Zoe Takes a Break Pt. 01

All aspects of the story are fictional. All characters that participate in sexual activity are over the age of 18.

* * *

Chapter 1

Zoe waited for this moment every week. It was girls' night out, and she had a new invention from PlasmaTech to show off. Technically, it was frowned upon to take prototypes out for personal use, but Zoe had perfected "borrowing" items without getting caught.

"So what have got for us this week, Zoe?" Karen asked, looking down at the strange helmet on the table between them.

"Ladies, I present to you the Neurofier. This baby can raise or lower intelligence and alter personality," Zoe said proudly.

"Wait, another invention that messes with your head? Didn't you learn your lesson from the dream intensifier? I still have trouble sleeping sometimes," Sarah said eying the device suspiciously.

"The Oneironator was a mistake, I'll admit. But that was different - it was much earlier in the development cycle. The Neurofier is already undergoing human testing with very promising results!" Zoe assured her.

Sarah didn't look convinced. "Okay... say this thing is safe enough for us to test it out. I fail to see how making us even smarter than we are is going to facilitate a fun night out?"

Zoe smiled mischievously, "I wasn't thinking of making us smarter. I thought it might be fun to make ourselves dumber for a night. Go IQ slumming. See how the other side lives."

"That does sound interesting," Sarah admitted. "What do you think, Karen?"

"Let's give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

Zack couldn't help but notice the three women as they walked in. They seemed to be in their mid-20s and they had on tight party dresses that emphasized the curves of their bodies very nicely. Their hair colors were something straight out of an old joke ("A blonde, a brunette and a redhead...") and they all seemed to be giggling to each other about something. He and Paul had struck out a few times tonight, but he had a good feeling about these chicks. He watched as they walked up to bar to order a drink. As they were pulling out money to pay (the redhead seemed to be struggling to figure out how many bills she needed to put down), Zack walked over to them.

"Hey ladies, let me take care of that for you," Zack said putting some money down on the bar.

They all exchanged glances a little uncertainly, but the redhead looking somewhat relieved said, "Sure."

"Would you ladies like to join me and my buddy over there?" Zack said, directing their gazes to the to a table in the corner.

They whispered quickly amongst themselves, and finally the blonde one spoke up. "We'd, like, love to."

When they were all seated, Zack took a sip of his beer before beginning to speak. "The name's Zack, by the way. My buddy's Paul." Paul raised his glass in acknowledgment.

The blonde one spoke next, "I'm, uh, Zoe. And this is Karen," she gestured to the redhead, "and Sarah," she gestured to the brunette.

"What do you all do for a living?" Zack asked.

"I'm a, uh..." Karen frowned, "what's that thing where you do things with number?"

"Math?" Paul offered.

"Math! That's it, I'm, like, a mathe- mathema-, uh, math person." Karen said proudly.

Somehow Zack doubted that, but she wouldn't be the first person to lie at a bar. He was interested to see what the other girls came up with.

"I do astrology," Sarah said.

"Oh, like, horoscopes and stuff?" Zack asked.

"No, stupid! I study, like, stars and planets."

"Isn't that astronomy?" Paul asked a bit amused.

"Astron-o-mee? That doesn't sound right," Sarah said her face screwed up in concentration. "Wait, no I think you're right! I think astron-my sounds like what I do."

Zoe was the last to go. "I work at PlasmaTech. I work in the labs and do science and stuff." She had a little trouble reading Zack and Paul's faces, but she assumed that they were as impressed as people usually were when hearing the girls' jobs.

"You girls sound like certified geniuses," Paul said resisting the urge to laugh.

"Wait!" Karen said. "Did the helmet thingy not work? Are we still smart?"

"I dunno." Zoe said. "It is an prototype. Maybe we should check?"

"We totally should," Sarah said turning to the boys, "We'll be right back!"

Leaving their half-finished drinks on the table, they walked to the restroom. Zack and Paul were both left wondering what had just happened. In the bathroom, Zoe took the helmet out of her purse and put it on her head.

"What's it say?"

Karen looked at it, "It says 'IQ 80.' I'm pretty sure that's a big number. We must have forgotten to make ourselves dumb."

"Wait, wasn't it like one-fifty or something before?" Zoe asked.

"I'm pretty sure fifty is less than eighty," Karen said, "Maybe we were trying to set you to fifty and we forgot?" Before Zoe could protest (she was pretty sure that one-fifty was bigger than eighty), Karen hit the down button until the display said "IQ 50."

