A Demonstration of Power

“See you later Mom”

“Bye Mom”

“Have a great day dear”

I heard my family’s voices from the hallway as the twins and my Dad said goodbye to my Mom, gave her an affectionate kiss each and headed out the door. It was the same routine, the same goodbye’s I’d heard every day when I was growing up – the same goodbye’s I’d given when I was still like them…

The front door slammed, and I heard my Dad’s car leaving the driveway.

Still I dared not move from my spot, letting a few more tears escape my eyes, even as I squeezed them shut. Wishing over and over that things would or could go back to normal as suddenly as they’d changed.

My Mom was stay-at-home; raising three kids, 2 of them twins, had been a lot of work, and my Dad’s job as a dentist was enough so that she didn’t have to hold down a job at the same time. I felt a growing sense of dread that I was now alone in the house with her – what would she do to me? What would she make me do?

Everything had changed so fast that my head was still spinning.

They say you should try to centre yourself when you’re having a panic attack – pick something real and focus on it. I tried to take stock of where I was, what had happened, what was real… I opened my eyes tentatively… The coffee table… that was real… The living-room rug beneath my bare legs was real, I could feel that... The air on my naked body was real… My status as the family’s ‘Alexa’ was very very real…

Why was I not screaming and crying and fighting? That part almost scared me more than what had happened to me. I had always thought of myself as being quite strong, but was I really this weak? That I’d submitted to my new status so quickly?

And still I couldn’t bring myself to move. I mean, what could I do? Where could I go? The way my Dad had manhandled me… told me I wasn’t in the family anymore… the way everyone had looked at me and talked about me… like a thing.

And I was scared – even more than what had happened to me, what frightened me the most was angering my parents so much that they might hit me again, or worse, sell me. That threat hung in the air and at the back of my mind constantly – that wasn’t an empty threat, and there was no malice to it, the statement was as logical to them as throwing out a defective microwave.

“Alexa, wake up” Mom’s voice snapped from the doorway, startling me. I jumped, shifting backwards on my knees as I looked up at her, painfully aware that my bare breasts were jutting out from my chest in full view.

“P-please M-” I stopped myself from saying ‘Mom’ just in time, my tongue twisting in my mouth as I tried to reset, the sound garbled, there was no way I could override 19 years of calling my parents my parents so quickly… “Mrs… Miller…? May I get dressed?”

“No” She scoffed flatly, as though the very idea was insane, “and don’t ask me that again – oh, for the love of, Alexa, don’t ever ask me that again”

I opened and closed my mouth in muted protest, my cheeks burning brighter pink. Was she serious? Were they going to keep me naked for the rest of my life?!

What made it worse was the way they kept saying my name like that... Before every instruction, like I was that stupid digital assistant. Like I was just as incapable of intelligent thought. And I knew they weren't mocking me, not like when a kid at school had done it - they meant it...

What sick cosmic joke was this? Something had happened, and if someone was responsible they must've had a sick sense of humour to think that my life, my humanity, was worth this joke...

“P-please… Mrs Miller…” I said as deliberately as I could, “Y-y-you don’t have to say… say my name every time…”

“Alexa, do not tell me what I do and do not have to do!” She barked, “How else will you know what instructions to follow?”

“I… I can still understand-”

“Clearly not as that question was rhetorical...”

I shrunk back, whimpering, feeling weak and helpless. Was I really trapped in this horrifying game of ‘Simon Says’?!

“Maybe Megan’s right and you are broken” My Mom said, though her tone made it clear she was talking to herself, thinking out loud. The fear of being sold rushed back to me and I shook my head desperately.

“P-please… I’m not broken… I just don’t want this…”

“Shake your tits”

I froze again, hearing the word come out of my Mom’s mouth – she never ever would’ve used language like. The fact that she was asking me to do something so sexual, so primal… my own Mom wanted me to debase myself for her? I felt faint again, this nightmare wouldn’t end. The cold way that she said sent a tingle up my spine, like she was just experimenting with me, toying with me, curious, there was no malice to her voice, it was just an instruction.

“Alexa, Shake your tits!” She barked more forcefully.

I hated myself but I jumped, terrified. I desperately did not want to be sold, and I weakly started to rock my shoulders. My breasts aren’t huge, but they’re big enough, and I suppressed another sob of horrified shame as I felt them bouncing obediently back and forth on my chest.

I didn’t realise until too late what the actual test was…

My Mom folded her arms with a self-satisfied smirk; I watched her vision swaying back and forth with my little pink nipples.

Oh fuck, no… I’d just confirmed everything she’d said. Why was I doing this, was there something more to this? Was there something actually going on with her saying my stupid name every time? It always felt like my decision to do it – it was just my own stupid bad luck… Bad timing…

“Obviously this as new to you as it is to the rest of us, but we’ll get used to it.” Her eyes continued to follow my swinging breasts; I was trembling, mortified and too anxious to stop. The way she said ‘we’ll’ made it clear I wasn’t included in the 'we' – she didn’t care if I got used to this or not. “Your existence just got extremely simple… If we say your name, and issue a command you are to respond. Alexa, do you understand?”

“Y-y-yes… Y-y-yes Mrs Miller” my voice wavered as I continued to obediently swing my breasts for her eyes.

“Good, then let’s start…” She smiled wickedly, “Alexa…”