Chapter 2

Two days later, Alex woke up feeling groggy, unfocused, and famished. Stumbling out of bed, he went to take care of some urgently needed business in the bathroom, came back and got himself one of those "meal in a can" meal replacement shakes. After having two more, a shower, a shave, two Advil and a relaxed time of putting on clothes while staring off into space, Alex had a very careful think.

I am a telepath. No, that's too specific. I can read minds, but I can also implant suggestions. I'm a psychic. A mind bender. I wonder what else I can do?

No, I shouldn't pursue that yet. First, I have to think carefully what I should do. Am I the only one? I doubt it. So there are others. Do they form groups? Do they act alone? Are they hostile? Friendly? How would they react when they found out what I did with Beth?

Alex had a moral code, but he looked at it a bit oddly in comparison to the average person. Instead of a set of laws that he followed rigidly, he had a set of laws which he used to describe himself to himself, so that in situations where he wasn't sure what to do, he could use those laws as a guide so he could live with himself thereafter. He allowed himself the stint with Beth as a sort of balancing of accounts to how other women had treated him and as far as Alex was concerned, he was satisfied and probably wouldn't do it again. Others may not take such a charitable view of this however.

So groups of psychics, if they existed, were to be avoided. That was fine with Alex as he preferred acting on his own anyways. What else? The government of course. Alex was a big fan of the science fiction and fantasy genre and read too much about the problems the government can incur in a psychic's life. So anything involving a government agency, and corporations for that matter, was a definite no (removed a comma) no. That meant laying low, being careful how he used his abilities to not attract attention. No problem, he preferred being subtle as well. An image of Beth flashed through his mind, mocking his subtleness. Ok, so I'll have to work on it a bit. What's the next step?

Well, he can read minds and project suggestions, perhaps he should exercise those abilities. Given his exhaustion after only a few projected suggestions, he certainly could use it. Alright, doing what exactly? Some project or other, something that won't gather attention. Nothing came to mind, probably due to his severe exhaustion. Alright, what else can I do?

An idea came to mind, and seconds later Alex was on the internet looking up stories on psychic phenomena. He found a few books and ordered them, but what he found mostly was gaming books describing various "make believe powers" and a huge amount of sex stories. I guess I'm not the only one to think of using psychic powers for sex, Alex laughed softly to himself. After several hours of reading and researching, he had a list of powers, ideas for exercises, and a very painful hardon. Unfortunately there were no girls in the immediate vicinity that he found desirable, so he couldn't do anything about it. Not that he was mentally up to it anyways.

The sex stories brought up some interesting possibilities and ideas however. A couple of female slaves could help him practice his power, take care of some of those chores that always seem to come up, and take care of his sexual needs.

Alex took a look around his room, stuff lying everywhere, and sighed. He muttered to himself "Until then," and spent the next two hours cleaning the place up.

Strangely enough, the physical activity of cleaning up helped him wake up and focus his mind back on the subject of sex slaves. What sort of slave do I want?

Beautiful, of course, but what else? Useful. Intelligent. Both of these would be excellent conditions. What sort of restrictions should I have? They must want to be a slave. This last thought went through Alex's mind as one of his rules of conduct came to the fore. Don't do anything that other people don't want you to do to them. He couldn't grab just anyone off the street like he did with Beth, though she fell into one of the exceptions of the rule. He did let her go afterwards. This time he meant to keep the next bunch of women as his property.

That meant he had to select them carefully. Where can I find beautiful, useful and intelligent women? The answer came to him surprisingly quick.

Later that evening Alex was at the local university sitting in on one of the classes held in one of the bigger auditoriums. After talking to a secretary for a moment, he was able to get a listing of class schedules and make a plan of classes to check out to determine which sort of skills he wanted his slaves to have. Things like geology, history and art might be nice, but one tends to be hard pressed to make something useful of them. No, after some thought, Alex decided that he would have no more than five slaves (more would wear him out), and that at least three of them will be versed in finance, computers and medicine.

