The next morning, the girls booked out the pool on the hotel roof and went to relax in the sun, wearing sunglasses, a sunhat and a black one-piece swimsuit, while Zoe wore a simple red bikini, and Xara had opted for a green one.

Irene laid back on a deck chair, trying to meditate. Zoe and Xara were on their knees, focused intently on Amanda, who had had her nanosuit shifted to a uselessly tiny white bikini so tight she looked like she had forgotten to wear the bottom, lying on her stomach as she was. Her cheeks were red and her mouth stuck in an embarrassed lip-biting plea as she squirmed, trying to ignore the giggling Zoe and Xara slathering handfuls of sunscreen over her ass.

"Gotta make sure you don't get sunburned, Amanda," Xara justified sweetly, all but groping Amanda's cheeks as she spread the lotion. Zoe grinned quietly and did the same up near the base of Amanda's spine.

"You two are ridiculous," Irene muttered, not bothering to look across. "Give the poor thing some space, will you? She's probably still embarrassed at being used for free drinks and VIP treatment last night."

"But that's what she's for!" Xara stressed, smiling to herself as Amanda whined into her forearm. "My sexy, loving, mindlessly obedient, big-assed, wide-hipped... mmm." Xara trailed off as she stared at Amanda's flesh shifting and sliding under her slippery hands.

"Mistress Xara, I think that's enough," Amanda ventured, snapping the Heiress out of her Zen state.

"Oh, of course. Sorry, Manda," Xara gave her left cheek a playful swat, winking at Zoe. "All done, so you can relax, all right?"

"Yes, Mistress." Amanda sighed, closing her eyes.

Xara reached into the basket next to her chair and lifted her remote, hitting the combination of buttons to rewind her slut's memory. "Amanda," she sang. "Time to get you lotioned up!"

"Do we need to," Amanda whimpered. "I could just stay in the shade."

"Don't be silly, Manda. Safety takes priority. Zoe, wanna help me here? It's a two woman job or I'll be here all day."

Zoe snickered, Amanda spluttered in humiliation and Irene shook her head. Xara and Zoe started their routine over, gliding fondling fingers across Amanda's rear.

"So, anyway," Xara said as she worked. "What do we wanna do later? As fun as it is up here, we can't stay in the pool forever. We should take the chance to explore before we gotta go home and back to work."

"What do you want to do, Heiress? That seems to be the deciding factor in these sorts of scenarios," Irene snarked. Xara just grinned.

"Damn straight. I dunno, we went to a club, we went clothes shopping. Museums outside Ananke are boring as fuck. Our tech is better than anything they have out here so no point shopping for that."

"Didn't you say something about wanting to get a wristcom?" Zoe asked, pinching Amanda's right cheek and smiling as the girl's leg jerked in response.

"Oh, yeah. I guess we could go find a good model to bring back home? Then the dorks in development can take it apart and improve on the model, I guess." Xara paused to grab some more lotion, laughing as the tube failed to offer any up. "Amanda, we've run out of sunscreen, hon."

"What?" Amanda blushed darker. "But there was a full tube when we got here!"

"I guess you're just too big for one tube," Xara grinned at Zoe, who was giggling silently.

"But... but... I'm not that... That shouldn't be..." Amanda whimpered uncomfortably, trying to work out how the entire tube had been used.

Xara fished in her basket for a moment and leaned over Amanda's back, placing a makeup mirror on the towel next to Amanda's face. "Hey, Amanda, can you check your eyes for a second?"

"Huh?" Amanda focused on the mirror, frowning as she inspected her reflection. "What am I looking for?"

"This," Xara whispered, positioning her fingers between Amanda and the mirror. "Mesmerascens."

Amanda's tense muscles all relaxed, her frown melting into blankness and her eyes half hooding. When Xara removed her fingers Amanda continued to stare at her own unseeing eyes, entranced by their emptiness.

Zoe waved a hand in front of her face, and whistled when Amanda didn't react. "Nice trick."

"It's one of mom's," Xara admitted, shuffling down the towel. "I wasn't sure if it would work, but it was fun to see her like this last time. Ahh," she sighed contently, laying on her back between Amanda's legs and resting her head on the brainwashed girl's left buttock.

