The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“So that’s everything. I should have told you sooner. I know I should have told you sooner. You’ve just been a living dream. I didn’t want to lose you, but you would have found out sooner or later. I just really don’t want to scare you away. Whatever you decide, I deserve it. Unless you decide I can stick around. I don’t know if I deserve that.” Aurora sat in the passenger’s seat of Rebeca’s car. She was infinitely glad Rebeca had brought the car.

“That’s a big thing to spring on someone as soon as they pick you up.” Rebeca said as she laughed awkwardly. Her fingers caressed along the curves of the steering wheel as she tried to think of how to respond. Aurora had told her the same thing she’d told Flora and Heather. They’d kept their promise, so Rebeca had no warning.

For a moment Aurora wished she’d chosen an outfit more risque than jeans and a t-shirt. She hadn’t even worn her jacket. She always wore it. This time it just didn’t feel right. She didn’t need to feel strong. She needed to spill her guts. She felt more vulnerable to be without it. Somehow it felt more honest.

She was taking off her armor, which was something she didn’t do very often. Putting on the interview outfit, which she had now only as a keepsake, had been different. That was a sort of uniform. Now all she had were clothes.

Aurora resisted the urge to turn on the radio. “I know, it’s big. I just wanted to tell you before you spent the day with me. I wanted to tell you so you could make up your mind about me and just be done with me if you wanted to. Honestly, it’s probably the smart call to make. I have a temper. I’m incestuous. Hell, I’m a rapist. And that same night I . . . I felt so horrible about what I did that I tracked down a dust dealer, and took all she had. I didn’t get around to using it all, but that wasn’t the plan.”

Aurora hadn’t even given the dust-girl much thought. It hadn’t been that long ago. She’d only just graduated. It felt like she’d started a whole new life and grown up all over again. It had taken a couple of days to get to the bay. Then she’d spent a day with her aunt, a day meeting the team, taking down The Spiral . . .

She hadn’t even been in California for a month and already it felt like her home. Rebeca and Hope. That was what mattered most to the young heroine. She knew if Rebeca turned her away, she’d hop on Aureus, and beg her mother to forgive her for running off.

Thinking it out with no rationalization, and no excuses, made Aurora feel awful. She was sure her mother would forgive her even if Rebeca shunned her. That was who she was, but that didn’t mean she had to keep giving her reasons.

“I admit, it’s a shock. Besides your blatant disregard for traffic laws which seems an inherited trait, you seem the very model of an upstanding citizen.” Rebeca turned the key and started to drive. “And that’s who you really are, Aurora. You made a bad decision. If your mother knows, and she let you come here, then that’s all I need to hear. I’m going to chalk it up to a bad night. You made a bad decision. Everyone does it. If I said I’d never met a woman with the mask off and pretended I didn’t just rescue her the night before I’d be lying. But I only did it once.”

The car stopped hard at the red light. Aurora felt strange. She knew the situation was entirely different, but for some reason it reminded her of that night with Sylvia in her seat and Rebeca in her own.

Tears filled Aurora’s eyes. “Then you . . . you don’t want to kick me off the team, or break up? I mean, I couldn’t blame you for either. You still can, I won—!”

Rebeca dove across the seat, and mashed her lips into Aurora’s. The light turned green as cars honked behind them. The kiss lasted at least a minute before Rebeca pulled back and floored it with a serene smile on her lips. Aurora blinked slowly as she held fingers to her own lips.

“You made a mistake. Until you make another, maybe one that even begins to affect me, you’re stuck with me. You’re probably stuck with me through a lot of mistakes. Sorry. I don’t give up on a girl that easy. Tunnel, Heather, Flora . . . They’re all right about me. I’m possessive. I’m not trusting. I’m a horrible girl to be in a relationship with.” Rebeca carefully moved a hand from the wheel to Aurora’s knee and squeezed. “I want to be. For you. With you.”

Aurora sniffled as she fought the urge to cry. “Me too . . . With you . . . For you.” Rebeca squeezed her knee and Aurora let herself cry.

Draupnir Enterprises was a leader in every innovation it cared to touch. It had the money to keep defection to a minimum by being generous and had a quieter reputation for being cut-throat behind closed doors. Security was tight. The CEO, Elizabeth Draupnir, never settled for anything less than the best.

Cameras and personnel manned the front entrance. None of them saw the woman enter, yet she strolled effortlessly through the front door. A black catsuit clung tightly against her curves and her long black hair was tied in an elegant bun. Stiletto boots wrapped their way over her knees. Each step she took echoed around her, yet no one heard the sound. Being undetected was something the pale woman was exceptionally good at.

She approached the elevator before frowning and proceeding to the stairs. Around her was only silence. None of the guards moved. They didn’t even seem to breathe.

No one reacted as she grabbed a key card from one of the preternaturally still guards. The woman took a deep breath and sighed as she stopped walking at the tenth floor and moved in front of the door to the security room. She held the card against the scanner, narrowing her eyes in concentration.

For a brief moment there was movement and sound. The card reader beeped. The door unlocked. The guards took a breath or breathed out.

Then the woman narrowed her eyes again, whimpering very faintly, and stillness returned. A shroud of silence fell over the immediate area, as she walked into the security room. No one moved as she reached into the purse at her side and began to place the small devices out of view behind monitors and under the main desk. She then dropped the lobby guard’s badge onto the floor and walked back down the stairs and then out of the building.

No one noticed her enter, and no one noticed her leave. Once she was a block from the building she exhaled and the guards began to breathe again.

Grinning to herself, her heels clicked their way slowly down the street.

“So, sorry to call all of you here, but this is a big deal. Earlier today I received a message from The Syndicate.” Rebeca paused and looked slowly around the command center of their headquarters. Psiona leaned against a wall; Flower Chylde sat beside her. Tunnel sat in the corner rolling a cigarette back and forth between her thumb and forefinger. Electrum sat apart from everyone as Hope stood beside the large monitor. “That might not be so bad, but it wasn’t addressed to Hope. It was addressed to Rebeca Draupnir.”

Tunnel raised an eyebrow as she leaned forward. “No shit? So they connected the dots? That can’t be good. They were here, yeah, but you said the place wasn’t bugged. Plus, isn’t it a pretty clean system, anyway?”

“Oh it’s not to Hope at all. Not even Hope behind her mask. This is directly to day-to-day me.” Hope frowned. “Them finding out my identity would be bad, but worse things could happen. I could at least keep it publicly quiet pretty easily. I have the money for it. No. This has to do with the new product launch. This is pretty serious.”

Electrum tried not to look worried. She’d been with Rebeca when she received the message. She’d never seen the woman turn so pale. She’d never seen anyone look so pale.

Concern hid well under Psiona’s illusion. Her own identity, at least as it appeared on a few older documents, had been breached already. The Spiral hadn’t thought to even ask. She assumed I just prettied myself up and threw on jeans and a t-shirt and made them look like a costume. But pretty, hidden little Tunnel just had to fix that. She knew. The bitch knew. If there wasn’t safety in numbers I’d refuse to work with her. She is good at what she does.

“If this was blackmail or something, I’d take care of it myself. None of us are really getting along right now. We need to start being a little more open, upfront, honest, with each other. That includes me.” She turned to Aurora and smiled sadly. “Okay. That’s mostly me. Everyone else has been forced out of their shells lately. I’ve gotta break that one all on my own.”

Psiona blinked, and slowly looked between Electrum and Hope. She’d had a tough time thinking of the metal woman quite the same since she’d been told what she did. Raping a sister was a pretty big deal. Still, it seemed she was having a positive effect on Rebeca. She’d seen women she considered better fail at that goal too many times. If Aurora was capable of making Rebeca improve herself, Psiona wondered, then maybe she was being a little harsh on the metal woman.

With a few clicks Rebeca called up the message onto the main screen. A woman’s face took up its majority. Her hair was tied up in an elegant bun was black as the catsuit that clung to her body.

The woman’s lips curved into a faint smirk as she began to talk. “Hello. This message is solely for Rebeca Draupnir. You’ll want to listen to this alone.” There was a long pause and Rebeca mouthed a quick “sorry” before turning back to the monitor. “My name is Anachronista. I’m the new regional director for The Syndicate after my predecessor was apprehended by a local group of heroines. We may not be familiar to you yet, but I promise we will be very familiar soon.

“You have a choice to benefit from this, or to be a victim. Your new release, your brainchild, is due. All you need to do to avoid my ire, is amid your speech, and you will give a speech, you will say ‘five, seven, six, and two.’ Exactly like that. If you do, you will be spared. If you do not . . . well . . .” Anachronista stepped away from the monitor and fluttered her lashes. “As you can see, I managed to record this in your own bedroom. I would consider this before deciding you’re too powerful to worry about The Syndicate.”

