The Mind Element

Author's note. All characters are over 18, as established in earlier Chapters or in "Master of Elements" to which this is a sequel.

The Mind Element Chapter 7

"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways." Siddhartha Gautama, aka the Buddha.

When Christopher Ward went to London to get the Theia stone, his wife went with him. There was no way that Brigit, short of a direct order, intended to let her husband interact with the Creature, even if only mentally, without her support. Chris was wise enough to realise she was right.

Meanwhile, there was a need to keep a closer eye on what Randall Ness was up to and so Matsu Chen was despatched the California, with orders to keep a low profile but learn what she could. The others remained behind in Manilla. Chris thought that if they all went to the States they were bound to attract the attention of Ness and so it was better for Freya, Fay, Marco and Carter to stay where they were.

There were two downsides to this arrangement. First, they had very little usefully to do for the moment. Second, by default it left Freya in charge, and a bored Freya was potentially something of a loose cannon. As it happened, Freya decided that the best use of her time was to take Fay under her wing. The Swede was probably not the ideal guide to fitting in with the norms of civilised society and the effect was to encourage her new protégé's tendency toward experimentation and experiencing all the human world had to offer, especially in regard to sex.

The main impact of this rather dangerous combination was on their respective boyfriends, who found themselves trying without much success to cope with two strong minded, beautiful, intelligent but somewhat reckless women. The Italian student Marco Ricci and the American former soldier Carter Jackson didn't start with a great deal in common and yet as they waited in Manilla they bonded over their mutual surprise at the way their lives had changed in unexpected ways and in the process became good friends. It helped that the influence of Freya had relaxed Carter's world view somewhat. He now even drank the occasional beer.

And now was one such time. Marco and Carter were in the hotel bar, the American with one of his rare alcoholic drinks, the Italian with a bottle of red wine from his native country in front of him and already on his second glass. If on a previous occasion Brigit, Freya and Matsu had attracted a good deal of male attention in this bar, the two young men were getting their fair share of sly glances from a number of women of varying ages and at least one man. They made a handsome pair - Marco with his dark Mediterranean looks that so many women found attractive, Carter with a rugged masculinity, and both clearly fit and athletic, showing the benefits of gym work.

However, neither man paid the slightest attention to this interest. The two women they were involved with were a handful enough for any man and they were here to discuss what they should do about the latest idea which they had jointly proposed. Freya, knowing Fay wanted to try out a threesome with two men, had suggested that for safety it should be with someone she knew and who better than Carter Jackson. Fay had eagerly embraced that idea and Freya had offered to organise the whole thing. All they needed was Marco and Carter to agree.

The pair had been talking round the issue for some time, but now Carter Jackson came to the point: "What do you think Marco?" he asked.

"Fay's been on about this for a while and at first I hated the idea, although I admit I also feel a little hypocritical given that I was happy to do the threesome with Maria. But the more I've thought about it, the more I've kind of got used to the notion. I know Fay loves me and I don't feel threatened by involving another guy. Maybe as a one-off, it would be fun? But a lot depends on who it is."

"And now Freya's suggesting me?" Carter asked, sounding uneasy.

"You wouldn't believe how excited Fay is by that idea," Marco said wryly. "I think she fancies you. But actually, I'm ok with that. You're a friend and I know you well enough to be sure that you won't hurt Fay or do anything bad. That makes a big difference. I think I'm ok with the idea, if you are?"

Privately, Marco thought his friend was rather too submissively 'under the thumb' when it came to Freya, seeming to do whatever she told him. He, in contrast, was confident that he was an independent man, who made his own decisions. And yet he hated to upset Fay because he loved her, so in the end she could get her way in most cases by appealing to his wish to please her. This was a case in point; if you had asked Marco a month ago if he would ever share his girlfriend with another man it would have been a definitive no, but Fay had slowly talked him round.

