Telos

Life has kept me very busy and I'm aware of the long delay between chapter. Hopefully this is worth the wait.

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"What's going on out there?"

"A war."

Susan seemed unsatisfied with the answer but Grace said nothing more. In fact, she didn't know a great deal more than that. Master had refused to let her leave the house for weeks. If there was a war going on it was a very quiet sort. When she insisted on being told when she could go out master had placed her in the white room along with Susan, the better to work on the mind of the former leader of the resistance.

"You should get back to studying," suggested Grace.

Susan shook her head. "I don't want to belong to master."

"But you're already a slave, you even call him master now. I just want you to enjoy it like I do."

"I am not a slave!" Susan caught herself too late.

Grace had a rule about that, letting Susan go into denial couldn't be healthy. Any time Susan tried to convince herself she wasn't a slave Grace would show her otherwise. Master had made a few useful modifications to Susan. "Can you refuse to be obedient?"

"No," admitted Susan.

"Do you touch yourself when you think I'm not watching?"

Susan's blushed with embarrassment. "Yes."

"And what do you think about?"

"I . . . I . . . imagine what it will feel like when I finally give in." Grace could see Susan trying to stop herself from starting up. The telltate flush was spreading and her hands trembled.

"So you're obedient to master and me and you're so eager to please you fantasize about submitting." Grace crawled a bit closer. She moved one of Susan's unresisting hands to her chest and the girl sighed with relief. "That makes you a slave. The only thing that happens when you act defiant and angry is that you make yourself upset. The sooner you join us the better. Be a good girl."

"Okay . . ." Susan massaged her breasts as if in a stupor.

"Good."

"N . . . no." Susan managed to stop herself but her hands remained where they were. "No."

"You keep saying that even though we both know it doesn't matter."

Susan shook her head. "As long as I can say no I'm still free. Not like you."

Grace placed her hands over the older girl's hands and moved them for her. "How long will that help you to hold out? Another day? Another week?" She locked eyes with Susan. "There's no one coming for you anymore. The resistance is gone. You lay down next to master and told him everything, remember?" She moved a bit closer. Susan seemed hypnotized. "All of them gave in. They're helping us now."

If Susan had a response it was evidently been drowned out by the sensations spreading through her body. Grace smiled to remember the first time that happened to her. The voice in her head suffocated by master's control. Warm pink fog taking the place of her thoughts.

Beneath her Susan made a gasping sound as she reached climax.

The girl shuddered and became still. Her head fell to the pillow turned away in shame. In a few moments she was asleep. Grace lay down beside her and whispered happy wisdom in her ear until she, too, fell asleep.

Too many days passed like that. Susan was resilient.

A plan occurred to her after a while. During the night she stole away and returned with food, locking the door behind her. "Breakfast time."

Susan looked up suspiciously. "Thank you."

"No food unless you take this first." She held up a colorful pill.

"Bliss."

"Yes."

"I'd rather . . ." She looked at the pill again. "No."

Grace finished the food herself. "You knew me before I was changed," she said when she was done. "Was I happy? I don't . . . I don't think I remember any of that. Master must have taken it away. He said I lost a lot of memories."

"You're not the same person," said Susan. "You were scared of these people. They want to rule the world."

"That's true," admitted Grace, "but they going to make it wonderful. They'll . . . I'm happy now. We deserve a world where a person doesn't have to be scared. That's all."

Susan wrapped her arms around her legs. "And the price is free will."

"And nothing else!" Grace's face fell as she saw Susan react in fear. "You get to keep everything but that. Love. Joy. Warmth." She placed a hand on the girl's chest. When Susan flinched, heart pounding, away she caught her. "Calm down." The wild beating began to slow. "Good. Good girl." Grace smiled and Susan returned the expression. "Very good. Isn't this nice?" She brushed a bit of hair out of Susan's face. "When you're a slave someone will always take care of you. If you let go someone will catch you. Let go."

"What did he . . . how did he break you?"

Grace frowned in confusion.

"What made you let go?"

"He gave me books." Grace pointed to the one on the bed beside the table. "I had nothing else to do so I read them over and over. They showed me how I could be happy." Eager. Obedient. "I learned how to want to be a slave."

Susan's eyes flickered back and forth as she thought. "This is what I did to Amy."