Flower blinked as the message ended. “Five, seven, six, and two? What the hell could that even mean? Does it have anything to do with your software, maybe?”

Hope shrugged. “I have absolutely no clue what it means, but I know it can’t be good. The Syndicate is still in town, and recorded this video from my bedroom. They’re fearless, even after we took down The Spiral. Anachronista is following in her footsteps. Whatever she has planned, I’m betting it’s even worse than what those stones were designed to do. The numbers aren’t any passwords I know about. They aren’t . . . a PIN number. They aren’t the last four of my social . . .”

The room turned silent. Since The Spiral’s defeat none of them had paid The Syndicate a second thought. Even if they were still there, they were beaten for the moment and a respite was something they’d all earned. Their team had been in the news more and more lately as they made a name for themselves. They had no reason to worry.

Under her metal skin, Aurora wondered if her mother had ever faced The Syndicate. How long had they been entrenched in the bay? What would it take to beat them down once and for all?

Tunnel smirked as she leaned back, melodramatically crossing her legs as she did. “So, Hope. If you don’t give the speech, then you endanger your family and your life. If you do, who knows what might happen. Going to call their not-bluff and be ready for the cards to fall?”

“No.” Tunnel raised an eyebrow as Hope smirked. “No. I don’t intend for that to happen at all. If I don’t step up to the podium, then there will be suspicion. Not just with our shareholders. So, I will be giving the speech. But it won’t be me.”

“I can pose as you, and I can read a speech. But what good does that do?” Psiona looked as quizzical as Tunnel as her form slowly shifted, reshaping into the form of Rebeca in a very tight black dress. “If I don’t say the numbers, something will happen. If I do, something bad will happen. I hope your plan is better than that.”

“While you’re at the podium, the four of us will be watching and waiting. I can tap into the security system and watch the whole place at once. Flower, and Electrum . . . you’re sore thumbs, but that’s good. The Syndicate knows if you’re there, they’re being watched. It might worry them. It might make them act irrationally.” Electrum gave a thumbs up as Flower smiled and nodded. “Tunnel, you can stay in the crowd. If we spot Anachronista, I know you can stop her without causing a scene.”

Psiona raised her hand and her normal illusion reclaimed the perfect replica of Rebeca. “So why aren’t you up on the podium, exactly?”

“Because if they plan to kill me if I don’t comply, I don’t think I could survive it half as well as you could. Let’s be honest Psiona . . . Heather—I’m not really that super. I’m the weakest member of the group. I have gadgets, intelligence, and finances.” Hope sighed and shrugged. “I could do it, but I think if someone tried something against you, your telekinesis could freeze them in their tracks. If you don’t agree, I can do it. I just think a little caution may be in order. That’s all.”

“You got a point. Sign me up for Operation Five Seven Six No. I’ll be your Dupli-Beca. Only one condition. Give Electrum a little more credit. She might be flashy, but she can get the job done.” Psiona flashed a thumbs up to Electrum whose spine straightened instantly.

There was still a light tension in the air, but Hope’s bright smile echoed the shared feeling that the tension was transitory. “Good. The release is tomorrow. It’s going to be hosted at Draupnir Enterprises. We’ll all want to get plenty of sleep before tomorrow. I’ll write the speech, and we can make the switch at my place. Come by as Aurora. No one will be surprised. We’ve spent a lot of time together lately, and no one much pays attention to who enters and exits. Then you leave as me, and I leave as Hope. Sound good?”

“Hell, I think it sounds good and I get to play ‘fingers-crossed-we-get-a-shot-at-Anachronista’. I think that says something. Should I wear my red dress?” Tunnel grinned as Rebeca blushed. “No? Okay. Classic black it is. It’s time we got rid of the damn Syndicate.”

Back in Rebeca’s car, Aurora was grinning like an idiot. “This is going to be so- well okay, I’m worried about tomorrow to a fair extent, but Psiona isn’t thinking I’m a lesser human being. You told Tunnel for me and she isn’t repulsed . . . I still don’t feel good about it, but I feel like I belong as a member of the team. I hope I get to be useful.”

“I hope nothing happens. Honestly. This isn’t good, Aurora. This isn’t good at all. I spent over an hour tossing my things around my room and couldn’t find any bugging, or anything out of place. She was in my room. She was in my room, in my house. That’s off-limits. That’s personal.” Rebeca’s hands on the wheel tightened as she sped just a little. “I hope nothing happens, it goes off without a hitch, and then we can hunt that slippery bitch down and get her put in a very tight cell. ”

Aurora winced a little and sat back quietly. In her head Sylvia’s first single kept playing in a repeating loop. She caught herself humming the chorus and bit her lip. Logically she understood why it would hit Rebeca so hard, but her reaction felt wrong.

Thinking that made her feel dim. She didn’t like the way she felt. Being close to Rebeca normally made her feel so bright, vibrant, and colorful. Anything else was just a letdown she wasn’t in the mood for. She needed to feel vibrant right then more than anything. Sylvia was really living her dream. It made Aurora happy, but it also made her feel lonely. She’d been the one to convince her to pursue her music. She’d wanted to be there to watch it grow.

Quietly she promised herself that she’d buy a copy.

“Well . . . If that’ll make you feel happy, I hope for that instead. You know I’m crazy about you, right?” She did feel just a little crazy in a literal sense. Not throwing herself at Rebeca’s feet was harder since she’d accepted what happened with Sylvia. For some reason that just made Rebeca sexier. She could forgive her so easily.

“Thanks. I don’t know, I’m just a little shaken . . . I kind of need to be alone. Would it be okay if I dropped you off at your aunt’s place? I just don’t think I could wake up to anyone else knowing that she’s been in my room. I’d be worrying about you too. You could take a bullet or a knife or just about anything, but I still don’t want to think about it. I know it’s neurotic and crazy, but I’m pretty neurotic and crazy. I think it comes with the territory of being an inventive genius.”

Aurora sunk deeper into her chair and sighed. Spending the night alone was not what she was looking forward to. She was looking forward to making Rebeca turn around, stripping naked, and kneeling bare in the center of her room.

“Just let me out here, then. I don’t want to go back to Julie’s right away, and I could use the exercise. Julia stuffs me when I eat there.” Aurora hadn’t been eating regularly for awhile, but she was incredibly good at small lies. Being with Sylvia for so long meant a hundred daily lies.

Rebeca sighed as she pulled over to the side of the road. “Promise you aren’t angry with me? I just don’t feel like even you’d be safe. I feel angry and frustrated. I’m going to be up all night writing Rebeca’s—my speech—anyway.” She managed a half-smile, but even Aurora wasn’t convinced. “I know we haven’t seen each other a lot lately, but I promise, after this release goes off without—or fuck, with a hitch—I’m all yours. I will keep myself as open as is absolutely possible. I won’t let anything get in our way. I promise. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. It can be all about us. Just us.”

Aurora wanted to be angry. She wanted to be upset. Instead she just sighed and smiled back. “Sounds good to me. All of that time with you . . . I don’t know if that much exposure to bliss is good for me, but hell if I’ll complain. Sign me up. For now, I think I’ll hit the town. I still have a little money sitting around, and I could use a new pretty outfit that isn’t in shreds.”

Their eyes locked and for a long time they only moved to breathe. Finally Aurora popped open the door, and then closed it behind her with a sigh. Rebeca waited half a minute before she drove off, muttering to herself. Aurora waited about as long as Rebeca’s car took to disappear into the distance.

“Perfect time to grab that CD I guess . . .” No one heard her or responded to her. With a shrug Aurora headed off, humming “Sweat.”

Anachronista grinned as the data streamed into the monitor in front of her. “Oh Spiral. You had so many chances to do this or worse and you squandered them. It’s no surprise that you failed to take down four women and a metal teenager.”

Clicking a few keys Anachronista sped the data. The camera up-links from Hope’s headquarters began to fill the screens around her, playing in reverse order as the information was grabbed. She stopped the data transfer, set the time index, and sat back as she pressed play. Just a glance at her face would tell anyone watching her how supremely amused with herself she was.

“While you’re at the podium, the four of us will be watching and waiting. I can tap into the security system and watch the whole place at once.” Hope’s voice emerged from eight speakers at once, instantly widening her grin.

“To think I was just trying to recruit Rebeca Draupnir for a job or two. Now I get to snag Hope, and show that accelerating me to a leadership role amid this crisis is the best thing The Syndicate could have done.” Anachronista hooded her eyes as she clicked a few more buttons. The monitors went black except one which showed the continuing stream of data. “I think I’ll let you run overnight. It’s time for me to get to bed. I do have a very special release party to attend. Are my ladies in waiting eager to get some rest?”

