Chapter 4 (2001 - 2008)

Pain pays the income of each precious thing.

--William Shakespeare (Rape of Lucrece)

AN INVISIBLE EMPIRE

You can see us, but you do not know where we are.

You can hear us, but you do not know what we are.

You can even speak with us, but you will not know who we are.

We are an invisible empire, a secret kingdom, and we rule the world.

PREVIOUSLY:

Stanley develops his gifts further, and cements his relationships with his lovers. He also participates in a major agency operation that ends with mixed results. A talent named Phillipa is recruited but at a cost Stanley regards as "excessive".

On a more personal level, both Viktoriya and Janet try for motherhood. While Stanley naturally indulges the two women's every whim, each meets with varying success. He also reconnects with an old classmate by the name of Jamie Young during a trip to Las Vegas.

In an ensuing dispute with the classmate's employer, Stanley commits a blatant act of violence and attempts to cover up the incident with his powers. The incident wins mild censure from Tseng, who issues a dire warning the invisible empire is being watched by a powerful enemy.

Stanley takes in Jamie and her daughter at first out of necessity, but he soon treats them like he would family. Towards the end of the year 2000, he begins assembling his own network of friendly contacts beyond the agency's and the empire's control.

IT STARTED WITH A BANG

The year 2001 has always remained bitter-sweet for our family. Everyone experienced their share of joy and an equal amount of sorrow. I believed that was the year my family became a family, but it came at a ghastly cost.

I began the year by dealing with some old problems using unseen (and unseemly) methods. The Sin Titulo gang, which retaliated against me and two of my darlings for foiling their bank robbery earlier that year, had literally disappeared from the face of the earth. All it took were some questions in the right channels before they were living on borrowed time.

Killing them (physically) however, was a problem. I didn't need to be implicated in anything unsavory, so I had to resort to a different method: I mind-wiped the Sin Titulo. After I had tracked them down one by one, each gang-banger "died" in the sense that I erased their episodic memories -- those types of memories that held one's identity.

I was rather crude in my methods at first (possibly setting up the initial victims for aneurisms later in life) but I got progressively more adept as I worked through their ranks. I surgically removed almost all of their long-term episodic and explicit memories to insure me and my darlings' would remain unknown. I left them with their semantic and procedural memories (or what I could; as I said, I was over-zealous early on).

The Sin Titulo were essentially hit with amnesisa. I released them without their identification, photos, and credit cards (the cards I shredded as a precaution, but I left whatever pocket money they had) where it was convenient.

The final few members of the gang let me practice my ability to "mind-hop" from one victim to another through passive mind-sight. This way, I didn't even need to touch someone before I could invade their mind. Scary stuff. The gang-bangers had hidden themselves after their buddies had mysteriously become retarded or forgetful. I tracked them all down and mercilessly sacked their minds.

In Detective Waters, I didn't make a new enemy, but instead made a new non-empire "asset". Jacob Waters was only a robbery and assault detective, but he knew a lot more about the seedier underbelly of San Francisco than I did. He would be my first -- but not the last -- helpful 'normal' I would have a working relationship with.

Waters' information had revealed someone in the agency, my handler Brian Cox (that wild man), was investigating me. Checking in on my activities and the like. For all I knew, they had me under surveillance day and night while I shuttled from one place to the next, checking in on my five darlings. Wait. Did I say five? I meant six -- all six. Well, to be specific, six and a half. You'll see why.

One of the most pleasant surprises the week leading up to New Year's 2001 was when I got a surprise visitor. I was in the tub, but fully dressed. I was testing myself, shrouding my body with as much repelling force as I could muster, and seeing if I could immerse myself in liquid without getting wet when the doorbell rang. To my credit, the wall of water around me barely wavered as I climbed out of the tub. I popped the drain plug with telekinesis and answered the door.

"Viktoriya?" I gasped as my Slavic siren marched in, bags in hand.

'Kiss me you fool!'

Viktoriya let drop her bags and threw her arms around me, driving me against the wall with mad little kisses. I noticed she floated the bags neatly into a small pile next to the old sofa. She was still pissed about the demolition incident a few weeks before and she showed it, a demonstration which ended with our clothing scattered all over the room. Afterwards, she admonished me aloud -- a good signal that she was seriously concerned.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again Stanislav!" She bit my ear tenderly as to drive home her point.