Zoe laughed and snuggled in next to Xara, resting her own on Amanda's right side. "Comfy!"

"You two are gonna crane your necks at that angle," Irene warned.

"Wanna join us, Irene? You might be able to fit between us." Xara waggled her eyebrows and giggled when Irene threw an empty soda can at Xara, missing and hitting Amanda between her shoulder blades. Amanda didn't even flinch.

"Huh. That is pretty impressive. I wonder how Mistress Somna managed that?"

"I dunno," Xara shrugged. "She has a lot of tricks. She'll probably teach them to you, then you can tell us. All I know is right now Amanda's reflection is her whole universe." Xara grinned and tickled the back of Amanda's knee with a finger, squirming in arousal at the lack of reaction. "Could probably give her a tattoo or a zap and she wouldn't feel it."

"Ooh, can we?" Zoe grinned and sat up.

"Gotta test our hypotheses, right?" Xara giggled and sat up too, watching Zoe fumble around in her own bag and produce the flashstick.

"All right, this is intended for use on the neck, but electricity is electricity." Zoe pressed the end against her water bottle and pushed the activation button. A zapping sound and a flash of light preceded the bottle jerking away, tipping over and rolling across the roof.

"Nice," Xara grinned. "Can I do it?"

"Aww... fine," Zoe pouted, handing the flashstick over. "I wanted to do it."

"You can have a turn, too! Just, you know... owner's privileges." Xara rubbed part of Amanda's backside before placing the flashstick against her skin. "Just relax, sweetie, you won't feel a thing..."

She pushed the button and another crackle of electricity burst from the tip of the flashstick. It caused a slight wobble in Amanda's flesh that almost mesmerised Xara enough she forgot to check the girl's expression.

Thankfully, Zoe had leaned over to watch Amanda's face. "Fuck, not even a twitch. We could really do anything to her..."

"Come back to bed, Zoe," Xara whined, patting Amanda's ass as she rested her head back on it. "I'm horny."

Zoe laughed and obeyed, settling back into position. She and Xara rested opposite ears on their makeshift pillow, grinning as they looked each other in the eyes, shuffled closer together and started to kiss.

Irene rolled her eyes and lifted her sunglasses. "Mistress Somna said something about you two being lovers, didn't she?"

"Yeah," Xara broke the kiss to reply. "Not like a relationship, just sorta..."

"Experimenting," Zoe finished. "Though I'm still not sure if she was fibbing or not about having made us start in the first place."

"Mom never lies," Xara grumbled. "Unless it's to set up some ironic or sexy scenario. But I think she was telling the truth."

Zoe and Xara started to kiss again as Irene shook her head and mumbled to herself. "Using your girlfriend as a pillow while you make out with an old flame. Ananke culture is so fucked up."

Zoe snorted a laugh into Xara's face, and the Heiress joined in on the giggle fit.

Amanda quietly stared into her reflection's eyes, oblivious to the world.

"I don't even remember the pool," Amanda pouted. "I remember you putting sunscreen on me and then deciding we needed to come back to our room."

Xara was naked, picking clothes out of her suitcase and holding them in front of herself curiously. "It's not my fault your brain is a sieve, Manda. Maybe you're sleep deprived."

Cheeks reddening, Amanda looked away. "I don't think I need to sleep any more than I do already, Mistress."

Xara giggled and snapped her fingers. "Sleep!" A moment later she heard a thud and turned around to find Amanda slumped over on the bed, having first fallen from a seated position so her head was just above her knees, and then rolled onto her left side.

"God, I love you, you dumb bitch," Xara skipped over, pulling Amanda's face to hers and ferociously kissing her, then shoving her onto her back. "Wake!"

A snap of the fingers and Amanda was groaning, blinking, rubbing her eyes. "What happened?"

"Microsleep. Told you you're sleep deprived." Xara smirked and turned back to the mirror.

"I guess I must be," Amanda frowned and picked at the sundress Xara had shifted her suit to. "Maybe I need more hours in the drone network."

