This file brought to you by -
http://www.mrdouble.com


From eman@best.comTue Jul 16 23:40:51 1996
Date: 17 JUL 1996 03:17:11 GMT 
From: E <eman@best.com>
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories
Subject: REPOST: The Tape Slaves (mc, sci-fi, philosophy) - (7/10) 

BEGIN --- CUT HERE --- Cut Here --- cut here ---
knowledge."
     "Weren't you both implanted with contraceptives at the time?"
     "Yes we were... I guess it didn't work."
     "Do you blame your father for any of this?"
     "No. He's not responsible. It's those fucking tapes!"
     "Tell me, Gina, do you have any opinions on abortion?"
     Gina collected her thoughts for a minute. "I think it should be
the woman's choice. Which I never got!" she finished angrily.
     "If it had been your choice, would you have had an abortion?"
     "No!" Gina paused. "I don't know..." The room grew quiet for a
long time. "Maybe. It was my father's child. There would have been a
large change of a recessive gene, maybe something serious."
     "Well?"
     Gina sighed loudly. "But I don't approve of abortion as a means
of birth control."
     "So you believe that while abortion should be legal, there
should be as few as possible."
     "I suppose so."
     "You know that the in last year before taping there were over a
million abortions performed in this country alone. Last year there
were less than a thousand in the whole world. With the advent of the
tapes, universal contraception has been enforced. Virtually every
baby born on the planet today has been born by choice. With only one
allowed per couple, children are becoming a precious resource. I take
it you don't have any opposition to contraceptives?"
     "No, of course not."
     "Interestingly, not too long ago it was illegal in some places
to sell or even to provide information to people about contraception."
     "Attitudes change," Gina said.
     "So they do," Ben replied, smiling slightly.
     "Let me ask you a question, Ben. What do you think of the way
things are?"
     "Well, I can't tell you my own opinion, exactly. That was lost
when I was taped. But there's been a lot of improvements over the old
system. Abortion is way down, like I said. Most of the old sexually
transmitted diseases are also very rare, if not extinct. The murder
rate is lower, too. Did you know that before more than half of all
murders use to involve people who were related?"
     "Yes. I remember reading it in a book."
     "Nowadays murder, or any act of violence between people in sex
circles, which always includes family members, is unheard of."
     "But what about free will?
     "What about it?"
     "People should be allowed to make up their own minds about
things."
     "Gina, do you know how taping works?"
     "No."
     "Neither does anyone else. But there are several theories. They
basically boil down to this: The personality of the subject is
altered by means of electrical pulses administered by carefully
modulated bursts of radio waves beamed through the brain. Somehow
these bursts alter the interconnections between the neurons,
rerouting thought pathways in the brain. These pathways determine the
thoughts and memories, or more to the point, the personality of the
individual. The subject's attitudes can be altered to any desired
state, within mechanical limitations. Like your formerly eidetic
memory for example. Apparently you have a nice, roomy brain that is
capable of storing the vast volume of information you've collected
over the years. You couldn't tape a mentally challenged person to
have the same ability, because their brains just aren't able to
perform the same feat. But I digress. The subject, with his new
personality, continues to make his own choices in life. His choices
may be different, because his feelings are different, but they are
still his choices. Free will remains as before."
     "You're splitting hairs, doctor. If it's not the choice he would
normally have made, then it's not his choice. Free will is an
illusion."
     "Well, it is and it isn't. How does someone get a personality,
other than taping?"
     "OK, how?"
     "From one's parents, friends, teachers maybe? Other people. What
else?" 
     Gina thought a moment. "I don't know. Genetics?"
     The doctor pointed at her. "Genetics. Exactly. The old nature vs
nurture debate. People start with a set of genes donated by their
parents which will control many aspects of their lives. Then they
interact with the world around them, gathering experiences and
attitudes from others. So, if you get your personality from either
your parents genes, which you don't get to choose, or from those
around you, which you really can't control, at least not during the
first, most formative years, then how can you say your opinions are
truly yours? Free will is indeed an illusion. Or not. I guess it all
depends on how you define it. Like everyone else, *I* certainly feel
like I have free will."
     "Well, everybody has their own unique set of experiences. That
makes everyone special. These tapes destroy that, making everyone the
same."
     The doctor smiled. "Yes, that's the beauty of it."
     "It's not beautiful, it's grotesque!"
     "Grotesque?" He rubbed his fingers on the back of his head. "I
understand what you're saying, Gina. But I just..., don't agree with
you.."
     "That's not you talking, that's a tape."
     "You're probably right. But it's still how *I* feel."

