The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“Wakey wakey, sweetheart.”

I moan out slow and languid as I feel the familiar touch of Hope’s fingers stroking along my cheek. She always feels so soft, so delicate, so . . . precise. I feel like I’ve slept for a year. My body is heavy and tingly, and the light is too bright for my eyes to stay open for more than a second. “Come on Nebby, you’ve gotta wake up. Important things to do today. Important people to meet. Today is going to be a day to remember!”

Today can wait. I rub my cheek against her hand and mewl. I love when she calls me Nebby. It always reminds me of how close we are that she could use my childhood nickname even though we didn’t know each other back then. Everyone knows Nebula now, but Nebby . . .

Pain.

Sharp stabbing pain shoots through me like knives tearing me apart, but there’s no physical explanation. The pain is so intense it forces my eyes wide open. Everything hurts, making it harder to make sense of anything. There’s no reason that my blood should suddenly feel like lava.

I scream, grasping the armrests of the chair silver-knuckle tight. The pain resonates from the center of my forehead, reaching the tips of my toes. It’s impossible to think through. I’m clenching my jaw so hard I can feel my teeth turning to powder. “Make it stop!”

“It’s okay sweetie . . . We must have just gone a little deep last night . . . just relax . . . Here, squeeze my hand, it’ll pass, I promise.” My hand hurts so much it’s hard to tell the thing in my fingers is her hand, but I squeeze until I hear her scream too. “I’d prefer if you didn’t break my hand, but it’s okay, just keep squeezing, it’ll pass, I promise!” It’s hard to believe anything so intense could ever stop, but I believe her. I have to believe her. If it doesn’t stop soon I’ll black out.

Cool metal presses to my forehead.

The pain stops.

A woman with short, spiked purple hair is standing over us. It makes me think of Valerie for a moment, but it’s not her. Mom never wore her hair so short, for one. Her eyes are wrong and her roots are showing.

“Security system is in place. I’ll just go finish with the copper top. Enjoy yourself, ‘Hope’.” The woman waves. Her hand catches my eye – or more precisely what she’s wearing over her hand. It looks like a black latex glove with some sort of built-in brace. “The doctor has high hopes for you! Wouldn’t want to disappoint her, or you might not be so free-ranged!”

Something about her makes me shudder. I’ve never seen her before in my life, but she makes me . . . uncomfortable. There’s no other word to describe the shudder she sent down my spine. If she’s working here, working with Hope, then she has to be on the level. Still, I’ve been a superheroine long enough to know that everything has degrees. Antiheroes can be just as bad as villains, or worse.

With the pain gone I can breathe, and that’s a nice thing. It’s hard to realize how wonderful it is to breathe until you can’t because every time you start to suck in air there’s a sharp stabbing pain everywhere.

“Free . . . ranged . . .?” I cough and pull my hand back to rub over my forehead. There’s a small spot the size of a zit in the very center that stings to touch, but otherwise it’s soothing to try rubbing away the lingering pain. “What’s she talking about, Beca?”

“Just . . . the project. It’s to make a brighter future for everyone, and a brighter future doesn’t come without a few sacrifices. We might not be free to come and go as we please, but Doctor Lys is a brilliant woman. What she asks is so small compared to what we’ll gain.” Rebeca smiles, and it reaches her eyes but there’s still something wrong about them.There’s something that seems quieter, dimmer, like the visual equivalent of hearing someone talk over a bad phone connection.

The project . . . I remember now. That’s why I’m here. Hope recruited me to be a part of the revolution. A bloodless revolution that will bring everyone happiness . . . it sounded so impossible, but Hope believed in it, and she . . .

Something inside of my head pulses and throbs for only a moment, and then . . . . “Oh, right. The project. Sorry, I feel like I was just thinking something . . . did you say anything else? I think I zoned out for a second there, sorry. My head feels so strange, good, but strange.”

“No, you just started staring off blankly. It looked cute on you, just like everything always does.” Hope smiles and presses her lips to mine. It feels odd to keep my eyes open kissing her, but both of us do, staring into each other’s eyes until I pull her down on top of me. “Mmm hey hey hey . . . we have things to do today, There’s not enough time for that, sweetie. Sorry, you know I love fucking you senseless.”

I can remember the last time so clearly. It was before the concert in the park, she came back into my dressing room and we fucked right there. Nikki . . . I just played with the band, but it feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen them. Oh well, maybe we’re just a little too close.

