There was Something Strange Going on at the Office

It was dimly lit, and after the initial panic had started to subside, she started to relax just a tiny bit.

* * *

At 3PM, the door started rattling. Jenna's brain surged with adrenaline, and she dropped to the floor behind the huge stacks of A4 paper. She'd become complacent and started using this pile as a seat. She tried to compact herself as much as she could to be less visible. The door opened. Please god don't let them hear me.

The door finally swung wide open, and Jenna heard giggling. She knew it well.

"What was it you needed, sir?" Sarah said, punctuating the giggles. "Do you need to... interrogate me?"

"That won't be necessary Sarah," said Nathan. He had the tone of a parent speaking to their child, or perhaps a person speaking to a pet.

"Oh no fair, Cathy was in there for hours," she said, letting out the slightest moan.

Jenna's fear was momentarily undercut by a renewed pang of guilt. I'm so sorry, Cathy. She could feel the beginnings of a tear starting to form, but suppressed it. Making any sounds was going to give away her position.

"Don't worry, you'll still have ample opportunity to please your superiors," he replied. "Give me your phone," he said.

"Yes sir. The code is 1234," she said enthusiastically. Nathan chuckled.

"Do you have Jenna's number?"

"Yes sir, do you want me to call her?"

"No, I'll send a message. What you can do for me right now is fetch Rachel, we're going to have a little meeting in here."

"Oh sir... I'll be right back," she said. Jenna could hear her rubbing his pants with and Nathan stifling his own small moan in response. The door opened and she pranced down the corridor to go fetch another victim for this asshole's sick game. I will put an end to this. For Sarah, For Cathy, for everyone.

Nathan had opened Sarah's phone, and the slight buzz of the force feedback was just barely audible. Jenna realised that she had a huge problem – her phone was going to buzz two feet behind him if she didn't do something before he sent her a message.

She inched her hand out of it's concealed position and around to her handbag. By positioning her thumb and index finger on either side of the zipper and squeezing tightly, it was possible to open silently. It was a trick that had come in handy for the cinema or, when she was still living with her parents, when they'd insisted on taking her to church. She felt her blood pumping again and had to control her breathing as she grabbed her phone and unlocked it. It was already on silent, but she quickly disabled the vibration, and not a moment too soon. A message came in from Sarah, but she averted her eyes quickly. Who knows what these people can do over a telephone. She swiped the notification away without reading and rested the phone down on her stomach.

A moment later, the door opened again and Sarah pulled Rachel through the doorway.

"Oh sir, what are you doing here?" Sarah intoned seductively.

"Is there anything we can help with?" Rachel said. "Anything at all". More giggling. Is this what men actually want? Giggling schoolgirls? In this case it at least, that did seem to be correct. Nathan stepped forward wordlessly and started making out with one of them – she wasn't sure which. A few moments of animal sounds and breathless whispering later, they started to undress. Nathan's belt made a ding as his pants hit the floor.

"Oh sir," said Sarah, acting like Nathan's penis was the most impressive thing she'd ever seen in her life. "May I touch it, sir?"

"No, not yet. You're going to put on a show for me. Kiss each other."

They didn't hesitate for a second. The makeout session lasted for an uncomfortably long period of time, and Nathan started stroking his cock at some point during all the moaning and wet mouth sounds.

"Eat her out, Sarah," Nathan said. "Mmmmm... that's it. Yeah.

The smell of sex was now wafting around the corner past the A4 stacks. Jenna's muscles were starting to hurt from the awkward pose she was stuck in. Even her phone started to feel like it was the heaviest thing on the planet, pressing into her gut. But she knew that if she was caught now, the whole jig was up. She'd be brainwashed, or maybe even killed. She took a slow, deep breath and tried to ignore the extremely exaggerated, pornography-esque sounds of two women trying their absolute hardest to please their superior.

"Ohhhh, siiiiir," said Sarah as Nathan entered her from behind.

"Don't lose focus, keep it up, she's nearly there."

