Invertuality (hypno)
by magister
Chapter 1
Eric and Jimmy had a great day surfing - even better because they were cutting school.
It was one of those glorious days when the waves were running high and the sky was as blue as it was ever going to get. They had left their small town that morning, and driven for an hour to get to this small secluded beach. The day had just raced by as they caught wave after wave and egged each other on to greater levels of daring.
But everything comes to an end, and the two teenagers finally gave up and collapsed on the beach. Both boys were seventeen, tanned from the sun, hair bleached by the waves and best friends since Kindergarten.
"Jeez, that was great. I wish we could just stay here and not go back at all."
"Yeah, right. Become beach bums and just live for the waves."
They scuffled a bit and then sat back and resigned themselves to the homeward journey.
"Tell ya what, let's not go straight back. Let's check out the Zone over at Aikenville. I hear they've got some new game system that's s'pposed to be awesome."
"May as well. Dad won't miss me until he gets home, and that won't be 'til after ten. What about your folks?"
"Nah, I'll already be in deep shit. An extra few hours won't make the difference."
"Okay, let's go then!"
And they headed up the beach and into Jimmy's beat up old bomb. Jimmy was the one with two parents, and always in trouble. The school counsellor had given up trying to reason with him, and the Principal was still trying to change him with detention.
Eric was quieter and more studious. He knew his only way out of the small town his father loved was to graduate and get away to college. However, every now and then he felt the urge to surf, and maybe get some attention from his father at the same time. It was never a great deal, but it was all he ever got.
So the two boys headed off to the slightly larger town of Aikenville to hit the video arcade and spend what was left of the day kickfighting and firing off volleys of super-charged lazer bolts.
The Zone was unusual. Well, the owner was unusual and this rubbed off on the premises.
He was a big man, who looked like he should be a General, not a small business man. The rumours had it that he had been kicked out of the army, others that he had escaped from the Navy because 'he knew too much', and was hiding out. Nobody knew for sure.
But the local under-18 population didn't care. All they knew was that the Zone always had the latest games, and some of the equipment was so new that it hadn't even been catalogued on the internet. Kids came from the surrounding area to play the day away in the arcade, and after the first session or two, they just ignored the massive presence of 'the General'.
Eric and Jimmy had been there before, but Jimmy was more regular. Eric didn't skip school nearly as often, and as much as he enjoyed the occasional shoot-em-up, he couldn't get as excited as Jimmy.
They wandered in and looked around. The place was slowly filling up as kids came from after school chores and started putting their allowance into the waiting slots. Jimmy tried half-heartedly at a few games, but he was too good at most of them for the thrill to last long. In frustration, he kicked one machine that wouldn't score higher than 25 million, so had kicked him off for exceeding designer specifications.
The General wandered over, but the look on his face was one of amusement rather than annoyance.
"You got a problem there, Jimmy?"
"Shit, all this stuff is old hat. I heard you got some new stuff, but I don't see it."
"The 'new stuff' is a bit sensitive, so I don't put it out where my clients can kick it." He was half smiling, so Jimmy took the rebuke with some good humour. But the idea of some new challenge made his eyes light up with eagerness.
"I can give you a taste of things to come, but unfortunately the game is nowhere near ready. But if you'd like to try it out..."
"I'm ready when you are, General sir!" joked Jimmy, and the three of them laughed and went into the back room.
Luckily, parents seldom came into the Zone, so they never had to question why the building was so large on the outside, and yet only the front third was given over to the arcade. The kids themselves never questioned what went on behind the door marked 'Staff Only', and occasional glimpses had only shown games in various stages of being dismantled or reassembled. Eric and Jimmy moved through the door into an extensive electronics laboratory that would have put most government agencies to shame.
Eric had enough sense to start getting a bit worried, but Jimmy just wanted his next challenge - the next rush of adrenalin. They worked their way over to a side wall and a bench covered with exposed wires and circuitry. To the side of the bench was a reclining leather chair that looked like a reject from a horror movie involving an insane dentist.
Jimmy was looking at everything, but Eric felt shivers up his spine that made him wish they were on their way home right now.
"This is my newest version of Virtual Reality. It's designed to give complete sensory experiences for ... uh ... games." The General started warming up some of the circuits and checking that all the wires were still connected.
"Of course, it still needs some work to 'pretty it up' and hide all the workings, but the actual machine is ready to run."
"So, do I just sit here and plug myself in?" Jimmy was already pulling of his jacket and getting ready to lie down on the chair.
