There's an App for That Ch. 01

Author's note:

All Character's in this story are over the age of eighteen.

Any names or places that bare similarities to reality are purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Warning: This story contains elements of non-consent

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Gareth was an ordinary looking kind of guy; the kind of person you'd probably look past when walking in a crowd. He was thirty years old and worked as a software developer for small mobile app game company called Mini-mind games. What he lacked in aesthetics though he more than made up for in talent. Today was an important day for him.

Gareth put the final touches on the hidden algorithm in the new and upcoming popular mobile game Pixie Explosion. It was a masterful, yet hidden piece of genius that would have propelled his career beyond anything he'd ever dreamed of, too bad he could never show anyone since it was unethical and highly illegal.

Gareth had built a subtle yet extremely effective subliminal message into every frame and sound bite emitted by the new, free to acquire, micro-transaction-based game. It worked by putting the user in a light hypnotic state that gained more effectiveness the longer and more often they played the game, on a very low level it produced the same responses as one would have to taking drugs but not as debilitating.

The effect was slow however and required a lot of time to build the addiction, he also knew it wouldn't work on everyone so he knew he had to be patient. It wasn't the addiction he was interested in however, sure it would get the company more users and thus more revenue. His boss would probably congratulate him on the numbers; attributing it to well thought out design and gameplay.

But no.

It was the more sinister layer he built underneath his algorithm.

Mind control.

He predicted that over time the user would become susceptible to certain suggestions emitted by the app. The longer they played the game the more control he would have. For himself he also built the "Master Control App", this app was a special version of the game that he could use for two-way communication between anybody using the "Slave" version of the app.

Gareth waited at least six months before conducting his first test, the app was already in the top 10 on the store so he was confident that he would have a decent sample size. He needed to make sure that it would yield at least some results before recording his findings. Since the users had to accept the terms of service before playing the game, tracking daily usage and location data weren't that hard. What they didn't know was that his sneaky little program was also sending extra information to a private server he owned that showed him in more detail how effective his work was.

The Master Control App he created; which only he could log into and use showed him a map on the home screen. It looked like a standard map so anybody being nosy wouldn't be overly suspicious but it had one additional feature, it showed him where users of his app were located and their current status.

He divided his users into three main categories.

Green - These users hardly ever played, maybe only a few minutes at a time throughout the day.

Orange - These users played the game in larger increments, totaling to a few hours a day

Red - Heavy users of the app, several consecutive hours a day.

Gold - Reserved for extreme cases.

For his first field test he elected in an area away from his workplace/home. Despite all the precautions he'd taken in hiding his code, he didn't want to risk anything. He made sure his phone used a specially built proxy for mobile phone data so that any traffic sniffing wouldn't be able to pinpoint his exact location.

When he first logged into The Master Control App (MCA). He happy to see a few green dots in his surrounding area. Flashing dots indicated users who were playing the game currently, steady green indicated the game was installed but not running. If he tapped on individual dots, he would get the same data the user sent to the company, it wasn't much since the user could still select how much data was sent.

More importantly it showed the total time spent playing the game, it ranged anywhere from one minute to several hundred. Gareth spent the first few hours just walking around, it was a public park on the weekend so it strolling around repeatedly simply made it look like he was exercising. As he walked Gareth took note of all the users that had a high number of hours, mostly younger people of course since they had the most time on their hands. That was fine for him since their brains were already naturally predisposed for suggestive control anyway.

As the park became less busy, and thus less witnesses he decided to begin.

Experiment One:

Subtle suggestions - Scratch your nose, stand up, sit down...etc

He needed to start small since he was still uncertain how much power he would have, he suspected that with only green level he would be unlikely to be able to do much more.

He stopped at one of the park benches to sit down. To his left he saw a group of teenagers chatting in a group, some of them were playing the game. He sent his first command.

Scratch your nose.

The message would appear on the game screen in garbled text, it would like act as in in-game popup; something that was part of the game but in fact it was an encoded message specifically designed for that user.

His target immediately began to scratch their nose. Success!

The programming in the algorithm meant that by default the user wouldn't remember following the command but it would give them a sense of accomplishment when they did, it was similar to any other in game achievement from other popular games. As an extra feature however, he built in a special command to be able to store things into their memory but it was still too early for that.

He tried several more commands on his first text subjects each of them with success. Not wanting to push his luck he finished the day up calling it a success.

To ensure that he would continue to be successful Gareth spent the next week keeping his suggestions simple. Nothing more than a short command, nothing out of the ordinary. As predicted, there were some users that simply did not obey; most of the time they had low play time but sometimes it just didn't work. The good news was that for those that it did work on none seemed to notice that their behaviour was being directed. He decided to allocate a numeric sub-category to accompany his colour code, thus Green one was the lowest level and green ten, the highest; this was based on exponential usage time. He was also happy to note that the users he was targeting seemed to increase their usage everytime he saw them next, this would mean he could force specific users to become addicted and thus more under his control much faster.

