A Sensitive Touch

As Heather slowly regained consciousness, she felt a massive headache and another odd sensation that she hadn’t felt in a long time. God, my head hurts. I’m probably dehydrated. Why do I feel so warm? It was then that she realized that Zach was pressed up against her back and his arm had wrapped around her waist, gently holding her against his chest. God, I missed this. Guess this habit hasn’t changed. Wait… oh shit, this could be bad. After last night, he’d probably be pissed to wake up in this situation. Then again… maybe I should just wait to remind him of old times.

She lay there debating for a few minutes when the choice was taken away from her. She felt a need to get up and fulfill her new purpose. She managed to slip out of bed without waking Zachary. She considered getting dressed herself, but decided against it, at least for now. She went through Zachary’s wardrobe and picked out a nice outfit for him to wear for the day. Nothing fancy, but likely more coordinated than Zachary would have put together.

Then she moved to the kitchen. She grabbed the full frontal apron and put it on, not wanting to get grease splatter from cooking on her bare skin. She then started preparing a large breakfast: omelets with all Zachary’s favorite toppings, bacon, and chocolate chip pancakes. Pulling out strawberries and whipped cream to top the pancakes with. A large pot of coffee began brewing. As she neared the end of making breakfast, she heard footsteps outside the kitchen. I guess he’s up. Heather sighed, looking at the meal she had prepared for him, as she poured his coffee just as he always liked it. I hate it makes me feel so fulfilled to do this now. She shook her head in defeat. Maybe I should be grateful that it makes me happy to do this since I apparently have to now.

Heather brought out the plates and set them on the table. She caught Zachary eyeing her up and down in the apron. She tried to say, ‘Good morning, Zach,’ but no words came out as she moved her mouth. Right, I’m not allowed to speak without his permission. Heather went back and got the rest of breakfast, took off the apron, and stood near the table while covering herself the best she could, waiting for Zachary to do or say something.

Zachary broke the silence, “You can get dressed. I’m not going to force you to stay naked indefinitely. Afterwards, I have some stuff to tell you during breakfast.” Heather nodded and went to get dressed. She came out in a professional-looking outfit. A long-sleeved, button-down blouse and pencil skirt, with her hair done up in a bun. She found Zach seated at the table, putting some pancakes and bacon onto his plate and topping the pancakes with strawberries, syrup, and whipped cream. She sat down across from him, filling her plate, waiting to see what Zachary would demand of her.

The two ate for a bit. Heather could tell Zachary was clearly mulling over how to phrase exactly what he wanted to say. She’d seen the way he would furrow just one brow too many times not to recognize the tick. Odd, he was so forceful and direct last night.

“So I don’t forget, you have permission to speak to anyone but me.”

Heather breathed a sigh of relief. I was wondering how to get him to give me that. Maybe this conversation won’t go horribly.

“Now on to what I want to talk about: Us moving forward.” Heather looked at Zachary intently with the faintest glimmer of hope. “Learning you deliberately slept with one of my students to hurt me didn’t help you. I meant what I said. It makes me loathe you more. I’m not going to apologize for last night either, nor am I going to actively work on this relationship. I hate that I’ve been saddled with your care.”

Zachary took a moment to eat some more and sip his coffee, letting the silence linger.

Heather looked downcast. Well, that isn’t really a surprise.

“Last night I mentioned a bet with Lynn. Much like you and Caroline planned on how to approach last night, Lynn and I did as well. Much of last night was Lynn’s plan, and frankly, you should be grateful to her.”

Heather scowled and glared at Zachary with indignation.

“I can see you want to say something, go ahead.”

“I should be grateful! My rear is still sore. You humiliated me, took away my voice, stripped me, and forced me to wear this stupid device! Why the hell should I be grateful?!”

“Would you have preferred for me to simply ignore you completely? Telling you to leave me alone? Because that was honestly my original plan. To let you stew all round until you came begging for points.

“No… I don’t want to be eliminated. Even if that was horrible, it’s better than the alternative.”

