Chapter Ten: The Endgame

Talia and I sat off to the side on the bleachers, an overwhelming silence having fallen over the gymnasium, my rematch with Evan Boltchek finally completed. This was nowhere near finished, however, and we both knew it. I dabbed away some of Evan’s blood from Talia’s forehead. I had just beaten a billionaire’s son half to death, there wasn’t any doubt that his father, the inventor of this tech to begin with, would seek retribution. Not to mention we had 31 women lying unconscious on the floor, all of whom would no doubt be horrified by their experiences.

“Tal, how’d you break free? He should have had control over you.”

“And he would have,” Talia explained, “If I hadn’t done my homework. See, there are three pins on each device. One for sending signals, one for receiving them, and a third. I figured out what the third does.” I looked at her in quiet awe. She figured out how these things worked in only a couple days?

“The third pin is what links the program to the user, basically an antenna that receives commands. I imagine with a proper model it would be linked to some sort of ultra-encrypted command module, but Evan had modified the devices to receive commands over a bluetooth headset. Much more convenient, but a lot less secure.” It made sense; Evan was smart, but he definitely wasn’t wise.

“So all I had to do was sever the third pin on my own device. That’s how I was able to insert it without needing you to activate me as well.”

I stopped to process what she was saying. “So, you were never under his control.” Talia flashed me a muted smile. “No, but I could have been. Without the third pin, Evan was unable to control me with the emergency override. But Evan had hardcoded the devices to shift control to the other headset whenever a piece was taken in the match. If you had lost me, I would have been his.”

“...Which is why you snuck into my dorm and took the king device. If you had taken the queen you would have been vulnerable even if I won.”

“Precisely, and considering you did sacrifice your queen I’d say I made the right call.” It all made sense, except for one thing.

“Then, if you had all this planned out, how did you know I would win?” Talia smiled again.

“Cause I knew you could.” We sat in the moment together, letting the adrenaline of the match slowly leave our bodies for a few minutes. Unsure of how to proceed, I suddenly had a thought.

“Hey Tal, didn’t Evan have more servants?”

After a quick look outside we found her. The professional-looking assistant, Olga. The woman I'd seen Evan control when he first issued his challenge to me at the beginning of the week. Back when I thought he was harmless. Using the headset, we were able to bring her inside and put her to sleep, allowing Talia to very carefully extract her device. Like the others, she was inconsolable upon waking. Apparently Evan had enslaved her months ago.

As soon as she saw Evan lying in a crumpled heap on the ground she rushed forward and kicked him in the ribs, eliciting an agonized groan. “10 years I work for his father, and THIS is how he repays me?!” Olga ranted.

“Wait, his father? Christophe Boltchek?” Talia asked.

“That’s right,” replied Olga, “I was one of his most loyal team leads. They told me this technology was supposed to help people recover from paralysis. Hell, I offered to test it myself!” Olga put her face in her hands. “Then Christophe, he started making me do things. It started small like getting him coffee or cleaning his desk. But soon he was making me fuck him in every way imaginable. And I couldn’t… That… FUCKER!” she shouted, delivering another kick to Evan’s ribs.

“But worst of all, once he got bored he commanded me to serve his shithead deadbeat son! Like I was some sort of toy to be passed around!” Olga exhaled, leaning against the wall as she collected herself. “Christope made a big fucking mistake letting me remember this, I’m going to ruin him…” she uttered, clear malice in her voice.

“Wait,” interrupted Talia, “Can the device affect peoples’ memories?”

“Yes,” responded Olga, “If the subject is commanded to, they can block out certain memories and emotions or even fabricate false ones.” Talia and I exchanged a glance.

“Olga, these women have been affected for less than a week. Would we be able to alter their memories and make them forget any of this ever happened?”

Olga looked pensive. “You could, but you would need to implant false memories in their place, and the device needs time to do that. Not to mention you’d need time to deprogram whatever commands the little cretin left them with. If that is the path you take, I'd recommend that you leave the devices in for a while after the fact. But yes, you might be able to spare these women the humiliation he put them through.”

“I think we should do it,” I posited to Talia. “None of this was their fault. Let’s spare them that drama.”

“I agree, but what about Evan?” she asked, “There’s no way his dad won’t come after us after all this."

“Leave them both to me,” interrupted Olga. “I’ve already had my device removed, so it’s too late to alter my memories. And even if you could, I’d decline. I want to dedicate every second of my life to taking Christophe down. As for that little shit…” she said, gesturing to the sputtering Evan on the floor. “I have just the thing for him.”

With no hesitation, Olga marched towards Evan and jammed the device that had been used to enslave her into the nape of his neck.

“But that won’t—” Talia began before Olga intervened. As his body convulsed, Olga brought her heel down, snapping the surface of the device off and onto the ground.

“See, the body of the device hears and interprets commands, translating them into highly targeted electrical signals through the pins that attach to the skin. If the initialization process is interrupted, even with his little gender restriction in place…”

“...Then the nervous system will be stuck waiting for a command that will never come,” finished Talia.

“Precisely,” said Olga, “A conscious body that can never move. A living death. I can think of no finer recipient of that fate.”