Xara groaned involuntarily as she remembered watching Amanda in her worker drone uniform and mindset. "No complaints here."

"Are you two ready," Zoe called from the common room. "I'm hungry. Those tacos aren't gonna eat themselves."

"Yeah, yeah," Xara grumbled, settling on a soft blue top and jeans and leading Amanda out of the bedroom. "Hold your horses."

Zoe was in shorts and a small top that reminded Xara she was quite well-trained in combat, and Irene managed to make even her casual attire look formal. Why are they both so hot?

"I hope we don't have to walk too far," Irene commented, glancing at her shoes. "These are new, I don't want to get them dirty."

"Was it meant to rain today?" Zoe wondered. "Might be puddles on the way back."

"Nyna, can you - oh, right." Xara bit a lip. "Amanda, can you... what do they do out here? Check the weather report?"

"Yes, Mistress," Amanda replied, walking to the coffee table.

"If it's raining, I don't think we should go outside," Irene mused. "I don't want to give Xara a chance to see my clothes damp."

"Spoilsport," Xara sniffed. "I bet they look better wet."

Zoe giggled, though when Xara turned to grin at her, her friend wasn't looking in her direction. Xara followed Zoe's gaze and barked a laugh.

"Oh, fuck, Manda, what have you done now?" She hurried over to the sofa Amanda had sat down on.

The TV screen was still switched off, but Amanda stared at it, frozen, with Xara's remote held in one outstretched hand. Xara grinned and slapped Amanda gently on the cheek a few times and, getting no response, sighed theatrically and stood up straight.

"Looks like Amanda's frozen, girls. We'll have to go without her." She ushered her friends to the door.

"Are you sure she'll be all right?" Irene asked, glancing over her shoulder, but Xara shooed her on.

"She's fine. If there's an emergency she'll go into self-preservation mode. It's fine, don't worry about it!"

She closed the door behind her, the room's lights remaining on for a few minutes before the motion sensors determined no one was left inside, and the lights turned off, leaving Amanda in darkness.

"Why isn't Amanda here?" Xara whined, tears filling her eyes and throat burning. Water barely helped, and she wasn't going to degrade herself asking the cute waitress for a glass of milk.

Zoe snickered as she finished off another bite. "You're the one who ordered your taco. Why did you make it extra spicy if you can't handle spice?"

"I can handle Ananke spice!"

"Ananke spice is more of an aphrodisiac than an irritant."

"Exactly."

"Thank heavens I haven't gone to any restaurants yet, then," Irene snarked, nibbing at her own meal. "How would Amanda have helped in this situation, exactly?"

Despite her agony, Xara smiled. "I'd have made her think she ordered it and swapped our orders, then enjoyed watching her eat the whole thing just to be a good girl."

"Devious," Zoe grinned. "Why don't you do that with Irene?"

"Huh? I can't control her," Xara pouted.

"Small mercies," Irene smiled, putting her taco down and drumming her fingers on her plate. "I'd hate to be at your beck and call, the way you abuse Amanda."

"It's only abuse if she wants it to be called abuse!"

"Mmm," Irene considered, then grinned a little as she leaned conspiratorially forward. "I do think I can help with your food problem, though."

"Oh?" Xara looked around to make sure the locals weren't paying attention, then leaned forward to hear Irene clearer. "What were you thinking?"

Irene's lips just twitched a little more, and her lack of response drew Xara's attention to her eyes, wondering if she was being tricked. Irene's eyes were oddly playful, today, she realised. She hadn't seen Irene playful before.

She should smile more, Xara thought, starting to smile herself. She looks so pretty when she smiles. Especially her eyes...

"Sleep," Irene whispered, and the light in Xara's eyes dimmed.

"Man, you're good at that," Zoe smiled wide. Irene shrugged.

"The contacts help a lot, the fact she's so susceptible helps even more. I can't believe the Heiress to a city like Ananke is so... submissive." She focused her attention on Xara again. "Xara, look down at your meal."

Xara lowered her gaze slowly, unfocused eyes staring approximately at her half-eaten taco.

"This is the most delicious food you've ever eaten. It doesn’t bother you at all. You love it."

