The following morning it was immediately apparent that something was different. By this point I’d grown accustomed to following the whims of my feline programming, or at least as used to it as was possible. This time, my body didn’t get up and move on its own. Tentatively, I tried moving my arm, not expecting anything different. However, this time my arm moved accordingly. I sat upright, taking great joy in having my motor functions react in sync with their commands. 

I stood up for the first time in a week, making an internal note that I would never again take bipedalism or opposable thumbs for granted. Somewhat surprisingly, Kay wasn’t in our bed. I ventured out to the living room to find her. Sure enough, my girlfriend was slouched down in her computer chair, a pair of coffee mugs on the desk and several tabs of code open on the monitor. However, her eyes were glued to her phone, which she was hunched over and rapidly typing on. 

“I did it.” She didn’t even bother acknowledging me as I drew closer to her. “I successfully got the Subroutine Manager to go mobile. I can fully control you from my phone.” My own circuits fluttered with excitement, and I draped my arms around her, planting a sloppy kiss on her forehead. 

“And I love you for that, my darling tech whiz, but did you get any sleep last night?” I audibly sniffed as well - not that I had a working olfactory system, but it helped to prove a point. “Besides, when was the last time you took a shower?”

Kay blushed at my comment. “Don’t worry about sleep, I got enough of it. You know, here and there. I’m pretty sure that the total hours I spent dozing off is close enough to a proper night’s rest.” She set her phone down and stretched her arms out. “I could use a shower though, and then we can make sure everything works out properly.” A sly grin crossed her face. “The first test evidently worked. I set you back to normal with the mobile app, so that’s a good sign. Now tell me, what was it like being my precious little kitty?”

Now it was my turn to look sheepish. “It was, uh, certainly an experience.” I tried not to think about how utterly enthralling it had been to be rendered completely helpless in my own body, a slave to her every command and debasing myself for her entertainment. “Don’t get me wrong, I hated every second of it. But… I wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again.” 

Kay brushed her hair away from her glasses. “That’s a relief. I was a bit worried I went too far with that one. I mean, you’re such a slut I figured it was fine, but it’s still good to hear.” My first instinct was to try and defend myself, but she did have a good point. “In any case,” Kay continued, “let’s get you started while I go clean off. I kinda liked you on the floor.” She grabbed her phone again and quickly tapped a few inputs. 

A moment later I felt my knees beginning to wobble. I tried to remain standing, but my legs refused to stay balanced. “Woah - hey!” I cried out in shock as I fell to the floor with a light thud. I tried getting back up, or at least moving around, but my shins were effectively locked in place. There was no way I was moving from this spot on the floor. “Come on, I literally just got the ability to walk again.”

“And you’ll have it back again soon. But I want you to stay here while I get ready, okay?” Kay knelt down and gave me my own kiss on the forehead. “Love you babe, try not to get too horny thinking of me in the shower.”

While her comment had been made in jest, it was a fairly real possibility. I kept my mouth shut while Kay went about to gather her change of clothes. She was being a tease, and she knew it fully well. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of getting to me though, so I stayed quiet.”

Kay began her shower, and I was stuck imagining the water running down her body. I wanted to jump in there with her so badly, soaping up her sensitive areas in a clumsy attempt at foreplay before devolving into full blown shower sex. It was a pattern we’d followed before. But I could only reach her in my head, glued to the floor and unable to touch myself. 

“Oh, oh fuck yes! Unh!” My thoughts were broken by some very exaggerated moaning coming from the bathroom. I rolled my eyes at Kay’s over-the-top performance. It sounded like she was trying to mimic a porn star, to the point where it wasn’t even realistic. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t even touching herself in there. As cheesy as it was though, her cries were turning me on even more.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I was already nude, and my cock was going from semi-erect to rock hard. I began stroking myself to Kay’s vocal performance. Even though I couldn’t see her, I imagined her doing the same as me, rubbing her cock in anticipation of what was to come. Was she thinking of me as well? Considering I was obediently waiting outside for her, there was a good chance of it.  

By the time I heard the shower stop, I was all done with foreplay. Kay deserved a reward for her hard work, and I was happy to give her one. I was ready to go with whatever she had in store. I kept my hands on my legs, knees apart, kneeling on the floor. The archetypical submissive pose. 

Kay took a fair bit longer than usual to get out. Despite my eagerness for more, I had to wait until she was ready. Every minute felt like it stretched on for ages, with the bathroom silent, and me just waiting for her return. She was in total control of the pace for our games. If she wanted me to wait out here, naked and prepared, that’s what I had to do. Not that I was complaining this time. I was willing to bet that Kay was delaying in order to get me even more fired up, and it was certainly working.

