Chapter 1: The Initiation

"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows."
GEORGE ORWELL, 1984

"You are free and that is why you are lost."
FRANZ KAFKA

Gina Robinson was a freshman at Falcon Hill High School. A pretty girl of fourteen with a waifish figure, long blonde hair that hung to her waist, wide green eyes which gave her an childish, innocent looking face, she was somewhat shy and had not yet made any new friends since starting high school. Her father, a vice president of a large telecommunications company, had recently been transferred with his family to southern California and she missed her old friends. One day, about a month into the school year some girls approached her after one of her classes.

"Hi. You're Gina, right?" one of them asked her.

"Yes, that's right."

"Hi. I'm Hannah." Hannah was a small redhead with a glowing smile and freckles dotting her smooth, pale skin on her arms and face.

The other girl said, "I'm Irene." Irene was a tall, thin woman, about 5' 11", with olive skin, a slightly large nose, and dark, wavy hair. She was about the same age as Gina, perhaps a year younger than her companion."We haven't seen you around before."

"I just started here last month," Gina replied.

"Would you like to have lunch with us?"

"Sure..."

The three girls started hanging out together after that. Gina learned that Hannah and Irene had been friends since the first grade. Gina could tell that they knew each other intimately, that they could almost read each other's minds. They appeared to have no secrets from each other, or it seemed, from Gina. One day, about a week after they first had lunch together, they went to Hannah's house after school and sat in her room, talking.

"Gina, would you do me a favor?" asked Hannah.

"What's that?"

"Listen to this tape and tell me what you think." Hannah pulled a small walkman tape player out of her gym bag and gave it to Gina. "Go ahead, it's all set up."

Gina looked at the tape player. It was an ordinary cassette player with a headset plugged into the side. On the back was a small sticker. It said 'If lost or stolen contact: Hannah Bliss'. Her address and telephone number were also printed on the sticker. Gina put the earphones on her head and pressed the play button.

Instantly she felt a overwhelming, powerful explosion in her head. The earphones seemed to be vibrating, sending a low, barely audible tone directly into her brain. As suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Gina was neither scared or upset. In fact, she found that she didn't feel anything at all. She continued to sit there calmly and listen to the tape. Soon a voice came up. It seemed familiar. She realized it was her own voice talking to her.

"Keep listening to this tape player. Whatever happens, don't stop listening until this tape ends. This tape player has been modified to emit a special series of audio vibrations and radio frequencies through your ears and into your brain. The voice you hear will probably sound to you like your own. In fact, the only sound actually entering your ears is a specially modulated white noise The sounds you think you are hearing are electronically generated thoughts being transmitted directly to your mind, a sort of telepathy. In addition to the audible voice you 'hear', other commands are being sent to your unconscious mind. These commands will become a part of your very being, permanently altering your beliefs and feelings. You will not be able, or in fact willing to disobey any of the commands and attitudes that are programmed into you by this tape player, for they will seem to you to be your very own." Gina realized that she was now the willing slave of the tape player. She also felt that this was just what she wanted, had always wanted, to be under the complete control of the player, to allow it to change her, mold her in any way it wanted. Odd, she thought, I wouldn't have felt this way before.