"Kind of." Graced tried to look comforting. "I want to give you happiness and clarity. You're already a slave. This will just make it easier."

"So you're my version of those books."

Grace nodded. "You are much more clever than I am. Convincing you will take a bit more. Let go. Be happy."

"Eag . . . no."

"Say it. Happy. Eager. Obedient."

Susan shook her head. "Master could take my mind away any time he wants, couldn't he?"

"Yes but then you wouldn't be you anymore." Grace brushed a few stray hairs away from Susan's face. "Would you like food, now?"

Susan shook her head.

"Okay."

It didn't take long for hunger to wear her down, though. After a half dozen missed meals Susan acquiesced. Grace offered her the pill.

"This doesn't mean . . ."

"Yes it does."

Susan's hand quivered as she picked it up.

"Let go of yourself," insisted Grace. She moved Susan's hand to her mouth. "You'll be happy, just like I am. Forever."

"No . . ."

"The Bliss will help to wash away your independence but you need to help it. Enjoy the reward. When you're really ready you'll accept that master is ready to take care of you no matter how you behave. You will submit for the sake of submitting, even if there's no reward."

The pill dropped Susan into unconsciousness. Grace whispered to the girl's vulnerable mind for a while then left her charge alone in the white room. The door locked with a click.

Outside, master was waiting for her. "How is she?"

"It's taking a long time."

"That's okay, going too quickly is a worse mistake." He backed her against the wall as he spoke. "You need to break her without breaking her."

"Yes, master."

"I've been busy recently with this conflict and I wouldn't want you to feel neglected because of that." Master twined his fingers in her hair and Grace let out a long, heated breath as he touched her mind. "Relax."

"Yes, ma . . ." Her eyes fluttered involuntarily as the sentence was interrupted by a jolt of numbing pleasure.

Master smiled at her. "There are greedy thoughts in there. Is that what happens when I give you too much leeway?"

Grace tried to shake her head.

"You couldn't lie to me if you tried."

Grace took a breath. "Every time I see Susan cum it makes me . . . I want to."

"Let that be motivation for you then." He slipped his free hand down to her pussy and leaned in closer to whisper. "If you can get her to help you, you can cum all you like. Otherwise you'll have to wait until the war is over and I have time to . . . play with you."

"Ye . . ."

He cut off the sentence with an encouraging movement of his fingers and Grace sank a bit toward the floor. Master pulled her back to her feet. He pressed her harder against the wall and kissed her. She responded happily, eager, obediently. "Good girl." His kisses tracked lower, down along her neck while he held her unresisting form in place. After a while he stopped and trailed his fingers up the path he'd followed down.

Grace moaned in wordless frustration.

Master laughed pleasantly. "It is time for both of us to get back to work. Go, I'll be back soon."

"Yes, master." She collapsed entirely as he left.

Alone outside the white room with the coolness of the floor on her skin Grace turned her thoughts back to Susan. Just like Amy, submission to authority didn't come to her easily. Every time Grace wore down her defenses they would go back up by the time she returned. Unfortunately it was much more difficult to soften her with pleasure, although, unlike Amy, it hadn't taken any modifications to make her willing to accept another woman. The Bliss worked well enough to soften her, though. She lay down beside Susan whispered the mantra to her.

Happy. Eager. Obedient.

Hours later the young revolutionary stirred. Her defenses were back up but they were crumbling. "What's the goal here?" asked Susan. "Take one of your enemies and turn her into a sex slave?"

"No, a good citizen."

"But a slave."

Grace held up a pill and watched Susan's eyes follow it. "Being a slave isn't so bad and you'll be a brand new kind. My mind got taken apart to make me good. Amy's mind is too tightly bound for her to live without noticing it. You just had free will taken out, everything else is still in there."

Susan nodded mutely then shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "No, I'm not going to let you make me . . ."

"Happy?"

"Eager. Obedient." The mantra came out with an airy smile. Susan touched herself for a moment. She shook her head again, more slowly, almost reluctant to refuse. "No."

Grace stalked a bit closer. "Those are the traits of a useful person, a good citizen. You have to be happy," eager obedient, "because that's the whole point. You have to be eager," happy obedient, "to help others to make things keep going. You have to be obedient," happy eager, "so you know what to do. It's an good life and all you have to do is be good." She offered the pill again. "Say it."

"Happy . . . Eager . . . Obedient."

