Opening Act Ch. 02

Late Wednesday Morning

Jim looked away from Beth, his eyes straying back to the large monitors in front of them. He wouldn't have been able to see her face if it wasn't for their glow. On one screen, labeled 143, several people in lab coats sat at their computers, watching various gauges and other things that weren't quite visible through the CCTV cameras. Another screen showed the Audio room, where a young woman with platinum blonde hair had just been freed from her restraints. A label reading 147 was in the corner of the final screen, showing an empty examination room with clothes neatly folded on the exam table.

Jim answered the question asked by the man behind them.

"This is phase one. We call it the auditory phase."

When he didn't hear a comment, he continued.

"The host's mind is incredibly malleable at this stage. The music's job is two-fold here. Create that opening and begin the necessary steps to prepare for phase two. The visual component holds open that gateway until these steps are complete."

On the Audio Room screen, the girl had just finished pulling her gown over her head and threw it in the corner. She rested back into the chair and spread her legs apart. The man behind Jim asked him to continue.

"Phase two," he said as the girl on the monitor began to masturbate, "is the implantation phase. It begins as soon as phase one is complete. In our trials, we've gotten phase one down to around three minutes."

Still no comment from the man.

"This is the most critical phase in the process. The routine needs to be written to their brain, not unlike saving a file to a computer. Far more complex, of course. On top of requiring..."

Jim paused, thinking of how to vastly oversimplify the concepts of the process they had developed.

"...unique and potent DNA." This wasn't correct in the exact sense, but close enough.

"Which is obviously an important detail for a number of reasons, as you know well. This can be used as a blueprint, an instruction manual of sorts, to write to the brain of the host. Allowing disconnection from the actual audible music."

The man behind them asked him to continue as the girl on the monitor fingered herself uncontrollably in the chair, metal arms spinning above her.

"Phase three is the maturation phase. The mind of the host is still open, to a degree, during maturation. Mostly for debugging purposes, though our efforts to close this early have been unsuccessful. Should be irrelevant though."

Jim realized he never explained the purpose of the phase and diverted away from his tangent.

"This is when more DNA is collected to allow for phase four. In our trials, this is typically four payloads. Theoretically, it could be 3-5 depending on the size."

On the screen, the girl woke from her trance, seemingly thrust back into her own body. Jim turned to Beth.

"You're up. Go."

She nodded, grabbing a large pair of earmuffs off of the desk in front of her. She stood up and walked out of the room. The light that poured in from the hallway was blinding. Jim closed his eyes to keep them adjusted to the dark. The man behind him did not take Beth's seat. He asked about phase four.

"Well... phase four is the final phase."

Beth came into the room on the screen, placing earbuds into the girl's ears before leading her out into the hallway.

"It's the purpose of this whole thing. Repeated ad nauseam from then on afterwards. In many ways it's similar to maturation. Similar behaviors, similar requirements for continuing. Without the diagnostics."

The man asked the name of the phase as the two of them watched Beth close the door in the camera. The girl paced back and forth in the room, naked.

"Phase four is replication. If this final test goes well, we have the green light."

Beth walked into the dark room, failing to catch a glimpse at the man's face before she was once again plunged into darkness. She made her way back to her chair, taking her place next to Jim before setting her earmuffs back on the desk.

"Everything went smoothly?" he asked her.

"Yes. No issues. She's waiting for you."

"Good work, Beth."

Jim stood up and looked in the direction of the man. She was unable to make out any of his facial features.

"You're welcome to stay and observe if you'd like. Enough people have watched this part that I have no shame when it comes to implanting."

Beth shifted in her seat. The man took him up on his offer.

As Jim walked out of the room, Beth felt her face redden. She stared at the monitors, watching as he entered the examination room. Jim took off his belt and Beth grabbed the computer mouse, changing their view to a more favorable one. They watched him unbutton his pants and undo the zipper.

Finally, after some back and forth, the girl kneeled in front of Jim and pulled out his cock, taking it into her mouth immediately. Beth slid down to a more comfortable position in her chair and pulled the sides of her lab coat apart. She turned her head sideways, eyes looking behind herself into the dark.