     They talked long into the night. At one point, Gina asked the
doctor why no one knew the mechanics of the tape players. Didn't the
doctor have one? Gina herself had one. Surely somebody had opened one
up and investigated them.
     "It's been tried. For some reason the engineers are unable to
understand the technical details of the devices. Tape players have
been broken down into their components, which are all easily
identified and understood, but when the pieces are brought together,
some sort of mental block seems to form which prevents anyone from
understanding the whole. There are technicians in the major Community
Centers who service and build new tape players. But they can't seem
to understand the construction either, that is, when they're not at
work on one at the Center. To my knowledge, no one who's ever taken
his tape player apart has ever been able to get it working again.
It's probably due to a tape command that's been implanted in
everybody."
     Gina nodded, an idea starting to form in her mind.

     It was late. The doctor asked Gina what her plans were.
     "I don't know. Go home I guess"
     "I mean long-term. Are you going to continue your practice?"
     Gina paused. "I can't. I'm sorry about my patients, but I'm in
no condition to help them right now."
     "I know a good therapist you could refer them to. Dr. Brookings."
     "You know Dr. Brookings?"
     "Oh yeah. I used to quiz him before tests in med school."
     "Do you think he'd take them?"
     "I can ask. If he can't handle them all, I know some others."
     "Thank you. Of course that'll leave me without money."
     "Gina, I'd like to make you a proposition." Seeing the look on
Gina's face he continued hastily, "No, not that kind. Listen, I'd
like you to be the subject of a paper that's beginning to form itself
in my mind. Of course you'd be completely anonymous. If you agree,
I'll pay your rent for the duration of the study, plus a reasonable
allowance. In return, I'd like to conduct a series on interviews with
you plus have you keep a journal. Like I said, you're unique,
psychologically speaking."
     "What do I write in the journal?"
     "Your daily experiences and your feelings about them. It doesn't
have to be a novel, but the more you put down, the better. It doesn't
have to be neat, or well organized. If you want, include newspaper
clippings, your own drawings, or anything that you think is
important. Be honest, I am not here to judge you, but to try to
understand you. Maybe there's another like you out there, someone not
part of the community. Perhaps a meeting can be arranged."
     Gina said, "Can I think about it?"
     "Take all the time you need. In the meantime, I'm exhausted.
Would you care to stay in the guest room tonight? Don't worry, I
won't try anything. Even if I could convince you to join my circle
now, I need to stay objective if you're going to be in my study. I
want my name on the title of the paper, not in the middle of it."
     "Nah. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
     "Well, good night then."
     "Good night.."

                    ------------------------------

     The late shift at the Community Center had just come off their
break. "Can I help you?" the young woman behind the counter asked.
     "Yes you can. I'd like to dissolve all my sex circles."
     She looked up in disbelief. "*All* of them?"
     "Every last one."
     The young woman seemed very confused. It was like someone had
calmly asked her to chop off one of their arms. "You want to leave
your family included though, right?"
     "No. Everybody."
     Trying to keep a professional demeanor, she continued "Very
well. Name?"
     "Gina Robinson."

