Phantom Ch. 06 Pt. 02

Maggie was sent to see a World Government therapist twice a week now, and Brad told her that if she ever took Virtue again that he would leave her. One morning Maggie was staring into her bathroom mirror again when she heard that voice in her head. The voice of Kelly.

How're you doing, dear?

"You!" said Maggie, looking into the mirror. "You're ruining my life!"

You mean like the way you tried to ruin mine, in college?

"Get over that! You were just put on probation!"

That was the wrong thing to say. Kelly's outrage grew fourfold. You still have no remorse, do you? You did it before and if you could, you'd do it again! You fucking bitch! I think you need another attitude adjustment, dear.

"What do you mean?"

Kelly told her what she wanted.

"No... no, not that," said Maggie. "Please Kelly! Not Anal Dissolve!"

It's either that, or you wake up tomorrow morning to find Brad dead and your hand holding the bloody knife.

********

An hour later, Maggie was sobbing as she bended over in the bathroom. Her pants and panties were around her ankles. In her hands she held a tiny paint brush, that she had just taken out of a small, amber colored jar. The brush was wet.

"Please, Kelly! I'll do anything else, anything!" Maggie sobbed. "But not Anal Dissolve! Please, don't make me do this!"

But Kelly was unrelenting. And so Maggie, with a trembling hand, slowly painted the left side of the rim of her anus with the liquid.

Now do the other side! Kelly was unrelenting.

Maggie's hand trembled even more as she painted the other side.

Good. Now enjoy your trip, drug addict!

Anal Dissolve had the virtue of working quickly. Maggie could feel the electricity, like a burning fever, rising from her rectum into her body cavity and up into her brain which quickly became fried. Soon Maggie felt like she was flying in the clouds. But in reality she was running around the streets of San Francisco on her hands and legs, totally nude, baying at the moon and chasing after dogs.

"Awooooo!" said Maggie, baying at the moon.

San Francisco, of course, had many years of experience dealing with people who were combating substance abuse. Maggie was caught, diagnosed, processed, and sentenced. She would live "free range style" in a half-way house, the half-way house being the streets of San Francisco. The city would provide her with a safe supply of Kethadone, a drug almost identical to Anal Dissolve but which the World Government said was safer, and the freedom to roam the streets of San Francisco while she underwent treatment.

As Kelly Gray watched Maggie living her new life, in a squalor of feces, madness, and drug addiction, she realized she was somewhat pleased, and yet also still unfulfilled. There were still so many girls to go after, still so many wrongs to be addressed....

********

The Doctor felt groggy as he woke up in his hotel room. He went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

You look sleepy.

"I am sleepy."

You cried out in your sleep.

"Did I?" The Doctor rinsed his face.

And the night before as well. And you spoke a name.

"What name?" The Doctor asked.

Yael.

The Doctor took a deep breath, and resumed washing his face.

That was your wife, wasn't it?

"Yes," said the Doctor.

I noticed in your home you had a machine that helped you sleep.

The Doctor continued washing his face.

I also noticed that when you travel, that you take sleeping pills. Do you have a lot of trouble sleeping?

The Doctor looked at his image in the mirror. "I don't suppose that ghouls sleep, do they?"

Not as you understand it.

"Then consider yourself lucky," said the Doctor, his face grim.

********

They ate breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. The Doctor was eating nuclear bacon and cloned eggs.

You eat too much protein, Doctor. There's meat in every one of your meals!

"Healthy living tips from a ghost. I love it," said the Doctor.

"What, Doctor?" said Sophie, looking up from her own eggs. She invariably ordered whatever the Doctor did, which infuriated Alanna even further. He was setting such a poor example for the girl!

"The ghoul inside of me very politely pointed out that I should be eating grass for breakfast, Sophie," said the Doctor as Sophie laughed.

"You should be eating more fair trade, locally grown, gender friendly fruits and vegetables," said Alyssa. "Or-

"Or what? I'll die before my time? Haven't you noticed the somewhat risky profession I'm in?" the Doctor snapped. He pointed to Alyssa's plate. "Besides, if I ate what you did, I'd be hungry again in fifteen minutes."

"I don't get hungry after fifteen minutes," said Alyssa.

"You're used to eating like a sparrow, I'm not. Also, I use my mind. That takes a lot of energy," said the Doctor. He popped a Girl Ball into his mouth.

And must you eat so many of those ridiculous sweets?

"Yes, I must," said the Doctor. "I need a lot of energy to kill ghouls." He lifted his cup to take a drink.

"You're just brimming with hate and aggressiveness," said Alyssa. "Why do you dislike kalaks so much?"

Doctor, be gentle with her. She doesn't know-

The Doctor slammed his cup down with a bang. "You want to know why I hate ghouls? You really want to know?" He practically shouted it, making Sophie flinch.

Alyssa suddenly looked unsure of herself. But she said, "Yes, I do."

"Get ready for a story, little girl."

*********

Benjamin Renberg was born in the coastal city of Ashdod, Israel, to Naftali and Miri Renberg in the year 2354. He was recognized as brilliant even at an early age. He graduated high school at 14, college at 16, and began pursuing advanced degrees almost immediately. He met his future wife, Yael, when he was studying for his Ph. D. in Exotic Energy Sources at the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology. Yael was a dark haired beauty who had a deep appreciation for Ben's dry wit and an even deeper appreciation for his long, circumsized penis.

They were married two years later, at which time Ben also shortened his name to "Ren"... "for the sake of efficiency", he told Yael. "Think how much time we can save not saying 'berg'!". Yael had smiled. He always loved her smile.

Ben was highly sought after by many high tech companies, having developed fourteen valuable patents by the age of 25. He had his pick of jobs, many of them with big companies, but instead he chose a lower paying, more obscure offer with a foundation that was working in the experimental field of psychic energy. Psychic energy was only a theory at that point, the belief that the energies of the mind was a distinct kind of power that could be tapped or generated artificially.

The director of the project was a kindly old man who wore a yarmulke named Wally Harbinger. He was a retired entrepreneur, and bankrolling it out of his own funds. "It might all work out to be nothing, yes? But either way, I think it will be fun to find out."

And so Ben went to work at the experimental reactor that Wally had created, four miles outside Dimona, deep in the Negev Desert. Ben always loved the water and hated the heat, which is part of the reason he eventually moved to the Isle of Man, but he loved his job very much, and more importantly, they were making progress! Within six months they were able to generate small amounts of psychic energy artificially. Within a year they were able to detect psychic energy in the most vague of ways; within two, they were able to detect it in locations around the globe.

Wally stared at the red dots floating around the world. "Could all these be masses of psychic energy?"

"Possibly," said Ben. "We need to figure out a way of locating them even more specifically. Then we need to try to figure out how to communicate."

"To communicate?" Wally looked startled. "We're talking about energy. Do you think they possess intelligence?"

"Possibly," said Ben. "Let's see what we can come up with."

And so Ben kept working.

And then one day Ben looked up and saw a stranger on one of the catwalks above him, in the reactor control lab. "Hello?" he said uncertainly.

The man looked down at him for a moment. There seemed to be something odd about his face, like half was one color, and the other half was another. The man looked down at him, and vanished.

Ben was smart enough to realize what had happened. He went to Wally immediately with the news.

"You think you've attracted some kind of... psychic spirit?" Wally said.

"I don't know what to call it," said Ben. "A ghost. Maybe something that exists on a parallel plane of existence."

"What do you suggest we do about it?"

"Try to communicate with it," said Ben. "We could learn so much."

Wally looked at Ben. "If it were anyone else, I would say you were imagining things."

"Wally, I didn't imagine it!"

"I believe you," said Wally. "Keep me informed."

********

The next day, as Ben got up in the morning, he saw the image of a man in the mirror behind him. The man's face was half white, and half black.

"Who are you?" he asked. He slowly turned around. There was no one there. He turned into the mirror again. The half white, half black man was still there.

"A friend," said the man.

"You're psychic energy, aren't you?" said Ben, trying to contain his excitement.

"In a sense," said the man. "It's a shame we had to meet like this."

"Why?" Ben asked.

"Because I see you're intelligent, and have no malice. Unfortunately, I have to destroy you, and everything you've created," said the man.

"No!" Ben cried, even as the man seemed to surge forward, and enter his body. He struggled within himself, but was immediately overpowered.

"That's right," said the man, speaking through Ben's mouth now. "There's no way to resist me."

"Why do you want to destroy me?" Ben asked, finding he could still speak.

"Because you've learned things you're not supposed to learn, and you've seen things you're not supposed to see," he said, in a singsong voice. "And now I need your help to kill all your friends."

"No!" Ben cried. He found his body slowly walking out of the bathroom, into the hallway, past his wife Yael, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen. "Where are you going, dear?"

"I'll be back soon, honey. I just need to check something," said Ren. The words that came out of his mouth were not his; and he found himself incapable of saying anything else. He was under the complete and utter control of this creature.