Carter was replying to his question. "Before I met Freya, I had a lot of rules about how you should behave, and one of the bigger one was that you were exclusive with your girlfriend and she with you. In fact there should only be anything sexual going on if you were in love and probably expecting to get married one day." Carter gave a sigh. "Freya ... well she's different; amazing in fact, so free and daring. She's changed my mind on a lot of things and I've done stuff with her I would never have dreamed of once. I'm not sure I love her and I certainly can't imagine taking her back to my Mom as my future bride, but for the moment at least I want to be with her and let her show me a different life."

"So?" prompted Marco.

"So Freya wants me to do this, for Fay she says, and, somehow, I can never say no to her - but I have made this condition. Everything has to be with not just Fay's consent but yours as well. If either of you says no to anything, then it doesn't happen."

"That seems right," Marco said. Then he leant back in his chair, ran his hand through his curly dark hair and said; "Wow, so we're really going to do this."

"Seems like it," Carter agreed. "I'll tell Freya if you like; she wants to organise things."

"Fay's going to be pleased," Marco mused. Then he added, "You know, now I've committed, I'm starting to look forward to it." Carter Jackson finished his beer and said nothing.

*****

Randall Ness' chauffeur-driven limo drew to a halt before the house on his private ranch and Ness let himself and his wife out the back. "I still don't get why you've bought be here Randall," Sarah Ness commented. "I though this place had sat empty since Jessica lost interest in the ponies."

"It did, but I've found a new use for it recently. There's lots of work going on; I'll show you some later. But mostly I thought it would be interesting to involve you in a little side project of mine. You see, you used to be something of a bitch but you are a good obedient girl now, aren't you my dear; like a wife should be?"

As they were climbing the steps to the porch before the front door Sarah answered enthusiastically, "Oh yes Randall, you straightened me out all right. I understand now that a wife's happiness comes from obeying and pleasing her husband."

"Good girl," Randall said to his wife, not worrying that the term might be demeaning for a 43 year-old woman. He wasn't even deliberately trying to be insulting; he actually quite liked the new mind-controlled, submissive version of his wife. Well at least to the extent that he liked anyone other than himself. He led her through the front door, across the entrance hall and up the stairs, turning right at the top. "This is the room I'm using as my temporary playroom with my harem. Eventually I'm going to have a purpose-made building constructed where they can live, but it's not a priority."

"Harem?" asked his wife, but placidly; there was surprise in her voice, but no anger.

"Yes, I told you I had mistresses. This is just a gathering of most of them. I've told them to be here to meet you". Randall opened the door. Lucia, Sammy and Haley were waiting, each clad in a see-through teddy of varying designs and colours and smiling happily to see the arrival of their Master. "Sarah, this is Samantha, Haley and Lucia, my current harem. Girls say hello to Sarah, my wife."

There was a chorus of friendly greetings. Randall Ness turned to his wife. "I've got some things to do, so the girls will have sex with you until I return. Then we can have a nice orgy together. That should be fun."

Sarah Ness stared at him. "But Randall," she said, "You know I'm straight. I've no desire ..."

He cut her off: "Oh, yes, my mistake. I forgot I hadn't fixed that yet." He extracted his mind-controlling device from his pocket and switched it on, pointing at Sarah. "You are now bisexual. You will be hot to fuck with girls whenever I command it. You will enjoy what they do to you and want to make them cum in return. There you go; I've put you right. Enjoy!" He turned to his three sex-slaves. "Girls, make my wife happy. The cameras are filming this for me to watch later, so make it good!" The last thing Ness saw as he closed the door was the three younger women leading his dazed looking but smiling wife toward the oversized bed.

Randall Ness went to see his chief scientist, Doctor Gupta, down in the underground labs. Some news he had received from him was the main reason for Randall's visit today. Colonel Baker, who was nominally in charge of security but in reality pretty much ran the place for Ness, accompanied him. Ness breezed happily into the office next to the laboratories, enjoying the feeling of being master of all he surveyed, as he always did. "Good news I hear, Doctor."

"Yes Mr Ness. The idea of regular brainwave scans of our two 'guests' has paid off. We have long known that when Miss Kitaka conducts her building operations for you and manipulates matter it triggers particular parts of her brain into neurological activity. We have now gathered sufficient data to isolate exactly how this differs from her normal resting patterns."