Experiment Two:

Complex suggestions - Suggestions requiring more thought and pre-learned actions, such as take a picture of the dog walking past you. Ask your friend what the time is. You are feeling cold...etc.

These actions weren't direct commands because they required the user to actually do something based on something they already knew how to do. It relied on the user making some of their own decisions based on the task which could result in some interesting behaviour.

At the beginning of this experiment he noted that there were some orange users popping up on his map now. Some of them were the regulars he'd already experimented on and some were new. It looked as if his code was working even without his help.

Again, he walked around the park picking his targets carefully. He still made sure to give them commands that were natural in their environment so as not seem odd. He discovered that of his green users, any above level seven were susceptible to his complex commands however it was only sporadically successful. His new orange level users however successfully completed his tasks, the higher level the more complex the task could be. The highest level, which was six right now even showed some initiative when it came to completing the task.

Experiment Three:

Complex unusual suggestions - Suggestions that would seem odd at the time or something that a person normally wouldn't do. Such as give that random person over there a hug. Give that person ten dollars. Tell the person next to you the username and password to your bank account.

He knew that experiment three was risky so he made sure to wait another two weeks before doing the field test. As expected, there were even more orange users when he went for his walk. Some were even approaching level ten. He decided to experiment only on high level users in a more isolated part of the park so as not to cause a scene.

His first few tests failed. The users either didn't start the task or got halfway through before completing the action. It wasn't until a level eight orange came into range that he was successful, even then it was only successful some of the time and due to the nature of his suggestions they were becoming embarrassed by their unexplained behaviour.

He continued experimenting throughout the week and concluded that though high level orange users were more likely to complete the task but it depended on the magnitude of the task, such as giving a person ten dollars as opposed to one hundred dollars or giving a person a pat on the back or a hug/kiss. To assist with keeping the embarrassment/suspicion to a minimum he whad the oranges interact with each other so he could have them accept the odd behaviour from total strangers as well as give it. At one point he had two of them conversing as chickens for five minutes before they completely broke from the trance.

Based on the observations of his last two experiments he noted that the users were spending more consecutive time playing the game. This was a good thing for his control but it meant that his users would spend less time doing their regular tasks and would either raise suspicion about the app or cause an unwanted media hype. He made some changes to the code which meant that as a user feel deeper into the trance it would increase the intensity of the subliminal messaging for any given game time. What that meant was they didn't have to spend as long on the game to get the same effect, he also modified his classification logic, it now measured their effective game time rather than actual game time. It would still keep them playing every day but not so much that they couldn't continue with their normal lives. That night he uploaded his changes to the game server.

Experiment four

Extreme suggestions - These are suggestion that would be considered completely outside a user's normal behaviour. Committing crimes, sexual acts, do something outside their normal schedule..etc.

Gareth wanted to make sure his changes were in effect before continuing his experiments, he waited another full month before venturing out to the park again. He was happy to note that most of the park was littered in dots the percentage of orange was excellent and there were plenty of high level users. He also saw his first red.

On a bench sitting alone was an attractive young girl, probably in her early twenties, she was wearing a university jumper which implied that she was a student. As expected, she was engrossed in the game barely even taking note of the outside world. He sent a subtle suggestion first.

Sit on one side of the bench and move your bag to the ground.

He needed to position himself right beside her to get the best point of view. As expected, she did as commanded. Gareth sat next to her and pretended to be another person doing something on his phone. With a few sideways glances he got a better look at her, she had a pretty face and nicely framed body, he couldn't tell exactly because she was wearing a baggy jumper and pants. He decided that would be his first test.

Tell the man next to you what you are wearing underneath your jumper.

He could see the popup on her screen. She turned to him briefly and said.

"A T-shirt".

Take off your jumper.

She removed the jumper hastily and continued to play, she was wearing a T-shirt with a band logo on it. Now he had a much better view of her but t-shirt still covered most of her body.

Gareth looked around the park to see how many people were still around, it was getting later in the afternoon so there were only a few people left and most of them were engrossed in their own activities.

Tell the man next to you your full name, age, address, username and password to your bank. Also tell him where your family is whether you have a partner.

She answered with all the details he asked for. He could double check the details later, but Gareth was confident that everything was correct. Her family wasn't in the same city and she was single too. She would be an excellent candidate, it was less likely somebody would be waiting for her if he kept her late.

Give the man next to you all the money in your wallet.

She reached down and into her bag and retrieved her wallet, she took out one hundred dollars and immediately gave it to him and then went back to playing the game. Gareth didn't need the money but he was happy that all of the complex unusual suggestions were all completed without delay or confusion. He was getting excited, he wanted to test the limitations but she was still only a level one red and he wanted to be sure nothing would go wrong. He looked around the park for a more secluded area, he spotted a small clearing behind bushes, it wasn't completely private but was still better than being out in the open.