Going through what we did with Nina Corvi can do that.

Sighing as melodramatically as possible, I push Rebeca off me and stumble to my feet. “Then what’s on the roster for today? The concert we actually planned in advance is in a week isn’t it?”

“Mmhm! Gives us plenty of time to devote to the project.” Rebeca’s lips twist crookedly. My nipples remind me that after we’re done with whatever we need to get done, there’s plenty of time to have a little fun, too. I’ll have to start by giving her cute pink nipples a bit of focused attention as payback for how loud she makes mine. “As for today, you get to meet the crew. I’ve told them all so much about you.”

My thighs clench. For some reason meeting everyone sounds exceptionally fun. For some reason it’s hard to imagine anything less than an intimate meeting. Maybe I’m just too used to loose fangirls. I’m sure there’s a fan or two from that park concert that could use a little personal thanks for showing up.

Being close to Rebeca makes me feel lighter. There’s no lingering shame at the thought of enjoying a fan, or enjoying her, or both at the same time. Maybe a fan, Rebeca, and Nikki all at the same time . . . the possibilities are so delicious.

“The woman you just met, her name is Proximiti. She’s our security specialist. There are too many to just rattle off names, but there are a few I want you to meet face to face. It’s important to know who you’ll be working with more . . . closely.” Rebeca grins and wraps her arms around me so tight it’s not hard to imagine our bodies melting together. It’s even easier when her leg slides between mine. Stopping my eyes from rolling back takes entirely too much effort. Stopping my hips from rubbing my clothed pussy down against her leg is impossible. “To a brighter future, built on bliss . . .”

“Blissss!” I claw my nails down along her back, squeezing her leg between mine a little tighter. “Fuck you know how to press my buttons entirely too good. If we’re ever going to get out of this room, we’re going to need to leave now.”

Rebeca grins. “Works for me. I think you should meet our . . . botanists. They’re just adorable.” She laces her fingers between mine, tugging me slowly towards the door. “They have a unique understanding of their field of study.”

She has that superheroine-just-made-a-pun grin. It’s a combination of entirely too proud of herself mixed with a contained laugh. It’s adorable on her—even if her puns are usually groan-worthy. A little tingle of pain quivers in my head, and I sway on my feet for a moment before resting against Rebeca. Then I . . .

Blink.

I’m leaning against Rebeca and I can’t remember why. She has such a pretty grin when she’s made a bad pun. I love everything about her, but that grin would probably get her into my pants all on its own. Damn am I lucky.

She walks backwards into the door, and it opens up sliding sideways into the wall. Very Trek. The hallways look like a combination of a fancy hotel with the nice carpet and molding, and a secure compound with the doors without knobs, subtle halfheartedly hidden cameras everywhere, and how much of it is sleek smooth metal.

On one of the walls Rebeca leads me past is a poster of Doctor Lys shaking hands with . . . my mother – my silver-skinned mother. I didn’t know they’d ever met. “Coming Together for a Brighter Future” is written in big bold silver letters over them. Even Sarah approved. A warmth pulses over me for just a moment. I can’t help but smile. I’ll make her proud, and then when we . . . when I can find . . .

“Nnn!” Hope’s grasp isn’t enough to stop me from falling when my knees give out. I hit the floor, clutching my forehead to try rubbing away the pain. It fades faster than before and . . . and . . .

Rebeca is standing over me, looking worried, concerned . . . and my knees hurt. They hurt a lot. That spot in the middle of my forehead aches just a little, but a quick rub and that goes away. “Did I . . . did I fall . . .? Maybe I should have the doctor look at me, I don’t feel so good. I keep forgetting things and . . . and . . .”

Rebeca blinks down at me, her hand held down to me with a smile. She has such a warm smile. Her eyes look like they know everything before you even start to move your lips. It’s like she knows me inside and out . . .

“Silly thing. Are you feeling okay? Maybe we should get you some food?” She takes my hand, before pulling me to my feet. “If you aren’t feeling good we could take you down to see the doctor. Or Miss Cotton. She’s good about these things, too.”

For a moment I almost want to say it feels like amnesia but . . . It stops. So weird, but maybe I’m just becoming precognitive. That would be nice. Yana was always fond of scrying; part of her power wound up in me. Maybe I should give the magic thing a try sometime.