"And how is this useful?" Ness asked.

"Brain activity is electrical is nature. We can recreate the patterns artificially. When we have applied this to Miss Kitaka's ring there is a detectable effect. Matter can be manipulated with it. Admittedly not in a useful or controllable way as yet, but now we know the method it can be improved through experimentation. Better yet, the same electrical frequencies seem to work on the ring we took from Matsu Chen in respect of water."

"Excellent Doctor Gupta. I want you and the team working round the clock until you perfect this."

"May we be permitted to sleep Master?" Gupta said, taking this as a literal command.

"Oh yes," said Ness magnanimously. "Fourteen hour working days a day should be sufficient; I don't want to burn you out." Ness turned to Baker. "Are Athena and Jennifer being constantly monitored as I ordered?"

"Yes sir. Full spectrum in their cells of course but we track them at all times." Baker paused a moment, as if embarrassed somehow. "They don't seem to be aware of the concealed cameras and microphone in the hayloft. They go there when they want to ... umm ... be intimate with each other. I was wondering what you want done with those tapes."

Ness laughed. "I'm surprised you are such a prude Colonel. Just keep the parts where they discuss anything of relevance to their powers or my research and wipe the rest. I have no interest in what else they do together".

Ness was pleased. All was going well. And since the Colonel had mentioned sexual matters, it reminded him it was time he got back to the house and found out how his wife was getting on with his mistresses.

Five minutes later, Randall opened the door to his harem playroom and took in the scene. His wife, now stripped naked, was spread-eagled on the bed, with Samantha's head between her legs, her tongue and fingers busy on Sarah's pussy, while Lucia and Haley were kneeling on the bed and applying hands and mouths to any targets of opportunity that they found, whether his wife's lips, breasts, limbs and torso. Nor were they overlooking the exploration of Sammy's charms. The four women appeared to be having a very enjoyable time.

Their Master walked in and gave Lucia a firm but playful slap on her naked bum. "Lucia, go get dressed in your work clothes. Doctor Gupta will need you for your scientific duties."

"Yes Master," the Latina girl said, and hurried from the room.

"Sarah - how are you enjoying your first session with the girls?" Ness asked.

"Oh god, its amazing darling; I wish you'd done this earlier."

Randall laughed. "There was a time you'd have seen this as your chance to divorce me and get a big pay out in the process. Still, you know better now. You understand that you exist to please me and to obey - right?"

"Yes Master," said his wife meekly.

Randall Ness began to strip. "Good. Well, I think you've had your share of fun today," he said to his wife. "Now you can watch me fuck these two of my mistresses, and after I've cum inside one of them, you can suck it out of her cunt. Got that?"

"Thank you Master," Sarah said.

"Good girl," Ness said as he climbed on the bed. "Right, I'll fuck you first Samantha. I'm feeling tired, so you can do the work. I'll lie on the bed. You suck my cock, then get on and ride it."

"Yes Master," said his tall bodyguard and lowered her head to his half-erect cock. Randall Ness lay back and enjoyed the feelings she was giving him. Everything was going every well, yes very well indeed. Soon he would have power over earth and water as well as mind and then, he felt, nothing could stop him.

*****

Christopher and Brigit Ward had visited the London bank vault where Chris had secured the Theia stone for safekeeping and brought it back to their apartment still locked inside its transport case. The stone was a curious object by any standards. A meteorite of unidentified origin and yet encrusted with impossible gems, its powers were clearly vast and yet largely unknown and its purpose, if it had one, entirely mysterious. Chris knew it as well as anyone alive, for he was connected to it, and yet suspected he had barely scratched the surface of its abilities. He had no great desire to find out more.

Among other things the stone was the prison of the being known only as the Creature - in itself largely a creation of the stone, with a little help from some meddling humans two and a half thousand years ago. Chris had succeeded in trapping the Creature's essence in the meteorite and so ending the menace it presented. But later he had merged with it, albeit with himself as the dominant partner. It might seem odd that the Creature existed simultaneously in the stone, inside his mind and in the Aether world, but not to Chris. He understood because, in many ways, so did he. The Theia stone and the Master of Elements were inextricably linked.

