Worlds Colliding Ch. 05

All the standard disclaimers apply.

*

When Asha delivered Tammi to the rest of the women ensconced at the Hotel Pennsylvania, Bridget thought the whole thing should have been more ... joyous. There were hugs. There were tears. Everyone took a turn convincing Tammi what had happened wasn't her fault, and after a while she seemed to believe them. And after that, there was even some laughter. As she watched the whole thing unfold, Bridget came to realize the joy wasn't lacking in the scene, it was lacking in her.

She wasn't the only one to notice.

"Are you okay?" Maura asked. Bridget shrugged. "What's wrong?"

"I'm wondering what we've really accomplished here."

"We know we can get out people back."

"And they probably know it by now as well," Bridget said. "I'd feel better about it if I didn't feel like we've shot our wad."

Maura blinked, "This was your idea, remember?"

"I do. I suggested it because I thought we needed to do something, and now we've done it," Bridget exhaled heavily. "What's got me worried is what to do next."

Maura gave Bridget's hand a reassuring squeeze, "Janie will be here tomorrow and we'll see what she's come up with. Maybe she'll have good news?"

The news the next day was more "mixed" than "good". Janice had barely entered the room, she hadn't even had a chance to settle herself, before she was assaulted with the one question on everyone's mind.

"Have you figured out how to get our people back?"

Janice looked like she felt; like someone who hadn't slept in days. She dropped her bag wearily on the bed and sighed, "No."

"When will you know?"

"I don't know," she said quietly. "We think we understand how it works ... we just aren't sure why. The truth is, it could be quite a while."

The disappointment in the room was tangible.

"We know the squares work," Asha said. "What I don't understand is why we can't use those?"

"I told you, I don't have anymore," Irina replied.

"Get some."

"There aren't any."

"Then make some," Asha snarled.

"I don't know how," Irina's voice cut an edge as well.

"How can you not know how?" Asha was almost yelling now. "You're the Augur!"

The normally combative Irina visibly wilted as the group's collective disappointment suddenly focused on her, "You guys don't seem to understand what I do. I'm like a librarian. I keep the books, I organize the book, I learn everything I can about the books. But none of that is the same as writing the books.

"The square is an heirloom, an antique. It's almost as old as The Association. When Cynthia told me what was going on out here, I brought it along because I thought it might come in handy. And it did, I might add, but that's all it's good for ... something handy. It'd be great if I had more, but I don't. I'm sorry."

"And the news isn't entirely bad," Janice jumped in. She held out her hand. In her palm was a small hearing aid, which she placed on the table. "For lack of a better term, this is a Personal Control Sphere Nullifier."

"How does it work?" Cynthia asked.

"Turn it on and stick it in your ear," Janice explained. "It goes deep in the ear canal, so someone would really have to be looking for it to find it. It broadcasts at frequency that should block out the control sphere."

Maura reached under the table to give Bridget's hand a quick squeeze, "That is good news!"

"So what do we do with it?" Irina asked.

"It still doesn't get our people back," Asha pointed out. "That's the real problem."

"It gets us a step closer," Bridget whispered. An idea was forming; it was as though speaking too loudly would scare it away. The others looked at her. Bridget continued, filling in the details as she went, "Remember, a couple years back, when Catherine was having all her problems, right after we got back from Rome? Victoria did her thing, and found Michelle, then Michelle and Catherine lived happily ever after? We inducted Michelle in Victoria's house."

Asha and Tammi nodded ... they'd been there.

"We don't need more squares. We need the house because that's where they all are anyway. Can you teach me what Victoria did?"

Cynthia said she could.

"Then that's it. I go up there, do what Victoria did and bag them all, all at once."

"I see where you're going with this, but there's one problem," Cynthia pointed at the hearing aid. "Even if you have one of these, there's no way they'll let you near any of the things you'll need or hand around long enough to do the things you'll need to do."

"They will if I'm one of them."

"Excuse me?"

"I go up there, I pretend I'm there to try and negotiate with them and I let them do their thing," Bridget explained. "Then I do my thing."

She turned to Janice, "You're sure this will protect me?"

"I'm sure," Janice said, sounding anything but.

"Sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"Pretty sure?"