"Love it," Xara murmured in response.

"Now, wake -"

Zoe hopped around to Xara's side. "Wait, wait! Let me just..." She put her lips to Xara's ears and whispered for a moment, then returned to her seat, nodding eagerly at Irene.

"...nothing that'll get attention, I hope?"

"No, it's fine!"

"...right," Irene sighed. "Xara, wake up in three, two, one."

"Mmm..." Xara blinked, slightly dazed. "What were we talking about?"

"You were gonna throw your lunch away," Zoe smirked.

Xara gasped. "What? Why would I do that? It's delicious." As if to prove her point she picked the taco up and took a big bite, all but moaning as she savoured the tingling on her lips and tongue. "God. We should order here more often."

"Here are your desserts, ladies," a smiling waitress said as she placed a sundae in a tall glass in front of each girl; chocolate for Zoe, vanilla for Irene and Strawberry for Xara.

"Thanks," Xara smiled at the waitress, and watched her walk away with attentive interest until Irene whistled.

"Outside world," she reminded. "You need to fit in."

"What are you talking about? I fit in perfectly," Xara huffed, taking a spoon of ice cream from her glass and wrapping her lips around it. She spat it into her plate next to the remains of her taco, waving her hand in front of her mouth. "FUCK me, that's hot!"

Irene glared at Zoe and sighed as the girl shook with restrained laughter, face buried in her arms on the table, desperately trying to stay discreet as Xara washed the sundae out of her mouth with half a glass of water.

"Room service," Bryce mumbled as he first knocked on the door, then unlocked it with his access band. Most of the rooms on this floor had been booked out but were unoccupied, for some reason the management didn't deign to tell him, but this room he knew had occupants.

Still, no one answered, and the computer told him the lights were off, so he shrugged and entered, letting the automated cleaners glide across the floor and begin vacuuming.

"Wish they'd make robots that could handle stuff on tables and shit," Bryce sighed and adjusted the positions of a few loose vases and candy bars on top of the shoe cupboard. He turned left the entranceway and walked several metres into the common area before jerking to a halt.

"Fuck - I mean, sorry, ma'am, I didn't realise there was... anyone... here," he trailed off with a furrowed brow. The dyed-blonde girl sitting in front of the idle television hadn't budged an inch. "Hello?"

He approached cautiously, waving a hand in front of her eyes, but she didn't blink, so much as register his presence. "Um?" She was holding an old-fashioned remote not dissimilar to the ones the hotel used to control appliances in each room, but unfamiliar in style. Bryce carefully pulled it out of the woman's hand. "Are you -"

"Help mode activated," the girl suddenly spoke.

Bryce jumped back and dropped the remote on his foot. "Fuck!" He'd be in for it if he broke another vacationer's personal property. "I'm sorry, miss, I didn't mean to... You all right?"

"Unit is currently in help mode, superseding pause mode," the blonde elaborated.

"...What does that mean?"

"Help mode was programmed to instruct user in remote use and to teach unit's functions. Pause mode was programmed to leave unit in a frozen state, mind or body, for user's pleasure."

The hell? "Is this, uh, a sex thing?" Bryce asked cautiously. The girl took a few moments to respond this time.

"Unit can be accurately described as 'a sex thing'."

"You are human, though? Not some kinda high tech... you know, sex doll?" Bryce asked out of curiosity, then cursed inwardly; he could get in a lot of trouble talking to a client this way.

"Unit is whatever user desires her to be."

Sounds like a sex thing, all right... "Who's your user?"

"Xara Nocturne is unit's primary user. Current user is whoever holds the remote."

Bryce looked down at it in his hand, passing his eyes over the buttons. He recognised some symbols, but not others. "Do you, um... consent to this?"

"Unit consents to anything unit is ordered to consent to."

Bryce grimaced and shifted his weight. "Okay, kinda hot. Kinda dangerous. But... Fine. If you're really into this kind of this..." He searched her face for any hint of hesitancy, finding none. "Okay. What's your name?"

"Unit is called Amanda."

"Right. Amanda. So, like, what do I do with this?"