“Lynn, despite hating you, and she definitely hates you now, was the one to actually advocate for you. Which is why, before you leave, you’ll be given a choice if you want to take off that device you dislike so much.” Heather looked at Zachary with surprise and confusion. “I mentioned a bet I made with Lynn last night. I thought you would repeatedly refuse to do as I said unless it went along with your plan. Obviously, I lost. For winning, Lynn wants me to give you a chance. You can keep that chastity device on, and I will actively use the control to cause you pleasure, likely earning you some VP. In addition, if you keep it on, I won’t outright refuse all your advances. Alternatively, I’ll remove the belt. If, at some point, you are willing to buy Cheaters Never Prosper, I will treat that as similar to wearing the belt. Questions so far?”

“So, I give you control of my pleasure, and you’ll not shut me out completely?”

“Essentially yes.”

“If I change my mind later, will you take it off, or am I stuck with my choice now?”

“I’ll take it off.”

Okay… this is… well, not good, but a chance. “And if I ask for it to be taken off?”

“Then we’re done. You’ll essentially be my live-in servant, and I will not entertain you trying to rebuild something with me at all. I will only do enough to keep you from being eliminated, and it likely won’t be the type of physical intimacy that you would enjoy.”

“Can I agree to put it back on later?”

“No. If you take it off and want another chance, then you have to buy the transformation.”

Heather just nodded her acceptance as the conversation made her keenly aware of how full she felt. So either my pleasure is his alone, or I give up and accept my place. I don’t understand why Lynn would ask him to give me a chance, though. It doesn’t make sense. “Can you tell me why? Why did Lynn ask this of you, and are you serious about there being a chance? Or is that a false hope? You did say that it would never happen for us to get back together.”

“I think it’s Lynn’s way of satisfying her own transformation, regarding you. As for the chance, it won’t be easy, and it will be on you, especially at the start, but I’ll try not to outright dismiss your efforts out of hand.”

“And I can ask for this to come off at anytime and you’ll do it?”

“Yes. So what will it be?”

Heather sighed, “Okay. I’ll wear it for now.”

As soon as she agreed to wear it, Zach pressed the control, causing it to vibrate intensely. Heather leaned back in her chair, placing both hands firmly on the table. He kept it up for thirty seconds as Heather let out some squeaks of pleasure. As he released it, he said, “Good girl.”

He gave Heather some time to catch her breath, as that was incredibly pleasurable, but left her frustrated. After sipping more of his coffee, Zachary continued, “Now, there was a second thing Lynn wanted me to offer you, if you accepted that. It’s a chance to get sexual release while also testing the limit of my commands over you.”

“Is this another thing I have to accept blindly or not at all?”

“No. If you are interested, I’ll tell you the first option. If you don’t want to be part of it after that, fine. Also, if you wish not to receive a specific command like this, that’s fine too, but if you refuse three in a row, we’ll be done with this experiment.”

“What’s the first command?”

“It would hopefully increase your pleasure, resulting in an orgasm, but also include thinking about obeying me while the vibrator is active.”

Oh… so it’s conditioning.

“There are other things I want to test as well, and I will be using the vibrator when I please, as is. Whether you get off or not is up to you.”

Heather closed her eyes to think for a moment. This might be my best opportunity to win him back. Lynn is apparently on board with this, too, which is really odd, but removes one of the biggest obstacles to making things work. Fine, I can do this. I can keep my senses. “I agree.”

Zachary said, “Then I’m ordering you: Whenever the vibrator activates, your sensitivity will skyrocket, making it easy for you to orgasm, and you’ll constantly think about submitting to me, serving me, and obeying my commands while receiving the pleasure.” Zachary then pressed the control button to see if the command had worked properly.

Heather’s reaction wasn’t the same as before. Her eyes rolled back in pleasure as she leaned to the side and fell out of her chair. As she lay on the floor, her hips thrust back and forth. Zachary got up and knelt next to her, still holding the button. “Now, tell me, Heather, who am I to you?”

“AH!” Heather fruitlessly groped at her crotch. “My ex-husband… OH GOD! The love of my life… AH HUH HUH HUH OOOOOH GOD YES!” Heather convulsed as she climaxed. “The man I betrayed. OH, more please, more… you’re my Master!” Zachary kept holding the button for a while longer, watching her writhe in pleasure until she climaxed again.