*********

"Hello, Ben," said Mischa, as Ben entered the Reactor Control Room.

Ben didn't respond. He couldn't. He went over to the controls, and started making adjustments. Very shortly the hum of the reactor started to increase, and the status gauges started to move into the red.

"Ben, what are you doing?" said Mischa.

Ben didn't respond. He just kept blankly manipulating the controls.

Mischa came over, saw what he was doing. "Ben, no, you'll overload the reactor!" He moved his hands over the controls, but Ben grabbed his wrist with one hand. His other hand went around Mischa's neck. He squeezed.

"Ben," Mischa gasped, and then there was a snapping sound. Ben threw Mischa's body across the room with incredible strength. Then he returned to the controls.

"You just made me kill my friend," Ben sobbed.

Only the beginning.

"Please, please don't do make me do this!"

But he did. Once the reactor was set to overload, Ben short circuited the controls so it couldn't be reversed. Then he got out of there at a fast walk.

*********

He was on a sandy hill, overlooking the reactor. Ben was familiar with the area, having taken walks there. But today there was something new, a tall metal rod, sticking into the ground, and electrocuffs attached to it. Ben picked up the electrocuffs and snapped one shut around his right wrist. The other one was attached to the rod.

And then he gasped as the black and white man came out of his body.

"Why are you doing this?" Ben sobbed.

"I arranged this especially for you," said the half white, half black man.

"Please, there are nearly forty employees in this facility, including their families. Including my wife!" said Ben.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "You are responsible for their deaths."

"Me?"

"You opened a door which was not supposed to be opened. Your kind must never know about mine," said the man. "It is fitting that you watch this happen to your friends. I expect when the reactor explodes, you'll have a few seconds to observe the devastation before it reaches you."

The man started to walk away.

"Please! Please don't do this!" Ben cried.

But the man only laughed, and vanished.

Ben struggled against the electrocuffs. But they held him firmly. At the bottom of the hill he saw the Dome of the reactor, and the homes clustered around it. All of them would be vaporized.

"Get out! Get out now!" Ben yelled. But his voice was like a slender reed in the wind. He struggled again against the electrocuffs, to no effect. He thought about Wally, and all the people he worked with, and their families... and Yael. He would never-

There was a brilliant flash, and that was all he remembered.

********

He woke up in a hospital bed. He tried to rise, but felt a stab of pain.

"Take it easy."

He looked up to see a tall nurse hovering over him. "You're very lucky."

Lucky?

"You died on the way to the hospital. You were dead for 94 seconds, Doctor Ren."

Ren tried to speak, found he couldn't.

"You have burns over 40% of your body. We're going to start a regeneration treatment once you've recovered some. You're very lucky your eyes were closed when the blast hit, you could have gone blind."

Were they? Ren didn't remember. He struggled to speak. Slowly, words came out. "My... my wife," he sputtered.

The nurse bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Doctor Ren. You were the only survivor. There wasn't even enough left of the bodies to identify. We're actually going to need your help to tell us who-"

Ren tuned the rest of it out.

********

Ren recovered. His body healed. He got up, and left the hospital, and vowed to take a new purpose in life. Not merely to identify psychic energy. But to destroy it.

He moved away from Israel; Israel was full of unpleasant memories now. He moved to the Isle of Man, which at least was on the water, like Ashdod. He marshaled his resources, and built up his technology, and prepared for the day when he would do battle with the ghouls.

*********

"How terrible!" said Alyssa. "And this... this kalak made you kill everyone, and then forced you to watch it happen?"

The Doctor nodded.

I'm so, so very sorry, Doctor Ren.

Alyssa licked her lips. "I... I can understand why you view kalaks so negatively, Doctor." She shook her head, as if debating what to say next. "But... but you have to understand, all kalaks aren't like that one."

"They aren't?" said the Doctor sharply.

"No," said Alyssa. She found the courage to look him in the eye. "My mother died when I was fifteen. She meant the world to me. I was desolate. I would barely eat, and barely sleep. And then a voice came into my head. It told me everything was going to be all right."

"Alanna," said the Doctor. It wasn't a question.

Alyssa nodded. "She comforted me. She got me out of my depression. She taught me that there was more to live for."

The Doctor spoke into the air. "I thought making your presence known was forbidden. I thought interfering was forbidden. Your precious Three Laws, correct?"

"It was forbidden, Doctor," said Alanna, speaking through his mouth. "I faltered in a moment of weakness, out of my compassion for Alyssa."

"For which I was intensely grateful!" said Alyssa eagerly. "We... we got to know each other over time. Alanna is wise, Doctor! She taught me so much about life!"

"And whose idea was it to turn your body over to her?" the Doctor asked.

"Alanna mentioned that kalaks sometimes looked for Samaritans... to help them with special projects. Alanna is very important, Doctor. She goes after kalaks who don't obey the rules. As a Phantom, one of the last remaining Phantoms, she has an awesome power, and an even more awesome responsibility."

"You have gone after abusive ghouls?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, many times," said Alanna, through the Doctor's mouth.

********

The Doctor talked with Alyssa some more. It looked like they were declaring a truce. Sophie was glad things were settling down between the two of them.

They had made three stops so far, trying to track down the elusive Penguin. The Doctor had taken some readings, and then shaken his head. Sophie rarely heard what Alanna was thinking, unless she talked through the Doctor, but she got the sense that Alanna was beginning to get impatient.

Sophie had eyed a small florist shop across the hallway from the hotel restaurant they were eating at. She went to it and saw the proprietor, a young man with an easy smile, grinning at her.

"What can I get for you today?" said the young man.

"I don't know. I'm just looking," said Sophie.

"So am I," said the young man, as his smile went wide.

Sophie looked sharply at the young man. It was not the kind of comment she expected to hear from hotel staff. But there was something easy about his smile that disarmed her, that flattered rather than offended her. "What can you offer me?" she asked flirtatiously.

"Oh, more than you can imagine," said the flower seller. "Over here we have lavender roses."

"Oh, they look beautiful!" said Sophie.

The man smiled behind her. It would be so easy to snap Sophie's neck. He would grab it, and twist her head, and with one crack she would be dead. His man nipples grew hard just at the thought of it.

"And over here we have Peruvian lilies," said the man.

"Ooooh, they're adorable!" said Sophie.

Her voice was so cute. As Sophie bent over, the man studied her young ass. It looked so firm, so squeezable.

And then Sophie turned around to face him. She had thick dark hair, green eyes, high cheekbones, and a pert little nose like... just like....

"It's hard to know what I want sometimes. You know?" she said, looking up at the young man.

"I do," said the young man. "But sometimes what we're looking for is right under our noses, and we don't even know it."

Sophie gave him a bashful smile and rubbed her thighs. "I'd... I'd better be getting back," she said.

"Wait," said the man. He picked up a Peruvian lily, and handed one to her. "For you."

"For me?" She inhaled and battled her eyelashes gratefully. The man realized how tremendously beautiful she would look with black and blue eyes, with red choke marks around her throat after he had strangled her.

She looked earnestly at the young man. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it."

"It's my pleasure," said the man. "Come by any time." He watched her go with a smile.

********

Kelly had something special planned for Joyleen Peacock.

Joyleen had been the one who had suggested Kelly go to the Frat House party where she had gotten ganged raped. Joyleen had practically dragged her there. "Come on, Kell, it will be good for you!"

And then Joyleen had stood in the crowd of drunken frat boys and watched her get raped, smirking and cheering wildly.

Kelly's revenge started with three, simple words.

You killed me.

Joyleen was startled the first time she heard the words. She was happy married to Cliffton Prescott, and in fact getting ready to celebrate their fifth year anniversary, and they had a three year old son named Christopher. Joyleen was a Free Speech Monitor for the World Government. It was her job to monitor suspected holocomm conversations flagged by an AI program and see if any of the 72 forbidden words were spoken. If so, the thought police would be called in immediately.

Cliff also worked for the World Government, as an Efficiency Expert. He roamed through the bureaucracy and flagged any worker who was exceeding productivity norms. Flagged workers were counseled to work more slowly. Overefficient workers often triggered labor strife in the workplace, as other workers felt their self-esteem being threatened.

You killed me.

Joyleen was startled the first time she heard the words in her head, while she was looking into the bathroom mirror. "Who said that?"

Do you remember me, Joyleen?

The image of Kelly Gray appeared in her mirror. Joyleen gasped and turned around, but no one was there.

"You... you...."

The name was Kelly, Joyleen. Or had you forgotten? Maybe you forgot this?

"You... you're dead."

Yes, Joyleen. And you killed me.

"No!"

Yes, you did. You were the one who persuaded me to go to that party.

"No!"

You were the one who laughed while I was raped.

"No!"

You were the reason I was there, and the reason I killed myself.

"Kelly, please-"

You owe me a tremendous debt, Joyleen. How do you intend to repay it?