    ---------------------------Part IV---------------------------

                              Chapter 16
                                The Spy

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle
wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
     WINSTON CHURCHILL

"Our achievements leave class enemies breathless."
     LEONID BREZHNEV

     Martin Spencer (the name has been changed to protect the
innocent) sits in his apartment watching some late night TV. A
beautiful blonde actress is being interviewed by the host about her
latest movie.
     "So can you set up the clip for us?"
     "Sure, Jamie. In this scene, I'm back from China and I'm with my
boyfriend picking up my luggage at the airport. We haven't seen each
other in two years and we have a little trouble controlling
ourselves."
     "OK, let's roll the film."
     The screen blanks for a moment and the actress and an actor are
making out furiously at an airport luggage carousel. He sits her down
on the edge, lifts her skirt and begins eating out her pussy. A few
people shake their heads but no one pays that much attention to them.
Then the actress leans back and falls onto the carousel which carries
her off.
     "Brad?!" the actress calls as her exposed pussy is conveyed past
the people standing around the carousel.
     "Muffy?!?" Brad starts chasing her around the loop, falling over
luggage and bumping into the crowds of people. Eventually he falls
onto the carousel and tries to crawl to her. The studio audience
laughs in the background while the pair struggle to get to one
another, climbing and stumbling over suitcases. Muffy stands and runs
against the motion of the moving plates, leaping over the obstacles.
She trips and is ferried off through an opening in the wall, butt
first. Behind the wall, men are unloading luggage onto the conveyor
belt. A woman, kneeling doggy style facing away from them, comes into
view. Her skirt has pulled up, completely exposing her nude fanny.
The scene fades and the actress flashes a million-dollar smile while
the audience cheers.
     "So I understand that the really interesting thing about this
film is that, in the love scenes you actually *didn't* have sex with
the men." She nods. "That's very unusual," he continues.
     "I can explain that, Jamie. My husband and I are trying to
conceive our child."
     "And of course we wish you both the very best of luck." The
audience applauds again.
     Martin is interrupted by the sound of the v-phone ringing. He
pushes a button on the remote and a face appears on the television
screen. "Hello?" he says.
     "Hello. Listen to me and do exactly as I tell you."
     "Yes, master."
     "You will go to this address and retrieve something for me..."

                    ------------------------------

     "Hello, Ben? This is Gina."
     "Hey, kiddo. What's up?"
     "I just got home and my apartment's been broken into!"
     "What?! Did they take anything?"
     "Uh... no, it doesn't look like it. But all the furniture's been
tipped over and the place has been ransacked."
     "Hmmm... This can't be a coincidence. I wonder what they were
looking for."
     Ben calmed Gina down. After they hung up, Gina began
straightening things. The only thing she found missing was her tape
player. Not the special one from the Center, but an ordinary one she
used to record sessions with her patients. She ran out to the carport
and opened the storage locker above her car. Pulling out a stack of
boxes, she opened one. The tape player was there. Replacing the
boxes, Gina took the player into the house. "I wonder if this is what
they really wanted," she thought to herself. She began to make plans
in her mind. Then she left, taking the tape player with her.

                    ------------------------------

     "Oh, by the way, these were delivered to our mailbox by
mistake." Matt handed Hannah and Irene each a letter. They were from
the local Community Center. They opened and read together. "What does
it say?"
     Irene replied, "It says here that Gina Robinson has dissolved
our mutual sex circle."
     "Mine says the same thing. Who's Gina Robinson?"
     "You know her. She was at my high school reunion last year."
     "Oh yeah, now I remember her. Always so moody, first happy, then
sad. Wasn't she the one who tried to kill herself that one night?"
     "That's right."
     "Huh! I wonder why would she do this?" Hannah let drop the
letter in her hands. "I mean we haven't been close in years."
     "I can't imagine."
     "Well I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Hannah went to
the phone and dialed. "Hello, information? I'd like the number of
Gina Robinson."