"Mmmmm, yesss siiirr"

It took a few minutes before Rachel came. Nathan followed soon after, and then Sarah in time with that. Jenna severely doubted the authenticity of the final orgasm, but couldn't deny that he had been pleased by their behaviour. They gave his cock a tongue bath without prompting.

"Mmm, that was wonderful girls."

Is he going to say... oh please yes, Jenna thought.

"Clean yourselves up and get back to work," he continued. "I'll reward you later, if you keep doing a good job."

"Yes sir," the two said in unison, beaming at the opportunity to further prove themselves.

Jenna was simultaneously disappointed and relieved.

* * *

At around 8PM, frazzled, muscles acheing and emotionally drained, she finally felt confident enough to exfiltrate the building. She arranged for a taxi to meet her outside, waited a few minutes for it to get close, and then sprinted across the corridor, down the stairs, and out the front door. She had to hit the after hours exit buttons on the way through.

She ran through the plan she'd made with Sophie again in her head. Sophie would swing by to pick her up at 5:30am. They'd try to get in to work by 6am, which should be doable considering the light traffic at that hour. Sophie would bring her boyfriend's target pistol (unloaded). Jenna would use her access card to get into the building before it opened normally, and then they would hide until everybody else started coming into the building. She would prove it was happening to Sophie by showing her the other girls getting into their "morning routine". Then she'd confront Mister Grey, stick him up at gunpoint, and demand that he undo what he'd done to everybody. She'd force him to give her permission to leave work during business hours indefinitely, and announce that she was resigning. It's a shame that you should never speak about what happens at work to outsiders, because otherwise I'd report their creepy asses to the authorities, she thought to herself. That was just how the world worked, and nothing could be done about it.

Chapter 4

Once again, Jenna dreamed.

She was with the same mystery man from the last dream. She couldn't see his face, but that didn't stop her from enthusiastically making out with him. She pushed herself up and down his body, making sure to apply friction to the right areas.

She stripped off her own clothes seductively, although in the dream logic she wasn't quite sure what those were.

"Please take me sir," she said, doing her best to tempt him. "Please stick it inside me, I need it so bad." He was happy to comply with her request. He slid in and started thrusting rapidly. It felt nice, but that wasn't what she was really here for. Nothing could match what she was after. She matched his strokes and squeezed her legs together more tightly.

He didn't take long, and came inside her. She drew as much out of him as she could. Yes, come on. She looked up at him and smiled as sweetly as she could. Come on, come on, say the words. Say the words. Say the words say the words say the words say...

When the alarm sounded, she was more simultaneously wet and frustrated than she could ever remember. She couldn't afford to stay in bed and see to that – today was literally the difference between freedom and slavery for everyone in her office. Still, after this whole situation was dealt with, she might see if she could find somebody to fool around with again. The whole dominance/submission thing hadn't done much for her in the past, but now just the thought of somebody saying those wonderful words... she bit her lip and struggled to pull her hands away from her crotch. Focus, focus, focus. Shit.

Sophie pulled up right on time. She drove a small hatchback and had kept it in great condition. Jenna darted across the street through the cold and entered.

"Thank you so much for actually showing up, I know how crazy this all sounds," she said.

"I mean no offence, Jenna, but for all of our sakes I hope that you're crazy," she said. "Hop in."

Sophie looked really pretty today, Jenna noted. Despite the extremely early rise she'd taken the time to do her makeup properly, and had chosen an extremely flattering top and a very short dress. Impractical considering the weather, but sexy. Once again, she wasn't entirely sure if this was strictly dress code, but fuck the dress code, there were more important things to worry about. Sophie was a pretty girl trying to look her best. She smelled great, too.

"Did you bring the um, the..."

"Yeah it's in the back. Unloaded, as we agreed," she replied. Jenna was relieved.

They were early enough to get a parking spot right in front of the building, but to be safe they chose one around the corner and down the street a little. It wasn't Jenna's car, so it's presence may not tip anybody off, but it was better to be safe than sorry. The building was, as predicted, unoccupied. So far so good. Her swipe card access got her into the second floor, and they reached the secondary supply room without incident. She thought back to yesterday's intrusion in here, but felt confident that even if somebody walked in on them, she could deal with them one way or another. She gripped the weapon tightly. Now, it was time to wait.