********

You killed me you killed me you killed me you killed me.

For days Kelly bombarded Joyleen with that one simple message. When she looked into a mirror Kelly would make her see her dead body, hanging from the rafters. It got so bad that Joyleen couldn't look in the mirror any more.

It affected her relations with Christopher and Cliffton.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Christopher asked, in that endearingly retarded way that toddlers did.

They were supposed to be playing with his dolls. Joyleen had gotten Christopher dolls from each of the seven major genders, so he would be open to the possibility of gender reassignment when he got older. She had also gotten him black and Hispanic dolls, to teach him not to be racist, which the World Government said was inherent in the white genome. Christopher loved them, his favorites being Black Barbie and Heavy Juanita.

"Crying?" said Joyleen, wiping her eyes.

You killed me!

"I'm just... just so happy to be playing dolls with you," said Joyleen.

Killer!

Christopher looked up at her with blank cow eyes. Then his feeble toddler brain flicked a switch, and he started playing with Black Barbie again.

But Cliff was even more astute then their retarded toddler.

"What's wrong?" he asked her one night.

"Wrong?" Joyleen asked.

"For the past few days you've been walking around with a panicky expression on your face. Is something bothering you?"

Killer!

"No... nothing... nothing bothering me," said Joyleen.

Cliff studied her wife. "Are you all ready for tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow?"

You killed me!

Cliff frowned. "Our five year anniversary?"

"Oh, Cliff, I totally forgot!"

Cliff frowned. "Now I know something is wrong!"

"No, no, I bought a special dress, and we'll have fun," she reached over and kissed him. "I promise."

********

There was a fancy ball at Hydinger's, in downtown Kansas City. Joyleen put on a frilly pink dress and stared at herself in the mirror while Cliff put on his suit.

"How do I look?" she said, looking into the mirror.

"Amazing," said Cliff.

Joyleen looked into the mirror, and saw Kelly Gray, hanging from a rafter by a thick rope. She cried out.

"What's wrong?" said Cliff.

Joyleen turned away, her heart beating rapidly. "Nothing! Everything... is fine."

********

But she was crying when they were dancing, hastily wiping away the tears with her free hand. The more she tried to paint a smile on her face, the more grotesque it looked.

Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!

"Joyleen, what's wrong?" said Cliff, as they stood on the dance floor.

And Joyleen put her hands to her head and screamed.

********

She was seeing a therapist, Doctor Grossberg. Her girlfriends had all suggested names to her: Doctor Greenberg, Doctor Knish, Doctor Schmaltz, and Doctor Dickstein, but Doctor Grossberg came strongly recommended by her friend Mindy.

"She helped me with my period depressions. If someone can save me from that, they can save you from anything," said Mindy.

And so Joyleen went to see Doctor Grossberg. Doctor Grossberg listened patiently to her account, how she was hearing the accusing voice of a dead classmate in her head. Doctor Grossberg took copious notes. He wore big glasses and had a wart on the end of his nose.

When Joyleen was done, she looked at Doctor Grossberg anxiously. "So, Doctor, what do you think? What should I do?"

Doctor Grossberg handed her a bottle filled with pills. "Take one of these, twice a day."

"What?" Joyleen was startled. "I thought we were going to talk through my problems!"

"No, that never works. Just take the pills."

And so Joyleen took the pills. They made her feel very sleepy. Now she felt even more retarded than her toddler Christopher did, but in a way Joyleen found she enjoyed playing with his dollies even more.

But the voices in her head did not abate. They only got louder.

MURDERER!!!!!

Finally Joyleen broke down. She just couldn't take it anymore.

"What is it?" she cried. "What do you want for me?"

To atone.

"How?"

You killed Kelly Gray. You must atone by bringing another Kelly Gray into the world.

*********

Joyleen told Cliff that she was going to visit her mother for a few days. Cliff hoped the visit would calm her down. He had seen her crying while playing with Christopher.

But when Joyleen left, she didn't go to her mother's. She went to the hospital.

She met with Doctor Zittrain, her molecular surgeon.

"Are you sure about this, Ms. Peacock?" said the Doctor.

"Of course," said Joyleen, dabbing back tears. "You're a molecular surgeon. You change people's appearances. That's what you do for a living, isn't it?"

"Yes, but... I've never been asked to do something quite like this," said Doctor Zittrain.

"Well, now I'm asking," said Joyleen, with dry tears on her face.

********

Joyleen felt nervous as they wheeled her in for surgery, and began to experience last minute doubts. How would Cliff react? How would her parents, her friends? What would little Christopher think about her new look? "If I do this, will it be over? Will the voices stop?"

The voices will stop, Joyleen. I promise you.

Joyleen felt her pulse racing as she was put on the operating table. As she felt the mask slip over her face, she felt the sudden urge to push it aside, to say no, to get out of there. But then gas started to flow, and she felt herself getting very sleepy....

********

"Honey, I'm home."

It was three days later. Cliff was in the living room, helping Christopher play with his Lady President doll.

Joyleen entered the living room. For a moment Cliff didn't look up.

"Girl girl," said Christopher.

"Yes, President Girl Girl," said Cliff. He glanced up at Joyleen looked down, then quickly looked up at her again. "Joyleen? Is that you?"

"Yes, dear."

Cliff got up, his face filled with horror. "Joyleen, what have you done to yourself?"

Joyleen poised over the holographic mirror in the living room. "Do you like it?"

Kelly Gray was gone! Joyleen was thrilled to no longer see the dead body of Kelly Gray in the mirror. She hadn't heard Kelly's voice once since she had woken up with her new face.

"Like it? You look completely different!" said Cliff. He frowned. Somehow, that face looked familiar to him. "Joyleen, you didn't just change your face, did you? You changed it so you look like... like that girl. Joyleen, did you change your face to look like the dead girl from college?"

"Why, yes dear," said Joyleen, turning to give him a hug. "It was only fair. I took one Kelly Gray out of the world, and now I am bringing another one back. I intend to change my name to Kelly Gray."

And then it was Cliff's turn to scream.

********

Joyleen was sent to a mental hospital. She rarely saw Cliff or Christopher, except for visits. Sometimes Cliff's new wife accompanied him, though after he got remarried his visits became increasingly infrequent. But Kelly kept her word; she never spoke to Joyleen again. It took years, however, for a frightened Joyleen to respond to her original name.

"Joyleen," Doctor Grossberg would say.

"No, no!" she would yell in panic. "Don't call me that! She'll hear! She'll hear!"

*********

"My name is Kelly, Kelly Gray," said Joyleen rapidly, with terror in her eyes, as she pressed against the white padded walls of her rehabilitation suite.

"A most interesting case," said Doctor Grossberg. "Is this the one you wanted to see, Doctor?"

"Yes," said Ren.

Doctor Ren wasn't dressed like any psychiatrist Doctor Grossberg had ever seen before. He was wearing a long black coat, old fashioned cotton trousers, and a floppy hat. But then, he seldom saw visitors from the World Government's Directorate of Global Wellness. Maybe this was the current style of dress in Copenhagen.

The Doctor leaned forward and bent his knees slightly. "Hello there, who are you?"

"I am Kelly Gray!" said Joyleen.

"No, Joyleen. Your name is Joyleen Peacock," said Doctor Grossberg. Doctor Grossberg's nose twitched, and he rubbed the giant black mole on the end of it.

"I am Kelly Gray!"

"This is a classic example of transference, Doctor," said Grossberg. "Joyleen believes she was responsible for the death of a classmate named Kelly Gray. In response, she decided to take Kelly's identity. She not only answers to that name, but she even altered her face to look like Kelly."

Doctor, what's going on here?

The Doctor ignored Alanna. "Yes, a most interesting case." He approached Joyleen. Joyleen whimpered and backed into a corner.

"Don't be alarmed, I'm not going to harm you," said the Doctor. He took a bag out of his pocket with one hand. "Here, have a girl ball."

Joyleen looked uncertain.

"They're sweets. Try one," he said.

Joyleen hesitantly took a yellow one in her hand.

"Blonde! Good choice. Now put it in your mouth," said the Doctor encouragingly.

Joyleen put the girl ball in her mouth.

"Now chew it. Or better yet, suck on it," said the Doctor.

Joyleen started to suck on it. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the Doctor taking a small scanning device and press it against her leg. When she did, she shrieked and pushed him away.

"Are you all right, Doctor?" Doctor Grossberg asked anxiously.

The Doctor bent down to pick up his hat. "My hat got the worst of it, but it's very durable. I think I've seen everything I've come for. Thank you, Doctor Grossman."

"Grossberg."

"You're too kind," The Doctor smiled.

*********

As the Doctor walked back to the grav car where Alyssa and Sophie were waiting, Alanna thought, Doctor, what's going on here?

"What do you mean?"

We're hunting down the Penguin. The Penguin is definitely a man.

"So?"

