12:51

The fight between Emaki and Metam had been the most predictable so far, and the result was the same as always for both Emily and Tammy, regardless of their opponent.

Tammy had been stripped bare in all of her fights and, having already performed sexy naked dances for both Carl and Martin, she now found herself doing the same for her friend Tina.

She felt silly doing it, but strangely she was enjoying her afternoon. The curse had only caused her not to be embarrassed by her nudity when playing Strip Fighter, not to actually like it. But there was something very liberating about being naked and not caring. Not only that, but Tammy got a kick out of the way all the males in the room, as well as Tina, looked at her whenever she lost her clothes. She could see now that she was an object of desire, not something she had ever considered herself to be before, and there was a strange kind of power in that. She could even begin to understand why Haley and Kelly enjoyed stripping off, and the attention it got them, so much, even if she had no intention of ever doing it herself outside of the game.

Her main concern came from the prospect of playing Spell Fighter, a game where losses could result in temporary physical transformation, not something she felt so comfortable with. Thankfully, there would be no time to play that this evening, and tomorrows gaming night had been postponed for the masters and fighters to go for a meal together, the kind of social event Tina had been pushing for, so she didn't have to worry about that just yet. Tammy also felt a little bad for Philip, who she knew hated being the cause of her losing every time, even though she didn't care and he had more important things to be concentrating on during the battles.

Emily, in contrast, had not yet lost a single scrap of clothing in any of her fights. In fact. she had tried to have a quiet word with Tina between battles to suggest she deliberately lost a round or two. Martin and Carl's natural competitiveness could perhaps be used against them, but only if they thought they had a chance of ever winning. Throwing fights was against Tina's "gamer ethics" apparently, but Emily hoped Tammy might be able to persuade her to do so for the greater good nonetheless.

"Shit Tammy, I'm going to have sweet dreams tonight!" Tina grinned giddily as her buddy finished gyrating in front of her.

"Philip, have we taken enough of a beating for one day?" Tammy then asked.

That was in fact code to check he had been able to place the secret, secondary commands on Haley and Kelly in her fights against them, or if she would need to go again against either.

"Yes, I think that's enough for one day" he confirmed as he put his controller down "Thankfully we can't lose at dinner tomorrow"

The four players each switched off their controllers and, for a beautiful few moments, all four fighters were rendered naked as their fake costumes vanished and they walked to the other side of the room to gather the clothes they came in.

"Gaming night is so awesome" Martin smiled to himself.

---

"Dammit Maisie, I'm already tired and I have to be up for work at half six. Why did you choose 12:51?" Holly complained as she paced anxiously up and down the room.

"It's a Strokes song, so it was easy to remember" Maisie shrugged.

"It actually works really well" Philip added "It's too random and inconvenient a time for anyone to be turning up then by coincidence"

The plan had been a fairly straightforward one, just to test that secondary commands could be used on the cousins for future reference. Secret button combinations that Philip had used during Tammy's fights against Haley and Kelly meant she had commanded both to come to Maisie's place at 12:51 that evening, without them knowing or understanding why. With two minutes to go, the anxiety in the room was palpable.

"Remember, even if this doesn't work it won't necessarily mean Haley and Kelly have been protected against secondary commands, it might be that they just can't be given them via button combos" Tammy remarked to try and calm peoples nerves, not that it seemed to help much.

The clock hit 12:51 and the group collectively held their breath, Then, seconds later, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, thank fuck!" Holly gasped as she was able to breathe again.

Tammy ran excitedly to the door and opened it to reveal a very confused looking Kelly. She had put a jacket on over her PJs and slipped sneakers onto her otherwise bare feet. Her hair, usually kept immaculately, was looking a little dishevelled.

"Tammy? What are you doing here?" she asked groggily "In fact, why am I even here? I really don't know why I came"

"Oh my darling, I'm so sorry about this, I'll call you an Uber then we can send you home" Holly rushed over sympathetically to the disoriented young woman.

"We'd best make her forget this when she wakes up tomorrow, in case Martin asks her for information further down the line" Philip pointed out "But it's good to know it works"

"But where's Haley?" Emily asked with concern.

"She might still be on her way" Tammy speculated "The command was to get them to aim to be here for 12:51, not to guarantee they made it on time"

"More likely I messed up the buttons" Philip theorised "If one of them was protected against secondary commands they both would be. Martin and Carl would be sharing that kind of information for sure, so I'm pretty confident we can call this little experiment a success and try some more hidden commands at the meal tomorrow"

---

At 12:55 the doorbell rang. It opened to reveal a sleepy looking Haley.

"What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" Carl asked.

"I'm not sure. Can I come in Master?"

"Of course. Shit, you look cold. Can I get you a coffee?"

Carl's relationship with Haley had very quickly changed since he had decided to activate her curse. At first his feelings towards her had been bitter and resentful, thinking her a bitch who deserved to be taught a lesson after years of acting like he didn't exist. However, after a few days of spending time with Haley, and despite virtually no encouragement whatsoever, he had become completely infatuated with her. It didn't mean he was going to stop her from playing the video games he loved so much, but he had certainly turned out to be a far **** master than she had anticipated from their first encounter.

"No, it's fine" she answered "I came here because I needed to talk to you. I think someone else tried to control me"

Neither Carl himself, nor Haley, had remembered the exact wording of his initial command after claiming her, but one of the things he had demanded from her was unflinching loyalty, and that had overridden the order from Tammy to head over to Maisie's place and sent her here instead.

"What do you mean?" Carl asked in confusion.

"I know it sounds strange. But I was about to go to bed when I got this inexplicable urge to go to my Aunt Maisie's house, specifically to be there at nine minutes before 1 am. Only it was less of an urge, more like being compelled, the same feeling as when I have to play in the games. But I managed to resist it and came here to let you know"

"That's so weird" Carl scratched his head and looked puzzled "That's where Jessie lives, right?"

"Yes, but she's staying at Tammy's place at the moment. Emily is there, I think"

"Emily?" Carl repeated "None of this makes any sense at all, and it's too late for me to even begin to figure out what is going on here, but thank you for telling me"

"That's okay Master"

"Haley..."

"Yes, Master"

"I know you and I got off on the wrong foot, but I have completely changed my opinion of you now I have got to know you better. I've actually become very fond of you. I know you probably don't enjoy the gaming stuff that much. But I don't see why you shouldn't get some pleasure out of this situation as well. I think I would like to start using this curse positively, to give you some treats. If there was anything you wanted?"

"Thank you Master, I can think of a few things" Haley smiled.

She wasn't at all attracted to Carl, but in her curse addled mind the intense loyalty she felt towards him was starting to seem an awful lot like something else. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside to get this kind of praise and positive attention from him.

"Look, it's really late and I don't like the idea of you walking home in the cold and dark. Why don't you stay over tonight? I'll take the couch, of course." Carl offered,

"It's okay Master, there's plenty of room for both of us in your bed. It doesn't mean we have to do anything" Haley yawned before stripping down to her underwear, ready to call it a night.