The Family Across the Street

Life Tastes Better with Chocolate Chapter 2: The Family Across the Street.

Nancy Topin grew up across the street from Rachel. They had been together in school all the way up through university. Nancy had been Rachel’s wedding party and Rachel in her’s.

Nancy was the godmother to Rachel’s twins. She stayed with Rachel when her husband died. Rachel stayed with Nancy and her adopted daughter Randi when Nancy’s husband died in that car crash. Nancy loved Rachel like family.

Neither Rachel or Nancy had dated since their husbands died it was too hard.

They had taken to going out once a week for a drink.

“Rachel? Are you awake? How are the twins?” Nancy called out entering the house from the kitchen door. Nancy was disappointed she wore this new green dress especially for their drink to celebrate her Birthday.

Nancy was 55 like Rachel. She had shoulder length grey hair, her bangs brushed the top of her glasses. She was tall and lean. She had taken up yoga with Randi, her adopted college sophomore daughter.

Rachel’s house was dark. The only light was over the kitchen table. A chocolate cake sat on the table it seemed to shimmer under the light. It smelled like chocolate with a dusting of cinnamon. Nancy cut herself a piece of cake and ate it. A small price to pay for missing their drink.

In the living room Steven woke to the nanites alerting him to a new unit that just came online. Steven gave the mental command to this new unit to strip and then stand at attention then freeze in place.

As Steven entered the kitchen he saw her standing there with a smudge of chocolate on her lips. Nancy was Steve’s first crush. They had been on a mock date when he was 12. Nancy had done it as a favor to Rachel. Now she was his as much and as long as he wanted.

Steven had Nancy stand then strip. He took in her curves running his eyes up and down her body. Her breasts had started to sag with age and the thick bush between her legs matched the same grey on her head.

“enhance, improve, obey” Steven said with a smile. Nancy’s body lurched forward like it was struck by lightning. Her body was already lean but now it was tone. Steven watched as steam escaped her pours. Her hair went from grey to the lush brown he remembered from his childhood. Her breasts firmed and her nipples stood erect. The thick bush between her legs was sculpted into a neatly trimmed landing strip by an invisible razor. Nancy looked 25 and in her prime.

Steven walked around this new Nancy. She was as beautiful as he remembered In his youth. The difference is she belonged to him.

The dolls minds had refocused so they had no memories of the their past. They knew their name and world events but personal memories or ideas of self were a foreign concept.

"What is your name?" Steven asked testing his new doll.

“Nancy” she replied void of emotion.

“and who do you belong to?” Steven asked with a sly smile.

He walked closer to his new creation and traced his finger down her arm, feeling the tone and firmness of her skin.

Nancy’s eyes followed his finger and she replied with the same emotionless tone, “You, master.”

Steven felt a sense of power and satisfaction wash over him. He now had complete control over these women, these dolls. They existed solely to please him and fulfill his every desire. He couldn’t help but think of the possibilities and experiments he could conduct with them.

In the pocket of Nancy’s green dress, her phone buzzed to life, a text message from Randi. Randi was Nancy’s adopted daughter and sophomore college student. “Hey Mom, how is Aunt Rachel? I texted her happy birthday. See you at home in the morning” was Randi’s message.

Steven took the phone and quickly replied “just finishing up with Rachel, I will bring you home cake”

“Nancy do you know who Randi is?” Steven asked testing her memory.

Nancy's mind raced to recall the person named Randi, the memories were there, but it was like trying to see through a fog. She knew the name, but the details were fuzzy. "Yes, I know Randi. She's my adopted daughter," Nancy replied, still in a trance-like state.

"Silly doll. Dolls don’t have children. They just obey. You are a doll. Do you have a daughter?” Steven asked his words like a blanket smothering her mind.

Nancy's head began to throb as she tried to recall what he was talking about. She knew she had a daughter, but the memories were slippery, just out of reach.

"Randi is my daughter. I adopted her. She lives with me. I am her mother," Nancy said, her words slow and deliberate as she tried to hold on to her memories. The more she spoke, the more her mind cleared. She felt like she was waking up from a dream, struggling to remember what was real and what wasn't.

But Steven's words brought everything back into focus.

"Nancy, I’m sorry this is just a malfunction. Dolls don’t have children. You are a doll. You are mistaken. Isn’t that right?” Steven said more forcefully.

Nancy quivered for a minute. The battle in her head raged on. Then she sighed deeply and her body became ridged. The battle was over Steven and the nanites were too strong.

Nancy's words became softer and weaker "Yes, I'm sorry, Master. I am mistaken. I do not have a daughter. Dolls don’t have children they just obey” Nancy smiled. Steven smiled back and walked around her again, taking in her new appearance. Steven commanded her to get dressed once more.

Nancy’s green dress hung lose on her new tone frame when he had her redress. Her glasses were crooked on her face from when her head lurched during the transformation. Her now dark brown bangs brushed the top of her glasses.