"Good girl."

-)(-

Amy hadn't left mistress's side in weeks or months, she couldn't tell. Everything was hazy. Her world had been reduced to flashes of awareness, mere sensation devoid of order and context.

A hand on her cheek, smiling. Sunlight. Cold water, the smell of soap. Joy. Climax, sudden, unexpected. Sharp noise, loud, distant. Fear. Mistress's perfume, smoke. Climax, smiling, mistress whispering. Pain, momentary. Love. A door closing. Strange faces, shouting.

Things were happening in the world all around her but she couldn't think well enough to understand any of it. Fear seeped in from time to time only to be swallowed up by the pink fog. She had used to be able to clear her head with sex or masturbation but neither worked anymore, they just made her sink deeper. It took every ounce of energy just to keep herself conscious. Inevitably, though, she'd slip into the pleasant haze once more. Staying there was easier. It felt like mistress's touches. She could hear encouragement breathed into her mind.

But she wanted to see the real world again so she dragged herself away from the warm thoughtless place.

Memories came to her jumbled, distant, and vague.

Voices, angry, mistress and someone else. Fire. A window. Warm water, candlelight. Coughing. Whispering, heated breath. Grace's face. Laughter, pleasant, close by Climax, long awaited. Morning light on her toes. A kiss. Contentment.

Violent pain in her side. Rage. Flesh tearing. Screaming.

Amy clawed her way back into the waking world. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest. She gasped for air. She hadn't been taking care of mistress. Things were so bad and she had to take care of her. The ground dropped away beneath her and a fog of mind numbing Bliss rose to greet her. Tendrils of the ethereal mist twined around her as she struggled to get back. All the strength went out of her. Gradually the fog rose higher. Her body warmed with erotic pleasure. It was too strong and it made her too weak. Her will suffocated bit by bit. Panic faded into acceptance. "Have to . . . have to . . ."

"Amy?"

"No . . . I have to . . . can't . . . have to . . ."

"Open your eyes, slave girl. Wake up for me."

She did.

Mistress smiled down at her.

"I think I was asleep for," outside the window spring was just ending, "a long time."

"We were fighting a war," mistress said soothingly, "and I couldn't bear to have you worry about it. Now go back to sleep. Just for a little bit now."

Amy felt herself slipping back into unconsciousness as mistress ran a hand down the side of her face. "Wait . . ."

"This is easier, I promise."

"Protect and . . . prot . . . serve . . . remember? Pro . . . pr . . ." She pressed a hand against where her badge had once been. Amy used the memory as a footing and stared up at mistress. "I told you that once. Protect and serve. That's what I want to do."

Mistress paused. "Amy, I can't let you . . ."

"Be a good slave girl?"

Mistress let out a long breath. "I tried to protect you from all the fighting but people found you anyway. After what happened with Susan," the acid edge to the name made Amy wince, "I decided it was better to insulate you from it. You don't know what it's like for me when you're hurt." She brushed a hand along the top of Amy's left ear and the girl suddenly felt the ragged shape where it had been torn and smoothly healed over.

Amy placed a hand over her mistress's. "What happened?"

"You were shot at."

"I was a cop for years."

"They hit you twice. Here and," she moved her hand to the right side of Amy's stomach, "here."

Amy smiled at her owner, trying to be comforting. "Makes three."

"What?"

"Left hand." She raised her palm. "Went straight through the middle. Used my recover time to study for the detective's exam. Still can't type very fast."

"I would have noticed that," said mistress. "I went through every inch of your mind."

"It hurt, but that was all. Maybe it seemed unimportant and you overlooked it." She placed her hand on mistress's cheek. "But you are important to me and I want to help. Please."

"Amy . . ."

"Please!" The word escaped with more desperation that she expected. "Please . . ."

"You could be hurt again."

"So could you." Amy looked around the room. It was sparsely but expensively furnished. Everything served a clear function. Nothing was included that was not of the highest quality. She grinned at the thought. "You were going to keep me here without a thought in my head like a sexy pillow."

"I was not. . ."

"I can be a sexy pillow for you," she ran her fingers over her breasts and leaned her head back to expose her neck, "but I want to protect you, too. Let me be a good girl."

Mistress pursed her lips. "If you were really a good girl you wouldn't be questioning me."

Amy averted her gaze. "I need some kind of purpose. Please."