* * *

"Oh my god, it's true," said Sophie, staring into a room of sleeping women, all moving their mouths silently in sync with whatever it was being fed in through the headphones. Sophie looked completely mortified. "Ok, ok, fuck. Um, what do we do now again?"

"Now we have to put a stop to it," replied Jenna, opening her jacket and indicating towards the target pistol she'd hidden in there. "Everyone should be in by now, it's time to move."

Sophie was exceptionally nervous, and asked if they could stop in at the bathroom before they tried to storm the castle. She didn't see why not. A few minutes later, they were marching towards the elevator. Jenna held her head high, beaming with a newfound confidence that she never knew she had.

Mister Grey's office was on level three. The doors opened and Sue, his administrative assistant, looked shocked to see Jenna.

"Jenna! People have been looking all over for you, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Sue. Sit down and don't make any noise until further instructed."

Sue did as she was told. It occurred to Jenna that even though Sophie hadn't been affected by whatever sinister process her employers were using, as a pretty girl she was still a major liability. She would just do as she was told, and given the choice between Mister Grey and Jenna, she didn't know whose instructions she would follow. It wasn't a risk she could take.

"Sophie, I want you to guard the entrance, ok? Don't let anybody come in and if they force their way in... try to stall them."

"Yeah ok, I can do that," she replied. She still looked nervous, although evidently relieved to be avoiding the imminent confrontation.

Jenna walked up to the office door and took a deep breath. Now or never. She slammed the door to the office open, gun in the other hand ready for action.

"Sit down, motherfucker," she announced with an energy that completely took her by surprise. Mister Grey, ugly old Mister Grey, was in fact already seated. It was Nathan that was standing, although he quickly took a seat. They both stared like deer caught in the headlights.

"Jenna, what are you doing?" said Nathan after a moment.

"I know what you've been up to. All of you. I've seen what it's doing to the women around here."

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Mister Grey. "Calm down and lower that weapon before you hurt somebody. I order you to drop that weapon right now, Jemma. You will do as you're told."

"Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you? Then you could cart me off and try to do whatever the fuck that is to my brain. Well too bad for you, bastard, it doesn't work on me anyway. And my name is Jenna, not Jemma."

Nathan scanned the entrance.

"You're going to explain to me exactly what's been going on, and then you're going to undo it. Then, you're going to give me permission to leave during business hours and I'm never going come back."

The two men looked very, very confused.

"You want our permission to leave?" said Nathan, gobsmacked. "And once you get it, you're not going to tell anybody, or go to the police, or anything?"

"You should never speak about what happens at work to outsiders, and I must not leave work during work hours without permission" she replied instantly. "But don't you worry your stupid little heads about that, because you're going to give me that permission just as soon as you undo your... your brainwashing or whatever it is to all these other women in the office." Jenna smiled broadly. "I guess you didn't count on somebody like me, did you?"

The two men continued to stare in disbelief. Then, Mister Grey started laughing. And then laughed louder.

"What's so funny, sir," she intoned sarcastically.

"I know we don't hire for the brains around here, but even by my very low standards, I would say that you may be the stupidest person on the entire staff. Sophie, grab her please."

"Wait what-" suddenly, Sophie grabbed her from behind and started trying to restrain her. She hadn't heard her creep into the room. The gun fell out of her hand. Nathan almost jumped trying to get away from the falling weapon.

"Don't worry Nathan, it's not loaded. You help out Sophie there please." Nathan took a moment to process, then stood up and grabbed Jenna's arm while she was struggling to get away from Sophie. Sophie what the fuck are you doing? She couldn't move anymore. Sophie had one side and Nathan had the other. Nathan clasped a firm hand across her mouth. Sophie looked positively joyous to have done this. She had pleased her superior, and she knew that she would be rewarded for it.