"Not so fast, Jimmy. I'm afraid I can't risk letting anyone else use the full system yet. But I can let you get a taste through the helmet." The General moved over to a shelf and retreived what looked at first like any other VR helmet, but on closer inspection the plastic showed the scars where holes had been drilled to allow at least a hundred more wires in. Eric almost called out to Jimmy as he reached for the helmet. Eric was not a risk taker, but he knew his friend well enough to know that's exactly what Jimmy was.
So Eric just stood there with his arms folded while the General hooked the helmet up, and began fidlling with the switches. Then, once everything seemed to be working, he reached up to the highest shelf and brought down a cd case with a bit of masking tape labelling it as 'DEMO'. Eric also saw that among the other labelled cd's there were things like 'DAY', 'RAIN', 'FIRE', and, more surprisingly, 'SEX 1', 'SEX 2' and 'SEX 3'.
For the next ten minutes, all Eric heard was Jimmy making sounds of amazement as he swiped at the air in front of him, and turned his head from side to side as he watched things that only he could see. The General seemed pleased with his responses, and spent his time checking that all the circuits were working, and that the blinking lights were the ones meant to be blinking.
When it was over, Jimmy removed the helmet and pushed it toward Eric.
"You've gotta try this, man. It's better than anything I've seen on TV. It's really real!"
"No, thanks. We'd better be going before your parents hit the roof."
Jimmy was going to argue, but he knew his best friend well enough to know when not to push things. There was a last minute conversation where Jimmy asked when the whole thing would be ready, and what sort of games were going to be made for it, and the General explained that it was still experimental and 'hush-hush', and the two boys finally made it outside into the early evening air.
The trip back home was full of Jimmy's running description of all the things he 'saw' while he had the helmet on.
"... and this this bird came straight toward me, but everything was so lifelike, like you could actually touch it. It didn't look computer generated at all. Oh, and then there were these people over in the distance, and they looked so real. I could see them talking and waving."
"I dunno, Jimmy. It all seems a bit strange to me. Like the General having this whole lab here in the middle of nowhere, and showing it off to us? Don't you think it was all - kinda - wrong, somehow?"
"Wrong? Bullshit. It was great. You just think too much, ya know. Okay, I admit there was this, like, tingling sort of sensation, as if someone was talking but I just couldn't hear it, but that was the only thing 'wrong'. It was the best sort of feeling I've ever had. You should have tried it."
Eric just withdrew. He wasn't going to convince his friend with just a sense of uneasiness. Like he did with a lot of his feelings, he just pushed them down inside and promised himself not to bring the subject up again.
The rest of the trip home was quiet, as both boys played the days events over in their heads. The closer they got to town, though, the more they worried about the reception they were going to get from irate parents. Even if they wanted to tell people what they'd seen, no one was going to let them get a word in edgewise for at least a couple of hours, and by then everyone would be so angry the story would never be told.
But deep inside, Jimmy knew that he had to go back, and Eric knew he never wanted to go there again. And because they knew each other so well, they also knew they would never mention their decisions to the other.
Chapter 2
A week later found Jimmy making a midnight drive from his house to the Zone.
It was midweek, and nobody knew where he was - not even Eric. He had tried to fight it, tried to put off the feeling, but the VR experience was imprinted indelibly in his mind. The idea of leaving his boring, small town world behind was way too appealing.
Jimmy was smart enough to know that Eric was going to leave. He had been getting good marks, was applying for colleges, and had a desperate need to see the world. Jimmy also knew that he had no chance to leave. He would get a job at the Mill, marry one of the girls in his class, settle down to a family life that would end up killing him.
The promise of escape, even if it was only an illusion, was too powerful to resist.
2 a.m. found him breaking into the back of the Zone, and by five past he was switching on the machine and checking all the dials. Eric had reluctantly given him a rundown of the things the General had done, and Jimmy followed it as well as he could. It all seemed straightforward enough, though, with all the switches labelled and fairly self-explanatory.
Finally, he reached up for a CD, and was drawn to the ones marked 'SEX'. Jimmy was not a virgin, hadn't been for four years thanks to Amy Lou Jenkins. But he imagined that the General would have some serious porn, and Jimmy was anxious to try out what he knew on a 'real' woman. Like any seventeen year old, his hormones still did most of his thinking.
After a bit of a debate, he chose the third CD, reasoning that that would be where all the action was, and he didn't want to waste what little time he had working through foreplay. He put the CD into the machine, then nestled himself into the chair. He hooked up the wires that he could see, and was again thankful that the General had labelled everything.
Finally, he hit the start button and then lowered the helmet onto his head. A few seconds later, his eyes had adjusted to the small double screens, and he was transported completely into the fantasy world.
It was not what he expected.
He found himself sitting in the front passenger seat of a car, and his clothes felt tight and restricting. He could see out the window to a line of shops and what looked like the main street of Aikenville. Nothing new here.