+1 VP Call him Master unironically. That’s right, know your place, you slut. (First x2)
+1 VP Orgasm from the Master’s use of toys, because you don’t deserve his touch (First x2)

“Good girl.” Zachary brushed her hair out of her face and picked her up and put her on the bed, far gentler than he handled her last night. “Thanks for breakfast. I’m going to go now. Feel free to take your time to recover here.” With that, Zachary turned and walked out of the suite.

Heather lay there for a while. That was intense. I can’t believe I called him that. She let out a sigh. So the plan is still to make me more subservient. At least he seems to be willing to make it pleasurable and not simply punish me. I’m going to count this as a win even if it started rough last night. Heather lay there for quite some time before ultimately getting up so she could go meet up with Caroline as they had agreed the prior day.

---

Caroline was still apologizing profusely to Melinda. “I’m really sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Melinda had already changed into one of her sexy nurse outfits. “I already told you it’s fine.” Not that I could complain even if I wanted to. “Seriously, I chose to wear that to bed, knowing you would grope me. You aren’t at fault, so stop apologizing.”

“But—”

“ENOUGH! Caroline, I get that you feel bad, but it isn’t something that bothered me. What is annoying me is your constant apologizing just because you ended up getting me off, with your constant groping. Look, if it bothers you that much, I’ll just wear a sexy nurse outfit to bed in the future. Now I’m going to go get some breakfast. Do you want to join me?”

Caroline shook her head. “No. I plan on checking on Piper and then waiting to talk with Heather.”

“Suit yourself.” Melinda shrugged as she squeezed past the wardrobe, having the top of her outfit snag on the handle, causing one of her breasts to pop out of the top of the dress. “Damnit!” Melinda shoved her breast back into place and left, glad that her outfit hadn’t ripped at least.

Caroline went across the hall and knocked on the door to Piper’s room. She didn’t get a response. “Piper, sweetie, you in there? Can I come in?” No response. Caroline tried the handle but found it locked. Guess I can’t enter without permission, or maybe if the room is empty. It wouldn’t surprise me if she left at the first opportunity. Caroline got out her phone and sent Piper a text as she walked towards the elevator.

Caroline: Hey sweetie, just wanted to check if you are alright. I’m going to be in the gym talking with Heather soon. Love you.

Caroline stepped into the elevator as she clicked send, not hearing the chime of Piper’s phone from her room.

---

Heather entered the gym to find Caroline waiting as they had agreed. Caroline said, “You took longer than I thought you would. How’d it go? Also, are you okay? You look rather flushed.”

“I’m… fine. It didn’t even go remotely to plan. Worse than we hoped for, but better than we feared.” Heather went through the events of last night, in general, but skipped some details, like how she cried herself to sleep. Caroline’s scowl deepened as she retold the events of the previous night. The events of the morning lessened the scowl but didn’t remove it.

“That’s… Who the hell does he think he is?” Caroline said in outrage. “I’m going to go give him a piece of my mind!” Caroline stood up and made to leave, but Heather stopped her.

“No, you aren’t. Thank you for being upset, but attacking him isn’t a good idea. Last night was demeaning and awful. This morning… well, it wasn’t great, but he’s actually giving me a chance. That’s what we were hoping to get. We already discussed that I’d likely have to do something to show my sincerity and prove I deserve a second chance. This isn’t exactly comfortable to wear, and it is humiliating, but I’ll survive. ”

“And that makes the abuse okay?!”

“No, but life isn’t fair, and we have to think smart here. Especially since you have no VP.”

“I’m not going to let him treat Piper like that.” Caroline tried to push past Heather.

“Caroline, stop! Think about this. Didn’t you listen to me? He’ll just order you to go to your room and stay there if he has to.” Heather took in a deep breath before continuing. “Look, our only hope is to try and slowly win him over. I can’t believe I’m about to suggest this, but I think we need to go talk to Lynn.”

“I don’t trust her,” Caroline said with a frown.

“I don’t either, really. But according to Zach, she asked him to give me a chance.”

“If you simply submitted and took his abuse.”

“Yes, but he wasn’t going to give me a chance. He was just going to silence me and make me leave him alone. I would have been screwed. Lynn hates me, so I don’t understand what she’s playing at. We need to talk to her.”

“Fine, contact her and see if she’ll meet up. I want to try to check on Piper again.”

