Chapter 5: Trouble in Master PC Land

Jim had things pretty much under control in his life. He was in great physical shape, he had some money – not a lot, but he was comfortable – he lived in a nice town, and he was free to explore his sexual fantasies in real time instead of vicariously on the internet. He’d even been able to go out to Colorado to see his longtime internet girlfriend, Cyndi, whom he had actually met in the flesh twice. He’d taken care of a number of physical problems for her and they’d spent a glorious week together fucking each other’s brains out.

Thanks to the Master PC, Jim now “owned” room 208 of the Pinecrest Motel. The owner had seen fit to reserve the room for Jim’s exclusive use at no cost and had even renovated the room to his specifications including the installation of a number of D and O rings in the ceiling and walls plus new carpets, new bathroom fixtures, and a new bed. No one else used the room. To be fair, Jim saw to it that some money came the owner’s way and many travelers found that it was suddenly a good idea to stop at the Pinecrest for the night instead of one of the city’s more upscale hotels.

So, life was good. And, there were still things Jim hadn’t tried yet. The Master PC was a marvelous program and if it had a drawback it was the fact that he had to be at a computer to make use of it. So, Jim tried some experiments and he discovered that he could give himself “powers.”

Having given himself access to more of his brain (humans have use of only a fraction of their actual mental capacity) he had promptly forgotten the fact. One day as he was thinking about improvements he could still make to himself using the miraculous software, he suddenly had a forehead-smacking “Homer Simpson” moment.

“DOH!”

He called up his image on the Master PC program screen and then typed in a command to create in him the ability to selectively read and influence human minds. He wondered why he hadn’t thought of that before and immediately dismissed the thought as a waste of time.

“Now to test my work,” he said to himself.

He concentrated, visualizing his wife, Susan. Her thoughts immediately became available to him – she was unloading the dishwasher – and he could literally read what was on her mind. She was thinking about the chores she had to complete today (it was a Saturday), calling the kids to see how they were doing, calling her mother, reminding him that they were having dinner with the Johnson’s tonight; nothing major or earth-shattering.

He sent her a mental command to stop what she was doing and come to the study. Moments later, she appeared in his doorway, a puzzled frown on her face. She clearly did not know what she was doing here.

He did some quick mental rearranging for her, providing her with a reason for being there.

“Honey, don’t forget we’re meeting the Johnson’s for dinner tonight at that new restaurant downtown. Do you need anything ironed?”

“Thanks for the reminder. Was it five or five thirty?”

“Five thirty.”

“Oh, and I just picked up my shirts from the cleaner’s yesterday, so I don’t need anything ironed. I thought I’d wear my gray suit with the white shirt and pink paisley tie. What do you think?”

“Oh, I love that outfit on you. And, I’m wearing a pink dress, so we’ll match.”

She came over and kissed him on the forehead, then turned and left the room. As she was leaving, he gave her a mental command to have a small orgasm and then grinned like a schoolboy when he heard her gasp out in the hallway.

“Now we’re cookin’ with gas,” he said to the empty room.

He shut down his computer and walked out of the room, a thoughtful smile on his face. During dinner, he tested his new powers on his wife and friends with excellent results. Jim knew that he would have to be even more careful with this new ability than he had already been with the Master PC program itself. But, this new ability would make it even easier for him to actualize the next step in his plans for Samantha.

The next morning he was sitting in his office preparing one-page briefing papers for his boss’ boss on several subjects when his assistant buzzed him on the intercom.

“There are two men here to see you, sir,” she said. Since she never called him ‘sir’ his mental alarms were instantly tripped.

“Send them in, please, Sally,” he replied which, since her name wasn’t Sally, was code for ‘send them in and then buzz me to remind me that it’s time for me to leave for an appointment in five minutes’ – something they’d worked out over the years as a way of dealing with unwelcome visitors.

Jim stood to greet his guests; two men, medium height and build, one grey suit one blue suit, approximately 35 to 40 years old. A quick mind probe revealed their purpose and identity.

“I’m Jim Olsen. How can I help you?”

“My name’s Friday. This is Mr. Smith. Do you mind if I close the door?”

“Be my guest,” Jim said, smiling. This might be fun if he was careful.

He looked at the one called Friday as Mr. Smith closed the door and the three of them sat down.

“Your first name wouldn’t be Joe, would it?” Jim asked.

“That joke’s never been funny. And, yes, my first name is Joe.”

“All right, since we’ve established the fact that you have no sense of humor, my first question remains. What can I do for you Mr. Friday?”

Friday and Smith flashed badges.

“We’re with the FMCA, the Federal Mind Control Authority. We investigate all instances of mind control activity. We have reason to believe that you have been using the Master PC program. We thought we’d found all the copies and destroyed them. We have detected Master PC like activity in this area and we believe you are the person responsible.”

“I see. Would you mind answering a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“Did you skip your lithium this morning?”

“If that was supposed to be a joke I think you should know that we at the FMCA have no sense of humor of which we’re aware.”

“I wasn’t kidding. Seriously, who put you up to this? Was it Kowalski down in accounting? Always a kidder that Sid Kowalski. I’m pretty busy here fellas so if you wouldn’t mind showing yourselves out, I’ll send Sid a nice email thanking him for adding a smile to my morning.”

“This is serious business, Mr. Olsen. You need to answer our questions.”

“Well, first of all, you haven’t asked any questions yet. And second of all, what the hell is ‘Master PC?’ Sounds like some sort of science fiction movie plot – B-movie plot at that.”

“Master PC was developed back in the late 80’s. It was the whole reason that the FMCA was formed. It’s a computer program that allows the user to make changes in those around him – to control their minds and actions even their physical forms. We first noticed it when a teenager got a hold of it and added 2 cup sizes to the breasts of every girl in his high school and most of the female teachers.”

“Oh, I think this has gone far enough, gentlemen, and I’m going to ask you to leave. Hopefully, you can find a therapist who can help you with your paranoid delusions.”