Chapter 5

The dining room was bathed in a warm glow from the elaborate chandelier, a cascade of shimmering crystals. The table had been impeccably set with crystal glasses and fine porcelain China. Julia was going on rapturously about the coq au vin, which was supremely rich, with tender meat, crisp flecks of bacon, mushrooms and browned pearl onions.

“Want to know Charles’ secret ingredient?” Vivian said.

Charles smiled.

She turned to Charles. “May I?”

Charles nodded.

“Cognac! He replaces some of the wine with Pierre Ferrand.”

Charles laughed. “Well, not in this case. I used what they had, not that I think it really makes a difference.”

“Well, whatever it was, it was wonderfully delicious,” Julia said.

Charles poured wine into Julia’s glass. “Let me then embark on the frankly much more difficult subject of the Second Stage. And let me preface this by saying you have already heard this and nonetheless agreed to proceed. But you will be deeply shocked once again.”

He paused.

“To finalize the conversion, you have to have sexual intercourse with a parent of the opposite sex.”

Mark felt a hammer-blow to his chest.

“What?!” he said.

“I’m sorry, can you say that again?” Julia said, her face ashen.

“The second stage of the conversion process requires intercourse with a parent of the opposite sex.” Charles repeated.

Mark stood up, shaking his head.

“Sorry, I need a minute,” he said, walking toward the door.

“Of course!” he heard Charles saying.

Mark walked out, dazed. He wandered into the next room, which appeared to be a study, with an enormous desk of dark wood and floor-to-ceiling bookcases on three of the walls. He slumped down in the leather loveseat, shaking his head in disbelief.

He felt gut-punched. Allowing for the paradigm shift —the existence and capabilities of Elysians — it had made some sense up until now: Amrita, sex with an Elysian, which transmitted something, the transitional periods ... he could grasp all of that and accept it.

But this was beyond the pale. Sex with his mother? It wasn’t possible. He couldn’t even consider the possibility.

He felt a crushing sense of disappointment. Something extraordinary, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, seemingly within his grasp, had suddenly been wrenched away. He buried his head in his hands in frustration.

He heard a soft knock at the door.

“Mark? Hi.” It was Vivian.

She walked in, closing the door. “I know this comes as a terrible blow to you; to both of you,” she said. “It’s never anything less than overwhelming. Can I talk to you about it? Charles is talking to Julia.”

Mark nodded his head, not looking up.

Vivian sat next to him on the loveseat.

“Mark, I know this is excruciatingly difficult; impossible to conceive.”

“It’s definitely that,” replied Mark, his head still in his hands.

“So, then why is this step necessary?” Vivian said. “We don’t understand all of the biochemistry, but we do know from universal experience that intimate contact with your mother’s reproductive system is essential to the process. And the same is true for Julia and her father.”

Mark shook his head. “I don’t want to think about it right now.”

“Of course you don’t. Believe me, I fully understand that. I went through this myself — everyone has to. Everyone.”

“Well, that may be, but I’m not going to. End of story.”

“Mark,” Vivian said gently. “If it helps, remember that you were told about this the first time and, in the end, you agreed to it.”

“I ... I can’t believe that,” Mark said. “And, anyway, why is it done this way? You tell us all this, and we agree and then you erase our memories and do the same thing all over again — it makes no sense!”

“I know it must seem that way,” Vivian said. “But this is the required process based on long experience. It’s out of fairness to you and for your protection as well as ours. We have to be certain — absolutely certain — that you have freely consented and truly want to become an Elysian after learning everything about both the process and its results. Consent is often situational — context-dependent. We do our best to eliminate that by repeating the process with different people under different circumstances.”

“Different people. You mean you and Charles weren’t the ones who did this the first time?”

“No, it was two other Elysians. Both a little older than we are.”

Mark shook his head. “I still can’t believe it. I can’t believe I heard this part and still agreed to it.”

“I understand. I had the same reaction. But the point is that when the consent is the product of particular circumstances or a particular context, it may not be truly voluntary — there may not be the true commitment that is essential to the success of the process and, frankly, to the psychological well-being of the person.”

“And I consented the first time — I consented knowing it included sex with my mother?”

“You did,” Vivian said. “Not at first, of course — no one ever does. But eventually, after talking, thinking it all through, you did.”

Mark sat in silence for a long time. Then he shook his head again.

“I just can’t believe it,” he said.

“I promise you, you did. And, if you want proof, I have it.”

“Proof? You mean the contract?”

“No. We video the disclosure and consent interchange. With your permission, of course. It’s standard.”

Mark just stared at her.

“I can get it for you if you’d like.”

Mark thought for a moment. He shook his head.

“No,” he said, looking down. Then he lifted his head and looked at Vivian. Her eyes were full of concern.

“I don’t need to see the video,” he said. “I believe you. And, besides, I don’t want to see a video of me agreeing to that.”

“I understand,” Vivian said.

“I can’t imagine why I agreed to that,” Mark added. “Because regardless of whether I agreed with it, it just would be physically impossible for me to do that, even assuming my mother would agree to it, which she wouldn’t.”