While Heather reached out to Lynn, Caroline called Piper. Come on, Piper, pick up. Please pick up. There was no response from Piper. She tried calling a second time, and still no response.

Heather came back over to her and said, “Lynn’s agreed to meet up with us a bit after ten. She’ll be at the store, as she wants to look over the stuff on the first floor.”

“Okay. Can you help me look for Piper until then? She isn’t picking up her phone. I’m concerned something has happened to her.”

“Did you check her room?”

“I knocked on the door and called out to her, but didn’t get a response. The door was also locked.”

“Let’s check there first. It’s possible she’s having trouble getting out of bed.” Heather started walking towards the elevator.

“She may be a bit of a late sleeper, but—”

“You misunderstand me.” Heather pressed the button to take them to the rooms. As the elevator took off, her vibrator activated. That, in combination with the lurch from the elevator, resulted in Heather tumbling into Caroline, resulting in both of them falling onto the floor. Heather’s face landed directly in Caroline’s bosom. Heather rolled to the side as she let out moans of pleasure and climaxed.

Caroline was alarmed and reached out, “Heather, what’s wrong? What just happened to you?”

Heather took a moment to recover, and the elevator dinged as they arrived at their destination. Caroline helped Heather to her feet, and they got off the elevator in case it was called to another location.

Heather, a little breathily said, “I might have left something out from this morning. There’s a vibrator with the chastity device I mentioned, and Zachary gave me a command that makes it more intense.” Caroline's face scrunched up into a scowl. “Don’t, Caroline. He offered to remove it. I also agreed to the command before he gave it. Just let it be.”

Caroline continued to frown, but her face softened slightly. “Can you move?”

Heather nodded as the two started down the hall towards her room.

“What did you mean that I misunderstood you?”

“The bed also has tentacles, and they partially restrain you.”

Heather opened the door, but hesitated to enter. Caroline did not share her reservation and moved quickly, searching the room and calling out, “Piper? Piper, are you here?”

Caroline pulled away from the tentacles that wrapped around her legs and went to the bed and heard a muffled moan coming from the mass of tentacles present. She thrust her arms into them, searching, and after a moment felt something that was definitely not made of tentacles. She grabbed and pulled her daughter free from the pile. “Help me with her, please!”

Heather had waited at the door, not wanting to enter, but hearing Caroline’s desperation, moved and helped drag Piper out of the room. They lay her down in the hallway. “Piper!” Caroline gently shook her daughter and lightly slapped her face. “Piper, what happened?!” Caroline looked at what Piper was wearing, confused. “Heather, any idea why she’s wearing this?”

Heather had been wiping down her legs of the viscous fluid left on her legs. Heather began to shake her head, then stopped. “Actually, I might. I’m sure you’ve noticed the tentacles were slimy. I would get that stuff off you as quickly as you can, by the way. I think Piper wanted to use this suit to keep that stuff off her skin. We should get her out of it.” Heather rolled Piper onto her stomach, which caused Piper to let out a moan of pleasure.

“Why?” Caroline asked, but didn’t stop Heather.

“If that fluid is inside the suit, that wouldn’t be great for her.” Heather unzipped the back of the suit, and a squelching sound came from the suit as she undid the zipper. “Oh, this is so much worse than it was for me. She’s been soaked in this. Your room has a shower, right?”

Caroline nodded. “Yes, but I was told it is super cramped. Hardly any room to move around.”

“Then we should try Lynn and Xin’s room and see if they’re there. We need to wash all this off her now.”

Heather got up and hurried to the door down the hall while Caroline stayed with her daughter. Caroline pulled off her sweater and used it to wipe the viscous substance off her daughter as best she could.

---

Xin woke up in a tight embrace. Lynn was holding her against her chest, practically like a teddy bear.

The slow, droning voice of Jeeves sounded out through the room. “Good morning, Lady Lee, Lady Bowen. It is time for you to get up and get ready for the day.”

Xin tried to get up, but Lynn pulled her back into the bed. Lynn mumbled, “Five more minutes.”

Jeeves let out an annoyed sigh, of an individual dealing with a petulant child. With one swift, practiced motion, Jeeves whipped the covers off the bed, causing Lynn to jolt awake from suddenly being far colder than a moment ago. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR!”