It was because trapping the Creature in the stone had been so dangerous and difficult that Brigit feared doing anything that might help it escape. She doubted the wisdom of what her husband intended to do and had insisted on being present. If she felt things were going wrong, Brigit intended to intervene, whatever Chris wanted. The Mistresses of Elements had been created to fight the Creature and so she had her own duties in that regard.

They ate a simple evening meal and then it was time. Chris took the stone from its container and placed it, rather incongruously, on the coffee table in his lounge. The gems on it gleamed in the electric lights, but when Chris switched all these off, plunging the flat into darkness, it could be seen that they still generated their own weird unnatural glow.

Brigit was to provide the illumination, and that was eldritch enough in its own right. Working from a single spark she created a series of floating naked flames that drifted around in the air, seemingly at random, but actually keeping to some strange pattern. They provided a dim orange light, enough to see by, but filling the room with shadows. Chris knew fire needed fuel to burn and yet these seemed to have none; Brigit said they were fed from an extra-dimensional source, but properly understanding that explanation surpassed his own lesser comprehension of the fire element.

Brigit sat herself in an armchair, mostly lost in the gloom from Chris' perspective, although he knew she was watching him closely. Chris himself sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the Theia stone and stared at it. In the orange glow from his wife's 'fire-lights' the rubies embedded in the meteorite flamed with especial brilliance. He relaxed his mind, gripped the diamond on the amulet he wore round his neck and sought to engage the power of Aether so as to mentally enter the stone.

The flat around him seemed to slowly dissolve. He found himself standing on a rocky hillside. The light here was a lot brighter - in fact a hot sun was beating down on the parched landscape. Chris realised he had been here before. It resembled parts of the Aether world and yet was inside the Theia stone - perhaps it was both at the same time. He was near the place where the Creature had been bound to a rock before Chris had made a deal with it.

He was about to start climbing uphill toward where he had found it last time, when he noticed movement on the arid plain below him. Guessing that anything that happened here was likely to be related to his purpose, he waited and watched.

The figure that was slowly approaching him was humanoid in shape. The Creature had been a shapeshifter in the material world and presumably in this purely mental one might look like anything it wanted, but as the distance narrowed, Chris decided the figure appeared human and male. Perhaps it wasn't the Creature at all. In this place he had once met one of the ancient Greek sages who had started his whole business off.

The intent of his visitor to meet him was clear now, so Chris headed downhill, threading a path through the rocks and boulders to greet whoever it was part way. This meant that at times he temporarily lost sight of the figure and that explained why he had a shock as he rounded an especially large boulder and got his first clear look at the person approaching. The face he was looking at was his own, and from this Chris felt certain it was the Creature. Mind games like this were very much the sort of thing it would do.

They covered the final few metres and stood face to face. "Hello, Chris," said his doppelganger.

"And why have you decided to look like me?" Chris asked.

"Because I am you; and you are me. We merged, remember? I live inside you now, look out through your eyes and know the things you know. Thanks for that, by the way; I understand humans much better now. I can see where I went wrong, all the mistakes I made. How stupid of me to want to destroy your people. I should have wanted to rule them instead."

"Well, you can forget that idea," said Chris firmly. "Since we are going done memory lane, you might want to recall who's in charge here. You have exactly the amount of leeway I allow, and believe me, that's never going to be much."

"And yet you need my help," said the Creature. "I know what you want and I will give it freely ... but there are some things I would like you to consider first."

"Such as?" Chris asked. He had known the Creature would want to talk, to seek some advantage. He thought it was best to let it and get this over with.

"That maybe Randall Ness has the right idea, even if he isn't the right person?" said the Creature. "Your world is astonishingly badly governed, and your species is making a mess of things. If you carry on the way you are going your civilisation, maybe even your whole species, won't survive. You and your delightful companions have the power to put that right. Take over, Chris; get rid of all those bad rulers and put things right."