     Gina sat at her kitchen table reading a book on electronics. Her
tape player, given to her by Hannah and Irene all those years ago,
lay on the table with the case off to one side. Gina had carefully
pried the device apart and was now analyzing its contents. Gina
flipped rapidly through the book, her mind still absorbing
information at a prodigal rate, but understanding little of it.
Occasionally she would inspect the circuit boards, then make some
marks on a tablet she had. She had taught herself enough to draw a
schematic from the tape player's circuitry, even if she didn't know
exactly how the components worked.

     The phone rang. Gina answered, audio only. "Hello?"
     "Hello. Is this Gina Robinson?"
     "Speaking."
     "Hi Gina, this is Hannah Bliss."
     "Hannah as in Hannah and Irene?"
     "You remember us?"
     "Sure. How are you doing?"
     "Fine. And you?"
     "Oh, OK I guess." Gina covered the table with a towel, hiding
the tape player, and flipped on the video.. They talked for awhile,
bringing each other up to date. Gina said nothing of her recent
experiences. She learned that Yoshi was a high-tech engineer for a
telecommunications company and her mind started buzzing.
     "Listen, Gina. I just got this letter in the mail that says
we're no longer circle partners. Is this for real? Are you sick or
something?"
     "No, I'm not sick. I'm afraid it would take a long time to
explain."
     "I'd love to hear about it."
     "I'm not sure how much I can tell you."
     "You know, we should never have drifted apart like we did. Gina,
would you like to come over and have dinner sometime?"
     "Will everybody be there?"
     "Sure will. What do you say?"
     "How about tonight?"
     "That would be swell."
     "Great. What time should I get there?"
     "Oh, how about six?"

     Gina found the meal tasty and the conversation pleasant, but she
had an ulterior motive for coming to see the ladies that night. When
the time came to put the kids to bed, she pulled Yoshi aside. "Say
Yoshi, you know all about computers, don't you?"
     "Somewhat. Why, are you looking to buy one?"
     "No, I've already got one. I was wondering of you could take a
look at something for me." She pulled the tape player, minus the
case, from her bag and handed it him.
     "What is it?" he asked.
     "I'd rather not say."
     Yoshi turned the thing over in her hand. "It looks like the guts
to an old style audio cell phone or something. That's an audio
amplifier circuit there... and that's probably an RF module, here
inside this shielding. and that's the processor. Whatever it is, it's
stone age technology. See this thing? Nobody's used those for five
years now! Oh, there's a DB9."
     "A what?"
     "This thing. It's an old-style connector you can plug into a
computer and control it with. C'mon Gina, what is it!" she remained
silent. "It is old, right?"
     "Yeah, it's old."
     "Does it still work?
     "I'm pretty sure it does."
     "Do you mind," he asked, "if I plug it in and see what happens?"
     "Be my guest." 
     Yoshi led Gina to the men's condo and into the spare bedroom. It
was set up as a home office/lab. A desk with a computer sat in one
corner and a bench with all sorts of electronic equipment ran along
the adjoining wall. Yoshi cleared a spot on the bench and plugged a
series of computer cables and converters into it. He flipped the
computer on. "Have a seat. Are the batteries charged on this?"
     "Yes."
     Yoshi moved the mouse across the screen, clicked some icons,
pulled some menus, pressed some buttons. Then he pressed the 'Enter'
key. Gina saw page after page of gibberish as Yoshi worked.
     He tried some more things. "Hmmmmm. it should be working" he
thought for a moment. "It could be encrypted."
     "Encrypted?"
     "Scrambled. You need the correct password to make sense of it.
Let's try a descrambler." The mouse clicked a few more times. "If
this thing is as old as I think it is, it probably uses a DES
algorithm. We can break those with ease, nowadays." He selected a
menu option and Gina saw the following:

     Community Tape Player Main Menu

     1. Create New Program
     2. Edit Existing Programs
     3. Delete Program

     At the bottom of the screen was the message: 'Property of Gina
Robinson. If lost or stolen return to the nearest Community Center.'