He glanced at the side view mirror, and could see that his face was the same as it always had been, although where his long surfer hair had been, he now had a close cropped blond flat top. He moved his hands up to touch his face and hair, and was amazed as he got the double impression of the VR helmet and the feel of flesh and spiky hair.
"Don't worry. You still look as pretty as ever." The deep voice startled Jimmy, and he turned around. Next to him on the driver's side was a massive man, dressed in a tight fitting police uniform. Jimmy had always thought of the General as a big man, but this cop seemed like a giant, with every inch covered with muscle. When Jimmy looked down, he could see that he was also dressed in a tight fitting uniform, and he was more well-built than he was in real life.
"This might not be bad at all," he thought.
"It's time to do it. The rest are leaving, and we get the little shit all to ourselves." The big cop starting climbing out of the car, so Jimmy got out as well. He was caught up in the feeling of the sun on his skin, the tight feel of the clothes, and all the thousand details that he normally took for granted, but were now special because they were being generated by the computer.
The big cop was tall, but Jimmy's new body was almost as tall. They started moving, and Jimmy found that his crotch was so confined by the cloth of his pants, that he had to walk with a rolling gait. They were obviously heading towards a biker who was bent over and examining the engine of his bike. Down the road the rest of his gang was riding out of town, but he'd obviously been held up with a mechanical problem.
"Hey, boy, didn't I already tell you to leave town?" The big cop stood there, hands on his hips, dark glasses reflecting back the empty street. The biker looked up from where he fiddled with a distributor cable, and there was not much fear in his face.
"Gimme a break, willya? I'll be out of here as soon as the bike is working, okay?" With that, he turned back to the bike. Jimmy saw a smile come over the face of the big cop, and the next thing he knew, the cop had stepped up and pulled the biker's arm behind his back. The cop had his night stick pressed hard against the biker's neck, and there was a deep threat in his voice.
"When I tell you to do something, boy, I expect you to do it."
Jimmy was starting to worry about what he had gotten into. This was not what he expected from a sex scenario, and he decided he should leave and try something else.
There was a problem, though. He didn't know how to get out. He figured there must be a codeword, or a switch, but in his hurry to get into the illusion, he had forgotten to look for it. The big cop was growling into the bikie's ear, and anyone could see that he was beginning to get scared. He looked to Jimmy for help, hoping he could reason with his partner, but Jimmy wasn't paying too much attention.
Jimmy tried to take the helmet off, but his arms didn't seem to be responding. Sure, he could move them in the VR world, and feel them responding in the real world, but they only seemed to move in response to the scenario. He couldn't get them near the helmet, unless he imagined himself scratching his head. There was nothing he could do to turn the program off.
"Hey, listen, sheriff, I told you I would leave. Just let me get my bike and I'll be outta your face for good."
"Too late for that, boy. I think you need to be taught a good lesson. Show you who's boss." The cop squeezed harder against the biker's throat, and Jimmy could see the fear in the biker's eyes. Jimmy wondered if he looked as scared, although for different reasons.
The big cop pushed the biker forward so that he lay across the saddle of the bike. Then he started whipping the guy's butt with his night stick. Jimmy wasn't into any rough stuff, preferring straight forward 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am' sex, but he felt himself responding to the scene. It was almost like there was something in his brain encouraging him to respond the way the character he was playing would respond.
If he concentrated really hard, he could turn his head and look down the main street, but as soon as he relaxed, he could feel this other personality pushing him to follow the script. Jimmy was ashamed that his cock was starting to harden at the sight of the biker being paddled.
The cop seemed satisfied with the beating, and got the biker to stand up. He looked less scared and more subdued, and he just stood there with his head down.
"You know who's boss now, boy?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good, but I think you need more of a lesson. That right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, let's see you drop those pants, then."
Jimmy was amazed that the biker was actually undoing his leather belt and letting his jeans drop to his ankles. When his underpants followed, Jimmy could see that his ass was bright red from the beating, and Jimmy's cock was getting painful from squeezing against the tight fabric of his pants.
"That's good, boy. Now get back into position and prepare to be mounted."
The biker resumed his position straddled across the bike, and the big cop unzipped his fly and withdrew a cock that was as big as the rest of him. Jimmy had heard about gay sex, but never had been interested enough to follow up on any of the details. But he knew enough that he could guess the cop was about to plunge his huge dick up the poor biker's ass. Jimmy had no idea how it was going to fit, and he could imagine the biker wasn't going to like it at all.
The character voice inside Jimmy's head was encouraging him to do and say all sorts of things, but Jimmy was still fighting it. He was using all of his willpower to not be drawn into the story, that he just ended up standing there like a statue.
