Owners Manual Pt. 01

Author: The Architect

Authors note: I have been working on this one for some time also, probably a few parts to this and single point of view.

I kind of hate my job. Did you ever watch the movie 'The Devil Wears Prada'? Imagine that in the publishing world. My boss is very Miranda-like and treats us editor assistants like dirt. I had no chance of advancement; my wages were decent but they barely kept up with my costs in the city. I actually have a roommate or I could never afford my apartment.

I expected this to continue forever, or until I got laid off and resorted to being a barista to stave off homelessness. I didn't see it at the time but I lucked into being the most powerful person on the planet.

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Another crappy day and I was working on another of the endless series of self-help books. I was in the office today but the one advantage is I sometimes can work at home, this happened when I was reading one of these depressing books. I looked over at Charlotte's office, she was very attractive but treated us like dirt. A scruffy guy, maybe early 60s, with a knockout maybe 21-year-old girl on his arm goes into her office. She uses us as admin assistants so I'm surprised they got an appointment, at least one I hadn't heard about. They were in there maybe 20 minutes when she called out to my peer Jean, I could hear her on the phone say something like "Get in here and bring that waste of space James with you". Well, maybe I remember it a little harsher that but I know that is what she meant.

We entered the room and Charlotte was smoothing out her clothes, kind of weird. "Mr. Collins has a book, I want you to scan it and then start to proofread it."

"She won't do, dismiss her. It needs to be a man."

I knew something was up, Charlotte is a very serious feminist, there is no way she would let that stand.

"Jean, go away, James, this is your new priority."

Mr. Collins brings out maybe 200 pages that had the look of a manifesto that the Unabomber would have produced, an interesting symbol on the front cover. "I'll get right on it."

Well, on the plus side the self-help book was draining my will to live, no doubt it will be a best seller, they always are. I just couldn't take reading it any longer, always the same stuff just phrased differently.

I took the mess the book scanner, this machine that digitizes the book, even works with binders but that wouldn't be a problem this time. I was worried I'd drop it on the way and the pages of this mess would take forever to get in order. Thankfully I got it in the scanner fine, in about 15 minutes it was done and I put the original in a big envelope and into our storage room. Before I left to do that, I had the machine make me a copy of the book so I could go over it, never good to work from the original.

It was late so I put the book into my backpack. Maybe I'll work at home on Friday to read it, from the look of the author I am expecting it will be Unabomber type content.

I got home and my roommate was making something in the kitchen. Ann was trying to get into modeling and has had some luck, she also works as a waitress at a very expensive restaurant, her tips each night are very good. Ann though is hands off, when she answered my roommate ad, she made it very clear she was not interested in dating me. I never actually see her dating anyone, I have to wonder if she ever does or just doesn't bring anyone home.

"Hey Ann, nothing at the restaurant tonight?"

"No, I have a shoot tomorrow so I took the night off. Nothing special, toothpaste ad, but it is something. They liked my smile."

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The next day I all but forgot about that strange book, we had James Patterson bring in his latest and it was all on deck to process that. I came home to find Ann in sweats and eating Ben and Jerry's. I was scared to ask, "Hi, how did the shoot go?"

"Oh fine, I'm just not happy with how my life is turning out." I should have run for my room at that point but I stayed and listened to her talk, at the end it finished with her giving me a chaste kiss on the cheek and thanking me for being such a good friend. I am so deep in the friendzone I am never getting out.

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Monday morning, I dragged myself into work, I didn't get any decent rest this weekend even though I can't honestly say I accomplished anything. We have a TV on in the room where us serfs work, it is muted but the captions are on. I guess someone thought we should realize that something interesting is happening in the world if it isn't here. I caught a familiar picture on the TV out of the corner of my eye and walked over. Jean walked up next to me, "That scruffy guy from the other day, they raided his house yesterday, you didn't see that story?"

"Nah Jean, I didn't do anything of note yesterday except a load of laundry."

"Apparently he was a combination of cult leader and serial killer, they keep finding women buried in his yard."

"Cult leader too?"

"Remember that hot girl on his arm, she and a bunch were so brainwashed they had to drag them out of the house."

On the TV is a drone shot of the compound showing the FBI around multiple holes in the ground, I guess they were graves. His house looked like they had a fire at some point. The TV was on mute, the captions telling how some of the women were killed over 30 years ago.

"So what happened to him?"

"Sniper took him out, lit the place on fire and was holding a hostage. Do you still have his book?"

I couldn't help myself, I lied, "It was gibberish, scanner wouldn't even read it. I think it got tossed."

After a few moments Jean wandered off. I grabbed my backpack and headed to a room we had setup for reading, it was quiet with comfy chairs. I didn't use it much; I always ran the risk of falling asleep. I pulled out my copy of the book, curious what that strange man was writing about. He had a preface, apparently, he went on for 6 pages about the evils of women, how they rejected him at an early age and put him on this course to bring them to heal.