I wrap my arms around Rebeca and press close as I can before kissing her cheek. “No, I’ll be fine. I just had a dizzy spell. If it happens again maybe I should do something about it. But . . . Who is Miss Cotton?”

Rebeca holds me a little closer, returning the kiss. “Miss Cotton is good at helping people relax. Most problems people have around here come from worrying too much, thinking too hard . . . she’s good at mellowing that out. Sort of like a therapist, only . . . different. That’s the best way I can think of to explain. She’s unique.”

“Sounds like the kind of thing I’ll definitely need . . . Lead on?”

A woman walks by us, plenty of room with these nice hallways, carrying a long staff in her hand. She holds up her hand as she walks by, waving lazily. “Hey Hope. Hey Sylvie. Catch you two later, I have to see the doctor.”

Seeing her makes me feel funny for a moment, but it might be how nice that tight jumpsuit looks on her. Hopefully she’s someone I’ll be working . . . closely with. That staff in her hand makes me wonder if I’m not getting a little more precognition after all. Huh.

“That was Counter Spell. She’s one of our magic specialists. She’s a little young, but amazingly powerful for a book-taught magic user.” I make a little of my nebula flow from the tips of my fingers and watch the shifting hues of silver and amethyst. It’s strange to imagine people doing something like that with something out of a book. If a few hand gestures, some fancy words, and maybe the eye of some amphibian could do the same, wouldn’t everyone want to do it? “Come on Nebby, they’re right through here.”

Rebeca presses a quick combination of keys beside another door, and it slides into the wall. I think it’ll take me a while before I get over how cool that looks. Maybe I could get a tour bus with doors like that.

What’s inside is even more amazing. A pair of green-skinned women dressed in matching lab coats turn to face us. Flowers are literally blooming from their hair. The room is full of flowers, ceiling filled with warm UV bulbs, and the scent is amazing. I think Aurora told . . . told . . . me . . .

I shake my head and blink in astonishment. A pair of green-skinned women dressed in matching lab coats are facing us, each holding a beaker filled with something lime green. The sheer variety of plantlife around them is amazing. I don’t know most of their names, but there’s a rose, a flowering vine . . . and their skin. It’s green like a plant, like a very gorgeous plant. Their curves are amazing, and that’s to say nothing for their fruit. “Hello ladies, I’d like you to meet Sylvia, she’s the newest member of the team. Sylvia, meet Chlora and Flora. They’re sisters.”

“Yes, sisters . . .” One of them frowns for just a moment before blinking and smiling brightly. It’s cute, and for some reason feels amazingly familiar. “I’m Flora! It’s a real pleasure to meet you. I’m mostly here to be a lab-hand and eye candy. I know a little bit about plants, but my sister here is the real brains.”

If they’re sisters, why would she be there for eye candy? Something about that doesn’t seem taboo or twisted, just . . . familiar? It seems similar in a sort of been-there-done-that way that I can’t place. It’s not like I have a sister or anything. Maybe I had an imaginary sister-girlfriend when I was a little kid that I don’t remember. It would fit with the way our family works.

They both have such gorgeous soulful eyes, such kissable lips . . . maybe I could enjoy some of that lovely flesh of theirs in a way a little more intense than just eye candy would imply. I don’t think they’d disappoint my fingers, or my tongue.

In nearly perfect unison they set down their beakers and stand shoulder to shoulder. They look so young, but there’s something ageless about a flower. Maybe it’s the hope that something that beautiful could last forever. I don’t think they’d last five minutes in bed with the right taste of my nebula.

“We’re working on enhancing the soothing properties of some plants, to make a very pretty, very calming flower that could help us win the hearts and souls of the world.” Chlora grins, wrapping her arm around flora before kissing one of the petals sprouting from her hair. Flora shudders, her bust shaking delightfully before Chlora continues. “We’re nearly done, it’ll definitely be ready on schedule. In the meantime, perhaps we could share some of nature’s simpler gifts with you.”

Flora nods, her eyes hooded. Her lab coat has fallen open, showing the nice tight white top underneath. Her nipples are already standing at attention, and she can’t stop rubbing her thighs together. These are very close sisters.

I look to Rebeca’s eyes as eagerly as I can. Just thinking about a little fun with these blossoming beauties makes my thighs clench. I think I can make sure both of them stay nice and wet so they can keep blooming over and over and . . . damn I’m just insatiable today. Must be Rebeca being so close. She always makes me tingle.