The cop spat on his hand, and used the spittle to lubricate the biker's hole. The he used his fingers to start relaxing it and getting it wide enough to fuck. The biker started moaning and the noise was getting loud.
"Don't just stand there, you moron! Go round and plug up his mouth."
Jimmy just stood there, wondering how he could gag the biker. He patted down his uniform, looking for a handkerchief or something that would work. When he got to his pants, the extra pressure on the tight fabric made his cock twitch. The little voices in his head encouraged him to use his cock to fuck the biker's mouth, but Jimmy resisted.
Meanwhile, the moans from the biker were getting worse as the big cop started working the head of his cock into the ass. Jimmy new that in a few minutes they would escalate to screams, and draw attention to what they were doing. He walked around to the other side of the bike, hoping to reason with the biker, but this small act of compliance to the script was enough for the voices to take over. Before he knew what he was doing, he had unzipped his own pants and his solid cock jumped out.
This VR cock was bigger than his own (his 'real' dick was more the size of the biker's - big enough, but not porn material). It was throbbing and needed to be serviced. He moved it toward the biker's head. The biker resisted, and turned his head away, but after a determined push by the big cop, the biker's mouth flew open, and Jimmy shoved his dick hard into the waiting hole.
Jimmy felt totally controlled by the voices in his head, and proceeded to pull the biker's head deep onto his shaft, rocking back and forth as the biker was fucked from both ends. Jimmy felt alive, but still slightly detached. He knew what he was doing, could feel his dick throb, but it was still slightly unreal. When he finally came, part of him knew that he had cum all over his jeans in the 'real' world, and he didn't quite feel like he had actually exploded in a guy's mouth. Strangely, he felt slightly disappointed that the VR wasn't more authentic.
The big cop had cum inside the biker's ass, and now had him on the ground licking his shaft clean. The biker seemed to have lost his resistance, and was performing with gusto. Jimmy had the voices whispering more commands in his head, but he was able to tune them out.
Then there was a shock to the system as he felt the helmet being ripped from his head. He was disoriented, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust.
"Jimmy! What the hell are you doing here?"
"Ah, General. I can explain ..."
Jimmy did a quick bit of talking, pleading that he meant no harm, and then subtly pointing out that he now knew enough to blackmail the General. The General however, didn't seem too mad, or even embarrassed that Jimmy had stumbled on to his fantasy. Jimmy was the embarrassed one when he noticed that his jeans were still unzipped, and his now flaccid cock was still dripping cum.
"Well, seeing no harm has been done, I won't make a big deal of it. But in future, I want you to stay well away from this equipment."
The two of them went over to the other side of the room. The General made them some coffee while he grilled Jimmy about his experiences. He wanted to know how real it felt, how Jimmy had reacted, and whether he had noticed any flaws. Jimmy on the other hand wanted to know how to make it more real. Not the gay sex thing, but the whole VR experience. He was imagining new scenarios with women instead of bikers.
"I've made a VR suit, which contains over ten thousand sensory connection points. It will make the VR experience more real than reality." He laughed, and then started making as if it were time to go. But Jimmy was intrigued, and he knew enough now to make the General's life uncomfortable if he ever talked.
He hinted to the General that he wouldn't say a word if he could just experience the suit. The General was hesitant, but gave in. He went and retrieved what look like a scuba outfit from a locker. Jimmy was initially a bit hesitant about undressing in front of the General, now that he had an idea of the guy's orientation, but the thrill of trying something this new won out, and he was soon struggling into the suit.
A tight hood fit over his head, and once the mask was fitted, he knew that every inch of his skin would be covered. The General said it was too dangerous to let him 'go in' alone, so he would hook up using the chair and helmet, in case Jimmy needed any help.
Jimmy wanted to try something more interesting, so he suggested the 'MOUNTAIN CLIMBING' scenario. The General agreed, but as Jimmy bent to adjust a strap on the suit, the General did a quick switch and inserted the CD marked 'SEX 2'. Jimmy stood ready as the mask was sealed onto the rest of the suit, and the General sat back on the chair and initiated the program.
Jimmy took a moment to get used to all the new sensations. This was more than Virtual reality - this was even more 'real' than anything he had ever experienced.
Every sense was alive, all the sensations were more intense, and he felt a certain 'rightness' about it all.
He looked around, and found himself at the end of the main street of Aikenville again. He was a biker, standing with a bunch of his friends, enjoying the freedom of the day and the moment.
Part of his mind was telling him this was familiar, but he was finding it hard to think as 'Jimmy'. When he had been wearing the helmet, he had felt the script pushing at his mind, encouraging him to think things, do things. Now the voices were not just whispers, but seemed to be replacing his own thoughts.