This woman was tormented by someone named Kelly Gray.

"Yes, well, this says otherwise," said the Doctor. He held up the hand scanner he had pressed against Joyleen, the kalak scanner that the Doctor claimed had only a one inch scanning range. "I took a sample of kalak psychic DNA, and found strands remarkably similar to your Penguin. He's visited her."

Does that help you fill in the Penguin's DNA profile? Alanna knew that the more complete it was, the easier it would be for the Doctor's orbiting satellite network to locate the Penguin.

"Alas... only a bit. It seems the Penguin was inside her some weeks ago. There are only fragments left. But... we got four more DNA strands to add to his profile."

Four? Doctor, this man is set on destroying the world!

"So you say." The Doctor stopped at the grav car. He saw Alyssa and Sophie looking expectantly at him. "This is the way I work. If you know a faster way of locating the Penguin, I won't be at all offended if you leave my body and go to it."

As he got into the grav car, Sophie, who was sitting at his side in front, said, "So?"

"We got some more leads."

"Good," said Sophie, patting his arm.

********

Alanna was concerned. They had stopped at three locations where the Doctor's satellite network indicated the Penguin might have been at, and so far she saw little signs of progress. Even more worrying was the Doctor himself.

The Doctor regularly had nightmares, often turbulent ones where he would roll back and forth in bed and cry out.

"No, Yael, no!" he cried one night, as he suddenly sat upright in bed, his body covered in sweat.

Doctor are you all right?

The Doctor struggled to slow down his breathing. "Yes, I'm fine."

Are you sure?

He lay back in bed.

"Everything is fine."

But everything wasn't fine. The Doctor also screamed, "I killed her! I killed them all!" in his sleep. It wasn't hard to figure out what was bothering him. He felt guilty. Some evil kalak had used his body to destroy the research reactor in Dimona, Israel, but the Doctor felt responsible for it. Some sixty people died that day, including his wife, and the kalak sadist had even put the Doctor on a hill to watch it happen.

But the Doctor couldn't forgive himself for it, even though there was nothing to forgive. He was traumatized over what he had been made to do, and Alanna worried that it might be affecting his judgment.

Were they really going after the Penguin, or was the Doctor pursuing a personal vendetta with some kalak named Kelly Gray?

*********

Sophie was another mystery. Why was this young girl accompanying the Doctor into dangerous situations? She tried to broach the subject at dinner that night.

"Sophie, how are you doing?" Alanna asked, through the Doctor's mouth.

"I'm fine, Doctor," said Sophie, looking oddly at him.

"That wasn't me, Sophie," said the Doctor. "It was the ghoul."

Sophie dropped her fork with a clatter. "Must you use him as a puppet like that? It makes me uncomfortable."

"I'm sorry," said Alanna. "The last thing in the world I'd want to do is to make you uncomfortable in any way. But this is the way I communicate with others when I'm riding inside of Alyssa."

"And can we please not use the word riding," the Doctor asked. "It makes me feel like a thoroughbred."

"What do you want, Alanna?" Sophie asked irritably, picking up her fork again.

"Simply to learn more about you. Why you travel with the Doctor?"

Sophie gave the Doctor a hard look. "The Doctor saved my life. My parents worked in psychic energy research, just like the Doctor. One day some ghoul decided that my parents had discovered a little too much about you ghouls. A man came to our apartment while we were having dinner. The first I heard of it, my mother was screaming because some stranger had just blown my father's head off."

"Oh, Sophie, I'm so sorry," said Alanna. Alyssa looked stunned.

"The next thing I knew, the man turned to my mother and said, 'Sorry about that', and then he shot her in the chest. She fell to the ground. I screamed and ran to her. The man with the gun repeated, 'And I'm sorry about that too.'," said Sophie.

"I ran to my mother's side. She had a smoking hole in her chest. She was killed instantly, I think, like my father. I remember screaming, crying something like, 'why did you do that?' and the man said, 'Just cleaning up some loose ends.' And then he looked at me, with an odd look, and I just knew he was debating whether to kill me or not. And then something seemed to click in his eye, and he raised his weapon and pointed it at me," said Sophie. She paused, and took a big drink of water. She seemed to be breathing heavily now, and she wet her lips rapidly as she talked. "And then someone came in behind the first man. Someone who said to the first man, 'Excuse me, can you please stop doing that?' and as the first man turned, the second man shot him."

"That's... awful," said Alanna. "But Sophie, how do you know this was the work of a kalak?"

"You didn't let me finish," said Sophie, in a hard voice. She took a deep breath. Recounting this story was obviously difficult for her. "When the first man got shot by the second man, a white light started to come out of his body. White light in the shape of a person. The second man shot the white light, and it vaporized. I screamed, and... I must have passed out." She paused, taking another big drink of water. She took another deep breath. "When... when I woke up, I... I was in the Doctor's home. He... he told me that bad men had killed my parents. He told me that he had been on the trail of one of the bad men, which is how he found him at our apartment. He knew who I was, and that I had no close relatives, so he offered to... let me stay with him for a while. Until I got back on my feet."

"And seven years later, you're still with him," said Alanna.

"Yes," said Sophie, giving him a smile. "I knew, I always knew that it wasn't just bad men who had come for my parents. The Doctor only told me the full truth a few years ago. He said, when I got older, if I still wanted to, that I could help him hunt them. And when I turned 16 last year, I did."

"You let a 16 year old girl go on dangerous missions hunting kalaks?" said Alanna.

"She was always safe with me," said the Doctor.

"But what about having a life? What about going to college, Sophie?" Alanna asked.

Sophie snorted dismissively. "The Doctor has taught me way more than I could ever learn in some college."

"But what about men, Sophie?" Alanna persisted.

"What about them?" said Sophie.

"Wouldn't you like to meet a man?"

Sophie grimaced. "You sound like the Doctor," she said, which she realized was unintentionally funny, since Alanna's words came out of the Doctor's mouth. "He complained about that too. He said I had to get out and meet other people. I told him I see other people all the time, on our missions. Then the Doctor told me that I had to meet men, that it was... what was the word you used, Doctor? That it was unnatural for a young, attractive woman to be cloistered away from men. And so the Doctor forced me to go dating when I turned 18. He made it an ultimatum. He said he wouldn't take me on any more missions until I went on at least ten dates with men." She frowned at him. "I hated you for that, Doctor."

"I was only thinking about your best interests," said the Doctor.

"Why did you hate him for that?" Alanna asked.

"Because they were all boring! They were all 18, 19, 20 year olds. Can you imagine how boring a 20 year old man is? A 20 year old man knows nothing, compared to the Doctor!" said Sophie.

"There's more than just knowledge in attraction," said Alanna.

"That's what he told me," said Sophie, making a face. "I turned the tables on him, and said, 'So Doctor, why are you still single? You're only 39, and you don't go on dates.' And his only response was to be evasive, to say that his situation wasn't the same as mine. And one of my dates turned out to be a Lemure, who was trying to get to the Doctor through me!"

"He wasn't a very threatening Lemure, I knew you could handle him," said the Doctor.

"You... handled a Lemure?" Alanna asked.

"You bet I did," said Sophie proudly, and suddenly her Infinite Infinity Repeater was in her hands, flashing it above the table, before disappearing again. Where she kept it, Alanna didn't know.

"And so you see, that's what dating brought me. Boring men, and ghouls. It's much more trouble than it's worth," said Sophie.

"And so you're... happy, living alone?" Alanna asked.

"I'm not alone," said Sophie. "I'm with the Doctor."

********

"If you ask me, the dumb slut got what she deserved."

Vicky Prentice looked over her shoulder, apparently not caring if Kelly Gray heard her words as she sat weeping in the school cafeteria. Kelly was sitting there, crying her eyes out. A few hours earlier, the holovid of her having sex with those frat boys had been posted on the Holonet. The predominant opinion was that Kelly had been banged repeatedly by a bunch of guys, but that she had been asking for it and even enjoyed it.

Vicky's friends laughed and snickered at Kelly, and they all walked away. In their minds, the incident was quickly forgotten.

But not Kelly's.

********

Vicky Prentice was happily married to James Bennett. Vicky worked for the World Government as a Nutritional Educator. Her job was to roam around supermarkets, checking shopper's wagons to make sure they had enough fruits and veggies. First time offenders would get a lecture; repeat offenders could be fined.

James, on the other hand, was a Meteorological Social Justice Coordinator. His job was to sample the weather in white and minority neighborhoods, and if there was any discrepancy, to suggest reprogramming the weather modification nets so that good weather was distributed more equitably.

Neither of their jobs were strictly necessary, but the World Government promised a job for everyone who wanted one, and after tallying their interests and matching it against its needs, the World Government gave them these assignments. Vicky loved to spend her days roaming supermarkets, lecturing people, and feeling very self-important and virtuous. It was not very demanding work, and there was very little supervision.