Amanda tonelessly rattled off a series of instructions, explaining the buttons on the remote and her reactions to them. Bryce wasn't even sure how she was supposed to know what he pressed, but figured she had some auditory implant to allow for it. Her explanations were getting him well into aroused territory.

"Fuck it, I'm due for lunch anyone. Okay, so if I hold this button and describe a role, you'll play it out?"

"Affirmative."

Bryce traced the girl's body with his eyes. She was very attractive, by his standards, if a little bottom-heavy. Dressed modestly, yet made it look hot in its own way. So many night-time fantasies came to his mind at once it was difficult to pick.

"Do you have any limits?"

"Unit has no limits."

"...that's not too helpful, but okay." He thought a bit more, then shook his head, remembering a book about secret agents he had read recently. Screw it. She's basically asking to be played with, she must want it or she wouldn't be acting this way, right? Go for broke!

He held the button down and cleared his throat. "Amanda, you are a sexy femme fatale spy, very seductive and confident and competent. And, uh, you're loyal to me and love me," he finished awkwardly, blushing. What the fuck was that, dude? The chance of a lifetime and you say something that pathetic? He let go of the button and rubbed his eyes. "God, I'm sorry, that was pretty -"

"Mmm," Amanda stretched, grinning up at him in a way that had his pants feeling tighter. "Hey, sexy. I'm Amanda. What's your name?"

"Uh, Bryce," he responded automatically. She's a pretty good actor if she can just roll with that.

His train of thought was derailed entirely as Amanda stood long enough to grab his wrists in her hands, spin him around, shove him onto the sofa and climb on top of him, lips pressed hard against his. He was stunned, paralysed, as she moaned and kissed him passionately, his own hands useless at his sides despite her hips writhing behind her.

After a minute she broke it off, grinning as she retreated. "Gosh, you're cute. I really wanna fuck you right now."

Bryce swallowed, grinning hesitantly. "I mean, we could..."

"Mmm, not right now," Amanda replied, climbing to her feet and walking into one of the bedrooms. Bryce cursed and tried to will his cock back to sleep as he followed.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

Amanda was rifling through a drawer and shoving things into a small bag. "Of course not. You could never do anything wrong," she smiled at him, seemingly sincerely. "We just need to leave."

"Leave?"

"Yeah. The girls who booked this room won't be too long, and they won't like you interfering with their... property," she sneered the last word.

"Huh?"

Amanda marched past him, tossing the bag on the sofa and walking over to a free-standing tube in one corner of the room. She tapped at the touch screen and stepped inside the tube, pointing at the screen. "Bryce, could you be a doll and press the confirmation button there?"

He blinked a few times, then did as Amanda asked. The clear tube hummed for a moment, and Bryce's eyes widened as her modest outfit first turned black, then seemed to liquefy briefly, surging over her body, then resolving into an entirely new outfit. Tight leather pants that showed off what he could now see was an eye-poppingly wide set of hips and a leather jacket over a grey shirt.

"Much better. She might like the girly sub look but I always preferred the ass-kicking style," Amanda said as she exited the tube, inspecting herself in a mirror. She looked back and saw Bryce's look of shock, grinned and shook her ass a little. "Like what you see?"

"Yeah," he replied, voice cracking, before shaking his head. "What the fuck was that? What happened to your clothes? Who are you?" He felt his pulse quickening, his heart beating faster.

"I told you, I'm Amanda. The clothes are nanotech, controlled by this," she pointed at a metal collar on her neck, face scrunched up in disdain. "Ananke tech - you know, Genecorp."

"The appliance company?"

"Appliances," Amanda scoffed. "I was sent undercover to infiltrate and learn more about them, but I was caught by their security forces. Their tech is way more advanced than ours out here - nanotech is just the beginning." She went to the fireplace and tossed something into it. "They brainwashed me, made me docile, turned me into their Heiress's goddamn pet. They put this collar on me as a fucking joke," she scowled, grabbing at it again.

"That's... impossible," Bryce stated dumbly. He could barely follow the story.

"If that weren't enough, the Heiress is such an abusive brat she surgically and technologically modified my body and turned me into this sex doll," she gestured at her hips, and Bryce's eyes were eager to follow. "But you seem to like it, so maybe it's not all bad," she giggled.