Rebeca nods.

“Mmm, thank you!” I wrap my arms around her, rubbing my breasts into hers as our lips meet. She’s so warm, so soft, so . . . yummy . . . I push my power into my lips, making them sizzle against hers just hard enough to trap her in the kiss and make her moan. She’s just so smooth, so warm, so . . .

Taller . . . but . . . still so hot . . . more exotic hair . . . nicer rack . . . definitely more experienced . . . definitely the older sister . . .

We break the kiss, and I can’t stop fluttering my eyes. Something inside of her mind, it . . . I furrow my brows, and kiss her again, but it’s not there and I don’t really want to feel it. She was thinking about someone else, a sister, someone shorter, someone . . .

I blink . . . and flutter my eyes. Something just . . . weird. Something wrong is inside of her mind. I don’t know just what . . .

“Come on, sis. We need to show her just how much we appreciate her contributing to the brighter future we’re all striving for. She definitely deserves it, don’t you think?” Chlora’s breasts press against my arm as her arms wrap around my neck. Flora mirrors the motion at my other side. My knees feel weak just from their combined warmth, their scent . . .

“Mmmm . . . you two smell amazing, feel so warm . . . didn’t know plant girls could be so sexy.” I run my fingertips along the curve of their backs, indulging in a lingering knead of their asses. They’re just so fucking hot. Everything feels so hot. I rub my nose along the petals of the flowers in Flora’s hair, and breathe her in deep. She smells like lust, like sunshine, like . . . mmm words don’t do her justice, only sounds, like long drawn out moans.

Flora mewls, and rubs a little closer. Everything about her is soft and warm. I can feel such bliss rolling through her, such calm, gentle warm . . .

Her flower quivers, and a burst of something . . . pollen maybe . . . coats my face. I turn towards her sister, and another cloud covers me in a thick layer of tingling warm something that feels . . . slow and warm and . . .

Rebeca is standing over me . . . normally taller than her, or as tall as or . . . slouching into Flora’s breasts, squeezing her hips . . . “She’s making great progress, and so are both of you. Doctor Lys will be very pleased. And you know what happens when the doctor is pleased. I think she has the special lamp nice and ready.”

Their moans mingle in the air, but they’re hard to hold onto. Everything keeps getting fuzzier, hotter . . . I reach up between my legs, rubbing hard and raw, clenching . . . feels so warm and . . . good and . . . mmm thoughtless.

Rebeca has all of the best friends.

Everything hurts.

Every inch of my body feels used up and burned out. Closing my eyes hurts. I don’t know how long I couldn’t stop sparking, but eventually I must have passed out. Now I’m all alone. The helmet is still above me, a looming threat that could slam down into place without a whole lot I could do. It’s so frustrating to know if I could direct a spark just-so I could probably fry the whole device, but if I even try it’d probably just latch onto my current and keep me sparking until I passed out again.

I can still feel my current there, bright and sizzling just under the surface right along with my metal. I should be surprised something like this didn’t happen sooner.

“No one’s even tried conditioning me this time. No brainwashing. Just a needle and ‘spark sweetie’? Is that really all you’ve got this time?! I got kidnapped just . . . just for this . . .? And now no one is even going to taunt the poor helpless heroine? I’ll die of boredom and you’ll lose your battery!” I scream so loud my ears and my lungs sting, but no one responds. “Well . . . fuck you then!”

For being the center of a miniature power plant I feel amazingly powerless.

The ominous cylinders worry me the most. What am I doing here? I don’t think Doctor Lys just wants to save on her power bill, and Hope’s glove felt a lot different, a lot more powerful than it did before. Could she be trying to augment people with my powers?

It doesn’t matter. She probably won’t let me in on it. She’s not dumb like The Spiral was. If she hadn’t told us her plan, and been so willing to gloat while we were still free, the world would be a very different place right now. Or, more likely, we would have had a fun time serving The Syndicate for a while until someone like my mom kicked our asses and straightened our heads out.

Sarah always said the effort meant something. She always said that it’s not whether you save the world or not, whether you’re the best or not, but that you want to make the world a better place because enough people are willing to let it go to hell to make their lives better. Mom was good at making me feel like just by virtue of existing I made the world better. I could really go for one of her pep-talks right now. I can almost imagine that crooked smile of hers, her finger-wiggling wave she’d always give, the way her voice seemed regal and overconfident when she was telling you something inspiring.