"Do you mind if I--"

He cut her off, urging her to continue. She did just that, unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans. Jim grabbed the girl's head as she sucked on him while Beth dipped a hand under her jeans, lightly teasing her pussy lips. The man behind her in the pitch-black room stayed silent as she touched herself.

She loved this part of the job. Watching Jim take the hosts. He'd done it so many times that it was just work for him at this point. It turned her on even more, knowing that he was cumming inside them all as casually as he drank his morning coffee.

Annalise stood up, turned towards the examination table, and bent over it. The camera they were watching from gave them a decent view of her face. Beth began to rub her clit and the man behind her rolled his own chair up to the back of her's. She could feel his breath on her neck.

It was almost time. She was about to say it. Beth mouthed it silently along with her.

I want you to fuck me.

Beth bucked her hips out of the chair in pleasurable anticipation of his response.

Good girl.

She moaned quietly. Jim began to fuck the girl. The man behind her reached his arms around her body, grabbing her tits over her shirt. This had never happened before, someone aiding in her pleasure as she got off to Jim implanting the hosts. It felt like a reward for a job well done. Beth slipped a finger into herself under her jeans.

Jim fucked the girl faster, eager to deposit his load into her. Beth quickly hit the unmute button in the camera window. The relative silence of the room was invaded by vaguely tinny-sounding slaps that came out of the cheap speakers next to the monitors. Both Jim and Annalise were panting.

"What do you want? Say it."

Jim's voice came across poorly from the CCTV camera microphone through the little speakers.

"I want you to cum."

The girl was desperate.

"Say it."

One of the man's hands grabbed her throat, squeezing its sides as she toyed with herself. Her eyelids drooped half-closed and her mouth hung agape as the girl on the screen begged for Jim's cum.

"Please... I want you to cum in my pussy. I want you to fill me up!"

Jim made his final thrust into her. As he implanted the song into Annalise's brain, Beth came on her finger. She was unrestricted by the limitations that Annalise would have for the rest of her life, but if the mystery man choking her pulled out his cock then and there, she would have sucked him dry. She didn't have the excuse Annalise had. Beth was just a garden-variety slut with an insatiable fetish for degradation. Undoubtedly part of the reason she was here. It didn't matter to her. She got off more at work than in her own personal life. She liked it that way.

The man behind her let go, sliding away from her chair as they watched Jim leave the room.

"Thanks... You wanna get a coffee sometime or something?"

The man declined, instead telling her to pull herself together before Jim came back into the room.

He was right. Her job wasn't done yet.

Thursday Morning

Ana walked through the revolving doors at ProdinaMed a changed woman. She took off her sunglasses and hung them in the v-neck of her sleeveless white blouse. She waited in the security line, early enough that there was no risk of being late.

Her favorite security guard ushered her into the metal detector. Her ID badge hung on a thin lanyard around her neck.

"Hold your hands up like this over your head."

She didn't dare protest, lest she be punished. It wouldn't have been the type of punishment she wanted unfortunately.

Ana grabbed her bag and strutted up to the elevators, stepping in last after three other men. She turned to face the closing elevator doors and pressed the button for her floor. On the way up, she could feel the eyes of the men behind her checking her out. This was of little surprise, as she hand-picked her high-rise dress pants to draw eyes. They hugged her ass and waist, accentuating her curves in a way that she didn't even realize she could until yesterday.

Time seemed to slow as they made their ascent. She briefly entertained the thought of slapping the stop button, turning around, and demanding the three of them pull out their cocks. They were suits, sure, but Jim already opened the flood gates for that one.

The elevator dinged. Ana glanced back at the men. Two of them had the courtesy to look away. The third man kept his eyes planted firmly on her ass. She smirked, turning back away to walk out of the elevator towards her desk. On the way, she passed Bailey and, tragically, Gina.

"Hi, Gina..."

She paused, waiting for Bailey to recognize her voice and look up.

"Hey Bailey," she said softly, offering him a wink when Gina looked away. He blushed.

"Hey Ana."

She walked past the desk, happy to give him another show as she trailed down the hallway. Sweet boy, she thought to herself. And nice dick too.