I was too spent to reply with anything save a grunt and a nod. I probably should've paid more attention to my exhaustion, and kept my mental guard up, but I couldn't. Not with the healthy naked girl straddling my cock. Viktoriya immediately sensed I had a new squeeze toy and began pestering me about Jamie. Yep. That holiday season was going to prove to be a bit hectic.

I spent the more family-oriented Christmas with Jamie and Jillian. Jill secretly coveted some toy doll about half her size. It was an easy snatch since it cost upwards of $500 dollars; it was out of reach for most parents. Her mother scolded me privately for spoiling the girl, but I didn't mind. By now, I treated Jill as my own.

Jamie knew of my other obligations and stayed mum on her part. The one gift I knew she wanted was something I couldn't have just picked up right off the shelf: she wanted a stable lifestyle. Instead, I bought a small $1000 fifteen year T-bond (U.S. Treasury Bond) and gave it to her for Jill's college.

"It's not much," I seemed more unhappy about it than she. "But it's a start."

"Oh you didn't have to." Jamie hid her disappointment well. "Thank you, Stanley."

Of course, I was no fool. There was a jade bracelet and necklace set Jamie had saw once when we were browsing the Stonestown mall. It was unusual to see a jade emporium in a Western mall, but one had opened recently to cater to the upwardly mobile Asian population.

Outwardly, she didn't express any further interest in it, but I didn't get this far by not paying attention to what my women desired. As Jamie placed the envelope in her purse, I telekinetically snatched the jewelry box from beneath my coat in the corner.

"I almost forgot," I murmured. "For mommy."

Jamie turned and saw me with the box in hand. Her eyes lit up as she lifted the lid, then promptly gushed.

"What is -- OH?! Why Stanley! You remembered!"

"How couldn't I?" I grinned wryly before I went on to say, "Especially if all I could think of was you wearing just that."

Jamie blushed as only she could and hugged me. I joined her and Jillian for a quiet dinner with her family, and gave her as much a worry free Christmas as I could. After we put Jill to bed, I met that lovely young mother under the mistletoe and made sweet love. She teased me by donning little bits of jewelry and luring me into her arms. Jamie silenced her screaming by covering her mouth with mine when she came.

By now, both Melanie and Viktoriya knew I'd been hiding Jamie in a nearby apartment until everything got sorted out. However, neither woman had said a thing to Janet for their own respective reasons. Melanie treated every other girl with the sole exception of Shawn with equal jealousy.

Oddly enough, she was friendly with everyone at the same time. Little Chen was empathic to Jamie's inner pain, but she said nothing for fear that Janet would have me cast Jamie out of the household.

Viktoriya could've cared less what I did with the other girls so long as she could get a chance to "dyke out" with one every so often. My Baltic bi-curious beauty initially set her sights set on Rachelle, but she was more than happy to munch on Shawn's snatch when the chance arose. Now that she knew about Jamie, she was maneuvering to get into her pants.

'Imagine her body on top of my body, Stanislav.' Viktoriya licked her lips lewdly. 'We'll make sure you never walk right again.'

I rolled my eyes at her suggestion and groaned, prompting her only to grin like a feral bitch in heat. Introducing Jamie to our debauchery would be premature, so Viktoriya had to settle for Janet instead. My ladies Wu, Chen, Viktoriya, and I started New Year's Eve at the Embarcadero's Equinox, the same place I had taken Shawn to when we were younger.

The chef had changed (for the better); unfortunately, the prices had kept up with the times. Luckily, I had the money now to support such an extravagance. After dinner, we partied through Union Square and ended with a moderately reserved four-way in my old room.

The first day of 2001 pretty much started with Janet getting cunnilingus from Viktoriya. To this day, Janet is still embarrassed at how easily she surrendered to Viktoriya's advances; it was a foregone conclusion considering she was the only 'normal' at the event.

I slammed all three girls with equal ardor. About the only argument that came up was when I used saran wrap on Viktoriya. She and I had always done things bare-backed because she was able to push fluid back out with her mind. And despite our fucking around, we had remained with a limited set of partners. Hence she was suspicious about wrapped cock until Janet reminded her that it was for everyone's protection.