"Really ... pretty ... sure," Janice trailed off. "Look, this control sphere thing seemed to be based on conditioned responses; you do what Prof. Sawyer says and you feel good as a reward and then you end up like Pavlov's dogs. These rewards are intricately tied to sexual stimuli. When we mocked up the nullifier, one of our basic assumptions was you'd be doing everything in your power to get away from her, not having sex with her. If that's what you're doing, then I can't promise anything ..."

"And there's something else," Tammi piped in. "You don't know what it's like up there. You don't know what she's doing! There's dozens of women up there right now, they're coming in and out all day. She made us all stay naked when we were in the house ... it was like a 24 hour orgy ... "

A violent shudder passed though her, "And then there were the things she made us do ... to ourselves and to each other ... it was sick ... disgusting ... she made us perform for her ... and we were into it. We were so messed up in the head we used to fight each other to do all the perverted things she thought up. Oh God!"

Tammi bolted from the table, heading for the bathroom. They listened in silence as she coughed and gagged, everyone taking pains to avoid looking at anyone else. Eventually, Asha left the table. They could hear her soothing her friend. They came out from the bathroom a few minutes later.

"Sorry," Tammi said sheepishly, though she did sound a little better. "My point is we were able to do all those things because she'd fucked with our heads ..."

"... her and Leslie, that little cunt!" Tammi muttered with enough heat to burn the air out of everyone's lungs.

"... and that's the way you have to act. Whatever she says, you do it, without hesitation. I don't know how a normal person could do that. If you do hesitate, she'll know you're faking it, and I don't know what she'll do then. She's capable of anything."

Bridget nodded. Tammi's point was irrefutable, "I don't doubt any of that. If anyone has a better idea, believe me, I am all ears!"

No one had a better idea. Bridget snatched the hearing aid from off the table, in case someone tried to stop her that way.

"Then it's settled, I'm going tomorrow," she said.

Maura sighed, long and sadly, "I'll go with you."

"Absolutely not," Bridget insisted. "We only have one nullifier. In fact, as soon as I leave, you all need to check out, get out of this hotel, and don't tell me where you're going. If this doesn't work .."

Her voice caught.

"... if this doesn't work," she continued, "you'll have to assume I've told them everything. And then they'll come for all of you. It won't be safe here. Just get out and try to put together a Plan B."

For a long while, no one spoke. Cynthia found her voice first, "Is there anything we can do for you right now?"

"As a matter of fact, there is," Bridget forced herself to smile. "I've been cooped up in this room for almost a week. I want to go to Little Italy tonight and have a really good dinner. Then I want to go to the Knicks game and I want GREAT seats."

Cynthia smiled and dipped her head modestly, "I can do that." * * *

Prof. Karen Sawyer didn't like loose ends, and that is what this Bridget character had become. The thought of the girl gnawed at her. Her plan, her dream, was so close to fruition, so close to being reality. Because it was so close was precisely why it needed her undivided attention. But thoughts of Bridget were a constant distraction.

Sawyer assumed Tammi's sudden and complete disappearance was Bridget's doing. She'd wasted too much precious time on whether The Association, working through Bridget, had somehow figured out a way to deprogram Tammi. She decided it was unlikely before deciding it was irrelevant. Losing a single girl was nothing. But it hinted at other, nasty surprises The Association might spring, so it continued to weigh on her.

She flipped through the latest progress report from the engineers at Mericon. Her calculating side knew this was the real solution to the Bridget problem. The latest version of the control sphere, one that would work over a radio and TV signal, was almost ready. And once she had that, there'd be no stopping her. She had her people on the broadcast side already in place, all they needed was a working sphere.

But the little problems cropping up on the engineering side were vexing. They needed help ... they needed her. And she was wasting her time on a redheaded college sophomore with a talent for soccer and getting out of tight spots. It was maddening.

Chicago was looking more and more like a dead end. Bridget hadn't shown up, nor had she made any attempt to contact her brother. Given the Tammi development, Sawyer was convinced Bridget was no where near the Windy City. So where was she, and what was she up to?

And then the problem solved itself.

Victoria entered what used to be her study and genuflected before the woman sitting in what used to be her chair.

"The guard at the front gate just called," she said.

"And?"

"Bridget's down there. She says The Association wants to talk." * * *

The guard at the front gate had stopped Bridget before she'd taken two steps onto the property.

He sounded apologetic, "Sorry, Miss. Ms. Tastick says I can't let you in anymore without her permission."