Ana sat down at her desk, hanging her bag on the hook attached to her cubicle. She looked at the screen and then looked down at the keyboard. Her hands found their way to the keys subconsciously, but before typing, she stopped and watched.

Her hands were still. Between coffee and her general anxiety, it was rare that she found her hands as still as they were now. She inhaled a long, deep breath, holding it for just a moment before exhaling as slowly as she inhaled.

The effects of the experiment yesterday weren't all obvious at first. The one was impossible to ignore. Her incurable horniness. From the moment she stepped out of that chair, she felt an overwhelming desire for sex. She only truly felt satisfied in the act, culminating in her own and her partner's orgasm. Even then, she was disappointed when Bailey wasn't immediately ready after their fling. This was impossible to ignore, and to make matters worse, she couldn't even give herself the relief she desired. The hours of anticlimactic masturbation with every toy she owned last night were confirmation of that fact.

Ana signed into her computer.

No, there were other side effects that she wasn't sure were even intentional. Horniness aside, Ana was oddly calm. The anxieties that plagued her old self seemed to have melted away. She also felt more confident. She certainly saw her body in a new light, to the point that she had trouble understanding why she ever had insecurities about it in the first place.

Ana considered going to ask these questions to Jim. She wasn't fooling herself though. What she really wanted from him was more relief.

A notification flashed in the corner of her computer screen and she snapped back to reality.

Vic: wow

Vic: not used to being the last one here

Jazz: no kidding, what's the deal ana?

Ana: im not saying the 2k motivated me but

Ana: im also not saying it DIDNT

Ana was lying. She wasn't even sure if the money was ever real at this point, but it felt pointless to worry about now. She had more important motivations.

Vic: well how bout this

Vic: we celebrate with happy hour tonight

Jazz: i like where this is going

Vic: and on saturday night i heard about a little rave

Ana: holy shit yes

Jazz: you have piqued my interest victor

If there was one place she could get laid without moving a finger, it would be at a rave. The possibilities flew through her mind.

Ana: im so in

Jazz: that makes two of us

Vic sent an emoji with sunglasses.

This was perfect. Ana fully intended to get fucked six ways to Sunday that night, but it didn't solve the immediate problem of how she was going to make it happen in the meantime. So she got to work, opening a private chat with Vic.

Ana: hey

Ana: so

Ana: i know jazz is part of the gang and all

Ana: but what are your thoughts on just the two of us hanging at your place after happy hour

Vic typed, stopped, and typed again.

Vic: whats wrong with jazz?

Ana: nothing really, i just like

Ana: the two of us used to hang out all the time

Ana: miss it a little bit

Vic: we still hang out right?

Ana: we do but i guess im just feeling a lil nostalgic

Ana: thats all

Vic: well

Vic: we can watch something

Vic: someone recommended this alien movie to me

Ana: say no more

Ana: lets do it

Ana closed the chat before realizing she forgot one final detail.

Ana: just dont tell jazz okay?

Ana: i dont want her to feel left out

She closed the chat again before waiting for Vic's answer. She had a lot going in her favor. Vic usually caved to her. He'd also expressed feelings for her in the past. Playing off that would definitely be cruel, but how cruel would it really be to finally give him the chance to act on his repressed sexual desires?

The final, most important detail was the fact that Nicki was away this week. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. They could have their little affair and she would be none the wiser.

This was assuming it wouldn't continue after tonight. That might be a big assumption to make.

Ana did her best to ignore her urges as she continued her workday as usual. She typed away, made calls to unenthusiastic ProdinaMed employees, and reset more passwords as fantasies of visiting Jim's office and luring Bailey into a bathroom for a quickie occupied her thoughts. Her mind was facedown in a pillow when she heard another notification come through her on her computer.

Mark: Come to my office.

Ana: Sure! Let me finish up this ticket and I'll be over.

Mark: Now.

She was clearly in trouble. Seeing as how she wasn't late today, Ana didn't know the reason why, but she stood up and walked across the floor over to his door. She grabbed the handle, stopping to watch her hand. It was still. Unwavering. She turned it and stepped inside.

Mark did not look at her as she walked up to him. His eyes were glued to his computer screen.

"Have a seat."