I thought they had her. They could still have her locked up in another room like this, draining her power over and over again. She’d be immune to any conditioning, but she’s not super strong and teleporting takes energy she wouldn’t have. Still, something about what Valerie said makes me think she’s somewhere else. Someone else has her.

Again, I try to struggle. I turn my arms metal and try twisting them, flailing, but I can barely move enough to get a metallic whine. All the good intentions in the world can’t send me to hell trapped like this.

I should never have run back to Midas like a lovesick little girl. If I’d stayed here I could have stopped Lys with Prism and Mourning Frost’s help. I should have insisted we come back and settle the score, then fix Quillspawn. Sylvia was the one who saved the day in the end, anyway. Sylvia, Singularity, Nebula . . . all I did was love her and fall off a building.

“Someone use me, or let me go, or something!” Struggling hurts. My legs feel like I ran a marathon, and my arms feel like I spent about fifteen too many hours at a very hard punching bag. “You win! I can’t even struggle without feeling like a failure! Is that what you wanted to hear?! You mindfucked my mother, my cousin, and you’ve probably mindfucked my sister! You probably planned this whole fucking thing out just to get me to snap and yell like this! Just move on to the next part of the game already!”

My eyes are burning. I’m not sure if they’re sore or tearing up.

Closing my eyes stings, but it feels better than leaving them open and staring at the same spot on the wall. There’s nothing I can do. No one is even listening. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was recording this, but ignoring it for now.

The door whooshes open, and shoes click on the floor. “So this is where she shoved the little copper top. Not really a redhead anymore, are you? Chrometop? Still a nice piece of ass.” Proximiti. My eyes shoot open wide to see her smirking back at me. “Morning, sparkshine. You were fun to watch. Is it fun being so pathetic?”

“It fun to be a cog in a machine?” I twist my face into a harsh scowl, fighting the urge to try tearing a hand free. “You’re just a tool.”

“Better a wrench, than a double a, huh?” She grins a satisfied grin, clicking her way closer. I didn’t notice it last time we met, but she looks different somehow. Maybe it’s something flickering behind her eyes, or something in the way she walks, but something in her seems off. It’s not the same kind of off that Rebeca was, it’s more . . . shaky, like something inside of her is twitching, quivering just under the surface.

Her hands are in black latex gloves with that pixelated eye drawn on the back. She’s not wearing a card around her neck, but I don’t think she needs it. Just because I wasn’t awake for my indoctrination doesn’t mean something isn’t hidden away inside my head to be used when I need humbling.

As much as I hate to admit it, she has a point. Even if she’s leashed, she has some slack on her line. I might be completely free-willed at the moment, or at least feel like it, but I can’t move an inch. She has the illusion of freedom.

With a little giggle, I twist my lips into a flirty smile and hood my eyes. “Aww, I’m at least a ‘B’. Why don’t you come get me out of here and we can relive that time in your office? Must be all sorts of things to bend me over, and get the full use of my . . . assets. Make it so I can’t sit for a week?”

Proximiti laughs. There’s no hesitation, no split second checking me out, considering, then changing her mind. She throws her head back and laughs like it’s the funniest thing she’s ever heard in her life. “That’s rich. You aren’t that hot, and I’m not that stupid.” She pauses, tapping a gloved finger to her lips. “All right. You are that hot. I’m still not that stupid. No, sorry, you’re staying like this, at least as long as you can think. I wish I could say I was just here to gloat, but—”

“But you’re here to do her dirty work. How does it feel to take orders from some dumb bitch who calls herself a doctor and claims to be making the world a better place when all she seems to do is make women obey and fuck each other?” If sweetness and bouncing can’t win, maybe venom can. “How’s it feel to—”

“—to be trapped in a chair and whine like a school girl? I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?” She smirks. I wince. “Better. Now, I’m here because a good battery is a healthy battery. You’re all out of juice, and we need to make sure that changes quick.”

I can still feel my current. Just to try proving her wrong, I make my eyes spark, then scream at how much it hurts to try. Like jumping out of a hot shower, I instantly feel unbearably cold. My joints feel loose and numb. “Fuuuck you!”