"It's okay, Chuck. I understand."

"I'll call up to the house."

"I'll wait right here."

Chuck emerged from the shack a minute later, "They're sending someone down."

"No problem," the two waited quietly. The Bridget said, "Lot of changes around here lately, I'll bet."

"You can say that again."

"What do you think?"

"Ms Tastick doesn't pay me to think, just to watch the gate." From the way he said it, Chuck didn't think much of the changes.

Leslie appeared a minute later, along with two girls Bridget didn't recognize. The raven haired girl motioned for Bridget to follow. The foursome walked in silence most of the way.

As they reached the front door, Bridget asked, "I wonder if it ever bothers you, what you've done to all the people who've only tried to help you?"

"Never," Leslie replied curtly.

"I didn't think so."

It had only been a week since Prof. Sawyer had conquered Victoria's house, but the changes were profound. The sent of female arousal was everywhere; and underlying that Bridget detected entropy and decay. She suspected no serious attempt to clean the place had been made recently. And Tammi had been right. There were dozens of women in the mansion, young and old, all of them beautiful, all of them coupling, trebling, and so on, in energetic and creative combinations Bridget counted six distinct sexual encounters in plain sight before she gave up. From the sound of things, much more was going on out of sight. She was led to the study. Victoria was there, along with Allie. Prof. Sawyer was at the desk. A control sphere sat conspicuously to the Professor's left. Bridget knew it had been turned on by the static hiss that crept into her hearing.

"Ah Bridget, a pleasure to finally meet you," Prof. Sawyer said grandly.

"The pleasure is all yours, I'm sure."

"Bridget!" Victoria chided. She sounded horrified, "Don't be rude!"

Bridget shot Victoria a look that made it clear Victoria was not a party to the conversation before turning back to Sawyer, "The Association has authorized me to open negotiations with you."

"Unless they're offering their surrender, there's nothing to negotiate."

The hiss was getting louder. Bridget hadn't bothered to ask if this was how the nullifier was supposed to work. She'd focused mainly on what Cynthia had taught her about using the house as part of her plan. Silently cursing her carelessness, she said, "That would be a mistake. We're perfectly capable of defending ourselves."

"If that were the case, you wouldn't be here," Sawyer replied. "Besides, after we convert you, I'll know everything I need to about your little Association's so called defenses."

Hands began to flit over her body. Despite herself, Bridget could feel the beginnings of arousal. She forced herself to keep her gaze on Sawyer, "You're making a big mistake."

"A threat without the strength to back it up is nothing but bravado, and I don't have the patience for bravado," Sawyer said dismissively. "You're the one who's made the mistake. Take her."

The hands were gently no longer; they pulled her to the floor. Allie loomed over her.

"Don't fight it, Bridget, you can't win," she pleaded. "It feels wonderful. Let us show you."

Bridget clamped her eyes shut. One of the skills Victoria had taught her was walling her thoughts off as a defense against telepathy. She concentrated of her mental barriers, isolating her growing sexual need from the rest of her mind. The girls that now surrounded her concentrated their attacks on her pants, struggling to peel the garment from her body. Bridget fought them, but she knew it was a battle she couldn't win.

Two girls held her arms down. There was nothing she could do to stop the others from loosening her button fly. She kicked and thrashed. Two more grabbed her legs, pushing them together. Another pushed down on her chest, holding her in place and roughly groping her breasts in the process. The jeans were pushed off her hips. Bridget twisted on the floor, as much as the combined strength of the other girls would allow. Slowly the pants made their way down her thighs. When they reached her knees, she could offer no effective resistance. The trousers were quickly removed at that point, then the girls holding her legs pulled them apart. Her panties were simply ripped away. The hiss was louder now, it sounded like the roar of a high wind. Bridget concentrated on erecting her barriers. The hands on her breasts went away and she felt a body lying atop her. She opened her eyes.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Leslie whispered hatefully. She inched her way down Bridget's body.

When she felt Leslie's tongue on her pussy, Bridget prayed for strength. A few minutes later, she came.

Her struggle, and her subsequent orgasm, had left her exhausted. It took a long, few minutes for her strength to return. When it finally did, she stood up. Her legs felt as weak as a newborn colt's. She quickly removed her blouse and bra, and bowed submissively to Prof. Sawyer.

"I live to serve you," she panted.