CHAPTER 3 - A deep experience
As he was about to leave the room, the Professor turned abruptly and said, "Nicole, you have accepted this situation very bravely, thank you again for participating... even if it isn't by choice."
Nicole looked perplexed. "I'm not participating, I am being held against my will," she retorted.
"I know you are." Said the Professor, "Sometimes the choices we make are not what they appear to be."
Something in the tone of his voice led Nicole to wonder if this Professor was actually the person pulling the strings in this bizarre experiment, or if he was even trying to protect her in some strange way? Things had happened so quickly over the last few hours that she hadn't had much time to consider her situation.
He continued, "I'll have some food brought to you. And by the way, there is a shower, should you wish to have one before the next session. I'll see you again soon." It was curious the way he emphasized taking a shower, thought Nicole.
Soon after, some food and drinks were brought. Nicole hadn't realized how hungry she had become while in confinement. She ate her soup. Then she took time to look around this room that had become her prison. Apart from the bed, there were some clinical-looking workbenches and drawers.
The Professor's suggestion to have a shower actually felt like a good idea after the day she'd experienced. The shower was in an alcove in the corner of the large room. Nicole walked over to it, turned on the warm water and began to undress behind a screen, hanging a towel on a rod. She cautiously stepped into the shower. The warm water rolling over her head was a comfort and she almost forgot where she was for a minute, until she turned quickly to see the Professor hovering in the doorway. To his credit, he was attempting to avert his eyes out of politeness.
Nicole instinctively covered her breasts with her arm. "It's polite to knock first!" she jabbed angrily.
With the water running, he walked over to her and whispered in her ear: "The noise from the shower will block the listening devices in this room."
Nicole wasn't sure how to respond to that.
"Sorry Nicole," he said... "The last thing I wanted was for you to be dragged into this, but they were going to take you against your will to conduct these experiments with or without my participation. I thought maybe if I played along, I could help you."
"Who are 'they'?" demanded Nicole.
"My employers," the Professor explained. "I created an artificial intelligence program that has the potential to make billions for the adult entertainment industry. Its algorithms are precisely tuned to a user interface, but to bring it online we needed somebody to serve as the model, to basically imprint their personality into the programming. When I came across your online profile, I began testing the program's parameters and your creativity, charisma and intelligence fit all the criteria."
The Professor continued: "This corporation has already invested tens of millions into the program, they couldn't take the chance that you would refuse to participate. I realized if I didn't play along they would take you anyway and I wouldn't be able to help you."
"Pass me that towel please," Nicole said skeptically.
"Huh? Oh sorry," the Professor said shyly as he realized she had been standing there dripping wet. Nicole wrapped the towel tightly around her as she stepped out of the shower.
"My suggestion is to go through with this next session, and when it's done, I'll try to figure out a way for us to get out of here. It's almost midnight and security will be lighter."
"How can I trust you?" Nicole asked.
"After everything that's happened, you're right not to," said the Professor, "but I'm afraid our choices are limited."
Nicole eyed the Professor. She didn't trust him, but she was out of options until somebody realized she was being held as a prisoner.
"Will this next session be as intense as the last experience?" asked Nicole.
"I'm afraid so," the Professor said. Each subsequent session will feel more powerful as the AI program monitors, adapts and conforms to your sexual desires."
"Why me?" Nicole asked as much to herself as to the Professor.
"I'm afraid I'm at fault," said the Professor. "I used you as the model for the AI program. I inadvertently came across your profile on an adult streaming service, and thought you were wonderful and creative and beautiful and so the program's algorithms were written based on you. But there were gaps which required more intensive analysis by the device in this lab -that virtual reality headset that reads your brainwaves. I never imagined this program would be used for nefarious purposes by the corporation."
Although she was furious at the situation, Nicole felt there was a certain sweetness in the Professor's honesty. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he had developed a serious crush on her. Then she realized: "You were Rasputin all along, weren't you?"
It was the second time the Professor blushed, and Nicole knew the answer.
Nicole's second 'virtual' session was indeed more powerful than the last and certainly more realistic. Unlike her first experience in which the images involved intense flashes of light, this time when the facility staff had placed the augmented reality headset on her and she fell under its influence, she had a much more potent vision.
In this vision, she was alone in a subway car. The train wasn't moving, it appeared to be stopped in a deep underground tunnel. Outside the windows was complete blackness, while a dim red emergency light barely illuminated the inside of the car.
Nicole was shocked to realize that her hands were tightly handcuffed to the subway car's vertical handrail. Although she was standing, her arms were bound so tight that she couldn't turn around to see what was behind her. In normal circumstances, this would have been a terrifying feeling, but after her intense sensations in her first session, Nicole now understood that the images she was experiencing were being generated by her own subconscious. At some level she must have felt bound and trapped; not surprising, considering her circumstances of being taken prisoner against her will.