Algorithm

Part 1

Tiffany’s day had started really well.  Classes were interesting, she was having one of those occasional ‘feel good’ days about her figure, and the weather outside was pleasant enough for a skirt and blouse. It was the kind of beginning that left her optimistic of what the rest of the day could bring her.

She strolled into Josh’s flat, a paradise of space and style that far exceeded the expectations of a junior computing student.  Josh was an awesome enough guy as it was, but overly rich parents were just a bonus for Tiffany and their tight nit circle of friends.  It was usually left open, but she had a spare key anyway; all of their little gang did.

“Anyone in?” she called as she entered the open plan lounge-kitchen area.  It even smelled good.  None of them spent any real time in their own apartments because of Josh’s enviable setup.

A few moments later, Alice’s excited face poked around the door leading to Josh’s bedroom/study as she waved Tiffany in.

That wasn’t a particularly unusual place to find anyone, as Josh had a sinfully comfy sofa and a huge gaming & film set up in his bedroom. Plus, there was his massive desk with the most expensive and flashy computer Tiffany had ever seen sitting on it.  Still, why Alice didn’t say anything was slightly perplexing.  Tiffany threw her bag down and wandered through.

The room was dim, with the curtains drawn and the dimmer light on low.  Facing away from the door towards the computer on the desk, there was Alice standing next to Trev.  They were hovering over Erin, who was staring into the computer screen.  The screen was filled with a strange pattern of moving and merging colorful shapes, like the kind of things you see in cheesy movies to represent a psychedelic trip.  Tiffany raised her eyebrows as she wandered closer, noticing that Erin was also wearing headphones.

She walked up so she could see them all from the front.  Alice and Trev were both wearing huge, excited grins, switching their eager gaze between the screen and Erin.

Erin’s eyes were completely blanked.  She stared at the screen without a wisp of an emotion on her face, her mouth agape and with a drop of drool beginning to accumulate on its side.  Her shoulders were sagged and her breathing was deep and even.

“Tiff!  She’s been like this for the last 10 minutes!” Alice shout-whispered with absolute glee.

“Why are you whispering?” Tiffany whispered back. “She’s wearing headphones…”

“Oh, she can still hear us,” Trev said at a normal volume. “Can’t you, Erin?”

“…MmYes,” came Erin’s faint response.

“And your mind is completely blank and empty right now, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” A slightly clearer reply this time.

Tiffany’s mouth opened to speak several times and closed again, each time the look of bewilderedness growing more complex on her face.

“We’ll explain everything when Josh gets back,” Alice suggested.  “He left for basketball practice a few hours ago, and we’ve been playing around with this ever since.”

“How long have you had her like…”

“About 10 minutes,” Trev said.  “Isn’t that right, Erin?  You’ve been blank for 10 minutes, haven’t you?”

“Blank… Ten… Yes…” Drowsy words slowly emerged from Erin’s lips, like they had to fight their way through a pool of treacle to get out.  Her short brown hair looked like it’d been mussed up by Alice or Trev at some point.  Her tomboyish face had never looked so expressionless to Tiffany before.

Tiffany stared in amazement.

“We were just figuring out, you know, what we should do with her…” Alice said.

“What do you mean?” Tiffany asked with uncertainty, her expression turning to one of obvious concern.

“Well, she’s in a deep trance, and she seems so compliant.  We’re just thinking of testing how it can affect her when she’s out of trance,” Trev explained.  “Nothing sinister, right Alice?”

“Right,” Alice affirmed, her eyes still gleaming with mischief.  “Nothing sinister at all.”  Without any consultation whatsoever, she leaned down to Erin’s ear and said, “Erin, when you are completely awake and out of this trance, when any of us says the phrase “Free range,” you will believe you are a chicken and act accordingly.  Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Erin monotoned.

“Alice!” Tiffany hissed at her.  “You can’t just do that to Erin without her even knowing about it!”

“It’s just a bit of fun, Tiff. It’s not like I’m doing anything naughty…” She grinned at her friend, winking as she finished her sentence with a mock seductive tone.

“Yeah, we have to see if it’ll at least work,” agreed Trev, quickly adding, “For science!  And, like, stuff.”