The butler rolled his eyes in dismissal. “Lady Bowen, please maintain a proper decorum. As I said, it is time for you to get ready for the day. You both have a busy schedule.”

Xin was already out of bed and had grabbed a hairbrush off the vanity to start brushing away her bed head.

Lynn groaned, “Fine. What’s on queue for today anyway, Alfred?”

Xin raised an eyebrow at Lynn calling the butler something else.

Alfred did not seem bothered. “Your schedules are on the table over there. Lady Lee, I’m pleased to learn you completed all your duties yesterday without issue. You’ll find that you have been given a 200 BP allowance for your compliance.”

+200 BP Xin -> 6100 BP

Lynn perked up, “We can get more BP just by doing everything on the schedule?”

Alfred nodded. “Yes. Good girls get rewarded. Now for your outfits.” Alfred first showed Xin’s outfits. The first was definitely a Halloween slutty schoolgirl outfit. The second seemed to be an outfit straight out of Hot Topic. The final one was a cheerleader outfit. Xin frowned as all three had wigs with them, the first and last ones blonde, with the Hot Topic outfit a deep blood red.

Lynn had gotten up and looked over the schedules.

Xin’s Schedule.

• 6 am: Get up, Shower, Get Dressed, Apply Makeup
• 7 am: Breakfast
• 8 am: Free for two hours.
• 10 am: Physical Exercise
• Noon: Lunch
• 1 pm: Music practice - Piano
• 3 pm: Study time
• 5 pm: Dinner
• 6 pm: Free time
• 8 pm: Masturbate to completion while imaging, doing something with your Master.
• 10 pm: Curfew

Lynn’s schedule

• 6 am: Get up, Shower, Get Dressed, Apply Makeup
• 7 am: Breakfast
• 8 am: Physical Exercise
• 10 am: Free until after lunch.
• Noon: Lunch
• 1 pm: Salon
• 3 pm: Etiquette Lessons
• 5 pm: Free Time
• 6 pm: Dinner
• 7 pm: Free time
• 10 pm: Curfew

“What does it mean by salon and etiquette lessons?”

“That you’ll be getting a makeover and lessons in etiquette, obviously,” Alfred said, like he was talking to a very dimwitted child. He mumbled, “Which are both clearly sorely needed.”

Lynn glared at Alfred, “Very well, Willoughby, what are my outfit choices today?”

Willoughby groaned at the new name but displayed the three choices for Lynn. Narrating why he picked these outfits. “Unlike Lady Lee, who has some requirements on her attire, I had far more latitude to select fitting garments for you, Lady Bowen. First up, we have the desperate slut. Honestly, this is mostly your usual attire but slightly less revealing.” Then, under his breath, “Shows just how desperate you really were that this is more modest.” Lynn looked at the outfit, and she agreed that it was essentially what she had been wearing recently, except more modest. The cleavage didn’t go down as far, the skirt went comfortably low, so that she wasn’t at risk of flashing anyone by accident or even on purpose without significant effort.

Lynn glared at Willoughby. “Keep this up, and I’ll downgrade you from Willoughby to something else.”

“How droll. Your second option, I call nerdy girl next door.” This outfit consisted of a T-shirt with ‘Talk to me before my caffeine, and you’ll need to roll for initiative’ on the front. A black zip-up hoodie with cat ears on the hood and faded blue jeans.

“This isn’t horrible. Though I’m still annoyed at you for calling me desperate.”

“Lady Bowen, you can, of course, prove me wrong by picking the last option.” He held up a pale yellow dress with gold trim and a set of matching heels. It seemed to be some sort of vintage outfit with several pieces of jewelry. “I call this refined lady. Lady Bowen, I should mention that your time at the salon will be slightly impacted by what outfit you decide to go with.”

Xin spoke up behind Lynn, “I’d go with the last one, Lynn.”

Lynn turned around, “Why?”

“Je- er, Willoughby here mentioned he took note of my choice before when I soundly rejected the super revealing clothes. Even the Halloween outfit seems less lewd than yesterday. I think what we pick will impact our options for future days.”

Willoughby smiled, “How very astute, Lady Lee. You show great promise in becoming a fine young woman worthy of her place with her Master.”

Lynn frowned, “If that’s the case, I’m a little hesitant to pick the last one. Especially if I’m getting a makeover based on it.”