"I, uh, yes? I do like it. So were we gonna go to bed or..."

"Not now, Bryce, we need to get out of here. Pay attention," Amanda said without malice, kissing his cheek and grabbing his wrist. "They'll be plenty of time for raunchy post-adventure sex when we get away, and since you're cute I'll let you do anything - anything," she emphasised, "you want. You just need to follow me and trust me, okay?"

"Okay," Bryce mumbled, getting hard again. How could anyone resist this girl?

Amanda smiled pleasantly. "Thanks. Computer," she raised her voice. "Set fireplace to activate the next time the front door is opened, once we leave."

"Affirmative," came a synthesised voice from somewhere beyond the walls. Amanda nodded and dragged Bryce out the front door.

"We need to get out of here, but I need to try to look less like me, too. Is there somewhere I can buy hair dye around here?"

"Yeah, there's a mall down -"

Amanda suddenly yanked on Bryce's wrist and pulled him back around the corner. "Shh, I can hear the Anankians coming this way. What's the best way out of here, fast and unseen?"

Her glare was so intense Bryce felt like there were real stakes behind his answer. "T-the employee back corridors," he pointed at a non-descript door down the hall. Amanda ran over to it, pulling him along in one hand and clutching ner bag with the other.

"Open it!" She commanded, and Bryce obeyed, half out of instinct and half out of fear. She shoved him through the second the door was open and looked up the corridor to see Xara's figure round the corner, looking behind her as she laughed to her friends. "Bye, Heiress," she glowered, ducking through the doorframe and pulling it closed behind her.

"Are you two bullshitting me? Of course ice cream is spicy," Xara exclaimed as she opened the door, holding it open for her friends to enter. "How can you eat it without feeling it?"

"You got hypnotised, Xar," Zoe giggled.

"I'd know if I got hypnotised, dumbass," Xara scoffed and shoved her way playfully past Zoe, entering the common area. "Oh, Amanda, we're home!"

An empty room and silence greeted her. Xara frowned slightly as Irene caught up. "Maybe her safeties kicked in?"

"Maybe," Xara mumbled and walked into her bedroom. "Fuck! I got robbed!"

Zoe was at her side in an instant, cheeky grin replaced with a serious professionalism. "No sign of ransacking. Whoever it was knew what they wanted and where to find it."

"Amanda?" Zara called, anxiety growing. She could feel her heart beat harder.

"She's not in the bathroom," Irene called. "Nor either of our rooms."

The girls met again in the common area. Xara looked around frantically, starting to hyperventilate. "The remote's gone! Someone must have stolen her!"

"Heiress, calm down. Calm." Irene grabbed Xara's hands gently and slowed her breathing. "Take a deep breath with me. In..." She took air in through her nostrils, Xara following suit. "Out," she continued with an exhale.

Xara breathed out, then immediately took another deep breath. "Um," she whimpered. "What's that smell?"

Irene's cheeks were slightly flushed as she took a sniff. "Candy? It's sweet."

"Aw, fuck," Zoe groaned, looking into the fireplace. "It's Eros. Your sticks are in the fire."

"Wh-what does that mean," Irene swallowed as a sighing Zoe started to remove her clothes.

Zoe popped the buttons on her shirt and pulled it over her head, and Xara and Irene's wide eyes locked onto her lacy bra. "It means we should all get naked now if we want to wear this shit again. It also means the thief is gonna have a head start."

"Huh? We can't let them get away, we need to -" Xara took a step and her knee buckled. "Fuck, I'm horny," she realised, horrified, though not as much as Irene.

"Is this what you feel like all the time?" Irene gasped, tugging her own shirt off. Xara blushed.

"Not all the time, you sexy bit... You, um..." Xara stared at Irene's olive chest as she exposed herself. "God, just... Zoe, help!"

Zoe, now naked, approached Xara and started to remove her clothes. Xara whined at the brush of fingers on her neck and shoulders. "There's no helping anyone dosed with that amount of Eros. You could ask Irene to trance you into a state where it won't affect you, but..." She nodded at Irene, now in her underwear and moaning as she explored her body clumsily, rubbing and stroking. "Don't think hypnotism's on the agenda, so our only shot is to cum hard and cum fast so we can get the temporary immunity."