"Telos."

Amy frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Now if you're going to be my sexy bodyguard you'll need a new uniform because that old police one doesn't quite fit you around the chest. I'll have to take measurements." Mistress let her hands drift over Amy's skin. "We also have to make a few changes in your head. I just wouldn't do to have a bodyguard who's too horny to work."

Amy moaned in spite of herself as mistress walked her fingers down to Amy's sex.

"Much too easy to distract."

She felt fingers on her scalp. They pressed down experimentally.

"Still too resilient to work with, though, I like that." Mistress produced a colorful pill. "Do you trust me to wake you up when I'm done?"

"Always, mistress."

"Good girl."

Mistress pushed the pill into her mouth and the Bliss dragged her into unconsciousness.

Building a new mind for her, one that was not so hopelessly addictive, took several luxuriating session under the ministrations of her owner. By the time they were done she could see the world with the same lucidity as when she was a detective, before master took her. With clarity things were colder and sharper. A word from mistress, or a touch or look, was all it took to make things warm and soft again.

The war was a slow moving thing. George, the mayor mistress had replaced so long ago, ran errands all across the country. He reported on ever step of progress. Power brokers leveraged control of strategic resources to produce defacto monopolies and economically starve out groups backing the enemy. Mistress met with CEOs, politicians, and gangsters. At every meeting Laura stood two steps behind her with a pistol hanging at her side.

Occasionally they would take a break so mistress could meet with master. Laura always took the time to see Grace. Susan's training was coming along.

"Welcome back, Amy!" Grace's hug nearly toppled her. "I like the outfit."

"Thank you, Grace, I like . . ." The younger woman wasn't wearing anything for Amy to comment on. "How have things been here?"

Grace shrugged. "Not as exciting as your life must be." She turned her head to the other side of the living room where Susan was kneeling on the floor. "We've made lots of progress, though. Come over here, Susan."

The former revolutionary crawled to them hurriedly.

"Don't her her trick you, though," Grace reached down to put a hand on Susan's throat, "she's not very well behaved yet. Say hello to our guest."

Susan looked up. "Hello, Amy." She shrank back before Amy could respond.

"Are you always so frightened?" asked Amy.

"No, miss, I just don't want to be punished."

"You think I'll hit you?"

Susan's eyes settled on the gun Amy wore on her belt but she said nothing.

"May I play with her a moment, Grace?"

"Of course."

Amy dragged the naked girl over to the couch and locked her arms in place. "You did what you thought you had to do in order to protect your friends. I can respect that, even if it hurt me. Struggling like this will only make you miserable."

"Not struggling," muttered Susan. Good girl."

"I can see it in your eyes. The embers of resistance. I know what it's like."

Susan locked her gaze to Amy's face. "Please . . ."

"A tiny fire burning deep inside of you. It seems so inviting but every touch is agonizing. Don't let it trick you. The fire will always hurt. Picture it in your mind." Susan closed her eyes obediently. "The desire to resist tells you to touch it. It burns. Protect yourself, snuff it out instead."

"No . . ."

"Stop resisting the peace of slavery."

"No . . . I can't . . ."

"You can."

Susan trembled in her arms.

"That's enough, Amy." Grace forced her to release the girl. "If it takes time then it takes time." Grace laid Susan out on the carpet and whispered something in her ear. A moment later the leader of the fallen resistance was absorbed in her own self-pleasure. "Happy."

Eager. Obedient.

Amy blinked, unsure of who had finished the mantra. "You've matured."

"Thank you," said Grace as she joined Amy on the couch. "Master keeps me busy."

As she watched the younger girl rub her legs together a mischievous thought occurred to Amy, a bit of harmless revenge for all the times Grace had taken advantage of he libido. "Must be hard watching Susan cum all the time. I know master is less generous with you. He always has been."

Grace stared at Susan silently.

"Must be frustrating," suggested Amy. She allowed herself a little smile.

"Are you trying to seduce me?"

"Yes."

"Master wouldn't approve."

Amy grinned. "He's not here to protect you."

Grace mirrored the expression. "Neither is mistress."

For once, though, Amy had the upper hand. Grace was desperate with need and the body armor prevented any distracting touches. The younger slave girl melted from the first kiss. In a few seconds Grace was utterly docile. "Don't worry, I won't force you to cum when you're not allowed."