He truly felt like a biker. He was Jimmy, and as far as he knew he had been riding this bike for a couple of years. He was part of this gang, and he had slept with a couple of the girls. He felt comfortable, and when he touched his jacket, he felt real leather, and nothing of the scuba suit he was actually wearing. When he reached up to touch his hair, he could feel every strand, as if it were truly there.
"Come on, guys, let's get out of here before Sheriff Mayberry gets the shits and picks a fight." The leader of the gang mounted up, and everyone climbed on board their various hogs and revved up. Jimmy got onto his bike, and felt the saddle beneath him and smelled the fumes of the idling bikes. Everything was so clear and hyper-real.
However, his own bike refused to start, and as he watched the others leaving, he just waved them on, knowing it wouldn't take long to fix the problem, and it was a great excuse to exceed the speed limit as he caught them up.
He bent to look at the bike, and saw immediately that one of the leads had come loose, and he wouldn't need long to reconnect it. A large shadow falling across him made him shiver. Deep inside, part of him knew what was happening, where he was, but the voices in his head just drowned out every other thought.
Jimmy stood up and saw two large police men standing in front of him. They were both well muscled, wearing tight uniforms that showed off every bulge. Their eyes were hidden behind dark glasses, and the larger one was slapping his hand with a mean looking club.
"Hey, boy, didn't I already tell you to leave town?" The big cop had a deep voice, and it seemed to reverberate down to Jimmy's bones. He wasn't really intimidated by the cops, but he didn't want any trouble either.
"Gimme a break, willya? I'll be out of here as soon as the bike is working, okay?" Jimmy set to work, trying to fix the lead with a nervous hand, hoping that the cop would just back off and leave him alone. The next thing he knew, he was grabbed from behind, and the big cop had his arm behind his back, and the club pressed across Jimmy's neck. Jimmy was starting to get worried, but the violence was also exciting. Jimmy looked across at the younger cop, hoping for some sort of moderating influence, but the young cop looked like he was enjoying the scene too much to interfere.
"When I tell you to do something, boy, I expect you to do it." The cop had his mouth close to Jimmy's ear, and there was no mistaking the threat. Jimmy could feel the warm breath, the tickle of the moustache, feel the powerful muscles around him, smell the seat and musk of a horny man.
"Hey, listen, sheriff, I told you I would leave. Just let me get my bike and I'll be outta your face for good." Jimmy was confused. He felt turned on by the scene, his body was alive with sensual feelings and imminent violence, but part of him also knew this was wrong, and not what he wanted at all. The big cop tightened his grip around Jimmy's throat.
"Too late for that, boy. I think you need to be taught a good lesson. Show you who's boss."
"That's right, boy, you need to learn who's the boss in this here town." The younger cop had stepped forward, and his voice was just as strong as the other's. Jimmy felt himself being overwhelmed by the situation.
He was pushed down over the bike, and was caught off guard by the sudden weight as the club whacked across his ass. He was startled, but didn't call out. The club descended again and again, and after the first shock, Jimmy started to feel incredibly aroused by the scene. It was like little switches going off in his head, making him enjoy the whole domination theme.
Deep inside his head, the real Jimmy struggled to regain some sort of control, but he was basically blocked out of his own head by the program. He knew what he should feel, what he ought to do, but his instincts were overridden. He felt instead thoughts of submission and pleasure taking over from outrage and defiance.
Finally, the beating stopped, and Jimmy felt almost sorry. He stood up, and could barely look the men in the eye. He felt like a small kid being caught for doing something wrong. Inside his pants, though, his cock was starting to show how much he had enjoyed it.
"You know who's boss now, boy?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good, but I think you need more of a lesson. That right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, let's see you drop those pants, then."
More little switches flicked inside Jimmy's head, and before he knew it, he was dropping his pants in front of the two men. It seemed right, and waves of pleasure swept over him as he stood there with his hardening cock and red cheeks exposed. The big cop told him to get back into position, and he dropped over the bike saddle once more.
The first touch of the cop's wet fingers on his crack made Jimmy flinch a bit, but he couldn't make himself move or protest. He was struggling to stop this, while the VR computer forced him to anticipate what was coming, want it, desire it.
Finally, with a massive burst of willpower, Jimmy was able to make himself yell. His scream was echoed back down the main street, and people stuck their heads out of the various shops to see what was going on. Jimmy hoped that even in this VR world, someone would come and help, but they all just stood there and watched, and started calling out words of encouragement to the cops. The computer adapted itself to the new scenario, and soon Jimmy felt his embarrassment give way to pleasure, as the voices in his head said he enjoyed having an audience to watch his humiliation.