He started over 30 years ago capturing women and torturing them to learn their secrets, this was what he learned. He claimed that all women were evil and it was time for men to be controlled by them no more. It took him many years but he discovered their secrets and he wanted to share them with the world.

Okay, this is something else. He actually admits to torturing many women, several of these women died. Even if this was total fiction there is no way we would publish it, too dark. But this was real, they are digging up graves in that yard. I put down the book, I am going to toss it in the industrial shredder but something stops me, I return it to my backpack.

I check in at my desk, I have an email from Charlotte waiting for me. "In light of Mr. Collins' situation, review the book, if it is worthwhile to give to the police, check with me first. If we don't need to, there is no reason to let anyone know he was working with our house." Publishing house, Charlotte likes to use that term, probably makes her feel we are superior. Well, I have my assignment, if I'm going to read any more of this I'm going to do it at home.

"Jean, anyone asks I was asked to review this book," I wave the book at her with it's strange symbol on the cover, "I'm going to do it from home."

She looks a little confused, "Book? That doesn't look like anything to me. If anyone looks for you and I'll have them text you if it is important."

Strange. Ok, whatever. I grab my jacket and make my way home.

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I open the door, since she works at night Ann is sitting in our common room watching Netflix. "Korean dramas?"

"I know, I don't love the subtitles but the stories are just great. What are you doing home?"

"Oh, I have to read a book and figure out what to do with it." I pull out the book and show her. A look of confusion crosses her face.

"Oh well, whatever, I'll stay out of your way."

"Ann, you are never in my way." You have blonde hair, blue eyes, are probably a size 0 or 2 with probably c-cup breasts and a face of an angel, there is no way you can get in my way. She's wearing sweatpants like she usually does, summers when she wears shorts are great, she is 5'9" and it is mostly legs. I'd love to ask her out but it will likely destroy our friendship and I'd have to get another roommate. Darn!

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I go into my room and get comfortable. I got through the preface, how much worse could the rest of it be? Pretty bad it seems. He describes how he set out to figure out how women work. He claims to have discovered a language to command them and the rest of the book is to teach you this language. He claims that women can't consciously hear the language but must obey. With the phrases there are glyphs, he claims that women can't see those, they just obey, the glyph on the front of the book keeps women from even touching the book, if they see it they no longer view it at a book, it is something they can't understand,

His first few chapters are about controlling women for sex, he viewed this as retribution for his harsh rejections in his youth. Something about the language, it is easy to learn, I worked on committing it to memory.

This is too much. I need a snack. I walk through the common area. I look at the show Ann is watching, it looks different than what she was watching earlier. She really burns through these. "So that is that one about?"

"This girl with face blindness falls in love with a hologram."

"Classic girl meets boy story."

She makes a face at that, "How is your book?"

"Disturbing, but I'm committed to finishing it. The author claims to have discovered a language for controlling women."

"Well, that would be a bestseller."

"It's BS, like [phrase in the control language - Worship my dick with your mouth] is supposed to... " Ann pauses her show, and gets up, a blank look on her face.

"Worship... with my mouth"

She kneels in front of me, pulls out my dick and proceeds to give me the best blowjob I have ever had.

"Ann, I'm about to climax."

She doesn't react, I climax in her mouth and she swallows it, a look of contentment on her face like a job well done. She then returns my dick to my pants and heads back to the TV.

"Ann, what was that about?"

"Oh, you have had to read that book, I thought you needed a pick-me-up." She unpauses Netflix and returns to watching her show.

That was insane, I walk briskly back to my room, my snack forgotten. This book went from the ramblings of a madman, to the ramblings of a madman who has unlocked a key to the universe.

I have to test this again. I open my door and look out on the common area, "[phrase in the control language - Undress]". Ann gets up and starts taking off her clothes and neatly folding them next to her on the couch. I am in awe, she is even more beautiful than I thought. Her breasts are perky with small areola and nipples. Her pussy is covered with a light tuft of blond hair. Having undressed she returns to watching Netflix like nothing has changed. She is lying on her back, one leg on the top of the couch, a safe posture if you are wearing sweatpants, a bit more open when you are nude.

I open the book and look for the next phrase, [phrase in the control language - Masturbate]"

As soon as I said it, one hand went to her breasts, another to her pussy, she started to moan a little. I had to try something, so I walked in to the room. She didn't react at all to the fact I just walked in on her nude and jilling off. She let out a loud moan. "Ann you okay?"

"Yep, I'm close. Do you need anything?"

"Nope, sorry to disturb you."

"Oh, you are not bothering me." She let out deep moan that rose to a scream of pleasure. Her body was shaking, at the end her eyes opened wide. All this time I'm sitting in the other chair watching her show. "Sorry about that, I just needed to get it all out."

"I get that. Back to your show?"

"Oh heck, I need to rewind it."

She's still sitting there naked, what she just did was perfectly normal to her.