But too much free time was Vicky's downfall. James was handsome, but after a few years of marriage, Vicky grew restless. She met a tall Spanishy man named Eduardo who seduced her into a bit of afternoon fun. She wasn't hard to persuade. Vicky had freelanced from time to time. She still loved James, but also liked a bit of variety.

She had a nice time of it, and didn't think anything of her tumble with Eduardo, when he approached her the day after and gave her a kiss in the World Government offices they both worked at.

"No, Eduardo, not here," she said, looking around.

"Why not?" Eduardo was so demanding and strong. "I want to see you, tonight."

"I... I don't think so," said Vicky. There was something very wrong about Eduardo's demeanor. He wasn't acting like a man having a tangential fling; he was acting like something else, someone with an agenda.

"But I do," said Eduardo. He held up his Pad, and played a vid for her.

"Oh my God," said Vicky. It was her, making love to Eduardo. She watched as Eduardo moved between her legs. Vicky could clearly be seen to be enjoying it.

She immediately pushed the stop button on the Pad. "What do you want?" she said softly, her eyes large and vulnerable.

"Not much," said Eduardo. "One more tumble."

"On more tumble?"

"One more tumble, and I'll erase it."

Vicky nodded slowly.

********

Vicky felt tense when she entered the hotel room. This time things were different. The mood the first time had been playful, illicit. Now she felt trapped. She saw Eduardo, lying casually on his back on the bed, sitting up by the headboard. He had a look of pure dominance in his eyes.

"Good, you've come. We can begin," he said.

Somehow, his words filled Vicky with incredible fear.

********

This time, Vicky was on top. She had no choice, as she bounced up and down on Eduardo's penis. Normally, the dominant one was on top. Eduardo had been on top the first time. But now she was, at his insistence.

She knew what he was doing. He was making her participate more actively. As she moved herself up and down on his rigid Spanishy shaft, she knew she could no longer argue that she was simply giving in. She was actively involved.

But despite the tenseness Vicky found herself participating willingly. There was something almost exciting about being blackmailed into having sex. And after all, they had already had sex once before.

Eduardo tried to make the forbidden nature of the sex spicier by asking her questions. "You love feeling me inside you, don't you?"

"Yes," Vicky said, smiling as she rode up and down on his shaft.

"It feels good, doesn't it?"

"Yes," she said again.

"Better than your husband?"

Vicky paused. Why was he asking that?

"I asked you a question," said Eduardo, his voice stern and hard.

She had to satisfy him. She would do anything to satisfy him, or else James would get the recording. "Yes... much better than James."

Eduardo smiled, and for the first time he started to actively participate, thrusting upwards as she went downwards.

"Oh... oh, Eduardo-"

"I know!" he cried.

In moments they both cried out, as they climaxed.

********

Afterwards, while they were still in bed together, Eduardo took out his Pad. He hovered over their sex video, and pressed the delete button.

"You see? I keep my promises."

"Thank you," said Vicky, snuggling against him.

"This, however, is another story," said Eduardo. He pressed a button, and a large holoimage appeared of Vicky, riding up and down on Eduardo's shaft.

Suddenly Vicky realized she had been tricked. Eduardo had also recorded their most recent sex encounter.

"Better than your husband?" came Eduardo's recorded voice.

Vicky bounced up and down on Eduardo

"I asked you a question," said Eduardo, his voice stern and hard.

"Yes... much better than James!"

And then they both cried out-

"Why did you do that?" Vicky cried, pulling away from him.

"Because it is the next step in your training."

"My next step?"

"The first video you might have been able to explain away to your husband as a fling, a temporary weakness," said Eduardo. "But this one, where you told me you preferred me over him? No man would forgive you for that. Your marriage is in the palm of my hand." He smiled at her.

"What... what do you want?"

"I am going to take you, Vicky Prentice. I am going to take you down a road so twisted, so perverse, that you won't even recognize yourself when this is all over. And at first you're going to obey me out of fear; but as time goes on, you're going to obey because you want to, as I change you into the thing you despise the most."

"No!" Vicky whimpered. But she knew she would have no choice. With that recording, Eduardo could make her do anything to keep her marriage intact.

*********

It would not be accurate to say that Kelly Gray was in control of Eduardo Suarez; she had simply been fortunate enough to find a man who enjoyed the idea of a submissive woman. Every man had fantasies of women submitting to their will, but Eduardo's were stronger than most. Absent Kelly, Eduardo probably would not have made Vicky do the things she did; but then, absent Kelly, Eduardo probably would not have had sex with her at all. It was Kelly who first whispered in his ear to flirt with Vicky, it was Kelly who suggested he then take it to the next step. And then it was Kelly who started Eduardo on the dark path she was leading him and Vicky down to. Eduardo was hesitant, at first, but it really didn't take Kelly long to wear him down.

Don't you think she would look so submissive, as your slave? Kelly asked, as she stimulated his penis. There was no woman next to him, but at the moment, there didn't need to be. It felt so good!

Eduardo groaned.

Wouldn't you like that, to control her? To shame her, to humiliate her?

"Oh, yeah," said Eduardo, rubbing his crotch.

Then do exactly as I say....

********

Vicky licked her lips. She was nervous. She had just received her first assignment from her Master.

Her Master. That was what Eduardo required her to call him now. She was required to report to him, in the same hotel room, the following morning, with recorded evidence that she had obeyed his orders.

Vicky didn't know if she could do it. But she had to, she told herself. She had to do it to save her marriage to James.

And so that evening she cuddled up with James and started kissing him. He kissed her back, and one thing led to another, and before long they made their way to the bedroom. But after they stripped down, Vicky produced two black pieces of cloth.

"What are these?" he said.

Vicky started to tie one around his wrist.

"No, babe," said James.

Vicky kissed him again.

"No," he said again.

She kissed him again, and this time moved her free hand lower. In a moment, she had him gasping. When she moved her hand back up and started to tie his wrists, he didn't resist. He even smiled. "What's gotten into you?"

Vicky just gave him a mysterious smile as she tied his wrists to the bedposts. Soon he was immobilized from the waist up, lying naked on his back on the bed. It was only when she picked up the blindfold she had hidden under the pillow that James looked alarm. "Hey, what is that for?" he said, as Vicky put it over his eyes.

"It's all part of the fun, my love," said Vicky. She checked to make sure the blindfold was secure. Then she reached under the mattress and pulled out a sign. The sign read, "FOR MY MASTER, EDUARDO." She put it on the bed by his body, and set her Pad on the nightstand to record.

And then Vicky slowly and methodically mounted her husband and started to make love to him. But she remembered Eduardo's instructions. Even as she made love to him, she was looking at the Pad the entire time, and smiling.

*********

Vicky was in the hotel room where she had met Eduardo. She was completely nude, on her knees, with her hands behind her back and her head bowed down. She learned her training very quickly.

Eduardo sat on the bed and watched the video of Vicky making love to James, in front of the sign he had given her. He was nude as well. As he watched the video, Vicky noticed his organ getting hard. Soon it was standing straight up.

Eduardo put down the Pad and sighed.

"Does that please you, Master?" Vicky asked hopefully. She didn't know exactly when she had fallen into the role of lesser. It had just seemed to occur naturally.

"Um hm," said Eduardo. He nodded slightly. That was all that was needed. Vicky rushed over on hands and knees and proceeded to pleasure him with her lips and tongue.

"Uuummm," said Eduardo appreciatively. "You do learn fast, don't you?" He stared down at her. The voice in his head had given him a truly tremendous idea. "Are you ready for your next assignment?"

Vicky nodded, as much as she was able to in her position.

"Good, here's what I want you to do...."

When Vicky heard what was expected of her, she was so astonished that she pulled out so she could speak again. "No, Master!" she cried.

"No? You dare say no to me?" said Eduardo.

"It's just... how will I explain it to James?"

"Explain it any way you like," said Eduardo, with a lazy grin.

"I... I can't," said Vicky. "Please, don't make me do this, Master!"

"You don't have to," said Eduardo. "But imagine what will happen when James sees the holovid of you fucking me."

"No, Master!"

"Imagine what happens when he sees the recording of you fucking him, with the sign saying you are doing it at my bequest?" Eduardo shifted upwards. "Let me get my Pad, I can send it to him right now-"

That was all he needed to say.

*********

LaShonda Williams was a big black woman with a voluminous bosom that sloshed around like the Pacific Ocean and big broad shoulders and hips to match. She had given Vicky injections to make her nipples and clitoris less sensitive to pain, but by their nature they were hard parts of the body to fully numb.

And so, when LaShonda started to pierce her nipple, Vicky cried out.

"You white girls, you all da same," said LaShonda, as she threaded the needle inwards. "You know what we say in da hood? You do da crime, you gots to do da time." And then LaShonda slowly and methodically pierced both nipples, and put gold hoops into them, and soldered them shut, exactly according to the instructions she had received. "You sho you want dem sealed like dis?"