The younger cop walked around to stand near Jimmy's head. Jimmy felt hands on the side of his head, lifting his head up. In front of his eyes, he could see the younger cop's exposed cock, thick and swollen. Jimmy wanted to resist, and the program helped him put up a token struggle, but pretty soon the pain in his butt made him open his mouth, and it was filled with the cop's meat.
The 'real' Jimmy gave up his efforts to struggle, and seemed to recede deep into a far corner of his mind. The new Jimmy surrendered to the humiliating rape, and began to feel levels of pleasure he had never expected. Although his own cock was as hard as steel, he neither touched it or even thought of it. He serviced the men before him, as they changed places and hit him and used him and covered him with cum. In a virtual world, it seemed that the cops could cum as often as they liked, exploding each time with a mass of white liquid that set Jimmy salivating.
After what seemed hours, Jimmy lay face down on the bitumen road, completely naked and covered with red welts and semen. The two cops stood above him, sated for the minute. Jimmy felt amazingly peaceful in his complete surrender. He wanted nothing more than the whole process to continue, to kiss the boots of his tormentors, to surrender completely to their hands, needs and desires.
The big cop stepped between Jimmy's spread-eagled legs, and kicked him in the balls with his steel tipped boot.
Jimmy writhed from the pain, as his cock was rubbed against the rough surface of the road and his balls filled with fire, but he also came, and it was an orgasm that wracked his entire being. He felt the pain, but it was dominated by the pleasure of completeness and ejaculation. He lay there on the road as his body subsided and the sticky cum soaked into the tar and coated his stomach.
The two cops walked away, and Jimmy felt he could just lie there forever, waiting for his masters to come back and claim his body. But everything started to fade away...
It took longer for Jimmy to come back to 'reality' this time, the VR experience had been so overwhelming. When he could again focus, he saw the General bending over him with a big smile on his face.
"Did you enjoy that, Jimmy?"
Jimmy found it difficult to speak. His mouth felt dry, and his body felt exhausted.
"What, would you like to go through it again? I think I can arrange that."
The deep part of Jimmy that had retreated from the sensory overload manage to push to the surface as he realised what the General was proposing.
"No, please. Not again. Please." Jimmy was pleading and crying. He had barely hung on to his sanity, his own personality, this one time. He didn't know if he could survive it again.
"That's okay, Jimmy. We've got all the time in the world. I could even let you got through it two, maybe three more times. Now, wouldn't that be a great game?"
Jimmy couldn't even speak. Tears trickled down his face as the mask was once again fitted over his face. By the time he 'awoke' on the main street of Aikenville next to his bike, the part that was the real Jimmy was already fading, breaking apart against the sensory onslaught.
Chapter 3
Eric was worried, but there was nothing he could do.
Jimmy had disappeared, and everyone thought he had run away. Eric knew he would never leave without telling his best friend, and he tried to convince the police of it.
But after a few weeks of searching, Jimmy's file was placed in the hands of the FBI and their missing kids file. Eric knew that Jimmy had been written off as just another runaway, and no-one would really try to do anything else to find him.
Eric did his best to look, but not having a car made it difficult. Plus there were S.A.T.'s, college interviews and final exams. He occasionally dropped by Jimmy's place to see if anyone had heard anything, but the family had written Jimmy off as an ungrateful bum.
On the rare day when Eric's father wasn't working, he borrowed the car and drove along the coast, checking out the secluded beaches where he and Jimmy used to sneak away to surf. On one trip, Eric even stopped in at the Zone, but no-one there had seen hide nor hair of the guy Eric described.
There was nothing he could do but hope for the best, and pray that one day Jimmy would get in touch.
Four months later, Eric was at a loss for something to do. All exams had been finished, all applications were underway, and high school was a thing of the past. Normally, he would take off with Jimmy and catch some waves, but now there seemed little point.
His father was trying to work at home, and was getting frustrated with his son moping around. He finally kicked him out of the house and loaned him the car.
Eric just drove aimlessly for awhile, but eventually found himself at the same beach that he and Jimmy had spent such a fantastic day. Thinking of that day made Jimmy remember the incident at the Zone. He also thought of the rumours about the General once being part of military intelligence.
"Maybe," thought Eric, "the General might just have some contacts that could help me find Jimmy." It was a long shot, but at this stage Eric had tried all the logical means of tracking down his friend, and he still felt the need to be doing something - anything.
He headed over to Aikenville, but the Zone wasn't open and no-one answered his call. The townspeople had made sure the General didn't open during school hours, so as to avoid tempting the youngsters, and Eric guessed that there must be some schools still in session for another week.
