Page 57 of Mistress A-0002

The click of the door sounded behind me as I pulled it shut, and the two guards down the hall stood straighter at my approach. My nod was mirrored, but silence followed me down the hall to my elevator. It didn’t take long to get in and make it to Braddock’s floor. Silence went to a buzz of music and voices as I stepped into the busy lobby. I barely had my phone to my ear before a passing Master called out and threw me a wave. He was drunk. I was envious of that.

“Main Master?”

“I’m here, Brad. Head to the lobby.”

The line went dead. I walked deeper into the opened area, taking in the emotions of those who surrounded me. Laughter from three Masters and one Mistress by the coffee cart. A wrinkled brow of a Master who stood with his face close to a slave’s. Aggression was obvious through the narrowed eyes and dominant stance. He didn’t appear happy, but the quick breaths told me the opposite story. He wanted the anger. Craved to release it on levels far exceeding the disapproving front he was staging for those who could see.

“Elec.”

I turned as Braddock approached. Our eyes locked, and his dilemma was all too real as I reached and held to his shoulder, leading him to the decently filled bar. We took a seat at a small table, off to the side. For seconds, he didn’t speak, he just stared at me with all the aggravation and rage he held.

“I’m not sure how much longer I can stay in that apartment. Tell me whatever you’re planning with Melissa is going to happen soon. Elec, I’m losing my fucking mind.”

I didn’t respond as a slave approached. I let Braddock make his order, only letting out a sigh as the blonde headed to the bar.

“I know you don’t want to hear it, but like I mentioned before, I need time.” He made a deep sound but stayed quiet as my hand lifted. “A few weeks. Maybe less. At the rate everything is going, it might implode a lot sooner than we imagine.

“You think so?”

“If you would have asked me two days ago?—”

“I did.”

I laughed, nodding. “Two days ago, I didn’t have the information I have now. I’m not in control of these events I’ve uncovered, but depending how fast they unfold…it won’t be long.”

Braddock reached over, taking his beer from the slave.

“A day is too long. My mind.” He squeezed his eyelids shut for the briefest moment. “The more I try to uncover, the worse my head hurts. I know Melissa fucked with my past. I just don’t know what’s real or not. It all seems real. The memories are…so vivid,as if I truly lived them.”

I shrugged. “You did. Just not in a way we classify as ‘real’. Real to most is physicality. It’s the physical body being present in the moment. That’s not how it works. What does the physical and memory share?”

Braddock’s brow drew in.

“Consciousness,” I supplied. “Your body is a vessel. A shell. Yourmindis who you are. Physicality doesn’t make a moment real. Everything in your awareness exists as part of you. Your everyday life. The movie you sit down to immerse yourself in. Virtual reality. A story you’re told…” His lips parted, and I knew he was recalling Melissa mentioning something about stories. “Exactly. You see what you hear. You imagine it. Your brain inputs it as part of your existence. Now, if you’re susceptible enough, it wouldn’t be hard to manipulate how this informationis received or…perceived. The character in that movie or video game becomes you. After all, you lived it, didn’t you? Same goes with a book you read or a story you’re told. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Braddock paused and a ‘knowing’ warped with anger. “I never served in the military. I was never homeless or in jail. They were stories she made me believe.”

My stare was all the answer Braddock needed as he nodded and looked down at the table. For minutes we stayed quiet. He drank his beer. Ordered another. Conversation came. Mellow. Everyday bullshit. For a moment, I wasn’t the Main Master, and he wasn’t a killer I supplied slaves to. It was just us: Braddock and Elec, old childhood friends. But the laughter and surrounding conversations cut through. I returned, I disappeared. I returned. I couldn’t deny a part of me was changing with the new lessons I was forcing on myself so that I could resist Melissa’s sway. But with more of a sense of the old me came rage far worse than that I held as the Main Master. My personality was warping, going from lack of emotion to a cold, vicious craze. One that promised violence far exceeding what I knew.

“What the—Fuck!”

Braddock was flying from the table before I could process him even standing. I turned, swallowing back my own curse as screams of help rang out. Allison slid to a stop, reaching for Melissa, but not touching her like she so clearly wanted. And I was the reason she didn’t. My programmed commands were unbreakable. Melissa didn’t seem to like that as I rushed out of the bar.

“What is going on here?”

Melissa tore her gaze away from Ally, but it didn’t stay on me as I rushed up.

“I asked you a question, Mistress. What is going on here?”

Melissa’s glare intensified as she looked between us.

“She was going to attack me. This slave is a danger. She’s like all the other blank slates who went rogue. I want her put down immediately.”

“Fuck you,” Brad exploded. “You’re not touching Allison.”

“She’s not stable. Look at her.”

“Not stable.” Braddock was standing behind his slave, but he didn’t want to. He was trying to get around her, and Ally was making it impossible.

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