An eternity of identical corridors later and Ember leads me into a room with a very fancy looking futuristic armchair with a screen directly in front of it. "Pandora, put her into the chair and apply the restraints. Then, proceed to Mind Bore's lab for processing."

"Yes Mistress Ember!" Pan's voice is dripping with desire to please enough to make me sick. her hands are off of my wrists and in a flash up onto my shoulders to shove me down hard into the chair. My bones are starting to warm up but I'm still not fast enough to get away before my arms are trapped to the rests, and my body is trapped back against the chair.

"Ooo, lumbar support. You really pulled out all of the stops, Ember." All things said the chair really is comfortable. It feels like real leather with lots of stuffing. The perfect material to wiggle into . . . and that's bad.

Ember just rolls her eyes as Pandora leaves and then closes the door behind her. She seems like the too serious type that at best I could tempt her into striking me but not lowering her guard. I have a feeling that The Domina could forgive a little damage done to her new possession as long as I didn't escape and cause her any more problems. That's how I would do this. Then again, I don't think I would have left the bread crumbs like she did.

She surpassed me. I have to admit it to myself if no one else. The difference between us is not just in hue.

The screen in front of me begins to flicker and I close my eyes tight. I don't want to be filled with pretty colors and shapes. If they intended to do that they should have made the chair with restraints for my eyelids. Leather restraints are surprisingly comfortable considering that they could be steel.

"The screen is not going to warp or melt your mind. If she had wished it to be done, The Domina would have assigned me or Mind Bore the task. She felt that making you more aware of the situation might make you more cooperative. I think it's a waste of time but she insisted she knew herself better than I did." Her tone makes me think she's thankful that The Domina is right about that, but I could be reading her wrong.

What do I have to lose? Ember is right. She could have already melted me into obedient goo. If this is going to do the trick then I may as well let a screen do it and steal the satisfaction from her.

A minute or two later it flickers in to focus. Mind Bore in all of her glory is standing in front of the camera. Her hands still have those robotic bits over each finger, and her face is still just as augmented. She would be beautiful in a posh sort of way if she wasn't so evil. Such a lovely body, dark hair, gorgeous eyes . . . but rotten to the core.

"Welcome again to Masterpiece Robotic Theatre. Last time on our show, you watched the archer Jade's mind be melted away by one of my favorite toys." Her voice is so self satisfied and proud of her self that even knowing I can't do a thing I struggle against the bonds. "This time we'll be doing something a little bit more hands on! Our experiment today comes to us already looking like an automaton, and spent a brief time as a statue that would have made a great coat rack."

The camera pans over to Aureus. Of course she's not standing up to take a bow. She's strapped back shaped like an "x" on a metallic table tilted at just the right angle. Her clothes are sitting on a nearby table folded neatly. The view is mouthwatering and worrying in the same instant.

Mind Bore comes back into the screen and runs her eyes all along Aureus. She never was very hands on in a sense. I would be running my hands all over Aureus if she was tied down like that. Mind Bore is satisfied to just look over her with a scientific eye. It shows just how much of an object Aureus is to her. She deserves more than that!

"The Domina has made me keenly aware that I could have her turned back to flesh for this procedure, but that would ruin all of the uniqueness of the situation. Since we can't put in any implants with her like this, our modifications will need to be more external. I don't think she'll mind." Still her voice sounds cold, but there's a thrill to her voice. She's enjoying this.

I shouldn't be.

One of her mechanically enhanced hands reaches up past the camera's view over Aureus's head and the camera pans to keep up. Her fingers lace through the grips for what looks like some sort of a helmet, and she lowers it down over Aureus.

Its design looks more like a skeleton than an actual helmet, with parts revealed so that this can be better enjoyed. It doesn't go around the back of her head, it just rests atop her forehead and curves around to over her ears.

"This is a favorite device of mine that I call the imprinter. With a flick of this little silver switch here, wires will begin to move in through her ears and deposit small little machines directly into her brain. From there, they will begin to take control of her synapses effectively granting me control of what her brain does, and when. They will be powered by the same electricity that powers her own brain." She flicks the switch, and two small extensions move into her ears, and Aureus's body begins to spasm.

She must be feeling it just like I felt Mind Bore's fingers. A swift click, and then everything begins to change. Even golden the flesh of her chest ripples as she shakes, and the gold of her lower lips is purposefully visible as the shade of gold begins to darken and then dampen.