"Can't we just leave the room," Xara whispered as Zoe started to kiss her neck, her own hands finding their way to Zoe's backside.

"If you wanna be uncontrollably horny for an hour, sure. It's gonna slow us down, though." Despite her calm words, the Eros was starting to display cracks in Zoe's resistance training, her own cheeks and neck flushed. "We need to..."

Irene screamed in frustration. "Would you two stop nattering about science and come fuck me already!"

Xara's feet launched her at the sofa Irene had sat on before she even knew what was happening. "Yes, miss... Psyche... Irene... Fuck," she finished lamely, a moment before Irene’s hand forced her head between her legs, which closed around Xara's neck.

"Call me whatever the hell you want after you get me off, you goddamned fucking slut," she growled.

Xara felt the weight of Zoe's ass sit on her upper back, locking her in place, and heard the unfamiliar sound of her two friends moaning into each other's mouths. She desperately wanted to look, squirming her legs and bucking the air, trying to find stimulation, but something in Irene's voice had her convinced she wasn't getting out of her predicament without giving the girl a good tounging. She stuck hers out as far as she could reach into Irene's pussy and got to work as the two warm, increasingly sweaty bodies rubbed and grinded against her face and neck and shoulders.

Amanda stepped out of the service staff's bathroom and smiled, posing. "How do I look?"

Bryce stared at her hips, same as they were when he went in, until she cleared her throat. He looked up into her grinning face and beheld her new short black-haired cut, not even shoulder length. "I kinda liked the blonde look..."

Amanda pouted briefly. "I'll keep that in mind, love. There's plenty of time to grow it back as blonde and long as you want, but I need to try to throw them off." She looped her arms around his back and leaned in close, inches from a kiss as her voice dropped. "God, I want you."

"I want you too," Bryce mumbled, entranced, reaching up to grab Amanda before she reluctantly pulled away.

"But we can't right now. I'd die of embarrassment if I got caught by them again because I was too busy getting screwed. Come on," she said, grabbing Bryce's wrist and tugging him down the corridor.

They rode the elevator down, Amanda taking the opportunity to grind against her saviour's body, grinning and promising him the greatest reward he could hope for. By the time the doors opened to the car park, Bryce was so turned on and flustered he could barely think, so he just stumbled after the femme fatale's ass as she strutted over to a transport.

"I think this was theirs..." she mused, pulling a glove off and putting her palm against the lock. A green light, a pinging sound, and the door slid open. "After you," she smiled lasciviously. Bryce hesitated briefly, then climbed in, Amanda licking her lips and following him.

"So... Why are you running from your friends again?"

Amanda grimaced. "I told you why. They abducted and brainwashed me. Not really friend material, isn't it?"

"I guess not," Bryce admitted. The girl's story was a little confusing to follow, but hopefully she'd get to the sex soon.

"They'll only be... distracted an hour or so, and I've already spent half of that changing my look. We need to go. Transport, take us out of the city, no planned route."

The transport powered on and started to drive itself out of the car park and into the afternoon sun. Amanda sat across the cabin, staring at Bryce.

"What?"

"Transport," Amanda smirked. "Tint the windows." The cabin grew darker as the windows turned opaque, the internal LED lights replacing the natural sunlight and revealing to Bryce Amanda crawling along the seats toward him. "I love you," she purred as she straddled his lap.

"I love you too," he panted. Fuck, she really gets into her roles.

"Aahhh!" Xara screamed as she finally orgasmed. She didn't know who had triggered it, or even really how; she just knew at this point she was slick with sweat, someone else's cum and she was pretty sure someone had poured wine on her to lick it off at one point. She broke off from the group and jumped into the shower, scrubbing at her skin for a couple of minutes, half-assing it, and running to her bedroom still dripping and her hair unbrushed.

"Come on, where is it," she groaned. Across from the bed she found a modern (by outside world standards) communicator, and punched the activation key, reciting the Ananke family connection code.