Curled around her chair, leaning against her desk watching with attentive eyes, kneeling at her feet, were several beautiful nude women. Their eyes were glassy and lost. Their bodies glistened with lust and sweat. Their thighs trembled with desire.

All at once with remarkable timing the women moaned. Anachronista hooded her eyes. “Timing. It’s all about timing. It’s about being at the right place at the right time that got me all of you. Of course, each of you had different concepts of time when we met.” Anachronista pulled the woman kneeling at her feet up onto her lap. “You’re a little slut now. Time is meaningless to you now, isn’t it?”

Anachronista’s voice enunciated each letter with exacting precision. The pause between each word was firm and solid. Each pause for breath served double duty to press her body into that of her slave and to emphasize her words.

The slave against her nodded desperately. Her eyes were filled with craving. Her hands grasped at the air as they avoided grasping any part of their owner. “Please! It’s been so long. Use me. Need to be trapped in your eternity! Need you! Need you more than I need to breathe!”

“That’s a good little slave. Spread your legs.” The woman complied the instant Anachronista’s words reached her ears. Anachronista’s fingers teased along her glistening slit “Now, for your eternity.” As the villain’s fingers found the tip of her slave’s clit, the nameless girl took a deep breath to fuel her scream, but the scream never came. Her back was arched, stomach sucked in from the breath. Her eyes were closed. Her lips were parted. She didn’t move.

Anachronista stood, dropping the girl to the floor without ceremony. The other slaves moaned and gathered around their fallen sister. Although she was immobile of her own volition they found it quite easy to lay her out and touch her helpless body. Mouths and hands assaulted her thighs, her legs, as bodies that could move trembled to move as close as they could to the one that could not.

“I have plans to change. I know you’ll all keep her entertained. I hate changing my plans after so much careful planning, but there’s a time for everything, isn’t there?” She waited for a split second before walking towards the door. Again in perfect unison the women mewled agreement. “Perfect. Until next time.”

She pulled the door shut behind her. Taking a deep breath she pursed her lips tight, eyes narrowing, and then with a sigh continued to walk. Stilettos clinging to her legs, she walked silently away from the door.

Aurora held one hand to her chest as her other grabbed the door knob. It was late enough that she wasn’t sure if it was technically the next day or not. It had been late when she’d finished shopping. Her ears were still sore. Taking a very deep breath she slowly twisted the knob and pressed the door open.

From the foyer the young heroine could hear the television in the den. It was the television, or an alien invasion with a very snazzy soundtrack. Too exhausted to consider extraterrestrial assault a possibility, she moved slowly to Mina’s room. Each time she rose her foot from the floor or settled it back down was a million tiny gestures. Each time she stepped at a place where her weight made the faintest creak she winced and sank lower.

“You’re home late.” Julie’s voice froze Aurora in place. Instead of more words she was greeted with the sound of crunching popcorn. The likelihood of extra-dimensional warfare diminished more. “Mina tried that once. Floor is loud right there. Sorry. You’re busted.”

Aurora sighed. More than anything else she just wanted to collapse on Mina’s bed and pretend she’d spent her night with Rebeca. She wished she’d thought to beg for the chance to protect Rebeca.

“I know I didn’t give you a curfew, and you’re a legal adult so I have no right doing it anyway, but you’re sneaking. If you just walked in like you were just getting home late, I wouldn’t care.” Aliens beamed back to their mothership as the TV turned silent. “If we’re going to keep living together, you can’t sneak in. Come in at three. Come in at noon with a hangover. I don’t care.”

“I’m sorry, Julie. I really am.” Aurora walked into the living room and sank into the chair just far enough from the couch that she could feel like she was keeping her distance. “Going to be doing something really dangerous tomorrow.”

“You lie a lot. You’re not very good at it, but you really think you are. You really want to be. It’s almost sad.” Julie sighed and patted the couch beside her. “Come on. Closer. You don’t really want to be all the way over there. Why are you trying to pull away? Did I not tell you what you wanted to know about your mother? Are you afraid if you let me know about what happened with Sylvia that I won’t want you to stay here anymore? Yeah, I was a bad cool-aunt and I talked to your mother. It took some prying, and promises that I just broke, but I’m worried about you.”

Silently Aurora stood up and fell into the couch beside Julie. She pulled the concealed plastic bag away from her chest and tossed it onto the coffee table. Headphones fell out of the bag, hanging precariously over the edge.

Aurora felt strange that she wasn’t upset about her mother telling her secret. Everyone else she cared about officially knew. She hadn’t been told that her grandmother knew, but little escaped Lida’s ears. Positive, or neutral, reactions were already losing their ability to make her feel good on their own. Instead they made her feel confused and guilty.

Julia leaned forward, grabbing the bag to rifle through it. “You’re torturing yourself. You know that, right? You’re torturing yourself. This is a kind of masochism whether you’re doing it on purpose or not.” Julia pulled the small plastic case out of the bag and sighed. “Why did you get this?”

Eyes full of tears, Aurora stared at Sylvia’s face printed on the case’s insert. Four women stood around her, but Aurora only cared about Sylvia. “I got it to prove something to myself. I got it to hear her and . . .”

“And prove what? That you still miss her? That’s not the kind of thing you need to prove. That’s the kind of thing that is painfully obvious. You’ve been sick with worry lately. You’ve been throwing yourself at Rebeca like she’s your personal savior. You love her, and being apart from her is killing you. You bought this to hear her voice and now you can’t even admit it.” Sighing angrily Julia threw the case back into the bag and tossed it down. “You’re more stubborn than Olivia. That’s saying something.”

“But . . . I got it because I love Rebeca. I got it because I love Rebeca, and I had to know. I had to know that if I was going to devote myself to her the way I used to devote myself to Sylvia, that I didn’t still love Sylvia. I don’t.” Aurora grabbed the plastic case in her hand and turned her hand metal only a moment before crushing it in her grasp. “It hurts to feel I could have loved someone for so long and now . . . I just don’t but . . . it’s true.”

Julia sat silently, staring at Aurora. Aurora put her hand back into the bag before turning it back to flesh and then tossed the bag into a small wastebasket. The tears fell from Aurora’s eyes, but her lips twitched into a faint smile. It was a sad smile, tugged down even as it rose, but it was a smile.

The younger woman stood up, wiping away her tears with a soft laugh. “I listened to the whole thing, and all it did was make me feel guilty and miss Rebeca. It made me feel more in love with Rebeca. I thought about Rebeca singing the songs to me. I thought about for an album being sung by an eighteen-year-old rock . . . pop . . . musician it was a little trashy. I thought about how tomorrow I’m going to be risking my life to stop The Syndicate from hurting Rebeca, and you know what? I’m happy with that. I’m glad Sylvia and I broke up. I’m glad she’s living her dream. I love Rebeca. I’ve been miserable because I’m not sure if she loves me too, and tonight made me sure of it. I’m going to go sleep. I have a big day tomorrow.”

Before Julia could respond, Aurora walked into Mina’s room and curled up under the covers. Pulsing colors flashed in her vision as she closed her eyes. She let out a dreamy sigh. She knew everything would be all right now that she was sure. As long as she let Rebeca take her reigns, everything would be okay. Everything would be perfect.

She shuddered as the colors pulsed again and she rubbed her thighs together. They’d become a nightly routine she never remembered, colors swirling in her memory, in her mind as she melted off to sleep. The colors used to be Sylvia’s colors, but now they were Rebeca’s.

Staying under the covers Aurora wiggled out of her clothing and teased her hands along her body. Pretending her hands were Rebeca’s were so easy. Pretending she was Rebeca’s was so easy. It didn’t feel like pretending.

Brown eyes fluttered behind pale lids as fingers rolled her nipples. If Rebeca didn’t take her soon, Aurora knew she would lose her mind. She imagined showing up at her front door wearing the tattered rags of the clothes Rebeca bought for her. She imagined forgetting the bra and the panties, nipples peeking through tears in her top, and the slickness of her thighs set off by the light.

She imagined spending the night between Rebeca’s legs with her hand between her own.

With a flash of color, Aurora whimpered, came, and fell into a dream-filled sleep.

“You do know this is just a new virtual operating system, right? It’s not some evil scheme, or a super hero convention. It won’t be all that exciting. From one protector of the peace to another? It’ll probably be very, very boring.” Draupnir’s new software release party had an open-door policy, but it didn’t surprise Electrum or Flower Chylde when the security guard tried to convince them to leave. “You can go up there, I won’t stop you, but well, don’t you two have better things to do if you’re in costume?”