Her thighs clench. Her arms clench. She writhes in her bonds. It shouldn't look so good. "Right now, those tiny little robots are making her move to better adjust to her brain functions. Of course, if we just end the process there they won't be able to get a handle on her higher brain functions. The best way I've found to take control of those, is to distract them."

Aureus's body begins to undulate and writhe as the camera slowly pans down along her body and zooms in closer once again taking Mind Bore out of the shot. The movement of her body highlights how brightly her pussy is beginning to shine with how much she's flowing. I want to clean that up with my tongue.

"So, what's the best kind of sex to do that with? Do you remember your lessons Sarah? The three kinds of fucking? This place is vulnerable. Since I can't hear your response, the answer is the third kind of sex: rape. . . . and this is just the tool to use." Hands lower down another apparatus from off screen. This one has a long extension from it, cylindrical, and slides perfectly into her sex and the rest of it, a skeletal shape, rests over her thighs and seems to clench into place.

"Nraaaaangh!" Aureus screams and her thighs seem to clench especially hard. The view is too zoomed in for me to see much of anything else, but her thighs start to cover with slickness and shine like they're directly beneath florescent lighting. "Sooooo . . . nrrr . . . f . . . 'kng . . . goooooood!"

Mind Bore begins to laugh in a low sinister way, but Aureus doesn't stop screaming for a moment. It only begins to grow more and more intense by the moment. "Right now, we're stimulating her lower brain functions. Her heart beat is off the charts. Respiration is the same. Her body is more taut than a butterfly pinned in a plastic case. Her desire is stronger than her reason. And this is just how we want her."

Her moans are so familiar, but they're louder and more fierce than I ever forced out of her. It's an entirely different sound. The sounds she made for me were pleasant and yearning. These are still attractive but are so much louder, and so much more urgent and desperate.

"In essence, we're fucking her mind right now. The machines in her brain are stimulating all of the right hormones and heightening her sensitivity. As her primal brain becomes more and more active, the machines can latch onto her inactive cognitive functions. Slowly, we'll start to activate memories associated with this low level of reasoning. Eventually, there will be no difference between her own thoughts, and the ones I choose for her to have." Mind Bore's voice ends on a high note right as a louder scream flows from Aureus.

She's turning her into a machine with her own body and mind. My own thighs should not be clenching along with Aureus'. I should be stronger than this by now. This shouldn't still turn me on!

"Luuuuuuuucia! Sssssssaraaaaah . . . Yessssss . . . Feeling . . . So . . . So hot . . . I want you to . . . Harder . . . Pleeeeease . . . Don't . . . Don't hold baaaaack! Fuck me raw, fuck me till my brain is sooooore!" Her whole body shakes and she squeals loudly and tenderly as she starts to overflow anew. Mind Bore is making her remember me . . . Why did she have to remember fucking me?

The sounds of her pleasure are too triggering. She opened up to me . . . and now her mind is being fucked away. She's vulnerable because of me, and it makes me wet like nothing else.

"Waaaaant youuuu to doooominate meeee . . . Llloooove how it feeeeeeel . . .ssssss . . . Fuck . . . fuck . . . fuuuuuck meeeeee!" She screams again, louder, and I can't stop myself from shuddering and tensing up all of my body. "Fucking . . . meanssss . . . control . . . pleasure . . . fucking . . . fucking . . . pleasure . . . need obey . . . neeed . . . mind . . . to . . . robot . . . slave!"

"Stop it! Stop it!" My own voice doesn't sound like my heart is really in it, but I want it to be. I really want to want it to stop. I don't want to find her mind being destroyed so delicious. I don't!

There's a laugh, but it's not Mind Bore, Aureus, or me. Oh. Its Ember . . . I want to fry her mind, spark her up like a power plant till she's overflowing with the juice and winding up just like Yanta. I want to do that to all of them, just turn them into mannequins!

Mind Bore's laugh joins Ember's as Olivia, Aureus, finally stops screaming and lies flat on the inclined table. "There, now that's done. Of course, if we left her like this she might do something silly like eventually rebel against my control. We can't have that, and I don't have the time to make her into a dirty little kink bunny! So what is an evil roboticist to do? I have just the cure for that, too."