     Gina swallowed hard and held her breath for a moment. She wasn't
sure how Yoshi would react now that he knew what it was. 
     But all he said was "Nope, that didn't work either." 
     "Uh?" Gina did a double take and looked back at the screen. Sure
enough, there it was. "You... you don't see anything there?"
     "Just more garbage. Do you see something?"
     "No, no I don't see anything." She could barely keep her
composure."Say Yoshi, I have my laptop computer in the car. Could you
show me how to do this on my machine?"
     "Sure, bring it in, I'll set you up.."

     Gina sat in the doctor's study. He noticed that she seemed a lot
calmer than the last time she had been here. And there was something
else, a look of determination. He read through the journal she had
brought, occasionally asking her for details on what she had wrote.
     "It says here that the lady at the Center made you feel
embarrassed when you dissolved all your sex circles. Do you still
feel the same way now?"
     "Not exactly embarrassed. More like... different. Apart, sort
of."
     "Have you begun any new circles?"
     "No."
     "Have you masturbated at all?"
     "Actually yes, some. Ben, I've been having insatiable sex every
day for the last thirteen years. You can't just stop it like that." 
     "You really haven't explained why you did this in your journal."
     "Well, I *had* to dissolve the circles with my family. You'll
probably never understand why."
     "I'm trying, Gina. Really. So what about everyone else?"
     "Well, It just didn't seem right. I mean I can finally decide
for myself whether or not to sleep with someone but they can't really
make the same independent decision. It's like taking advantage of
someone."
     "Extraordinary. You used to be close friends with Hannah and
Irene. Did they try to talk you into rejoining with them?"
     "I think they wanted to, but held back for fear of scaring me
off."
     "Were you attracted to them?"
     Gina sighed, then nodded. "I'm myself again, Ben, but I still
felt an attraction to them. Do you think I might a lesbian?"
     "Lesbianism in the old sense doesn't exist anymore. But what do
you think."
     "I don't know. It's like with my family. I know it's *wrong* to
sleep with your family and the whole idea repulses me, but at the
same time I still get aroused when I think of some of the things we
did together."
     "Why is that?"
     "It's like my attitudes are back to what they originally were,
but all my memories are of someone different. All the old habits are
still with me."
     "Maybe you haven't completely left the community after all.
Maybe there's a way to help you back in." He seemed pleased by the
thought.
     Gina found that the same thought scared her.

     The doctor finished the journal. "So have you decided what
you're going to do now?"
     Gina was silent for a moment. She had in fact not told anyone of
her work with the tape player. How she was teaching herself how to
read and understand the programs. They were sort of codified concepts
and memories, which could be implanted, either consciously or
unconsciously, and could be weighted with imperative levels to
resolve conflicting orders given to the subject. She had no intention
of telling this to anyone, though. Not even the doctor, who she
wasn't sure she could trust. She knew now just how subtle and
absolute the programming could be. Or for all she knew, he could even
be one of the so-called Overlords, the ones responsible for taping.
She had an answer already prepared. "I thought I'd go back to school.
Maybe take a degree in computers."
     "That'll always come in handy," he said, agreeably.

                              Chapter 17
                              The Truth

"Truth is so important that it needs to be surrounded by a bodyguard
of lies."
     GEORGE SHULTZ

"The terrible thing about the quest for truth is that you find it."
     REMY DE GOURMONT