“First, it’s uniform.” Electrum resisted the urge to adjust her skirt. Instead she smiled more and looked around with a shrug. “It’s kind of exciting stuff. Twenty years ago people would have called it all ridiculous. We just want to be there, that’s all. If something happens, yeah, we’re on duty . . . but this is our day off. Officially.”

The guard smirked. “Officially? Aw hell, I really am not going to stop you. But if I don’t try to discourage you, it’ll look like I don’t want to do my job. Plus, I’m a little curious. Seen you two on the news and—”

Another security guard interrupted the first. She frowned as she held out a laminated badge with a raised eyebrow. “The boys up in monitoring said they found this on the floor and wanted you to have it back. Try to be a little bit more careful, huh? Mrs. Draupnir isn’t paying you to lose your badge and then shoot the breeze with local celebrities. Make yourself look busy, or polish your resume.” She narrowed her eyes for a long moment before instantly brightening, eyes widening, lips curling into a playful smile as she waved to Electrum and Flower. “I hope you enjoy the event!”

Electrum and Flower Chylde waved back to her as she walked away, both of them blinking in confusion. The original security guard stuttered and slid on his badge. “Well, you heard the lady. My boss. Great woman. Anyway, I really need to look busy. Everything but the event hall is roped off. Enjoy the free food, thanks for showing up!”

Again, Electrum and Flower Chylde waved as the first guard walked back towards the door he was leaning against when they first entered. Draupnir Enterprises’s headquarters had ceilings taller than a theater’s, background muzak that was oddly pleasant, and the plant life that was varied and completely non-plastic. As the two that would stick out painfully, they’d come together. By the time they’d realized Tunnel would be in uniform they wondered why they hadn’t asked Tunnel Vision to join them, but not for very long.

The actual room for the presentation was swarming with people. Electrum tried not to let herself keep trying to find Rebeca. She knew if she saw her it would be Psiona, but she still had to look. Wherever Hope was hiding to tap into the security system, she knew it wouldn’t be a very good spot if a quick glance could find her. Electrum doubted she was even on the same floor.

“I’m going to sample some of the free food. If you need me, scream or break something or something!” Flower Chylde smiled as she stepped away from Electrum and waved. “Whadya bet we freak out and nothing happens, huh?”

“We can only hope, right?” Electrum smiled and waved back. “Here’s to an uneventful day!” As Flower Chylde moved over to the free food, Electrum moved to stand near the front of the room. There was no scheduled time for Rebeca’s speech, but she had nowhere else to go.

Stuffing her face was not the reason she’d shown up. She didn’t begrudge Flower the chance to enjoy their plan, but she couldn’t find it in herself to join in. She was at work, not out for lunch.

Two floors above where Electrum desperately tried not to pace, Heather sat in Rebeca’s office. She didn’t look like Heather, but she felt a lot more like Heather than like Rebeca. She had no clue where Hope had hidden herself, but she knew she had to be vaguely familiar with “her” speech. It was a good speech, professional and lacking in depth. Heather was sure she could read it convincingly. She doubted Aurora would be able to spot the difference.

She slid her fingers across Heather’s desk. It wasn’t the desk where she knew Rebeca did most of her real work. That desk was in a much worse-lit room. The office she was in was the public office for show. It was devoid of real personality, branded more with the Draupnir name.

Heather idly remembered a time when Rebeca had taken her on top of the same desk her elbows now rested on. It had been hard to stay quiet, and she’d never fully believed that the room was devoid of surveillance, but she doubted the heiress would use the video for anything besides her own pleasure. The thought hadn’t bothered her until they’d broken up, and even then it had only escalated into a dull whisper.

There was a knock on the door and Heather blinked. She really didn’t want to be Rebeca any longer than was necessary. She was already having a hard time avoiding reflective surfaces. “Uhm . . . Who’s there?”

“No one important, but I was hoping I could have a word with you.” Heather didn’t recognize the voice. “I know you’re probably going to be giving a big speech later today, but I wanted to ask you something now. I had to dodge security to be able to get this far. Could I just have a minute or two of your time? I promise, as soon as you get sick of me, I’ll be gone!”

“Uhm . . . sure. Come on in. I’m just going over that speech right now. I can’t talk for long!” The door opened and Heather stood up so fast she almost knocked Rebeca’s chair over. The woman behind the door was Anachronista, holding something roughly cellphone- sized in front of her mouth.

Instantly Heather reached out her hand towards the woman to send out a telekinetic blast. As soon as her hand reached out the woman was gone from the doorway and the door was closed. There was no sound of the door closing. The woman was just gone, and the door was just closed. Heather blinked, let her hand drop, and her focus relax. It was supremely disquieting.

Rolling her eyes at her own paranoia, Heather sat back down in Rebeca’s chair and went back back to the speech. There was no way she could justify what happened as anything but a sensory misunderstanding. Being mentally awakened let all sorts of things slip into reality that weren’t supposed to. She remembered the accidents she’d caused with too much worry and shook her head. She knew she needed to stay focused. Keeping up Rebeca’s appearance was more difficult than her own illusion. It wasn’t physically draining, but it took some effort.

Between blinks, the dark-haired villain appeared again, this time lounging elegantly on Rebeca’s desk. “Hello, Psiona. Or is Heather Gage a better thing to call you? It certainly wouldn’t be very appropriate to call you Rebeca Draupnir, would it?”

Heather froze and dropped Rebeca’s speech. Her lips parted to speak, but before she could start the woman disappeared again. The door was still closed. It hadn’t opened. The woman just wasn’t there.

“Where the hell are you?!” Heather stood again, spinning around to look for anything that might give a clue to what was happening. Rebeca’s office was too plain. There were no secret entrances or ceiling-to-floor tapestries. “I might not be her, but at least my name doesn’t sound like you’re just trying to win at Scrabble!”

Hands suddenly held Heather’s breasts and pulled her back against a warm body. She shuddered, whimpering at the shock. The hands hadn’t suddenly grabbed her, they were already holding her when she was able to notice them. The body at her back was already pressing against her. The effect was dizzying. “My name is too long for Scrabble, Heather. You’re not the bantering type. Don’t even try.”

“What’re y—!” The hands were gone from her breasts and she couldn’t remember when she’d leaned forward. She definitely couldn’t remember being bent over Rebeca’s desk. Her thighs shook as hands rubbed and teased close to her still-clothed crotch. She tried to stand, but a hand laced through her hair, pushing her back down.

She tried to push the hand away from her thighs, to focus on forcing it away with her mind, but the hand moved, swatting her ass hard enough to make her grind almost painfully against the desk. Heather panted desperately as she reached out with her hands only to find them suddenly tied together against her back. She cried out half in fear, half in frustration. The hand in her hair didn’t even feel like it had left her head. Heather couldn’t remember the last time she’d been overpowered.

“My name. Would you like to know what it means? I think it might help you come to grips with what’s happening to you.” Anachronista grinned as she firmly pulled back on Heather’s hair, tearing a scream from deep within the heroine’s throat. “You really didn’t stand a chance. So there’s no need to feel bad about this.”

Heather panted harder as she tried to pull away. She tried to focus her will to push the woman away, but as soon as she felt her power press against the woman, she was suddenly back in Rebeca’s chair with her arms pinned against the back. “Stop . . .!”

Her eyes closed for another blink and opened with Anachronista straddling her. Her struggles only ground her against the villain. Her eyes were having trouble focusing. Hands went from holding her breasts, to caressing her cheeks, to pinning her against the chair. As soon as she knew how the other woman was touching her, it changed. Her body felt weak and heavy, melted with the drunken edge of arousal.

“Psiona. Your powers are all about mind over matter. But what a matter is your mind? My name must be hard for your tired mind to wrap around. Feel free to call me Ana.” Ana hooded her eyes, leaning close enough to press her forehead against the telekinetic’s. “I won’t stop. Not until you break. You’re close to it now.”

She wanted to scream denials, but it was hard to find the conviction necessary for the volume. Her mind didn’t feel solid enough to use her powers actively. The illusion of Rebeca didn’t flicker for a moment, but the power suit she’d been wearing gave way to a plain t-shirt and a short skirt. “I’ll throw you into a wall . . .!”

“Your heart wasn’t really in that. Psiona. Rebeca. I guess I should call you Rebeca. That is who you are right now. Nice wardrobe change by the way. I always did like white.” Heather took a deep breath, and as she exhaled she realized her top was pulled over her breasts. “Leave it to a telekinetic to not need a bra. Oh sorry, Rebeca isn’t a telekinetic. Must be part of why you can’t fight me off. Mind over matter, and you’re making yourself into her. It only makes sense you’d be just as weak as she is. No powers. Can’t resist. Can’t struggle.”

Heather’s head swam. Her vision was hazy as she continued to struggle, whimpering as her twisting began to make the other woman’s grasp tug her nipples. She’d never felt them so hard before. “I’m not . . . I’m not Rebeca . . .”