“But won’t that just piss his dad off even more? We won’t be able to stop him if he comes for us,” I questioned.

“That’s where I come in,” explained Olga, “This morning, Evan tried to tamper with my device, affecting my amygdala and causing me to fly into an unwilling rage. I battered him until the signals wore off, by which point I was shocked and horrified to realize what he had done to me with his father’s tech. I rushed him to a hospital, but unfortunately he had sustained too much brain damage.” Olga smiled wryly. “Sound believable?”

I took a moment to be grateful Evan never thought to ask Olga how to torment me. She clearly had an excellent mind for it.

“But won’t Christophe come after you?” Talia asked with concern.

“Of course, which is why I’ll also be leaking information surrounding his mind control technology to the media. And if the military wants to keep their involvement in this project hidden, which they will, they’ll ensure I am protected from any retaliation during the investigation into Christophe. An investigation which, I’m sure, will find many other women who have been enslaved by the Boltcheks. And all of you will be far, far away from those events.

“That’s… Genius.” Added an amazed Talia.

“I know. It makes it all the more ridiculous that they wanted me to be a drone,” responded Olga. “Mark my words, that family will face retribution soon.”

“Wait,” Talia interjected, “There was another woman, a driver, I pulled her device out not too long ago, will she be okay?”

Olga looked askance, thinking through her answer. “Sudden removal of the device can stun the subject, but it’s not likely to result in permanent damage. If I had to guess, I’d say she’s panicking in an emergency room right now. I wouldn’t say she’s likely to be ‘okay,’ but I doubt your actions caused any serious harm.” Talia closed her eyes and let out a tension-filled sigh. Clearly some burden had been lifted.

“Time is short to make this cover story work, I should be off.” Olga grabbed Evan by the arms, preparing to drag him away for good. “I will entrust the rest of them to you two,” Olga said, nodding towards the heap of unconscious women. As she dragged his limp body through the door, my eyes met Evan’s for one final time. They were dull and lifeless, but I knew he could still see me. I showed him no emotion as he was dragged out the door.

With that, Talia and I were alone with the headset and 31 unconscious drones. “What now?” I asked, unsure how to proceed.

“Well…” Talia began, meandering over to Abby and Denise with the headset in her hands, “We can start by getting them out of these costumes. If you track down some normal clothes I can get them sorted and start thinking of some false memories to explain the last week.”

Soon enough we had every woman lined up, standing at attention. Talia handed me the headset and a script. “Are you sure?” I asked.

Talia nodded. “You deserve to be the one to do it.”

I looked out over the mindless army, ready to hear my commands.

“To all who can hear me, you will lose all recollection of any events over the past week pertaining to Evan Boltchek. In their place, I will give you new memories to explain an otherwise unremarkable week. Additionally, you have all started wearing fashionable objects on the backs of your necks that you will never attempt to remove or allow anyone else to remove without my explicit permission, and will otherwise disregard entirely.” I stood in front of the 16 pawns.

“To the pawns from the meditation group, I invited you to a special meditation in the gymnasium today. You all agreed and enjoyed yourself, but are now ready to head about your day. You will feel no need to discuss the special meditation, and over time it will fade from your memory. As soon as you leave the building you will return to your normal selves. Now go.” With that, the women I had recruited as my pawns marched out of the building one by one. Talia shot me a calming smile, helping my nerves as I issued these final commands.

I continued. “To Mikayla and Sophie, you stopped by my room a few days ago to help me with a personal issue. You had to spare a great deal of time, but you helped me tremendously with my problem. However, due to the sensitive nature of my problem, you will not discuss it with myself, each other, or anybody else. You won’t even think about what it was. Over time, these events will fade from your memory. As soon as you leave the building you will return to your normal selves. Now go.” With that, Mikalya and Sophie marched out of the room. I thanked them under my breath, my first pieces.

“Still good?” Talia asked.

“Yeah, thanks.” I reassured, beginning a series of shorter commands.

“To Tina, you will retrieve your janitorial supplies and clean the blood off the floor, remove the tape grid on the ground, and return the lifeguarding chairs to the pool. Some freshmen played a prank and you had to clean up after them. Once you are finished, you may leave.” As Tina began to leave, I made another quick note. “You will also forget any noteworthy interactions you had with me, and you’ll quit stealing altogether.” As soon as I finished, Tina trudged off to grab her mop.

“That’s a bit of overreach, isn’t it?” asked a concerned Talia.

“If she’d gotten away with it, everyone here would be Evan’s slaves. Plus it’s better that her going to jail,” I whispered back.

“Fair enough,” She acquiesced.

“To Sisters Desiree and Maria, You came here today to meet a student athlete who reached out anonymously for spiritual guidance. Unfortunately, they never arrived, and you returned to your duties shortly afterward. You may now go.” The nuns took their leave, leaving only my rooks.

“To Julia and Kody, you came to my house looking for Sandy, but could not find her. Concerned, you later tracked me down in my dorm room to ask about her whereabouts. Eventually, after searching together, we discovered she had spent the week with a fling and will be returning tomorrow.” I paused, remembering the ways I had taken advantage of them while they were under my control. The ways I acted just like Evan…

I pushed the shame aside and returned my attention to the script. My own guilt was irrelevant. With their release, all of my own victims were free. Now was the time to address Evan’s pieces.