“You already tried that. That said, I don’t have to put up with your sass. You can thank your girlfriend for this little toy.” Proximiti reaches into a pocket, and pulls out a boxy remote, aiming it at my forehead. “She’s a little full of herself, a little bit of a plagiarist, and entirely too campy . . . but she gets results. Come on Aurora LaSilvas, time to be my little robot.”

The small red lightbulb flashes, and I mewl. My mind blanks, and I slouch in my bonds. “I obey.”

She laughs again, and I shudder. Can’t think. Can’t move. Just a robot waiting for commands, for orders. My mouth falls open, and my eyes open wider.

Proximiti tucks away the remote, and reaches past me. Buttons click into place, and the bonds around my arms reshape, pulling back, twisting . . . and my arms fall limply into my lap. The bonds around my legs pull away. I mewl, my arms tingling as blood rushes to my fingertips.

“Up on your feet. Careful, you probably can’t stand very well, and as much as I’d love to grab a chunk of your hair and see your metal forehead dent the wall, Doctor Lys insisted I’m not allowed.” She frowns, then shrugs. “Oh well. At least I’ll get to have my fun with you and Rebeca both as soon as this phase of the project is done. Getting even with that little prissy know-it-all is going to be fucking amazing. You’ll see. Maybe I’ll even use you to do it.”

“I obey.” My knees lock when I try to stand, and I fall back down. It takes leaning back against the chair, and pushing up carefully to stay standing. Even still, my knees won’t stop shaking. My body feels too heavy, too cold, too weak. I stay standing only because I obey.

Proximiti rolls her eyes and snaps her fingers before twisting on her heels and leading the way out. I follow close behind. The halls are long. I stare only at the woman leading me. I don’t turn, or slow, or do anything but walk, stumble, and breathe.

Another door opens, and Proximiti leads me through. Inside is what looks like a hot tub. Steam fills the room, the walls a simple white tile, and the ceiling a calm blue. The light is dim, but more than enough to see. The door closes behind us, and Proximiti looks into my eyes.

Something silver flashes inside of her pupils. It’s subtle, brief, and almost gone too fast for me to be sure I saw it.

“Strip, and get in the water. And no need to say ‘I obey’. I know you obey. If you didn’t, I’d get to have more fun.” She’s so angry. Her teeth are clenched, and her hands are balled up into tight fists. “Hurry up! I have better things to do!”

Without thinking I pull my top up over my head, unhook my bra, and pool my panties around my ankles along with my pants before stepping delicately out of them. As soon as I’m done, I look to her for more instructions. My knees shudder, but it’s easier to stand. Something inside of me feels so weak. I can only ignore the pain because I obey.

Her eyes hood, and glance slowly along my body. I try to stand still as possible, but I can’t stop from shaking. I’m cold. I was cold before I was naked, but now I’m even colder.

“Mmm shivering like that makes your tits jiggle in just the right . . . bah! Get in the water already! Get in the water, and look up at me like the obedient little super slut you are.” Her voice quivers with arousal, but it’s still full of anger.

Grasping the nearby ladder tightly, I ease myself down. The water burns at first, almost scalding, but then I start to feel warmer and everything is better. The shaking finally stops, and I have to fight to keep my eyes from hooding. I float in the tub, trying not to sigh in bliss. It’s so good to be so warm after being so cold.

She pulls out the remote again, and gazes at it with an odd expression. I’m not sure at all what it means.

The remote is aimed down at my eyes, and her voice pierces my mind. “Stay in the water until another keeper tells you it’s time to get out. It might be a few minutes, it might be a few hours . . . enjoy, and remember how that felt.”

Red light flashes in my eyes, and I cry out in pain. I rub it away with the back of my hands, and start to say something when the door quickly opens and seals anew. Why the light felt bright enough to hurt even with my silver eyes confuses me, but . . . I can be confused again. I can think again.

“You remember how it felt when I fused that metal into your hands, you stupid cunt! I hope you never forget it! I hope it hurt!” It always makes me feel like a dumb little kid to lash out like that, but it’s impossible to resist.

I try to swim over to the ladder, but I can’t manage to use it. My feet keep sliding off. I try climbing over the side, and scream when all of the force drains from my arms and I sink into the water. It tingles in a way that can’t be natural, but does make the pain inside less.