"Woah," was about all that Zoe could manage as she felt a pleasant warmth spread through her head.

Karen and Sarah watched expectantly as Zoe's eyes seemed to glaze over for a few seconds. "Well, do you feel any dumber?"

"I, uh, I don't know. Maybe?" Zoe said. "Ask me something only a smart person would know."

Karen thought of the hardest math problem she could. "What's 3 times 3?"

Zoe thought hard about the question, but her thoughts seemed to be coming like molasses. "Uh, 6?"

"Okay, Zoe's done. Now time for you Sarah." Karen said, taking the helmet off of Zoe's head and putting it on Sarah's head. Again the display said 'IQ 80.' "Looks like we forgot to do you as well, Sarah." Pretty soon the display read 'IQ 50.'

By the time Sarah had recovered her senses, Karen had taken the helmet off of her head and put it on herself. "Zoe, give me a hand with this."

Zoe walked over and said, "It says i-q-six-zero."

"Sixty?" Karen asked surprised. "Wait a minute. I think we might have already done me-" Zoe wasn't really paying attention to what Karen was saying. She pressed the down button a few times.

"There!" Said Zoe said, admiring the way 'IQ 44' looked. "I think we're ready to go back to those cute boys."

They walked out of the restroom, and sat back down at the table. Zack and Paul were a little surprised to see them back.

"What's that on your head?" Zack asked, pointing at the helmet Karen was wearing.

"Oh, wow. We didn't take it off," Zoe said with surprise. She removed the helmet, and stuffed it into her bag. "It's a helmet thingy from my work. It's, like, super secret though, so don't tell anyone!"

"Why's it so secret?" Paul asked.

Zoe looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Do you guys pinky promise not to tell anyone if we tell you?"

"Sure," both responded at once. Zoe extended her pinky out and offered it to both of them. After a brief pause both completed the gesture.

"Okay, I'll tell you. So me and - oh my god this tastes amazing!" Zoe said looking down at the drink in her hand. "What is this?"

"It's a strawberry daiquiri. Didn't you order it?" Paul said surprised.

"Da-ku-ri. Da-ku-ri. Daiquiri. That's such a fun word!" She said as she gulped down the drink. "Mmm."

"You're getting off topic. You were going to tell us what the helmet was." Zack said, getting a bit annoyed.

"Oh yeah, the helmet thingy. We used it to make ourselves not smart anymore." Zoe said.

"Really?" Zack said a little skeptically. These girls definitely didn't seem to be the sharpest tools in the shed, but maybe they were just trying to punk him.

"Yeah, really." Zoe said.

"Can you, uh, show us?" Zack asked.

"No, silly! It's a secret remember. We can't let people see it, duh." Zoe said.

"Maybe you could show us back at my place," Paul offered.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Karen said excitedly. "Let's go, Zoe!"

Zoe couldn't deny that the idea sounded good. If they couldn't show Paul and Zack at the bar, they could show them in their home. They did pinky promise after all. "Okay, but I want to have, like, three daiquiris before we go. They're just so tasty!"

* * *

Zoe, Karen and Sarah stumbled into Paul's apartment. It wasn't too far from the bar, which was probably for the better as their coordination was suffering after a few rounds of drinks. The girls had been getting along quite well with Paul and Zack, and both were so taken with the girls that they had almost put the mystery of the helmet out of their minds. Almost.

"Show ush the helmet, Zshoey!" Zack managed to slur out.

Zoe walked over to the couch, and tried to sit down. Her balance was a bit off and she ended up falling onto the ground just in front of the couch. She picked herself up and successfully planted herself on the couch. "Oookay, here it ish." She struggled with her purse for a bit, and finally put the helmet on the table.

Paul was the most sober of the group, and he beat Zack's hand to the helmet. It had a touchscreen display, and wires and electronics everywhere. "Sarah, would you let me try the helmet on you?"

"Shhurre!" Sarah managed to get out.

He put the helmet on her head, and saw the touchscreen change to 'IQ 50.' Paul thought back to Psych 101, and vaguely remembered that an IQ of 50 meant that something like 99% of people had a higher IQ. He wondered if the display was trustworthy, Sarah certainly seemed dumb, but not dumber-than-99%-of-people dumb. He pressed the down button until the display said 'IQ 5.' Sarah moaned and collapsed onto the floor.

"Sarah, are you okay?" Karen asked.

"Uh, buh, buh," Sarah uttered. Her eyes seemed to possess the same dullness as a cow's.