"I mean you and Stanley have done this before right?" my First threw me a concerned look. "Because if you haven't, you were taking big risks with everyone missy."

Viktoriya realized how close we both were to being exposed, so she made up a lie.

"I always had protection. So, we never bothered with this ... clingy paper."

'Liar, liar, pants on fire.' I chided her mentally.

'Fine. No pussy for you tonight, kisa.' Viktoriya was smiling despite her thoughts. 'You've had enough!'

Her thought-speech was sharp and acidic, but I knew she didn't mean it. I grinned, pulled Vika towards my wrapped cock, and fucked the shit out of her. Afterwards, I broke my personal record of three times in one night when Janet and I bumped into each other in the hallway.

As she stumbled back out of the bathroom, I cornered her and had my way with her on the kitchen floor. I suppose the spontaneity of that moment and a stroke of good luck were what finally got my Jan knocked up.

In the meantime, bids had come in on the condo's site. I sifted through them and picked out the ones I knew who were flexible in regards to payment. I wanted my contractors to be able to understand I was paying principally in cash and a certain level of trust needed to be there.

Shawn had forwarded me the plans for what she termed "a solar girdle" that would collect solar energy, store it in batteries, and turn it into practical electricity we could use. I took one look at her schematics and knew I had one heckuva engineer in the family.

All in all, the new year began with great positive energy. Too bad it didn't last.

WELCOME TO JAPAN FOLKS, WHERE THE LOCAL TIME IS ... TOMORROW

A few things of note happened the summer of that year. First off, Janet was about the size of a damn blimp thanks to her pregnancy (she was about seven months along when I flew to Japan). Between her mood swings, her hectic work schedule at the firm, and the pressure from her parents and our parents to have a wedding before she popped, she was as much a handful as Jillian was.

Thankfully, Melanie was around to help between classes. I thought about introducing Jamie to Janet, but decided against it at the last moment. In Janet's condition, there was no telling what any emotional distress would've done. I wasn't risking a damn thing when it came to our first-born.

I wondered though, how long I could keep Jamie and Jillian apart from the others. I was dividing my time so much, it felt like I was back in school juggling my darlings all over again.

What a fun time THAT was.

I winced from the thoughts in my head and massaged my temples. I was on a jetliner humming over the Pacific towards Japan. Shawn's absence had made me miss her so much, that I took out a week towards the end of July to visit her in Tokyo. When Viktoriya heard I was heading out of the country, she reminded me that she was going to Rome with Cristobel for a vacation around the same time.

It was all eerily familiar to me. Rachelle started moving apart when she moved (so did Janet, although I may have zapped my First so much that she grew addicted to me instead) then fell for another man. I pondered the similarities and prepared for the worse. I also wondered if Viktoriya knew how jealous I was.

'Oh, don't mind Cristobel.' Viktoriya beamed me a hint of slyness on her mind. 'He'll behave kisa. And I'll have a surprise for you when I come back.'

When the plane landed, I was in a daze and don't remember much save for Shawn's bright baby blue eyes welling up with tears before she crushed my face with her massive boobage. My poor pumpkin's cup size had finally stopped growing -- at an H-cup.

She took me back to her tiny little "rabbit hutch" apartment amidst the Tokyo sprawl, and I settled in for a brief vacation in Japan. I slept through most of the first day (which was technically tomorrow), only to wake up around the local time of 10 P.M.

"You missed dinner," Shawn sighed. "I wish you could stay longer Stanley. Your body clock is all messed up!"

"Yeah, sorry muffin," I had hopped out of the shower feeling refreshed but was mildly shocked by how dark it was outside.

"That's okay."

She turned back to her books. I sat back and admired my plump lil' darling. She still stood nearly as tall as me and had gotten a little wider as well. I didn't mind, so long as she was healthy. I tilted my head. Wait a minute. No ... she seemed a little thinner.

Shawn Ellen was still a plump girl, but her waist had slimmed. Maybe she had nearly finished with her growth spurt and started growing up. I remembered how I measured her lovely ass so many years ago and immediately got an idea.

"Hey sweet-ums," Shawn piped up, "There's some udon I --" she felt my hands around her breasts "-- STANLEY!!"

"Hush, baby girl," I said. "Didn't you tell me there's a noise ordnance after dark?"

