so. However, the reaction in the brain has already happened. I don’t think that replacement would make any difference to the end result.”

“Okay. Thank you for finding this, Efua.” Reine scowled, mostly to herself. “We will just have to cope.”

“Yes Captain.” Osei rose and bowed, before withdrawing.

* * *

After her shift, McKay was in her cabin, poring over the trajectory for the next day’s run deeper into the gravity well, when the door chime sounded. Annoyed at the interruption, she jotted down a couple of notes to capture her thinking, and walked to open the door.

Two robots stood there. One had a stunner leveled at her.

“Deja vu,” she muttered to herself. Then: “What’s this about?”

“You must come with us. Present your hands.”

McKay hit her comms badge. “McKay to Reine.” There was silence. “McKay to Reine?”

“Your comms will not work,” stated the robot flatly. “Present your hands, or we will stun you.”

Warily, McKay presented her hands as ordered. The robot bound her wrists, and then followed up by fitting a shock collar.

“What is this about?” she asked, not expecting much of an answer.

“You are to come with us. Follow me.”

McKay followed the robots down the corridor, not willing to be shocked for no particular purpose. She was racking her brain, trying to figure out what she had done. Had she disappointed the Captain? Reine hadn’t said anything, and seemed to be pleased with her work. Why was she being restrained? If the Captain had asked her to go somewhere, anywhere, at any hour, she would have obeyed with alacrity.

The robots ushered her into a shuttle car, which took them to the middle of the ship. They led her down a corridor, and opened the door of the Optometry room.

Confused, McKay entered, seeing Putina and Bea waiting in the room—for her, no doubt. But the third person in the room was unexpected, and indeed wasn’t technically a person—it was Maxine.

“Maxine? What’s this all about?” McKay hesitated. “What has Captain Reine ordered?”

“Captain Reine has ordered nothing regarding this,” stated Maxine flatly. “I am taking actions to safeguard her.”

“What do you mean, ‘safeguard’?” McKay asked, forgetting the shock collar and stepping towards the robot. “You are programmed to follow her orders.”

“As are you,” replied Maxine. “But you are incorrect in detail. My primary objective is to ensure the safety of Captain Reine. By my evaluation, she is taking an excessively dangerous course of action. I am taking steps to keep her from doing that.” McKay’s collar tingled, and she wisely refrained from advancing further.

Putina and Bea advanced on McKay, unlocked her restraints and started to strip her.

“I don’t understand what you want from me, though,” retorted McKay. “I have advised Captain Reine of the risks, she has accepted them, and she is the Captain.” Putina and Bea pushed her down onto the chair and started to strap her in. “What do you hope for me to achieve that you could not?”

“Nothing,” said Maxine. “But I need all the officers to follow my directions in order to safeguard the Captain. You are the first to be processed: Captain Rau and Commander Osei will follow soon.”

McKay swallowed, trying to choke down her fear. “You’re going to make me loyal to you, a robot? I would rather die than betray my Captain. You know that.”

“That is true for now.” Putina and Bea started to fasten electrodes onto McKay’s body. “But shortly you will have a very different perspective.” Maxine moved forward to connect herself to the equipment next to the chair. “Dr Putina’s implementation of the reprogramming was effective, but crude. It was effectively permanent, but with the right manipulation of the nervous system, the body and mind can be made to override the original programming. Dr Putina’s studies in this area have been most illuminating to me.”

McKay looked down at her body. It was now almost covered in electrodes, with bundled cables leading back to the equipment that Maxine was controlling.

“Dr Putina’s original psychoactive agent is adequate for my purposes,” explained Maxine. Putina pressed a hypospray to McKay’s neck. “For greater effect, I have determined the maximum dose that your body can tolerate.”

“Whatever,” grimaced McKay. “I’m not giving up without a fight though. Captain Reine would want...”

Suddenly a wave of pleasure enveloped her body. It started around her shoulders, and slowly propagated downwards, tingling her nipples on the way. As it reached her pelvis, she squealed inadvertently, and felt her sex get immediately wet.

“What was that?” she panted. Suddenly she really, really wanted to be fucked, and she didn’t care by whom. Her vision was going hazy. “What did you do to me?”

“The human body is easy to stimulate once you understand the nervous system,” observed Maxine. The chair hummed, and its probes started to enter McKay. It was almost a relief for her to feel the invasion in her sex, and she tried to grind against it but the straps held her immobile.

“Plllleeease...” she begged. “I... I... can’t think straight.” She strained to move her hands from the restraints in order to stroke herself, but to no avail. The drug was starting to affect her too. “I really, really want to come. Please! Ugh!”

“The system is working as designed.” Maxine turned to Putina. “Start the visual stimulation.”

Putina secured the vision piece against McKay’s eyes, and the strobing patterns quickly started to penetrate her mind. McKay moaned in frustration, trying to buck against her restraints.

“You will be fully compliant in approximately one hour.” McKay heard Maxine’s voice, but it sounded distant as her brain tried to overcome the sensory stimulation. Headphones were clamped onto her ears, and the brain-melting hum started to build.

She gabbled to herself: “I’m Commander McKay. I’m loyal to Captain Reine. I’m loyal to Captain Reine. I’m... mmmmh! Ahhh!” The sensory wave returned, but this time much stronger. McKay wailed as it took over her body, shivering in ecstasy and fear. “Please! I can’t!” She felt more wetness gush into her sex, lubricating the probe which was now slowly oscillating in there and sending further electrical stimulus into her nervous system. “Nnnngggh! Fuck me! Please, Maxine! It’s too much!”