"Holy Shit!" Zack said. "Thish thing really worksh!"

The helmet had fallen off her head when she collapsed, and Paul was quick to retrieve it. He put the helmet on her head and was about to put her back up to 50, when he noticed all the other options. Personality, Libido, Memories, Speech Patterns... He clicked through them, and his excitement grew with every new option. With this helmet he could shape them however he wanted. "Zack, I think we've hit the mother lode."

"Wow, Sharah's really drunk!" Karen said, not noticing as Paul slipped the helmet on her head. He lowered her IQ to 5 to put her in the same subdued state Sarah was in, and quickly moved on to Zoe who was close to passing out on the sofa. Looking at the three girls babbling incoherently, Paul could only marvel at the power he now possessed. If things went according to plan, he and Zack were in for an amazing night.

Zack looked at the three girls babbling incoherently, and felt a very different mix of emotions. "Uh, Paul, are you shure we should be doing thish?"

Paul looked at Zack a bit surprised. "Zack, this all just fell into our lap! We can't let this opportunity go to pass."

Zack wiped away a line of drool that was beginning to form on Zoe's chin. "These girls are people, Paul. We can't just kidnap them, and do whatever we want to them. What if we get caught?"

"Is that what you're worried about?" Paul laughed. "Don't worry, we'll just borrow them for the weekend, and send them back good as new Sunday night. They won't even remember us."

Zack still had some misgivings. "What if shomeone comesh looking for the helmet? Didn't what'sh-her-name shay she worked at PlashmaTech?"

Paul hadn't considered that. "We'll send it back with them after the weekend is over. I doubt they'll miss it after a few days. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

Chapter 2

Paul waited for an opportunity to use the device on Zack that night. Zack was a good friend, but Paul couldn't take his mind off of the scruples Zack had demonstrated earlier that had almost ruined Paul's fun. Paul didn't want anything getting in the way of his perfect weekend. The opportunity presented itself when Zack passed out after round 2 with Karen. (They had set her libido setting way up, and returned her IQ to 50.) Paul had helped the moment along by breaking out the vodka and having them all take shots, while he abstained.

"Zshack, wake up! We weren't, like, finished." Karen pouted. Even though her partner had passed out, she continued to hump with gusto.

"Woah, Karen. Get off him. The man's had a long day." Paul put his hand on Karen's bare shoulder.

"But, I *need* him inside of me," Karen complained.

"Why don't you have Zoe and Sarah help you out?" Paul suggested.

"How can they, like, help me out? They're girls."

"They've got hands, haven't they?" Paul said, grabbing the redhead's hand and guiding her to the room where Zoe and Sarah were enjoying some colorful show Zack had put on for them. "You do the math."

Paul could see the wheels in Karen's head turning, and he figured she'd figure out what he meant eventually. He went back to the bedroom where Zack was passed out, and put the helmet on Zack's head. He just needed to make a few tweaks here and there for them to have the best weekend with the helmet possible. Paul clicked around and found a setting called Morality. Right now, Zack's morality was at a 6/10. Paul lowered it to 2/10. Then he searched around for some other settings. He found Self-Confidence at 4/10 and raised it to 10/10. Ambition he raised from 5/10 to 9/10. Thrill-seeking he raised from 6/10 to 8/10. Inhibitions he lowered from 6/10 to 3/10.

He made a few more changes and took the helmet off of Zack. He was satisfied that when they woke up tomorrow, they were going to have so much fun with the helmet, and none of Zack's scruples would be there to get in the way of anything.

"I think I, like, figured it out!" Paul could he Karen saying from the other room. "Put your hand here on me and do *this*."

* * *

Paul was woken by a sound from the kitchen. He walked out of his room, and was surprised to see that Zack and the girls had apparently woken up a few hours before him.

Zoe was dressed in sexy black maid outfit, and was standing in the corner of the room. She was completely still with a blank look on her face holding a silver platter with some breakfast on it. Karen was dressed in a nurses outfit, and appeared to be acting as a table for Zack's dishes. Sarah was dressed in a sexy schoolgirl outfit and was giving Zack a handjob as he ate.

"I thought you'd never wake up," Zack said grinning from ear to ear.

Paul mentally processed the scene for a few seconds before speaking. "Where'd you get the outfits?" He had a million questions, but that seemed like a good start.

"From a shop downtown. I've been busy this morning, let me tell you. No hangover was going to get in the way of today's fun." Zack took a bite of a doughnut, and set it back down onto Karen's back. "Emily, you can come in now."