Alex wasn't sure what the other two would be good at, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. That's how Alex found himself wearing a pair of new shades, off on the side of the auditorium in the dark, checking out the various students. There were several beautiful women, but only three had any apparent clue as to what was going on during the lecture. Scanning the first one, Alex was disappointed to find that she was just a talented actor, and had no gift for finance. The second one did understand what was going on, but had no desire to being enslaved. The third one however was just what he was looking for. Quick mind, intuitive understanding of finance, and a deeply buried submissiveness that never had the opportunity to come to the fore.

Alex withdrew from her mind to regain some strength and to consider how to proceed. He still wasn't very skilled yet, and scanning through three different minds was tiring for him. He spent a moment studying her, short, maybe 5'7", short blonde hair, worn up, a round friendly face, C cup breasts, nice long legs. She was wearing a sleeveless red top and blue jeans that hugged her tightly, and an alert, friendly disposition that added to her attractiveness.

After a moment's rest, Alex plunged back into the mind of his future property. He quickly learned her name was Kirstine Cummings, 28, in her third year of finance and commerce, had a minor in economics, and a boyfriend of three years.

This made Alex pause, but after exploring her memories of him, he quickly determined that there was not much there. They had slowly drifted apart and were more like good friends than lovers. Still, Alex had to consider how to approach this unexpected problem. He could see the little things in her mind, the little things he did that annoyed her, and decided to increase her irritation of them. That should get things going.

Next he implanted a series of simple commands. First, that she attend every one of her classes, and that she take a seat next to the isle about midway up the row. This would ensure that in a class of about three hundred he could easily find her again. Second, that she would find no one else attractive save himself.

For this he had to project an image of himself into her mind, an apparently very difficult feat as it nearly exhausted him. The third and last command he implanted was that she would communicate nothing of her private life with anyone. Just as he implanted this last suggestion he lost contact due to exhaustion.

Alex had to concentrate to stay upright in his seat, the last thing he wanted to do at the moment, but a feeling of quiet victory helped bolster him. He knew instinctively that his commands took hold. Granted, they were not much, but they were a beginning, and since none of the commands conflicted with her nature, they should be both very effective and last a very long time. They may even be permanent if she doesn't wonder too much about her new attitude before she gets used to it. Kirstine's next class was on in two days. Plenty of time for him to recover and start seeking tomorrow.

With a feeling of satisfaction, Alex got up and left for home. Kirstine noticed the student get up and leave in the middle of the lecture. She was vaguely annoyed at his rudeness, but it was an accepted way of life in the university.

She also had the strange sensation that she knew him from somewhere, but couldn't remember where. Cute though. Oh well, it's not important, she thought, what's important is that I study this next chapter tonight. Kirstine hoped that Bill wasn't playing that god awful music of his again tonight. Right at the moment she wasn't willing to put up with it as she usually did, and she didn't think her mood would improve anytime soon. Kirstine once again concentrated on the lecture and her thoughts got lost in concepts of the way money works...

It took Alex somewhat longer to get home than he figured, as he fell asleep on the bus and had to walk back a few stops, but as it turned out the walk did him some good. A quick dinner and a good night's sleep had him super energized by 5 in the morning. By six, Alex was back at the university checking out prospects.

Alex went to the university gym because he figured that only the health nuts would be awake this early. Sure enough, he found a number of people, and to his surprise and delight, discovered the drink bar was also open. Alex got himself some fruit mix drink, sat himself down, put on his sunglasses, and pretended to have a hangover.

There were a number of interesting choices, but none caught his eye until he saw this one lady shove aside a guy that was standing around blocking the hallway while talking to his friend. It looked like the guy was going to do something about it, but one look from her had him thinking twice.

She had a very fit, 5'8" body, short raven coloured hair, and a way of moving that told you that she was dangerous. She had a look that suggested a Greek or Italian ancestry, and an attitude that said that no one had better get in her way. Man, she is going to be fun to tame, Alex thought to himself.

A quick peek at her mind revealed several things. Her name was Sandra, she was studying to be an exercise trainer, she hated men, though Alex wasn't able to determine why on such a quick peek, she had a strong domineering personality, and buried deep underneath was a strong untouched submissive streak.

Alex withdrew and paused for a minute. All that information came rather easily, he thought, which means that either she is easy to read, or I'm getting better at this. I guess I'll find out when I insert some suggestions. What really requires some thought was what suggestions and how to apply them. He sensed peaks and valleys in her mental landscape that would be tricky to overcome.