“Would you prefer a makeover for something called desperate slut?” Xin countered.

“I… I would not.” Lynn looked at the girl-next-door outfit and thought it rather plain. The vintage outfit did look nice, but she was worried about what the makeover would entail.

Xin picked up her schedule and exclaimed, “WHAT! This is outrageous! Why do I have to masturbate like this?”

Willoughby rolled his eyes. “Lady Lee, please do not shout. As for your schedule, since the Master wanted you to do that yesterday, we thought it best to incorporate it into the schedule to promote your desire to play for others more, as that was your Master’s intention. I know you played for Lynn before you went to bed, which is a good start. Continual reinforcement is needed, though.”

Lynn asked, “Zachary, can alter our schedules, right?”

“Master Blackstone can, to some extent. He can’t simply give you more free time, but if he wants you to do something instead, then yes.”

“Can he change our outfits too?”

“Again, to some extent.”

Lynn said, “I hope I don’t regret this, but I’ll take the vintage outfit.”

“Excellent choice, Lady Bowen. We might just make a proper Lady of you yet.”

Lynn rolled her eyes but took the dress and went towards the shower. “Xin, you’re free to take whichever one you want, but I would recommend the goth one.” Lynn then shut the door to the bathroom.

Xin turned to Willoughby, “Is there one of these you would recommend more than the others? Also, can you tell me how these will impact my intelligence?”

“I personally think you should go with the last outfit, the most, but all three are adequate for you, and no, I cannot.”

Xin thought the matter over. Hmm… I’m a little concerned about Lynn. Might be best to make her happy. Xin picked up the mall goth outfit and waited for Lynn to get out of the shower. She tried on the wig that came with the outfit and thought she looked weird with it on. When she went to take it off, however, she found it felt like her own hair, and it wouldn’t come away. She ran her fingers through it and felt her scalp at the base. Xin turned to Willoughby in a panic. “Is this my hair permanently now?”

“No.” Willoughby shook his head. “If you select an outfit with another wig, it will change. You’ll be able to take the wig off if you desire tomorrow. The longer you wear a particular wig, the more traits from it that will become permanent.”

Xin let out a sigh of relief, but she was still worried. This could be dangerous. I don’t want to end up a blonde bimbo with pigtails.

When Lynn got out of the shower, Xin informed her of what she had just discovered and then hurried to shower herself, not wanting to run behind schedule. While Xin was in the shower Lynn checked over her appearance.

Xin hastily put on makeup when she got out and the two rushed to breakfast together, to make sure they wouldn't be late. No one else was there. Afterwards, Xin, having some free time, decided to just head back to her room, while Lynn went to the gym for her scheduled exercise.

Xin lay in bed just thinking about what she would do in a few days when she was supposed to spend the night alone with Zachary. That was until she heard a pounding sound at the door. Xin got up and hesitantly moved to the door. Opening it, she found Heather standing on the other side and saw Caroline kneeling on the floor down the hall.

Heather was momentarily confused as she didn't immediately recognize the woman who answered the door. Her entire outfit threw Heather off. It was mostly her dark red hair, heavy mascara, eyeliner, dark purple lipstick and spiked collar that was the most confusing to her. Heather took the rest of the outfit in for just a second and then regained her senses.

Heather said, “Xin, can we use your shower. Piper needs help badly. She is covered in something that is making her sensitive all over. We need to wash her off. Our shower is… not an option, and Caroline’s is too small for us to help her.”

Willoughby popped into existence right next to Xin. “Lady Lee, I must protest. The amenities of the gilded cage are for those staying here only.”

Heather looked at Xin, “Please, Xin, you don’t know how bad this stuff is. Piper got it a lot worse than I did yesterday.”

“Lady Lee, if you allow them in, I’ll have to mark the infraction down on your record.”

“I… I don’t know Heather. I’m worried what will happen.”

“Please, Xin, Piper needs help.”

“Fine, but just the shower and be quick about it.”

Heather nodded in appreciation and went down to Caroline and helped her carry Piper to the shower.

Willoughby was protesting the entire time. Shouting invectives the entire time. “You allow common harlots to sully the Master’s gift to you! Such filth, profaning these gilded halls.”