"No... but I have to!" Vicky sobbed. Eduardo had told her that if she deviated from his instructions even slightly, that she would be punished.

And then LaShonda got to work on Vicky's clitoris. Vicky cried out more than once as she was pierced, and a chain was put in there. At the end of it was a glittering imitation diamond.

"White folk sure be weird," said LaShonda. "And dis tattoo... you sho you want dem letters?"

Vicky, still sobbing, nodded. She had no choice.

********

Two hours later, Vicky, still sore, presented herself to Eduardo in his hotel room for inspection. She lay back on the bed, her legs spread, completely open to him. She had gold hoops embedded in her nipples, a diamond linked to her clitoris by a slender chain, and... in a shaved area of her pubis, the word WHORE in big letters.

Eduardo's smile grew broader as he saw what had been done to her. "Excellent, my pet."

"How... how am I going to explain this to James?" She asked, pointing to the word. Vicky was totally horrified.

"Easily. Just tell him that's what you are," said Eduardo, his tone hardening. "Now go home. I'll contact you for your next assignment in a few days... if you're still married."

He smirked. He was enjoying this.

But Vicky had a plan. After Eduardo dismissed her, she didn't go home. She went back to LaShonda.

"Use again?" said LaShonda. "What up, honey?"

"I want you to add one more letter to my tattoo," said Vicky.

*********

It was two days before James cuddled her in a clear request for sex. Vicky responded, somewhat confidently, making sure that the lights were off in the bedroom when they made love. But darkness couldn't hide the feelings of gold hoops pressed against his chest as he banged into her.

"What is that?" he asked, as he banged her vigorously.

"Nothing, dear," said Vicky nervously.

"Ow!" said James, as he thrust into his wife. "Ow, ow, ow!"

"What is it?"

"There's something hard down there. Vicky, what's going on?"

"Nothing-"

"Lights," said James. The lights turned on.

Vicky shielded her eyes from the brightness for a moment, her heart beating a mile a minute.

"Oh my God, Vicky. What did you do to yourself?"

"You mean these?" She indicated her gold hoops attached to her nipples. "Do you like them?"

"Do I like them?" said James, in an odd voice. He spread her legs. "And what is this? You've attached some kind of... gemstone to your clitoris? Why, Vicky, why?"

But before she could respond, James saw what he should noticed first, before everything else.

"And what the FUCK is this?" he said, pointing to the tattoo on her shaved pubis.

What James saw, in big, bold letters, was the word SWHORE.

"Swhore?" said James. "What the fuck does that even mean?" he asked.

"It's supposed to be Swore, S-W-O-R-E," said Vicky. "The tattoo artist couldn't spell!"

"Vicky... why do you have SWHORE written above your vagina?"

"I... I...." Vicky had thought for hours how to explain this. "I thought it would look naughty."

"Naughty?" James said it as if he had never heard the word before. "Why, Vicky?"

"I... I wanted to spice things up between us."

"But look at what you've done! You've burned a nonsense word above your vagina, put gold hoops in your tits, and you have this rock hanging from your clit which is actually kind of painful for me if it gets in the way."

"I'm... I'm sorry, James."

James gave her an odd look, and slept on the other side of the bed the rest of the night.

********

Thankfully, Eduardo didn't seem upset when he learned that she had altered the tattoo. He was eager to learn James' reaction, though. "So you got through it. She thought you would."

"She?" said Vicky.

"Never mind." Eduardo shook his head. "Now you are to perform your next assignment. Do you know of the Tricky Club?"

"You mean... that strip club on 4th avenue?"

"The very one. I want you to get a part time job there."

"No, Master!"

Eduardo's tone hardened. "If you say no to me one more time, I'm going to send a very incriminating holovideo to James."

"But... I can't become a stripper. That's not me."

"You're wrong. It is you, and you will do it."

********

Mister Hernandez was the proprietor of the Tricky Club. When Vicky appeared and asked for a job, he said, "Show me what you've got."

"What?" she said. It took a few seconds to understand what he was saying. "You want me to take off my clothes? Here? Now?"

"An odd request to make of a stripper, is it?" he said.

And at that moment Vicky knew that that was how far she had fallen. She slowly removed her clothes. Mister Hernandez seemed amused by her pierced nipples and the gemstone hanging from her clitoris. "You're kind of plain looking, but the accessories pay off." He peered at her tattoo. "Swhore?" he laughed. "I'll hire you just for that! Babe, I like the hurt look in your eyes when you peel them off, but you have to work on making your act even sexier."

And so Vicky got a job at a strip club.

The first time she stripped in front of old, fat men she was mortified, and she froze. But then she saw Eduardo in the crowd, glaring at her impatiently. He held up his Pad.

Vicky stripped.

What have I become? She asked herself, as she stood naked before leering men.

But the worst was yet to come.

********

After several days of stripping, Vicky became aware of "floor girls", scantily clad girls who would mingle with customers and whisper in their ears. Sometimes customers would like what they heard and accompany the girls to private rooms in the back. At first Vicky was confused by this, but then Mister Hernandez mentioned that she could make more money by performing "extra work" in back, and she figured it out.

Eduardo knew all about it, of course. And so the day came when he ordered her to start doing "extra work."

"No!" she exploded. "Eduardo, this is too much. I am not going to become a whore!"

And then, the most amazing thing happened. A glowing, ghostly shape came out of Eduardo's body, and entered her own. Vicky gasped, "What's happening to me?"

"You're just getting a visit from an old friend," said Eduardo.

"An old friend?"

Hello, Vicky, remember me?

"Who are you?"

Remember Kelly Gray?

"No!"

Think back to college, you fucking bitch cow! Remember the girl you called a dumb slut?

"No!"

This was getting to be frustrating for Kelly. Remember the girl who killed herself after she got raped?

"Oh, that girl! Uh... kind of."

After I got raped, you called me a dumb slut.

"I... I did? Listen, Kell, I'm so sorry-"

NO YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE NOT SORRY AT ALL! BUT YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S A DUMB FUCKING SLUT! NOW GO IN THERE AND FUCK SOME STRANGER'S BRAINS OUT, OR I SWEAR IN THE NEXT SIXTY SECONDS THAT JAMES WILL FIND OUT EXACTLY WHAT KIND OF WHORE YOU ARE!

Vicky went into the back room, whimpering.

********

And so Vicky became a prostitute, or a sex worker, as the World Government's "96 Paths to Success" High School Career Guide called it. Now that Kelly was inside Vicky's body, she made sure to remind Vicky at every opportunity how low she had fallen.

After Vicky had satisfied her first customer, a fat bald man with terrible body odor, Kelly told her, How does it feel, Vicky? This was only your first one, but you never forget your first!

Vicky's sobs didn't seem to move Kelly at all. On the contrary, Kelly seemed to enjoy them. And when Kelly sensed that Vicky was getting used to the unpleasantness of prostituting her body, she figured out other ways to make it unpleasant. She forced Vicky to invite clients over to her apartment, purposefully in the late afternoon shortly before James came home from work.

"I can't have clients over at five o'clock! James comes home around six!" said Vicky.

I've seen you work, Vicky. You have quicker turnaround than a fast food drivethru operation, if you want to.

And so Vicky was forced to take clients into her own marital bed, and then try to satisfy them as rapidly as possible so they would leave before James got home. There was one older man she had trouble satisfying, and when she looked at the clock she realized it was 5:30. James would be home soon.

Better think fast, Vick--think fast, and suck faster.

Sobbing, Vicky did what she had to get her client off. Somehow she managed to get him to completion and bundle him out the door just a minute before James got home. When he came in the door, he found her in a bathrobe, with a freshly fucked look on her face. He gave her an odd stare.

"I've just been... exercising," said Vicky, her cheeks burning as she realized that her unasked-for explanation sounded lame, even to her own ears. "I need a shower!" she announced, and ran off.

**********

"Please, Kelly, you have to let go of this," said Vicky, as she sat in her living room one morning. "It was only one comment. You can't hold onto this forever!"

There was a long pause. Then she heard.

All right. We'll end this.

"You... you will? You'll go away?"

Yes. After you do one last thing for me.

"What... what do you want?"

It's time for you to have a baby.

"You want me to go off birth control and have a baby with James?"

No. You're going to have a very special baby.

*********

Vicky tried to breathe easily as she lay on the table, her legs in stirrups, as Doctor Zipperstein worked industriously between her legs. This was her second visit to the Zuckerman Wellness Pavilion; in the first, they had extracted her eggs. Now they were implanting one of her own eggs, completely fertilized, back inside of her.

Vicky knew full well that James would not be the father of her child. But she had no choice. Eduardo had taken a video of her in the stripper club. He and Kelly had so much damaging information on her that she had to do whatever they said. All she could hope was that the baby looked like her. Even if the baby looked like Eduardo, he was a very light skinned Hispanic, and she thought she could convince James that the baby was still his.