Alex entered her mind again, and noted with a grin that yes, it was easier. I must be getting better at this. The first suggestion, not to be interested in other guys, went in very easily as she did have a strong hatred of men. Making an exception for himself proved much harder until he linked it in to her need to have sex, which Alex could sense was as great as her hatred for men. He linked himself up with the suggestion of, you need sex sometime, why not him? Still, Alex had to reinforce the suggestion a few times before he felt it would take proper hold.

He added to this by making himself more attractive in her eyes, and more tolerant of Alex overall. Bringing out the submissive streak in her was going to be much more difficult however. After skipping through her mind awhile, he determined that the only way to get her to submit to him was to defeat her utterly on a field of combat of her choosing, or at least a field of combat she thought she chose. Alex went through her mind, and using her own imagination found suggestions of contests for him to consider. The one he settled on was a card game, as she seemed to be quite a card sharp. Implanting a suggestion that she bet somewhat wildly whenever she was in a game with him was easily done.

Coming out of her mind, Alex was surprised to see Sandra sitting right in front of him, taking a swig from a water bottle.

"Well it's about time. I thought you had gone to sleep on me."

"I was lost in thought."

"Or a hangover, wild party?"

"Something like that."

She certainly was very aggressive, Alex observed, let's see where this goes.

"I can see you work out a lot," Alex said, pointing at her well toned arms,

"You've done a great job staying in shape."

Looking somewhat pleased, she replied "I like to stay in shape. I take a variety of martial arts classes, dietary classes, and of course, I go to the gym a lot.

In fact, that's why I noticed you. I've been here often enough to know everyone, but you are new. And you don't look like the sort to be in a gym."

In shape and smart. A rare combination. "Though I go to the gym every once in a while, I only came to this one because I need a drink and it's the only place open."

"There are always those pop machines..." But the look I had gave her pause.

"I'm allergic to pop, though only mildly. Makes it taste rather gross to me."

She nodded as in approval to this.

"So, do I pass inspection? Do I get a prize?" Alex asked jokingly.

She looked a little apologetic. "Sorry about that. We have been getting some real creeps around here, and I was just making sure you weren't one of them. The manager of the club asked me to keep a lookout for them. And as for a prize, I get to take you to the local booster bar for a real drink."

"It sounds like you were the one who won the prize." Alex remarked to which she only gave a predatory grin as they got up.

Halfway to the exit however, the same idiot who was blocking her way before decided to get brave.

"Hey you, what is the idea of you pushing me out of the way like that!?"

"Oh, I wasn't pushing you, just moving some garbage." Sandra whipped right back at him.

He tried to push her aside, but she easily slapped his hand away. At this point the buddy he was talking to was moving in to surround her, and Alex was going to make a move to support her, but Sandra gave him a glance and a shake of her head.

Alex stepped back, and though he hadn't seen either of the two before, Alex would have gladly bet his entire fortune on the outcome of Sandra whipping their asses. He wasn't disappointed.

The guy made a half hearted swing at her, half hearted probably because she was a girl, which she neatly dodged. He made another swing at her, this time with more power, but he hit only air. Finally, him and his buddy made a coordinated attack with a punch and a grab and that's when she sprang into action. Dodging the punch, she made a quick low kick on buddy right in the lower leg. It must have hurt, because he immediately went down. The next punch from the jerk she caught, twisted, and in the next moment she had him on the ground by his thumb and in too much pain to do anything.

After a moment or two, four of the local gym instructors ran up and seized the two jerks, and a lady walking up behind them was ordering them all.

"All right, hold these two jerks for the police. Thanks for your help Sandra, no need for you to hang around here. I'll get Dianne to take your statement over the phone as usual."

"Thanks Aunt Sylvie." Turning to Alex "You want to go for that drink now?"

Alex caught the disapproving look from 'Aunt Sylvie' when she heard this and looked me over. But he was too busy being impressed by Sandra's performance to really care. "That was really impressive, how long have you've been in the martial arts?"

"Ever since I was eight. I hope to be in the Olympics someday."

"Well, I think you're ready."

She gave a snort of disdain, "Those two were hardly worth the effort. The competition I'll be facing is many times harder. They will be worthy opponents. Now, what sort of drink do you want?"