“But you look like her. You sound like her. Heather is a powerful telekinetic. She could have thrown me against a wall without moving a muscle. You’re writhing, and not in humiliation.” Anachronista pulled Heather’s nipples taut and twisted. Before Heather could scream, lips were pressing to her ear. “You’re hot. You’re burning up. It’s so hard to think when you’re feeling this good. You can’t resist this. You don’t really want to resist this. You want more.”

“How’re you . . . Moving so fast . . .? I don’t have time to . . . I can’t . . . I’m so confused!” Heather whined, arching into the twists of her nipples as within a blink her skirt disappeared. “Stop . . . Not Rebeca . . . I’m not . . .”

“Oh but Rebeca . . . I’m afraid you are.” As she heard Anachronista speak, Heather realized the world had moved around her again. She was in the villain’s lap, legs spread, facing the blank computer monitor on Rebeca’s desk. She saw Rebeca’s face staring back at her as her thighs went from trembling at the hands caressing them to in a flash clenching around the hand that slid between them. “Look at you. You’re loving this, and you’re definitely Rebeca.”

Heather was only faintly aware that her hands were free as her hips arched. In another blink her panties were gone and fingers were rubbing firmly along her slit. “Rebeca’s face . . . But I . . . I’m Heather . . . I’m Psiona . . .?”

She took a deep breath, trying to close her eyes, and found them opening wide as fingers thrust inside of her. “No. You are Rebeca. You are Rebeca Draupnir, being fucked in your own office.” It was impossible for Heather to keep track of when fingers moved inside of her or pulled back. It felt like they were moving with a natural rhythm, but somehow out of sync.

Her struggles melted away as she arched her body willingly into the violations. Every other time she tried to grind into Anachronista’s fingers it felt as though they had already pulled back. When she tried to pull back to grind harder, they were back again. She found herself half-sobbing in confused desperation.

“Rebeca . . . I’ve been teasing you this whole time. I can fulfill you in a way you’ve never been fulfilled before. All you have to do is tell me that you, Rebeca Draupnir, will do whatever I say. This torment can end, and I can satisfy your desire in a way you’ve never imagined possible.” Lips nibbled at one of Heather’s ears, and before she could realize they’d stopped were nibbling on the other. “It’s all you need to do. It’s simple.”

Heather’s thoughts were tattered. She knew there was a reason saying that was bad. Her own name felt like it was hanging just out of reach. Rebeca Draupnir sounded wrong, but when she looked into her own eyes in the computer monitor, felt hers fluttering and saw the woman in the monitor’s flutter . . .

“I’m . . . I’m Rebeca Draupnir . . . I’ll do whatever you saaaay just take me, stop teasing me!” Heather screamed desperately, grabbing the chair tightly. “I need it, stop . . . stop tormenting me, satisfy me . . . pleeeease!”

“As you wish, Rebeca.” Fingers pressed to the tip of her clit and began to rub. The normalcy of the touch, as pleasurable as it was, almost made Heather cry again. She felt her passion swelling, pulsing inside of her as she clenched her thighs tightly around Ana’s hand, and then felt everything stop around her.

The pleasure of fingers rubbing, stroking, massaging her was all she could feel. Time itself stopped. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. All she could do was feel her clit.

Anachronista grinned as she shoved Heather to the floor and picked up the pages of Rebeca’s speech. Heather stayed more or less just as she had been before she’d been pushed. Her eyes were mid-flutter, breath held, thighs frozen in the mid-tremble.

“Not a bad speech. We’ll just have to make one small alteration. To think I was worried you wold be the most difficult of Hope’s little band of misfits to take care of.” Her dark-painted lips curled into a cruel grin as she found a pen in Rebeca’s desk and began to modify the speech.

Trapped in a sea of caresses, Heather remained frozen on the floor.

Tunnel walked aimlessly through the throng of people filling the event hall. She’d stuck with her usual little black dress, but had opted to wear her smaller silver-rimmed sunglasses instead and left her trench coat at home. She walked confidently through the crowd, chest arched subtly, lips curled into a satisfied smirk as though the event were somehow about her. It was how she usually wandered, but her presence was softer without the heavy coat.

Resting snugly against her open palm and between her bare fingers was a half-empty wine glass. She swirled it as she kept her eyes out for anyone that looked interesting. Except for the occasional woman holding a similar glass that looked too young for it, she was disappointed.

Rebeca made such a big deal about this. I think the blond wig is getting to her. I think that teenager is getting to her. Too much blood going to her cunt. That’s gotta be it. Tunnel sipped her drink with a sigh. It’s too bad.

It felt like years had passed since she arrived. She watched demo videos on the virtual operating system’s functionality and tried to puzzle out why it was such a big deal. It seemed like nothing had changed, but everyone was insistent on being excited. Tunnel rolled her eyes and instead took to examining the gathered fauna. She decided that if nothing interesting happened soon she just might need to interrogate some of them with her tongue.

She eyed a waitress and tried to catch her gaze through her glasses. She almost raised her empty hand to pull them down, but stopped herself and merely smoothed out her dress. Impulse control, Tunnel. Impulse control. That’s the difference between you and those idiots in The Syndicate. In a world full of heroes, not having impulse control . . .

With a shake of her head Tunnel turned and began to move towards the front of the room. After her glass was empty, she set it on a server’s passing tray in a fluid motion. As she reached the front, her eyes instantly settled on Aurora.

Never had she tried to make the case that the girl didn’t have a delicious body. Hidden behind nearly opaque lenses her eyes danced along Electrum’s ample curves. She pondered idly how easy it would be to pull her uniform just enough to have access to what little was hidden. No doubt entered her mind that it had been very easy for Rebeca to choose the uniform. She was surprised the teenager took to it so readily, but it only served to reinforce what she’d told Rebeca before.

It wouldn’t be too hard to do better. The girl did seem smitten with Rebeca, but that was easy enough. I promise, right now, that I will never let some young piece of tail make me into a moron. I will not let some deer in the headlights teenager with a nice body make me forget who I am. If only Rebeca promised herself things like that.

Electrum turned to face her, raising a hand in an idle wave. Tunnel smirked and waved back as she stepped closer. She knew the thought was that she was stealth in her dress, and Aurora stood out as a hard deterrent as a shining metal guardian, but stealth had only revealed boredom with a side of disinterest. “Any luck doing anything more than being a slightly mobile decoration?”

“Nope. Flora said the food is good, but I’m too busy worried to eat. Where is she? I want to get this over with. I hate just waiting for things to happen.” Electrum looked up towards the empty podium. “Found anything yourself?”

“Nope. The wine is particularly sweet, but I don’t suppose that’s really your thing.” Electrum shook her head with a sigh. Rolling her eyes, Tunnel Vision followed her gaze. “Boring party. Almost hope something happens just so I know I haven’t fallen into a coma. Hope is probably having fun watching all of this from . . . wherever. A shame she couldn’t be here. I’m sure the two of you could keep all of us pretty well entertained, or is it just an emotional thing? That would be a little boring.”

Electrum’s cheeks burned a darker gray. She laughed quietly and then shook her head. “Not in the mood, Tunnel. Sorry. Besides, we’re not supposed to be clustered. It kinda kills any chances of you finding anyone.”

Tunnel rolled her eyes and started walking away. She waved behind herself as she scanned the crowd for more drinks. If she wasn’t going to have a chance to watch a woman’s eyes glaze and stare mindlessly into her own, she wanted to feel her own eyes glazing over from alcohol working its sweet magic. For a moment she worried it might weaken her advantage, but then remembered that even drunk the thought of Rebeca’s sex pet sparking her out of her mind would be enough to stop her from doing anything too direct.

Without warning she found herself walking directly into Anachronista and only managed to stop herself at the last minute from bowling her over. “Well, fancy meeting you here. I was waiting for you to show up. You Syndicate losers always do your own dirty work. Didn’t you ever learn how to delegate?”

The villain parted her lips to speak, and when Tunnel heard her speak, the world was suddenly painfully brighter. “I did. Then I learned that it’s fun to get a little dirty.”

Anachronista held up Tunnel Vision’s glasses in front of her with a smirk before dropping them to the floor. Tunnel narrowed her eyes as she tried to focus, catching the woman’s eyes, but then . . . her sunglasses were back on her face, and the woman’s hand was at her cheek. She frowned and took a step back only to bump into Anachronista, who was suddenly behind her.

“Speedster, huh? You move faster than sound, but I didn’t hear any glass break. So, gotta be something else. Wanna let me in?” Tunnel smirked as she leaned back into the woman, only for her to be in front of her suddenly. “Well timed.”