The camera pans back out so I can see both Mind Bore and Olivia. She's no longer covered by the helmet, and Mind Bore finishes pulling the pelvic apparatus away. It makes a slick sound as it pulls back and the . . . extension . . . is shining as brightly as Aureus is.

After letting the view linger on the instrument, it changes quickly to zoom in on Mind Bore's hands. Inside of them rest two small buds that look like ear buds with no cords, but small extensions from the side opposite of the speaker. "These are just what they look like. They're not so much important as what they plug into is."

Once again the view pans back, and Mind Bore slides a bud into each of her ears. Once they're secure, a cord is attached to each of the extensions and then is traced along her body so they hang over her swollen sex.

"To constantly keep her fueling her own programming without having to make the machines in her brain just do that, instead of oh, I don't know, obey, she'll be conditioned by powerful soothing melodies from inside of this." She holds up a vibrator, and the only difference is that the flat end has two small little slots. Once she shoves it inside, she attaches the cords, and Aureus starts to shudder again.

She immediately begins to coo and moan as her entire body looks like it's trying to fuck the toy buried inside of her. I can only imagine what sort of music is being played directly into her brain. Just a little bit of that a day, or after she's already been assigned a task . . . they'll have the perfect drone.

Mind Bore laughs again and looks directly into the camera. "Of course, we can control her remotely, or just pull out a plug and tell her whatever we want. Later on we can reprogram her for any number of uses. There's bound to be resistance even after The Spear fires, and she'll be wonderful at helping squelch the remnants of free thought. Her eyes might not be white, but I think this was just as effective of a demonstration. I hope you learned from this lesson. There will be a test."

The screen flickers into static again, and then goes black.

Aureus couldn't have managed any manipulation of the spear that hasn't already been fixed. The Earth is doomed. I'm doomed. She's been doomed pretty thoroughly. Pandora is probably getting processed right now . . .

I'm not sure if I should feel despair or be impressed with myself. The team of super villains I put together has been more than effective. Sure, I wasn't exactly the one who did it, but near enough the same. What could have pushed me so far over the brink? This isn't Chronos-like any more. This has grown far beyond it. This is . . . almost . . . cruel . . .

Heels click, and Ember slowly steps in front of me. If her hair was a little bit redder I'd be sure she was a Nesatealia. "Now that that's over and done with . . . We need to take you to The Domina. She'll be waiting for you in the firing chamber. You are to bare witness to her moment of triumph . . ."

That's why she hasn't fried my mind yet. Either she wants to try reasoning with herself, she wants herself to see her victory . . . No matter what it is, it has to do with the moment she's been waiting for since her initial plan with me failed. Maybe I can get her to answer some questions before she ends all of my thinking and turns me into the perfect little doll. Even if I'm not silver skinned anymore I still might fulfill one of our oldest fantasies.

If we could have fucked mirrors as a teen, I think we would have. It's a very narcissistic fetish for a couple of women with low self confidence to have, but we had it. Or have it. I don't know anymore.

"Of course, Ember . . . Tell me . . . who is Pyria?" Maybe I can't stop her now, but if I can find some way to make a come back then any information that I have will be useful. Any insight into her powers might help me find a way to counter her.

She used Pandora's own powers to turn her into a husk. I don't have any at the moment, but I must still be a conduit even if I have nothing flowing. Would that be a bonus or a minus?

"Pyria is the Goddess of Cleansing Flame. Her love is a force of purity and wipes away indecision, worries, and fear. In return, she gives clarity of purpose, love, and unmatched passion. I am her chosen." Her voice sounds so very purposeful and self assured. There's no Pandora here with her, but she doesn't seem the slightest bit worried as she begins to undo my bonds.

Something tells me that this "chosen" did not choose to be taken over by a mere mortal in addition to her deity. Might she be able to break free of it? "If you are Pyria's then why do you follow The-"

As soon as the last restraint is removed, the back of Ember's gloved hand slams against my cheek. "Silence. This is Pyria's will. Once The Domina has sent her power into the world, I will aid her in continuing its purification. Within a very short time there will be nothing but purity in this world. If Pyria did not desire me to do thusly, she could stop me at any time."

"Good to know . . ." I'm getting very sick of being back handed, and she even managed to hit the same cheek. What the hell are the odds? They seem like they should be higher than one in two.