"Oh jeez!! Now?!"

She tried squirming out of my grip to no avail. For me, I had just got up and showered, so I was ready for action. Shawn was on local time and aiming to wind down. This could work out, I chuckled to myself. I just needed to do all the work.

I bent her over the small desk in her room and undid her belt. She kept silent as I pulled her pants down, revealing that ample apple-cheeked ass of hers. I bit her ass once, twice, thrice; it took ten bites for me to go from one side of her ass to the other (five per side). My plump darling had grown indeed. My thirst wasn't slaked though. I wanted more.

Shawn gasped as I kissed her brown little shithole. I slapped her meaty cheeks and she squealed softly. I sucked in her nutty, racy sex musk, and reveled in the days where I'd fantasize about fucking her in the school's band room.

"Oh jeez! Stop!" Shawn pleaded. "I'm crushing my books!"

I stood up and pulled her to me. We kissed and I felt her hands reaching for me. I pulled off Shawn's top and freed her two gi-normous tits. She lay down on the tatami with a sigh and let me work my magic on her breasts and between her thighs. Using the same trick of telekinesis on Jamie, I fattened up my cock and plunged into Shawn's pungent hoary hole.

"Umm--gwad!!"

Her eyes widened like saucers. The feeling was definitely pleasurable. She wondered what I'd done to fill her so completely now. I grinned at her look of surprise, leaned over and kissed her while I bounced happily on my big cuddly darling.

Shawn's face flushed as I drilled her for a few minutes more before she and I both popped. It was one of the few times that I was much more active than my partner after a session. Shawn yawned and stretched lazily over me as I continued to molest her.

"Stop it, you dope!" She slapped my hands away. "I wanna sleep now."

"Now you know how I feel 90 percent of the time," I laughed and gave her a pinch on the meatiest portion of her ass. "This is sweet revenge!"

Shawn sniffed and threw her entire weight atop me. I groaned from the pleasure. I liked having her on top of me. It was like having a soft fluffy fuckable blanket that made smart conversation. My dick sprung to life between her legs and she glared at me.

"Geez Stanley," Shawn mumbled, "Do you miss me that much?"

"You bet I do," I ran my hands down her sides. "Oh yeah, you know that solar wall of yours? It's been turning some heads at the fabrication company."

"Really?" Shawn kissed my chest then became thoughtful. "Maybe I should do my dissertation on that instead of quake reinforcement systems."

"Maybe," I nuzzled her scalp. "How much of it have you written?"

"I have my thesis ready," she said. "Along with a preliminary draft of my plans. Why don't you finish 'em for me?"

"That's cheating," I growled and felt her whole body jiggle with laughter.

"I'm only kidding!" Shawn bit her lip shyly before she sprung a zinger on me. "So, who's this Jamie person?"

"Eh?" I almost pissed myself from fear. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Melanie told me," she looked at me with mild disapproval. "She tells me everything that happens back home."

Great, I thought as my plump dumpling yammered on. Little Chen was spreading gossip like wildfire. It was a wonder that Janet hadn't heard anything.

"You know she's there when you screw around, right?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah, I know."

By now, I wasn't actively reading or scanning my darling's minds as often as I once was. I found it to be invasive and jeopardized what actual trust there was. Besides, after a few years I wanted to be surprised. Knowing what someone thought before they gave me their audible answer really sucked the life out of surprise parties and presents.

For the longest time, I only used scanning in dire emergencies, when feeling out design clients, or when I desperately needed to know something (and fast). I suppose I sound like a hypocrite, but I'd stopped pushing my luck. I was happy with the women I was with (or the ones I had retained) and I wasn't about to troll for fresh meat.

The only exception seemed to have been Jamie. My old class chum fell into my circle out of necessity, but she stuck around since things were going great between the two us. This, despite the fact she knew she wasn't the only woman in my life. For me, I didn't mind her stripper's body.

Of all the things that Jamie left in Vegas, she didn't ditch exercising on the fireman's pole (later installed at her place) and the horizontal pull-up bar. Even strippers knew a good thing when they see it. But Shawn Ellen though...

"Well, if Yu-Ching's told you everything," I stopped to yawn then feigned disinterest, "Then what's there to tell?"