“Shall we wake her up then and let her ruffle her feathers, then?” Alice asked impatiently.

“Why let’s, shall we?”

“No,” Tiffany said firmly. “Wait.”

“Oh come on, Tiff, stop being you!” Alice whined. “I swear if you drop under I won’t make you any farmyard animal whatsoever, but this is just too awesome to not try.”

“Alice!” Tiffany snapped. “You’re letting your excitement get the better of you.  If this really works, and it’s as powerful as you’re claiming it to be, how are you going to turn her back?  If Erin really believes she’s a chicken, she probably won’t have the attention span or desire to look into the screen again, and you’ve given her no way to otherwise return to normal.”

Alice and Trev looked at each other, then to Erin, to the screen, and finally back to a clearly irate Tiffany.

“That… that really didn’t cross my mind,” Trev admitted.

“But, but she’ll probably just go back under though, wouldn’t she?  I mean, the sound, and if we kept her head still. Maybe,” Alice argued without a shred of conviction in her voice.

“Well why don’t we try it on you then, Alice?” Tiffany scolded. “Then we’ll see how you like having your mind fucked with!” She turned and stormed out of the room.

“Tiff, wait!  I’m sorry!” Alice ran after her.  “You’re not leaving, are you?” she asked in horror.

“No, I’m just making a dramatic exit. I’m actually going to the bathroom.” Tiffany sighed.  “Look, I overreacted.  Just give Erin a reverse command and then have your fun. I’ll be back soon.”

“Oh, ok.” Alice looked at her with a mixture of confusion and frustration, but quickly went back to program her chicken.

Tiffany entered the bathroom and made sure the door was locked behind her before slipping a hand down her pants to feel her own wetness.  Her cunt had started squirming with excitement the moment she saw Erin so blank and helpless.  From that very moment, her mind was filled with a dozen ways to see just how deep in trance Erin was.  The predominant thought that overwhelmed Tiffany’s imagination just then was having Erin be naked on her knees while eating Tiffany out.

“Oh my god,” she gasped, panting as she let her imagination play out the scene.  Closing her eyes, she started to finger herself then and there, her back pressed against the door and eyes scrunched shut in concentration.  Erin was being such a good, blank, mindless fucktoy.  So much so that Tiffany slid down the door and spread her legs out before rolling onto her back and continuing her assault on herself, lost in the pleasure.  Her fingers moved as if possessed now, and she found herself clutching desperately at her clothing, exposing tanned flesh to the gleam of Josh’s bathroom.

She had to stifle a scream as she came, by now half stripped and sprawled over the bathroom floor.  She lay there for a few moments after, breathing slowly returning to normal even as a few beads of sweat ran off her forehead.

“Holy shit…” Tiffany murmured to herself.  “That was a turn…”

After sorting out her clothes and hair and washing her face, she went back into the bedroom to see Trev and Alice grinning like kids seeing the ice cream van approach.  Erin was pacing around the center of the room, bobbing her head every step, flapping her elbows, and repeating an admittedly impressive clucking noise.  Tiffany started blushing as she watched before forcing herself to turn to her other friends.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Alice and Trev. “I got a bit over-excited there.”

“No, it’s fine,” Alice said, coming over to Tiffany and wrapping her arms around her.  “You were right, we were so eager that we weren’t thinking ahead.  I’m the one who should apologize”

“Call it even, then?” Tiffany smiled as she embraced Alice back.

“Definitely.”

“Hey, where’s my hug?” Trev pretended to pout.

“Come here, then,” Tiffany replied, rolling her eyes but ushering him over never-the-less.  Neither Alice nor Trev saw Tiffany’s blushing, joyful smile as she made up the middle of their hug sandwich.

“So, how’s our fowl?” she enquired as the hug dissolved around her.  “I have to say she does a good impersonation.”

“Shouldn’t it be im-chicken-ation?” Trev suggested.  “She’s not imitating a person, after all.”

“Shut up, Trev.” Alice smirked, rolling her eyes before excitedly grabbing Tiffany’s sleeve. “She’s been performing flawlessly ever since you’ve been in the bathroom.”

“Nice.  So how long until you, erm, restore her?”