“Better than you know. Care to carry on this conversation somewhere a little more private, Tunnel Vision? And feel free to call me Ana. I know the name is a mouthful, but I assume most call you Tunnel. I wonder though, do any call you Vision?” In between every well-timed word, the room became brighter or darker. It was quickly becoming difficult to even keep her eyes open. The thought of being alone with the woman wasn’t very comforting, but she didn’t seem to mind blatantly playing with Tunnel surrounded by so many people.

Tunnel shook her head and turned hard to the left, only to find herself nose to nose with the other woman. Each time she blinked in the attempt to reorient her vision, her glasses were either back on or off. Frowning, she reached up to grasp her glasses in her hands, holding them in place, only to find them dangling from her left hand.

Throwing them down only ended with them back on her face. Sighing, she shook her head and closed her eyes tight. Being blind was better than being disoriented.

She turned and took a step forward, bumping into who she was sure was “Ana” the moment arms wrapped around her in a lover’s embrace. Not even trying to resist, Tunnel wrapped her arms around her waist. “Fine. Take me somewhere private. I don’t think it matters what I say anyway.”

Her eyes opened as she felt the straps of her dress being pushed over her shoulders. It only half-calmed her to find that they were in Rebeca’s office. How they’d gotten there was beyond her, but the room was private. She knew the great lengths Rebeca took to make it so no one could see what she might be up to. They’d done such naughty things against the walls. Her actual lab was far more intimate, but that was in another building.

“Sorry, Vision. Can I call you Vision? It really doesn’t matter, I’ll call you Vision anyway. Just like I called Heather Rebeca.” Ana hooded her eyes, and before Tunnel could respond her glasses were again off and a blindfold was tied over her eyes. “I’m glad you’re smart enough to realize when you’re outclassed.”

“Mind telling me why? It’s pretty obvious there isn’t much I can do, but I’d at least like to know why. Sorry, but I really don’t know what the hell your name means.” Tunnel had to use all of her self-control to resist trying to pull off the blindfold. She knew it would only end in more frustration. “I’m guessing it’s not a clever play on your real name being Anna. If it is, you really should get out more, because that’s not a good joke. Even my name is really Ashley. Don’t feel to proud of that by the way. I don’t go out of my way to make much distinction.”

Ana shrugged and teased her fingertips slowly along Tunnel’s neck. Before she felt her dress pulled down past her breasts she felt it fall over her feet. “You’re not being very fun. I hardly see the point to telling you if you won’t at least pretend to care that you’re powerless.”

Tunnel shrugged much the same as her captor as she felt her hands bound over her head by her own dress. Her nipples stiffened as Ana breathed hotly along the cleavage her tight bra formed effortlessly. “Sorry. You’re just not making it fun. No dice.”

“At least you’re smug in defeat as you are in victory. Unfortunately for you, I don’t find smug cute.” Ana caressed along the curves of Tunnel’s bra before it fell to the floor. “I think I’ll make this quick. For you. I’m impressed, even if I’m not pleased. If you stood a chance, you’d probably be dangerous.”

Her words stung, but Tunnel did her best not to show it. She bit her lip to stop herself from whimpering when she found herself on her knees, ankles tied together with her own panties. She growled when she blinked and found her face pressed to the floor,her ass arched up into the air.

Tunnel found her legs parted on their own and groaned as she felt her bound hand pressed smoothly against her own sex. The touch was one she was very familiar with. She let herself savor the touch of her own fingers along her slit. If she had to be bound with no true chance of escape, she was going to make herself enjoy it. When Chlora had me tied to that trellis, at least I had that scent making me mewl. If she’s not going to take any special steps . . . No one touches me quite like I do. Not even Rebeca, but it’s never really been about the sex with her.

Her hands were pulled away and mid-breath she felt fingers thrusting inside of her, quick and raw. She wiggled her hips hard as she tried to pull away, but the touch was relentless. When she pulled back, it thrust harder. When she pressed into it, it used her own momentum to thrust harder.

“Raping you is only satisfying because I understand you, Tunnel. I understand you just like you understand me. What we do may be different, but we’re the same side of the same coin. I just embrace my nature. You fight yours back. I don’t understand that, but maybe I do.” Tunnel opened her mouth to respond, only to find a finger suddenly pressed to her lips. “But don’t ruin the mystery. Instead, I’ll ruin mine, and you can enjoy a mindless haze of pleasure while I ruin your little friend.”

Tunnel frowned as she felt herself suddenly on her back with her own panties in her mouth. The taste was too familiar. She growled quietly as she felt her nipples tugged, but she didn’t struggle. She lay limp as she felt the strangest sensation. As her nipples twisted, a sensation she couldn’t deny that she loved to feel, she felt the rest of the world stop. Nothing else happened besides the twisting of her nipples, and that somehow lasted forever.

It should have started hurting, but instead they just kept twisting without twisting too far. She was trapped in the sensation of the twist, the heat, the pressure, and the pleasure. When it finally stopped, and she could breathe again, think again, she screamed.

Her thoughts felt so foggy and slow as she felt lips kissing her tingling nipples. The lips pressed too quickly to one then the other for her to know where they were, and then that soothing feeling of smooth lip-flesh pressed against her tender nipples did the same trick as the twisting. It felt like the pressure somehow kept pressing, kept stimulating, without ever actually pressing her. She couldn’t realize that no other thoughts were in her mind. She couldn’t squirm. She couldn’t arch. She couldn’t try to beg for more as her body pulsed with endless pleasure. All she could do was feel.

When she could, she screamed. Her eyes were uncovered and she found herself staring up mindlessly into Anachronista’s. Her eyes were deep and purple, so purple they almost seemed black. She felt like she could drown in those eyes. It was the first time she’d ever felt so breathless staring into another woman’s eyes.

She didn’t even care she was pinned to the floor. She didn’t care she was naked and helpless. She just felt good. “Mmmm . . . That . . .”

“My codename, Anachronista? It means removed from time. It means outside of time. And that is where you’re going, until I’m done with your little friend. That’s where you just were. If it makes you feel any better, there really was no way you could have hoped to resist me.” Ana leaned closer, and her dark purple eyes grew larger in Tunnel’s fuzzy half-vision. “You travel aimlessly through time, without rest or pause. I may not be able to move further into the past or the future at will, but I can chose not to go forward. Choice, is the difference between us right now. I imagine it’s all that ever was different.”

Before Tunnel could speak, Ana’s lips pressed to hers. Trembling like a flame Tunnel tried to kiss her back, but soon the pressure of her lips was her world, and she wasn’t in any position to choose otherwise.

Hope narrowed her eyes. It shouldn’t have taken Psiona so long to prepare for her speech. She hadn’t told her to commit it to memory. It wasn’t that interesting. It was written to sound boring, unimaginative, and corporate. It was also written to be full of places where it would be logical for her to say a series of numbers. She wanted to keep that stupid bitch who threatened her on the edge of her seat.

Her hiding place was uninspired, but apt. On the same floor as the event hall was a small room that until recently had been a backup server room. It had been emptied when a malfunction in the sprinklers had nearly flooded the room.

The room was still wired for the relocated servers, which made it easy for Hope’s cellphone-size computer to hack the network. Her mask was filled with camera feeds that she switched between with subtle eye motions. She wore tiny wireless earbuds that synced up with the video feeds. She wished she could use her own more advanced systems and silently cursed the high requirements. She made a mental note to find a way to miniaturize the necessary components more efficiently, or to make a lighter version of the software just for herself.

On second thought, if I did both . . . no, this is no time to be distracted. I’m curled up in a corner in a building named after my family hacking into our own network so I can spot that stupid bitch before she tries anything. At least no one has gone near my office besides Heather. Sighing, Hope wiggled against the wall at her back. I wish there was another way I could be more useful. I wish I could figure out what those numbers were.

It was hard to resist going into her office to check on what felt essentially like herself. Seeing Psiona take her form and talk with her voice was disorienting. If she peeked in on her, Hope knew the telekinetic would never forgive her or let her it down. Psiona never let her live down anything.

Tunnel was enjoying the wine. Flower was enjoying the food. Electrum was brooding. She had a knot in her stomach and put a lump in her throat. Everything had gotten so much worse after that night on the beach.

Guilt pried its way into Hope’s mind effortlessly. She knew that the young heroine was worrying about her. She wished she could have spent the night with her, but she’d been feeling too upset and ashamed. Being blackmailed as Hope was one thing. It had happened before. Employees had discovered her identity. She’d dealt with it carefully and by the time she was done they remembered nothing of how they were dealt with, or her identities. Being blackmailed as Rebeca was somehow humiliating.