“To the members of the cheerleading squad, you lost a bet two weeks ago to a chess team at another university and, as a result, had to go to my room and taunt me with cheers in the morning related to my match against Evan Boltchek. However, you got the dates confused and did this the week after the match, not realizing your mistake until today. Also during this time, you dedicated yourselves to an intense practice regiment that occupied a great deal of your time, forcing you to skip classes. You will apologize to your professors if necessary but otherwise return to normal life. You will not discuss your private practice sessions with anybody, not even each other. When you leave this building you will return to your normal lives. Now go.” The cheerleaders left the room in a single-file line, passing Tina on their way out, who had returned with a mop and began cleaning the blood off of the floor.

“To Luna, you felt especially inspired this week and created a host of unique costumes and designs. You poured yourself into your work, neglecting everything else to focus on your passion projects. Ultimately, however, you were deeply dissatisfied with the end result and destroyed them. You also realized you overworked yourself and will not repeat an event like this unless you organically decide to do so. You will return to your normal self once you leave this building. You may go.” Luna left out the doors like everybody else.

“To Malia, you undertook an intense training regiment that put your body under tremendous strain. You will take some time to recuperate, then return to your normal life. Now go.” Malia walked out, ignoring everything and everyone around her until the doors closed.

Next was Dr. Mallory and Ms. Holbrook, two people who had suffered particular cruelty under Evan’s control. “To Dr. Mallory and Ms. Holbrook, you both came down with a serious fever and had to call in sick for a few days. You will soon return to your work the same as usual, having had time to rest and recuperate. You came here today to get some early exercise in, but realized the gym was closed and left. You may go.” With that the professor and the counsellor left, free to return to their old lives without ever realizing they were in jeopardy.

Now there were only four very important people left. I felt Talia’s hand wrap gently around mine in a comforting gesture. I began to speak.

“To Abby and Denise, the two of you decided to take an unknown drug at the celebration party last Sunday. As a result, you both lost time and memories since then. Thankfully, you have now completely recovered, and are certain that no harm has come to you. As soon as you leave this gymnasium, this will become fact. You will return to your normal lives, and over time your memories of the incident will fade. You may now go.”

Abby and Denise began walking towards the door, but stopped as they passed Talia and I.

“Nate…” Abby began. “I can’t remember exactly, but something happened. Something bad. I remember you helping us… Thank you,” she said softly, enveloping me in a hug alongside Denise.

“Nate… Talia… Thank you both, I think?” Denise said, her voice sincere but laced with confusion. I hugged them both back with Talia.

“You’re welcome. Now leave, you’ll forget all about this soon enough,” Talia reassured our dazed friends.

“O-okay, see you later guys…” Abby said, walking out of the gymnasium with Denise. I turned my attention to my family, the only people left. I opened the last bit of the prepared script, and by far the most complicated given Evan’s focus on Mom and Sandy. To her credit, Talia had done a great job concocting a cover story.

“Sandy, at my celebration party you met a guy you got really into. He was a bad boy, and dragged you along on a bender for several days. It was fun at first, but you soon realized that it was a bad idea. You lost all contact with your family and friends, and skipped class to be with this guy. You lost your virginity to him. Eventually you realized you were making a mistake, left him, and asked Mom to pick you up at the gymnasium. You will not forget these events, but you will never dwell on them, and will return to your normal life in short order.”

I turned my attention to our mother. “Mom, when Sandy went missing you went looking for her for several days. After a lot of searching she eventually contacted you to pick her up at this gymnasium. You’re upset with her decision, but know that it was a one-off incident and will not bring it up again or let it influence your opinion of Sandy in any way. You will take her home once the two of you leave, and the incident will fade into the background. Now go.” Finally, I watched as my mother and sister walked by, freed from Evan’s clutches and as normal as they could be.

“So now it’s your turn I guess,” I said, flipping through our scripts. I quickly noticed a problem. “Um, Tal? You didn’t write a script for yourself.”

“I know,” she responded, “I’m not forgetting.”

My eyes widened. “But Tal, you don’t have to hold onto this. You can let go, go back to the way things were.”

“Yeah, but you can’t,” she responded. “Look, I was the only one out there that chose to be on that board. You never abused your control over me. I can handle it, and I want to. I don’t want you to be left with nobody else who understands what happened this past week. So no, I don’t have a script. I don’t need it.”

A part of me wanted to let her forget anyways, to use the headset to erase her memories anyways, spare her the pain regardless. But the determination in her eyes told me she was serious.

No. I was done making peoples’ decisions for them. Evan had shown me that I wasn’t infallible. I could be corrupted. However, he also showed me that it was a choice, and he showed me what the end result of that corruption was.

Tina finished up her mopping and looked in our direction. “Hey, the gym’s closed. What are you two doing in here?” I looked over at the oblivious janitor, now eyeing us with suspicion.

“Sorry Tina, we’ll leave.” With that, it was time for Talia and I to leave the gym, taking our memories with us.