“Actually, we wanted to wait until you got back for that,” Trev said.

“We’ve made it that she’ll return to normal when she hears the words ‘remove curse,’ but only if she hears it from you,” Alice explained.

Sure enough, Erin kept clucking around the place and then started pecking at one of Josh’s pillows.  Tiffany’s eyes were glued to her, narrowing slightly.

“I have the power, huh?” She strained a smile.

“Well yeah, we figured you like having the position of authority, so you can choose when to end our little experiment here.”

“Fair enough,” Tiffany replied plainly. “Thanks for putting me in charge,” she added, this time with a bit more enthusiasm as her eyes glanced down to the floor even as her cheeks flushed.

“But we were hoping we could wait a while and see if Josh gets back soon. He’d just love this,” Trev remarked..

“Yeah, who knows what he’ll think of doing with this…” Alice grinned.

“Alright,” Tiffany replied with a relieved smile, “let’s wait for Josh.”

They sat down and watched TV in the lounge, grabbing snacks and drinks for the next half hour while Erin continued to behave like a chicken the whole time, exploring the entirety of the flat before roosting in the corner and occasionally grooming her elbows.

When Josh returned, it didn’t take long to fill him in and let him see Erin’s behavior.

“This is so weird,” he remarked.   Sweat glistened on his dark skin as he watched Erin in fascination.  He was still in his basketball kit, as he typically jogged back from practice, preferring to shower in his own lavishly decadent bathroom than among the cracked tiles of the college gym.  Josh was the tallest of the group, an imposing six four, and his athletic build, coupled with his keen mind and rich parents, made him the envy of many.  Tiffany found him objectively hot, and he stirred feelings of confusion in her that every other man she’d met simply didn’t. Seeing as she knew it was impossible for any feelings to be reciprocated, she was happy to keep Josh an exception to her preference that she never planned on acting on..

Josh whistled a long, impressed tone. “I love it, but it’s weird.  And she’s been like this for how long?”

“Over half an hour now,” Tiffany replied. “I thought she would have got bored of it or snapped out or something. She’s either really dedicated to the role, or the computer thingy that Alice and Trev made really did a number on her.”

“Well then...” Josh clapped his hands enthusiastically, “I need to shower, but the minute I’m done, let’s put Erin back to normal and then show me how it works.”

They went back to hanging out with the snacks and TV, and before long, Josh emerged from the shower refreshed.  They all went over to Josh’s bedroom, leading Erin with them.  Josh quickly threw on some clothes as Erin was led back towards the computer.

“Let’s sit her back on the chair, see if she realizes what happened, or even remembers,” Alice suggested.  “And we’ll turn the screen off and keep the headphones off her to stop her going back into trance, too.” Once that was all done, they prompted Tiffany to release her.

“Um, ok. Remove curse,” Tiffany said.

All four of them watched as awareness and focus instantly returned to Erin’s eyes.  She looked around rapidly, her expression displaying a range of emotions from amazement right through to anger, with assorted bouts of bewilderment and excitement.

“Wow.  Just wow.  I can’t even describe how that felt,” was the first thing she blurted out, her face a picture of delight.  “I don’t remember you getting home, Josh, but I remember knowing that I was a chicken. Like, everything just made sense, and life was so simple.  I would have stayed like that forever, I’m sure of it.  It’s like my human mind just ran a small side thought and let itself shut down.”  She jumped up from the chair and grabbed Tiffany by the shoulders. “You have got to try it!”

“What?!” Tiffany looked bewildered.  “Why me?”

“No, I mean all of you!” Erin frantically glanced at each of her friends.  “I can’t put into words how good that felt.”

“Ok, I totally want to see what it feels like,” Josh admitted.  “What do I do?”

“Ok ok ok, you just sit there and look at the screen,” she said, ushering Josh into the seat and handing him the headphones.  “Plus, wear these.  The picture was a bit psychedelic, and the noise was just relaxing, but I think it was the combination of the two that really put me out of it.”