She was glad the event was going well, but was glad she had a half-decent excuse not to attend. The only people that ever wanted to talk to her were annoying leeches or fans of her elegant coding. There were times she wondered why she didn’t make it public that she was Hope.

I know why I’m so angry. People are here celebrating Rebeca’s achievements. People are here protecting Rebeca. Hope? Is a blip on the radar. She’s a powerless super heroine with amazing friends. It’s a wonder they let her tag along. She knew she was being hard on herself, but resolved that with what she had done to Electrum, being hard on herself was something she obviously wasn’t doing enough.

Her mother had given a brilliant speech earlier about looking to the youth for the future and how she was glad she’d always felt that way because of Rebeca’s accomplishments. It was nice to be praised behind her back, but they were paraphrased echoes still lingering from her last big day.

Hope wondered if there was any number of good deeds that could wipe her soul clean after what she’d done to Aurora. If I do everything I can to make her happy, to make her fulfilled, to keep her close, it’s not so bad. It’s only betrayal if she isn’t being treated with love and respect. She is. I’ll make sure she never needs for anything. I’ll give her everything she’s dreamed of. Rebeca’s scientific genius is why I feel so guilty, but Aurora is here protecting it. I know Electrum would have come if she was asked, but it’s the Aurora in her that wants to keep me safe. I’m supposed to be the one protecting her. She’s my responsibility now.

Tears quivered in her eyes and blurred the camera feeds. Carefully she lifted her mask and rubbed them away, narrowing her eyes to refocus herself. It wouldn’t do Aurora any good if something happened. Hope knew perfectly well that Aurora would blame herself for every mistake, especially those of the blond love of her life.

“Thank you all for coming! I’m so glad that everyone is enjoying the new software. I have my competitors out there, those that are a little too stuck in doors, and those that think keeping the doctor away is all that matters, but with the turnout we’ve had today I think we can all agree that when it comes to computing, the future is in computing that isn’t about a keyboard or a mouse, but our hands, our eyes, our bodies. Maybe even our mouths.” Hope quickly moved her eyes up and left to refocus her gaze on the podium. Sure enough, there she was. Her practiced smile was as beautiful, and phony, on Heather’s illusory lips as it was on Hope’s.

Hearing her own speech in her own voice made her wince. It was worse than she’d thought, and she was convinced it was rather horrible. Whenever she wrote a speech she truly believed was witty or funny, someone claimed she thought too highly of herself or just enjoyed coming off smarter than her user base. The one time she’d tried to sound silly and relaxed, people accused her of sounding vapid and questioned if she was using drugs.

It just meant she had to work harder at being boring. Her mother was always trying to get her to be more business-than-production-oriented. The media did a much better job.

“I get a lot of credit for being in the trenches, doing the work with other brilliant innovators instead of just sitting back and watching the money roll in. I’m not the only one. I do a pretty good job but I have a lot of help. It’s not just me putting in ones and zeroes all day..” Heather laughed with Rebeca’s voice, and Hope’s eyes opened wider. “There’s also five, seven, six, and two.”

Hope screamed out in pain as a loud, sharp sound began to throb in her ears, and her eyes were blinded with red. She tried to close her eyes, but something about the way different shades of red tingled and pulsed only forced her eyes open wider.

All she could do was stare. It was so gorgeous. She’d never seen anything so red before in her life. It was red in absolutely every way that red could be, every shade, every texture, every taste, and she wet her lips with her tongue as the feeling of red made her toes curl. It even sounded red. She could feel the sound echoing through her body, making her skin tingle and vibrate with red-hot bliss.

She felt red everywhere she could feel. She smelled it. She breathed it. She was red. What that meant, she wasn’t sure. Red didn’t include a lot of self-control.

“ . . . and two.” A loud hiss filled the event hall, drowning out Heather’s voice before all of the displays, televisions, and monitors exploded in a flurry of glass. Electrum dove on top of a woman directly below the largest display, shielding her from the rain of glass. Shards were stuck in her uniform but it felt a very small price to pay.

Heather screamed on stage, falling onto her back. Normally falling glass wouldn’t have been a worry, but suddenly quite vulnerable to glass she had no clue how to react. Tears filled her eyes. The timing had been too precise. The explosions were triggered by her speech.

She hadn’t let anyone see it. She was going to have Heather read the speech instead, after staying up all night writing it but . . .

Tears welled up in her eyes. Why can’t I remember why I didn’t want to read the speech? Why can’t I remember what I did yesterday? Did I spend it with Aurora? I can’t remember what her lips feel like. I should know that. We’re always kissing. I can remember things I’ve done but the details are pitiful. Something is very, very wrong with me.

Flora peeked out from under a table. It didn’t make any sense. Rebeca had written that speech, and Heather was supposed to read it. She was also supposed to avoid those words. She could have just walked on stage, thanked the Academy for giving her an Oscar, and walked off stage. All she had to do was not say that. Flora brushed herself off and then ran for the stage. If Heather botched the plan, Flora knew something was very, very wrong.

Around her men and women screamed and ran past her to the exit. She wished she had the plant-control powers everyone thought she had. She could just have the greenery carry her up to the stage.

Security from the building quickly surrounded the sobbing Heather as Electrum and Flora approached. One of them started to step intimidatingly towards the pair of heroines before Heather reached her hand out towards them. “No! No, they’re heroes, they are, they didn’t make that happen . . . I . . . The Syndicate, they threatened my life and I . . . I wasn’t going to say those words, to do . . . To do what they wanted but I . . . Why did I . . .”

“The Syndicate? I thought they got-nnng!” In the brief pause between words, a leg had somehow managed to rise up between one of the security guards from behind, bringing him to his knees.

When the others pulled their weapons to threaten the pale assailant, they were all suddenly unarmed. None of their guns were anywhere to be seen, except the one that Anachronista held tightly in her hand. “The Syndicate. They’re a rather underestimated cabal of criminals. Powerful. Unforgiving. I recommend you give the three of us some private time. Any smart comments, any heroic moves, and I promise that you won’t be leaving under your own power.”

The security guards hesitated and looked amongst themselves. Grinning like a madwoman, Ana aimed the handgun above her head and fired. As they fled back, Ana laughed and aimed the gun down at Heather.

Confused and afraid, Heather screamed. “What . . . what did you do to me?! I didn’t want to say those things, I . . . Those numbers, they triggered something!”

“Mmhmm. The main security room, by the way, with all of those screens that show all of those security cameras? Covered with glass, too. Hope? Wherever she is, she’s hardly in any place to be considered sentient. Your little cue sent a computer virus her way. One which I am quite sure will have her a writhing mess.” Anachronista grinned. “I did a lot to you, Rebeca. Sorry you’re the only one not in on the joke of why that’s so funny.”

Heather’s lips trembled. Her whole body shook. Hope? She knew that she was Hope because she was Rebeca. Her whole reality felt precariously balanced on the tip of Ana’s trigger finger. Nothing made much sense, and that was all she craved.

Electrum stepped in front of her prompting Ana to step back. Flower stepped behind Aurora kneeling to help Heather sit up. She held her close and leaned forward so the petals of one of her flowers brushed along Heather’s nose. She caressed Heather’s cheek, whispering soothingly in a soft quiet voice. It eased the woman’s crying and made Flower smile.

“Where’s Tunnel Vision?” Electrum frowned, taking another step forward. “Nice to meet you. You have one long name, you know that? Not the best banter, I know, but really, Anachronista? Were you going for ‘words no one can spell’?”

“I was going for accuracy.” She slowly aimed the gun and fired a bullet that hit right between metal eyes. It crushed itself harmlessly against Electrum’s skin before falling at her feet. “I had to try. This wasn’t what I initially planned, but when Hope was dumb enough to play that message back in your fun little hiding place she gave me direct access to its computer. So I decided instead of robbing the party guests, I would use your plan to ruin the five of you, and then . . . well, after that isn’t really important. And Tunnel, is out of time at the moment.”

“Well, seeing as how you aren’t getting out of here without getting through me, and bullets aren’t going to do more than annoy me, I hardly see how you plan to ruin us.” Electrum smirked, snapping her knuckles dramatically. “Afraid you’re going to be very disappointed. You should have stuck to your original plan.”

The villain didn’t even blink as Electrum neared her. She continued backing up until she was against the wall and then dropped the security guard’s gun. With a mock whimper she twisted her expression from worried to pleased.

Confused, Electrum began channeling her energy into her fingertips. There didn’t seem any way the woman posed any threat to her, much the opposite, but she still looked so pleased with herself. It was beyond confusing. She’d done something to Psiona and Tunnel.

Not waiting for a response, or a counter move, Electrum reached out her hand to grasp at the woman and blinked as she disappeared. Frowning, she spun around and found the woman directly behind her.