When she finally exited, It was clear to see that she was ready to go. Kay was wearing a lace nightie, with some skimpy lingerie underneath. The outline of her cock was clearly visible. Under other circumstances I’d laugh at her for wearing bedtime clothes at nine in the morning, but something told me this wasn’t the right time for it. 

What caught my attention the most was her expression. Her face was hardened, without any trace of a smile. She walked with the confidence of a CEO, someone with a reputation for being a big boss bitch. As she strode up to me, she grabbed me by the throat, forcing my head up and making eye contact.”

“I’ve built up a lot of stress over the last few days. I hope you’re ready to be on the receiving end of it.”

If I wasn’t already kneeling I would’ve collapsed to the floor then and there.

“Wow, you’re really going all out on this, aren’t you.” Kay’s response was a quick slap across the cheek. It wasn’t enough to really hurt (and I doubt she could’ve if she wanted to), but it did leave a bit of a sting. Even though impact play was well within our defined limits we hadn’t really tried it out yet.

“Today you’ll address me as Mistress. You can do it on your own like a good girl, or I can force you to.” She grabbed her phone, still sitting on her desk, and turned it over in her palm. “Remember, I control you. What you do, what you think, and what you feel. You belong to me. Am I clear?”

A shiver ran down my spine. She was clearly in the mood for some more intense play. “Yes Mistress.” 

I watched as Kay fiddled with her phone, her thumbs tapping rapidly across the screen. “You’re free to move again. Come, follow me to the bed.” I rose to my feet, shaking my legs to get the circuits flowing again. 

I hopped onto the bed, spreading my legs in what I hoped was a seductive manner, trying to send as clear signals as possible. Kay crawled on top of me, her limbs entangling with mine as I was pressed down onto the sheets. She pinched one of my nipples and gave it a sharp twist, eliciting a yelp of pain from me. “You’d better not tell me that’s too much already. I’m going to hurt you, to bring you to your absolute limit.”

There was something about Kay’s words that set off a twinge of concern. Not by the threat itself by any means. I was happy to experiment with some harsher masochism, and I was curious to see where my own limits were. The problem was with Kay. It wasn’t like her to try something so extreme without discussing it first, especially while she was keeping up this angry persona. As much as I wanted to dive into things, it would be better to pause the scene first and clear the air a bit.

“Of course, Mistress. My body is yours to command.” I didn’t want to kill the mood, just slow things down a little. Fortunately we had a safeword specifically for that. “But first, Obsidian.”

Kay did not back off. Instead, she gave me another slap across the cheek, this one slightly harder than the last. “You think you can play games with me? I’m in charge here, and I say we keep going.” 

Her response set off quite a few more alarm bells. Although Obsidian was our softest safeword, and it was still her decision for what to do, her utter dismissal wasn’t what I’d expected. It was possible this was all part of her setting the scene, but with a deeply growing discomfort another possibility started to arise. That Kay was too far into the role and was forgetting herself.

Kay pressed her body weight down on my chest, one hand on my arm and the other on my throat. “Don’t forget I can make you as strong or as weak as I desire. I can make the smallest prick cause you to scream in pain, or make your body tough enough that you can endure it physically breaking. Either way is fine with me, so long as I get to hear you scream.”

I couldn’t deny it, that sounded incredibly hot. I wanted her to take me on the spot, however she wanted, and let her just go nuts. But Kay still wasn’t smiling. She wasn’t being her usual playful teasing self. I hoped beyond belief that my instincts were wrong, that she was just doing a phenomenal job playing a role and hamming things up. But deep down I knew that wasn’t the case. She was hurting from something far more than what she was trying to do to me. There was only one course of action left.

“Arcadia.”

Our ultimate safeword. The ‘stop everything immediately no matter what’ safeword. Kay blinked, recoiling a bit as her expression softened. “I… I…” She didn’t seem to know how to react.

I decided to take initiative instead. Not with my words, but with a hug. I wrapped my arms tight around her, pulling her in close. “It’s okay,” I told her in a reassuring tone. “Whatever it is, it’s okay. You can talk to me. You don’t need to vent your anger like this, I’m here for you.”

The change in tone was immediate. Kay melted in my arms, first sniffling a bit, and then turning into full blown sobbing. She returned my gentle hug while bawling her eyes out, her tears dripping down onto my shoulder. “I’m sorry.” She struggled to make out the words between fits of sobbing. “I’m so sorry for everything. I never should have done this, done any of this.” I rubbed her back while she leaned into me. 

She was in too much of a fit to say anything else, to explain what had caused her reaction. I could tell she wasn’t in the mood to be pushed for answers either. Instead I just held her, letting the tears pour out while she kept apologising over and over. There were few things I hated more than seeing her in hysterics like this, but there was nothing for me to do besides cradle her in my arms and give gentle reassurances that she was okay now.