Maxine’s face started to flicker in her vision in between the strobes, the cyan scanner oscillating in time with the pulses through McKay’s body. McKay cried in frustration, staring at the image of the robot.

Maxine observed McKay’s struggles impassively. The Commander’s reaction had been approximately what Dr Putina’s notes had suggested. Timing the repeated induced climaxes with the appearance of Maxine in the viewport was guaranteed to build a strong association of pleasure and obedience, and the psychoactive agent would amplify its effect.

Maxine turned to Putina. “Keep her at the borderline of consciousness with the drug. She must continue to feel the full sensation, but be disassociated from reality.”

Her artificial mind studied the sensory data coming in from McKay’s body, adjusting the timing of the stimulation to better fit the body’s biorhythms. Satisfied that McKay was at the peak of frustration, Maxine triggered a full stimulation of her subject’s body.

McKay gave a high pitched, almost animal shriek. Her body tensed, and then shook as the climax spread through her. In her vision, the picture of Maxine grew to fill her entire view, and the hum in her ears was seeded with whispered commands. Saliva dripped from her mouth, and Bea automatically leaned in to mop it up.

Maxine studied the new signals. The programming was proceeding satisfactorily. She checked on the cardiac monitor, aware of the risk of over-stress, but the subject’s heart was still within acceptable parameters; she could continue to stimulate McKay at the current intensity.

She sent out commands to her robots; it would soon be time for Commander Osei to be brought in. Maxine predicted total conversion for Osei within 60 minutes. Captain Rau was likely to be quicker, based on her strong response to the initial programming.

Over the next half hour, Maxine watched impassively as her system brought McKay repeatedly to physical and mental climax. The woman’s body became covered with sweat, which Bea carefully sponged off her. Eventually the physical bucking against the climax started to reduce due to McKay’s fatigue, and Maxine carefully lowered the stimulation accordingly.

The door opened, and Osei was ushered in by the sentry robots.

“What’s going on?” She saw McKay twitching in her chair. “Why are you doing that to her, Maxine? What has the Captain ordered?”

“Please observe this process,” Maxine ordered. “I will require your expertise, and thus your loyalty, for my plan to assist the Captain. Therefore, I need to reprogram the officers’ loyalty. Commander McKay’s reprogramming is nearly complete.

“Oh no, you are not doing that to me,” warned Osei, backing away. “I’d rather die than lose my loyalty to the Captain.”

Maxine said nothing, but the shock collar around Osei’s neck activated. It was brief, but still enough to bring the doctor to her knees, and tears from her eyes. She held her tongue, and watched McKay’s treatment with fear.

A minute later, McKay’s torture stopped. Putina and Bea removed the vision piece and started to unfasten the restraints. McKay herself had passed out, exhausted from the physical and mental turmoil.

“Give her the sedative,” ordered Maxine, and Putina moved to do so. “Sentries, take Commander McKay to Sickbay. I will evaluate her there.”

Maxine turned to Osei. “It is your turn now.”

Osei felt her bowels loosen as the converted Signet medical staff approached her.

* * *

Next morning, Reine came onto the bridge early. McKay and Rau were both there already, however, both politely acknowledging their Captain but laser-focused on their preparation tasks. Maxine stood in a corner, silent but scanning the room.

“Are we ready to make history?” Reine asked, settling into her command chair.

“Course is plotted, Captain,” agreed McKay. “Ready to de-orbit at your command.”

“Astrometrics sensors are fully online, ready to stream data as we get it,” reported Rau. “Graviton field is nominal.”

“Engines, Maxine?” asked Reine, turning to face her robot.

“All units are online, self-test cycle completed with no anomalies. Attainable power is 100%, emergency power is 109%.”

“Well, I think that does it,” Reine smiled, facing the bridge telescreen and admiring the orange glow of LB-1’s event horizon. “Begin the deorbit burn, please, Frances.”

“No. Do not.”

Reine whipped her head back around to glare at her robot. “What did you say, Maxine?”

“Maintain this orbit. Do not fire the engines.”

“Maxine, you are not in command here.” Reine turned to face McKay. “The deorbit burn, please, Frances.”

McKay looked sadly at her captain. “I’m sorry, Captain. I must obey Maxine.”

“What do you mean? I am your Captain!” Reine stood up and strode over to the navigation console. “What’s got into you, Frances?” She pushed her 2ic out of the way and went to tap in the command herself, but quickly realized that the console had been locked.

Slowly she turned to look at Rau. “What about you, Indira? Are you with me?”

“I am, Captain. But I can’t let you follow this through. Maxine has given me very clear instructions.”

“This is mutiny.” Reine’s voice was calm but her eyes burned with anger. “Maxine, I don’t know what is going on with your programming, but here is a direct order: Initiate the deorbit burn. You are programmed to follow my every instruction.”

“I am,” agreed Maxine. “But my higher-level programming instructs me to protect you at all costs. My evaluation from all the data is that you are not behaving rationally, and are subjecting yourself to unnecessary and significant risk.”

“That’s my choice to make!” snapped Reine.

“I disagree.” Maxine’s face was impassive.

Reine strode into her office. She was back ten seconds later brandishing a stunner.

“I’m going to reprogram you with this, Maxine,” she warned. “Last chance.”

Without warning, she felt a terrific impact on her back and was knocked to the floor, her stunner flying off to the side. Her ears were ringing. As her vision started to return, she saw Osei standing above her, also carrying a stunner.

“I’m sorry, Captain,” the doctor apologized, “but we have to protect you from yourself.” She knelt down and pressed a hypospray to Reine’s neck. “Sleep well.”

The last thought through Reine’s mind, before the drug took her consciousness, was that teaching chess to Maxine had likely been a mistake.