Caroline scrubbed Piper down while Heather asked Xin, “What’s with Wadsworth here?”

Wadsworth glared at Heather with a hellish fury. “I curse you, you filth! Begone from whence you came.”

“Umm… he’s apparently the butler for the room. He… well, it’s complicated, but I have a feeling I’m going to get punished tomorrow for helping Piper.”

Heather gave her a nod of sympathy. “Look, I know it might not mean much, but I really appreciate it. What she’s going through.” Heather shivered. “Isn’t pleasant.”

A few minutes later, Caroline carried Piper out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her waist. “Can you help me lay her down on the bed?”

Xin shook her head, “Caroline, I’m really sorry, but I can’t let you do that. I also can’t let you leave with that towel either. Really, I’m sorry, but as you can see, he isn’t happy already. I’m likely going to get punished as is; I don’t want it to be worse. You’ll need to take her elsewhere. I’ll help you do that, though. I don’t have anything until 10 am.”

Caroline nodded in understanding. “It’s okay, Xin. Thanks for sticking your neck out for her as much as you have. Where can we take her, though? I don’t just want to leave her in the hallway.”

Xin pursed her lips in hesitation but said, “I think you should call Zachary and ask if you can put her in his room. That way, if she is still recovering later today, she doesn’t miss her night with him and get punished for it.”

Caroline looked worried about leaving her daughter in this state with Zachary. Heather chimed in, “Caroline, I know you’re worried, but Xin’s probably right, that is our best bet.”

Resigned, Caroline nodded and headed towards the elevator. “Xin, would you be willing to contact him? My hands are sort of full and…” Caroline glanced at Heather, “I’m not sure he will pick up if it is Heather calling him.”

Heather, at that moment, fell to her knees again as the vibrator went off for a couple of seconds. Heather said, rather frustrated, “I’m pretty sure he’d just do that to me as well.”

Xin nodded and called Zachary. It took a couple of rings, but Zachary picked up. “Hello? Xin, what’s up?” Zachary sounded out of breath on the other end of the line.

“I’m with Caroline, Heather, and Piper at the moment. Piper isn’t in a good state right now. She doesn’t seem lucid. We were wondering if we could have her rest in your suite, as all the others have issues.”

“Sure, I’ll be right there. Fill me in when I get there.” Xin could hear the sound of splashing water from the phone as Zachary got out of the pool. A moment later, Zachary hung up.

“He said yes, and will meet us there.”

The three carried Piper as gently as they could to the elevator and went to the Master’s suite. Of course, it wasn’t a pleasant ride, and several times Piper trembled as she was jostled into one of the others. Zachary stood at his room’s door, and when they got off the elevator, he hurried over to them. “Here, let me help.” Zachary offered as he scooped up Piper and carried her into the room, and lay her down on the bed.

Once she was under the covers, Zachary asked, “What happened to her?”

“The tentacle pits,” Heather said automatically, still having to answer any question Zach asked of her. “I don’t know exactly, but the tentacles there leave a substance on your body that makes you a bit more sensitive. It evaporates fairly quickly, so while annoying, it isn’t debilitating as long as you don’t soak in the stuff. For some reason, she was wearing a rubber suit, and it was full of the stuff.”

Xin said, “Not to cut and run, but I have to follow my schedule. I don’t want to get punished further.” Xin hurried out of the room.

Zachary asked, “Why would she be getting punished?”

Heather again answered promptly, “Because she let us wash down Piper in her shower. Her ghost butler was throwing a fit about it.”

Caroline was sitting next to her daughter on the bed and gently stroking her hair, distraught with worry. Heather said, “I’m going to head out. Caroline, call me if you need me.” Heather quickly made her exit as well, before Zachary decided to do anything to her.

Zachary decided to give Caroline a bit of space, and first went to turn off the monitors that seemed to simply turn on of their own accord. Then he went and got a set of drinks for the three of them. “Here,” Zachary said, passing a drink to Caroline. “You look like you’re about to collapse from worry.” Caroline took the drink and saw he had poured some lemonade. She then noticed Zachary set down a glass of water and an entire pitcher on the nightstand next to the bed for Piper.

“Thank you,” Caroline said weakly. Zachary took a seat, nearby, but away from them.