"Hello, you've reached the Genecorp Customer Service Line. How can we help you today?" A female voice asked pleasantly.

"I'm cursed, part of the family," Xara let out in a breath, shortcutting the normal identification procedure. "Can you put me in contact with my mom?"

"I certainly can," the woman responded.

Xara waited several seconds.

"Hello?"

"I can't identify your mother without knowing who you are," the woman replied again, amused.

"I'm the... Heiress," Xara cried. "It's an emergency, please get Mistress Somna on the line."

"One moment, Heiress."

Xara was put on hold, forced to listen to a peppy rendition of a Siren song sung by Nyna, lyrics replaced with cat noises. Most times she'd find it cute and soothing, but right now she was too anxious. "Come on..."

"Somna here. Xara? Are you okay?" Her mother's voice came from the speaker, her face appearing on the communicator's monitor.

"Mom! Amanda's been stolen!" Xara cried, then started sobbing.

"Xara, calm down, honey. Tell me what happened. What do you mean Amanda got stolen?"

Xara was about to respond when she heard a roar of laughter from her mother's side of the communicator, followed a few moments later by a second voice giggling. "Mom?"

"Apologies, Xara. The Matriarch is over for lunch and she's not the best at empathy cues." Somna glared somewhere off-screen.

"Hey!" the giggling voice stopped to say, affronted. "The Matriarch is the kindest woman I know!"

"kia, sweetie, could I borrow your consciousness?" Ruby's voice asked sweetly.

"Yes, Matriarch," the nun's voice mewled, followed a moment layer by a heavy thud. Ruby chuckled as she walked onto the screen.

"She won't bother us for a bit. Now dish, Xara. What unforseen difficulty have you somehow fell victim to this week?"

Xara hurriedly explained how she had returned to the hotel room to find Amanda missing and several personal items missing between sobs. As she filled in the information Somna's face drew into a frown while Ruby's smirk widened to a smile, then a grin.

"Was there any Ananke tech in the stolen items, Xara?" Somna asked.

"Yes," she admitted. "A few things. Um, personal items..." she blushed.

"This could be a problem," Somna bit her lip.

"Mom, I need help. Can you track Amanda's location or something?"

"We could, but we don't have satellite coverage for Clairview," Somna sighed.

Xara dragged her fingers through her hair. "What about Poseidon? Can't you -"

"No, Xara. We can't redirect Poseidon."

"Why not?"

Ruby leaned in, showing her teeth. "It would ruin Project Charybdis. If we take satellite coverage away from the Pacific Ocean, both Swarms currently navigating the gyre will deactivate and disperse into the sea. We'll lose them permanently, and I don't need to tell you how far that would set us back."

"But Amanda," Xara whimpered. "I don't know where she is!"

"As spectacular a fuck as she might be, finding her is not worth losing years of budgeting and resource management. She'll be fine until we can get heels on the ground to seek her out."

"What if you're wrong?"

Ruby's lips quirked a little wider. "What if I'm wrong?"

"Matriarch," Somna said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Ruby sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, then legs, eyebrows raised as she listened with an amused air. "Xara, listen to me. You need to stay put. Okay? We'll get our investigators on the job, and they'll find her soon. You just leave it to them. Can you do that?"

Xara sniffed. "...yes, Mom."

"Good girl. We'll call back when we have something to share."

The line went dead. Xara wiped her eyes, blew her nose and went back into the living room to find Zoe brushing Irene's hair soothingly.

"What's wrong?"

Zoe frowned. "I think she's in shock. I think that might have been her first time having sex, let alone cumming, and it wasn't in the most... natural of situations. She might need time to process."

"Fuck," Xara whined, dropping onto a sofa. "I could have used a therapist right now."

"I think she's taking care of herself first."

"Zoe, you're security trained, can't you find out where Amanda went?" Xara begged.

"Well... You own the hotel. If anyone could get access to the security system, it'd be you. Hey!" Zoe stood as Xara ran back into her room, hopping out a minute later with clothes hastily thrown on. "You need to at least look presentable to avoid rousing suspicion."

"Fuck damn it!"