Eric decided to go and get some lunch and just fill in the time by wandering around town. The diner was all right, the food was okay, but there was very little the town had to offer in the way of window shopping. Eric just walked idly down the footpaths, not really caring where he went.
"Thanks, Jack, I'll catch ya later." The voice was unmistakably Jimmy's. Eric glanced desperately around, trying to pinpoint where the sound came from. It took a minute, and then a minute more as Eric couldn't believe his eyes.
There across the street was Jimmy, but not a Jimmy that anyone would easily recognise. He had just come out of a store and was attaching a parcel to the back of a large motorcycle. Jimmy himself was dressed in jeans, harley t-shirt and leather jacket and boots. Where his hair had been long, surfer blond, it was now shorter and biker greased. Not only that, where Jimmy had a normal, slender, seventeen year old body, this Jimmy had been working out until his muscles pulled the t-shirt over every curve and bump.
But it was more than that. His whole attitude was different - the way he was walking, the way he held his body. There were indefinable differences, but Eric knew they were there. No wonder no-one had recognised him from the description and photo the family had given the police. Something had happened that had changed Jimmy completely.
Before Eric could recover from the shock, Jimmy had climbed on the bike and was getting ready to leave. Eric called out, but guessed that Jimmy couldn't hear over the sound of the bike's engine. As he roared off down the street, Eric ran back to his own car, determined to follow his much changed friend. Eric tried a to find an explanation by recalling movies where the hero has an accident and develops amnesia, or x-files episodes where aliens take possession of human hosts.
By the time Eric returned in the car, he had no idea where Jimmy had gone. He cruised along the roads, looking down every side street for signs of either the bike or the leather jacket. Finally, he saw his quarry parked ahead, and Eric pulled in to the side of the road a few cars behind him.
Eric paused as he started to get out. From where he was, he could see Jimmy clearly, and what he saw made him stop. Jimmy sat on the bike mesmerised, staring over at something that captured his full attention. Eric followed the direction of Jimmy's gaze, but all he could see was a patrol car pulled up in front of a diner, with the two policemen sitting in the front seat eating lunch. The way Jimmy was staring, Eric expected the car to burst into flames or disappear in a lightning flash or something.
Jimmy just sat entranced, unmoving, totally lost in an inner world.
Eventually, the police finished eating, and drove off down the street. Jimmy followed them with his eyes until they were out of sight, then he kicked his bike back into life and headed off again. Eric cursed himself for just sitting there, and pulled the car out to follow the bike.
Eric followed Jimmy back to the Zone, and was surprised to see Jimmy take the parcel and unlock the front doors. Was Jimmy working here, less than a hundred miles from his family and friends? Eric climbed out of the car and walked over to the arcade. The same shiver went up his spine as he neared the doors, the shiver he had felt once before when the General had taken them into the back room.
He banged on the once-again locked front doors, until an irate Jimmy finally came and opened them.
"What do you want? We ain't open for another hour."
"Jimmy ... ?"
"What?" Jimmy stared at Eric, but seemed to have trouble identifying him. Eric could have sworn that Jimmy had no idea who he was, but after an awkward moment, a brief glint of recognition appeared in his eyes.
"Eric? Eric?"
"Yeah, Jimmy. Eric. Now, what the fuck is going on?"
Jimmy slapped Eric on the back, and brought him inside the arcade. He relocked the doors, and went to get them a drink. Eric kept asking for an explanation, but all Jimmy kept muttering was things like 'something wonderful', 'most incredible experience ever' and 'you just gotta try it'. Eric got very little sense out of his friend.
"I just found this great thing, and now you're here, and you can share it as soon as my mas... the General gets back. You'll love it!"
"But Jimmy, what happened? What about school, your family? Shit, what about me, your so-called best friend?" Jimmy looked confused, as if he could barely remember the school, or even his family. When he did look at Eric, he could see that Jimmy was guilty about forgetting his friend, but he could hardly contain his excitement about this 'new discovery'.
After fifteen minutes of frustration, Eric tried to convince Jimmy to come back home. Then at least they could get him to a therapist, or Doctor, or something. Eric knew there was something wrong with the insides of Jimmy's mind, but he had no way to deal with it. When Eric talked about surfing, Jimmy just looked at him blankly, as if he were talking a foreign language. When Eric mentioned the bike, Jimmy went on at length about how it was the best bike he had ridden in years.
Then the door opened, and the General let himself in through the front doors of the arcade. It took him a minute to register the situation, and by the time Jimmy had finished filling him in and acting like a submissive puppy, Eric wished that he had left it all alone, and gone for the police when he first saw Jimmy. The General looked at him as if he were weighing up some life and death decision. Eric felt as if the ex-soldier was debating whether to kill him or just incapacitate him.
