Mark stared at the walls of his tiny studio apartment. It had taken him months to find an affordable place so that he could move out of the spare bedroom of the house that now belonged to his ex-wife and her girlfriend. He was fairly sure they hadn't used mind control to make him agree to the divorce, because they hadn't needed to; even the terms of the divorce were less humiliating than staying there as their lab animal would have been.
He'd considered going to a shrink, but doubted any would believe his stories about Kate and Joy having invented behaviour modifying technology; besides, most shrinks in town had more clients than they had time to see, and he had so little cash left over after paying the rent that he'd decided to spend it on a sex worker instead. That had gone better than he'd feared, better than masturbation (if not by much), so he dared to hope that the mind control had worn off as Joy had predicted.
He spent most nights alone, sometimes rehearsing what he might say to a shrink. "There was a time I actually did worship Joy," he said, "before we were married, even a few years after that. That was great. I would have done anything she asked, no need for --"
He was interrupted by a knock on the door. He put down his beer and walked to the peephole. It was Lola, his neighbour -- a gorgeous busty dark-skinned woman with hints of Asian ancestry. Because of the heat, she was wearing a white crop top and micro shorts, which reminded Mark that he was only wearing an old pair of boxers. "Just a second," he said, and retreated into the bedroom to grab a t-shirt and cargo pants. "Hi," he said through the door. "What's up?"
"Do you have a spare lightbulb? Mine just blew."
"I think so. Just a sec." He knew Lola lived alone, but wasn't single: an older man visited her occasionally, acting so furtive that Mark suspected he was married and had promised her he'd leave his wife but never would. Most nights, she used a vibrator, causing interference on his TV. He found a bulb, and returned to the door. "Want me to put it in for you?" he said, then blushed. "I mean, I'm taller than you, so..."