“Mark, we don’t throw you into this unassisted. I’m going to guide you through it, every step of the way. And remember, you will have gone through the first stage — both doses. You’ll be at the stage where you have the ability to release pheromones that will make you very attractive to any woman you’re in close proximity with.”

“Yes, but not my mother.”

“Actually, yes. Mark, think about it for a moment. Every single male Elysian has had to do this. And they do do it, and have for centuries. And your mother won’t be immune to the attractant properties of the pheromones.”

“Well that may be, but it doesn’t work in reverse. There’s absolutely no way I’m going to be sexually attracted to my mother. So...”

“Please, sweetheart. Hear me out. Let me help you through it.”

She slid her body next to Mark’s on the loveseat, her pheromones active.

“You love your mother.”

“I do,” he said. “But not in that way.”

“Now, I want you to think back ... to the time you were a boy. Did you ever see your mother partially or completely naked?”

“What??!”

“Please, Mark. Bear with me. Did you ever see her naked?”

“Well of course, when I was little.”

“After you attained puberty.”

“I really don’t want to talk about this.”

She stroked his arm. “Mark. Please understand that I’m doing this only to help you.”

Mark thought.

“I guess ... once, and maybe a brief flash a couple of times.”

“Think of one that wasn’t a brief flash. Where was it?”

“We were camping. My brother and Dad were in one tent and my Mom and I were in the other.”

“And?”

“Well, I guess she thought I was asleep. She got undressed.”

“How old were you?”

“Fifteen or sixteen, maybe.”

“But you weren’t asleep. You were watching her?”

Mark didn’t respond.

Vivian squeezed his arm. “Please!”

“I suppose,” he said, reluctantly.

“Did she know?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Mark’s face was starting to feel flushed.

“You saw her breasts?”

Mark nodded.

“Did you see her pubic area?”

“I don’t know what this has...”

“Just bear with me, sweetie. Okay?”

“Okay. Yes.”

“How did it make you feel?”

Mark was silent.

“Do you remember?”

“Yes,” said Mark, disturbed to find that his cock was stirring. God! We’re talking about my mother!

“Were you excited?”

“I still don’t know what this has to do with...”

“Please, love. This is necessary. Were you a little excited?”

“A little, I suppose,” Mark finally said.

“Did you get hard?”

Mark didn’t answer. Vivian put her hand on his knee.

“It’s perfectly natural, honey – you were a young boy, looking at a naked female body – breasts, nipples, pubic hair, buttocks. Of course, you got an erection!”

Vivian slid her hand up until it rested on Mark’s hardened cock.

“You got hard, just as you are now, from the memory.”

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“So, then what happened,” Vivian continued.

“Nothing. She put on her nightgown and got in her sleeping bag and went to sleep.”

“After she went to sleep, did you masturbate?”

“God, Vivian!” Mark exclaimed. “Of course not!”

“It would have been perfectly natural. You were a young boy, excited by what you had seen.”

“Well I didn’t,” Mark said.

“But you did get hard,” Vivian said.

“Yes,” Mark said.

“Now, imagine for a moment that, while you were lying there, you heard your mother’s voice.”

Mark looked at her in surprise. “Her voice?”

“Yes. And she said ‘Mark, are you awake?’ You say yes and you hear her unzipping her sleeping bag. And then she slides over to you, sitting on her knees, and leans over and kisses you and says ‘It’s my fault. You’re a young boy, and I shouldn’t have done it in front of you. But I did.’”

“Why are you telling me this?” Mark interrupted, sitting up.

“Mark, please! I’m helping you through this and I know what I’m doing. Please believe me and listen. Will you do that for me?”

After a moment, Mark nodded.

“Excellent! So, she’s sitting on her knees next to you, talking to you softly, kissing you. Then she sits up and you can see that her nipples are erect under her nightgown. She reaches down and slowly pulls off her nightgown. You can see her nude breasts. And you’re now completely hard and you move your hand down to it and she says, ‘it’s okay, you can touch yourself.’ And you start slowly stroking yourself, staring at her breasts, and then you see her move her hand down between her legs and you know she’s touching herself as well, that she’s masturbating...”

As she spoke, Vivian was slowly moving her hand up and down Mark’s shaft, sending arcs of pleasure through him each time she slid over the sensitive glans.

“And you see her breasts move as her arms squeeze together. Her eyes are closed, an expression of pure joy on her face.”

Vivian continued her slow stroking.

“You can smell a new, unfamiliar aroma, and you know it’s the scent of her arousal. She’s wet; her breathing is coming fast. You’re masturbating and your mother is masturbating, and her breasts are swaying in front of you. She’s moaning quietly...”

As she spoke, Vivian was unclasping his pants, reaching in, pulling out his erect shaft.

“And you see her throw her head back and she moans and shudders, and you know she is having an orgasm, and you feel your testicles tighten and you know you’re going to climax...”

Vivian leaned down and took the head of his cock into her mouth. Mark groaned as her moist warmth enveloped him, felt his orgasm strike...

And all the while, the vivid image in his head was of his mother, her naked body poised over him, breasts quivering as she climaxed, a look of ecstasy on her face...