A part of me is tempted to fight her off but I'm in no position to do so, not now. She would just singe my mind enough to ensure my obedience and it might wind up with a bit more of my suit than I would like being burned. I special ordered this, and my tailor isn't going to be around to take commissions for much longer if I get out of here.

When she motions me to stand, I do. I follow her out of the room, and down the familiar corridor. My suit should give me an edge if I can convince The Domina to take me on one on one. I don't know the full extent of Mourning Frost's abilities but if just a single block of that ice hit my head I'm sure I'd have at least a minor concussion.

It's too early in my career to start racking those up unless I absolutely need to.

Mind Bore's loyal drones will be a trick to deal with, too. I have to assume that Aureus and Pandora won't be coming to my rescue, so I'll need to be coming to theirs. I feel like I'm forgetting someone, but if so, they can't be that important.

A part of me is tempted to call Jade, but I doubt a cell phone gets good reception in outer space. I might be closer to those satellites, but they never show that guy going to the international space station and asking if we can hear him now.

"I'm surprised. The Domina warned me that she was a lot more feral when she was younger before she found order. I was expecting to have to drag you to her covered in light burns and bruises." Ember actually sounds impressed. Considering her as a possible ally is unlikely at absolute best. Impressing a mindless drone isn't something to sneeze at. She's not exactly mindless, but I don't think Pyria is really the one approving of her current actions . . .

Impersonating a deity is yet another charge to lob at The Domina. Frankly, it seems small compared to global domination. Call me old fashioned . . .

"Well, when she was my age she never was taken captive by herself, was she?" A part of me wants to act like a young snotty brat, but I have to keep my cool. If I can keep my cool talking to one of her drones, then I should be able to catch myself off guard. I've always had a sore spot or two exposed to give a good emotional jab.

Ember actually laughs. "Very, very true. I would have liked to have challenged you when you were still Silver Girl . . . You might have been a worthy adversary."

"But now?"

"Now . . . you are simply an amusement." The word amusement hits me like a ton of bricks and I almost actually let myself whimper in response.

I'm more than just an amusement. I'm more than just a younger, more virtuous version of The Domina. I am Lucia Colloten, Sarah LaSilvas, Patina . . . and that means a lot whether anyone wants to admit it or not. "We'll see . . ."

The doors to the "firing chamber" are just like the ones to the room I left Aureus in before. Just as before the circle in the middle uncoils and the room slowly reveals itself. Ember puts her hand on the small of my back, and it's the first time I've realized somewhere after we got to the right door she managed to move behind me. Her hand gives me a hard shove and I tumble into the room and wind up on my side, knees bent, holding myself up with my arms.

"Welcome . . . Lucia. That feels so formal somehow, doesn't it? We're on a first name basis, but when you share the same first, middle, and last name then . . . shouldn't you?" My own voice, older and ripened with evil, taunts me. I don't even bother to look up.

My hair surrounds my face, but I just stare down at the ground and try to feel pitiful as I can. I slouch, and let my elbows bend just enough so that my whole body shakes with the strain of keeping me up.

I don't answer her. I can't answer her yet. I need to bide my time.

"Ember . . . Make sure that Frost has completed the last of her preparations, and then fetch Katya. We'll need her shortly." My own voice shouldn't sound so disinterested when I'm almost kneeling like this, helpless, and completely at her mercy. This just shouldn't happen. When did I become so detached and dispassionate?

"Of course, Domina. Shall I fetch Doctor Raine as well?" Ember's voice sounds reverent and on the verge of orgasm at the same time. I'm sure she even has a Chronosesque trigger.

What is it, flaming pink eyes?

The Domina laughs somewhere above and in front of me, but I still don't look up. "No, not yet, Ember. One thing at a time. Remember, we need all of this to go smoothly. If she's jostled before we're ready then the whole plan could falter. Go now, chosen . . . Soon you will witness the realization of your Goddess's greatest wish."

Ember makes a sound of agreement, and moments after I hear her clocking away, the door seals shut. We're alone, or if we're not alone, then at least Ember is gone. Me and me, Past and future. Good and evil.

Though, I doubt either of us is so black, or so white.