After several minutes of silence, Zachary asked, “Has she been unresponsive the whole time?”

“Not exactly. She hasn’t said anything coherent, but she lets out moans when you touch her more than a little.” Zachary could see that Caroline was debating saying something. “Zachary, could you call Delilah here to make sure that Piper is okay? She’d do it for you, I think.”

Zachary called her, and after the third ring, Delilah appeared in the room in a puff of brimstone. “You rang.” She said with a purr.

“Yes. I want to know whether Piper is going to be okay. Also, how did it get this out of control?”

“Hmm, define okay. As for how this happened, that is Piper’s fault for trying to get around the punishment of her room. The tentacles become more persistent the more you resist them. Including passive resistance like wearing a suit where you can’t really feel them.”

“STOP FUCKING WITH US!” Caroline screamed at Delilah. “Is my daughter going to be okay?”

Delilah glanced at then dismissed Caroline from her mind.

Zach frowned. “Will Piper recover from this?”

“Physically? Yes. Mostly at least. Mentally? I have no idea.”

“What do you mean mostly?”

Delilah tilted her head to one side, clearly debating whether she should bother answering. She shrugged, “There might be some lingering effects. You have her character sheet; you could just check her debuffs. Oh, you’re right, by the way. If you refused to allocate her points at all, I’ll do it. Ta ta for now.” Delilah vanished in another puff of brimstone.

Zach waved the smoke out of his face. He then pulled up Piper’s character sheet. Okay, so she has hyper sensitivity, exhaustion, and… euphoria? They also have timers on them, that’s good at least.

“Caroline, she should be okay eventually. She just needs some time. She has two debuffs that will go away in a few hours. One of those is exhaustion. The sensitivity is going to linger for much longer, though.”

“Can… can I stay with her?”

“At least until Delilah forces you to leave, sure.”

Caroline was trembling with worry. “Zachary, could you help her?”

“I don’t think so,” Zachary said, shaking his head.

“I meant… could you… well could you improve her recovery speed or something? You have to alter her, right? Is that something you can do?”

Zachary looked through her stats, and there were several ways to boost her recovery speed. “It is, but I’m not particularly inclined to do so when she’s going to recover naturally anyway.”

“Please…” Caroline pleaded.

Zachary looked at the stats and how the points worked. He shook his head. “No. For several reasons. I don’t have many points to spend on her at the moment. To see a meaningful improvement would cost more than what I have. Also, as I told you before, I’m not inclined to give her something like that unless her attitude changes. If she were in danger, that would be another story, but she’ll recover by the end of the day.”

“We’re just playthings to you, aren’t we?”

“No. Caroline, you’re a group of people that, excluding Lynn, haven’t given me a reason to go out of my way to help them. In fact, to one degree or another, you’ve given me reasons not to help. I don’t want to get into this right now. I’ll leave you two be.”

Zachary moved towards the door and received a message.

Delilah: Caroline may not remain in your room unless you are present. Piper may as it's her night to be there.

Zachary growled in frustration, “Never mind. I guess I’m staying as I’m not going to kick you out, Caroline.” Zachary still let her and Piper be, as he crossed the room to look at the control console and its various options.

A while later, just before she was supposed to meet up with Lynn, Caroline got a text.

Heather: Hope Piper’s doing better. Am I meeting Lynn alone, or will you be joining us?

Caroline considered what she should do. Is she safe here with Zachary like this? I guess it wouldn’t matter if I were here or not if he wanted to do something to her. She seems to be resting better. I guess I should go talk with Lynn. If she says something, Zachary might believe me, but no way he would believe Heather.

Caroline got up off the bed and walked over to Zachary, who was poring over a book. “Thank you for staying so I could. She stopped squirming and making low sounds a bit ago and seems to be sleeping. I’m sorry for being so hostile before.”

“You were stressed. Your daughter wasn’t in a good state. She’ll be okay. I take it you plan on heading out?”

Caroline nodded, “Yeah. Before this, I planned on meeting up with Lynn. While I’m sure she’d understand if I postponed, it seems Piper is stable, and all I would be doing here is worrying to no purpose.”

“Tell Lynn I said hi, and I’ll stay here so she isn’t alone when she wakes up.”

“Thanks, Zachary.” Caroline gave him a weak smile as she left the suite.