They all watched expectantly as Josh turned on the screen and put on the headphones.  Again, Tiffany looked at the wondrous merging and flashing of colors on the screen, and while it was fascinating to look at, she didn’t feel like she was being drawn into it the way Erin clearly had.  She then turned to Erin, and to her surprise, the tomboyish girl was already looking very dazed and subdued in stark contrast to her bubbling over excitement from before.

“Are you… y’feeling ‘nything?” Erin slurred.

“No, actually,” Josh replied in a disappointed tone.  “Like, it’s cool looking and sounding, but I don’t feel any different, actually.”

“Maybe it’s a different frequency, then,” Alice suggested.  “We were just trying different ones until we noticed that one having an effect on Erin.”

“Yeah, hold on. Stay there, and I’ll adjust it a bit,” Trev added.

Tiffany watched as both Trev and Alice took turns typing different figures into the computer before returning the trancing pattern to the full screen.

“Hey, Erin’s coming back to us,” Tiffany said after they switched the values the first time.  Sure enough, her eyes were looking more alert, her breathing stopped being so slow, and she was able to take her eyes off the screen.

“Fuck me, even the visual pattern by itself made me spacy there!” Erin exclaimed, pressing her palm to her forehead.  “If Josh wasn’t wearing the headphones, I would have been completely gone again.  I think I’ve been enough of a chicken for one day…”

After typing in a couple more values, Josh’s expression still hadn’t changed.  Tiffany couldn’t help notice that Alice, however, was locked onto the screen now.

“Josh, give the headphones to Alice for a moment and let her sit,” she said.

Josh started off protesting, but then Tiffany pointed out how spaced Alice had suddenly become. Noticing this, he was all too eager to comply as he guided Alice into the chair, being too mesmerized to argue.

“Alice, you still with us?” Erin asked after a moment of Alice wearing the headphones.

“Kinda… Yeah… I guess…” she drawled.  “The screen is so… I don’t know…”

“Trev, can you keep trying different sound frequencies?” Tiffany asked, adding, “And maybe the ones that you tried with Erin and Josh already, because it could have been one of them.”

“Sure, sure,” Trev agreed, furiously typing into the keyboard.  “Let me know if she changes.”

“Yeah… let me know… too…” Alice echoed from the tracing chair.

“How do you know, anyway?” Josh asked, standing next to Tiffany, doing his best to scrutinize Alice’s expression.

“Well, it was when Erin looked like she was ready to fall asleep that we realized she was pretty far gone.  I think I’ll recognize it.  She’s not quite there yet,” Trev indicated towards Alice.

It took a few minutes of trying different audio frequencies, but then everyone could see it happen at once.  Alice’s eyes dilated.  Her shoulders sagged as her entire body looked ready to keel over into a coma.  Her long blonde hair fell to either side of her pale, flawless face, as her light, hazel eyes stared lifelessly at the screen, unblinking.

“You mind is nice and blank now, isn’t it, Alice?” Trev said softly in her ear.

“Yesss…” came a feeble, mumbled reply from Alice’s lips.

Tiffany stared at the luscious red lips that had formed these words, and as a droplet of drool began to run down Alice’s chin, Tiffany felt a familiar arousal rise up within her. Her imagination once more began to run wild.

“I wonder why it was a different visual pattern and audio frequency that had this effect on Erin…” Tiffany mused.  The logical follow-through to this thought was that everyone would presumably be put in trance if the right combination of sound and imagery was found for them.  Tiffany could barely contain her excitement at this idea.  Could she entrance and play with all of her friends?  She knew that would be a question to revisit when she had a bit more information.

With Alice sitting in a growing puddle of her own drool before them, however, a more pressing question was itching to escape her lips, but she didn’t want to give away quite how much she wanted to ask it.  Luckily for her, Josh seemed to have a similar idea.

“The real question is,” Josh proposed, “what do we do with this playful kitten now that she’s like this?  I think it’s time to up the ante from chicken to pornstar…”

Tiffany looked around at Erin and Trev, and to her amazement, neither of them were vocalizing any protest or outrage.  Trev looked intrigued and Erin was smirking in satisfaction.  Tiffany knew she should be punching Josh on the arm in that moment, shouting at him to not be such a perv.

But when Tiffany’s eyes met Josh’s, and saw the glint of mischief in them, an involuntary grin spread across her face…