Ana did as he suggested, sitting across from him as she had on Tuesday. Mark stood up out of his chair and grabbed a sliding light switch on the wall behind his desk. Ana expected the lights to dim as he moved it down. She was half right, as the light in the room did in fact dim, but not from the overhead fluorescent bulbs. The glass walls around them tinted, blocking out much of the light coming in from the rest of the office floor.

"They're one-way mirror when this switch is dipped. Normally I don't like to shut myself off from the rest of the floor, but this is a delicate situation."

Mark sat back down and turned one of his monitors towards her. It was a picture of his wife and son. Ana almost laughed, but it was clear this wasn't the reason he pointed it to her. Mark opened something up.

"I'm going to show you a few pictures and I would like you to explain what is happening in each one."

He dragged the first picture onto her screen. It was somewhat blurry, but she didn't need clarity to know what it was. It was an overhead security camera shot of her blowing Bailey at the reception desk. The angle wasn't great, obscuring the act enough to allow for plausible deniability.

"I dropped a pen under the desk. I was picking it up."

Mark wasn't that stupid, but he entertained her. The picture disappeared and he pulled another one onto the screen. This was from inside the supply room. The possibility of it being monitored by video camera either hadn't occurred to her or she ignored it. She couldn't remember which.

This one showed her straddling Bailey in the chair, their lower bodies obscured by her skirt as her hands rested on his shoulders. Her body was slightly blurry. This was clearly an action shot.

"The light bulb was flickering. Bailey was helping lift me up to the ceiling to tighten it."

"Uh huh." Mark had very little reaction to offer her. He wasn't amused.

"Then how about this one?"

The last picture was too clear to even jokingly pass off as something else. Ana was on her knees with her lips wrapped around Bailey's head.

"I mean... I wasn't gonna let him make a mess on the floor. It's not my fault he was getting turned on by the whole thing."

"Is this a fucking joke to you?" he said scathingly.

She laughed briefly.

"Kinda--"

"What about jail? For public indecency? How do you think Bailey would fair in prison?"

Ana's heart skipped a beat and her face went blank. It was an angle she hadn't considered. Prison would make things much more difficult for her and the idea of being barred for years from sexual release felt like hell. And in spite of her new attitude, she would prefer Bailey did not go to prison. She made the executive decision to act somewhat distressed, hoping to elicit some sympathy from her boss.

"Mark, I'm sorry. This is a serious issue and I shouldn't have joked about it. I promise this will never--"

"Save it. Let's up the stakes, shall we?"

Mark opened a drawer, grabbing a piece of paper and placing it on the desk between them. Ana looked down to see a removed note from a notepad with a picture of a brain surrounded by dancing music notes.

"'Nope, just brainwashed.'" He was quoting her. "'They were very appreciative of my participation.'"

Ana scratched lightly behind her ear.

"Do you know what happens to Audio Therapy candidates who step out of line?"

"You knew?"

"Come on, Annalise. Why do you think Jim was on our floor the other day? I thought you were smarter than this."

He was right. She should have considered why he was on her floor at all.

"So you offered me up to him like a slab of meat?"

"No, Ana. I gave him the choice of anyone in the department. You offered yourself whether you meant to or not."

Ana knew that, to some degree, her unfortunate encounter with Jim led to all this. The confirmation from Mark was still paralyzing. Whatever the song did to her wasn't strong enough to stop her from lamenting the curse she inadvertently brought on herself. She felt a twinge of pain in her head again, along with the familiar high pitched ring that came and went in a matter of seconds.

Mark knew. The whole time, he knew.

But she was focusing on the wrong aspect of this, she realized. He didn't just know then. He knew now too.

"So you know what I am."

"I do."

"And yet you still went to all this trouble to try and blackmail me."

"Oh, I absolutely wouldn't--"

"Let's not draw things out here, Mr. Valentine."

Ana began to unbutton her blouse.

"You know what I am. You know what I want," she was halfway down her shirt. "What I need."

"But still, you went to all this trouble when you could've fucked me already. You know what I think?"

Mark stared at her from across the desk. It felt good, demanding his attention. She could hear the rumblings of the song that lived in her brain.