Go to that clearing where the man beside you is pointing the same time tomorrow, cancel any other plans you had for the afternoon. You will wear more revealing clothing.

He pointed where he wanted and she looked over, he used a generic clothing description because he didn't know what kind of clothes she owned and also because it was easier to let the her decide.

Experiment five

Emotional suggestions - These are suggestions about others interacting with the user such telling them to be more comfortable around someone else or even pretend they aren't there.

The next day Gareth could barely concentrate at work, he was counting the hours as the day went by to when he would see Rachel. When he finally arrived at the park, he was happy to see her sitting on the grass playing the game exactly where he told her to be, she was wearing a tight-fitting low-cut top that displayed her cleavage nicely. She wore a short skirt that would probably show far more if she wasn't sitting with her legs closed. That was about to change.

A man will sit next to you but you will feel comfortable with his presence. Anything he does or says to you will not seem odd or make you feel uncomfortable.

He sat facing opposite her, she looked up briefly and he smiled, she went back to the game.

Bend your knees and spread your legs. Allow the man to see between your legs.

She complied right away, as expected the skirt rode up her legs and revealed silk lacy panties. He didn't specify her undergarments in the instructions but she seemed to have implied that revealing underwear was included. Gareth checked around them on the app and visually to make sure nobody was around. It was clear.

Push your panties to the side and reveal your pussy to the man.

This time there was a slight hesitation. Gareth realised that his was the probably most extreme command he had given thus far and might be the limit of his algorithm. After a few agonising seconds though she complied. He was greeted by her slightly closed pussy lips with a light tuft of hair covering them.

Show the man your breasts.

This time there was no hesitation. Maybe because it was a next natural thing to do? At this point he didn't care because her smooth supple breasts were on display for him, interestingly her nipples were slightly raised, was she aroused? That would be an interesting side effect of his instructions, he took a few pictures of her exposed body, for scientific purposes of course. Gareth wanted to try one more thing before leaving her alone tonight.

Remove your underwear and bra and give it to the man. You may cover yourself appropriately and return to your normal activities for the rest of the day. Tomorow you will return here at the same time, wear the same type of clothing as today but without a bra or panties.

She managed to deftly remove her panties and bra all one-handed whist keeping her other on the device. After a couple of seconds shuffling around, he had both of her undergarments in his hands, he placed them in his backpack for safe keeping. As directed, she sat back again with legs together and pulled her top back over her naked breasts.

Gareth could barely walk properly when he got up, his own arousal had grown and the bulge in his pants restricted his movement. He let himself calm down before walking home. Upon arrival he took out the recent images he took on his phone, it wasn't a dream. There she was in all her glory; pussy and breasts on display for him. He resisted the urge to relieve the tension building in his cock, he wanted to save himself for the main event.

He wanted to take it further that afternoon but new that their little bush clearing wasn't enough privacy so the day he brought a blanket along with him this time to cover up any naughtiness underneath. When he arrived, she was already there sitting on the grass. He looked down at his app. Red three, at this point she probably only needed to play the game for a couple of hours a day.

Gareth realised that he needed to make sure that he didn't have to repeat some of the text in his commands such as her being comfortable around him. And so, he sent the following command

A man will stand in front of you. This man is your master, you will feel comfortable around him and when he is near you; you can continue with whatever task you are already doing if he allows it. When you are in private you will call him master and in public Gareth, you will act as if you know him very well and that he is a close friend. When he is with you, anything he does or says to you will not alarm or confuse you, the more interaction he has with you the more content you will become. When he is not with you, your life may continue as normal.

Gareth send the message and tapped on an extra special setting on his app, it was the feature that allowed him to store instructions in the target user. His set of instructions were very complex and she only responded by looking up at him for a few seconds before returning to the game. Gareth realised that he should build a response function so the user let him know if the entire command was accepted. He also decided that this particular command needed to be saved so he could send it to other users if necessary. Only one way to find out

"Hi" he decided to start casually as if he'd just met her in the park and wanted to talk.

"Hello master" she responded with a warm smile.

Perfect. He continued to test the boundaries by sitting down beside her, his shoulder touching hers. She wasn't bothered at all, in fact she even leaned into him slightly. Moving to the next level he shuffled around so that he sitting behind her now with his legs either side of her body, he placed the blanket over them, she leaned back into his chest, the smile never leaving her face. At such a close proximity he caught the scent of her perfume, not too strong but enough to stir his loins, he leaned forward with his head and pressed his nose against her neck for a more direct sample. She wasn't fazed by his actions in the slightest. Here he was a complete stranger to her sitting behind her like he was her boyfriend.