"At least look at me. Yourself. I don't buy the helpless heroine act. That's not you anymore and we both know it. You stopped being a victim awhile ago, and finally started actually giving being a heroine the majority of your ass. I would be impressed if that mattered." Her voice sounds almost . . . sad?

I shift to sit back on my ass before looking up and pushing my hair out of my eyes. "Okay, fine. You can probably read my mind already, huh?"

The room is a lot different than the room I saw before. At the very center is a large half spherical apparatus, and in the middle is a chair with two hand grips a decent length away, jutting out from the edges of the apparatus on either side of the chair. The room is very white, plain, and utilitarian. Windows beyond the apparatus show the stars, but they're not as soothing of a sight as they used to be, and neither am I.

Standing in front of that apparatus, not nearly far away enough from me, is The Domina. She's not dressed like Silver Girl this time and I'm not sure if that's terrifying or a relief. Instead she's wearing a skimpy black bikini. Her hair is tied up like the first time that I met her and she looks amazing.

I can't deny it. Every little curve of ours looks so much better in silver. The triangles of her bikini over each breast and the one between her legs are only enough clothing to give the illusion of her being clothed. Besides, I know what she would look like with those torn off . . . and she knows that. Maybe I do still have that narcissistic streak after all.

"All right. I'm looking. I'll admit you're gorgeous. I'd probably fuck you right now even knowing that you'd just turn it into some way to condition me into obedience, but that's not why I'm here or you'd be nude." Sighing I run my fingers through my hair and wish it were silver instead of black. "So . . . what now?"

"First, you know that a little bit of mystery goes a long way. Someone being just barely clothed tempts you to finish undressing them." She says it so matter-of-factly, that it's easy to forget the situation I'm in, and that's bad. "And second . . . what's next? Well, I would think that's fairly obvious. This is the question and answer section of my evil plot. After I'm done satisfying your curiosity, I'm going to ram The Spear of Enlightenment's argent wisdom into the mind of every man, woman, and child. Some will resist, but that's part of why I have a cadre of Argent Knights ready to do my bidding."

I know I don't want to know the answer, but it's too tempting. "What's the rest?"

She rolls her eyes and then sighs. Of course she knew I was going to say that. It's classic Sarah LaSilvas. It doesn't take a Domina to figure that out. "What's the rest? They're sizzling . . . I needed some help, funding, expertise, funding to help make all of this possible . . . and you never know when having someone at your back will save the day."

I'm sure that Aureus wishes that were true. Pandora must feel just the same. I failed them both. Well, I will have failed them both if I can't find a way to get the upper hand and quickly.

She wants me to ask her every question I can think of, or a certain amount before she looks me right in the face and says that our time is up. I should take advantage of that. Once I find the right question and make her drop her guard, I can give her a nice taste of blue or knuckle, whichever feels more likely to be effective.

"Well . . . Then . . . I know the why of all of this. I know the how. I know how you figured me out, and how you laid this trap. All of the obvious questions are out of the way . . ." Sighing I scratch behind my head and shrug weakly. "So what's left to ask . . . Uhm . . . Why are you so careful about Valerie . . .?'

"My Raine Drop . . .?" Her voice turns sentimental, sappy, and it almost makes me wince. Do I sound like that when I'm talking about someone I like. "I . . . I love her. Valerie has helped me keep centered when I would have no doubt made a million mistakes harkening back to my days of being you. Not only is she the coolant for The Spear's power source, but . . . I want us to have a real relationship. One with an even playing field . . . No one owning the other except lovingly . . . She won't like what I've done once she finds out, and I may need to break the taboo for that but . . . It'll be a small price to pay."

So she thinks that by keeping Valerie in the dark about us, about her, about all of this, but not controlling her that she's having a real relationship?! She's acting like I'm the deluded, stupid, naive, silly one?! I . . . can't believe her!

My whole face twitches and my hands are just craving to turn into fists and pound some sense into her like I pounded it out of Yanta. "That's . . . Yeah . . . That's cute. That makes a lot of sense. You're going to enslave the entire world, but you want at least one last consensual relationship so you can feel equality for one last shining moment. Yeah. You're a real saint."

"I don't expect you to understand!" She snaps at me so sharply . . . I don't think a girl can get used to being yelled at by herself without already knowing it's going to happen. "You couldn't . . ."