     Gina activated the v-phone and dialed. A woman answered. "A
Night to Remember Erotic Services, this is Rachel. May I help you?"
     "Uh, yes. I'd like to have someone come by tonight."
     "Certainly. Male or female?"
     "Male."
     "Can you describe what you'd like?"
     "Tall, good build, something romantic."
     "Any particular race?"
     "Whatever. I just want someone."
     "OK, let's see. Ah, how about Tony? He's Hispanic, 6' 2", 12
inches. All man." A picture, presumably of Tony, flashed in a corner
of the screen.
     "Fine." Gina gave her address and disconnected. She felt a
little disgusted with her weakness, but while her hand was fine once
in a while, it was a poor substitute for the real thing. Besides, she
figured, if she paid for it, she couldn't be taking advantage of him.
She put on a pink, wispy, see-through robe and some lace panties.
     An hour later there was a knock on the door. Gina opened it and
there stood a man. He was dark skinned, with black, wavy hair. He had
a thick mustache and deep brown eyes. He wore a perfectly tailored
tuxedo and carried a dozen long stemmed roses. "You must be Tony,"
she said inviting him in.
     "Don't you recognize me, Gina?" He asked.
     Gina stared at him. "Tony...?"
     "Antonio Miguel Eduardo de la Hoya Alverez, at your service!" he
said in a thick accent, bowing and handing her the flowers. "Or just
plain Tony, if you like," he said grinning. 
     Gina smelled the flowers and thought back. Tony was a hunk in
high school, she remembered. And he'd polished his act immensely
since then. She found herself strongly attracted to him.
     The pair went into the bedroom. "We'll have to call a Center and
have our circle re-established. He pulled a small portable v-phone
out of his coat pocket and pushed a number on the speed dialer.
"Hello, we'd like to start a circle... he punched some numbers on the
keypad. Ok, here she is." He handed the device to Gina.
     A elderly man's head spoke to her. "Hello, please enter your
name or community number on your keypad." Even though not a part of
the community, Gina assumed she still had a community number. She
typed it in on the phone's keypad.
     "Is this Gina Robinson?" A man asked.
     "Yes it is."
     "Do you wish to have sex with Tony Alverez?"
     "Yes."
     "OK, That's all. Enjoy!" He hung up. 
     Gina handed the v-phone back to Tony, who had removed his jacket
and yanked on the bow tie, untying it with a smooth motion. He looked
really sexy dressed up and Gina's arousal increased. "Would you care
to assist, cara mia?" Gina approached him. Tony ran his hands over
her back while she removed his cummerbund and unbuttoned his shirt.
They stared into each other's eyes. He kicked off his shoes and socks
and she unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. They fell to the
floor and he stepped out of them, nude except for his jet black
briefs. Gina's eyes were drawn to the fat bulge in them. Gina knelt
down and pulled them off. His cock was *huge*. She could barely get
her hand around it. "Were you this big in high school?" she asked.
     Tony massaged her shoulders lovingly, smiling down on her. "It
is you who make me this way, mi amor."
     "No, I'm serious."
     Tony pulled her to her feet and took her head in his large
hands. "I had a little work done. My senoritas deserve the very best
from Antonio." Moving to the bed, he picked up the roses where Gina
had laid them. Holding his smouldering gaze on Gina, with a smile on
his face, he slowly pulled the petals from the flowers and scattered
them on the comforter, creating a mat of sweet smelling petals. Gina
removed her robe and slithered onto the bed, facing him. Tony
gathered large handfuls of petals and let them float down onto her,
covering her body and face. Gina pressed them to her nose, deeply
imbibing the marvelous fragrance. Tony crouched between her legs and
pulled her panties off. Running his hands across the insides of her
legs he blew gently on her pussy, sending shivers up her spine. "Ah,
mi chiquita, such a beautiful flower you are. See how you open wide
for me." He brought his gorgeous face down and began lapping at her.
     Gina felt her inhibitions dissolve as a powerful sense of
well-being soaked into her. Tony was deftly running his expert tongue
up and down her lips, swirling it around her clit. making her head
swim. He picked up more petals and let them rain down, clinging to
her perspiring breasts. Gina took two rose petals in her fingers and
pulled on her erect nipples though them. She was breathing deeply,
sighing contentedly with each exhale.
     Tony increased her lust swiftly. Letting a finger slip inside
her, he ran it in and out for a minute. Then, when she was ready, he
stopped and drew himself up on his knees. He took his foot long penis
in his hand and gave it a few swift strokes. He didn't get completely
hard but he was a good two inches in diameter. She spread her legs
wide and he moved back, placing the tip of his prick at the entrance
to her pussy. "Are you ready, mi flora bonita?" he asked.
     "Yes."
     He spread her lips apart with his fingers and rocked his hips
back and forth against her. He slid into her a good six inches. He
lay down and supported his weight on top of her with his elbows.
Slowly fucking her, he took a rose petal between his lips. He
delicately ran it around her mouth, making Gina's whole face tingle.
She parted her lips and they pulled on the petal together. Gina could
hardly believe how filled up she was. She hadn't felt this way since
she was a little girl. The feeling of Tony on top of her, clasping
her shoulders with strong arms, driving his monster inconceivably
deep within her cunt was indescribable. The room was filled with the
smells of sex and roses.
     The pair went on forever it seemed to Gina. Tony seemed to be
able to will himself not to come until she had been satisfied, which
was approaching with alacrity. Gina began to tremble underneath him.
Tony whispered something in Spanish into her ear and stepped up his
pace. Gina wrapped her legs tightly around his back and orgasmed.
Tony thrust himself deep and timed himself with the waves of pleasure
that coursed through Gina.

