Calibration Pt. 01

Author's Note:

This is my first story, so apologies in advance if it feels rough around the edges. Feedback is welcome. Constructive feedback preferably. In any case, let me know if you enjoyed it and would like to see more, if you hated it and would like to see less, any changes you'd recommend, or any other comments about my writing. Thanks!

All characters are over 18.

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A loud knocking jolted Rebecca awake. Rolling to her side, she grabbed her phone and glanced groggily at the time.

6:47pm.

'Another nap cut short,' Rebecca groaned to herself. She buried her face back in her pillow, hoping that the person at the door would go away so she could return to her much-needed sleep. A few moments of silence, of hope, and then -

BANG BANG BANG BANG. No luck. The knocking resumed, louder and more insistent than before.

"Ugh, alright I'm coming, I'M COMING JUST CHILL OUT" Rebecca huffed. She dragged herself into her apartment hallway and flung open the front door, staring blearily at the tall, lean figure in front of her. "Daniel? What are you doing here? Other than ruining my nap."

Daniel smirked. "Forgot about our project already? The one we've already got three extensions for? The one that's due next week? I've been trying to reach you all afternoon about it."

"Oh, fuck" Rebecca peeked guiltily at her notifications. 12 unread texts and a couple of missed calls greeted her. "Fuck, I'm so sorry, I've been so burnt out from work recently, I knocked out literally right when I got home."

"Well, luckily for you, I've made a lot of good progress" Daniel said as he brushed past her into the living room. He dropped onto the couch, pulling out a beaten-up laptop and plugging in a sleek gray VR headset. Rebecca gasped and sat down next to him on the couch.

"No way you finally got the game to run."

"Better hope I did. I don't think Parker's going to give us another extension."

"How did you even get it to work?"

"Turns out the game wasn't adjusting correctly to each user. I had to modify some code and write a whole new adaptive calibration protocol for the headset. The game's still not remotely close to being done, but at least now it starts." Daniel clicked around on his laptop before unplugging the headset and offering it to Rebecca. "Wanna try it out?"

Rebecca grabbed the headset and slipped it on. "Anything's better than the black screen we've been getting...Okay, let's see." She pressed the power button, and was suddenly greeted with a bright, pulsating mass of colors. "Whoaaa, this is new."

Daniel laughed. "Like I said, I had to rewrite the entire calibration. The eye-tracking should be much better now."

Through the haze of colors, Rebecca thought she noticed something...letters? Numbers? "Hey, what are those symbols? Moving around with the colors?"

"Oh good, you noticed. Those are part of the calibration sequence. They help adapt the calibration for each person that uses the headset. See if you can read them out for me? I want to see if it's working right."

"Uhhh, sure, I guess." Rebecca replied slowly. The swirling colors were starting to make her brain a little dizzy, as blurry shapes and colors constantly rotated in and out of her vision. She tried focusing on a fuzzy symbol twisting around the screen. "Uhh, 10?"

"Good, that's right, keep going."

Another number swirled into view. "9?"

"Good, next one."

"8?"

"Good, don't stop."

"7..."

"Very good, Rebecca."

"....6...."

"Good girl, keep counting."

"....5.....4......3........2..........."

"Good girl. Such a good girl. Last one, you're almost there."

Rebecca felt....fuzzy. Like she had a particularly bad case of brain fog. The numbers had gotten smaller and smaller, while the colors had pulsed and swirled faster and faster. It was so hard to focus...so hard to think. But she was a good girl. Daniel told her so. She had to find the last number. Her eyes, hidden by the headset, were glassy as she was drawn further into the colors, searching for the next symbol. There! So small she could barely discern it among the undulating mass of rapidly changing colors.

"1"

As soon as the number left her mouth, a word flashed on the screen, filling her entire field of view.