"Because I want to hear it from you!" My buxom angel pinched my cheeks painfully. "Five wives?! Are you crazy mister? Does Vicky and Jan know about her!?"

"Barr--yerr--marr?" My lips were stretched taut by her stubby fingers. She finally let go so I could speak clearly again.

"Are you mad?" It was the only question I could think of, and the one question I sensed the answer to already.

"Well, I want to say yes!" Shawn was exasperated. "But no! I really don't know!!"

She bent her legs at the knees so I could see the soles of her feet. They were pretty, pink, and still smooth like a young girl's. Shawn began picking stray ends of her hair as if she was lying on a bed or something.

"You're confusing me." I frowned, wondering if I had stepped over the line.

I sensed Shawn wasn't mad. She felt I still loved her (true) and I wouldn't cut our ties so abruptly (also true). Besides, she'd been through a lot worse (very true). Her shock and surprise though, were genuine. It was like I'd found a new piece of ass from nowhere. To bring her up to speed, I decided to clarify a few things.

"Well you remember Jamie right?" I murmured.

"No, not really," Shawn sighed. "Why are you asking me?"

"Think back. Rubenstein's class back at high school. The girl whose boyfriend was stabbed at the Winter Ball during your freshman year."

My plump petunia's eyes pitched down, her mind trying to recall old faces and old places. Finally, the correct memory surfaced.

"No way!" Shawn blinked. "Her? The girl who was the school slut?"

"Whoa," I blinked. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Well, it was just gossip, okay?" She saw I had gotten defensive. "Ashley was spreading gossip everywhere and about everyone."

"Well this is the first I'm hearing about it," I frowned.

"Well, that's all in the past. I'm sorry I brought it up, Stanley."

"All right," I grinned. "Don't worry about it. Just be careful what you say all right? I don't want to belittle her in front of her daughter."

"She has a KID?!" Shawn's eyes went wide again. "Melanie didn't say anything about that!"

"Oops." Damn Melanie. I cursed her blurry thought-stream, and her chatter-box mouth.

"Stanley!!" Shawn growled ferociously, "Did you?! I mean before Janet?"

"Hey, don't you go spreading rumors now," I pinched her. "And no. The girl's from a previous guy. I'm just -- taking care of the package."

"That's awful!" I wasn't sure if Shawn meant me or Jill's father. Then she asked, "What's her name? How old is she?"

"She's five. Her name's Jillian," I said, "Jillian Chen. Jamie changed her name at the county records office."

I decided to level with her about Jamie's choice of the last name. However, I omitted the various reasons why.

"Wow." Shawn shot me a lopsided grin. "All I did was head outta the country and you got a kindergartner for a daughter. I'm going to marry a wild man."

"That's me." I gave her a sardonic grin. "Can you believe it?"

She giggled and relaxed on top of me. Soon, she was snoring softly. I listened to her breathing for a while longer then picked the big sleeping beauty and carried her to bed. I took another quick shower and pinged Viktoriya.

'How'd Missus Dumbo take the news?' I saw Cristobel's face across the table in sunny Italy. Viktoriya looked down and I saw she was at lunch. She was also wearing a pretty damn low-cut dress.

'Now Vika, remember what I said about those nick-names you make.' I scolded her mentally.

Viktoriya scoffed at me on our private channel. I saw right next to Cristobel was another fresh faced young man and a sunny blonde. The four were sitting at a street cafe.

'What's it matter if they can't hear me? But tell me, kisa. How are things?'

'Shawn was okay with it.' I came off more relieved than I wanted to. 'Jillian was the only thing that took her by surprise.'

'She's very cute.' I watched as Viktoriya took a sip of water and pass furtive glances at the blonde and two men in her party.

'Are you talking about Jill or the hottie you're having lunch with?' I flashed her a thought-laugh.

'N-yah! Mind your business nosy man.' Viktoriya thought mirthfully. 'How late is it for you, Stanislav?'

'It's around 11 right now. Night-time.' I replied.

'Drat.' She displayed disappointment. 'Tune out lyubimy. I want to surprise you.'

'Promise you won't do anything crazy.' I made my concern evident. 'I got enough worries already.'

'Look who's talking.' Viktoriya shook her head and began to stand. 'But I promise if you can be safe for me too.'