A woman with black hair and pink highlights came bouncing in through the front door. She was dressed in a skimpy cheerleader uniform, and she had hand-shaped bruises on her arms. She giggled and said, "Thank you, master Zack. It was getting boring out there."

"Uh, who is this?" Paul asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This is Emily, she was working at the fetish store when we arrived there. I had the girls pin her down," he gestured to the bruises, "and after a little persuasion she was happy to give us all of these outfits for free-ee-EE!" Sarah's ministrations had taken Zack to heaven, and hot white liquid quickly covered her hand.

Paul was both impressed and a little taken aback. "Zack, don't you think that's a little bit reckless? We're already risking a lot with these just these three here. What if her boss notices she's missing?"

"Do you really have that little faith in me?" Zack panted, picking up a forkful of eggs and stuffing it in his mouth. "I took care of her boss as well... Come on in, Jason!"

A big, burly man poked his head furtively through the front door. He walked shyly into the room. "Hi, Zacky!" The man said cheerfully.

"What did you do to him?" Paul asked.

Zack smiled wickedly. "Jason, how old are you?"

The man shyly held up four fingers.

Paul was speechless, but Zack didn't miss a beat. "Anyways... Sarah, clean us off. Emily, take Jason to Paul's room. You're still on babysitting duty."

"Ugh, do I have to? Babysitting that dumb kid is really boring. I want to go to the mall... or a party!"

"Young lady, we've talked about this before, haven't we?" Zack said, "What's the punishment if you don't do what I say?"

"I get grounded." Emily said dourly.

"That's right. So go babysit Jason."

Emily muttered something under her breath, but led Jason to Paul's room.

Paul regained his composure. "How old is she, uh, mentally?"

Zack took his now empty plate, and put it on Zoe's tray. "I erased everything past 18. Figured it was good practice with the helmet. I messed around with a few of her other settings as well. She's not a 4.0 student anymore, that's for sure."

Paul was impressed with how much of an effect his changes had had on Zack. He almost felt like his changes had worked too well, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"So Zack, when do I get my turn with the helmet again?"

"Right now if you want." Zack said, tossing the helmet non-nonchalantly to Paul.

Paul took the helmet, and put it on Zoe's head. The display quickly show her statistics. Paul looked through the changes Zack had made, "Wow, you really did a number on her, didn't you?"

Zack smiled. "She's basically a poseable doll now. I don't think she can even understand English."

Paul could believe it, looking a the blank stare she now wore. "Well, it's impressive, but I think I'm going to start her from scratch if that's cool with you."

"Live it up, dude." Zack said, tapping Sarah and pointing to all the dishes. She got the message, and began clearing Zoe's platter and what remained on Karen's back.

Paul clicked over to Revert Changes, and clicked Revert All. The sharpness quickly returned to Zoe's eyes, and she dropped her platter. She looked around her, and screamed. "What the hell is going on!? Why is Karen pretending to be a table, and why am I dressed like... this?" Paul realized his mistake too late. Revert *All*. He tried to use the device to get her back under control, but she was squirming and screaming too much for him to use the controls.

"Zack, a little help?"

Zack for his part didn't seem too concerned over this turn of events. "Sarah, Karen - please subdue Zoe."

The two girls walked to the corner of the room past Paul, and pinned Zoe down. She continued to struggle, but she was no match for the two of them. "What's wrong with you two. Stop this!"

Paul tried to cover her mouth, but she ended up biting him. She continued to scream, but Paul knew all he had to do was find some kind of mute option on the device. Careful to avoid her mouth, Paul began fiddling with the device. Realization dawned in Zoe's eye's and she began violently hitting her head against the wall behind her.

Paul tried to stop her, but she was frantic now - wildly pursuing the only option she saw for freedom. "What are you doing you crazy bitch?"

BANG! It was like a flashbang had gone off inside the room. When Paul's vision had recovered, he saw the scene more or less as he left it. The only difference was that the circuitry on the outside of the helmet looked burned out, and Zoe looked... out of it. 'At least she's quiet now,' Paul thought. That was small comfort, though. If the neighbors didn't have cause for concern before, the explosion certainly cinched the deal.

"Zoe?" Paul asked tentatively.

She looked at Paul dizzily, but didn't respond.

"Zoe, are you okay?"

Zoe blinked a few times, and seemed to recover her senses. "My head feels really funny." She said uncertainly.

Paul looked at Karen and Sarah who were still holding Zoe down. "Zoe, if I tell them to let you go, what are you going to do?"