"Now breathe deeply," said Doctor Zipperstein.

Vicky gasped as she felt a probe entering her vagina, and slide upwards towards her uterus. She was going to be a mother! She was going to create new life!

She had tried to persuade James to have a baby, but James, seeing how oddly she was acting, refused. Vicky could hardly blame him. He hadn't originally married a woman with gold hoops in her nipples, a gemstone hanging from her clitoris and the word SWHORE tattooed above her vaginal lips. When she started showing, in three or four months from now, she would just tell James that her birth control had failed.

Vicky had one last encounter with Eduardo, right after the implantation. He told her that Kelly would leave her alone as long as she carried the child to term; but if she got a HappyHappy, then the deal was off.

And so Vicky watched as her belly swelled up like a sick pup. James was alarmed, at first, to discover she was pregnant, but he quickly became pleased. Obviously Vicky could no longer work as a stripper or a whore while pregnant, and Eduardo graciously let her quit those jobs. In a way Vicky's life almost returned to normal for a while, except for the adornments and tattoo on her body.

When the day came when Vicky gave birth, she heard a voice in her head that she hadn't heard in many months.

How're you doing, dearie?

"Kelly, is that you?"

Yes.

"I... I thought you promised to leave me along if I-"

I'm just here for your special day, dear. Once you give birth, I'm gone.

Vicky reflected on that uneasily. But like everything else that had happened, she had no choice.

And so her water broke and she felt rapid contractions as she lay in her hospital bed. James was a dear and held her hand. As the contractions got more rapid, Vicky was sure she would give birth to a beautiful baby. She wondered if Eduardo would ever want to see his child.

And then, a short but very painful time later, Vicky gave birth. She heard a baby's cry as Doctor Halbfinger pulled her newborn out of her vagina. "Is it....?" Vicky asked.

"Yes," said Doctor Halbfinger. But there was something wrong about his voice, something stressed. "It's... a boy."

"Is something wrong?" Vicky asked.

"No... not medically," said Halbfinger.

Vicky looked up at James's face. James was frowning. Was something wrong with the baby?

"Let me see it! Let me see my baby!" Vicky cried.

They put the baby in swaddling, and handed it to her.

Vicky held her baby in her arms for the first time. Her newborn, baby boy.

Which was completely black skinned, as dark a baby born in the deepest jungles of the Congo.

James stared at her in horror.

And so, who is the dumb slut now, sweetie?

********

"We're getting closer," the Doctor muttered.

Are we, Doctor?

They had just come out of the hospital where a distraught Vicky Bennett was still recovering from having given birth to a beautiful black baby a few days ago. It was not just the physical stress she was recovering; her husband, James, had left her and announced plans to file for divorce.

The Doctor had seen Vicky in a state of distress and surreptitiously pressed his scanner to her leg. His bushy eyebrows went upwards.

Good news, Doctor?

She was here, just days ago.

Who are we hunting, Doctor?

"A very bad ghoul named Kelly Gray," said the Doctor, as he walked out the front door of the hospital.

No, we're not. We're supposed to be hunting the Penguin, remember?

I detected his psychic DNA strands too. When we find one, we'll find the other.

Will we really, Doctor?

"I guess you'll have to trust me," said the Doctor, as he got into the grav car.

"I always do," Sophie grinned, as he took the driver's seat. "Where to?"

"Back to our hotel."

Alanna was having more and more doubts about their mission. To her, there seemed to be no sign that they were making progress finding the Penguin. The Doctor seemed to be on some kind of vendetta against Kelly Gray, whoever that was. For a moment she wondered if this Kelly Gray had been the kalak who had forced the Doctor to blow up his own psychic reactor, killing his wife and coworkers, but she had the distinct impression that that kalak had been a man.

And then there was the matter of the Doctor's nightmares. Each night he was away from his sleep machine he would toss violently in his sheets, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Yael, Noooo!" When he woke wake up abruptly, he would be trembling like a leaf. But he refused to talk about it. Alanna wanted to console him, but what could she say? She wondered if the Doctor's nightmares were affecting his judgment.

During the day, however, he appeared as rock solid as ever, smiling and joking with Sophie and sucking on his girl balls, not seeming to have a care in the world.

********

"Why don't you just go kill yourself?"

Of all the comments Kelly Gray had received since the night she had been gang raped, that had been the worse. Emma Miller was a mean girl; she didn't even pretend to be nice. She had called Kelly "basket case" to her face and enjoyed cutting her down in front of her equally mean friends. But what she said the day after Kelly's rape, when she was crying her eyes out in the cafeteria, was extreme, even for her.

Kelly had looked up at her with tear stained eyes. "What?" she said, barely believing her ears.

"Really," said Emma. "I mean it. You'd be doing the whole world a favor." And then she gave a snarky glare and pivoted on her heel, turning away.

********

Emma Miller was the happiest woman in the world. Six months ago she gave birth to baby Aiden. Her husband, Gary, had a prestigious job with the World Government, a senior official in the Department of Happiness, charged with measuring and improving the satisfaction of everyone on the planet, something the World Government was uniquely positioned to do. Ever since Gary had taken the job, he had risen rapidly through the ranks, becoming Second Ranking Minister for Satisfaction in the North American Quadrant. His superiors had been so impressed by his performance--global happiness was increasing at unprecedented rates, by all measurements--that it would be no surprise if he became Deputy Minister before the year was out.

Gary had amazing sexathons with Emma. His thing was so big and long, and his balls so heavy with the juices of reproduction, that it was no surprise when Emma got pregnant almost immediately after they got married. Emma endured the usual problems during pregnancy--back pain, morning sickness, Gary making excuses not to have sex with her, Gary looking at other women, Gary working late for unexplainable reasons --but she endured them all. When her baby was born, he was so beautiful! Emma immediately decided to give him a real hippie name, Aiden, and to raise him to believe in social justice and total, unconditional equality for everyone in the world.

But six months after giving birth, Emma started to have some unusual thoughts in her head. She dreamed of harming little Aiden. Whenever she gave Aiden a bath, a little voice in her head would say, Wouldn't it be good to dunk his head below water and see how long he could live without air?

When she stood by an open tenth story window, the voice said, Drop him! Just drop him! You know you want to do it!

When she fed him his baby food in the morning, the little voice said, Why don't you mix some drain cleaner in his porridge? You know you want to.

When she was changing his diaper, the voice said, Wouldn't it be so easy just to strangle him? His neck... it's so tiny... it could all be over in seconds....

When she cut his baby carrots in the morning with a knife, the voice said, Stab him! Stab him with it! You know you want to!

Emma was horrified by the voices in her head. Why was she thinking such things? Why did a part of her want to harm her baby? She loved her baby! Emma grew immensely frightened of what she might do in a minute of weakness.

She started crying at odd times. Gary noticed, but thought it was post-disgorgement depression. He comforted her without inquiring about the causes, which was all right with Emma, who felt ashamed.

And then the little voice in her head gave her an idea. Why not put him up for adoption?

"No!" Emma shouted to an empty room.

You know you're going to harm him sooner or later. You know sooner or later Aiden is going to get hurt.

"I don't want to hurt Aiden!" Emma sobbed.

But it will happen. You're unstable, Emma. You need to put him up for adoption.

The voice wore Emma down relentlessly for two weeks, filling her mind with images of Aiden being hurt or killed. Finally, Emma reluctantly agreed.

"But... how do I do it? Gary won't agree to it."

You'll forge his signature on the documents.

"But once he finds out, he'll go after Aiden and tell the adoption agency it was a fraud."

Not if the adoption agency takes the baby off -planet.

When the voice told Emma what it meant, Emma's eyes widened.

********

"You wish to give your baby up for adoption?"

The adoption officer at the Ramada embassy wore black from head to toe, as most female followers of Laquinta did. There was just a tiny slit for her eyes, suspicious looking eyes which looked Emma over from top to bottom, wondering if this was some sort of World Government sting operation.

"Y-yes," said Emma, stammering as she held her Pad in one hand and Aiden in another.

"Why do you wish to give him for us?"

The voice had already prepared Emma for this question. "I... I want Aiden to grow up to be a devout follower of Laquinta." She swallowed heavily. It hurt her even to say it. She knew what that meant.

Emma had always planned for Aiden to grow up to be a kind, warm, empathic metrosexual boy who was always sensitive to the needs of others and would be every woman's best friend. She would raise him to follow Aura, the She-Goddess, becoming a thoughtful vegetarian who would get gifts of flowers and candy at the purely symbolic ritual of male castration to mark his entrance into the world of toxic masculinity. He would eventually marry a strong woman like herself who would tame him, milk him for his sperm as needed, and become a loving and doting beta-male husband.

But now Aiden's life would take a very different turn. He would learn to become a devout follower of Laquinta, the God of Blood. He would wear a turban over his head and grow a big beard. He would learn to pray to Laquinta six times a day, from sunup to sundown. He would learn to abuse women, to beat them and enslave up to four of them as his wives.