'I will, sweetheart.' I thought wryly. 'Have fun! Because when in Rome... '

'Pfft! You're a poor comedian.' She pulled out her compact so I could see her blow a kiss at me. 'As if I haven't heard that from you for the millionth time now.'

I grinned as I broke off contact. I puttered around Shawn's apartment and found an old art pad and some pencils. Being the artists we were, she and I would take about ten or fifteen minutes a day to sketch something quickly; it was handy when we wanted to show someone what we saw, or how something in our design would look like. While neither of us were exceptional artists, daily practice honed our skills in drawing.

I decided to push my gift a little more. Using remote viewing, I drew Shawn nude as she slept in bed. I was normally pretty lazy about sketching, but since I didn't have much to do (apart from worry about new plans and projects waiting for me when I got back to work) I added as much detail as possible. I darkened the details of Shawn's brows, hair, and outline of her enormous boobs.

After an hour, I was pretty tired from both drawing and keeping my mind alert. I set the sketch pad down, washed the graphite from my fingers, and crawled back into bed next to Shawn. I slept pretty well until someone gave me a hard shove.

"You screwball pervert." Shawn greeted me by pressing my drawing of her to my face the next morning. "How DARE you draw me nude. And my tits aren't that big!"

"Oh sorry." My mind was a little sluggish. "I forgot something."

She handed the pad back to me. I picked up a charcoal pencil, signed my name in the corner and sunk back under the covers.

"Oh very funny," Shawn growled. "You're going to get it now mister. Get up!"

I heard her put the pad away then felt her hands on me. She flipped me over and sat on my chest, her pudgy face was full of mischief.

"Where do you wanna go today?" she asked me.

"Anywhere but there," I flicked my glance down at her crotch.

"Hah. You got that right!" Shawn put her hands on her hips and laughed. "Come on you sleepy dope. I wanna show you around Tokyo."

We spent the day touring the various districts of Tokyo. I was blanketed by an impressive rush of signs, billboards, and general marketing. Tokyo was as built up as New York, if not more so. Shawn didn't think it was much, but I insisted on checking out the Tokyo Institute where she studied.

We hit the Ginza next and poked our heads into any shop that we fancied. Shawn and I ended our day at Shibuya where something uncivil happened. If I had a lottery jackpot every time I went to a foreign city and some ruffians or psychotics attacked me and my date, I'd be an infinitely wealthier man.

I was alerted to the event by a rising wave of fear and panic. I sensed it easily as I watched Shawn buy some gummy sweets from a street vendor and pop one in her mouth. The panic crested as Shawn searched for a second piece of candy for me. Then, I saw the cause of the commotion. A crazed and disturbed man armed with a bloody samurai sword turned the corner just a mere twenty or so feet from us.

I didn't know why or how he got such a thing -- I knew Japan had some of the strictest weapon control laws on earth -- but he was armed and dangerous. I zeroed in on his mind and found a jumble of thoughts: hatred of foreigners, hatred of his job, hatred of his love life, and what-not.

He reminded me of Michael Douglas' character "DEFENS" in the movie "Falling Down" except he was Japanese and he was waving one sharp-ass blade. Someone had pushed the right buttons and all of the man's self-control went out the door.

Unlike that time with the inept thugs at West Portal, I didn't have time to sugarcoat reality for Shawn. My plump dumpling looked up just in time to see the madman charging her with his sword upraised and cursing in Japanese.

Her own scream barely crept past her lips when I caught the man's sword arm with one hand and his face with the other. I didn't do anything too physical, but I easily overloaded his brain. I took the sword from his loosened grip and stuck it in a nearby trash bin.

The man was babbling incoherently, frothing at the mouth and crawling on all fours when Japanese policemen and emergency personnel appeared to secure the scene. It was much different from my tussle at the bank back home. Here, I was treated with a little more leniency.

It wasn't a difference of cultures (or appearances; the Japanese cops appreciated Shawn's cleavage as much as a man would anywhere) but it was because I had practiced restraint. Viktoriya was both right and wrong: perhaps I was becoming more ruthless, but I also understood the importance of restraint.

Tseng finally had his protege, I thought dourly. Shawn was no less emotional than Janet, but she put on a braver face than my First. She hugged me tightly once we were back at her place.