Steven cut a slice of cake and took Nancy by the hand and walked across the street to Nancy’s house to set the trap.

As he left he sent commands to his family. As he and Nancy walked by they stood up and started stripping then stand at attention and await their next instructions.

As Randi exited the Uber she noticed the lights in her house were off. She shrugged her mom must have gone to bed. Randi is a tall plus sized Korean college student. She had short black hair and glasses. She wore a white peasant blouse with blue embroidery and a pair of black linen pants with sandals.

She had made the dean’s list her freshman year and was on her way for her sophomore year also. Her late adopted father would be proud. He had been her driving force before his death a few years back. Her adopted mother had just taken to going out with “auntie” Rachel from across the street.

As Randi entered the kitchen there was a piece of 2 layer chocolate cake. She could smell the chocolate and cinnamon. Was it shimmering in the light? Randi shook her head she must still be buzzing from the drink at the club and her friend’s joint.

When she was done with the decedent desert she started to walk off to bed. There was a strange buzzing in her head.

It was faint at first but then grew louder and more persistent. Randi shrugged it off as a side effect of the cake. She had always been sensitive to cinnamon.

Randi reached the stairs and started to climb up to her room. The buzzing got louder and she stumbled, catching herself on the railing. She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

"Randi, is that you?" called out a voice from the living room. It was her Mother’s voice. As Randi entered the living room she saw a man sitting in her father’s chair. A woman with dark brown hair, glasses, and her mother’s green dress stood behind him. The woman stared reverently at the man like he was a celebrity or something like a god.

“Nancy? Do you know this woman?” The man asked the woman in the green dress. The woman looked up for a second at Randi then sighed returning her gaze at the man. “No master this is my first time seeing the woman” she purred.

“Mom? Is that you? What happened to you?” Randi asked. Her mother looked like she did when she adopted her. Different somehow. Her voice was the same, no mistaking that.

“silly girl, dolls don’t have children. Isn’t that right Nancy?” The man asked with a sly smile. Nancy looked up again, clearly annoyed someone was taking her attention off her master.

"Yes, master, dolls do not have children. She is clearly mistaken” she said with a monotone voice.

Randi looked back and forth between her mother and the strange man, her eyes wide with confusion. "What's going on? Who is this man? What have you done to my mother?" She demanded to know.

"The same thing I am going to do to you.” Then man said then “obey, upgrade, enhance”

At the man’s command Randi’s body started shaking dropping her to her knees. Her hair grew longer with neon pink highlights at the bottom. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders. The fat around her face seemed to disappear and her body became tanned and tone. Steam escaped her body. As sudden as it started it was over. Randi stood up, her linen pants slid down her legs. Randi looked like a model, a perfect doll.

By the second her personal memories faded replaced with a devout obedience to the man in the chair, her master. “And who do we have here” the man her master asked. “R… R… Randi, master” she replied.

“Well Ms Randi do you know the woman standing behind me?” Her master asked. Randi looked at the woman, she thought she had seen her before but as soon as that idea appeared, it faded into nothingness.

All that remained was a sense of familiarity, a gut feeling of knowing. But it was like attempting to grab smoke - just out of reach. Her mind focused on her master. "No sir, never before this moment ." she said, her voice no longer her own. It was rushed, husky, and doll-like.

Nancy looked up bored. Why did her master need another doll? Wasn’t she enough? Nancy walked around this new doll, the Randi as if inspecting her. Unimpressed she walked back to her master.

Steven smiled his nanites were a success. He would need to buy them new clothes that fit. He couldn’t have them wearing their now ill fitting one that would draw too much attention. That would cut into his budget.

Steven had to be careful, what if someone found one of his dolls and the nanites in their system. It would be a PR nightmare.

The world of science was fickle and the press would tear him apart for experimenting on humans without their knowledge or consent. He would be labeled a monster, a mad scientist. Steven was no madman; he was a genius with a clear vision to change the world for the better.

Steven took his 2 dolls and went back across the street to his mother’s house. When they entered the house his family of dolls stood at attention. They beamed with pride at his return.

Rachel his mother had undergone the most changes. Her platinum blonde hair was a stark difference between this and her original dark locks. Her new short bob haircut was in contrast to her original length she kept in a ponytail. Her eyes looked on adoringly as he entered. He wanted a different kind of love from her now.

Once best friends Rachel and Nacy were now bound in servitude to their master. Each seeing the other as competition not understanding why their master needed any dolls besides themselves.

The next few days were sure all. Since the doll's clothes were ill fitting he decided to order new outfits in the correct sizes with a style esthetic to their new roles in life. Until then they would walk around nude.

Rachel and Nancy would wait on his every need accompanying him everywhere he went.

Lisa was made into the caretaker of the house. Making sure it ran correctly to her master's specifications. Tracy and Randi were given to Lisa as her cooking and cleaning crew.

Steven smiled to himself, his project test was progressing favorable.

end Chapter 2.