The way she says that feels like it has a million different meanings. Taking a chance, I slowly try to stand, and only fall forward once before managing it. "Then . . . tell me . . . What turned you from Silver Girl to Domina? What made it so I can never understand you?"

Her face goes blank, completely and entirely blank. It's not emotionless, it's everything less. "They . . . They . . . They took her away from me . . . They took everyone away from me . . . And kept expecting me to be happy. No one could understand how I could love them still, after all of the counseling, Mystic, a slew of shrinks . . . Susan . . . None of them could understand . . ."

Chronos fell, and I only ended up like this. Sure, it still hurts, and no one understands how I feel either, but I don't think I went anywhere near as far off of the deep end. That can't be all!

"No, I know that look on my face . . . They didn't just take down Chronos. I accidentally let the truth of Chronos slip, but it was . . . I had a lot longer with them than you did. The Lady was like a mother, a lover, everything to me. When I recruited Amethyst for her, she was like a mother to both of us, she filled in our missing pieces and we filled in each other . . . And then Jade found out. I still have a hard time believing it was Jade both times . . ." She laughs, but it's a sick, pitifully desperate laugh. "It was our fault, but she was the conduit."

I don't say a word. I need to listen, and figure out which of my pouches could stop her. Blue dreams wouldn't kick in quick enough to stop her from sparking me or just beating me senseless. I need a definite idea of what to do - not a plan but an idea.

She shakes for several moments before turning her back on me, and I take the moment to look slowly around the room. We're really alone. Wow.

"But it wasn't quick. No. We left the headquarters. We made new ones. We came back, and back, and back . . . And when they finally caught us . . . They separated all of us. It was like the witness protection program, but not . . . There were survivor groups . . . No threats of jail time. We were victims. Even when Mystic determined I'd done a lot under my own free will . . .

"I broke free. They called it a hospital, but it was a prison. When Yanuka had Dust grab you from Mind Bore, the place she took you, was where the hospital . . . I broke free. I hunted the world over for Jesse, for The Lady . . . and I found Her. I found what was left. They fried Her mind. The interrogator had burrowed into her mind and gobbled it all up. There were no memories of the tenderness we shared. There was nothing . . . I lost . . . Her. No one could fix it, and oh, I made sure they tried. The very best. She was gone . . . and that . . . was when I remembered . . . Yanta."

My blood runs cold. No wonder she feels she has to institute her own law . . . The law that was supposedly protecting her fried the brain of the woman she needed more than life itself . . . I'm glad she's sane enough at the moment to be telling me all of this.

If she wasn't, I imagine she'd be yelling about now.

I'm not sure if this is a good sign or not. "By then, I'd found out the source of my powers . . . I'd met Lida. I knew we could use our powers for more than just . . . sparks. So, I found where they'd stashed Yanta when they broke into the room we'd kept her . . . and I found I couldn't bring back her personality, but I could force her to regurgitate fact. And then . . . After getting together some technical specs, readouts, diagrams, for a fall back plan incase I failed . . . I went back to stop you from ruining our lives."

"Then why not find The Lady? I'll help you if it means you'll stop all of this!" Using logic with a woman like her might not be the best approach, but it's all I've got. Maybe I could try another batch of shadow, but something tells me she would be ready for it. Besides, I only have half a dose left.

"The leads I used before are cold. The people who imprisoned her? Have no clue. No one knows where she is. She just . . . evaporated." She laughs, and it's a crazy laugh. It's the kind of desperate laugh where you know not only is there no hope, but there's no desire for there to be hope. "After I use my fallback plan . . . I can turn the whole world into Chronos. With the whole world obedient to me, I can find The Lady, and put her at the throne of the world . . . In control of me, and everyone else."

She really is insane. She's lost it. There's no sanity left in that head of hers . . . My eyes actually feel a little wet. What she's doing is so wrong, but if my life was stolen from me and then the woman I was so desperately in love with didn't even remember me . . .

I'd go pretty fucking nuts too, I think.

It's now or never. I pull back my fist dash forward to thrust it as hard as I can right into the back of her head. The Lady was never about world conquest. She just wanted money. She might have cared about us, she might have even loved us, but she never wanted to use us to rule the world, it was all just about a little illegal green.

If she can't understand that . . . then . . . well . . . if the loss of Jesse Colloten drove her insane, then it's only fitting that Lucia Colloten clean up the mess.