***

It was the better part of an hour before we were able to properly talk. Any notion of sexy times was gone out the window, replaced with a quiet tenderness. She was changed into lounge clothes, wrapped in a heated blanket, and cuddling together on the couch. It was almost a full hour before Kay finally spoke up. “There was this… asshole in the programming forum I was on.” I knew the type. The internet was full of assholes, and they tended to prey on the most vulnerable. “He clearly knew his stuff, but taking advice from him just made me feel sick. And it’s just so hard, when you know you need help with something but the only person who can offer it is the scum of the earth.”

There were any number of things that might’ve set Kay off. Whether it was a comment about race, gender, robotic rights, or some combination thereof, it didn’t really make a difference. “God, I hate creeps like that,” I responded. “I should’ve paid more attention. You must’ve been under a lot of stress.” She didn’t respond. I’d been so wrapped up in our fun games, I hadn’t even considered how things were from her perspective. “I’m guessing that’s what this is all about?”

She gave a dismissive hand gesture. “I don’t know. This isn’t ‘about’ anything specific. It’s everything. It’s nothing. I don’t know, I’m usually good about not letting things get to me, but for whatever reason this time was different. I just couldn’t deal with it. And then I didn’t want you to be disappointed, so I tried to block it all out and be the person you wanted, but…” Her voice trailed off as she began sobbing again.

I felt like absolute garbage. “The only person I want you to be is you, Kay. Nothing more and nothing less. I don’t care about anything else, I just want you to be happy.” Kay remained silent, and I could tell her hands were still shaking under her blanket. “Or at least as happy as you can be in this fucked up world.”

She nestled in towards me, and I put my arms around her, giving a soft hug. “I know you can’t just force yourself to be happy, but I want you to be safe and comfortable. As long as we have that we can work through anything else.” Kay didn’t respond to that. We spent a few more minutes in silence, just cuddling together, before she spoke up again.

“Did you really hate every second of it?”

Her question threw me completely off guard. “What do you mean? Hated every second of what?”

Kay drew back from me, shrugging off her blanket and hugging her knees on the opposite end of the couch. “The past few days. When I, I had you acting like a cat. You said you hated every second of it.” Her face was still blotchy and red from crying. 

It was starting to make sense. The carelessness of my words pierced through me like a spear. “No, of course not. I was just being a whiner. I thought it was part of the game, and that you would enjoy it.” I shook my head. Excuses weren’t what Kay needed at the moment. “I’m sorry. I really should have thought about my words first.” 

Now it was Kay’s turn to shake her head. “And I usually do. But I just hate the thought of trapping you in your own body, with no way out. No matter how I think of it I can’t imagine it being anything but horrible.” Although the tears were gone, her voice was wobbly, and I could tell they could return at any moment. “I just don’t want you to hate me. I need you, Lina. I need you in ways that I don’t have the words to express. And I messed things up for you. For both of us.”

I pulled her head in to rest on my chest. “You didn’t ruin anything. And there’s nothing you could possibly do that would ever make me hate you, with or without the app.” I had to consider my response carefully. “It might not make sense to you, but being out of control gave me a lot of comfort. I know that I can trust you, and you make me feel safe in ways that nobody else can.”

“No, you don’t understand.” Kay was starting to sound more agitated. “Today I messed up. You can’t deny that. I got angry, or scared, or emotional, or… something. I took it out on you. I punished you in ways you didn’t deserve and didn’t even realise it.” She was choking back her own sobs again. “I used you, Lina. I crossed a line that there’s no coming back from. I don’t want to think about what would’ve happened if you hadn’t stopped me.”

I grabbed Kay’s hand and looked her in the eye. “Please don’t ever say that there’s no coming back from something. We can always work through things, and this is no exception.” I tried to think of how best to phrase it. It was important for me to calm her down without dismissing her concerns. “You said that the only reason things worked out is because I was there for you, but I’ll always be there for you. You can trust me to reel you back in if things get too intense or scary.” Part of me wanted to add that her actions had been pretty hot, and the only problem was that I could tell she hadn’t been in the right mindset. But that was a conversation that could wait for another time. 

“So where does that leave us?” Kay’s voice was soft, but it was regaining its strength.

“It doesn’t ‘leave’ us anywhere. We’ll continue as we always have, with me loving you and you being an idiot.” She gave me a light punch on the shoulder, a surefire sign that she was recovering. “Look, I know we got swept up a bit in this whole dominant and submissive thing, but we don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s not important to me at all.”

Kay shook her head. “No, I want to continue as well. I love teasing you, and it’s plenty fun for me as well. But maybe we can take a break, keep things chocolate for a while.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Kay, you know the proper term is vanilla.”

“And you know how I feel about the delicious and flavourful vanilla bean. Vanilla ice cream is delicious. If anything, chocolate ice cream is the one that’s watered down and…” As she spun off into her tangent of frozen confectionaries, I knew everything was going to be okay.