"Stop struggling Jemma, it really is pointless," said Mister Grey.

"You should really do as you're told, Jenna," said Sophie's sultry voice from behind her. "It feels so good. You'll see." Jenna struggled even harder in response, but he was correct – it was futile. Mister Grey hit the buzzer on his desk.

"Sue, could you please tell Mark it's safe to come on in here now. It's not nearly as bad as we feared."

"At once sir."

* * *

They dragged Jenna down to a secure room on the first floor. It was one she'd never seen before, in the restricted area. It seemed to be soundproofed, but she'd raised hell on the way down. Nobody seemed to care. All the men seemed to be in on it, and all the pretty girls were all too busy doing what they were told. Now, she was tied down to a metal chair, arms strapped on, headphones wrapped around her head, and a swivel screen rested in front of her. Nothing was playing on any of it yet, but she knew it was just a matter of time. Her stomach had tied itself into a knot. She felt almost physically ill.

How did they know the gun was unloaded? Did Sophie warn Mister Grey in advance?

She was going to continue beating herself up, but her train of thought was interrupted by someone coming into the room again. It was Mark, the man who'd propositioned her on Monday. He looked a lot more confident than last time she'd seen him. He had piercing brown eyes and scruffy hair – it was clear he didn't take care of himself. Not like the pretty girls, that's for sure.

"How did you get to Sophie?" she asked, the betrayal still stinging.

"We got to Sophie first, before everyone else, Jenna. She was the first test subject. She's wasn't 'on leave', she was at Central, and only just got back in when you contacted her. You reaching out to her saved my arse, actually. She contacted Mister Grey shortly afterwards and briefed him. I expect she's upstairs being rewarded for her services now. I don't think I've ever seen somebody look that happy before, Jenna." Jenna felt rage bubbling up and surpassing the feelings of betrayal and fear.

"You sound a lot more brave now that I'm tied to a chair, you little fucking worm," she said. He ignored her and carried on.

"At first, I thought that maybe something had gone wrong," he said. "I thought that maybe your computer hadn't been updated correctly. I looked into it after you were gone and confirmed it was all there and operating as expected."

"Your shit doesn't work on me, I already told you people."

"That was my next suspicion, Jenna. That problem was in the chair, not in the computer. But no, you're not correct about that."

"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain why I'm not already upstairs cooing at some gross old man to fuck me?"

"Tell me Jenna, What do pretty girls do when they're told to do something?"

"Pretty girls do as they're told," she replied without thinking.

"Nah yeah, see, that's working just fine."

"I don't see how that proves anything. That's just common knowledge," she replied. He let out a laugh.

"Oh Jenna. I am going to enjoy this. See, I think I now know what the core of the issue is. We've got confirmation that all of the suggestions you received on the first few days of operation did work. You stopped listening before the second wave suggestions were pushed out, but even so, that should have been plenty. The thing is, you're just not doing as you are told. But I think I've figured it out." Jenna rolled her eyes.

"And what's your genius idea?"

"You have a self image problem. Frankly, the wording on these suggestions were extremely sloppy, and I'm going to recommend that they be revised before the next deployment."

"What do you mean?" she said. But she knew, deep down. It wasn't the first time somebody had told her she had too low of an opinion of herself.

"I think that you don't believe you're a pretty girl. If you don't believe you're a pretty girl, then why should you do as you're told, or look your best after all? But now, with a little help from my friends here," he said, slapping the side of the monitor, "I'm going to convince you that you are. And I'm going to let you remember this one, because frankly, I think it's a lot more fun that way. No need to be subtle, so I'm going to crank this baby up to 11."

She started screaming as he pushed the monitor into position in front of her face and hit a button on the keyboard behind it. She shut her eyes as forcefully as her muscles would allow. A hissing static started playing across the headset. The sound penetrated into her mind. It hurt. It was almost unbearable, and it became extremely hard to keep a coherent thought together in her mind. It became hard to keep a single thought straight in her mind. Her screaming died down as the volume increased. She just couldn't focus.