"Well, Jimmy, it was great seeing you, but I better be going. My father will be getting worried."
"I was under the impression that your father cared very little about your whereabouts, Eric." The General's voice was slightly menacing, and Eric regretted that he knew so much about about him. Eric hoped to bluff his way out, but now he had an uneasy feeling that he might have to fight for his freedom.
He was inching toward the door, when the General moved over to intercept him. A hard, steel-like grip on his arm made Eric realise just what a predicament he was in. No one knew where he was, or really cared. And if Jimmy could have disappeared while still so close to his hometown, Eric knew that his disappearance wouldn't cause much more of a ripple.
"Jimmy, why don't you go and prepare the suit, so we can show your friend how fantastic the new invention is."
"Yes, sir!" Jimmy ran off into the back room like a well conditioned soldier. Eric didn't know what the General had done, but Jimmy was no longer the friend that Eric knew. He had visions of illegal drugs and brainwashing scenarios, and steeled his will for the upcoming struggle.
He was surprised that all the General wanted him to do was put on a strange looking scuba suit, and the way Jimmy acted, it was as if putting on the suit was the best thing in the world to do. Eric reluctantly stripped, and decided to humour the both of them until he could find some way to get out and call 911. The suit felt strange as all the little connections fastened themselves to his skin.
The General went over to the shelf, and pulled down some CDs.
"I think I'll take number one, Jimmy can take number two, and our guest can have number three."
Eric didn't know what he was talking bout, but Jimmy was already picking up one of a pair of VR helmets, and connecting himself to the computer with a series of wires. The General was hooking himself up, and Eric felt a slight relief. Once they were all in the VR world, Eric would find some way of unhooking himself and make a run for it. It would take them a minute or two to realise he was gone.
"Ready then? They're all in sync, so here we go." The General fastened the mask over Eric's face, and then went over and donned the other helmet himself.
Eric's world changed. He no longer seemed to remember anything of being a young high school graduate. His mind was filled with other thoughts and feelings that somehow seemed more right, more 'real'.
He was sitting in a squad car, with his partner next to him. His partner was a huge man, and Eric admired him, worshipped him, and wanted to be just like him. Eric was wearing a clean, tight uniform that hugged his well-built body. Looking in the mirror, Eric saw his own face, and the close cropped hair, and thought about how great he looked.
"Come on, you look pretty enough." He loved it that his partner thought he looked pretty. He knew he meant it in a masculine way, not pretty like a girl, but pretty like some blond Hollywood movie star.
They got out of the car, and Eric felt the warmth of his crotch as the material pushed his throbbing cock against his leg. They swaggered over to where some bikie was working on his bike, and Eric just followed his partner's lead. Deep inside, he somehow knew that the big cop was the General, and the biker was Jimmy, but he found it hard to remember anything outside the present moment.
When the General started wailing on the bikie's ass, Eric was getting turned on. By the time they had him stretched out with Eric fucking his mouth and the General ramming his cock deep into Jimmy's ass, with the whole town cheering them on, Eric was soaring. He had never felt such a feeling of power and completeness. They proceeded to work over the bikie, and Eric wondered for a moment how he could keep hard and cum so many times, but he just surrendered to the experience. Something else was doing the thinking for him, and he didn't care.
When they had finished, the bikie lay flat out on the road, and Eric just knew he wanted more. The General walked over and kicked Jimmy in the balls, and Eric was even more turned on. He and the General headed back to the squad car, leaving the bikie sprawled in the sun and the dirt.
They got back in the car, and Eric waited for the General's lead.
"That just made me even hornier." Eric took the hint, and dropped his head down to the General's groin. The smell of cum and sweat was overpowering, but Eric drank it all in. He serviced his partner's cock, trying to show he could do a better job than any biker scum. The General just eased back and enjoyed it, staring out through the windshield at the biker, waiting patiently for his master to tell him to get up.
Eric was crying as they removed the mask.
"Please, let me go. Please, I won't tell anyone."
"Of course you won't. You won't want to tell anyone anything." The General turned to Jimmy. "Go and open the arcade, while I help your friend get another taste of his fantasy."
Jimmy was quick to obey, and the darkness of the mask covered Eric's pleas for release.
The Zone is a strange little video arcade in a small town called Aikenville. The proprietor is rumoured to be ex-army, or navy, or whatever. He recently hired a young security guard who had all the young girls' swooning. He was well muscled and wore a tight fitting uniform. His close cropped hair and dark glasses couldn't hide his pretty boy good looks.
The machines were maintained by a young rebel type, who often rode around town on his motor bike. The General was often bailing him out of jail, and the police joked about how Jimmy almost wanted to be arrested.
But other than that, nothing much at all happened in the town.