Mom used to tell me how cold she would get before The Lady’s machine made her able to spark infinitely. I wasn’t feeling that until I tried to spark – was that because mine are different or are they-

My inner-monologue is interrupted when the door slides open again, and two women step through before it closes. Anachronista’s haunting white eyes are almost glowing. “See, Doctor Raine, your daughter is just fine . . . You should go say hello, doesn’t she look so lonely down there?”

“L-lonely . . . yes . . . She does . . .” Valerie doesn’t sound fuzzy-dreamy, she sounds afraid, uncertain . . . small. It’s not like her at all. “Are . . . are you sure she’s my daughter . . .? I mean, she . . .”

“Yes, yes, yes. I’m very, intimately sure. Now strip down and get in the water. Doctor Lys thinks it would be good for you, and for her. You do look good in those scrubs and that lab coat, but . . . I think they’d look better right beside that pile of clothing right over there.” Anachronista’s voice sounds so playful, so knowing. I want to be just as biting, but Valerie doesn’t look like she could take it.

Her face is twisted in the sort of uncertain expression shy little girls get when they’re meeting someone new for the first time. Her eyes keep darting around the mostly empty room – like something might be there waiting for her in a very unfriendly way.

I want to look away, but I can’t. It’s like a much more personal version of a train wreck to watch my mother shiver and blush as she slides out of her lab coat. She pulls her scrubs off one arm at a time, and then fights clumsily with the clasp of her bra. I never really noticed just how her skin is pale in a way that almost glows. I really should not be looking at my mother like this.

Her bra falls away, and I look down into the water as soon as I see her amethyst nipples. Sylvia has that same shade of amethyst to hers because of Valerie. Still, it makes me think of Sylvia, and . . . their bodies have a few similarities.

She’s my mother. I’ve seen her in states of undress before, and she’s seen me the same. That’s not what’s making this awkward. This is obviously not a mother-daughter moment. I should be able to help her, or . . . a little part of me that I’m ashamed of is a little hurt she couldn’t save me even though I couldn’t save her. I have to fight past that, too.

Her toes dip into the water, and she mewls. It’s not a little girl mewl, it’s the kind of sound Sylvie and I used to hear coming from our mothers’ room late at night when we were supposed to be asleep. She has amazing legs.

“Go on in, Valerie. The water is fine, and Aurora doesn’t bite. She’s amazingly gentle when she’s not frying you out of space and time.” Anachronista meets my gaze, and grins. “Oh, I got it back. Thanks, of course, to Doctor Lys . . . I’m all better. I don’t know what happened to my eyes, but I think they make me very distinctive. This is much more interesting than working for The Syndicate. I don’t even mind that I’m on a leash. Doctor Lys and I get along swimmingly.”

I look away, and wrap my arms around my chest. It’s amazing how a sharp tongue can make you feel worse when you were sure you’d already hit rock bottom. There’s always just a little farther to fall.

The water ripples more as my purple-haired mother sinks in down to her nose. It would be adorable if it weren’t heartbreaking to see my own mother look at me like a stranger. Before, I was a school girl. Now, I’m a battery. When I first saw her, my mother was a doctor. Now, what is she? What the hell is wrong with that “doctor’s”s mind?

“I have things to do, sadly. Doctor Lys wanted some alone time. Such a busy woman so rarely gets time to herself . . .” My time-manipulating nemesis giggles, and opens the door. “You two play nice. Remember Valerie, even a doctor can be a little girl sometimes, and this is your time. When you’re sufficiently humbled, you’ll get to be a doctor again, and Doctor Lys will thank you for your assistance.”

Valerie whimpers before swimming as far away from me as she can. The door closes, and we’re left all alone.

Clueless what to say, I close my eyes and lean back against the edge of the tub. This is not the worst things will get. This is a reprieve, an interlude, a . . . something. Valerie looks at me and our eyes meet before she quickly looks away. If I could use my powers I’d try to spark some sense into her. Maybe I could get hers to work just enough . . .

“So, Mom, Valerie, I—” She meets my eyes again, and whimpers. I don’t know if I can use her, even if it’s to save us. She just looks so pitiful. “Uhm . . . I know I could use a hug. That . . . sound all right to you?” She looks away, nodding before closing the gap and wrapping her arms around me quicker than I’ve ever seen her move before.

With a sigh I wrap my arms around her too, and squeeze her close. If I can’t help save her, at least I can try to soothe her. Maybe that’ll help get my mind away from her hard nipples or how smooth her legs feel against mine.