The thought of it made Emma shudder. But at least Aiden would be alive. That was all that mattered.

The woman in the dark burka smiled. "Do you have all the permissions signed?"

Emma wordlessly handed over her Pad. The burka clad woman looked over the signatures. If she noticed anything odd about Gary's signature, she said nothing.

"Very well," she said. "It all looks to be in order. Hand over the child." She extended her arms.

"What?" said Emma. She thought that processing these documents would take a while, that she would still have a little time left with-

"Hand him over now!" said the woman in black. She snapped her fingers, and two big, burly men with curved swords stepped forward.

Emma looked into Aiden's small face. He looked back at her with wonderment and confusion. He clearly didn't understand what was about to happen.

Emma started crying. "Goodbye, little one," she sobbed. "I will always-"

"Yes, yes, yes," the burka clad woman snapped, snatching Aiden out of her arms. "This child is the property of Laquinta, now. You have made a wise decision, infidel."

Emma's eyes were clouded with tears, but there was one more thing she needed to know, one more she had to know. "Can you tell me when-"

"There is a flight leaving for Ramada tonight," said the woman. She gave Emma a cruel smile. "You had best go now."

Emma left.

She spent the rest of the day walking around aimlessly in the streets of Philadelphia, waiting for the sun to go down. Her baby! She couldn't believe she had done that, to given up the child she loved so much!

She wandered, witless, for hours and hours, until late into the evening. When she came home she found Gary in a panic. "Where were you? I was so worried! I was going to call the police." His eyes narrowed. "And where is Aiden?"

"Aiden... is gone."

"What do you mean, gone?"

And so she told him.

Gary's eyes grew large. He roared, and Emma cowered in fear. He broke furniture, he slapped her in the face, and then he ran out. To get the police, he said.

Emma knew it was too late. Aiden was gone now.

As she sat in the broken, empty apartment.

Suddenly, a voice in her head said, Why don't you just kill yourself?

"What?" Emma sniffled.

You've lost everything you ever cared for. Your husband, your baby. What's left to live for?

"You're right," Emma whispered. She went over to the tall window, and opened it. She stuck her head out. All she needed to do was roll forward....

"Wait!" a new voice cried.

Emma turned, to see three new people inside her apartment. Two of them were women, and one a man. The man wore a long black coat, black boots, and had a floppy hat. "Don't do it," the man cried.

"I... I have to," Emma sniffed, looking down.

Alyssa's eyes widened. "Doctor, there's a kalak inside of her." Only then did Sophie remember that Alyssa had mentioned that she had the ability to sometimes detect kalaks at close distances.

The Doctor drew his Infinite Infinity Repeater. "So we finally meet, ghoul."

Doctor, what are you doing?

"If you try to jump, I'll shoot," said the Doctor.

Don't Doctor, you might injure the host!

"I have to jump! My life is worthless. The pain is too great!" Emma cried.

Jump, Emma, Jump! Jump now, before they stop you! said the voice inside her head.

Emma rolled forward. The Doctor fired his Infinite Infinity Repeater, but his arm jerked, and the shot went wide. They heard Emma's screams as she flew down ten stories... and then a thump.

"You made me miss her? What in the world were you doing?" the Doctor snapped.

"I was trying to save that girl!" Alanna said, through the Doctor's mouth.

"There was no saving her, couldn't you see that?"

"I could have talked her down," said Alanna.

"No you couldn't have," said the Doctor. "And now-"

"Doctor, look out!" said Sophie.

The Doctor saw a glowing, shadowy shape slowly float in through the window. He raised his Infinite Infinity Repeater again. "You! Kelly Grey. Have you come back to gloat at the scene of your latest crime?"

"I'm not Kelly Gray," said the glowing shape hollowly. It was vaguely in the shape of a person, but more like the shape of a sheet over a person, and it had glowing red eyes. "My name is Emma Miller."

"Oh my Goddess!" said Alyssa. "You're the girl who just died!"

"What can you tell me about Kelly Gray?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know anything about Kelly Gray," said the kalak of Emma Miller. She paused, considering. "My being is full of anger. I feel like I've been wronged, somehow." Suddenly, she realized. "My baby! My baby was stolen from me! I will make the world pay! I will make everyone pay... starting with you!" With a roar, she charged the Doctor.

But however fast she flew, it wasn't fast enough. The Doctor cut her down with a blast from his Infinite Infinity Repeater. Emma's kalak screamed, and the Doctor fired again, and her glowing form withered, and vanished.

The Doctor, breathed heavily for a long moment, as he slowly lowered his weapon. "This is all your fault," he said slowly, to nowhere in particular. "I've been on Kelly Gray's trail for months, and now you've spoiled it all."

"That's the truth, isn't it, Doctor?" said Alanna, speaking through him. "For the past two weeks, we've been searching for Kelly Gray, isn't that right? We've never been searching for the Penguin, have we?"

The Doctor was enraged. "Before you so rudely apprehended me I was closing in on the trail of this ghoul. If you knew about all the men she killed, all the women whose lives she's ruined-"

"But what about the Penguin, Doctor? He's not just going to kill a few people. He's going to destroy the entire world!" said Alanna.

"So you say," said the Doctor. "You said a lot of things, right before I let you into my body. You wouldn't interfere with my body, you said. Well, because of your interference, Kelly Gray is still out there. Her next victims will be on your head."

Alanna struggled to control her rage. "Doctor, we are going right now back to the Isle of Man, and you are going to plug in that psychic DNA I gave you for the Penguin, and we are going to start searching for him immediately."

"No," the Doctor yelled.

Sophie watched as the Doctor stood unnaturally straight, and started to walk stiffly to the door.

"No! No!" the Doctor cried, like a child. "Let me go! Let me go, I say!" He struggled hard, but couldn't resist, step by step, heading to the door, like a tragic puppet.

Sophie moved in front of him. "Let him go, Alanna! You're hurting him!" she screamed.

Alanna released her grip, and the Doctor sagged against the wall, breathing heavily and looking exhausted.

"Doctor, are you all right?" Sophie asked, her hands grabbing his, looking anxiously into his eyes.

The Doctor nodded, breathing heavily. He looked upwards. "You listen to me, ghoul. I'll hunt down your Penguin for you. But when we're done, and you're out of me, I'm going to hunt you next."

You're welcome to try, Doctor.

********

They were at the Philadelphia Metropolitan Airport, waiting for their flight back to London, which would lead to a smaller connecting flight to the Isle of Man. Sophie was intensely worried about the Doctor. He was just sitting there in a waiting room chair, staring blankly into space. She didn't think Alanna had immobilized him; he had just retreated into himself again. The Doctor was always difficult to deal with in the best of circumstances; Sophie knew of his anxiety over the death of his wife and coworkers, and his nightmares. She didn't know how the Doctor was coping with Alanna inside of him. Sophie also increasingly suspected that Alanna would never let him go when the mission was completed. She might just kill the Doctor... and maybe her too.

These troubling thoughts filled her mind as she wandered around a small clothing store at the airport. The proprietor, a young man with a brilliant smile, said, "Can I help you find something, Miss?"

For some reason his smile reminded her of the nice man she had met in the florist shop. "No, thanks, I'm just looking," she said. She picked up a striped scarf and draped it around her neck, and looked at herself in the mirror.

The young man moved behind her. She was so beautiful. He fantasized about strangling her with the scarf. He imagined wrapping it tightly around her neck. Her hands would already be tied behind her back so she couldn't resist, and she would be already gagged so she couldn't scream. He would throw part of the scarf around a horizontal beam in the ceiling, and pull her up, up, up, until she was gasping for breath. Then he would watch as she so beautifully choked to death, as his face turned a brilliant shade of blue-

"That blue is really you," said the young man.

"It is?" said Sophie.

"It really brings out the green in your eyes," said the young man

"Oh? Ooohhhhh," said Sophie, giggling nervously. Suddenly all thoughts of the Doctor were pushed from her mind. Maybe he was right. Maybe she needed more contact with other people.

"You know, I have just the thing to go with that," said the young man. He left for a moment and came back with a pair of blue pants.

"Oh, they're lovely!"

"Just like you," said the man.

Sophie tittered again.

"Would you like to try them on?" the young man asked. "We have a dressing room in back." He saw the hesitation in her eyes. "It would only take a moment. And you'd feel much better afterwards, I guarantee it." She was so lovely, so sexy. He couldn't wait to have her.

Sophie looked uncertainly at the young man for a moment. Then she looked out at the concourse, and saw the Doctor, staring at her from the chair he was sitting in. She shook her head. "Another... another time, perhaps," she said, taking off the scarf.

"Another time, then," the man agreed.

Sophie turned and walked back to the Doctor, but halfway there something made her stop and turn back to the store.

The young man was gone.