     It wasn't until after Tony left that Gina noticed that he had
never come. She wondered if it was still possible with all his
alterations.

                    ------------------------------

     Gina parked the car and knocked on the front door. Irene
answered, "Gina! What are you doing here?"
     "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by. I hope I'm
not interrupting anything."
     "Come on in, you're always welcome here. Hannah and the guys are
at work and I just put the kids down for their nap. Would you like
some coffee?"
     "Sure." Gina followed Irene into the kitchen. As Irene's back
was turned, Gina pulled a tape player out of her purse. Without Irene
seeing her, she slipped the earphones up onto her head and pressed
the play button. Irene stiffened, then stood motionless. Gina placed
the tape player in Irene's unresisting hand and sat at the kitchen
table. She had reprogrammed the tape player to make the listener obey
her commands over any others she had been programmed with. The
subject would not be aware of this however, it would all be
unconscious. She left Irene's original programming intact,
regretfully for now, because she didn't want to cause suspicion.
Irene was still a part of the community and should appear to be so,
at least for now.
     By 6:00 that evening, all four adults in the condo had been
reprogrammed in the same fashion. Gina sat with them in the living
room. "Now tell me, have any of you been given any special tape
commands concerning me?"
     "No... Nope." came the replies. She grilled them for a while,
but they all had no special knowledge of her situation.
     "All right. Tomorrow, you," she pointed at Hannah, "will take
this to work. You will get as many people at your work to listen to
it as you can."
     "OK, Gina." Hannah replied, meekly.
     "Also, you will give me your tape players tonight, so I can fix
them also." There came a knock on the door. Gina jumped. "Who's
that?" she snapped.
     "I don't know."
     "Go see who it is." Hannah went to the front door and opened it
a crack. "Hello?"
     "Hello, Hannah. Is Gina Robinson there?"
     Gina heart was pounding. She shook her head no to Hannah. "No,
she isn't. Who are you?"
     "My name is Dr. Benjamin Warren. Listen, I know she's in there
and I really do need to talk to her, right now."
     Gina thought furiously. "Let him in," she commanded.
     Dr. Warren entered the house. "Hello, Gina. Hi Hannah, Irene,
Yoshi, Doug. This is a lovely place you have here." He sat on the
sofa between the men.
     Gina opened her purse and took out a gun she had bought a few
days earlier, right after her apartment had been buglarized. Pointing
it at the doctor she said. "If you resist, I *will* shoot you." She
handed the tape player to Doug. "Tape him."
     Ben looked at her. His gaze seemed different now, more
penetrating. It was like he was looking right through her. "That's