SLEEP

Rebecca sagged into the couch, her entire body going limp as her head dropped to her chest. Next to her, Daniel let out a relieved breath, a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding. When Rebecca put the VR headset on, Daniel wasn't even confident that his induction program would work. "What if it didn't work? Would she have laughed at him? Slapped him?" He mused to himself. "Good thing I didn't have to find out."

He shook himself out of his thoughts and stared at the slumped body of Rebecca next to him. Ever since they first met at a dance club freshman year of university, Daniel had fantasized about her. To his surprise, it turned out they were the same major, and had most of their classes together. Over the years, they became close friends, although he was careful not to let any indication of his attraction to her show. Not that he was a bad-looking guy, but Rebecca was hot. Daniel's league was pretty good, but even then, she was definitely out of it. Her body, athletic and lithe from years of dancing, was perfectly proportioned, with curves in just the right places. Her face was pretty -- not supermodel hot, but pretty -- with hazel almond-shaped eyes that scrunched up when she laughed, a cute nose, and round, full lips.

Not to mention she was fairly popular, being involved in several dance organizations and her sorority. So to Rebecca Daniel was just her sarcastic, slightly annoying friend. A close friend that could be counted on. But one that wouldn't make a pass at her. And for most of college, Daniel had accepted this relationship, until he came across the induction source code on -- where else -- some obscure subreddit. In its most basic form, it put the viewer into a light state of relaxation. Daniel had taken the sequence and modified it, making the colors swirl and pulse more captivatingly, adding the numbers and the command, allowing it to put the viewer into a deep, suggestible trance state.

Daniel's eyes hungrily roamed around Rebecca's relaxed figure, her long brown hair spilling over her shoulders. Her style and fashion sense, even when she was in pajamas, was impeccable. Her blouse was loose enough to be comfortable, but had just the right amount of tightness to accentuate the swell of her ample breasts. Her shorts almost seemed to tease him, showing off a tantalizing amount of her legs and the subtle curve of her firm ass. Damn. Even when she woke up straight from a nap she still looked hot.

Daniel cleared his throat. "Rebecca, can you hear me?"

Rebecca gave a slow nod.

"Good girl. Rebecca, press the button for Mode 1."

Her hand languidly rose up from the couch and pressed a small button, the first of five along the top of the headset.

The VR screen flashed back to life in a swirl of colors.

"Rebecca, in a moment you will see words come up. Repeat them to me out loud. Every time you repeat them, you will feel so good, so much pleasure. And every time you repeat those words, you'll believe them more and more. Do you understand?"

Rebecca gave another slow nod.

"Good girl."

As if on cue, words began to flash with the pulsing colors.

BLANK

"blank"

EMPTY

"empty"

MINDLESS

"mindless"

A shudder ran through Rebecca as the commands took root in her brain. Her mind was blank, empty, mindless. She was blank, empty, mindless.

BLANK

"blank"

EMPTY

"empty"

MINDLESS

"mindless"

It feels so good to be blank. Empty. Mindless.

BLANK

"blank"

EMPTY

"empty"

MINDLESS

"mindless"

No thoughts in her mind. Just pleasure. So good. Feels so good. Soooooo.....gooooddddd.

BLANK

"blank"

EMPTY

"empty"

MINDLESS

"mindless"

...

Fifteen minutes later, Rebecca's jaw was slack, mouth hanging open, drool dribbling out of the corner and onto her blouse. Her hands roamed around her body, one hand lazily caressing her breasts through her shirt, the other sneaking down under her shorts, a hint of her white panties peeking through.

Next to her, Daniel was absentmindedly touching himself through his pants. His dick was beyond hard at this point, but the process wasn't finished yet. "Good girl, Rebecca. It feels so good to be blank. So empty. Mindless."

Rebecca moaned in response. Her hands groped her body with a little more urgency. She fondled her breasts rougher now, her nipples stiff against the thin fabric of her blouse, and a small damp spot was beginning to spread along her shorts as her other hand rubbed faster against her pussy. She felt so good. She felt so good to be blank and empty and mindless.

"Good girl. Press the button for Mode 2."