“But my original plan didn’t account for you to be such close friends and . . .” Ana reached out, hand grasping Electrum’s shoulders, and she narrowed her eyes in concentration. She screamed, pulling her hand back like it had been burned. “You . . . You’re . . . You shouldn’t . . . You’re already outside of time, but you’re moving normally, and you couldn’t see me mo- . . . what are you?! Everyone has a connection to time, everyone, but yours it’s not severed, it’s just not there! You shouldn’t be able to exist!”

“Might have something to do with the fact that if not for time travel my parents never would have met. Kinda funny, when you think about it.” Electrum continued to step towards the now-trembling super villain. “That all you’ve got? Grabbing my arm and freaking out? I’m sorry, but my second-grade teacher had that power. I think she retired.”

Anachronista screamed in fear, almost falling as she continued to walk backwards to escape Electrum. Her eyes narrowed, she tried to focus but nothing happened. “You . . . whatever you are . . . I can’t feel time . . . I can’t feel it! What did you do to me?!”

“As far as I’m aware, absolutely nothing. You dodged what I tried to do. Something gives me the feeling you won’t dodge this time.” Electrum reached out and grabbed both of Anachronista’s shoulders. The villain’s eyes were impossibly wide even before her silver current began to sizzle and burn through the woman’s body and mind, searing away her thoughts in ways the woman had never felt before.

Her mouth fell open as she groaned, her eyelids fluttered, and her hips shook. She struggled against the onslaught, hands clenching into fists as she tried to focus past the sensations. She could feel something in the current beyond just the pleasure that made it hard to feel anything else. The effect wasn’t nearly as strong as what Anachronista was capable of.

Deep within the shimmering silver, she could feel a connection. She could feel the flow of time and she latched onto it with everything she was. Her whole body flashed, shimmering silver, and then gold, before turning impossibly stiff.

Time froze, but it was unlike anything Ana had ever felt before. When she made time stop, she was still able to move. She was always able to react. She’d experimented with her powers on countless women to learn the way it affected them to hone the best ways to break women’s minds. This was different. She was frozen, unable to move, unable to act, but she could think. She could feel. The sensation had followed her just like her touch followed her slaves when she froze them in place, but she was aware. She knew exactly what was happening.

All of the color faded from the world as she screamed and moaned inside of her mind. The horror of being trapped in a place further outside of time than she had ever been, a place that seemed to exist only in thought, was rivaled by the pleasure of an infinite stream of silver euphoria.

Electrum . . . Silver . . . So much of it . . . Trapped . . . Lost in the stream . . . One with the chaos . . . Something not meant to be . . . But ooooooh it’s already so hard to mind . . .

Slowly her dark purple eyes glazed as silver lines of energy seared across the purple, burning it away and replacing it with a luminous silver. No pupils, no irises, and no whites. Veins of energy shimmered under her skin, but nowhere as intense as her eyes that were lit like headlines casting silver light up to the ceiling as her neck fell back.

Even as Electrum pulled back her current, the effect was unending. Anachronista fell onto her back beside Flower and Heather. She didn’t breathe, but her body was warm.

“I . . . I swear I didn’t do that. On purpose. All I did was try to stop her, I . . . It was all I tried to do.” Electrum looked down between her friends and Ana. “I don’t know what to say. I swear I didn’t do anything I’ve never done before. She was muttering something about how I was outside of time. That I’m not supposed to exist.”

“I’m glad you do. I don’t think we could have stopped her.” Flower looked between Electrum and Heather. Psiona was still lost in her delusion, confused and afraid, but she was safe. “The Syndicate isn’t known for mercy.”

Electrum nodded and looked around quickly. “I think she came on her own. I need to find Hope. I need to find her, I need to know she’s okay. I’d use my powers to help her, but . . . if they did that to her, I don’t know if she did anything to me. It doesn’t feel like she did, but I’d hate to find that out after hurting her. Do you think you can take care of her while I try to find Hope and Tunnel? Need to find Tunnel too . . .”

Flower nodded and kissed Heather’s cheek. She smiled for just a moment before staring up at the ceiling with an expression that seemed breathlessly grateful. “I think she’ll be okay with a little rest. There’s a doctor or two in town that we can trust to help her, too. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be okay. Find them. And . . . thanks for saving us. If it needs to be said, I don’t care what happened in Midas. I don’t think any of us will after today. If you want to stay even after how badly we reacted, I know we’ll all be happy to have you . . . not just Hope.”

Electrum nodded, smiling with a wink before she ran towards the stairs.

Her legs burned with how fast she ran, but she was afraid to try flying. That was the second woman she might have killed. It was hard to say at a glance. She’d never even seen her mother’s eyes glow like that.

She ran up and down hallways, stopping only to briefly explain the situation to frantic security. Television airtime made it easy for them to believe her. On the second floor she searched she heard a desperate pitiful moaning coming from a room with wide glass double doors locked by a card scanner. Carefully she placed her hand over it and forced just enough of her energy in. The lock shorted and she slid the doors apart.

Curled in the corner, Hope groaned and shook. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides as she whimpered nonsense syllables.

Electrum ran to her, tearing the mask from her face, the buds from her ears, and ripped the cable connecting her to the wall. Hope barely reacted, sounds turning confused, but no new light of cognizance flashed in her vacant eyes. “Hope . . . Fuck, Hope . . . I . . . I got the woman who did this to you. I don’t know how, but I did. You’re going to be okay, we’ll get you to a doctor, Flower said she knew a good one . . . Everything is going to be okay . . .”

She paused, tears shimmering in her metal eyes as she pulled Hope into her lap, rocking her. “I love you, Hope. I’m going to stay here. You protect my heart, and I’m going to protect you . . . No one will ever do this to you again.”

Aurora curled up to Rebeca on her couch, wrapping an arm around her as she nuzzled into the brunette’s shoulder. “Mmmm, so the doctor says you’re all better? Does that mean that I finally get to have my Rebeca all to myself with no work or recuperating or anything else getting in my way? Because you know I’ve been very patient with your healing process, but I’ve been . . . eager for you to get better.”

Rebeca’s cheeks shined with a red glaze as she pulled her teenage lover closer. Her recovery to the public had been nearly instantaneous. Shaking the last scraps of hidden conditioning, a strong aversion to the color red, and feeling safe in her home and office had taken another week of intense therapy.

Therapy with a telepath was a lot different than therapy with a normal person. For one, Rebeca couldn’t lie. Another fun point was that she could often guess just what Rebeca was about to say.

It was oddly frustrating that Rebeca never had the pleasure of surprising her.

“Yes, I’m all healed up. No work, no Hope, no . . . nothing besides you. You’ve been amazingly patient. You kept me company in that boring hotel, stayed awake for hours just letting me cling to you, and you even tried to cook.” Aurora blushed and Rebeca kissed beside her lips. “That didn’t turn out well, but it was incredibly sweet. I think you got your mother’s famous let’s-order-pizza gene you mention so often. But still, it means a lot to me. I’m the older of us, I’m the more stable of us, but you were my rock when I needed to heal. I don’t feel worthy of it, but . . . I’m all yours now.”

“No . . . I’m all yours, Rebeca.” Aurora squirmed away as she reached down, pulling her tight black t-shirt over her head, followed quickly by her bra. “I’m yours. I want you, but I want you to take me . . .”

Rebeca’s pupils grew as she gazed into Aurora’s eyes and then over the bare skin of her chest. They followed her as she rose from the couch, swaying her hips side to side as she unzipped her pants, slowly turning around to arch her ass into Rebeca’s view as her pants slid along her legs. She hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her white panties and pulled them down much the same before kneeling at Rebeca’s feet with shining eyes, thighs, and achingly hard nipples.

She shook as she looked up to Rebeca’s eyes, her breathing already coming in short desperate pants. “I did a lot of soul-searching. I’ve thought about you nonstop since I met you. I’m in love with you. I need you. I need you to want me. I need you to tell me what you want me to do . . . I feel safest, I feel the most . . . right . . . when you’re guiding me.”

“Spread your legs.” Rebeca’s words were quick and hoarse. Her hands fell along her own thighs as she squirmed. “I can guide you. I can use you. You have a body to die for. You have a heart that drives me wild . . . I’ll do it . . . but only because I love you.”

Aurora whimpered, thighs clenching at her own touch. “I love you too, Rebeca. I love you. Please, please fuck me. Please . . .”

Grinning, Rebeca slid from the couch, pushing Aurora onto her back with a hard shove to her shoulders. Aurora groaned, arching her body up into Rebeca’s. “Now how could I refuse an invitation like that . . .”

Auburn hair fell over Aurora’s face as she arched her neck to Rebeca’s mouth while the young heroine screamed at each passionate touch.