A Man Of Singular Talent - Sun Joo-Eun
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Continuing the adventures of my mind-controlling protagonist.
(Note the stories in this series do not need to be read in any particular order.)
As usual, my thanks to Dor Knov for his invaluable advice.
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As a mind controller with, let's say a highly developed sense of caution, I am constantly on the move. I feel safest when I am leaving somewhere. So I go from town to town and city to city, avoiding highly monitored routes where possible (air, border crossings and so on). My sense of caution extends to electronic devices. I have no need to own a cellphone when I can simply mentally order anyone to hand me theirs, and then wipe their memory after returning it. Consequently I have to find non-electronic ways to entertain myself on my frequent journeys. If I am lucky there is a cute co-passenger and enough privacy to play. If not, I read books. Lots of books.
And so it was that I was exiting a bookstore in a strip mall, carrying a bag of new books which a very kind and confused gentlemen paid for and then forgot ever doing so. As I walked beside the row of stores the sun was shining brightly in front of me. This may have been why I did not see the door to the video game store burst open before it hit me square in the face. I staggered back, dropping my books and putting my hand up to my forehead.
"Aw nertz! Sorry dude, that was totally my fault."
I put my hand away from my face - nothing broken or bleeding - and looked at the speaker. Standing in front of me is a teenage asian (Korean?) girl of medium height, wearing slacks and a polo shirt which I presume to be the employee uniform of the video game store. Her expression is worried and apologetic, but also clearly impatient to resume rushing to wherever she was going. Easily her most prominent feature is her long deep pink hair, trimmed in a hime cut, straight cheek-length sidelocks and frontal fringe. She appears oblivious to my looking her over, her mind clearly on other things.
"Oh you dropped your bag, I'll get that for you!"
The girl bends over to pick up my bag of books and I change my mind. Her most prominent feature is not her hair but her ass. Her hips flare out into a round, perfect ass that her white uniform slacks strain to contain, especially as she reaches down to grab the bag. I am treated to this view for only a moment before she straightens up again and shoves the bag to me. I have enough wits by now to take the bag. The girl breaks out a brilliant wide smile and she turns to leave.
"Okay, sorry again! Bye!"
The girl rushes off and jumps into a waiting car. I look at my books, and then at the already-departing car, and smile my own smile before heading into the video game store.
The employees at the video game store were very helpful (with some mental prompting), and within an hour I am standing opposite a two-story family home in the suburbs. The house seems crowded; even from across the street I can hear multiple children engaged in various loud activities. This is unfortunate. I can command an unlimited amount of people once I have established control through line-of-sight, but multiple people mean multiple friends and activities and jobs and all sorts of other ways in which their absence would be noticed. I frown and walk away. This will take more preparation.
The next day is a Saturday, and I am sitting in the back seat of a car parked at the strip mall just as the stores open up. I watch the car from yesterday pull up in front of the video store and Sun jump out (according to the store's employee records she is eighteen-year-old Sun Joo-Eun, which confirms my guess as to her ethnicity). I wait until she waves goodbye to the driver of the car and then take control of her mind as her only hope of escape drives away. On my command she turns from the entrance to the store and starts walking towards my car, pausing momentarily to pick up and put on a large pair of sunglasses I had placed there earlier - I have never been able to control expressions, and a panic-stricken girl getting into a car is not a good look. The sunglasses help, but still I am glad when Sun gets into the back next to me and I order the driver to leave.
As we travel down the highway I mentally order Sun to remove the sunglasses, and finally get a good look at her face. Sun's fair skin is a contrast to the intensely colored hair. Her features can be described as 'impish'; a round face with a cute button nose and a wide mouth, below light brown eyes. I remember the dazzling smile from yesterday and compare it with the expression of confusion and fear currently on display. Sun is dressed in the same employee uniform as before, a staid and unflattering outfit.
I had ordered her to silence when I took hold of her mind, but in the privacy of the car I free her to speak. Her voice is loud and tinged with alarm.
"Wha- Ah! What the Gorf? Who are you guys and what have you done to me?"
I am momentarily confused by the plural 'guys' before remembering the driver.
"The driver is someone I chose at random, do not be concerned about him."
"Wait- hey, aren't you the guy from yesterday? The bookworm?"
"Ah, yes. I should probably remove that memory before we part ways. No loose ends."
"Remove... what? And why can't I move??"
"Because I have ordered you to stay still."
"What? Dude, are you loco? You had better start making sense soon, man. And where are we going? And why can't I move?"
"I just said, be-"
"Hey, I'm going to be late for work! They'll come looking when I don't turn up you know, probably calling the cops right now. You better let me out or-"
"They won't be missing you at wor-"
"Dude you and your friend here are in soooo much trouble. I-"
"He's not my-"
"And why can't I mo-...? ...!"
I send a mental command and Sun's incessant jabbering is cut short. She opens and closes her mouth a few times before shutting it and fuming at me. I place one hand on her thigh in an ostensibly reassuring manner, which of course does nothing to reassure Sun. We spend the rest of the journey in silence.
Ten minutes later we enter the underground parking lot of a hotel. Sun and I exit the car outside an elevator marked "Penthouse only". I face our driver who promptly falls asleep. He will awaken in ten minutes with no recollection of me or Sun.